Warren Gatland revelled in the delicious irony of Wales grabbing victory over Australia with a late score after suffering heartbreak on numerous occasions in a terrible run of losses against the southern hemisphere team. The Welsh victory bucked a trend that saw the Wallabies notch up 13 straight wins since losing 21-18 in Cardiff in 2008 with an intense 9-6 win at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday. Gatland actually oversaw that victory 10 years ago as part of his first autumn series since taking over as Wales coach following the 2007 Rugby World Cup, but has then been forced to watch on as his side fell short against the Wallabies, on many occasion in close-scoring encounters. “Our composure towards the end was good,” Gatland said of Saturday’s nerve-shredding encounter where defence was king and the sole scores were penalties — Wales hitting three through Leigh Halfpenny (2) and Dan Biggar while Australia notched up two thanks to Bernard Foley and Matt Toomua. “But there was no composure from me, I was struggling the last few minutes. “I was thinking ‘here we go, deja vu, we’re going to lose in the last minute’, but fairness to the boys they dug deep. “It’s always nice to get a win against a southern hemisphere team.” Wales have now notched up seven consecutive wins, for the first time since the 2004/5 season, having opened their autumn campaign with a 21-10 victory over Scotland. They go on to face Tonga and South Africa. “The squad’s… [Read full story]
Leave a Reply