Eden Park consolation for Wallabies

Published: Friday, 21. October, 2011 in category Rugby World Cup

Australia won their first game at Eden Park in 25 years when they beat a very poor Welsh side 21-18 in the World Cup third-place play-off in Auckland on Friday.

In an error-riddled game the teams matched each other with two tries, one conversion and two penalties - with the difference being a Berrick Barnes drop-goal in the 68th minute.

The Wallabies will celebrate their bronze medals, but ultimately it was a disappointing tournament and third place is no more than some consolation.

While both teams attempted to play expansive rugby, the high error count meant the expected try-feast never materialised.

More to follow...

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:
Shane Williams, Halfpenny
Con: Stephen Jones
Pens: Hook, Stephen Jones

For Australia:
Tries:
Barnes, McCalman
Con: O'Connor
Pens: O'Connor 2
DG: Barnes

The teams:

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Toby Faletau, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Paul James, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Scott Williams.

Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill (captain), 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Anthony Fainga'a, 22 Rob Horne.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), George Clancy (Ireland)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)