The pool victory over Georgia at last year's Rugby World Cup is a distant memory - a result that came days after they thrashed today's opponents, Australia, by a record margin. In sobering contrast this was a record points total for the Wallabies in Cardiff, who scored eight tries to Wales's two.
Things have unravelled spectacularly since that World Cup and Gatland, once so assured, looks increasingly out of touch, scratching around for a way out of this ever-deepening hole. True, he has lost plenty of class players to retirement, injury or overseas contracts. He is also being well remunerated. The mood pre-match was acrimonious and will only get worse. The shame of it was this young side showed spirit to fight back from 19-0 down in the first half, particularly after the loss of Adam Beard to injury. There were six points in it at half-time, and Samu Kerevi's red card a minute after the restart should have heartened Wales further. Instead Australia added five tries while a man down against increasingly ragged opposition. The Wallabies hooker Matt Faessler and the player of the match, Tom Wright, both scored hat-tricks. Bring on the Lions next summer.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 18, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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