First things first, well done Austrailia. I thought their performance was excellent in every aspect of the game. The front 5 were magnificent, with the likes of Moore even hading out try scoring passes. The backline was dangerous with Giteau and Cooper controlling things wonderfully. They also had a great kicking game and a god defensive display. I knew Aus would pick their game up after last weeks result and all the flak Deans and co have been facing. Aus have a great squad imo, it won't be long before they're really back up there with NZ and SA.
Now on to Wales. The worst performance of Gatland reign imo. It was reminiscent of the time Jenkin was in charge. We had no control of the game, our defense was shocking in places and we were outplayed in every aspect. The first half was worrying, but Aus were playing so well, and all the bounces of the ball going their way, there wasn't a huge amout we could do. In some ways the second half was kinda worse! It's not good that we looked lost in attack, with lone runners trying to either bash or dance their way through the defensive line. Where was the supporting runners, the creativity, the flair that's assiociated with Welsh rugby?
Hopefully some injured players will be back for the 6 nations. However, before the match i didn't look at the starting IV and think it looked bad. I thought it was good enough to win today. The problem was, up front we were destroyed. The Aus scrum was magnificent, and for the first time Paul James was shown up for what he is. The backrow was also comprehensively beaten, with Lydiate a little in the deep end and Williams overpowered (again). We did miss Ryan Jones, but that shows that we need to bring through another no.8. Gareth Delve anyone?
This was painfull viewing, not sure where things have gone wrong. Some iffy selections (Huw Bennette instead of Ken Owens/Gareth Williams. No Daniel Evans of Jason Tovey), still a little lacking in strength in depth (no real replacement for Adam Jones). Our backline isn't clicking atall either. Why? I can't quite say, but it's something that needs working on.
Edit: One big plus was the performance of Warberton when he came on. How long till he's a permanent starter?
