Grand Slam hopes alive as Faessler and Wright score hat-tricks in Wallabies rout over Wales
The Wallabies have surged halfway towards the coveted ‘grand slam’ on their British Isles tour by consigning hapless Wales to a record-breaking 11th successive Test defeat, a 52-20 thumping in gloom-laden Cardiff.
Queensland hooker Matt Faessler had the day of his rugby life on Monday as he powered over for a hat-trick of tries under the roof at the Principality Stadium, while fullback Tom Wright also flew in for a consummate treble that won him the player-of-the-match award.
Lock Nick Frost and centre Len Ikitau also got on the eight-try to two romp, while Noah Lolesio kicked six conversions, on one of Welsh rugby’s darkest days as they ended up as a weary rabble, put to the sword by the ruthless attacking flair of the Wallabies.
Australia coach Joe Schmidt earned all the bragging rights in his 12th head-to-head with his fellow New Zealander Warren Gatland, whose future as Welsh boss now looks doomed after overseeing the worst ever sequence of losses for a proud rugby nation.
Even when they were down to 14 men for 20 minutes in the second half after a yellow card for Samu Kerevi for a high tackle was upgraded, the Wallabies still scored three tries on a day of humiliation for the Welsh, whose fans were streaming out of the stadium well before the finish.
The Wallabies didn’t even need another Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii super show to gild the lily, with the young centre getting just a 17 minute cameo at the end of the annihilation, which had been inspired by Rob Valetini’s thunderous display in the back row.
So the Australians’ glorious revival marches on, with Schmidt’s men following up their fine win over England with an emphatic triumph that leaves them two wins away from emulating the Mark Ella-inspired class of 40 years ago who achieved the fabled ‘grand slam’.
Even with eight changes in the side, two positionally, Australia were slick and cohesive in attack in the opening stages, with phase after charging phase finally earning its dividend in the 13th minute when the electric Wright weaved past wrong-footed wing Blair Murray to score.
Four minutes later, galloping lock Frost steamed through for another unchallenged after some great snaffling on the ground from Max Jorgensen, the last-gasp Twickenham try-scoring hero, who played a neat reverse pass to launch a counter-attack.
When Faessler then burrowed over from a rolling maul with the Welsh defence in disarray, the third try in just nine minutes, humiliation beckoned for the home side.
But their fire was rekindled when a knock-on gave them their first real attacking platform with No.8 Aaron Wainwright brushing the post as he nabbed the 25th minute try that provided a platform for recovery, and a couple of penalties from Gareth Anscombe made it 13-19 at halftime.
Australia suffered another blow when Kerevi got his card in the first couple of minutes after the break for a reckless high shot on Jac Morgan, yet they brushed off this mini-calamity by only coming on stronger, Faessler powering over from another rolling maul just five minutes later.
Still short-handed with 14, the Wallabies’ forwards just kept roaring forward, with the Queensland Reds hooker Faessler peeling away from the driving maul to plough over for a famous hat-trick, the first ever by a Wallaby hooker.
Wales, now 20 points adrift and desperate, cheered as James Botham, grandson of the great cricketer Ian Botham, edged in for a score in the right hand corner, but it was ruled out for an earlier forward pass.
The Aussies then rubbed it in, with Wright scuttling away all the way to the line from his own 22 after intercepting a Sam Costelow pass – a third try when they were down to 14.
The home side got a crumb of comfort from a second try, scored by centre Ben Thomas, but Ikitau danced through a weary and disorganised defence before Wright grabbed his hat-trick with the final attack of the match.
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