This game was an absolute blockbuster; the anticipation had been building since Wales’s victory over Georgia on Monday. Wales broke the 13 game hoodoo Australia had over them in Cardiff in November 2018 in a turgid affair which saw Wales squeeze through 9-6; this game was the polar opposite of that match.  Wales and Aaron Wainwright started out like a house on fire; Wainwright made the first big hit from Dan Biggar’s kick off and then backed this up with a turnover after a counter ruck from the pack. Biggar, then turned this into three points by a rarely spotted Drop Goal. Wales maintained this pace, Wainwright was again at the fore after 2 minutes to make a crucial hit on Dane Heylett Petty, which saw the Wallaby 15 knock on, from this turnover Wales launched an attack down the left wing, danger man Josh Adams burst into the Australian 22 and a breakdown penalty was conceded by Australia.

Wales were playing with purpose and speed, Biggar was controlling play nicely and Australia’s back row were unable to either steal or slow down any ball. Welsh fans had more to cheer after Biggar executed a pinpoint cross field kick for Hadleigh Parkes to dot down after winning the aerial battle. Gareth Davies was causing chaos in defence for Wales with him using his exceptional speed to blitz every Wallaby attack, this was disrupting a lot of the ball Australia were managing to win. Justin Tipuric was chop tackling like his Ospreys team mate Dan Lydiate circa 2012 and Josh Navidi was battling for every inch in defence and attack.

Australia had their own purple patch, with veteran wing Adam Ashley Cooper scoring after a scintillating  attack, then the drama increased further. Biggar was shining bright in a key game which underlines his big game player reputation, was hit late by Australian captain Michael Hooper. Biggar seemed to be rocked by this hit and the slow motion replay indicated that this could be a yellow card offence. Particularly, as not only was the hit late, but high and the use of arms was minimal to say the least. After numerous replays and conversation, French Referee Romain Poite decided that a card was not warrented and awarded Wales a penalty for Hooper’s indiscretion. Now, if you look at the Red card issued by Wayne Barnes in this morning’s Uruguay v Georgia game you would think that Hooper was a lucky man to still be on the pitch after this incident. Wales then lost Biggar after he sustained a head injury stopping the man mountain Samu Kerevi, who looked to be on his way to another Wallaby score. Biggar went off for a HIA and did not return, Rhys Patchell came on to replace him.

Australia started to grow into the game, then Gareth Davies stepped up,literally, another trade mark blitz when Will Genia pondered at a breakdown saw Davies intercept, the jet heeled scrum half was not caught on his way to the line. Davies has a habit of scoring crucial group stage tries in World Cups, his performance today was relentless and his decision making has improved significantly. His performances have improved since Tomos Williams has come back into the team after his injury over the summer. Wales were 23-8 up at the break.

At half time, Australian pundits were hailing the referee’s performance as embarrassing due to what they felt was poor adjudicating of the scrum, Hooper’s tackle and more importantly they felt that Gareth Davies was ‘at least three yards offside’ prior to his interception. As far as the laws of the game go, Poite had no choice but to penalise Hooper, scrums are always a lottery and the photo below Davies was comfortably onside prior to Genia taking three steps to pass. Davies did not need a second invitation to go for this.

Wales started the second half as they started the first, Patchell got a drop goal of his own after a minute and he enjoyed a confident performance in the cauldron like atmosphere. Australia were playing with a greater sense of urgency from the get go in this half. Bernard Foley was replaced by Matt Toomua, who had an instant impact in sending Heylett Petty over and adding the conversion. Painful memories of the 13 consecutive defeats, many of which came in close encounters were creeping into the Welsh supporter’s minds, but Gatland’s men held firm. Wainwright was replaced by Ross Moriarty having carried and tackled himself to a standstill.

Wales struggled to gain possession off the Wallabies, with their forwards driving and recycling numerous phases. Then Poite had another key decision to make as Kerevi was accused of leading into Rhys Patchell’s throat with his forearm. Hooper was buzzing around Poite like an annoying Wasp at a BBQ stating Kerevi’s case. Kerevi was penalised with a penalty, but as David Flatman pointed out on ITV commentary, Kerevi thought he was going off for 10 minutes,a he had already placed his gumshield into his sock. I think Welsh fans judgement was also impacted by the memory of Kerevi starching Halfpenny in the November clash, which resulted in Halfpenny having a battle with post-concussion syndrome.

Alun Wyn Jones was now standing head and shoulders above any forward on the pitch, making tackle after tackle for his sides cause. Jones became the most capped Welsh player off all time today winning his 130^th cap, he played like it was his first… although I don’t think he would fancy playing at 6 anymore like he did against Argentina in 2006 on his debut. Patchell then slotted a key penalty, to take Wales into a 29-25 lead. This came after Hooper was driven over for a score which Toomua converted. Wales infringed three times during this sequence and a yellow card seemed to be coming their way, the score seemed to distract Poite from this and Wales escaped with 15 men.

Wales clung on admirably to claim a monumental win; Monumental for many reasons, but the mental factor is what I feel is most important here. Wales had horrendous memories from clashes with Australia through the Gatland era, this was not helped by the frequency these sides have faced each other. The monkey came off Welsh backs in November and today they were able to back this up with a highly spirited performance. The 1 % differences told today. Owen Watkin came on and ripped the ball of Kerevi in a phase of play where it looked like Australia were going to score. Watkin continues to improve and his cool head and strength was vital when he replaced Parkes today. Tomos Williams came on and played his usual game, there was no drop in intensity when Williams replaced Man of the Match Gareth Davies. Williams struck a blow to the Wallabies when he used his acrobatic skills to push a Toomua penalty back into play without touching the ground. Again the Treorchy man’s Basketball skills were evident. Then at the end and on one leg following a rolled Ankle, Liam Williams won the turnover which allowed Wales to run the clock out for victory.

On Monday, Wales had three players who came of age, today they had 23 players who put their Australian issue to bed. In this 23,there are unique stories of how the players made it to the top level, Aaron Wainwright who two years ago was playing BUCS Rugby for Cardiff Metropolitan University, played like a future British Lion and belied his lack of experience. Gareth Davies who at times has been accused of being erratic set the pace for Wales in attack and Defence and richly deserved his man of the match performance. Wales have two of the most dynamic scrum halves in the tournament, who allow Wales to continue to play at a very high pace for the full 80 minutes. But the key performance for me today was from Rhys Patchell, he had a nightmare season last year, with his much publicised battles with concussion leading to him losing form and confidence. The Concussion he sustained in Dublin in the summer must have led to the ex- Glantaf pupil fearing the worst. He did not look out of place today when he was thrust into the spotlight today, he steered the ship and kicked the crucial points to take us out of the reach of Australia.

‘ We have got a break and i would like to see the Boys celebrating and they deserve to pat themselves on the back…. But we have only won two games at the moment,(we need to) make sure we do a job for the other games, which we think will be tough’

Warren Gatland speaks to the media following today’s victory. Wales now have a 10 day break, before they play Fiji in the penultimate Pool D game.

This was a good Wales performance, but they will be putting in the work on the scrum machine this week as they look to solidify their scrum before the remaining games. The key takeaway from the game for me is that Wales can believe they can win against anyone in this competition. The confidence is back and Wales still have room to improve. Interesting times in Welsh Rugby again.