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Talking points as Wales bid to end their search for success Down Under

By PA
Wales' blindside flanker Aaron Wainwright (C) is tackled during the France 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool C match between Wales and Australia at the OL Stadium in Decines-Charpieu near Lyon, south-eastern France on September 24, 2023. (Photo by Francis BOMPARD / AFP) (Photo by FRANCIS BOMPARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Wales kick off their Australia tour on Saturday when they tackle the Wallabies in Sydney.

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Warren Gatland’s team face two Tests followed by an appointment with Queensland Reds as they look to rediscover a winning formula that has deserted them since the 2023 World Cup.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some key talking points heading into the game.

Wales have gone under Down Under

It is 55 years since Wales beat the Wallabies on Australian soil. That 19-16 success at Sydney Cricket Ground in 1969 was secured by a Wales team featuring players like JPR Williams, John Dawes, Barry John and Gareth Edwards, but it has been one-way traffic during 11 subsequent meetings.

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    Wales lost the lot, including sizeable defeats such as 63-6 (1991), 42-3 (1996) and 31-0 (2007), although the last time they visited in 2012 they went down by a combined margin of just three points across the second and third Tests.

    Both nations are in rebuilding mode during the early stages of a four-year World Cup cycle, yet history shows how tough a task Wales face.

    Gatland welcomes reinforcements

    Wales’ opening summer international saw them lose 41-13 against South Africa at Twickenham, but as that game fell outside World Rugby’s fixture schedule window it meant that England-based players Nick Tompkins, Josh Hathaway, Dillon Lewis, Archie Griffin, Dafydd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza and Tommy Reffell were unavailable for selection.

    Gatland can now call on their services again, though, as Wales target a first Test match victory for nine months. Jenkins and Reffell, especially, are cornerstones of the head coach’s pack, and they will have huge roles to play in Sydney, while it will be fascinating to see how uncapped Gloucester back Josh Hathaway fares at the top level.

    Head-to-Head

    Last 5 Meetings

    Wins
    4
    Draws
    0
    Wins
    1
    Average Points scored
    32
    28
    First try wins
    80%
    Home team wins
    60%

    Life after Eddie Jones

    Australia slumped to a World Cup low at the 2023 tournament in France, making a pool stage exit for the first time before head coach Eddie Jones’ reign ended just 10 months into a five-year contract. The former England boss won only two of his nine games in charge, with Wales among those to pile on the misery through a 40-6 World Cup victory in Lyon.

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    Australian rugby chiefs then turned to former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt, who masterminded three Six Nations title triumphs and victories over New Zealand during a success-laden time at the helm, and he is now poised for a first game as Wallabies head coach amid considerable expectation that he can turn things around.

    Ben Thomas moves to number 10

    It is safe to say that Wales’ number 10 shirt is up for grabs. Since Gatland returned for a second stint as Wales head coach ahead of the 2023 Six Nations, Cardiff prospect Thomas will become his sixth different starting fly-half. Dan Biggar has now retired from Test rugby, while the experienced Gareth Anscombe suffered another injury setback during the World Cup.

    Owen Williams, Sam Costelow and Ioan Lloyd have also had chances of varying degrees, and attention now turns to Thomas, who regularly features for Cardiff as a centre. He returns to Test rugby three years after his last Wales appearance, and the stage is his to make a statement.

    Fixture
    Internationals
    Australia
    25 - 16
    Full-time
    Wales
    All Stats and Data

    Aaron Wainwright hits half-century

    Number eight Wainwright will become the latest member of Wales’ 50-cap club when he runs out in Sydney on Saturday, and there can be little doubt about the value he brings to Gatland’s team. Consistency is his trademark, and he has effortlessly filled a position that Taulupe Faletau made his own for many seasons, featuring in two thirds of the Tests Wales have played since he made his debut against Argentina in San Juan six years ago.

    Wainwright’s experience and reliability will be crucial if Wales are to make an impact Down Under, with his work alongside back-row colleagues Reffell and Taine Plumtree being a vital cog in the machinery.

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    J
    JW 3 hours ago
    Where is the new breed of All Black 10?

    Players like Prendergast and Finn Smith already have a few seasons at top club level under their belt and are now test players, at an age when NZ players make their debuts in SR.

    That’s just a difference in standards. You’re confusing SR for being their local domestic comps, where it’s more accurately comparable to Champions Cup, apart from that teams are happy to throw games as it’s in a bit of a limbo in terms of importance atm.


    All these kids have been playing for a comparable NPC team for years now. Sam is no where near ready for tests but he has a great temperament, much like Sextons, that makes it a good choice to speed up his development. He wasn’t even a comparable Super Rugby starter before playing for Ireland, so not a great comparison.


    Fin would be much better example, but then England don’t have 3 world class Test tens in front of him (not that I’d put Beauden their but obviously in terms of young NZ players chances, he is). Would he otherwise have debuted at the same age as Fergus Burke (injury and leaving withstanding), around 24, a couple of years later? England also aren’t as pedantic to who they give jerseys to, in NZ a test jersey is very hard earned for the most part.


    In general I think the effects are as you say, but the only difference is the money involved, as you yourself said, their paths are just as all over the show being loaned out playing for clubs etc. My solution to that, and what you perceive as the problem, would be to introduce university football that utilitizes the large investment they have into high performance sport.

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