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Kurtley Beale plays inspirational role as Wallabies start UK tour with 25-16 win over Wales
- From correspondents in Cardiff, Wales
- From AFP
- November 07, 2010 4:00AM
Kurtley Beale inspired Australia to a 25-16 triumph over Wales at the Millennium Stadium as the Wallabies began their UK tour with a comfortable win.
The in-form fullback scored a crucial second-half try and almost snatched a second as the Wallabies put Wales to the sword with a clinical second-half performance.
David Pocock put the visitors in the driving seat thanks to an early try but a spirited Wales gave as good as they got and went into halftime trailing by just a point, 7-6 down.
But a fired-up Wallabies side snatched two second-half tries thanks to Beale and Ben Alexander to make it two out of two after last week's victory over the All Blacks.
Wales coach Warren Gatland said that he hadn't been displeased by all he had seen but there was work to do ahead of a clash with world champions South Africa.
"There was a number of positives for us. I thought we scrummaged well and the line-out was good," he said.
"But there was a couple of costly turnovers and kicks at goal in the first half that made it tough for us. It's mixed emotions for me.
"We wanted to really take them on up front at scrum time and we wanted to be very direct.
"We knew how creative Australia were but they have scored points from a couple of costly turnovers. But if we had been accurate and taken our kicks at goal then it could have been a different story.
"I thought the bench were pretty good in the way they came on and give us that impetus.
"South Africa will be really tough but we have to work hard and make sure we cut out those critical errors."
Man of the match Beale said that he was pleased he had fulfilled coach Robbie Deans' instructions.
"I was just happy to play my part for the team. Robbie gave me a job to do and I was very pleased with my performance," said Beale.
"There's a lot of young guys in the team and we're all pretty close. It's a great feeling to win. Hopefully that can continue."
Veteran Stephen Jones opened the scoring for the hosts after just two minutes but it was Australia who grabbed the first try. After a sustained period of pressure the ball appeared to be turned-over, but Pocock crashed over.
James O'Connor converted to give the Wallabies an early 7-3 lead. With a dominant set-piece Wales were showing plenty of attacking intent but were unable to convert their opportunities.
With 31 minutes on the clock, Jones landed his second penalty to pull Wales to within one point.
Shortly before the interval the Wallabies looked to have clinched a crucial try but Beale was penalised for a double movement and the scores remained the same.
But Beale was not to be denied a second time and grabbed his try after 47 minutes.
Wales were turned over at the break-down and Beale cleared but his kick bounced off Alun Wyn Jones and straight in to the hands of Will Genia. Genia released the ball to O'Connor who tour up the touch-line, sucking in Shane Williams and James Hook, and returned the ball to Beale to score.
Jones added a further penalty before Beale almost grabbed a second try. It was a moment of brilliance by the fullback who beat Mike Phillips to regather his own up and under and grubbered past Hook only to spill the ball over the line.
Australia added a third try after Bradley Davies was stripped of possession. The ball was spread wide to Drew Mitchell who bounced off two defenders.
The ball was recycled and Quade Cooper threw a long pass to O'Connor who put Alexander over to score in the corner. O'Connor missed his touch-line conversion but soon made amends with a penalty to give the visitors a commanding 22-9 lead.
Wales grabbed a late consolation try thanks to Richie Rees but O'Connor put the result beyond doubt with a second penalty to give the visitors a 25-16 win.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wa...-1225948886704
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