Daugunu double helps Wallabies thwart Wales in Melbourne thriller

Filipo Daugunu’s two tries helped condemn Wales to a ninth-straight defeat as they were beaten 36-28 by Australia in Melbourne in the second Test on Saturday.

Winger Daugunu finishing a length-of-the-field attack and James Gordon punishing an error put the Wallabies in the ascendancy at AAMI Park in the first half, with the driving maul proving a big weapon for Wales as Dewi Lake hit back with two tries for the visitors.

Noah Lolesio’s kicking helped Australia into a 23-14 lead at half-time, but the lead was cut to two in the 47th minute as Liam Williams finished. Nevertheless, Allan Alaalatoa’s first try for his country restored some comfort for the hosts.

Another piece of Daugunu magic with 12 minutes to go looked to have ended hopes of a comeback before Rio Dyer found a way over following the restart, but it ultimately proved too big of a mountain to climb as Wales remained winless in Australia since 1969.

Story of the game

Wales, featuring four changes to the side which lost the first Test in Sydney, made a positive start to the contest, but were unable to capitalise on those early good moments and fell behind to a stunning length-of-the-field attack from the hosts in the seventh minute.

Starting close to their own line, the Wallabies moved the ball to the left and then a successful chip and chase from Andrew Kellaway splintered the defensive line. Fraser McReight then took the ball up and his well-timed offload to support runner Daugunu saw the winger finish in style.

Lolesio converted and added a penalty seven minutes later after Australia had kept the ball for 21 phases, with Ben Thomas missing the chance to put Wales on the board soon after the restart from a shot at goal.

The tourists fought back after this and came close to hitting back with a try of their own, only to have James Botham forced into touch and then Taine Plumtree held up over the line after Australia botched the resulting lineout.

Yet while Warren Gatland’s side were unable to make the most of those opportunities, Australia did not waste their next when it came along in the 25th minute as scrum-half Gordon capitalised on Cameron Winett fumbling a box-kick and pounced on the loose ball to race away and finish.

This time though, the response from Wales was immediate as they surged up field from the restart and got a powerful maul rolling forward from a lineout for hooker Lake to dot down followed by Thomas adding the extras.

Despite Lolesio slotting over another penalty, Wales were able to close to within a converted score on the back of Lukhan Salakaia-Loto being sin-binned – and avoiding a red card on review – for high contact on Archie Griffin as they set up another drive for Lake to finish four minutes before the break.

Fly-half Lolesio’s third penalty on the stroke of half-time gave Australia more breathing space, but the gap was closed to just two points within seven minutes of the restart as Wales worked the ball through 14 phases and sent winger Williams racing through a gap for a converted score.

Once again though, the Australians were able to restore a seven-point advantage when prop Alaalatoa forced his way over from a pick and go for an unconverted try on 54 minutes and when Daugunu grabbed his second, sprinting to recover the ball after Williams had prevented the hosts from finding touch from a penalty and leaving the defence for dust, it looked to be game over.

Dyer had other ideas though, seizing a chance after Christ Tshiunza blocked Nic White’s box-kick and squeezing over in the corner followed by Sam Costelow converting. There was to be not fairytale ending though and replacement Ben Donaldson settled any jangling nerves for the Wallabies with a late penalty.

‘A lot more positives for Wales’

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton, speaking on Sky Sports:

“I’m actually happy. Some people might be thinking: ‘You’ve lost three games in a row!’ but we know Wales aren’t in a position to realistically come out here and put Australia to the sword twice.

“We want to see growth in combinations, in young players.

“There was a lot more positives from Wales. Their attack was so much better this week.

“The bench brought a lot of impact. International rugby is all about resilience, and I saw that from the young players today.”

Former Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, speaking on Sky Sports:

“Ultimately, we have to be careful how we package this up, because it’s still a loss, but what was in there, there’s enough to get wins.

“We can talk about the middle third and missed opportunities. It’s still a loss, but there are players there who are capable of winning and winning Test games.

“They will be harsh on themselves. We have to package up all the positives but we wouldn’t be doing the team justice if we didn’t highlight where they can work on.”

Gatland: This is going to be a really good team

Wales head coach Warren Gatland, speaking to Sky Sports:

“We worked so hard for our points today, and we’re probably showing a bit of inexperience just in terms of how we gifted them points and that was disappointing. They didn’t have to work hard for a lot of points.

“We kept trying, had a chance to win the game. We have to learn from these experiences and be more accurate in these moments at this level.

“I know how young the group is in terms of caps, but I’m telling you this is going to be a really good team.”

Wales captain Dewi Lake, speaking to Sky Sports:

“Losing is always a bitter pill to swallow, especially when you put such hard work in to get back in the game. Unfortunately, we did that to ourselves, going too far down and giving ourselves a mountain to climb.

“Credit to the boys again, we dug deep, but it feels like the same message again. We have to take our opportunities. We have that never-say-die attitude.”

What’s next?

Wales’ attention now turns to the Autumn Internationals, which see them face Fiji (November 10), Australia (November 17) and South Africa (November 23) in Cardiff.