Match report:
Full-time at Twickenham: Australia 15-6 Wales
Australia have triumphed and will face Scotland in the next round, while Wales have a date with South Africa. There were no tries in this game, but it was still a real thriller. The passion, strength, brutality and bravery on show from both sets of players was simply mind-boggling. Wales let it get away with them towards the end and will be frustrated that they failed to score against 13 men, but it’s difficult to know what more they could have done in the face of Australia’s incredible refusal to buckle under the most extraordinary pressure.
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80 min: We’re in the final minute of a match in which Australia showed, for one 10 minute period when they were down to 13 men, incredible defensive fortitude. They’ve been too good for Wales today and are going to take some beating in this tournament on the evidence of today’s display.
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Yellow card! Alex Cuthbert is sent to the sin bin
76 min: The Wales winger’s involvement in this game is over and he can’t complain. It was the most blatant deliberate knock-on you will ever see, but the referee sends it upstairs anyway to check whether or not he prevented a certain try-scoring opportunity. It’s decided that he didn’t, so Australia have to settle for a kick at goal instead of a penalty try. Bernard Foley misses it.
75 min: Wales have brought on several replacements, with Rhys Priestland, James Hook, Ross Moriarty, Ken Owens and Aaron Jarvis all on.
Penalty! Australia 15-6 Wales (Foley)
Bernard Foley kicks the points in what could constitute a mental hammer-blow for Wales, who not only failed to score against 13 men, but more or less conceded three points to them. From being cvamped on their own line for over 10 minutes, Australia made it to within five metres of the Wales line, due in no small part to a brilliant run from Israel Folau, who is now hobbling around the field.
70 min: Dean Mumm returns from his spell on the naughty step as Australia prepare to take a penalty for offside straight in front of the Wales posts. After an incredible defensive effort from their 13 men, they’re about to extend their lead by another three points. Wales will be devastated by this.
68 min: More Australian substitutes and it’s hardly surprising considering the epic brutality they’re having to endure. Matt Giteau, Will Genia, Stephen Moore and Drew Mitchell make way for Kurtley Beale, Tatafu Poluta-Nau, Nick Phipps and Matt Toomua. Genia’s period in the sin bin has elapsed, but he’s getting an extended breather.
67 min: Absolutely heroicx defending from 13-man Australia, who again perform miracles to halt an explosive Jamie Roberts burst towards their line and hold the player up. Kane Douglas shows remarkable strength to prevent Roberts from getting over the line there.
63 min: Wales continue to lay siege to the Australia line, desperate to make their numerical advance count. Welsh scrum five yards from the Australian line, after Stephen Moore is ticked off by Craig Joubert for some indiscretion or other being perpetrated by substitute forwards James Slipper and Rob Simmons, who are on for David Pocock and Scott Sio.
62 min: Incredible defending from Australia, who somehow hold George North after Wales had got the ball out wide in a three-on-two and tried to put their centre in at the corner. Ben McCalman performed heroics there to scramble back in defence, hold North up and prevent him from grounding the ball.
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Yellow card! Dean Mumm is sent to the naughty step
60 min: Australia are down to 13 men after losing their second-row for naughtiness at a line-out. Wales have a line-out in the corner just a few yards from the Australian try line and simply have to take advantage of their superiority in numbers. Mumm tackled Alun Wyn Jones in the air and had to walk.
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59 min: No try! TV ref Shaun Veldsman decrees that Faleau failed to ground the ball after losing control of it in the bottom of the ruck. Wales have a penalty instead for an earlier offside in the build-up to that non-try. They kick for the corner.
58 min: Relentless pressure from Wales and Faletau gets over the line at the bottom of a seething mass of humanity, but did he ground the ball or lose control of it?
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Yellow card! Will Genia is in the bin
57 min: Genia gets binned for cynical play as he fails to let Gareth Davies take a quick tap-and-go penalty after another infringement at the breakdown. Moments previously, Davies had charged down an Australian clearing kick from Bernard Foley, but the Australian out-half was able to tidy up.
55 min: Both sides change their tighthead props: Greg Holmes comes into the Australian front row for Sekope Kepu, while Thomas Francis comes on for Samson Lee for Wales.
53 min: Australians may criticise Poms for whinging all the time, but their own captain Stephen Moore is well able to do it too. He’s constantly in the referee’s ear, moaning about England killing his team’s play, which you could say is a mite foolhardy coming from a man who has already cost his side three points with an act of petulance.
52 min: Wales try to get the ball out wide, but Jamie Roberts’s pass is wayward. Scott Fardy was the victim of Faletau’s illegal neck-roll, by the way. We’ve had a lot of players get penalised for that offence in this World Cup, which is understandable considering how dangerous it is. Turnover stat: Australia 4-4 Wales. Try stat: Australia 0-0 Wales.
Penalty! Australia 12-6 Wales (Foley)
Bernard Foley adds another three points to his tally with another big kick.
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49 min: Wales turnover, just inside their own 22. Andre Joubert asks for the clock to be stopped and after consulting with his touch judge, penalises Taulupe Faletau for a neck roll. Penalty for Australia under the Welsh posts but a long way out, but Faletau doesn’t end up in the sin bin.
48 min: Alex Cuthbert is foiled by an unlucky series of bounces as he attempts to gather a kick over the Wales defence, allowing Australia to make about 50 yards through the centre when Israel Folau catches his own kick. Australia make the first substitution of the game, sending on Ben McCalman on for Sean McMahon.
45 min: George North’s thighs pump like pistons as he advances towards the halfway line. Wales Gareth Hanscombe finds Taulupe Faletau with a splendid offload and the Wales No8 sprints up the touchline, only for David Pocock to put a stop to his gallop.
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43 min: Australia take a quick line-out and kick long after an Alex Cuthbert knock-on.
42 min: Wales line-out halfway inside the Australia half. Scott Baldwin throws in the ball, which Alun Wyn-Jones wins cleanly. Wales make their way towards the Australia 22.
41 min: Bernard Foley kicks long and Dan Biggar catches the ball. Drew Mitchell is up remarkably quickly, but is made to look foolish as Biggar passes outside just as he arrives to tackle him. Wales clear their lines after a ferocious start from Australia.
Australia get the second half under way at Twickenham
We go again, after an often attritional first half in which we’ve seen little of the expansive running that characterised much of the Scotland-Samoa match. Hats off to Wales, mind. They’ve done well to keep things tight, hold the ball up in the tackle and prevent the Wallabies from getting the ball out their back line.
They’ve got to be very happy with that and could win this game if they cut out the silly errors at the breakdown. A quick reminder: the winners of this match will play Scotland in the last eight, while the losers get South Africa.
Half-time at Twickenham: Australia 9-6 Wales
Australia go in with a slender lead. Both teams have been fairly careless around the breakdown, often giving away dim-witted penalties for silly foul play. Wales will need more discipline in the second half if they are to prevail. One can’t help but feel they could become even more indisciplined as brains and bodies begin to tire.
40 min: Another Welsh infringement at the breakdown leads to a penalty for Australia inside their own half, 56 metres from the Welsh goal. Matt Giteau reckons it’s within his range, but his effort falls a mite short.
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40 min: Naughty Will Genia! He comes in at the side like a child stealing sweets, but gets caught with his hand in the jar. Wales have a penalty in front of the posts, a fair distance out, but Dan Biggar misses. His twitchy pre-kick routine is worth the price of admission alone.
Penalty! Australia 9-6 Wales (Foley)
36 min: Wales concede another penalty just outside their own 22 and Foley does the honours again. Wales No8 Taulupe Falateau just couldn’t help himself as he saw the ball lying on the ground and strayed offside. Referee Andre Joubert warns Wales captain Sam Warburton that “the trend” of conceding penalty after penalty in the same area cannot continue. He says the next Welsh player who does it will go in the bin.
Penalty! Australia 6-6 Wales (Biggar)
32 min: Wales win a penalty, which is advanced 10 metres into kicking range when their captain Stephen Moore gives the referee some lip. Biggar pings it between the posts.
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Penalty! Australia 6-3 Wales (Foley)
Foley slots the ball over from a position right of centre. Wales won’t be too concerned - Australia probably should have come through that spell of dominance with seven points.
29 min: Wales look to have turned the ball over as Australia laid siege on their line, but Tipiric is penalised again, this time for going off his feet. Australia have a penalty on the Wales 22 and decide to go for the three points this time.
26 min: Justin Tipiric is penalised for going in at the side of the ruck and Australia have a penalty on the halfway line. They kick for position, win the line-out and advance into the Welsh 22. Andre Joubert sticks up his arm and Wales are penalised for collapsing the maul. Rather than take three points, Australia make a big call to kick for the line-out and try to get over the line ...
26 min: Following a ropey start, Australia are starting to dominate in the scrums now. Samson Lee has got twisted this way and that by Scott Sio in the last two set-pieces and is looking very uncomfortable.
Penalty! Australia 3-3 Wales (Foley)
Australia go back and take the penalty, which is duly slotted from a tough-ish angle by Bernard Foley. It’s all square after 25 minutes.
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22 min: There’s a break in play as Paul James gets a cut above his eye tended too. A scrum on the Wales 22 leads to a scrum penalty for Australia, should they want it. Scott Sio absolutely monstered Samson Lee in that scrum. The Welsh prop just popped up like a jack in the box.
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20 min: Good defence by Wales as Australia attack up the blind side. Charteris wins the ensuing line-out after Australia were shoved out of play and Gareth Davies kicks clear.
18 min: Wales have had a whopping 82% of the territory thus far, a statistic that isn’t reflected on the scoreboard. THey’re on the back foot at the moment, with Bernard Foley kicking for touch after Wales were penalised for not releasing. Australia make their way into the Welsh 22 for the first time in the contest.
16 min: There have been some brutal hits already in this game, the pick of them a particularly jarring tackle by Sean McMahon on Dan Biggar, that could have knocked the Wales No10 into the middle of next week.
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14 min: Luke Charteris comes through the maul to get up close and personal with Australia skipper Stephen Moore and win the turnover for Wales. Good defence from the second row forward, who wins the scrum for his team when Australia were dominating, driving them backwards and on an apparently relentless march towards the Welsh line.
13 min: Another scrum, which Australia dominate to win themselves a penalty and clear their lines.
11 min: A scrum on the Australia five for Wales and Gareth Davies is tackled by his opposite number Will Genia before he can get the ball away. Australia win the ensuing scrap for the ball, but referee Joubert spots a forward pass.
8 min: Apologies, in all the excitement I forgot to mention that the penalty from which Wales took the lead was for Australia’s failure to roll away. Wales continue to pile on the pressure, about seven yards from the Australia line. “Ball trapped!” announces referee Andre Joubert, as Wales get the put-in.
7 min: The sight of the Welsh pack more than holding their own against the Australians in the scrum will be heartwarming for Welsh fans, who might have been concerned that they’d be dominated. Their whole team has got off to a great start, while Australia have thus far failed to settle.
Penalty! Australia 0-3 Wales (Biggar)
4 min: Dan Biggar puts Wales ahead with as easy a penalty as he’ll ever kick, practically in front of the posts. Biggar had previously tried to put Alex Cuthbert in at the corner with a cross-field kick, but put too much welly on the ball and the ref called the players back for an advantage.
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2 min: It does eventually and Wales nick the ball when the scrum breaks up. They get the ball out wide and George North goes over for what looks like a try, but he’s held up. Five yard scrum for Wales. What a start!
Wales kick off against Australia at Twickenham ...
1 min: Matt Giteau clears Australia’s lines to give Wales a line-out, which they promptly make a mess of. Scrum for Australia not too far inside their own half. Will genia puts the ball in and the scrum doesn’t budge!
Not long now ...
The teams line up in the tunnel looking very tense indeed, then make their way out on to the Twickenham sward ahead of the pre-match formalities. A rendition of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the first of them and will be followed by Advance Australia Fair.
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Everything to play for at Twickenham
Scotland’s win against Samoa means that the winners of this game will face them in the quarter-final, while the losers will play South Africa. It’s probably fair to say that, despite South Africa’s defeat at the hands of Japan, Scotland are the more attractive proposition as quarter-final opponents. But as well as giving us all a good laugh, Japan’s win against South Africa shows it would be foolish to write off anyone left in the last eight.
Scotland have beaten Samoa
My word, that was an absolutely terrific game of rugby! Samoa’s players look bereft as they lose 36-33 to Scotland, who will play Wales or Australia in a Twickenham quarter-final next weekend. Congratulations to Scotland, commiserations to Samoa after an incredible effort and heartfelt sympathies to Japan too. They’ve brought so much to the World Cup party, but no longer have any chance of getting out of their pool, despite their splendid efforts to date.
Samoa score a try!!!
Wow! Squeaky bum time for Scotland, as Samoa reduce the deficit to three points with two minutes to go.
Meanwhile at St James' Park ...
A mightily relieved Greg Laidlaw has just scored and converted a try to put Scotland 10 points ahead of Samoa in the closing minutes of what has been a real thriller of a game. You can follow the last five minutes of that contest by visiting Dan Lucas’s rolling report. If Scotland can hang on, they’ll go through to the quarter-finals. Spare a thought for Japan, who - should they beat USA tomorrow - will become the first team in Rugby World Cup history to win three pool games and not qualify for the quarter-finals.
Today's match officials
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referee: Jerome Garces (France)
Assistant referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Rugby World Cup power rankings ...
Wales team news
Warren Gatland has made six changes to the team that beat Fiji. Gareth Anscombe comes in at full back, while Liam Williams is back from concussion on the left wing. His inclusion means George North moves inside to replace Tyler Morgan at outside centre.
Up front, props Paul James and Samson Lee will start against the Wallabies, while Luke Charteris will scrum down in the second row. Justin Tipuric starts as openside flanker and captain Sam Warburton moves to blindside.
Still suffering soreness from an injured eye socket, Dan Lydiate does not feature in the Welsh matchday 23, where Ross Moriarty will provide back-row cover from the bench.
Wales team to face Australia
Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Liam Williams (Scarlets), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Paul James (Ospreys), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (capt, Cardiff Blues), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).
Replacements Ken Owens (Scarlets), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Priestland (Bath Rugby), James Hook (Gloucester Rugby).
Australia team news
Australia have made three changes to the team that humbled England last weekend. In the pack, Dean Mymm replaces Rob Simmons at lock, while Sean McMahon will hunker down at openside flanker in place of Michael Hooper, who is forced to sit out a one-match ban. Behind them, Drew Mitchell comes in for injured winger Rob Horne. Coach Michael Cheika delayed naming his team until Thursday afternoon, after full-back Israel Folau passed a late fitness test.
Australia team to face Wales
Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Dean Mumm, Scott Fardy, Sean McMahon, David Pocock.
Replacements Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.
Australia v Wales preamble
With England out of contention after losing to both these sides, Australia and Wales go toe-to-toe at Twickenham knowing their passage to the final eight is already secure. However, both nations are fielding strong sides in the hope of topping Pool A and securing a smoother passage through the second half of the tournament. The winners of this afternoon’s game will face Scotland or Japan in the quarter-finals, while the losers will move into the same half of the draw as South Africa and New Zealand. Kick-off is at 4.45pm BST, but we’ll be here with any late team news and build-up from 4pm.
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