Wales have not beaten Australia since 2008 but Warren Gatland is hoping the Wallabies do his side a rare good turn by defeating England at Twickenham this Saturday, thus knocking the hosts out of their own tournament and putting the men in red through to the last eight.
Wales moved to the top of the pool with a hard-fought 23-13 victory over Fiji at the Millennium Stadium but they failed to secure a bonus point. An England victory on Saturday would leave Gatland’s side needing to overcome Australia on the final day of the pool stage to progress to the quarter-finals.
“Australia can do us a favour, that’s for sure,” said the Wales head coach, Gatland, who for once did not have to report that players had to be ruled out of the tournament through injury, although the flanker Dan Lydiate was being assessed after suffering eye-socket damage. Dan Biggar limped off with cramp.
“I am not sure that, as a New Zealander, I can see myself jumping up and down in support of the Aussies. I think I may be neutral. It will be a cup final for England because they cannot afford to lose. Having your backs to the wall can sometimes have a galvanising effect and they will be thinking that if they win then they have Uruguay to come and will fancy a bonus point victory against them.
“A team in this group can potentially miss out on the quarter-finals having won three matches. That shows just how tough this pool is and I was pleased with the victory over Fiji five days after we played at Twickenham. We dominated the first half and again showed physical and mental strength. It may be that we need to have a light training schedule next week and that is something I shall be discussing with the conditioning team.”
The Wales captain, Sam Warburton, paid tribute to Fiji, whose final game next week against Uruguay will decide who finishes at the bottom of the pool.
“They have put England, Australia and us under pressure and I was worried Warren was going to take me off in the first half because I was running slowly and exhausted,” he said. “It was one of the toughest games I have ever played in and I am delighted to have won.”
The Fiji head coach, John McKee, said he could not call Saturday’s game at Twickenham. “We are frustrated not to have a point having played well against three of the best teams in the world and the players deserve every credit. England’s game against Australia will be interesting, a big battle that will be closer than the game between them last November.”
