Plan B Forum

HAVING already matched the achievements of JPR, Gerald, Gareth, Barry and Merv once this year, Sam Warburton’s men have the chance to do so once again in Brisbane today.

Only once in their history have Wales beaten the Wallabies on Aussie soil.

That was back in June 1969 when Brian Price led his team to a famous 19-16 victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The bulk of that victorious Welsh side were to go on to establish themselves as 1970s legends, winning three Grand Slams in the space of seven years.

That’s a record which Warburton’s team replicated earlier this year, the 2012 Six Nations clean sweep supplementing those completed in 2005 and 2008.

The next question is whether they can make another slice of history by ending 43 years of hurt in Oz.

Wales have played Australia eight times on Wallaby turf since that 1969 triumph and lost on every occasion.

Not even the 1978 side which claimed the third of the Seventies Slams were successful, losing each of the Tests they played.

That team had the likes of JPR, Gerald and JJ in their ranks, as well as the Pontypool front row of Faulkner, Windsor and Price, but they still slipped up.

It was a bad-tempered two-Test showdown, with skipper Terry Cobner threatening to take his team off the field in the first Test at Ballymore after the referee warned he would dismiss Geoff Wheel.

That bruising Brisbane encounter ended in an 18-8 defeat, while the second Test in Sydney was an even more painful affair in more ways than one.

Depleted by injuries, Wales fielded full-back JPR Williams at flanker, while they lost Graham Price during the game, when he had his jaw broken by opposing prop Steve Finnane.

Yet they still would have won were it not for an infamous Paul McLean drop goal that was awarded, to give the hosts a 19-17 victory, despite seeming to go well wide of the posts.

Since that notorious ‘78 tour, Wales have been back to Oz to try their hand against the Wallabies in 1991, 1996, 2003 and 2007, each with the identical losing outcome.

In 2012 they are back again. But this time, things appear to be very different.

Not since 1978 have they travelled Down Under with such expectation upon them and not since then have they had such a realistic chance of success.

Wales have arrived in Australia as European champions, on the back of six straight victories. They also have a virtual clean bill of fitness, skipper Sam Warburton and centres Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams having recovered fitness to line up in today’s first Test at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

In contrast, the Wallabies have been hit by a string of injuries to key men, with James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper and skipper James Horwell missing.

The hosts have also had just about the worst possible preparation, having been handed a ludicrous schedule of two Tests in five days.

That was always an accident waiting to happen and so it proved on Tuesday night when Robbie Deans’ men lost 9-6 to Scotland in horizontal rain at Newcastle, north of Sydney.

Today they face significantly tougher opposition, with just a couple of training sessions to gel together a side that shows no fewer than nine changes and with the pressure mounting on under-fire Kiwi coach Deans.

By way of comparison, Wales’ preparation has been pretty spot on.

The decision to send an advance party of 16 players out last week had provoked some debate in terms of the impact it would have on the team to face the Barbarians at the Millennium Stadium.

But it has undoubtedly been vindicated. The strength in depth of the current squad was demonstrated by a largely second-string side beating the Baa-Baas, while the Test team to face the Wallabies have had time to adjust to the different time zone and prepare methodically.



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynatio ... z1xGWIatH7

Wales Under-20s inflicted the first defeat on New Zealand's Baby Blacks for four years in South Africa.

Coach Danny Wilson's side recorded a historic 9-6 win over the reigning junior world champions at the Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch.

Fly-half Matthew Morgan and wing Tom Prydie scored Wales' points in terrible conditions.

Prydie's second half penalty in the driving rain proved the difference between the teams.

Fly-half Scott Eade kicked two of his five penalties for New Zealand.

New Zealand U20s had not lost in 21 games in the International Rugby Board's annual Under-20s championship and were the reigning champions.

They had cruised to a 63-0 victory over Samoa in their opener and had set their sights on a fifth consecutive world title.

But Wales' stout defence in atrocious wind and torrential rain frustrated the Baby Blacks who famously recorded a record-breaking 92-0 win over Wales in the same tournament last season in Italy.

Mark Taylor, the Wales Under-20s manager, who was in the first Wales senior side to beat South Africa in 1999, did not hide the importance of the victory.

"It was immense," said Taylor. "It is probably one of the biggest wins I have ever been associated with.

"It's just an outstanding result. Whenever you play New Zealand you know you are in for a really tough time

"But the boys played the conditions superbly well, held their discipline and got a tremendous result.

"We are over the moon but know we cannot let ourselves down later on in this tournament by failing to qualify by not beating Samoa."

The Ospreys fly-half, Matthew Morgan, landed one of his four first-half penalties to make it 6-3 to the New Zealanders at half-time.

After the break, the Welsh defence frustrated the Kiwis before Prydie took control of kicking duties from Morgan to land his 65th penalty to secure a famous victory.

Wales remain unbeaten in the competition after they beat Fiji 44-18 in the tournament opener. They play Samoa at the University of Western Cape Stadium on 12 June.

and the Cleveland Indians offer some slight solace.

The ACT Brumbies have a cold and brutal warning for Wales if its preparing for an easy contest tonight: ''We're playing to win''.

And while midweek matches are supposed to be a good chance for international touring teams to stretch their legs in a not-too-taxing way, two ACT rugby greats have delivered a reminder that won't be the case at Canberra Stadium.

After losing to the Wallabies in Brisbane four days ago, Wales will be desperate to restore some pride against the Brumbies.


But while the capital has been a relatively frequent stop for Wales in the past 35 years, it hasn't been a happy hunting ground.

In Wales's three visits to Canberra, the ACT has won twice.

The home team's victory in 1978 was one of the greatest upsets in the history of provincial sides taking on international visitors.

Canberra club great Peter O'Neill still remembers barging over for the only try of the game in the ACT's 21-20 triumph at Manuka Oval.

Playing against arguably the strongest team in the world at the time, the ACT shocked Wales when fullback Dominic O'Connell slotted a goal after full-time.

O'Neill, a Daramalan and Gungahlin legend, was just 19 and taking on some of the best players in international rugby.

''When we won, the crowd came out on to the field and ran to us, they wanted our autographs and not the Welsh,'' O'Neill, now 54, said.

''We couldn't believe it. The Welsh had some big names and we couldn't figure out why they wanted us. The Welsh players didn't want a bar of us, they had the shits, especially with someone like the ACT beating them … it's a great memory.''

The Welsh won on their return visit in 1991.

The ACT Brumbies have a cold and brutal warning for Wales if its preparing for an easy contest tonight: ''We're playing to win''.

Wales 25 - 15 Brumbies!!

Will tell all later.

Lord Jim wrote:

Wales 25 - 15 Brumbies!!

Will tell all later.

Could you make it quick? The suspense is killing me....

ACT Brumbies 15-25 Wales
Brumbies (6) 15

Pens: Holmes 5

Wales (19) 25

Tries: Hook, Tipuric, AW Jones
Cons: Hook 2
Pens: Hook 2

Wales' midweek side beat ACT Brumbies on Tuesday to give caretaker coach Rob Howley plenty to think about for selection ahead of the second Test.

James Hook scored the opening try, kicked well and showed impressive game control, although the fly-half was helped by a dominant Wales pack.

Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones tries gave Wales a 19-6 half-time lead.

Zack Holmes kicked all Brumbies' points as the home side hit back after the break but Hook's boot kept Wales clear.

Brumbies had struck first with a Holmes penalty after 10 minutes, but were only holding Wales at bay thanks to some committed tackling.

But the tourists were bossing the set-piece in Canberra, Paul James in particular giving rival prop Scott Sio a lesson, and giving the platform for Wales' backline to flourish.

A flowing move took Wales to within touching distance of the Brumbies try line and Hook took lock Ben Hand, skippering Brumbies, on the outside to score before converting his own try.

A thumping tackle from Josh Turnbull saw Brumbies spill possession and Wales pounced on the counter-attacking chance to claim a second try soon after.

A fine angle saw Ashley Beck scythe through the middle of the Australian defence and open-side Tipuric was on his shoulder to ensure another seven-pointer.

Ospreys seven Tipuric was part of a breakaway unit that was making life miserable for Brumbies, who were struggling to gain any quick ball from the breakdown.

Aaron Shingler had played his part in the back-row effort but the Scarlet had to depart to the blood-bin for attention, allowing Gareth Delve to make his first appearance in a Wales shirt for more than two years.

The Melbourne Rebels captain was called into the Wales squad after fellow number eight Toby Faletau broke his hand in the closing moments of the first Test.

Holmes cut the deficit to 14-6 with his second penalty, although the Brumbies fly-half had hit the post with an earlier effort.

But Wales increased their lead thanks to another storming Beck run that saw the Ospreys centre pulled down just short, allowing captain Alun Wyn Jones to pick up and dive over for an unconverted try.

Lock Jones did not emerge for the second half, with Ian Evans coming on for his first tour appearance after delaying his Australia departure to get married.

Wales were also forced into another change as Alex Cuthbert, Wales' try-scorer in the first Test, replaced Aled Brew after the wing felt the effects of a heavy tackle.

Brumbies reorganised after the break and at last started to make some headway against the Welsh defence.

Open-side Colby Faingaa came closest to getting a Brumbies try but while Wales kept their line intact they did concede penalties under pressure.

Holmes punished the visitors with three penalties to bring Brumbies to within four points.

But Wales managed to re-exert some control as the game entered its final stages, allowing Hook to ease the tourists back into a more comfortable winning position with two penalties.

ACT Brumbies:

Robbie Coleman; Cam Crawford, Tevita Kuridrani, Andrew Smith, Kimami Sitauti; Zack Holmes, Ian Prior; Ruaidhri Murphy, Anthony Hegarty, Scott Sio, Leon Power, Ben Hand (capt), Peter Kimlin, Colby Faingaa, Ita Vaea.

Replacements: Siliva Siliva, JP Pradaud, Dylan Sigg, Fotu Auelua, Beau Mokoputo, Tom Cox, Jesse Mogg.

Wales:

Liam Williams; Harry Robinson, Andrew Bishop, Ashley Beck, Aled Brew; James Hook, Rhys Webb; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Rhodri Jones, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Luke Charteris, Josh Turnbull, Justin Tipuric, Aaron Shingler.

Replacements: Ken Owens, Rhys Gill, Ian Evans, Gareth Delve, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Alex Cuthbert.

Referee: Ian Smith

My bollocks were freezing by the end o f the match!