beaten by Wales, Australia on the brink of the abyss – Libération

2023 Rugby World Cup in FrancedossierWithout ideas, surpassed in all sectors of the game by the vastly superior Welsh, Australia experienced torture in Lyon this Sunday (6-40), and almost said goodbye to qualification. Unheard of from the group stages for them in the history of the competition.

It is not impossible that there is still a “smell of blood” in the corridors of Groupama Stadium this Sunday evening. Welsh red Australian blood. The same baleful emanation as that evoked by Wallabies coach Eddie Jones in a pre-match press conference. At that moment, Australia was still just an injured beast, condemned to win a match that looked like a round of 16, against the Welsh, undefeated in two games but without impressing, to stay alive in the competition.

Eighty minutes and one humiliation later, here Eddie Jones and his men are one foot and three quarters in the void, almost eliminated from this World Cup. We must carefully appreciate the historical significance of the Australian debacle (6-40). Never since the creation of the World Cup has the twice-titled country (1991 and 1999) been ousted in the group stages. Barring a huge miracle, and it’s an understatement to say that, it is nevertheless a return to Sydney which is looming even before the quarter-finals.

If the plot and its outcome were difficult to predict, at least we knew where the match was going to play out: in the ability of the Australians to manage these cursed ruck zones. In this sector, Wales dominated Fiji at the opening of Group C. Fiji who, in turn, stifled the Australians in the following match. The Oceanian group was never able to offer the necessary physical response in the rucks, bending under the opposing blows, and conceding far too many penalties.

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Welsh coach and providential man Warren Gatland, acclaimed like a captain during the presentation of the teams, had noted this well. Especially since with fly-half Dan Biggar in its ranks, the XV du Poireau has one of the best games on the planet. Problem: the shoulder of said Dan Biggar did not last ten minutes on the Groupama Stadium meadow, forcing the Toulon maestro to leave very early.

A great gift that Eddie Jones and his players could have benefited from. Forced to modify his copy after the debacle of Saint-Etienne, the former England coach, short of ideas since he took over the team in crisis at the end of 2022, had decided to play all-in. That is to say giving the key opening position to Ben Donaldson, professional fullback. Replaced in number 10 during the game against Fiji, he had led the Oceanians’ offensives much better than the very young Carter Gordon, the only fly half in the group, but consumed by the challenge so far.

In its wake, Australians tried to change their habits. With Donaldson authoring a rather decent first half, the Wallabies tried to be more aerial. They had several good sequences, where the ball circulated well. In the first half at least. But not enough to break the Welsh lock. Above all, they were still punished too much in the set phases. Referee Wayne Barnes was uncompromising. From the first seconds on the ground the “Aussies” immediately found themselves penalized. The first in an endless series in the form of torture. Bad news in addition: Biggar’s replacement, Gareth Anscombe, seems almost as lethal when it comes to converting opposing fouls into points (6 penalties, one conversion).

Beyond this glaring indiscipline, the young Australian players were overtaken in almost all areas of the game – touch, scrum – by the Welsh who were as diligent as they were overexcited. Adrift at the start of the year, to the point of immediately recalling New Zealander Warren Gatland, already on the bench from 2007 to 2019, the Welsh seem to be reborn at the best of times. Like in the best hours of the Gatland years, precisely. They are almost assured of being in the quarter-finals. Given their part of the table, it is not impossible to see them again, in the last square. Like in 2019.