Teenager Petaia sparkles as Wallabies rout Uruguay
WORLD CUP REPORT: Teenage wing Jordan Petaia crashed over for a try on his debut as Australia rode out two yellow cards to rout Uruguay 45-10 and stay on course for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Petaia, Australia’s youngest ever World Cup player at 19, scored one try and made another, while Tevita Kuridrani and Dane Haylett-Petty bagged two each in the Wallabies’ total haul of seven.
The result produced a vital bonus point for the Wallabies to move ahead of Fiji after three games in Pool D, where Six Nations champions Wales remain unbeaten.
But continuing their theme of this World Cup, the Australians again suffered from disciplinary issues surrounding high tackles, and failed to find consistent rhythm in the first half.
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Before 34,000 mostly Australian supporters in Oita Stadium, Adam Coleman and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto both spent time in the sin-bin for dangerous tackles in the first period.
French referee Mathieu Raynal also acknowledged high shots by Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale although they escaped with a penalty only.
It was while Coleman was off the field that Petaia scored his try.
After waiting 23 minutes for his first touch of the ball, he showed his class a minute later when came off his wing to take an inside pass and with a turn and twist he slipped through the defence to touch down.
When Salakaia-Loto was sent to the sin-bin, and the Wallabies were again defending desperately, Petaia combined with Beale to brilliantly set Kuridrani away for their third try.
At half-time, Australia led 19-3, before producing a more controlled second spell to add 26 more points until they conceded a late try.
After their initial try to Dane Haylett-Petty in the opening few minutes, the Wallabies’ next two came from counter-attacks after being pinned inside their own half as Uruguay fought to stay in the tournament.
But the Tier Two side were unable to convert chances into points and despite lighting up the tournament by toppling Fiji in their first game, they now have no chance of making the play-offs.
The inclusion of Salakaia-Loto and Jack Dempsey to give Australia a bruising back-row presence had an immediate impact when they marched Uruguay back several metres in both a rolling maul from the first lineout and in the first scrum.
But the cohesion did not remain and the lighter Uruguayans managed to out-muscle the heavier Wallabies at times, and just on half-time Tomas Inciarte touched down from turnover ball — although the try was ruled out for an earlier offside.
Taniela Tupou, known as the ‘Tongan Thor’, was introduced to the front row for the second half and the Wallabies immediately showed more stability as they laid the platform for Kuridrani to score the bonus-point try six minutes after the break.
Will Genia scored two minutes after he took the field to replace Nic White at scrum-half before prop James Slipper barged over for his first try in 94 appearances.
Haylett-Petty scored his second with 12 minutes remaining before the Wallabies went off the boil again and Uruguay backrower Manuel Diana forced his way over just before full-time.
Man of the match: Tevita Kuridrani was devasting in the midfield. He scored two tries as well and he deserves the award.
Moment of the match: James Slipper scoring his first try for Australia after 94 Tests.
Villain: There were a couple of yellow cards, but there were no real villains.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Tries: Haylett-Petty 2, Petaia, Kuridrani 2, Genia, Slipper
Cons: Lealiifano 5
For Uruguay:
Try: Diano
Pen: Berchesi
Yellow cards: Adam Coleman (Australia, 14 – foul play, high tackle); Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (Australia, 29 – foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt To’omua, 11 Jordan Petaia, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nicholas White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 David Pocock, 21 Will Genia, 22 Samu Kerevi, 23 Adam Ashley-Cooper.
Uruguay: 15 Rodrigo Silva, 14 Federico Favaro, 13 Tomas Inciarte, 12 Andres Vilaseca (captain), 11 Nicolas Freitas, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Manuel Diana, 7 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 6 Manuel Ardao, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Franco Lamanna, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 German Kessler, 1 Juan Echeverria.
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Joaquin Jaunsolo, 18 Juan Pedro Rombys, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Felipe Etcheverry, 23 Agustin Della Corte.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
