Wales too strong for Brumbies
Three first half tries by James Hook, Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones guided Wales to a 25-15 victory over the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium.
Wales led 19-6 at the interval and had to withstand a second half revival from the home side but the Welsh defence held firm as the Brumbies butchered a three-man overlap and other clear cut chances to see their challenge fizzle out.
Zac Holmes booted over five penalties for the Brumbies but an ability to break down the teak tough Welsh defence ensured a first tour victory for Wales.
In the first half Wales enjoyed being in charge with Hook floating out passes beautifully with Ashley Beck in particular enjoying the room provided. Wales were also in charge at the breakdown where their physical and aggressive attitude intimidated the home side.
Paul James replaced Alun Wyn Jones as captain after the second row was replaced by Ospreys colleague Ian Evans at the break. Later in the second half Tipuric took over the captaincy as James was replaced by Rhys Gill.
Tipuric said after the game: "It was fast and very tough at the breakdown tonight – it was great experience for the guys to play against a Super Rugby side. We tried to target the breakdown area. It's obviously refereed differently over here and another learning curve for the guys so the win is a great boost for the squad going into the second Test against Australia on Saturday."
Scorers:
For Brumbies:
Pens: Holmes 5
For Wales:
Tries: Hook, Tipuric, A.Jones
Cons: Hook 2
Pens: Hook 2
Teams:
Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Cam Crawford, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Andrew Smith, 11 Kimami Sitauti, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Colby Faingaa, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Ben Hand (captain), 4 Leon Power, 3 Scott Sio, 2 Anthony Hegarty, 1 Ruaidhri Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 JP Pradaud, 18 Dylan Sigg, 19 Fotu Auelua, 20 Beau Mokoputo, 21 Tom Cox, 22 Jesse Mogg.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Aled Brew, 10 James Hook, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Aaron Shingler, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Rhodri Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Alex Cuthbert.
Referee: Ian Smith
