Wallabies

Australia finished their grand slam tour, and 2009, on a winning note with a convincing 33-12 victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium here on Saturday. The Wallabies had seen dreams of a grand slam dashed by a 20-20 draw with Ireland and hopes of an unbeaten tour disappear with last week's shock 9-8 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield. But here they were slick as they had been error-prone in Edinburgh, running in four tries - from Digby Ioane, James Horwill, David Pocock and Tatafu Polota-Nau - to Wales's none. And they kept the home side scoreless after half-time as they atoned for a ... Read Full Story

Australia coach Robbie Deans hailed his youthful team's "growing maturity" after they ended a see-saw 2009 with a thumping 33-12 victory over Wales. In a display that would have restored many neutral, as well as Wallaby, fans' faith in rugby union as a spectacle after a November international programme blighted by tedious kicking exchanges, Australia ran in four tries here at the Millennium Stadium in front of a crowd of more than 74,000. Centre Digby Ioane, lock James Horwill, flanker David Pocock and replacement hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau all crossed Wales's line, with the three starters scoring inside the opening 24 minutes. Encouragingly for Australia, ... Read Full Story

Australia coach Robbie Deans hailed his youthful team's "growing maturity" after they ended a see-saw 2009 with a thumping 33-12 victory over Wales. In a display that would have restored many neutral, as well as Wallaby, fans' faith in rugby union as a spectacle after a November international programme blighted by tedious kicking exchanges, Australia ran in four tries here at the Millennium Stadium in front of a crowd of more than 74,000. Centre Digby Ioane, lock James Horwill, flanker David Pocock and replacement hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau all crossed Wales's line, with the three starters scoring inside the opening 24 minutes. Encouragingly for Australia, ... Read Full Story

Australia finished their grand slam tour, and 2009, on a winning note with a convincing 33-12 victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium here on Saturday. The Wallabies had seen dreams of a grand slam dashed by a 20-20 draw with Ireland and hopes of an unbeaten tour disappear with last week's shock 9-8 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield. But here they were slick as they had been error-prone in Edinburgh, running in four tries - from Digby Ioane, James Horwill, David Pocock and Tatafu Polota-Nau - to Wales's none. And they kept the home side scoreless after half-time as they atoned for a ... Read Full Story

Australia will look to end a tough year on a winning note when they face Wales at the Millennium Stadium here on Saturday. Although they remain third in the world rankings, the Wallabies have won just two of their past 10 Tests, albeit one of those victories was against world and Tri-Nations kings South Africa, and come into this game on the back of their first loss to Scotland in 27 years. Australia started this tour dreaming of emulating the 1984 Wallabies by completing a grand slam of wins over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales; now the aim is to surpass their predecessors of ... Read Full Story