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CARDIFF - Robbie Deans presented a brave front but his vanquished Wallabies couldn't hide their anguish at ending their 2008 test program with a despairing defeat at the hands of resurgent Wales on Sunday (NZT).
The shellshocked Wallabies slumped to a 21-18 loss at Millennium Stadium after failing to overcome the second-minute departure of talismanic captain Stirling Mortlock and another baffling display from Irish referee Alan Lewis.
In a dramatic precursor to a brutal and gripping encounter, Mortlock was poleaxed in a sickening clash with Welsh centre Jamie Roberts, who played on unknowingly with a fractured skull for a further 15 minutes after the incident.
"It was a hell of a collision," said Welsh captain Ryan Jones.
Against the odds, the gallant Wallabies somehow managed to stay in the contest until the final whistle despite battling all sorts of adversities, including injuries to several players now doubtful for the tour-ending tussle with the Barbarians at Wembley on Thursday.
Under extreme pressure, Quade Cooper fared reasonably well out of position in the centres after covering for Mortlock, while Lote Tuqiri was magnificent in his first appearance all tour after replacing winger Peter Hynes, who was forced off on the half hour after being poked in the eye.
But there were too many setbacks for the Wallabies to deal with and, as in Hong Kong for the Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand four weeks ago, Lewis' refereeing ultimately cost the Wallabies the test.
On top of countless bewildering penalties going against Australia, Lewis missed several glaring forward passes from Wales, who notwithstanding played some inspired rugby.
His most telling decision, though, was to send Wallabies hooker Stephen Moore to the sinbin for "not rolling away" at a ruck.
In Moore's absence, Wales piled on 10 points to turn a deficit into a 15-10 halftime lead, from which the Six Nations champions were never again headed.
The Wallabies were privately furious with Lewis but, other than admitting his performance had been "a source of frustration", coach Deans bit his lip and said his developing Wallabies side needed to reach a level where the referee had no impact on the result.
While Deans tried to remain upbeat, his players were devastated at having their dream of becoming the first Wallabies side in 12 years to complete a four-test spring tour of Europe undefeated turn to a nightmare.
"To finish on that is very disappointing for the guys and all the boys are in there pretty shattered," said veteran lock Nathan Sharpe.
"We've done a lot of good things this year and we really wanted to come here and win and make that statement and finish the year off on a good note.
"It's a long time between drinks now; six, seven, eight months away (before our next test) and it will be a different group then."
Deans said the Wallabies needed to draw positives from the loss and move on.
"It's not terminal. They'll live to go again," he said.
"When you look at the whole picture, the whole experience of the UK has been fantastic for us.
"We've had four tough tests, plus one in Hong Kong along the way, and we've exposed something like 13 Wallabies to test-match rugby this year.
"This is our last test match obviously but those blokes will be so much better for that experience, including tonight.
"Obviously it takes us into the summer a little bit frustrated, but still better for the experience and these guys will be really excited about getting back into the saddle next year.
"You don't like coming second at any stage. You aim to do better than that, but the reality is very few sides win every game of football - and sometimes you're poorer for it.
"We've got a good quality bunch of men here. Quality on and off the field. We're making good strides and we'll just keep going."
- AAP
