KEY POINTS:
CARDIFF - Wales's failure to repeat their 2005 victory over Australia has condemned them to a likely World Cup quarter-final clash with in form South Africa but fly-half Stephen Jones insists his teammates can still derail the Springboks.
Wales were beaten 32-20 by Australia at a packed, passionate Millennium Stadium on Saturday, the same venue where they stunned the Wallabies 24-22 two years ago and held them to a 29-29 draw in 2006.
But their Pool B defeat means they will probably finish runners-up to the Australians and then take on the rampant South Africans for a semi-final place.
It has all the hallmarks of a humiliation against a team who wiped the floor with defending champions England 36-0 in Paris on Friday, but Jones is unfazed.
"We have to play to our strengths and that is an open game," said Jones.
"We are a fit side but we are killing ourselves with the arm-wrestling in the first 20 minutes. We need to be more efficient in our set plays and keep the ball and keep everyone in the game.
"We have to be better in the contact area and keep the ball in hand. That's the style we want to play. I believe we can cause teams problems. We just need to tighten up and be a little bit cleverer."
Worryingly for the Welsh is the fact that they have defeated all the top nations in the world at some stage - except for South Africa.
Jones also has his own form to worry about.
After helping turn the game around against Canada last weekend, when Wales were trailing 17-9, he struggled with his kicking again on Saturday landing just one of three penalties.
The man he replaced in the starting line-up, James Hook, came on as a substitute for injured skipper Gareth Thomas midway through the first half and set-up Jonathan Thomas's try early in the second half with a jink through the Australian defence.
He converted both Wales tries as well as kicking a penalty.
Hook's performance will once again force coach Gareth Jenkins to ponder whether or not he should switch the two again or play both against Japan on Thursday which could be a likelier scenario with centre Sonny Parker struggling with a groin injury.
Jenkins, too, isn't ruling out Wales's quarter-final hopes.
"We have made big improvements. We have worked hard and that's paying dividends," he said.
"We played the second best team in the world today. I have always believed that if we can get to the quarter-finals we can give anyone a game."
The coach believes that Wales can learn valuable lessons from Saturday's defeat which will stand them in good stead for the later stages.
"I still believe we have something to offer this tournament and we realise the magnitude of the next two games (Wales conclude their first round against Fiji in Nantes on September 29)," said Jenkins.
"There are areas of concern like the intensity of contact and collision, we need to go up a level there. Also Australia's tactical kicking strangled us today. We can learn from that."
- AFP
