The Australians are the last of Wales’ four autumn opponents, with South Africa, Argentina and Tonga also in action in the capital on November 9, 16 and 22 respecticvely.
It’s been a tough year for the Green and Gold with a disappointing series defeat to Sam Warburton’s British & Irish Lions followed by home and away losses to New Zealand and South Africa in the Rugby Championship.
But they have showed signs that they could be on the rise under new head coach Ewen McKenzie after they hammered Argentina in Rosario earlier this month and ran the All Blacks close at the weekend.
The Wallabies hit a half century against the Pumas before losing 41-33 to the World Champions in Dunedin in their final game before their tour opener against England at Twickenham on November 2.
And while the statistics don’t always tell us everything we need to know, the figures from that most recent outing certainly suggest that McKenzie and co are heading in the right direction.
Former skipper and World Cup winner John Eales picked out the following stats in his article for the Sydney Morning Herald after suggesting that his countrymen should be more than confident of holding their own in the northern hemisphere:
• The Wallabies had more possession (55 per cent), made more line-breaks (6-4), and missed fewer tackles (12-23) than the All Blacks.
• The Wallabies scored three tries – the most they’ve scored against the All Blacks in the last two years and as many in total as they scored in the previous four Tests combined versus New Zealand.
• The Wallabies scored 33 points. Only twice before have they scored more against them, 35-39 in a losing team in 2000 and 34-19 in 2008.
• The Wallabies won the second half, the only time they have won a half against the All Blacks this year.
• The winning margin of eight was the All Blacks’ narrowest against any team this year.
Another positive can be found in the form of fly-half Quade Cooper, with Eales describing his personal performance as ‘outstanding’.
The Queensland Reds playmaker missed out on the series with the Lions after falling out of favour with former coach Robbie Deans following a controversial year dogged by a public outburst that saw him heavily fined and reprimanded.
But the 24-year-old now appears to be starting to shine once more under the tutelage of his old Super XV boss McKenezie, who, although he isn’t getting carried away with Cooper’s form, is certainly happy with how his star man is shaping up.
“I’ve seen the 100 per cent goal kickig, I’ve seen him manage a game and I’ve seen him make try-saving tackles,” said McKenzie, who believes his side are also on the up.
“Everyone likes to say, ‘he can’t do this’ and ‘he can’t do that’ or ‘because the crowd’s booing he can’t play’. Well, it didn’t seem to affect him on Saturday, he just gets out there. Maybe he had the full gamut on display but I know what he’s capable of doing.
“We have to stick tight together as a team and continue to build for something we’re working hard at, which is being a world-class team.
“Those things don’t happen overnight but we can see the end result and the closer we come as a team, when we play against the All Blacks and South Africa, the better we’ll be in the long run.”
