Oita (Japan) (AFP)
Australia took another step towards the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, with its boosted success (45-10) over Uruguay full of mental virtues, Saturday in Oita.
The world upside down ... A final whistle, the smiles and the satisfaction illuminated especially the Uruguayan faces. "It's amazing, the players have really given everything, I'm proud of them," said their coach Esteban Meneses.
He surely had in mind the essay written three minutes from the end by No.8 Manuel Diana; to sign a courageous performance of a team composed largely of semi-professionals.
On the side of the Wallabies, the Australian coach has especially raised the contrast between the first period, chaotic (19-3 at half-time) and the second, more accomplished in terms of speed and sequences.
"At the half-time, he asked us to play more direct, and play in their defense," said center Tevita Kuridrani, one of the great satisfactions of the day Australian side with his two tries.
His franchising qualities found, he could invite himself in the Australian line of attack for the quarter-finals. Because the qualification is not in doubt, as the last match of the first phase, Friday against Georgia, seems promised to the Wallabies.
On the road to the finals, however, Australia will have to heal its discipline. After winger Reece Hodge, suspended for three matches for a dangerous veneer against Fiji on 21 September, second row Adam Coleman (14) and third row Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (29) have left their partners to play fourteen for ten minutes.
In the face of Uruguay, the numerical inferiority was without consequence. It will not necessarily be the same in a final match, "to life, to death" ...
pga / ll
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