Gatland delighted after ‘outstanding and deserved’ Wales victory over Australia 

Having seen off Fiji and Portugal with bonus point victories, Wales’ third match in the World Cup looked to be their trickiest test yet but proved to be the making of the veteran Kiwi coaches’ side.  

Tries from Gareth Davies, Nick Tompkins and Jac Morgan, alongside 23 points from the boot of replacement fly-half Gareth Anscombe on the night would seal a comfortable victory and a record scoreline win over the Wallabies. 

“I thought today was an outstanding performance in terms of what we wanted to achieve in game management,” said Gatland. 

“I thought it would be a close game. In fairness, we had a great week in training. We were sharp. 

“We’ve seen Portugal aren’t a bad side and we didn’t get enough credit for the Fiji performance. We let them back in with a yellow card and everyone is talking about how unlucky they were. Today was a great performance. We controlled the second half.” 

“We have been together as a squad now for four months in camp. You know you can put the detail, preparation and hard work in, which we always pride ourselves on because we are such a small nation in terms of our playing numbers as a tier-one nation. 

“You get what you deserve, and we deserved to win today. The guys put out a really good performance and I’m really pleased for them. 

“We are proud of the fact that the success has been based on hard work and punching above our weight. We get confidence from results like tonight, and it builds momentum. That makes us even more dangerous going forward. 

“We want the ball, but the game is favoured to the defensive team. Sometimes in test match rugby, you go through periods where you defend for a bit. I thought our first lineout was sharp. We created some opportunities. They never really threatened us which was pleasing.” 

“We know how much defense impacts. Not conceding a try was important. We ended up scoring three tries and the message at the end was go for the bonus point but you can’t be too greedy.” 

Gatland was also full of praise for both fly-half Anscombe and captain Morgan with both man-of-the-match contenders stepping up to the plate on the night. 

“We went with Gareth [Anscombe] for his experience. He wasn’t 100 percent happy with his game last week. He’s come back from injury and was under-done,” continued Gatland.  

“We leaned on that, and he stepped up. Last week’s game was one he needed under his belt. He defended well and kept the scoreboard ticking over. It was a pleasing performance from him.” 

“Jac [Morgan] is a young man I threw him in at the deep end and. He’s a player who leads from the front. I thought he was outstanding tonight. It was a brilliant performance from him.” 

“We have worked incredibly hard and can now enjoy tonight. We now have a little bit of a break; the guys will spend two or three days with their families next week before we start thinking about Georgia. 

“If we can build on tonight, then it’s just one game at a time. Our focus next week is all on Georgia, a team we lost against in the autumn. We need to rectify that and not drop our standards. The players are aware of that and have worked hard.” 

[Lead image: Welsh Rugby Union]