Beale inspires Wallabies to win over Wales
Kurtley Beale inspired Australia to a 25-16 triumph over Wales at the Millennium Stadium in their one-off test match in Cardiff on Saturday.
The in-form fullback scored a crucial second-half try and almost snatched a second as the Wallabies put Wales to the sword with a clinical second-half performance.
David Pocock put the visitors in the driving seat thanks to an early try but a spirited Wales gave as good as they got and went into half time trailing by just a point, 7-6 down.
But a fired-up Wallabies side snatched two second-half tries thanks to Beale and Ben Alexander to make it two out of two after last week's victory over the All Blacks.
Veteran Stephen Jones opened the scoring for the hosts after just two minutes but it was Australia who grabbed the first try. After a sustained period of pressure the ball appeared to be turned-over, but Pocock crashed over.
James O'Connor converted to give the Wallabies an early 7-3 lead. With a dominant set-piece Wales were showing plenty of attacking intent but were unable to convert their opportunities.
With 31 minutes on the clock, Jones landed his second penalty to pull Wales to within one point.
Shortly before the interval the Wallabies looked to have clinched a crucial try but Beale was penalised for a double movement and the scores remained the same.
But Beale was not to be denied a second time and grabbed his try after 47 minutes.
Wales were turned over at the breakdown and Beale cleared but his kick bounced off Alun Wyn Jones and straight in to the hands of Will Genia. Genia released the ball to O'Connor who tour up the touch-line, sucking in Shane Williams and James Hook, and returned the ball to Beale to score.
Jones added a further penalty before Beale almost grabbed a second try. It was a moment of brilliance by the fullback who beat Phillips to regather his own up and under and grubbered past Hook only to spill the ball over the line.
Australia added a third try after Bradley Davies was stripped of possession. The ball was spread wide to Drew Mitchell who bounced off two defenders.
The ball was recycled and Quade Cooper threw a long pass to O'Connor who put Alexander over to score in the corner. O'Connor missed his touch-line conversion but soon made amends with a penalty to give the visitors a commanding 22-9 lead.
Wales grabbed a late consolation try thanks to Richie Rees but O'Connor put the result beyond doubt with a second penalty to give the visitors a 25-16 win.
