Australia beat Wales 25-16 to deliver a win in Joe Schmidt’s first match in charge

Tom Wright scored a solo try to give Australia a nine-point buffer in the 69th minute and the Wallabies hung on for a 25-16 win over Wales on Saturday to start Joe Schmidt’s coaching tenure on a positive note.

Schmidt replaced Eddie Jones as head coach in the wake of Australia’s disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign last year, including a 40-6 loss to Wales, and delivered a victory in his first test as coach.

“Yeah, a great result. We weren’t perfect tonight by any means, but the grit we showed out there … really pleased with that result,” new Wallabies skipper Liam Wright said.

The Wallabies had a 13-10 lead after a grinding first half in a heavy dew that featured a yellow card for both teams.

Prop Taniela Tupou scored the opening try in the 21st minute, barging over from the back of a maul after the Wallabies battered the line, to give Australia a 13-3 lead. Wales prop Gareth Thomas was sent to the sin-bin immediately.

Despite being a man down, the Welsh kicked for touch instead of taking points from a penalty four minutes later and it paid off when they were awarded a penalty try after forming a 10-man driving maul from a close-range lineout.

Australian flanker Fraser McReight was sent to the sin-bin for dragging the maul down close to the line, and Australia clung to a three-point cushion at the break.

Wales equalized at 13-13 six minutes into the second half via a Ben Thomas penalty goal after dominating the period after the break.

But the Australians retaliated quickly, with Filipo Daugunu coming off the blind wing, chiming into the backline between the Wales midfielders and sliding over into the right corner in the damp conditions in the 53rd to make it 18-13.

Wales had a try disallowed five minutes later when James Botham crashed over with his first touch following a lineout, only to be called back because a teammate joined from in front of the ball.

Tom Lynagh, the son of Wallabies great Michael Lynagh, went on for his test debut in the 64th minute and, after Wales cut the margin to two points with a penalty goal, he had a very quick impact on the game.

Lynagh started a counter-attacking move when he sent the ball right to fullback Wright, who burst through a gap and sprinted upfield in a 50-meter solo run before stepping inside the cover defense and diving over for the match-clinching try.

Lynagh converted to make it 25-16 and ensured Wales slumped to an eighth consecutive defeat since the group stage of the World Cup.

“I love the result,” Schmidt said, but “lots to do around the performance.”

The loss extended a drought Down Under for Wales, which hasn’t beaten the Wallabies in 12 tests on Australian soil since 1969.

“We put a big onus on playing with pride in defense today and I think we really showed that,” Wales lock Christ Tshiunza said. “We came across short today but we’ll go again next week with pride.”

The second test will be played in Melbourne next Saturday.