Australia’s mental edge proves Wales’s biggest barrier to ending losing streak | Paul Rees


Wales have lost their past 11 matches against Australia and while the Wallabies are not as strong as a year ago, the hosts must keep their heads in closing stages

Australia’s matches against Wales have come to be a victory of mind over matter. No matter how much time the Wallabies spend on the back foot, trying to disengage from a scrum or checking their body parts after a rampaging run by Jamie Roberts or George North, they keep their heads so that when a game nears its end, with lungs bursting and legs aching, they have the wherewithal to fashion the decisive play.

The Wallabies have snatched victory at the last over Wales too often for it to be a coincidence. Since they last lost to the men in red eight years ago, they have won all 11 matches against them and all but the first have been by a single-figure margin.

Related: New Zealand remain far ahead while England and rest struggle to keep up | Robert Kitson

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