A tournament that promised so much for Wales a week ago, with talk of new dawns and horizons, ended in the stale familiarity of a narrow defeat to a Tri-Nations side, their second of the World Cup. Australia left with the bronze medal, but what meant far more to them than a symbol of failure was an end to a 25-year sequence of defeats in Auckland.
The play-off is a scrap for a prize no one wants. There is an element of cruelty to it, forcing players whose minds had drifted elsewhere the week before to rouse themselves for a battle they do not have the heart for and Wales suffered a marked drop in the intensity that had characterised their previous six matches in the tournament.
They even conceded points in the final quarter for the first time since their opening group game against South Africa, and for all the gains they have made in the World Cup in terms of conditioning and a varied tactical approach they have still to find a way of defeating sides above them in the world rankings. They have played the Tri-Nations teams 45 times in the professional era and won on three occasions, while they have prevailed against France in seven of the last 34 meetings. The combined margin of their defeats in this World Cup to South Africa, France and Australia was five points, missed kicks costing them each time.
Wales missed three kicks against Australia, including a penalty from James Hook, a player who is struggling to find his instinctive touch, and while their kickers found their range against Namibia and Fiji, matches where the result was never in doubt, when the pressure was on they became inaccurate. Since the group stage they have missed 10 attempts at goal out of 17. Australia not only had a better strike-rate in the play-off but they were more accurate in their passing. Their defence, the staple of their campaign, was rarely stretched as Wales reverted to the predictable and even though the Wallabies lost Kurtley Beale, who aggravated a hamstring injury, and Quade Cooper, who twisted his knee as he tried to jink through the Wales defence and ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, leaving them with just five of the players who had started the semi-final against New Zealand, they were largely in control.
It was a miserable end to the tournament for Cooper, who insisted on limping off rather than risking being jeered by the crowd as he lay on a stretcher, and his departure had a material bearing on the outcome. He attended the presentation ceremony on crutches, with his right leg immobilised, and it was when Berrick Barnes moved to outside-half that the Wallabies started to flummox Wales.
Cooper had tried to bedazzle defenders with his footwork but did not riddle them with doubt. Barnes was more understated, bringing his outside backs into play early, kicking when nothing was on and breaking when he saw space. It was the sort of performance Rhys Priestland had given for Wales before injuring his shoulder towards the end of the quarter-final against Ireland, and while Wales missed the prop Adam Jones, surprisingly vulnerable up front, and the flanker Sam Warburton it was Priestland's absence they felt most acutely.
Wales conceded a soft try on 11 minutes when Cooper fed Barnes from a scrum and the Welsh midfield became distracted by a decoy run made by James O'Connor coming in from the right wing. Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies looked at each other as Barnes touched down underneath the posts and their game deteriorated into a series of kicks downfield.
"We made too many silly mistakes," said Roberts. "Defeats at this level come down to a missed kick or a missed tackle. It is brutal." Wales did haul themselves back with Shane Williams's 56th international try after Hook's only decisive contribution with the ball in hand, even if there was a forward pass, but two breakdown offences allowed O'Connor to restore his side's lead and Ben McCalman's try five minutes from time sealed a comfortable victory.
Wales clambered off the floor to put together a 31-phase move that ended with Leigh Halfpenny ensuring they had the last word. It was a tribute to their endurance but a tournament record of four victories and three defeats seems an indifferent return for a side that was within one kick of making the final.
"We were not quite up for this game emotionally as we were in the others," said the Wales coach, Warren Gatland. "We can take a lot from this tournament and the players will be stronger for this experience." It was left to Stephen Jones, a veteran of four World Cup campaigns, to sum up a campaign that held little in the way of expectation outside the squad at the outset but which gradually generated a momentum that left many here feeling they were the main threat to New Zealand: "We have put a lot of pride back into Welsh rugby and that is of huge importance. We now have to become more ruthless."
Wales Halfpenny; North, J Davies (Scott Williams, 69), Roberts, Shane Williams; Hook (S Jones, 50), Phillips (L Williams, 63); Jenkins (capt), Bennett (Burns, 69), James (Bevington, 63), Charteris (AW Jones, 52), B Davies, Lydiate (Powell, 63), Faletau, R Jones.
Tries S Williams, Halfpenny. Con S Jones. Pens Hook, S Jones.
Australia Beale (Horne, 9); O'Connor, Ashley-Cooper, Barnes, Ioane; Cooper (A Faingaa, 20), Genia (Burgess, 63); Slipper, Polota-Nau (S Faingaa, 53), Ma'afu (Alexander, 60), Horwill (capt; Samo, 69), Sharpe (Simmons, 45), Higginbotham, Pocock, McCalman.
Tries Barnes, McCalman. Con O'Connor. Pens O'Connor 2. Drop goal Barnes.
Referee W Barnes (England).
Attendance 53,013.
