Australia 65
Uruguay 3
AFTER WATCHING THEIR two main qualification rivals engage in brutal all out warfare at Twickenham last night, Australia cruised to the top of the table with a ruthless 10-try demolition of Uruguay.
Michael Cheika’s Wallabies had the bonus point signed and sealed inside just 31 minutes at Villa Park – and they were reduced to 14 men for a third of that time.
Openside Sean McMahon – another Wallaby 7 in terrific form with Michael Hooper and David Pocock out of the firing line – and Joe Tomane had already cross the whitewash by the time Quade Cooper picked up a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.
Uruguay narrowed the gap through the boot of Felipe Burchesi before his return, but Australia’s clinical phaseplay and accurate passing kept their attacks rolling at a tempo that was unplayable for the Tier 2 South Americans.
Dean Mumm took a sweet line off the shoulder of scrum-half Nick Phipps to bundle over and the bonus point was sealed by Henry Speight.
Ben McCalman, Drew Mitchell and McMahon would all complete try doubles in the midlands mismatch. And Cooper broke clear with 10 minutes to get a chance to show off his outrageous skill. Running at pace through the middle, Cooper delivered a skip pass on a zip-line to Kurtley Beale and his instant pass allowed Matt Toomua get in around the corner.
That was try number 10 of 11, and it beautifully summed up the flowing rugby and sunshine delivered by the Wallabies on an afternoon when heavy clouds are still sitting over the tournament hosts.
Australia are now level with Wales on nine points at the top of Pool A, but lead on points difference. They’re warmed up now, and they will certainly have much tougher tests when they face England and Wales in the weeks ahead.
Scorers
Australia
Tries: S McMahon (2), J Tomane, Dean Mumm, H Speight, B McCalman (2), Drew Mitchell (2), M Toomua, T Kuridrani
Conversions: Q Cooper (5)
Uruguay
Penalty: F Burchesi
Australia
15. Kurtley Beale
14. Joe Tomane
13. Henry Speight
12. Matt Toomua
11. Drew Mitchell
10. Quade Cooper
9. Nick Phipps
1. Scott Sio
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
3. Toby Smith
4. Dean Mumm
5. Will Skelton
6. Ben McCalman
7. Sean McMahon
8. Wycliff Palu
Replacement
16. Stephen Moore
17. Sekope Kepu
18. Greg Holmes
19. Kane Douglas
20. Rob SImmons
21. Will Genia
22. Bernard Foley
23. Tevita Kuridrani
Uruguay
15. Gaston Mieres
14. Leandro Leivas
13. Joaquin Prada
12. Andres Vilaseca
11. Rodrigo Silva
10. Felipe Berchesi
9. Agustin Ormachea
1. Mateo Sanguinetti
2. German Kessler
3. Mario Sagario
4. Santiago Vilaseca
5. Franco Lamanna
6. Juan de Freitas
7. Matias Beer
8. Juan Manuel Gaminara
Replacement
16. Nicolas Klappenbach
17. Oscar Duran
18. Carlos Arboleya Sarazola
19. Alejandro Nieto
20. Diego Magno
21. Fernando Bascou
22. Alejo Duran
23. Alberto Roman
