Wallabies Swat Uruguay Aside

Despite the dominant win, it's obvious the Wallabies still need matches like this before heading into the World Cup quarter finals.

Not only did they stand to lose a lot if they lost to Uruguay, the Wallabies are still tweaking their combinations and playbook, so they also stand to lose a lot if they don't get things right before the quarter finals. The quarter finals will not be kind to teams and is not the place to test whether you have the right team and playbook formula.

Coach Cheika made 12 changes to his starting 15 who played against Wales in the hopes of giving everyone precious game time before the quarter finals, while being able to continue to test his many combinations.

Chopping and changing his player combinations may be one of the reasons for Australia's slow starts at the Rugby World Cup. Their first half against Uruguay was clunky and lacked finesse, not to mention being penalised twice for tackles considered by World Rugby as being too high. The Wallabies played half of the first half with only 14 players due to both Adam Coleman and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto copping yellow cards.

James slipper crossed the chalk for his maiden test try while playing in his 94th test. "It's been a bit of a running joke for about five years now, me not scoring ever. The more I played the pressure was getting higher. Obviously everyone knew - it was a bit of a try for everyone I think. That's what it felt like." James Slipper on his try.

"My parents flew over. They got in two days ago, then they came to the game tonight. They’ll stick around. My dad (Tielu) loves it so he might watch a few more games and my mum (Helen) might have to fly home and look after the little brother (Christian)." Jordan Petaia

On being asked about playing half a match, Petaia said, "It was to see just where I’m at with my hammy (hamstring injury), obviously coming back from injury. It was always the plan to have limited time. I would’ve loved to have kept on playing, but it was always part of the plan. I was having a lot of fun out there, but I was also a bit cautious. So I was just like, better not push it as I have in the past sometimes, so it was good just to do the right thing and just get off there."

The first half may have been easier for the Uruguay side, but eventually the Australian pressure started to build, and they weren't able to play their own game. It took only five minutes for Haylett-Petty to score after an overlap on the right.

Coleman earned himself 10 minutes in the bin just 13 minutes into the game reflecting the referee's intentions early. Felipe Berchesi, Uruguay’s playmaker, was able to capitalize on the yellow card converting a penalty goal to earn Uruguay’s only 3 points in the first half.

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper was disallowed a try in the 18th minute, but nothing could stop the Young talent Petaia from scoring in the 23rd minute followed by a third try in the 30th by Tevita Kuridrani, his first of two tries. The Wallabies were again reduced to just 14 men just before Kuridrani scored as blindside flanker Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was yellow carded for a high tackle in the 28th minute.

The Wallabies were much more clinical in the second half with the General Christian Leali’ifano able to exploit the platform laid by his Wallabies forwards, Kuridrani scoring his second try in the 45th minute, one of 4 Wallabies second half tries.

Uruguay has now been eliminated from the RWC race and will face Wales this Sunday for their final game. Australia will progress through to the quarter finals but will need to play Georgia in their final pool round this Friday and expected to win with a bonus point. Wales will face Fiji later today, however, even if they lose to Fiji tonight, they’re likely to progress through to the quarter finals with a win against Uruguay.

The Wallabies will play either France or England in their first match in the quarterfinals. Apart from which players Cheika will start and who he will have coming off the bench, the question is will they be able to fire from the get-go? Both England and France have the ability to crank it up for the full 80 minutes.