Wales 40-6 Australia: Warren Gatland’s side seal knockout place in style as pressure heaps on Eddie Jones

Wales confirmed their place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a game in hand as they put a 40-6 score line past Australia in Lyon.

Gareth Davies scored the first try, and second-half scores from Nick Tompkins and Jac Morgan were complemented by 23 points from the boot of Gareth Anscombe.

Wales got off to the perfect start and won a penalty 16 seconds after kick-off. Within the first three minutes, Davies scored their first try after captain Morgan made a break to release the scrum-half to score under the posts. Dan Biggar converted to give Wales the dream start in Lyon.

After Wales had weathered 15 phases of Australian attack, the Wallabies eventually managed to get themselves on the scoreboard as Ben Donaldson slotted their first penalty eight minutes in.

Welsh stalwart Biggar left the field after only 12 minutes played and clutched his shoulder as Anscombe came off the bench to replace him. Australia then scored a second penalty, kicked by Donaldson again.

Morgan once more proved his all-round ability after a miss-thrown Australian lineout ball fell into his hands before he put in an almighty 50-22 kick to move Wales back up the pitch.

After a missed attempt from Anscombe, he then added a penalty to Wales’ tally to make the score 10-6, before he banked another on 27 minutes and a third on 38 minutes.

Just before half-time Wales had another try-scoring opportunity through Louis Rees-Zammit, but his attempt was held up and Australia were awarded the goal-line dropout to take them into half-time with a 10-point deficit.

Anscombe opened the scoring in the second half with a 41-metre penalty to take Wales ahead by 19-6.

Tompkins scored their second after Anscombe provided the chip over the top and the centre won the chase to the line despite the looming pressure from Samu Kerevi.

Kerevi then gave away a penalty for a high tackle on Tompkins minutes later, and Anscombe capitalised on the error to give Wales a 29-6 lead through another penalty.

He then kicked yet another penalty after an Australia knock-on as Wales continued to turn the screw as the final quarter approached.

Anscombe’s heroics didn’t end there, and he went on to deliver a drop goal to take the score to 35-6.

Morgan finally got a well-deserved try after a truly stunning performance as he dotted down after a maul in the 78th minute. Anscombe missed the conversion, but Wales secured their spot in the quarter-finals after a convincing performance over an error-strewn Australia side.

Wales become the first team to qualify for the quarter finals with their biggest-ever defeat over Australia.

Davies came off the bench to replace Biggar and had an immediate impact, scoring 23 points including a drop goal. Morgan was also a standout player, not only scoring a try but also providing a thumping 50-22 kick and putting in 16 tackles.

Wales: Liam Williams 7, Louis Rees-Zammit 7, George North 8, Nick Tompkins 9, Josh Adams 8, Dan Biggar (n/a), Gareth Davies 9, Gareth Thomas 7, Ryan Elias, Tomas Francis 7, Will Rowlands 7, Adam Beard 8, Aaron Wainwright 7, Jac Morgan 9, Taulupe Faletau 8

Replacements: Elliot Dee 7, Corey Domachowski 7, Henry Thomas 7, Dafydd Jenkins 7, Taine Basham 7, Tomos Williams 7, Gareth Anscombe 9, Rio Dyer 7

Australia: Andrew Kellaway 5, Mark Nawaqanitawase 4, Jordan Petaia 4, Samu Kerevi 3, Marika Koroibete 4, Ben Donaldson 5, Tate McDermott 4 , Angus Bell 4, David Porecki (capt.) 4, James Slipper 5, Nick Frost 4, Richard Arnold 4, Robert Leota 4 ,Tom Hooper 4, Rob Valetini 4

Replacements: Matt Faessler 4, Blake Schoupp 4, Pone Fa’amausili 4, Matt Philip 4, Fraser McReight 4, Nic White 4, Carter Gordon 4, Suli Vunivalu 5

First half replacement Gareth Anscombe scores 23 points for Wales with six penalties (21′, 29′, 39′, 43′, 52′, 60′), one conversion (49′), and one drop goal (70′).

3′ Gareth Davies scores Wales’ first try in the opening two minutes.

48′ Nick Tompkins gets Wales’ second after chasing a kick from Anscombe.

78′ Jac Morgan gets the final try after an impressive performance.

9′, 14′ Ben Donaldson scores Australia’s only points from two penalties.