Star Wallaby expects ‘really tough’ battle as Wales look to end losing run

Wales may be looking to end their long-lasting losing run on Saturday by winning their first Test since last year’s Rugby World Cup pool stages, but that doesn’t mean the Wallabies are expecting a one-sided match.

If the Welsh are successful in tying the two-Test series at one-win-a-piece, they will avoid what would’ve been their ninth loss on the bounce. Their last win was 43-19 against Georgia in early October.

With Cymru falling outside of World Rugby’s men’s top 10 rankings for the first time in their proud history after last week’s 25-16 loss to Australia, Wales already have their backs up against the ropes but they're still swinging.

To make it even tougher, though, assistant coach Rob Howley couldn’t quite ensure the likes of Aaron Wainwright and Liam Williams will take the field at AAMI Park amid uncertainly about their fitness and injury status.

But the Wallabies are bracing for another battle. It was a tense Test last Saturday at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium and reigning Australian rugby Player of the Year, Rob Valetini, expects another “tough” task when they take on their rivals from up north again.

“I think they’ve come away from the other side of the world and I think they’ll be willing to try get one up on us,” Valetini told reporters on Tuesday.

“If I was in the Wales camp or anything like that, I think I’d be putting everything into this week knowing it was our last Test against the Wallabies and then just throwing everything at us.

“We’re preparing for that. We know they’re going to come hard and we know that they’ll be better off from the weekend.

“We’re just preparing for a really tough and physical Welsh team. We’re just expecting that.”

Valetini was an enforcer in the No. 8 jersey for the Wallabies last time out, with the loose forward putting in a shift and a half. The Aussie led the way with 17 carries and also made the most tackles out of any Wallaby with 13.

The hosts went down to 14 men for about five minutes at one stage after Fraser McReight was shown a yellow card and Wales’ Gareth Thomas returned from the sin bin. But during that period, Valetini was a weapon on both sides of the ball.

Fullback Tom Wright will go down in history for that unforgettable solo effort in the 69^th minute to score, and halfback Jake Gordon was recognised as the Player of the Match, but Valetini’s effort both can’t and hasn’t been ignored.

That performance has set the tone for another big Test week as the Wallabies look to do something they haven’t been able to achieve since October 2022: win back-to-back Test matches.

“I sort of think back to old Wallabies teams, we haven’t won back-to-back games that many times over the past few years,” Valetini explained.

“It’s all about just knowing that we’ve got another job to do, sort of moving on from the weekend and training this week.

“[There’s] a lot of confidence in the group knowing this is our third week together and knowing that we could put a performance out like that on Saturday – a lot of confidence in the group knowing that we can still build.”

With midfielder Hunter Paisami sitting by his side, Valetini looked more than comfortable a handful of days out from another Test. The Wallabies would’ve celebrated the win on Saturday but were straight into recovery in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs the next morning.

After making their way down to Melbourne, the focus has well and truly shifted. While the cold fills the air and rain pours down from the heavens, the Aussies are looking forward to Saturday after doing things “a lot different” to 2023.

“It’s been good. It’s been thorough as well with our review.

“I guess a lot different from last year with reviewing that… it’s been good.

“A lot of players have been on the laptops doing a lot of review as well so a lot of boys have taken that upon themselves and that’s probably been the best part is that… everyone is reviewing themselves.”