ASHLEY Beck is confident Wales can finally “turn Australia over” on Saturday to end a horrendous eight-match losing streak against the Wallabies.
The Ospreys centre suffered heartache against the Aussies when he made his Test debut against them in last year’s summer tour Down Under.
He played in every match in a series Wales lost 3-0, despite pushing the hosts with an ace of victory and desperately unlucky to lose the final two games.
Beck was outstanding in Wales’ 17-7 victory over Tonga on Friday night, scoring his second international try during his seventh cap as the home side built on a record 40-6 triumph over Argentina the week before.
The 23-year-old took his touchdown beautifully, a nice step inside to cross the whitewash after a sweet James Hook pass put him into space.
A solid all round display seems to have put him in a strong position to face the Wallabies who arrive at the Millennium Stadium for next week’s showdown.
And Beck isn’t fearful of the Aussies despite their obvious star quality, remarkable resilience and Indian sign over Wales.
“Australia are a tier one nation and they’ve just come from playing the All Blacks and South Africa (in the Rugby Championship) so you’ve got to step it up and the boys know that,” he said.
“And the boys who went out there in the summer (with the victorious British and Irish Lions squad who beat Australia 2-1 in the Test series) know what it takes to beat them so hopefully we can feed that through to the other boys and turn them over this week.
“Australia are a good team, a bit more structured than most. They throw the ball about and are a bit cleverer than most teams. Hopefully, we'll be able to do our jobs and perhaps turn them over.”
Beck added: “I don't know how many times we've played them, but we haven't won in a couple of years. It's been close – out in Australia last year it was a couple of points here and there, and over here a year ago they scored with the last play.
“So it's not as if we're miles away from them. It's just another game. Hopefully, we can go out and turn them over.”
Beck is confident Wales can get their first major southern hemisphere scalp in five years – the last time they beat one of the former Tri Nations big boys was when they toppled the Wallabies 21-18 in November 2008 as reigning Grand Slam champions.
“A lucky try cost us against South Africa (Wales losing 24-15 to the Boks earlier this month),” he said.
“Had they not been awarded that, it could have been a different story. We've got to go out and do what we normally do and hopefully we'll get a win.
“I wouldn't say it's a psychological problem. The boys were confident going into the South Africa game, only for the bounce of the ball to go against us at a key time. Hopefully, this coming weekend will be a different kettle of fish and we'll turn Australia over.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel