Barnes storm puts wind in Wallaby sails

 Pool B/Wales 20 Australia 32:The Northern Hemisphere slump continues and it doesn't look like any European team possesses the physicality or technical proficiency to reverse Tri-Nations dominance.

Wales folded, at home no less and with minimal resistance, though judging from the many empty seats in the Millennium Stadium their ultra-partisan public (this is the national pastime remember) feared as much from the start. To make matters worse, those nomadic Australians spattered with gold the red canvas that was the crowd of 71,022.

There were mitigating factors in this comprehensive defeat - first-half injuries to Sonny Parker and Gareth Thomas - but there is no masking the gulf that has developed since the sides drew at this great stadium last November.

Wales have patently made little progress during the Gareth Jenkins regime, though the Llanelli man was supposedly the chosen one.

In contrast, Australia, true to habit, are coming nicely to the boil. They should peak some time around October 13th, when they will likely attempt a World Cup semi-final mugging of their old friends from across the Tasman sea.

By then Stephen Larkham should be back in harness after undergoing arthroscopic surgery yesterday on a knee.

Remarkably, Australia didn't miss one of the greatest outhalves ever to lace a boot.

Back in April the Queensland Reds pulled Berrick Barnes from the under-19 World Cup in Belfast. Now we know the teenager was being groomed for stardom. The fear was this encounter, his second cap, had come too soon, but some magnetic touchfinders, a scintillating break for Matt Giteau's early try and a neat drop-goal announced the arrival of the latest Wallaby magician.

"I thought he did outstanding especially in a cauldron like that," said coach John Connolly. "He is a very tough young guy, mentally. I thought he showed lots of composure.

"To nail his first kick to touch like he did. To have the confidence for a field goal. I thought his defence was good. It was an outstanding day for him."

Another concern for Connolly is the well-being of their hugely influential captain, goal kicker and offensive/defensive bulldozer Stirling Mortlock, who dislocated a shoulder while crossing for Australia's second try after a clever chip by the evergreen George Gregan.

"If it was a semi-final there is no way I would have come off," said the veteran centre. "I popped it (out) when I scored the try. I feared the worst when I first did it but it pretty much went straight back in. At this point it was better to be conservative.

"The fact that I've had previous shoulder injuries, I've been down this path before. Reducing the inflammation is the key now."

Medical reports pencil him in for a quarter-final against Tonga, England or Samoa.

Mortlock was asked if the massive tackle that ended Gareth Thomas's match was revenge for the Welsh captain's late smash on Barnes in the build-up to Giteau's try.

"No. Our mindset in defence is whenever you can you need to be dominant. I thought for long periods of time we did that, especially in the second half when we were a man down. We were amazing in defence."

Their gang-tackling suffocated Welsh attempts to execute their high-tempo style until the closing stages, when - largely thanks to the sinbinning of Drew Mitchell and Nathan Sharpe - Shane Williams found space, by which stage the result and bonus point were already secured.

The killer third try came on the stroke of half-time when Giteau fed Mitchell and Latham took the inside pass before brushing off James Hook and touching down in the corner.

Wales rallied early in the second half, Jonathan Thomas forcing his way over. Hook, who took over the kicking duties on replacing Thomas, converted before adding a penalty to bring it back to 25-13. The revival was stopped cold when Latham - who should have been binned for taking out Kevin Morgan - pounced on a horrible fumble by Stephen Jones for the try and bonus point.

"The intensity of the actual contact and collision area was where Australia demonstrated to us that we need to be up another level," explained Jenkins. "But I really have to say the most significant lesson we learned was the technical kicking. Their tactical kicking was probably the difference in particular between the two teams. They really strangled us there."

Scoring sequence: 1 min: S Mortlock pen, 3-0; 5: S Jones pen, 3-3; 15: M Giteau try, Mortlock con, 10-3; 22: B Barnes drop-goal, 13-3; 34: Mortlock try, 18-3; 40: C Latham try, Mortlock con, 25-3 (half-time, 25-3); 44: J Thomas try, J Hook con, 25-10; 53: Hook pen, 25-13; 59: Latham try, Giteau con, 32-13; 75: S Williams try, Hook con, 32-20.

AUSTRALIA: C Latham; D Mitchell, S Mortlock (capt), M Giteau, L Tuqiri; B Barnes, G Gregan; M Dunning, S Moore, G Shepherdson; N Sharpe, D Vickerman; R Elsom, G Smith, W Palu. Replacements: S Staniforth for Mortlock (half-time), P Waugh for Smith (63 mins), A Freier for Moore (68 mins), A Baxter for Shepherdson (74 mins), M Chisholm for Elsom (76 mins), J Huxley for Barnes (78 mins).

WALES: G Thomas (capt); S Williams, T Shanklin, S Parker, M Jones; S Jones, D Peel; G Jenkins, M Rees, A Jones; I Gough, AW Jones; C Charvis, M Williams, J Thomas. Replacements: K Morgan for Parker (19 mins), J Hook for G Thomas (22 mins), D Jones for A Jones, TR Thomas for Rees, M Owen for Gough (all 66 mins), M Phillips for Peel (71 mins).

Referee: S Walsh (New Zealand).