15.  Israel Folau: 6
Still looked to be carrying that ankle injury that afflicted him against England last week and, as such, wasn’t quite as reliable in the air.  But still, you can’t keep a man of his quality down and he weighed in with a couple of key plays at big moments – playing a full part in the defensive effort and almost scoring as he bounced through a number of Welsh tacklers.

14.  Adam Ashley-Cooper: 8
The phrase ‘Test Match Animal’ springs to mind.  There may be faster, bigger and stronger wingers out there, but few of them have the grey matter and temperament of the Wallaby veteran and his defensive work (which he conducted from the centres) was among the best in the side.  His ‘ball-and-all’ smash on Dan Biggar was a match-saver, as was his last gasp hit on Faletau (with Pocock)  dislodge the ball as the number 8 sniffed out the line.

13.   Tevita Kuridrani: 6
Certainly did nothing wrong at all, and did carry well in the last 10 minutes.  But in spells of Wallaby possession perhaps he was expected to contribute more, especially when attacking George North in the 13 shirt.  Defensively solid, though, which was critical for most of the second half, and was the backline’s top tackler.

12.  Matt Giteau: 7
There was a time when Giteau had a reputation for being a bit damp in defence and not being particularly well-adapted to handling the rough stuff.  He showed that conception to be massively out-dated as he turned in a nuggety display in both attack and defence, while also offering the perfect outlet for Foley and showing his class with a couple of raking left-foot clearances.  His mad reverse-flick pass which went straight into touch, however, probably needs forgetting.

11.  Drew Mitchell: 6.5
Set the tone for his ambition with a brilliant, jinking run in traffic in the first quarter, but from then on his opportunities were pretty limited.  Stepped up well for a guy who hasn’t featured for a couple of weeks and certainly didn’t shirk his defensive duties.

10.  Bernard Foley:  6.5
The Welsh were far less generous than the English when it came to giving Foley room to operate but he still played a key part – this time off the tee.  There were some hairy moments – a charged-down kick, a knock on under a high ball – but his positives exceeded the negatives.  Once again, his goalkicking (questioned before the tournament) was very good, nailing five from six attempts and scoring all his team’s points. His cover tackle on North was another big moment in the match.

9.  Will Genia: 5 
I’m not going to blame him for some of the slow ball that he dished out as the Welsh were doing their best to make a dog’s dinner of the breakdown, but his cynical/lazy tackle on Gareth Davies following a quick tap wasn’t necessary and it really heaped the pressure on his side.  Still a long way off his best.

1.  Scott Sio: 7.5
Had an almighty battle in the set-piece with Samson Lee in the first half and he eventually managed to get underneath his opponent to get a nudge on as the game progressed.  For a young man in his first World Cup, he is seeing his stock rise day by day – and he made seven tackles, too.

2.  Stephen Moore: 5.5
Again, it wasn’t a particularly great showing from the skipper even though he played a full part in the goal-line defence which denied Wales for 20 minutes, and no doubt his leadership was key in the situation.  However, the line-out continued to wobble and his petulance in the first half gave Dan Biggar another 10 metres, which was the equivalent of handing Wales three points on a plate.

3.  Sekope Kepu:  6.5
Another to have a ding-dong battle in the front row, and he eventually got on top of Paul James with a now customary display of power.  Shame we didn’t see some of his trademark carries in the loose, however.

4.  Kane Douglas:  8.5 
I thought he was decent, and then I re-watched the match.  He was epic.  He made fifteen tackles – more than anyone else – and it was his aggression on the hit and in the loose which really set the tone for one of the gutsiest displays of the World Cup.   Very close to being man-of-the-match in my book.

5.  Dean Mumm: 5.5
I am a big Dean Mumm fan and he was putting in a decent shift before a completely brainless offence – pulling the man down in the air, when his side had been warned twice – earned him a yellow card and put his side into an even deeper hole.

6.  Scott Fardy: 9
Time to step out of the shadows, Scott.  With Hooper banned for this game and Pocock carrying a niggle, Fardy shrugged off the patronising title of ‘grafter’ and made some huge plays at key times.  He made 13 tackles, missed none, and grabbed himself a couple of turnovers, too, one of which was the all-important pressure-reliever after spending an eternity defending the line.  Man of the match.

7.  Sean McMahon:  7
It looks like the Wallabies may have unearthed another gem.  It was asking a lot for a kid to pull out a big display on the biggest stage, but he ploughed into the fray with real aggression – some of his hits and carries made me wince.  Not too subtle and couldn’t quite offer the nous of Hooper at the breakdown, and he was hauled off shortly after half time.

8.  David Pocock:  7.5
Continued his fine form despite clearly carrying a knock in the second half.  His work over the ball is, without question, the best in the world right now – even when he wasn’t winning turnovers, he was slowing down and frustrating the Welsh attack.  Wallaby fans will be praying that his substitution was just a precaution.

Replacements:  7.5
Everyone who came on was thrown into a warzone in the second half, and nobody took a backward step in defence.  Particularly impressive was Ben McCalman, who added discipline and physicality to the Aussie fringe defence – and his tackles on George North and Gareth Davies could have been match winners.

By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images