Wayne Pivac 'proud' of Wales' autumn progress after injury problems

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac says he is "proud" of his side after they beat Australia to end their autumn campaign with two wins from four matches.

Rhys Priestland's last-gasp penalty gave a depleted Welsh side a thrilling 29-28 victory on Saturday.

Pivac's injury-ravaged side had lost to New Zealand and South Africa and beaten Fiji in their previous three games.

"Two wins from four in what's probably the toughest autumn we've faced to date," said Pivac.

"With the squad that we've faced it with, I'm really proud of the group and the effort they've put in week in, week out behind the scenes.

"When the dust settles, we'll look back at the squad we've used, the depth that we've created.

"When we go one to 15 on our depth chart, the benefits will lie there, really.

"Everyone has to deal with Covid and we had a couple of scares in the camp. It's been a difficult time.

"To come out with a win, no matter how it comes, we're just pleased to get that result. To fall behind and then to get it at the death, we probably made 70,000 people and everyone watching at home pretty happy."

Since succeeding Warren Gatland in 2019, Pivac has focused on improving Wales' strength in depth in preparation for the 2023 World Cup.

His eagerness to expose young and inexperienced players to the rigours of Test rugby contributed to a difficult first year in charge, in which Wales lost seven of their 10 matches.

They clinched the Six Nations title in March but, for this autumn campaign, the emphasis reverted to development and expanding the pool of talent at Pivac's disposal.

Injuries, however, meant there was more experimentation than even Pivac would have liked.

For the opening match against New Zealand, Wales were without 20 players due to fitness issues and the fact that those at English clubs were unavailable because the fixture was played outside the international window. The All Blacks showed no mercy with a 54-16 win.

As their English-based contingent returned, Wales were much improved in their narrow defeat against world champions South Africa - but the injuries remained.

For the victories over Fiji and Australia, the list of absentees included British and Irish Lions Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Ross Moriarty, Taulupe Faletau, Justin Tipuric, Josh Navidi, Leigh Halfpenny and George North.

Pivac used close to 40 players over the course of the four games.

"Individually there have been some very good performances, we're really pleased and the depth is building," the New Zealander said.

"But you've got some serious international talent and experience that is missing at the moment. When those boys are available and at the peak of their powers, some of them are some of the best in the world.

"We wish those guys a speedy recovery from their injuries and hopefully we'll get a number of them back into club football soon and they can get the required rugby under their belt to hit the Six Nations running."

Next for Wales is the defence of their Six Nations title, which they will start on Saturday, 5 February with a daunting trip to Dublin to take on Ireland.

Andy Farrell's men produced arguably the finest performance of the Autumn Nations Series when they beat New Zealand earlier this month.

"We've learned a lot about players each week, that's why it's so pleasing to get this result [against Australia] with the side that finished up on the field," said Pivac.

"If you'd have asked me before we named our initial squad, if you'd have said we'd finish the game clawing back a two-point deficit with a minute and a half to go, with that side, I'd have thought you were joking.

"It's just a credit to all those young men out there. Ben Carter came on at about 15 minutes and had to call the lineouts. Just a marvellous job.

"Christ Tshiunza coming on. Again, he throws himself about, he's full of energy. At 19 years of age, what an exciting young talent.

"Taine Basham who came in after the summer where he was a bit undercooked, he came in and made four starts and played well.

"The depth chart is now looking a little bit better than it was at the start of this campaign."

Australia rage against 'horrendous' refereeing

After watching his side fall to a third defeat from three matches on their tour, Australia head coach Dave Rennie took aim at Scottish referee Mike Adamson.

Rennie said he had no issue with Rob Valetini's red card for his head-on-head clash with Adam Beard but was furious that Kurtley Beale was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on while Wales centre Nick Tompkins was judged to have knocked the ball back before scoring his try.

"I thought some of the decision-making by the officials tonight was horrendous and played a big part in the result," said Rennie.

"Kurtley Beale got sin-binned for slapping the ball down, they do the same thing and it clearly goes forward and they get seven points out of us.

"I'm obviously really disappointed with the result. We'll end up getting an apology next week, but it won't help the result."