Rugby: Beale pledges improvement against Wales

Kurtley Beale (centre) on the attack against France.     REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Kurtley Beale (centre) on the attack against France. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Kurtley Beale says he's feeling frustrated by the Wallabies' misfiring attack but believes things will improve against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

Australia take on a desperate Welsh side in Cardiff on Saturday having scored just two tries from three Tests on their European tour and Beale says the Wallabies need to make a statement in captain Nathan Sharpe's final match of a distinguished career.

Robbie Deans' side go into the clash having scored just one try against Italy who were ranked No.11 in the world going into the match in Florence, meaning they have just 14 five-pointers in as many Tests this year.

It's an alarming figure given the All Blacks have scored 47 tries in 13 Tests.

"We went out there with a good mentality of trying to throw the ball around a bit," Beale said.

"Poor execution let us down. Passes down out in front and that type of thing and that's frustrating.

"The mentality is there to attack but they put a lot of pressure on us. I've been saying on this tour we're not going to back down from trying to play attacking rugby and we won't in Cardiff either."

Wales were dispatched 33-10 by the All Blacks but managed a couple of second half tries, giving them 20 five-pointers from 12 Tests this season.

The Rugby World Cup semi-finalists have lost their past six Tests and desperately need to win.

If they beat the third-ranked Wallabies, they will book a place in the second tier of teams seeded fifth to eighth for next month's draw for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

But a loss would see them drop below eighth-ranked Samoa and ninth-ranked Argentina and into the third tier of teams ranked ninth to 12th, guaranteeing a tougher World Cup pool draw.

The No.3-ranked Australians are guaranteed to keep their top-four spot regardless of the result in Cardiff.

"We've got a big job to do in our last game of the tour we want to finish well and make a statement and they'll be looking to do the same in front their home crowd," he said.

One area Beale is keen to tidy up is his kicking after gifting the Italian back three with some counter-attacking opportunities in Florence.

"There was a few kicks from me that didn't go out and let their fullback Andrea Masi get into the game and he played really well. I have to improve on that," he said.

"Even though we were scrappy, we did win and we're very pleased with the defensive effort and I'm proud of the character we showed."

Italy jump one place in the latest world rankings to No.10, with Scotland dropping two places to No.12 following their loss to 21-15 to Tonga who leapfrogged the Scots.

 

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