Wales suffered a ninth successive international defeat as Australia wrapped up the series 2-0 with a 36-28 victory in an eight-try thriller in Melbourne.
Two tries from Filipo Daugunu, further scores from Jake Gordon and Allan Alaalatoa and 13 points from Noah Lolesio’s boot helped Australia achieve a successful start to Joe Schmidt’s era following the 25-16 win in Sydney last weekend.
Wales responded with two tries from inspirational captain Dewi Lake, while wings Liam Williams and Rio Dyer also crossed.
Warren Gatland’s side rallied from a sluggish start as they slipped to a 17-0 deficit inside 25 minutes, but left themselves with too much work to do.
Lake has been the Wales success story of this tour with his tries coming from rolling mauls, which have proved the tourists’ most potent attacking threat.
Wales produced some encouraging moments but were punished for indiscipline, individual mistakes and not taking opportunities they created in a match played in front of only a crowd of 21,392.
Gatland will find himself under pressure because of the wretched recent record, with Wales having not won a Test match since the 2023 World Cup pool triumph against Georgia nine months ago.
They are now just one loss away from equalling the nation’s worst losing sequence of 10, under Steve Hansen between 2002 and 2003.
This ninth defeat marks the longest number of matches without a Test win during Gatland’s association with Wales, which first began in 2008, ended 11 years later and resumed before the 2023 Six Nations.
Gatland has won only six of 21 matches since his return to the top job, with Wales finishing bottom of the Six Nations for the first time in 21 years.
