Australia staked their claim as one of the favourites for the World Cup with a record number of points against outclassed Romania at soggy Ravenhill in Belfast yesterday. Back-rower Toutai Kefu grabbed the first hat-trick of his senior career as the Wallabies ran in nine tries in a 57-9 Pool E victory. It was the first time Australia had passed the half-century of points in a World Cup match.
Replacement wing Joe Roff scored a pair of tries, while Tim Horan, Jason
Little, substitute hooker Jeremy Paul and full-back Matthew Burke also crossed the line. Burke landed five conversions and skipper John Eales - playing in his first Test for 10 months after being sidelined by a shoulder injury - also landed a conversion.
The Australians dominated throughout and were simply too quick and too slick for their outgunned opponents in what was little more than a training run, controlling the rucks and mauls as well as the line-outs.
The one-sided proceedings were enlivened, however, by a late pitch invasion by two Australian streakers - who earned one of the biggest cheers of the night.
“We hadn't played for five weeks - and that showed, but I'm reasonably
happy”, said Australian coach Rod Macqueen.
Kefu said the last time he could recall scoring a hat-trick was in an under-seven match in Brisbane. “I'll never forget that”, he added. “It's always nice to score three times, but today it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time”.
The Aussies were robbed of flanker Matt Cockbain, who withdrew with a left knee injury he suffered during the pre-match warm-up. He was replaced by Owen Finegan - but the change was academic given their superiority. Macqueen had the luxury of being able to use all seven of his replacements during the match.
Romania are still waiting to register a victory in the tournament's finals since they beat Zimbabwe in 1987 - and have never made it past the first round. “Australia are one of the best teams in the world, and from the beginning they imposed themselves”, said Romanian coach Mircea Paraschiv. “We have financial problems at home and that is reflected in our rugby game. Without money you cannot hope to reach the top level”.
