Australia give minnows Romania mauling

Australia 90, Romania 8 (FT)

Australia scored 13 tries and they equalled their biggest ever Test win as they overcame some poor handling early on to destroy Romania 90-8 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

Australia scored after just 18 seconds and secured a bonus point before half-time in their World Cup pool match against Romania, but conceded a sloppy try and were dogged by handling errors and some tardiness at the rucks in the first-half.

Australia should have had a third try when Stephen Larkham burst through a gap and put Wendell Sailor in for what looked a certain touchdown.

But Romanian full-back Danut Dumbrava saved the day with an excellent tackle.

However, moments later Matt Burke made no mistake as he ran onto a superb pass from Flatley, who then converted to extend his team's lead to 24-5.

The handling demons struck again almost from the re-start as Larkham spilled a straightforward pass.

The bonus-point was secured in the 28th minute when Flatley and Stephen Larkham combined to create space for Burke to make the initial break.

Rogers was then on hand to collect a pass from skipper George Gregan down the blindside to race away and score under posts to make it 31-5 after the conversion.

Ionut Tofan knocked over a penalty for Romania just after the half hour mark.

An astute kick by winger Joe Roff nearly put Burke in for a fifth try, but Cristian Sauan got across to cover again.

With six minutes to go before the break, Australia threatened again through a backline move to the right but Rogers made another handling error – his team's fifth of the first 40 minutes – and momentum was lost.

But just before the break, Burke grabbed his second try to send a message that he belongs in the number 13 jersey, running onto a smart pass from Gregan and breaking two tackles.

The first half showed a worrying slowness by the Australian loose forwards at the breakdown, with even the normally speedy George Smith at fault, while their handling often let them down.

Australian coach Jones decided to rest his captain in the second half, sending on 20-year-old Matt Giteau at the break.

Romania could have struck early after the restart as captain Romeo Gontineac burst away and was only dragged down by a superb tackle from Larkham.

They then exerted some pressure on the Australian defence with a series of well-structured mauls, going through 10 phases before a knock-on relieved hosts.

Jones then made his second change, giving Ben Darwin his 24th cap to celebrate his 27th birthday.

Sailor blew a certain try in the 48th minute when he tripped with the line open, but seconds later Larkham took a penalty quickly and dived over under the posts.

Flatley’s conversion pushed the score up to it 45-8.

Jones made more changes just after the 50-minute mark, with Jeremy Paul and Justin Harrison coming on for Brendan Cannon and Vickerman respectively, while Stirling Mortlock replaced Burke.

Sailor nearly went in the corner in the 54th minute, but the big former Brisbane Broncos winger was pulled down just short of a try on his old home patch by Romanian replacement Mihai Vioreanu.

The Romanian defence had to sharp again a minute later when Vioreanu blocked a pass from Mortlock which was bound for Sailor.

Australia’s next try came when Giteau fed Mortlock from a ruck, and he ran smoothly through the Romanian line before showing good strength to go over in the tackle of Gabriel Brezoianu.

Flatley was unable to convert, although the eighth try for Australia soon came courtesy of a flowing backline move which also involved openside flanker Phil Waugh, who fed Roff to go over.

Larkham grabbed the ninth try, the conversion making it 64-8, and moments later Rogers wrapped up his hat-trick as the scoreline continued to open up.

Lote Tuqiri’s arrival on the field as a makeshift openside flanker raised some eyebrows, but it did not slow the Aussies down.

Giteau grabbed the 11th try when he zapped away from a ruck and left Brezoianu helpless with a swerve before diving over. Flatley’s conversion made it 76-8.

Tuqiri, also a former Broncos rugby league star, delighted the 48,778 fans with the 12th try as he drove over in 73rd minute.

When Mortlock broke away a few minutes later he looked odds-on to bag the next score, but was just hauled in by the cover defence.

But from a scrum George Smith got over for lucky number 13.

Flatley’s superb conversion pushed the score to 90-8, matching the margin they recorded when beating Spain 92-10 in Madrid in 2001.