Gatland laments woeful Wales team

The good news for Wales is their next match is a Six Nations opener against England, whose own results this month were nothing to get excited about, and that it's not until February.

But the full-time boos of a packed crowd of more than 74,000 at the Millennium Stadium told their own story here on Saturday after Wales ended 2009 with a 33-12 loss to Australia.

It was no wonder Wales coach Warren Gatland labelled the defeat as "the most disappointing performance" he'd overseen since taking charge two years ago.

Australia were so superior in every department it made it all the more extraordinary they'd come into this game on the back of a 9-8 loss to Scotland, with Gatland speaking about Wales needing to be comfortable with the mantle of favourites against Tri-Nations opposition.

Australia ran in four tries, three inside 16 first-half minutes alone, with Digby Ioane, James Horwill, David Pocock and Tatafu Polota-Nau all crossing Wales's line.

By contrast Wales were rendered try-less, their points coming courtesy of a Leigh Halfpenny long-range effort and three Stephen Jones penalties as they suffered their heaviest home defeat of Gatland's reign.

"That was the most disappointing performance since I've been in charge of Wales," Gatland told reporters.

"Australia dominated the air, defensively it was one of the best displays seen by an Australian side. At scrum time they were strong.

"We are disappointed by the number of turnovers, we failed to capitalise on a few opportunities, we played against a team that was a little more desperate and hungrier than we were."

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards added: "Some of out tackling in the first half was very disappointing. This was my worst day with Wales so far.

"Australia's defence was magnificent. The tackler was incredibly proactive and it wasn't just the back row but from one to 15.

"That's the modern game, the aerial battle and the breakdown - and that's where we came second-best."

Adding to a wretched day for Wales was the sight of three British and Irish Lions squad, wings Shane Williams (hamstring) and Halfpenny (dead leg), as well as hooker Matthew Rees (groin), all going off injured before half-time.

"It doesn't help when you are losing quality players but that's rugby," said Gatland, who then sought refuge in Wales having played three of their four November Tests against teams above them in the world rankings - New Zealand, Argentina and Australia.

Of those, Wales only managed to defeat the Pumas, 33-16 last weekend, to leave them with two wins from four this month after they'd lost 19-12 to the All Blacks and struggled to see off Samoa 17-13.

"I felt throughout the campaign we were improving. We played three sides ranked higher than us, so let's not disrespect the opposition," Gatland said.

He added: "We do struggle with depth - if you take some big names out, it does hinder us."

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