Wales go down in Brisbane

Wales lost their opening Test against Australia 27-19 despite a spirited second-half fight-back in Brisbane.

Alex Cuthbert crossed for a try and Leigh Halfpenny kicked 14 points as the Six Nations champions threatened to pull off an historic win.

But it was not enough to recover from early scores by Rob Higginbotham and Will Genia before Pat McCabe crossed to snuff out the Welsh recovery.

Tri Nations holders Australia recovered from the defeat to Scotland to end Wales’s run of six wins in a row and leave caretaker coach Rob Howley facing an uphill task for the rest of the three-Test series.