Not so near, yet not so far...?

So; it could have been worse, then...

On the face of it, being upbeat about another home defeat feels like a retrograde step. Of course, in the long term, being outscored by three tries to one at home is unacceptable.

But watching a horribly depleted Wales side compete as they did with a rampant Australia, it would take a fair old commitment to negativity in order not to feel at least mildly encouraged.

Yes, Australia were far superior in attacking play, and worthy winners as a result. But then some purists, and not just Welsh ones, will opine that no side producing such a comically inept scrummaging display should be awarded a moral victory. At one late point where Wales put in to a defensive 5m scrum, the BBC commentators were moved to suggest that they might attempt the pushover... it really was that bad. Wales were warned pre-match that David Pocock would boss the breakdown, and yet the inexperienced Sam Waburton made a decent fist of things there. Even in the lineout, Wales appeared to have the measure of their opponents, which is a rare sight indeed.

Behind the scrum, though, things were pretty desperate. Although the scratch-built three-quarter line must take its share of praise for containing their rampaging opponents in defence, in attack Wales had simply nothing worth speaking of. With the top playmaker stranded at full-back in a game that was short on tactical kicking, the midfield was a creativity desert. A badly off-form Stephen Jones, a tiring Tom Shanklin and "dependable" but uninspiring Andrew Bishop made few mistakes, but neither could they make anything happen with a decent share of possession. On the wings, Shane Williams and new boy Will Harries seemed only present to make the dissapointing attendance figures look more respectable.

With Mike Phillips at 9 also looking a ghost of his true self, it's hard to recall a less exciting Welsh backline. Coming on late to replace Phillips, Ritchie Rees signifcantly improved matters, scored a well-deserved try, and must surely now start against South Africa next week.

It was left to Australia's young backs to light up the afternoon, with Kurtley Beale the obvious star on display (ill-advised moustache notwithstanding). That's hard to swallow, but then the coaching team are clutching at fairly substantial chunks of driftwood when they point to the list of attacking selections that were denied to them. This was as close to a 2nd XV as Wales have had to field for a while, and stronger outfits have performed less creditably in recent memory. Nothing to get excited about, perhaps; but reason enough to keep the cyanide pills in the locker for another week, at least.