Wales terminated Australia's World Cup campaign with extreme prejudice on Sunday night in Lyon to move into the quarter-finals and all but eliminate the two-time champions.
They beat them 40-6 on the back of three tries - two crisply taken - and Gareth Anscombe's excellent kicking.
It started badly for the Australians at the Groupama Stadium. Gareth Davies ripped through an apparent defence to score under the posts after five minutes and Dan Biggar added two more points with the conversion.
But Ben Donaldson reduced the score with a couple of penalties.
A glimmer of hope emerged for the Australians with Biggar's departure after 14 minutes and it appeared a full-scale moon beam when his replacement Gareth Anscombe missed his first penalty.
But Australian indiscipline gave him another chance soon after which he converted for 10-6. Two more opportunities came and he knocked over six more points to take Wales into the half-time break leading 16-6.
In the prelude to the game, Wales boss Warren Gatland spoke of the tight, physical contests between the sides over the ages.
Another seemed likely with only a 10 point gap and with Australia needing victory to maintain their place in the tournament.
Discipline
But after the pause, another penalty allowed Anscombe to put distance between the sides.
And then Australia collapsed. Nick Tompkins scampered onto Anscombe's lob over the Australian back line to make it 24-6 and Anscombe adorned his dinky handiwork with another two points for the conversion.
A few more penalties and a drop goal added salt to the wounds before skipper Jac Morgan went over to make it 40-6 and Australia's worst defeat at the World Cup.
Anscombe - deemed man-of-the-match - for the sake of symmetry ended as he started with a botched kick.
"We've just kind of been focused on one game at a time," said Gatland.
Attitude
"I know that Australia came into this game feeling confident but we came in very confident that we could produce a performance and I thought we were clinical."
His Australia counterpart, Eddie Jones, acknowledged he would be more likely to end up in a clinic if he ventured into Lyon city centre following the defeat and encountered Australian fans.
"Whilst it looks at the moment like it's a shambles, I can guarantee you it's not," Jones insisted. "I've got to coach the team better. There's no doubt about that."
Should Fiji beat Georgia with a bonus point on Saturday, Australia will be out before they take to the field on Sunday afternoon against Portugal in Saint-Etienne. It would be the first time in the 36 year history of the competition that Australia have failed to progress to the knockout stages.
"We're working hard to get better," added Jones. "And the match against Wales was one of those things where unfortunately, it doesn't go on the linear line.
"You've got some downs and ups. But what we are seeing is a group of young players who are going to be the backbone of a very successful Australian team."
