[1] Wales winger Shane Williams at a training session in Auckland this week. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) The Welsh immediately cried foul after a 9-8 semifinal loss to France, saying they were more deserving of a World Cup final spot than the French.
The "We wuz robbed" complaints centred on the red card to captain Sam Warburton. His dangerous tackle left Wales a man short for more than an hour, yet the Welsh could still have pulled off an amazing victory if any of their three kickers had landed one of the six shots they missed in the game.
Even former Wales head coach Graham Henry, who has guided New Zealand into the final, was disappointed his old team missed out, saying it would have been a great final matchup.
Wales has one last chance to prove it really deserved to have reached its first World Cup final, by upsetting No 2-ranked Australia in the playoff for third place on Friday night.
Australia coach Robbie Deans has been one of the admirers of Wales' running rugby, which has earned the side a return to prominence and respect. But he didn't back any changes to the tournament format, which has seen France advance to the final after losing two pool games. France, he said, "went through the system and they prevailed."
Deans also was pragmatic about the worthiness of the bronze-medal game between two hurt and disappointed semifinals losers who usually would prefer to go home than endure week-long attention on the finalists.
The game was still relevant, Deans said, because it offered ranking points which will help for the next World Cup, and his Wallabies were taking it seriously. "Absolutely," he added.
The match will also be a moneymaker for the tournament host, with a crowd of at least 50,000 expected at Eden Park two days ahead of the final.
Both teams had in mind their fans for motivation.
Stand-in Wales skipper Gethin Jenkins said his squad was keen to play well as a "thank you" to their fans.
Not only had thousands of Welsh followed the team to New Zealand, and thousands of locals backed them for the entertainment they offered, but also the support was evident by the 61,543 fans who packed Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for a free live screening of the semifinal at dawn last Saturday.
That was nearly 3000 more than attended the actual game. Millennium Stadium will also show Friday's game on its giant TV screens live and for free.
The Wallabies didn't feel robbed after losing to the All Blacks 20-6 in their semifinal - they were more devastated to come off second best so clearly.
Winning the Tri-Nations title in August, then ousting defending champion South Africa in an incredible quarterfinal had galvanized Australian support of rugby in a country where it ranked lowly among the four football codes. The Wallabies said they'd taken the bitter loss to heart and were out for redemption.
"To let ourselves down is one thing but to let the supporters down, the fans and the country down is another," center Adam Ashley-Cooper said.
Australia has made eight changes for the match, including the return from injury of fullback Kurtley Beale, Berrick Barnes in midfield and lock Nathan Sharpe starting his 100th test. Sharpe will be the fifth Australian to notch a century of test caps. Thanks to a Welsh grandfather, Sharpe said he was asked to play for Wales way back when Henry was coach but declined.
Wales made only three changes, all in the forwards. Prop Paul James, lock Bradley Davies and No. 8 Ryan Jones were brought in. James Hook was left at flyhalf, given a second chance like his opposite number Quade Cooper, to regain confidence after sub-par displays in the semifinals.
The match is only the first of five meetings between the teams within the next eight months. The Wallabies return to Cardiff on December 3, and Wales tour Australia for a three-test tour next June.
"We face Australia back home at Millennium Stadium in just over a month's time and we are single-minded in our assertion that we want that homecoming to be a celebration of us achieving the status of one of the top three teams in the world," coach Warren Gatland said.
"We have come a long way and put together a string of performances that the nation can be proud of so far in New Zealand and we need to ensure that the history books reflect what we know we are capable of - and it is only by beating the Wallabies on Friday night that we feel this will be achieved."
But Sharpe, who has experienced two losses to Wales in his eight tests against them, said the Wallabies were out to put the Welsh in their place. Mindful of the glut of games with Wales coming up, he said, "If you let these teams get one over you, they get too much confidence."
Australia: Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Digby Ioane, Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Ben McCalman, David Pocock, Scott Higginbotham, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill (captain), Salesi Ma'afu, Tatafu Polota Nau, James Slipper. Reserves: Saia Fainga'a, Ben Alexander, Rob Simmons, Radike Samo, Luke Burgess, Anthony Fainga'a, Rob Horne.
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams, James Hook, Mike Phillips; Ryan Jones, Toby Faletau, Dan Lydiate, Luke Charteris, Bradley Davies, Paul James, Huw Bennett, Gethin Jenkins (captain). Reserves: Lloyd Burns, Ryan Bevington, Alun Wyn Jones, Andy Powell, Lloyd Williams, Stephen Jones, Scott Williams.
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