BIRMINGHAM — A second-string Australia ran in 11 tries to hammer Uruguay 65-3 at Villa Park Sunday and ease to the top of Rugby World Cup Pool A ahead of its crunch encounters with England and Wales. The twice former champion, which opened its campaign with a 25-13 victory over Fiji Wednesday, made hay in the bright Birmingham sunshine to score five tries before halftime and secure the bonus point. Two tries in five minutes at the start of the second half from winger Drew Mitchell, his 11th and 12th at World Cups, gave the Australians the points differential they needed to ease ahead of Wales, conqueror of England the previous evening. Flyhalf Quade Cooper converted only five of the tries and did nothing for his chances of replacing Bernard Foley in the number 10 shirt for next week's clash with England by spending 10 minutes of the match in the sin bin for a high tackle. There was some bad new for Australia coach Michael Cheika, however, when lock Will Skelton left the field after 57 minutes clutching his forearm. Wales stuns England Wales produced a storming comeback to beat shell-shocked England 28-25 at Twickenham Saturday and leave the Rugby World Cup host facing an almighty battle to reach the knockout stages from Pool A. Battered, bruised and second best for an hour, the never-say-die Welsh came to life to secure a famous victory in the 127th and most significant meeting between the two nations. Wales, which suffered yet more injury woes, trailed 25-18 but found its spark when it mattered most. Gareth Davies' converted try leveled the scores with 20 minutes left and then a seventh penalty from outstanding flyhalf Dan Biggar settled a gripping contest. With only two teams progressing to the knockout stages from the toughest of the four pools, defeat left the 2003 winners needing to beat Australia next Saturday at Twickenham to stay in with a chance of avoiding a humiliating exit. Winger Jonny May rewarded England's first-half dominance with a well-taken try and coach Stuart Lancaster's decision to bring in flyhalf Owen Farrell, in place of George Ford, and center Sam Burgess appeared to be vindicated. Farrell was clinical in front of goal but so was Biggar, whose abilty to dissect the posts ensured Wales never lost touch. Springbok skipper out Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup after suffering a fracture to his jaw, an injury coach Heyneke Meyer described as a massive blow to the team. De Villiers sustained the fracture in South Africa's 46-6 victory over Samoa in a Pool C match in Birmingham Saturday. It is the second time in two months that De Villiers, winner of 108 caps in an illustrious 13-year international career, has broken his jaw, having first fractured it playing in South Africa's first defeat by Argentina in August in Durban. — Agencies
