Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt beats Wales in first Test, highlights, reaction, All Blacks beat England under Scott Robertson

Morgan Turinui perhaps summed it up best after the Wallabies beat Wales 25-16 in Sydney to bury some lingering Rugby World Cup demons.

“It’s a small step but an important one,” the former Wallabies back said on Stan Sport as the Joe Schmidt coaching era started with a win on Saturday.

It was world No.9 beating world No.10 and the quality at times reflected that.

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The Wallabies were excellent in the first 20 minutes and fans were salivating as Taniela Tupou, with scrum guru Mike Cron now in his corner, destroyed the Wales set piece before scoring the opening try.

Things went off the boil after that and Wales deserve credit for turning the match into an armwrestle.

Two outside backs unloved by Eddie Jones then swung the match.

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Winger Filipo Daugunu scored an excellent try, using the greasy surface to slide over the line and put Australia back in front, 18-13 after 53 minutes.

Fullback Tom Wright then went one better, dazzling the Wales defence from inside his own half and wearing a huge smile as he dotted down.

“Have you ever seen anything like that,” Tim Horan said on Stan Sport.

“It does not get any better for the Wallabies. Breaking ankles, Tom Wright.”

The Aussie fans were happy as they spilled out into the Paddington streets.

There were 35,945 in attendance at Allianz Stadium.

“We sense the support of the crowd,” Schmidt told Stan Sport.

“Talking to the players after the game, that makes a massive difference.

“We know we’ve got to earn their support and we’ve got to try to be better next time so that they come along in Melbourne and they give us the same encouragement and we try to deliver a slightly different product, that’s slightly improved.”

Schmidt, for those that missed it, replaced Jones as coach in the wake of Australia’s disastrous World Cup campaign, including a 40-6 loss to Wales.

“Yeah, a great result. We weren’t perfect tonight by any means, but the grit we showed out there, really pleased with that result,” new skipper Liam Wright said.

The Wallabies had a 13-10 lead after a grinding first half in a heavy dew that featured a yellow card for both teams.

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Tupou scored the opening try in the 21st minute, barging over from the back of a maul after the Wallabies battered the line, to give Australia a 13-3 lead.

Wales prop Gareth Thomas was sent to the sin bin immediately.

Despite being a man down, the Welsh kicked for touch instead of taking points from a penalty four minutes later and it paid off when they were awarded a penalty try after forming a 10 man driving maul from a close range lineout.

Australian flanker Fraser McReight was sent to the sin bin for dragging the maul down close to the line, and Australia clung to a three point cushion at the break.

Wales equalised at 13-13 six minutes into the second half via a Ben Thomas penalty goal after dominating the period after the break.

But the Australians retaliated quickly, with Daugunu coming off the blind wing, chiming into the backline between the Wales midfielders and sliding over into the right corner in the damp conditions in the 53rd minute to make it 18-13.

Wales had a try disallowed five minutes later when James Botham crashed over with his first touch following a lineout, only to be called back because a teammate joined from in front of the ball.

Tom Lynagh, the son of Wallabies great Michael Lynagh, went on for his Test debut in the 64th minute and, after Wales cut the margin to two points with a penalty goal, he had a very quick impact on the game.

Lynagh started a counter attacking move when he sent the ball right to Wright, who burst through a gap and sprinted upfield in a 50m solo run before stepping inside the cover defence and diving over for the match clinching try.

Lynagh converted to make it 25-16 and ensured Wales slumped to an eighth consecutive defeat since the group stage of the World Cup.

The loss extended a drought for Wales, which hasn’t beaten the Wallabies in 12 Tests on Australian soil since 1969.

“I love the result. Lots to do around the performance,” Schmidt said.

“First 20 minutes I felt that we did some pretty good things. Then we kind of went off the boil and gave up three penalties in a row, including a yellow card. That really put us on the back foot and we really had to work hard from there.

“I don’t think they (Wales) get too adventurous. We kind of knew what was coming but stopping what’s coming is another thing. Particularly with their lineout drive, that’s where they put the most pressure on. We had a plan to stop it, we didn’t quite manage to do so. That’ll be something we go back, have a close look at, and try to make sure we improve next week.”

Earlier, New Zealand clung on to a one point lead for 15 minutes and beat England 16-15 in a gripping first Test to make a winning start to a new era under coach Scott Robertson.

Damian McKenzie kicked the second of two penalties in the 65th minute to edge New Zealand ahead after the teams had been locked at 10-10 at halftime.

England earlier had gone ahead with a try to winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

A third penalty attempt by McKenzie with two minutes to go was timed out by the referee.

England had the last possession of the match but New Zealand forced a turnover.

For most of the match a physical England team stretched New Zealand to its limits and exposed the All Blacks frailty against fast and flat defence.

They won the territorial battle but not the breakdown contest that was pivotal.

All Blacks captain Scott Barrett called the match a “tough arm wrestle” and said New Zealand were fortunate to pin England back in the late stages.

“It’s great to see how quickly the boys have come together under a new coaching system,” Barrett said.

“England shifted us around with little kicks in behind. They just squeezed us at times, made us try to play out of our own half and we were a bit slow to adapt.”

England last beat the All Blacks in New Zealand in 2003.