Wales 21 Australia 18 So near, yet so far. The Wallabies failed to finish off what would have been a first unbeaten European tour since 1996 when wild collisions, baffling refereeing and a well-drilled performance by the Six Nations champions ensured the visitors fell just short at Millennium Stadium.

This was a mighty match, full of drama, incident, excitement and high intensity magnified by the ground's marvellous atmosphere. Even in defeat, the Wallabies showed they have the makings of a very good Australian team.

The signs were there that they are improving in the face of adversity. The Test could not have started on a worse note for the Wallabies - first fullback Drew Mitchell fumbled the opening downfield kick, then captain Stirling Mortlock was sent hurtling into la-la land after he crashed into his opposite, Jamie Roberts, while contesting a midfield Welsh pass.

Welsh captain Ryan Jones described it is a "hell of a collision", which it was, with Roberts fracturing his skull yet, somehow, playing on for 15 minutes, while a groggy Mortlock was helped to the sideline.

After only two minutes, the Wallabies were without their captain and forced into bringing novice Quade Cooper into the centres. Teams often fall apart when a leader is lost so early but the Wallabies didn't, with Cooper, despite two kicks being charged down, playing as he did against Italy in Padova with rare poise, while everyone around him lifted.

In a vigorous, often brutal arm-wrestle, the Wallabies' formation looked good, with halfback Luke Burgess, vastly improved from last week, underplaying his hand, five-eighth Matt Giteau often opting for midfield-bombs, and the forwards drilling Welsh attackers.

There were chinks in the Australian wall, especially in the opening minutes when, strangely, the Wallabies had three players - Cooper, Digby Ioane and Mitchell - sitting back from the main defensive line. They were punished for it in the fourth minute when Welsh winger Shane Williams took advantage of an overlap to score the first try.

The Wallabies soon rallied and second-rower Mark Chisholm seized a loose ball at the back of the Welsh lineout to lope 65 metres to the line and take the lead.

But there were already disconcerting signs, as Irish referee Alan Lewis, who infuriated the Wallabies with his dreadful performance in Hong Kong, kept finding fault at nearly every scrum. Free kicks and penalties continued to go Wales' way, as they did at many of the breakdowns, where Lewis was onto the Wallabies any time they appeared to get off their feet.

The interruptions affected Australia's flow, especially in the 27th minute when Lewis sent hooker Stephen Moore to the sin bin for a breakdown indiscretion. Those 10 minutes were crucial, because in Moore's absence Wales tallied 10 points to regain control, primarily through a Lee Byrne try set up by Williams veering cross-field before straightening and unloading a fine tight pass to his fullback.

The Wallabies weren't able to recover despite a concerted effort at the end, when Ioane scored to prompt a frenetic final few minutes. But it would have been an injustice if Australia had again found the tryline to win, because Wales were the better team, and the three-point margin a just indicator of what had transpired.

New Zealander Warren Gatland has Wales playing a fast, confrontational and often expansive game that kept relentless pressure on the visitors. However, their attempt to target Giteau and Burgess didn't really succeed.

But elsewhere they made the right moves, especially in their rush-up defence, to give the northern hemisphere its first win over the south this year.

Southern 19, northern 1.

It is not often that Australia plays under four different captains in a Test. After Mortlock left, Phil Waugh took over. Then Giteau was skipper for a minute or two when Waugh had to make way while Moore was in the sin bin so Adam Freier could be hooker. When Waugh was replaced in the 61st minute, George Smith took over.

Not surprisingly, Smith tried to talk to Lewis over confusing decisions near the end of the game, which enabled Wales to draw further ahead. Lewis fobbed Smith off, prompting many of the Wallabies to admit they had no idea why a number of decisions were made against them.

That just added to the despair of finishing so close to achieving the perfect European tour.