Wales 16 - 25 Australia: Man-of-match Kurtley Beale says best still to come as Australia ease past lacklustre Wales

The Wallabies' 25-16 victory came in spite of their hosts enjoying superiority in the forward exchanges and dominating territory and possession during the opening 40 minutes.

However, for all of the ball Wales had they rarely threatened to break through a well-marshalled Australia defence while the visitors were wonderfully incisive in possession.

They registered three well-finished tries through flanker David Pocock, Beale and prop Ben Alexander, and the nine-point winning margin did not reflect the gulf between the two sides.

Waratahs' Beale deservedly picked up the man-of-the-match award for a wonderful individual display, which would have been perfectly capped had he not knocked on in the act of scoring what would have been a sensational solo try.

And, with Australia having beaten New Zealand eight days ago, Beale is hoping they can go up another level when they face England at Twickenham on Saturday.

"I think we are in good shape going forward on this tour," said the 21-year-old. "We are getting better, there is a good balance throughout the team. Everyone has an input into strategy and ideas - everyone can have a voice, and everyone listens.

"But we know we can't get too far ahead of ourselves. Wales threw a lot at us, and there are a few things we have to pick up on. Every game until the World Cup is a matter of improving. We don't want to look at any game as a missed opportunity. It's about playing around with your game plan and strategy."

But if the Wallabies are to beat Martin Johnson's men they will need to find an answer to the scrum problems that again plagued them yesterday.

The set-piece confrontation has been an area of Australian weakness for a number of years. And while the Wallabies claim it is an area they have addressed, they conceded a stream of penalties in that facet of the game in Cardiff and were slightly fortuitous not to see a member of their front-row sin-binned.

Their two Tests against England in the summer also saw them pummelled up front, but Beale believes the Wallaby front five are capable of turning things around.

"The Welsh dominated up-front. We had to turn it around in the second-half, and we did that," he said. "In the second-half, we were focused on getting into their half and staying there. We recycled the ball a lot better - it was a big effort.

"The scrum has progressed, it is certainly better than it was (in 2007).We will fix the scrum up next week and go into the England game very confident."

Coach Robbie Deans admitted he had been concerned by his side's scrum travails but believes plenty of hard work on the training paddock in the coming days can rectify the issue.

"We were getting beaten on the hit on numerous occasions, that was our greatest problem. We will need to revisit it this week," said the former Crusaders coach.

"But we have always found that when you place a real emphasis on something you get growth, and we will be trying to do that this week."

Deans also hopes to have hooker Stephen Moore available for next week after the Brumbies hooker was forced to withdraw from the starting line-up against Wales due to a back problem, with Saia Faingaa replacing him.

"Stephen just had a little bit of a back problem that flared up," said Deans. "He made the difficult, but probably correct, decision to withdraw. We are hopeful that he will be ready for next week"

Wales have added Wasps No 8 Andy Powell to their squad ahead of next weekend's clash against world champions South Africa at the Millennium Stadium.

Referee: W Barnes (RFU)

Attendance: 70,000 Powell, who has won 14 caps, had been training with the squad as back-row cover, but now gains an official call-up.

The 29-year-old has not played for Wales since last season's RBS Six Nations victory over Scotland, when he was suspended from the Wales squad after being charged with driving a golf buggy while over the limit from Wales' training base in the Vale of Glamorgan.

He subsequently gained selection for the two-Test tour to New Zealand and a home game against South Africa in June, only to be forced out through injury.

Wales coach Warren Gatland is due to name his team for the South Africa game on Thursday, when Powell is likely to be in contention for a starting place.

On Saturday, Pocock's converted try either side of two Stephen Jones penalties for Wales handed Australia a 7-6 lead at the interval although the visitors would have found themselves behind had Jones added two straightforward kicks.

Australia stretched their advantage after the break with James O'Connor's superb run and pass setting up a Beale try as Wales started to run out of ideas.

O'Connor's deft inside pass on the hour allowed Alexander to go over in the corner to make it 19-9 before two O'Connor penalties effectively sealed victory after a Richie Rees try had given Wales brief hope of a revival.

Wing O'Connor, who scored a last-minute try to sink New Zealand in Hong Kong the previous week, showed his class again in Cardiff to help Australia shrug off a slow first-half performance.

The Wallabies showed only glimpses of the form which snapped a ten-match losing streak to the All Blacks but their improved passing after the break proved too much for dogged Wales.

O'Connor's right-wing burst from inside his own half caught Wales napping and Beale was on hand to collect the ball before dipping through two tackles to cross the line. After adding his second conversion of the game, and setting up Alexander in the right-hand corner, O'Connor added a penalty.

The injury-hit hosts had struggled for invention but found some joy at the scrum and were rewarded with a late try when replacement Rees dived over after a period of sustained pressure. O'Connor then booted a late penalty for the Wallabies.

Scorers: Wales: Tries: R Rees. Con: Biggar. Pens: S Jones 3. Australia: Tries: Pocock, Beale, Alexander. Cons: O'Connor 2. Pens: O'Connor 2.

Wales: Hook; Harries, Shanklin, Bishop, S Williams; S Jones, Phillips; Jenkins, M Rees, A Jones, Davies, A Jones, Lydiate, Warburton, Thomas. Replacements: Czekaj for Shanklin (76), Biggar for S Jones (65), R Rees for Phillips (65), James for Jenkins (71), Bennett for M Rees (75), D. Jones for A Jones (74), M Williams for Warburton (65).

Australia: Beale; O'Connor, Ashley-Cooper, Giteau, Mitchell; Cooper, Genia; Robinson, S. Faingaa, Alexander, Chisholm, Sharpe, Elsom, Pocock, McCalman. Replacements: Barnes for Giteau (67), Burgess for Genia (74), Edmonds for S. Faingaa (54), Slipper for Alexander (62), Mumm for Chisholm (75). Not used: Brown, Turner.