RWC 2015: ‘We’ve qualified so we can go out and express ourselves’, says Jamie Roberts

Roberts hopes Wales can end Aussie domination

Wales centre Jamie Roberts (Getty Images)

For 80 minutes last week, Jamie Roberts was a nervous wreck as he watched Pool A rivals England and Australia go head to head at Twickenham.

A Wallabies win, viewed by Roberts from the slightly surreal setting of a sofa at Rosslyn Park Rugby Club surrounded by a bunch of Englishmen, has ensured Wales avoid another nervy week themselves, with qualification for the knock-out stages already secured.

But Roberts is adamant that Saturday at Twickenham and a final pool game against Australia remains a “huge game”, with the loser more than likely to face a seemingly resurgent South Africa after their early undoing by Japan.

The backdrop to the game away from the World Cup is a string of 10 straight defeats to the Wallabies – the last victory dating back to 2008, when Roberts, in the infancy of his international career, was knocked out early on.

Hopefully, what’s on the line on Saturday will bring out the best in us

&#13; <p>Jamie Roberts, Wales</p>&#13;

But the centre is confident Wales can end their barren spell, helped by the absence of influential Wallaby flanker Michael Hooper, who has been banned for one game for an illegal tackle, following his citing in the England game.

“He’s one of the best players and is not playing, so that’s good for us,” said Roberts, before issuing a warning about Australia’s strength in depth.

With both teams having qualified, Saturday’s match does not quite have as much at stake any more but, Roberts argues, it will probably ensure a better show.

“You go into games with certain plans,” the 28-year-old said. “Now we face Australia knowing we’ve qualified, I hope that we can go out and play a bit more rugby and go out and really express ourselves. The game will be an incredible spectacle.”

Repeatedly, Wales and Australia have gone toe to toe in Test rugby only for the Welsh to be undone in the dying minutes. But Roberts and the Wales camp have tried to argue the case all week that a World Cup effectively erases any past form.

“The last 10 minutes has killed us on many occasions,” he said, “but, hopefully, what’s on the line will bring out the best in us.”

The Wales coach Warren Gatland has the novelty of having a fully fit 31-man squad to choose from for the game, with backs coach Rob Howley hinting that Tyler Morgan could yet keep his place alongside Roberts in midfield, despite his relative inexperience.

Roberts was quick to praise Morgan’s elusive running style and the maturity of his decision-making in the 23-13 victory over Fiji.

In what is his second World Cup, Roberts says he is simply happy to still be in the competition, knowing that the smallest of margins either way in their match against the hosts at Twickenham 11 days ago might have meant he and his Wales team-mates were in the firing line this week.

“It’s a brutal pool and it was always going to be three teams missing out,” he said. “That’s what makes the World Cup so exciting.

“The questions being asked of England not qualifying at the moment, well, we beat them by three points. We could have lost that game in the last 10 minutes and England could have been going through and the questions asked of us.

“So I feel sympathy with the difficulty of the group and how ruthless it’s been. They lost against two good teams and it’s disappointing as host nation, and to not see them through is hard for the fans as much as anyone.”

While England’s result against Uruguay on Saturday is immaterial, Wales know they have at least two games left in the tournament.

“We’ve got out of the group and now have to set more goals,” said Roberts.