Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi’s return to the gold jersey has ended disastrously after he was sent off early in the second half.
Kerevi’s red card was the lone sour point of a commanding Wallabies win, taking out the 52-20 victory in Cardiff.
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The centre was celebrating his 50th game in the gold jersey as he returned for his first Test since the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
However, Kerevi’s night ended right after the break when he collected flanker Jac Morgan high.
The centre braced for impact and collected Morgan in the head, with the play upgraded to a red.
It came after Kerevi had his own complaint for a card against the Welsh turned away as a head-on-head contact at the ruck deemed not a penalty.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt showed his frustration, heightened after losing Nic White (HIA) to a high tackle five minutes later that was ruled a penalty only.
"We're pretty disappointed with that decision around Samu, and we'll have a look at that," he said.
"We had Nick White come off with an HIA and we just feel like it's pretty tough for Samu, playing his 50th game and to be sent off in that tackle."
Kerevi has had a history of bad luck with penalties against the Welsh, famously cited for a raised elbow during the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The moment came with the Wallabies under real pressure, with their 19-0 lead erased to 19-13 by a spirited Wales defence.
However, the sent off galvanised the Australians as they scored 21 unanswered points down a player, including a double to Matt Faessler.
Wallabies captain Allan Alaalatoa was pleased with the fight shown by the side as they ran away with the win.
"We really had to connect and stay tied and make sure that we stick to our game plan," Alaalatoa added.
"We thought that we got some ascendancy through our maul there so we stuck to that and it gave us some pay."
