Sickening for Wales but Gavin is back in fine shape

Making his first appearance since suffering a knee ligament strain in January, Henson played for 21 minutes, six of them as a first-half blood replacement for try-scoring skipper Gareth Thomas and the rest as he took over from Wales's other try-scorer, Jamie Robinson, as the game frenetically reached its close.

Jenkins said: "Gav did well when he came on. It was always the case that we brought him on the tour to give him an opportunity if the situation was right.

"It was right to bring him on in the second half and he proved to all of us he's still skilled and has an appetite for the game. He was a positive in that last part of the game."

While Henson may now play a more significant role for the second Test in Brisbane next Saturday after only a small part in this gutsy Wales display, his former team-mate at Swansea, Newport-Gwent's Colin Charvis, was giving one of his finest performances in a red jersey. At 34, it was nothing short of a wonder to behold. Au s t r a l i a c o a c h J o h n Connolly was Swansea's coach five seasons ago when Henson was a rising star and Charvis s e e m e d t o b e l e t t i n g a potentially great career slip amid fraught financial times at the club. Seeing Charvis putting in s u c h a n i n t e l l i g e n t a n d ferocious display left Connolly with the feeling that when the player finally retires it is nights like this that will linger in the memory rather than the moments that once saw him pip Saddam Hussein to being Wales's most-hated man.

"It's a credit to Colin that he's still performing like that," said Connolly.

He has had a lot of issues over the years and brought some of them on himself. But he has been a pretty good servant to Wales over a long period. I guess that's how he'll be remembered —for that talent and the service he has given to his country. There is no doubt that when Colin goes out on to the field he fronts up.

He's willing to do what it takes. Through some of Wales's poorest years he has been a positive presence."

The Wallabies coach believes Charvis's ability to keep putting in big performances in the twilight of his career comes down to self-discipline.

Connolly added: "In this day and age, if you manage yourself well you can get away with producing that sort of form at 34 . . . and Colin's doing that."

As is Australia's George Gregan. Connolly would not offer an opinion on whether or not the hosts would have engineered Stephen Hoiles' dramatic late winning try had Matt Giteau still been operating ing at scrum half when that post-final hooter opportunity presented itself.

But having seen fellow scrum half replacement Gareth Cooper self-destruct by kicking the ball away at a scrum in home territory only for the Wallabies to run it straight back with devastating effect, Gregan was not about to let his status count for nothing.

Gregan seized the moment at a ruck close to the Welsh line, launching the move that ended with Hoiles breaking the visitors' hearts and continuing their misery Down Under, where they are winless since 1969.

The 25-year-old's try was the home side's fourth, after Wycliff Palu, Nathan Sharpe and Giteau had put the Wallabies back in the match.

Having been 17-0 and 20-12 ahead, it was a sickening moment for Jenkins and his players, even if they thrived off Australia's woeful handling errors to strike twice through skipper Gareth Thomas, on his record 93rd Wales appearance, and Jamie Robinson.

The man Cooper replaced, Mike Phillips, could barely disguise his frustration at the outcome. "We didn't close the game out and it's something we have to learn to do," said Phillips. "To lose a game like that was really gutting after we fought so hard and defended so well for such a long time."