Cory Allen scored a first-half hat-trick as Wales beat Uruguay 54-9 at the Millennium Stadium, writes SIMON BORCHARDT.
After Japan's shock win against the Boks 24 hours earlier, there would have been a few nervous Welsh fans when Felipe Berchesi kicked two penalties to give Uruguay an early 6-0 lead.
But Wales responded with two converted tries, with Samson Lee going over from a lineout driving maul and Allen collecting Rhys Priestland's perfectly-weighted chip kick behind the defence.
While Berchesi slotted his third penalty to reduce the deficit to five, it soon became clear that there wouldn't be another World Cup upset.
Scott Williams broke into the Uruguay 22, drew the final defender and put Allen away for his second try, and the outside centre then secured his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time to put Wales 28-9 ahead.
Hallam Amos crossed the line for Wales' fifth try early in the second half, before Gareth Davies broke around a lineout driving maul to make it 40-9 after an hour.
The Welsh scored another two tries in the last 10 minutes, though Justin Tipuric and Davies, to move past the 50-point mark.
They will, however, be sweating over the fitness of Allen and fullback Liam Williams, who both limped off the field.
Wales – Tries: Samson Lee, Cory Allen (3), Hallam Amos, Gareth Davies (2), Justin Tipuric. Conversions: Rhys Priestland (7).
Uruguay – Penalties: Felipe Berchesi (3).
Wales – 15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Paul James.
Subs: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ross Moriarty, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Matthew Morgan.
Uruguay – 15 Gaston Meres, 14 Santiago Gibernau, 13 Joaquin Prada, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 7 Matias Beer, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 5 Jorge Zerbino, 4 Santiago Vilaseca (c), 3 Mario Sagario, 2 Carlos Arboleya, 1 Alejo Corral.
Subs: 16 German Kessler, 17 Oscar Duran, 18 Mateo Sanguinetti, 19 Franco Lamanna, 20 Agustin Alonso, 21 Juan De Freitas, 22 Alejo Duran, 23 Francisco Bulanti.
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
