Wales face Australia in a World Cup Pool A decider at Twickenham on Saturday, hoping to halt a long run of defeats.
Wales last beat the Wallabies in November 2008 - it was current head coach Warren Gatland's first year at the helm - but it has proved to be a subsequent tale of near misses and crushing frustration.
Here, Press Association Sport looks back at Wales' losing run they hope will come to an end this weekend.
WALES 12 AUSTRALIA 33 (November 28, 2009, Cardiff)
A year after they beat Australia in Cardiff, Wales were blown away at the Millennium Stadium following early Wallabies tries for wing Digby Ioane, lock James Horwill and flanker David Pocock. It was the heaviest defeat during the first two years of Gatland's reign, while the home side also saw Shane Williams, Leigh Halfpenny and Matthew Rees suffer injuries.
WALES 16 AUSTRALIA 25 (November 6, 2010, Cardiff)
Wales underlined Australian scrummaging frailties by dominating that phase of the game and the home side trailed just 7-6 at half-time, but tries from Pocock, Ben Alexander and man of the match Kurtley Beale ensured that the Wallabies again left Cardiff victorious.
WALES 18 AUSTRALIA 21 (October 21, 2011, Auckland)
Wales and Australia both saw their World Cup dreams shattered the previous weekend - Wales having suffered a demoralising 9-8 semi-final defeat against France after skipper Sam Warburton was sent off - so they faced off against each other in the bronze medal game. Wales matched the Wallabies 2-2 on tries, but Berrick Barnes' drop-goal made the difference and sent Wales home empty-handed.
WALES 18 AUSTRALIA 24 (December 3, 2011, Cardiff)
Wing wizard Williams marked his international farewell by scoring a 58th Test try with the game's final move, but Australia gatecrashed the party. Will Genia, Lachlan Turner and Barnes all scored tries after Halfpenny was sin-binned and the Wallabies maintained their run of success in the fixture.
AUSTRALIA 27 WALES 19 (June 9, 2012, Brisbane)
Wales arrived in Australia for a three-Test series as Six Nations champions and with high hopes of success, but they started poorly at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium as touchdowns from Genia and Scott Higginbotham helped open up a 20-6 lead for Australia. An Alex Cuthbert try hauled Wales back into contention but they could not quite do enough.
AUSTRALIA 25 WALES 23 (June 16, 2012, Melbourne)
Wales were agonisingly denied a first victory over the Wallabies in Australia for 43 years when substitute Mike Harris kicked a last-gasp penalty to clinch the Test series. George North and Jonathan Davies scored tries for the tourists and they looked to have done enough, but referee Chris Pollock punished them for collapsing a late maul and Harris stayed calm to break Welsh hearts.
AUSTRALIA 20 WALES 19 (June 23, 2012, Sydney)
Wales, desperately striving to avoid a Test series whitewash, again took Australia to the wire but they were denied by the narrowest possible margin. Ryan Jones scored a try and Halfpenny kicked 14 points, but Barnes booted five penalties and once again it was a tale of what might have been.
WALES 12 AUSTRALIA 14 (December 1, 2012, Cardiff)
Captain Warburton was left to reflect on what he described as the worst defeat he had ever been involved with, and it was not difficult to see why. Wales led 12-9 after an hour thanks to four Halfpenny penalties, but they were undone with barely 30 seconds remaining following an Australia breakaway that Beale finished off.
WALES 26 AUSTRALIA 30 (November 30, 2013, Cardiff)
A thrilling contest unfolded at the Millennium Stadium. and Wales gave as good as they got, but the result was all too familiar as they suffered a ninth successive defeat against the Wallabies. North touched down twice for Wales, but Australia were too clinical, with Christian Leali'ifano, Israel Folau and Joe Tomane scoring tries that sealed the deal.
WALES 28 AUSTRALIA 33 (November 8, 2014, Cardiff)
Wales played their part in another humdinger but they were still unable to stop Australia beating them for the 10th time in a row. Wales claimed a penalty try, while there were also touchdowns for Rhys Webb, Cuthbert and Alun-Wyn Jones, but the Walllabies prevailed with a Folau try double, Tevita Kuridrani touchdown and 18 points from fly-half Bernard Foley.
Source: PA
