SHAUN Edwards has accepted he was outwitted by Australia’s Stephen Larkham at the weekend, but claims injuries badly affected Wales’ ability to prepare for the attacking threat of the Wallabies.

Wales defence coach Edwards today said he had to hold his hands up after his side suffered a 12th successive Test defeat to the men from Down Under.

The Aussies outscored Wales by five tries to one on the way to a hugely impressive 32-8 victory in Cardiff on Saturday.

Australia’s potency with the ball was clear for all to see and Edwards was under no illusion that former fly-half Larkham, his country’s attack coach, well and truly got the better of him.

Keen not to make any excuses for the below-par display, Edwards did reveal that, from a defensive point of view, training in the build-up to the game hadn’t been ideal.

“I’m not happy with my own performance,” said Edwards. “I thought Stephen Larkham, their attack coach, got the better of me on the day and I hold my hands up.

“But anybody who knows me knows I’m a pretty determined person and it’s about time we won a game.”

He added: “None of our second rows had trained the week before, we only had one training session as a full defensive unit.

“I’m not making excuses but that’s the truth. None of our second rows trained in the first week of training, they were all injured.”

According to Edwards, scrum-half Rhys Webb (ankle) has “no chance” of being fit for Wales’ second match of the autumn against Argentina this Saturday.

Tomos Williams of Cardiff Blues was called up to the squad today as cover, as was his regional teammate Cory Allen after centre Tyler Morgan (hamstring) went back to Newport Gwent Dragons.

Alun Wyn Jones has resumed training following the death of his father, and Sam Warburton, Jake Ball, Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams are likely to be available for selection after missing the Australia defeat through injury.

Wales, who have dropped from fifth to seventh in the IRB world rankings, know they must show a huge improvement this weekend if they want to get the fans back onside.

Edwards added: “I aim to do better this week against Argentina. It’s a big challenge defensively but we’re pretty determined to be up for it.

“We’ve got to come out and do what Australia did to us to Argentina in the first half.

“We’re playing a top-eight team, a team who compete in the Rugby Championship, and I couldn’t think of a better fixture to bounce back with after not a great performance against Australia.

“I think they’re a massive challenge and it’s something we’re looking forward to on Saturday, to bounce back and get the confidence back from the Welsh public.”