WALES will have to beat holders England on Sunday if they are to keep their World Rugby U20 Championship semi-final hopes alive after failing to take their chances in a tense opener against Australia.

Jason Strange’s men were downed 24-17 in a nip-and-tuck encounter in Tbilisi, Queensland Reds centre Izaia Perese claiming the winner with just two minutes left.

It had seemed that Newport Gwent Dragons fly-half Arwel Robson had secured a deserved share of the spoils with a late drop goal only for the Super Rugby prospect to have the final say.

Wales knew that a fast start to the tournament was essential after being drawn in Pool A with the young Aussies and holders England, who romped to a 74-17 win against Samoa in their tournament opener.

They made a dream start to lead 7-0 in the fifth minute after a try by Cameron Lewis that was set up by a pair of Dragons, Robson finding Ellis Shipp on the left wing with a clever cross-kick before the hooker took the ball into contact against two defenders and cleverly offloaded for his centre.

Robson added the extras but then missed a long-range penalty after a strong scrum as the score remained 7-0 entering the second quarter.

Wales were having the better of the game in terms of territory but failed to take their chances before Australia winger Simon Kennewell was sin-binned for lifting back row James Botham in a tackle inside the 22.

Captain Will Jones opted to go for the corner only for the men in gold to once again soak up the pressure, Wales being hindered by inaccuracy in attack.

Scrum-half Harrison Goddard missed a chance to get the 14-man Aussies on the scoreboard from the tee but got another swift chance that he took to make it 7-3 after half an hour.

And they were in the lead for the first time when wing Henry Hutchison, a starlet in the HSBC Sevens World Series, finished well after a patient attack from a scrum against the head, Goddard converting superbly from the right touchline for a 10-7 advantage.

Then from the final play Hutchison was close to stretching their lead only to be pressured into dropping the ball when diving for the line thanks to the never-say-die efforts of Dragons full-back Will Talbot-Davies.

Wales had lost their shape and would have been grateful for Irish official Frank Murphy’s half-time whistle.

Wales were presented with the chance for a leveller nine minutes after the restart when Australia centre Izaia Perese was somewhat harshly penalised for a high tackle on Talbot-Davies but Robson pulled his kick.

But they were back in front in the 55th minute with a cracker of a score, Blue number eight Botham charging down the unmarked blindside off the back of a scrum in Welsh territory before putting Dane Blacker over thanks to the scrum-half’s terrific catch of a pass slightly behind him.

Robson converted to make it 14-10.

It was a lead that didn’t last long with a rapid Australian counter ending with replacement prop Harry Johnson-Holmes barging over from close range and the conversion of Harry Nucifora made it 17-14.

Welsh heads didn’t drop but several chances inside the Australia 22 frustratingly went begging and Robson was wide with a wind-assisted 59-metre penalty as the game passed 70 minutes.

The Dragons number 10, who made his full regional debut at Leicester last November, levelled the scores with a sweet drop goal with three minutes remaining.

However, the killer blow came just seconds later when Perese powerfully charged over after Wales failed to claim the restart.

Wales scorers: tries – C Lewis, D Blacker; conversions – A Robson (2); drop goal – A Robson

Australia scorers: tries – H Hutchison, H Johnson-Holmes, Perese; conversions – H Goddard, H Nucifora (2); penalty – H Goddard

Day one results: Pool A: Wales 17 Australia 24, England 74 Samoa 17; Pool B: New Zealand 42 Scotland 20, Ireland 21 Italy 22; Pool C: South Africa 23 France 23, Argentina 37 Georgia 26