Wallabies shock All Blacks at the MCG

Two tries while New Zealand were down to 14 men gave Australia a shock 20-15 victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday – keeping their hopes alive of winning back the Bledisloe Cup and throwing the Tri-Nations race wide open.

As Australia raised their arms in triumphant jubilation they did so in the knowledge that not only have they ensured the Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup remain wide open but perhaps more telling in the knowledge the All Blacks are human after all.

It took a super human effort from the Wallabies, and as they departed the MCG man for man they bared more than a passing resemblance to the Incredible Hulk.  The green of the advertising logos on the pitch had slowly covered their bodies and shirts throughout a compelling encounter.

Stirling Mortlock, the catalyst behind a stirring second half performance that led to the downfall of the All Blacks, rippled beneath a green glaze covering him.  George Smith, who left the fray with minutes left, did so with his shirt splitting at the seams.  This was a performance based on brute strength and bourne out of a steely determination to not go quietly into the cold Melbourne night as all but they had scripted.

This, only the All Blacks fourth defeat in as many years, is perhaps their most telling.  The previous three, all at the hands of South Africa, ultimately counted for little.  Yet this close to the World Cup there is renewed optimism for all, the All Blacks do indeed have chinks in their armour and Australia gave a master class in how best to expose them.

The reshuffle in the New Zealand back-line, a result of a late injury to Leon MacDonald, gave the Wallabies a target to attack with Luke McAlister forced to play out of position at outside centre.  Mortlock was quick to pick up on this in the build up to the game, and it was he who did the damage with two searing outside breaks, the latter of the two leading to the winning score.

It is testament to the Australian mentality that they emerged from this encounter victorious, as for long periods the signs were ominous.  Yet it was their tenacity and unwavering determination to make a statement to the world that allowed them to maintain more than a glimmer of hope.  And when it mattered, with Carl Hayman in the sin-bin, they capitalised on All Black errors and punished them to the full.

Having left the All Blacks waiting after a ferocious rendition of the Kapa O Pango, a salute to the warriors in black, the Wallabies were made to pay.  Julian Huxley hacked the kick off straight into touch and the next time an Australian would touch the ball would be a full five minutes later when Huxley again got the game going after Tony Woodcock had burrowed over for New Zealand.

The signs were not good for Australia, those opening five minutes were a cameo of what the All Blacks do so well.  They attacked with pace and exposed every possible weakness in the Australian defensive line with Mils Muliaina slicing into the twenty-two to lay the platform for Woodcock’s try.  The runners queued up out wide yet Woodcock, with the help of Dan Carter, bulldozed over from close range for his first Test try.  Carter duly added the extras and the All Blacks were up and running.

It was down to Stephen Larkham to check the All Blacks, whose speed off the defensive line was phenomenal.  Maybe Larkham slid in a clever kick to avoid a barrage of All Black tacklers, but more likely it was his astute knowledge and vision that prompted the kick.  It came agonisingly close to yielding a try for the chasing Mortlock but Rokocoko piped him to the ball and defused the danger.

It was a timely reminder that Australia posed more than a passing threat, despite having been given little to no hope.  After 14 minutes Mortlock slotted a penalty after missing a difficult attempt moments before.  Carter then extended the lead with a penalty of his own a matter of seconds after what can only be described as stupid play from George Smith, slapping the ball out of Byron Kelleher’s grasp under referee Jonker’s nose.

The scrum was becoming messy, and after four re-sets Jonker lost his patience and penalised the bemused Hayman.  Mortlock stepped up and slotted a fine kick from out wide.  Twenty minutes gone and enough from both sides to suggest this would not be a cake walk for the All Blacks.

Then came a timely strike from the All Blacks signaling their intent to play an expansive game and further expose the Australian frailties.  A quick free-kick by Kelleher paved the way for a lightning quick try.  No sooner had Jerry Collins smashed into three Australian defenders than Luke McAlister was slipping out of a George Gregan tackle and feeding a simple pass out to the grateful Rico Gear who cantered over in the corner.

The remainder of the half was a black wave of pressure, resulting in a staggering eighteen missed tackles from the men in gold.  Had it not been for a glaring knock-on by Rodney So’oialo with Rico Gear outside him and only Matt Dunning between the pair and the try line it could have been a bigger margin going into the break.  As it was the All Blacks had to settle for 15-6.

The second half could not have been more diametrically opposite from the first.  New Zealand may not have lost in their previous fifty five Tests when leading at half-time, but it was Australia and the mighty Mortlock who came out roaring.  With minimal space out wide Mortlock took the ball at pace and showed McAlister a clean pair of heals before trampling over the top of Mils Muliaina in a style reminiscent of Jonah Lomu.

The break may have failed to yield a more tangible reward yet it served as a reminder that Australia had the weapons to hurt the All Blacks.  Not to be outdone New Zealand stepped it up a gear and Carter dazzled his way through a bewildered Australian defence.  However for all their creative play it was basic errors that started to cost the All Blacks.  On several occasions they wasted prime field position and scoring chances with simple mistakes.

With each error the Australians grew in stature, the hulk in them straining to burst out.  Then, with Carl Hayman in the sin-bin for hands in the ruck, the green and gold monster erupted into life with two heroic tries.  The first was engineered by a Larkham break, supported by the bustling Tuqiri.  The ball came back quickly and Gregan ensured the attack kept flowing.  Out it went to the busy Nathan Sharpe who fired a peach of a pass to Adam Ashley-Cooper.

He was faced, in a tight space, with Rico Gear who he beat with a simple turn of pace.  Then Richie McCaw came across and he too was beaten with a deft side-step, yes McCaw was made to look a fool, and finally Chris Jack made a last ditch attempt to haul him down.  He too failed and Ashley-Cooper was over for a try that breathed life and fire into the Australian bellies.  Giteau added a fine conversion and it was game on.

The chink in the All Black armour was then to be torn open and to make matters worse it was from yet another of their own errors.  Aaron Mauger, who was surprisingly out of sorts, floated a kick straight into touch.  From the resultant line out Australia struck with a score that has huge reverberations in world rugby.  It sent a message to all whom were giving up hope to say the World Cup is not a forgone conclusion.

McAlister was the defensive chink, and he was exposed in devastating style by captain courageous Mortlock.  Having left McAlister flat footed Mortlock again made a fool of McCaw as he stepped inside his counterpart.  Having looked for support Mortlock put his head down and turned on the after burners cruising effortlessly into the New Zealand twenty two.  As four All Blacks closed in on him he looped a one handed pass over the onrushing tacklers to Scott Staniforth who had the simple task off finishing the break under the posts.

The remainder of the game saw a tired and lacklustre All Blacks look for another late escape, none was coming.  The Wallabies wound the clock down in expert manner and sounded a warning to their fierce rivals that they pose a real threat to the Bledisloe Cup, the Tri Nations, and most importantly the World Cup.

Man of the Match:  For New Zealand Jerry Collins was huge in attack but more so in defence.  McCaw started in his usual form but two costly missed tackles tainted his otherwise superb effort.  For the Wallabies it was a monumental team effort to hang on in and when the chance came to strike killer blows.  The heart of their effort was their captain Stirling Mortlock who was simply awesome.  He showed some deft touches in attack, coupled with a solid defensive effort.  But the crowning moment in his display was that searing break to set up Staniforth for the winning try.

Moment of the Match:  There is no doubt whatsoever that Carl Hayman’s sin-binning was the turning point.  It was whilst the cornerstone of the All Blacks pack was in the bin that Australia racked up fourteen unanswered points and effectively won the game.

Villain of the Match:  It was a hard and physical encounter yet all managed to keep their tempers in check in an environment when they could easily have spilled over.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ashley-Cooper, Staniforth
Cons:  Giteau 2
Pens:  Mortlock 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Woodcock, Gear
Con:  Carter
Pen:  Carter

Yellow card:  Carl Hayman (New Zealand, 62 – repeated infringements, not rolling away at tackle)

The teams:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith (v/c), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Phil Waugh (v/c), 21 Scott Staniforth, 22 Mark Gerrard.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Luke McAlister, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Rodney So’oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Troy Flavell, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 Chris Masoe, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Mauger, 22 Nick Evans.

Referee:  Marius Jonker
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Willie Roos (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

All Blacks raise the bar as Boks falter

New Zealand, coming from behind, showed their true class by beating South Africa 26-21 in their Tri-Nations showdown in Durban on Saturday -- making sure their ranking as the world's number one team, looking towards the World Cup, has been enhanced.

It was a game in which many of the Springboks' young guns lost their heads and made a rash of silly mistakes, while the All Blacks' old hands showed true composure.

Scoring two converted tries in the final 10 minutes, the Kiwis came from being 21-12 down to win more comfortably than the margin suggested.

We all thought it would be a World Cup final dress rehearsal, and it did not disappoint.  The match was played with an intensity somehow above that of last week's opener, with a physicality that defied biology from where we sat in the stands, and it kept every one of the 53,000 spectators enthralled.

Tactically too, the game was fascinating.  The All Blacks annihilated the Bok scrum -- we saw for the first time today truly how much John Smit is missed -- and spent quite a bit of the second half using their own bashers to eat away at the yardage, precisely the tactics hitherto attributed to the South Africans.

Joe Rokocoko, of all people, ignored a gaping three-man overlap on the left late in the game, eschewing that option for an inside pass to Tony Woodcock.  Woodcock fumbled, and on moments like those:  18-12 down with fifteen to go, are matches lost.

Line-outs were the predicted disaster for the All Blacks, who lost five of their own throws and resorted to quick line-outs at every opportunity to combat their shortcoming.  It worked after a fashion, but it led to much of their ball being hurried to start with, and the backs rarely got well-worked space with which to work.

Yet for all that, it was the maturity and execution of their wide game that told at the end, with two superb quick fire tries in four minutes turning the tables on their battered hosts.

What of the hosts, against whom a huge psychological blow has now been struck, beaten at home by their nemesis ten short weeks before the World Cup starts.

Once again, there was no faulting the commitment or desire, and for the large part, tactics.  The loose battle was comprehensively sewn up for most of the game, with the magnificent Schalk Burger delivering a barnstorming performance of tackling and ball-carrying.

Perhaps, right at the end, there was just that missing ounce of patience and calm required to close out games such as these.  It will be a bitter blow to lose this game, but players such as Frans Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, and Pedrie Wannenburg -- whose late yellow card was a major turning point -- must look at the positives and learn, for the game could have been won.  Many locals will insist it should have been.

The tone for the match was set in the warm-up, with the Boks spending their 30 or so on-pitch minutes smashing away at the pads in bunches and jumping at line-outs.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks ran balls through the hands in groups of four with effortless efficiency, practiced a couple of tackles and sprints, and then trotted off the field.

When the teams came back on, it was the Boks who put their warm-up into practice first, enjoying four solid minutes of possession and hammering away at the 10-12 channel with the thicker of the forward tree-trunk battering rams.

It almost cost them, with Jean de Villiers ignoring a clear overlap on the left, but eventually, after Bob Skinstad reminded us of what he can do with ball in hand with a sublime fizz pass to JP Pietersen, the pressure near the All Blacks' line yielded a simple penalty for Percy Montgomery to fire the Boks into a 3-0 lead.

The early line-outs belonged to the Boks as well.  They won five out of the first seven in total, two of those on the All Black throw, and the second saw Skinstad and then Danie Roussouw mere blades of grass away from the All Black line.  A five-metre scrum resulted, but the All Black pack shoved the Boks off their own ball.  This whole passage of play was a pattern of the match.

New Zealand stopped kicking for touch then, and a peculiar bout of aerial ping-pong ensued, culminating in a penalty for the All Blacks from 40m out and in front of the posts.  Astonishingly, Daniel Carter missed.

New Zealand were not on their game completely, demonstrated first when Jerry Collins ran bizarrely at Aaron Mauger from 10m away, and then when Joe Rokocoko sprinted away across the field but the first four men at the tackle were all green-shirted.

The Boks defence smashed away at New Zealand's runners, who made the mistake of trying to take the Boks on at their own game.  Eventually the tackles and strewn bodies were so numerous that Carter had nobody outside him from a ruck, and he kicked for touch disconsolately.

Then, from an up and under, Mills Muliaina was also left stranded at tackle time, held onto the ball, and Ruan Pienaar goaled magnificently from five meters inside his own half.

After an extraordinary free-kick from a Rodney So'oialo mark, when the number eight nearly caught his own defence napping by slicing the ball across the field, the new Zealanders finally stitched something together.

Sitiveni Sivivatu was set free down the left, and had he chipped instead of trying to step outside he would surely have scored.  Likewise had Troy Flavell not tried a flashy switch pass and simply drawn his man, Greg Rawlinson might have scored.  But New Zealand seemed mentally a step out of sync with each other.

The Boks seemed to be upping the physicality another notch, and taking it a mite too far at times.  Montgomery rained a series of punches down on Flavell and got mighty lucky not to be flagged by touch-judge Wayne Barnes, and then Butch James delivered a hit on Carter that arrived panting and sweaty but just in the merest nick of time.

As it was the All Blacks made do with a penalty for hands in the ruck, which Carter converted on the half hour mark to make the score 6-3.

After a delightful All Black movement involving Carter down the left, South Africa turned the ball over and De Villiers went haring down the right.  Sivivatu caught him, and although the ball was popped inside to Willemse, the latter's offload was so poor that New Zealand got the ball back and forced a penalty.  Again, Carter missed.

But New Zealand's hands were now working, and another passing movement took them into South African territory, forcing a penalty conceded by Bakkies Botha, a stiff word from Alain Rolland to Victor Matfield, and three points for Carter to make it 6-6.

A good kick from James then took the Boks to the All Blacks' 5m line, with Muliaina running the ball into touch, and the Boks mauled the line-out ball inexorably to the line where Schalk Burger peeled off the back for a super try, marred by some ugly and utterly unnecessary punching and shoving from Bakkies Botha.  That was half-time, 11-6, but the Bos on the front foot.

The All Blacks began the second half on the attack, with a right to left move culminating in a threatening chip from Carter which was just a fraction too far.  Form the 22 drop out, the All Blacks regained position and possession, and Mauger made it 11-9 with a drop goal.

Again the All Blacks scrum made mincemeat of a Bok scrum, but again, the Boks bounced back.  Burger took the ball on, and then Pienaar's ineffective kick was run back threateningly by Sivivatu and Mauger, but Mauger opted to offload one time too many, and James picked off the ball and streaked away for a try under the posts to make it 18-9, including Montgomery's conversion.

The All Blacks were still moving the ball with purpose, playing the Boks at their own game with Collins, Flavell and So'oialo smashing the ball up before Mauger's chip nearly sent So'oialo in, but Pienaar covered superbly.

The intensity showed no sign of letting up with a half hour to go, with even the usually mild-mannered Joe Rokocoko getting involved.  The game simmered menacingly.

Muliaina had a break as the All Blacks began to speed up line-outs and stray kick returns, but Collins couldn't keep his grubber in play.

Steyn came on for James with 28 minutes to play, as Skinstad was penalised for an off-the-ball incident involving him and McCaw.  Carter's kick hit the post, but bounced kindly for the chasers and the All Blacks had a line-out inside the hosts 22.  The Boks pinched it, but Steyn's first touch was to fumble the pass from Pienaar and concede a 5m scrum -- coinciding with the departure of Os du Randt.

Wannenburg, who had replaced Skinstad seconds before, was yellow-carded as Sivivatu went close to the line following an inside pass from Carter, who in turn slotted an easy three points to make it 18-12 with a little over a quarter of the game to go.

Twice thereafter the All Black scrum annihilated its counterpart, twice yielding turnovers, from the second of which Rokocoko had a sniff of the line before being tackled into touch.  But despite the pressure, the All Blacks just couldn't get the crucial move right.

It seemed as if the All Blacks, having opted to take the Boks on at their own game, were guilty of the same wasteful adherence to the game plan, with Rokocoko scorning a three-man overlap out left.  15 minutes to go, and shattered bodies lay all over the field.

A dreadful tired kick to touch from Flavell ensured the Boks got possession down near the All Black 22, and then a penalty conceded by McCaw gave Montgomery the chance to make it 21-12 with 13 minutes to go.

Then came a moment of magic that brought the All Blacks right back into it.  So'oialo caught a high ball from Steyn, and then slipped past five or six defenders before offloading to Collins, who got into the Bok 22.  Wide the ball went left, and then, after five close phases, McCaw picked and went over for the try.  Carter converted to make it 21-19 with ten to go.

Now the All Blacks had the bit between their teeth, and Carter nearly got a breakthrough when he spotted nobody home at full-back and chipped.  Pienaar covered superbly again, and kicked long down field, but Rokocoko took the loose ball from Weepu and set Leon MacDonald on his way, looped MacDonald, and finished off a superb counter under the posts to give New Zealand the lead for the first time with seven minutes to go.  Carter made it 21-26 with the conversion, and South Africa had shot their bolt.

Right at the end, needing a desperate length-of-the-pitch move to win it, Steyn dropped a simple ball from Pienaar and conceded a 5m scrum.  There was just no gas left.  The All Blacks controlled the ball well and as the siren sounded so too did Rolland's whistle as the ball was buried under bodies.

Man of the Match:  This award could go to any one of about six players with the rest of the bunch not far behind.  For New Zealand Rodney So'oialo was massive, he tackled and carried the ball relentlessly, and then their was that mesmerising run in the build up to McCaw's try.  McCaw too was full of running and tackling and as usual he turned the ball over with aplomb and consummate ease.  Then there were the South African nominees, and in particular Ruan Pienaar.  His kicking game was a delight to watch and he saved his side's bacon on more than one occasion.  Yet it was the Trojan-like Schalk Burger who takes this award.  Not often does a losing player take the award but his game just gets better every week.  He tackled with relentless regularity and explosive force.  He carried the ball with unbridled aggression and worked feverishly at the breakdown.  He is one of the world's finest at present ... perhaps, on the strength of this performance, The world's finest.

Moment of the Match:  The Rodney So'oialo run that lead to McCaw crashing over.  At a time when the All Blacks needed some magic the big number eight conjured a run full of pace and dexterity that left the Bok defence in tatters, and they would never recover.

Villan of the Match:  Firstly there was Percy Montgomery who had no business launching an attack on Rodney So'oialo in the second half and then there was Bakkies Botha, who also had no business starting a thirty man scuffle after Burger had scored.  Also possibly Pedrie Wannenburg, whose yellow card cost his team manpower at the most crucial moment.  Keven Mealamu was also no angel with Schalk Burger on the ground at his mercy during the second half.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Burger, James
Con:  Montgomery
Pens:  Montgomery 2, Pienaar

For New Zealand:
Tries:  McCaw, Rokocoko
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 3
Drop Goal:  Mauger

Yellow card:  Pedrie Wannenburg (South Africa, 54 -- professional foul, hands in ruck)

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Butch James, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Bob Skinstad, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Frans Steyn.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Greg Rawlinson, 4 Troy Flavell, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements:  16 Kevin Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 Chris Masoe, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Leon McDonald.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)

Turner spares Australia A embarrassment

Wing Lachlan Turner scored a late try to salvage a draw for Australia A in Fiji, in their final Pacific Nations Cup match in Suva on Saturday.

Clint Schifcofske could even have nicked a win for the visitors, but he missed the conversion from wide out.

The Fijians had stormed into a 14-9 lead, with wing Filimone Bolavucu scoring two terrific length-of-the-pitch tries, both converted by fly-half Waisea Luveniyali.

The hot weather made things tricky for the Aussies, who made a stack of errors and lost hooker Tatufu Polota-Nau to injury just after the break.

Trailing 7-3 at the break, Cameron Shepherd doubled his tally of penalties before Schifcofske put the visitors in the lead with another pot at goal.

But Bolavucu intercepted a careless Ryan Cross pass for what looked to be the winning score for the Fijians.

But right at the death, the hosts' energy flagged, and the Australian pack shoved their Fijian counterpart off their own scrum ball, allowing Turner to wriggle through.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Bolavucu 2
Cons:  Luveniyali 2

For Australia A:
Try:  Turner
Pens:  Shepherd 2, Schifcofske

Fiji:  15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Isoa Neivua, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Seru Rabeni, 11 Filimone Bolavucu, 10 Waisea Luveniyali, 9 Jone Daunivucu, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Aca Ratuva, 6 Semisi Naevo, 5 Kele Leawere (c), 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Henry Qiodravu, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Alefoso Yalayalatabua.
Replacements:  16 Vereniki Sauturaga, 17 Apisai Turukawa, 18 Peniasi Tokakece, 19 Dale Tonawai, 20 Moses Rauluni, 21 Sisa Waqa, 22 Gabiriele Lovobalavu

Australia 'A':  15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Digby Ioane, 13 Junior Pelesasa, 12 Ryan Cross, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 David Lyons, 7 David Pocock, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill, 4 Alister Campbell (c), 3 Nic Henderson, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Rodney Blake.
Replacements:  16 Sean Hardman, 17 Gareth Hardy, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Jone Tawake, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Sam Norton-Knight, 22 Clinton Schifcofske.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Napolione Locoloco (Fiji)

Junior ABs thrash brave Japan

Tane Tu'ipulotu and Stephen Brett scored tries early in the second half Sunday as New Zealand's Junior All Blacks defeated Japan 51-3 in the final match of the Pacific Nations Cup.

The Junior All Blacks, who defeated Australia A 50-0 a week ago to clinch the title, built up a 10-3 lead at halftime.

Tu'ipulotu widened the lead to 15-3 four minutes after the break and Brett gave the visitors a commanding 20-3 lead two minutes later.

Replacement Stephen Donald added his second of two tries just minutes before the whistle to complete the scoring for the visitors.

The Japanese, coached by All Black legend John Kirwan, can take heart from their effort in the opening thirty minutes, after which they were leading 3-0.

But their courageous stand was soon halted by the inevitable All Black surge in the final fifty minutes.

The Junior All Blacks finish the tournament with a perfect record.

The scorers:

For the Junior All Blacks:
Tries:  Crockett, Tu'ipulotu, Brett, Tuitavake, Nonu, Wulf, Donald 2
Cons:  Brett 2, Donald 2
Pen:  Brett

For Japan

Pen:  Ando

Teams:

Japan:  15 Bryce Robins, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Shotaro Onishi, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 Eiji Ando, 9 Yuki Yatomi, 8 Hare Makiri, 7 Glen Marsh, 6 Yasumori Watanabe, 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Tomokazu Soma, 2 Yuji Matsubara, 1 Masahito Yamamoto.
Replacements:  16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Ryo Yamamura, 18 Takanori Kumagae, 19 Takamichi Sasaki, 20 Koichi Ohigashi, 21 Kousei Ono, 22 Go Aruga.

Junior All Blacks:  15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Rudi Wulf, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu, 11 Anthony Tuitavake, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Daniel Braid (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Hoani MacDonald, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Derren Witcombe, 17 John Afoa, 18 Kieran Read, 19 Mose Tuiali'i, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Sam Tuitupou.

Referee:  Tim Hayes (Wales)
Touch judges:  David Changleng (Scotland), Taizo Hiraybayashi (Japan)

All Blacks overcome spirited Canada

New Zealand put in a mediocre performance to beat a spirited Canada side 64-13 in front of a sold-out Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday.

The Canucks put up a good fight and were just six points adrift when New Zealand hooker Andrew Hore went over on cusp of half-time to give the home team a 26-13 half-time lead.

The floodgates duly opened after the break and Canada were forced into some tackling practice which certainly needs some more attention.

All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter scored a hat-trick of tries on the night and pocketed a personal tally of 29 points to overtake Andrew Merhtens's All Black record for points in a Test match.

Carter, who missed last week's 61-10 win over France with an ankle injury, kicked seven conversions from 10 attempts on his return.

Canada full-back Mike Pyke ran almost the length of the field to score a lone intercept try while wing James Pritchard landed the conversion and two penalties before the visitors ran out of steam in the second half.

In a game the All Blacks had little to gain from, the good news was that no more New Zealand locks or players succumbed to injury ahead of what could a testing Tri-Nations campaign.

The All Blacks were scratchy and at times woeful against Canada, making far too many uncharacteristic errors.

Although the home team scored 10 tries to one, they were left wondering what could have been with the All Blacks struggling with their combinations and rhythm.

Huge question marks also remain over the New Zealand performance at ruck and maul time.  The ball carriers were isolated forcing turnovers on far too many occasions.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry will have to work on his team's lack of precision and patience heading into their Tri-Nations campaign that kicks off next weekend against South Africa in Durban.

However, it was a good night for the All Blacks' debutants.  New boy John Schwalger celebrated his first test with a try and lock Ross Filipo survived a late injury scare to complete a solid performance.

It was certainly a game of two halves.  The first belonging to the Canadians and the second was all New Zealand's.

Winger Sitivini Sivivatu waltzed through the Canadian forward pack to score in the opening minutes of the game that would certainly be rated as his easiest of his 17 Test tries.

Sivivatu then turned provider for the second try with a precise cut-out pass floated over Mils Muliaina and Aaron Mauger to enable Luke McAlister to cross over in the left-hand corner with ease.

McAlister's try gave the capacity crowd of 25,000 a reason to believe they would see a try-scoring bonanza.

However, someone forgot to tell the visitors they were not meant to be playing as well as they did, constantly disrupting the All Blacks usual game flow wherever they could.

The Canucks' highlight of the match came when tall full-back Mike Pyke intercepted a pass from Carter meant for Mils Muliaina to race 90 metres down the right-hand touchline to score.

Sivivatu put in a dedicated chase, but the Montauban full-back had enough steam in his engine to go all the way.

Pritchard, who opened Canada's account with a 14th minute penalty, added the extras to allow Canada to narrow the margin to 12-10 in the 22nd minute, hushing the capacity crowd.

Schwalger was able to save the All Blacks some embarrassment by diving over in the corner thanks to a well-timed McAlister pass.

Carter kicked the touchline conversion to make the score 19-10, but Canada were full of confidence at this stage and fought back to earn a penalty that Pritchard slotted with ease.

Nobody could have guessed the visitors would be trailing the All Blacks by six points with half-time just a couple of minutes away.

With the half-time siren sounded, Canada spirits were shattered when Hore powered over from a blindside move to give the hosts scoreline some respect.

Carter's conversion left the score reading 26-13 in favour of the All Blacks at half-time, but the Canucks would have the field with their heads held high -- the All Blacks on the other hand trudged off the field in disbelief.

Carter, after a quiet first half, came into his own after the resumption of play.  The Crusaders pivot scored his first converted try a minute after the resumption of play in a blind-side move that was helped along by some abysmal tackling by the Canada defenders.

His second was a solo effort when he beat three defenders after the defence was stretched to its limits and he crossed for a third time taking the final pass from Peeri Weepu after a long build-up from a tighthead in the scrum.

Somewhere in between Carter's first and second touchdown, flanker Chris Masoe managed to crash over for his first Test try in an All Blacks shirt -- but his all-round performance raised a few eyebrows and may have played himself out of contention for a trip to South Africa.

Carter's third try brought on the half century for the All Blacks and the Canadians missed tackles were starting to take its toll -- 24 missed tackles by the 60th minute.

Winger Doug Howlett had a quiet night, but managed to cruise over and add another try to his impressive all-time try-scoring list thanks to some unselfish work by the hard working Jerry Collins.

Replacement Rico Gear, who came on at centre for McAlister finished had the last laugh after he was handed an easy run in after skipper Reuben Thorne forced a turnover in the middle of the field.

The ball was popped up to Gear who casually sprinted 50 metres to round off an average day at the office for the All Blacks.

Man of the match:  The entire Canada team can give themselves a pat on the back for a tremendous first half display.  For New Zealand, debutants Ross Filipo and John Schwalger played as if it were their 50th Test.  Jerry Collins was exhausting to watch as he again worked hard all match.  Aaron Mauger did his bit in the backline, but our vote goes to hat-trick hero Dan Carter who single handedly tore the Canada team to pieces.  He had a slow first half and threw that intercepted pass, but the All Blacks number 10 was instrumental with the boot and showed us once again why he is regarded as the best fly-half in the world.

Moment of the match:  This has to go to Canada's full-back Mike Pyke who ran almost the full length of the field to score from his well-timed interception.  The try brought the Canucks into the game and left all viewers watching around the globe looking twice at the scoreboard.  It will also be a moment Pyke will cherish for the rest of his life.

Villain of the match:  All good clean fun, no award.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Sivivatu, McAlister, Schwalger, Hore, Carter 3, Masoe, Howlett, Gear
Cons:  Carter 7

For Canada:
Tries:  Pyke
Cons:  Pritchard
Pens:  Pritchard 2

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Luke McAlister, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Jerry Collins, 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Reuben Thorne (c), 5 Ross Filipo, 4 Troy Flavell, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Carl Hayman, 18 Rodney So'oialo, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Rico Gear, 22 Leon MacDonald.

Canada:  15 Mike Pyke, 14 Justin Mensah-Coker, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 David Spicer, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ryan Smith, 9 Morgan Williams (c), 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Stan Mckeen, 6 Colin Yukes, 5 Mike Burak, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Scott Franklin, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Josh Jackson, 20 Adam Kleeberger, 21 Dean van Camp, 22 Ed Fairhurst.

Referee:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), George Ayoub (Australia)
Television match official:  Paul Marks (Australia)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Steyn puts the boot into Wallabies

Two late drop-goals from François Steyn got South Africa off to a winning start in the 2007 Tri-Nations series, as they sneaked a 22-19 win over a tenacious Australian side at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.

That the Wallabies were so close at the end was thanks to two factors -- their resilience on defence and their ability to turn attack into points.

Only on one occasion did they fail to score when they got an attack going.

Apart from Wallaby scoring, the match belonged to South Africa in terms of territory, possession and opportunity.  But they, for some unfathomable reason, lacked fluency and cohesion.

Their idea of attacking was chucking the ball to Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger of Jean de Villiers and hoping that tries would come.

When they were going through attack after attack in the earlier part of the first half they did skip-pass after skip-pass regardless of the overlaps nullified.  That said it was a long pass -- long but not a skip -- that sent Jaque Fourie racing to the corner fore the Springboks' try.

The Wallabies had some luck.  Their try under the crossbar seemed to have been assisted by a gross bit of obstruction -- unintentional but obstruction nonetheless.  And spare a thought for Pierre Spies who was trying to get back onside as play sped downfield off a George Gregan chip that bounced fortuitously.  Spies was penalised and given a yellow card for an act that had no malice.

It was a lovely winter's day at the Cape -- clear sky, amiable sunshine and Table Mountain sparkling -- a perfect day for rugby.  The ground was immaculate, the build-up colourful and noisy, the nearly 50,000 fans pouring in excited good cheer.

The match started at speed and with enterprise and throughout there was attack and counterattack, both sides willing to attack from deep inside their own territory if the opportunity offered.

The Springboks scored first when Capetonian Daniel Vickerman was penalised at a tackle and Percy Montgomery goaled in the second minute of the game.

The Springboks settled into serious attack, but the Wallabies got out of their fix and a penalty against Spies at a tackle gave Stirling Mortlock a chance to level the scores.

Butch James did a clever grubbered kick-off and Juan Smith was racing down the right to set up the attack that ended in Fourie's try in the left corner.  After the television match official had had an easy job of advising that it was a try, Montgomery converted from touch.  10-3 after 12 minutes.

They could have gone further ahead when Ruan Pienaar was high and wide from a penalty just inside the Wallaby half.

They could have gone even further ahead when De Villiers broke clean through the middle and, with Fourie on his right, opted to throw a long, horrible pass to Ashwin Willemse, who had a wobbly match.  Willemse knocked on.

When Smith tackled high, Mortlock made it 10-6, and soon afterwards Giteau's dubious try made it 13-10 to the Wallabies, which seemed odd in terms of the run of the game.

Giteau came close to scoring near the line when he knocked on at the line.  But then Gregan chipped, the ball bounced backwards and Gregan passed into the retreating Spies who was sent to the sin bin.

Just before the break Stephen Moore was penalised at a tackle/ruck and Montgomery goaled.  At half-time the Wallabies led 16-10.  Schalk Burger was penalised early in the second half and Mortlock made it 19-10 after 44 minutes.  For the next 36 minutes the Wallabies did not look like scoring.

Rocky Elsom went off-side and Montgomery made the score 19-16 with 26 minutes to play.

The 26 minutes flew by as the Springboks hurled themselves into attack after attack, seemingly unable to breach the Wallaby lines.

Spies went close with a charge from a scrum and just when things looked good for the home side James grubbered and Lote Tuqiri saved.

From inside their 22 the Springboks used advantage on their left to send Montgomery racing down their right.  Montgomery chipped over Julian Huxley but the Wallaby fullback was back to the ball first and scrambled the ball left-footed into touch.

The Springboks had a six-metre line-out.  Two penalties for collapsing the maul led to two five-metre line-outs, and still the Wallabies did not break.

François Steyn had replaced Willemse.  He got the ball near the half-way line and near the touch-line on his right.  He moved forward as the urgent crowd urged him on.  He dropped and the ball soared high, dropping from its zenith and over the crossbar.  As Stephen Larkham had done to the Springboks at Twickenham in 1999 so Steyn did to the Wallabies at Newlands in 2007 and he followed it up with the winning drop, from closer in but under much great pressure, two minutes from time.

Man of the Match:  No doubt about this one at all.  It was Schalk Burger who ran with the ball, opassed the ball, tackled the Wallabies, got stuck in at the tackle-ruck and was still back in his own 22 to save a dangerous situation.  He was magnificent.

Moment of the Match:  François Steyn's first drop for the confident and skill of it.

Villain of the Match:  It was not match for innocents and there were a couple of emotional moments which did not get out of hand and added pepper to the spice of the match.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try:  Fourie
Con:  Montgomery
Pens:  Montgomery 3
DGs:  Steyn 2

For Australia:
Try:  Giteau
Con:  Mortlock
Pens:  Mortlock 4

Yellow card:  Pierre Spies (South Africa, 36 -- repeated infringements, offside)

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Butch James, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 Gary Botha, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Francois Steyn

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Phil Waugh (vice-captain), 21 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 22 Mark Gerrard.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Junior ABs make hard work of easy win

The Junior All Blacks continued their 100 per cent win record with a 39-13 win over Tonga in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday, but it was a hard-earned win, coming back from a half-time deficit.

Tongan full-back Vungakoto Lilo scored two first-half tries -- the second after Cory Jane had spilled a high ball -- to give Tonga a 10-3 lead early in the match, before Ross Filipo's try from a line-out near half-time restored parity -- with Brett converting and landing a penalty.

But Lilo gave Tonga the lead again with a penalty of his own with the final kick of the first half.

Derren Witcombe's try, the hooker latching onto a chip kick early in the second half, gave the Junior ABs the momentum again, and this time the team clicked into gear.

Tongan skipper Nili Latu was sin-binned for killing the ball in the 50th minute, and from the penalty, Marty Holah burrowed over.

As the Tongan team began to tire, the Junior AB replacements made a significant difference, and the backs ran their opposition ragged, with Tane Tu'ipulotu, Anthony Tuitavake, and Scott Hamilton all going over for tries out wide.

The scorers:

For Tonga:
Tries:  Lilo 2
Pen:  Lilo

For Junior ABs:
Tries:  Filipo, Witcombe, Holah, Tu'ipulotu, Tuitavake, Hamilton
Cons:  Brett 3
Pen:  Brett

Yellow card:  Latu (Tonga, 50, professional foul)

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Seti Kiole, 13 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 12 'Isileli Matakaiongo Tupou, 11 'Aisea H Kaufusi, 10 Fangatapu 'Apikotoa, 9 Soane Havea, 8 Hale T Pole, 7 'Otenili Latu (Captain), 6 Teu'imuili Kaufusi, 5 'Isileli Fine, 4 Sione Kalamafoni, 3 Soane Tonga'uiha, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Toma Toke.
Replacements:  16 Feki Moala, 17 Sateki Mata'u, 18 Lopeti Liku, 19 Chris Hala'ufia, 20 Tevita Palu, 21 Siua Taumalolo, 22 Sione Fonua.

Junior ABs:  15 Cory Jane, 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Anthony Tuitavake, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Marty Holah (Captain), 6 Kieran Read, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 John Afoa, 2 Derren Witcombe, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements:  16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Jerome Kaino, 19 Daniel Braid, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Tane Tu'ipulotu.

Referee:  Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Touch judges:  James Leckie (Australia), Eva Mafi (Tonga)

All Blacks click into gear against France

New Zealand recorded an easy 61-10 win over France in the second Test as expected on Saturday, but the manner of the win was far more convincing than last week, and was a gentle reminder that perhaps this All Black team has not played its best already.

However, there are still worries for Graham Henry, with locks Keith Robinson and Ali Williams both leaving the game injured -- Robinson before the game had even started!

For France, the result, a record defeat against any team, will only serve to reinforce Bernard Laporte's view that this was a tour that should never have gone ahead.

June the 6th was D-Day when the Allied Forces went across the Channel to liberate France.  On June the 9th France went half way across the world and were captured and destroyed by New Zealand.

The All Blacks were much too good.  No matter what they did the French had no real counter to it.  Oh, they could get in the way and act bravely but they had no real answer as yet another Northern Hemisphere side -- labelled weakened/understrength -- gave a Southern Hemisphere side the opportunity to break records in a match practice masquerading as a Test match.

The French simply could not threaten the All Blacks.  Their forwards were destroyed in the scrums, outnumbered and outpowered at the tackle/ruck and beaten at the many kick-offs.  When their backs had the ball they were disjointed and jittery.  France's rugby is renowned for its skilful back play -- sophisticated handling off great running lines, fixing an opponent to let someone else run with elan.  There was no elan on a still, cold Wellington night with steam on the breath.

The difference between the two teams was most probably more than 51 points.

And so the All Blacks won the series 2-0 and retained the Dave Gallaher trophy which is in competition between the two countries.

For the All Blacks there was some concern about their locks.  They have already lost Jason Eaton and James Ryan to injury and neither will be at the World Cup.  On this cold night Keith Robinson tore a calf muscle in the on-field warm-up just before the Test.  Then during the match Sébastien Chabal charged.  Ali Williams stood up to him and crashed to the ground.  Williams went off blood trickling from his mouth and he was bundled into an ambulance and taken to hospital with a jaw possibly fractured.

Both could recover before the World Cup but it is not consoling for the All Blacks.  Troy Flavell was brought onto the bench in Robinson's place and then onto the field in Williams's place and played a half and a bit.

New Zealand hit the match running but France scored first when Williams was penalised for holding on in a tackle.

Luke McAlister could have levelled the score but hit the upright on a night when he did all the kicking and did it poorly.  Had he been accurate the score would have been over 70.

After McAlister's kick bounced infield, the All Blacks scored.  Young Arnaud Mignardi opted not to kick the ball away but ran it up and then knocked on.  From the ensuing scrum the All Blacks bashed and bashed with Byron Kelleher and Richie McCaw, both playing their 50th Test, prominent till Anton Oliver dived at the padding on the post and scored.  McAlister converted to put the All Blacks ahead after 121 minutes.  The French lead lasted seven minutes and did not return.

After McAlister had kicked two penalties, the All Blacks ran from depth in a match when their back three were much, much more involved than they had been at Eden Park.  Leon MacDonald kicked ahead and Julien Laharrague conceded a five-metre scrum.

From the scrum Kelleher went to the right and powered over despite the efforts to stop him of Benjamin Boyet, young Damien Chouly and Laharrague.  20-3.

Form the kick-off, the All Blacks won the ball and Kelleher kicked downfield.  French scrum-half Nicolas Durand went back to collect the bouncing ball near the touch-line on France's left.  His back to chasing Joe Rokocoko, Durand played the ball infield, intending it for Chabal.  Rokocoko enjoyed intercepting the little pass and set off for the line and the first of his two tries in the match McAlister missed the easy conversion but New Zealand led 25-3 after 27 minutes.

It was just after this that Williams departed, bloodied after he had stopped the warrior-like Chabal.

France had a five-metre line-out after a penalty and tried a maul.  It was not much of a maul and they lost the ball.  That happened again in the second half.  They simply could make no impression on the All Blacks.

The All Blacks went on one of their mazy attacks with their wings much in evidence till Flavell gave Rokocoko a pass and his second try.

While the French ran sideways and made no ground, the All Blacks were direct and made lots of ground.

That made the half-time score 38-3.  The half had been a better performance for New Zealand than they had managed in the whole of their big first-Test win.

The French had the ball early in the second half but Jack won it off them on the right.  On the far left as the All Blacks chain-passed across the field, Sitiveni Sivivatu dismissed Thomas Castaignède and sent MacDonald running 40 metres for the try.  35-5

The All Blacks were close again from the kick-off and were inside the French 22 when France scored.  Isaia Toeava knocked on a difficult inside pass from Nick Evans and Durand snapped it up.  He raced down the middle of the field with the faster All Blacks closing in on him.  He stopped, waited and gave to Benjamin Thierry who gave to Laharrague who scored.  Boyet converted.  35-10 after 52 minutes.

Chabal went off at this stage to cheers from the crowd who acknowledged a brave competitor and great personality.  And France signed off, leaving the All Blacks to play against themselves.

Toeava took an inside pass from McAlister and scored at the posts.  42-10.

New Zealand made a penalty into a five-metre line-out and bashed and bashed till Jerry Collins scored through four tacklers.  McAlister converted.  49-10 with 14 minutes to play.

The All Blacks did some more mazy running with wonderful support till Rodney So'oialo grubbered across field but the ball ran into touch five metres from the French line.

France cleared their lines but not far enough.  Keven Mealamu threw into Neemia Tialata who popped it back to Mealamu who scampered off to score.  54-10.

France were in tatters.  Olivier Magne had to move out to centre while captain Raphaël Ibañez came quietly onto the field to play flank.

After Jack had won a French throw into a line-out, McAlister burst free and sent Evans scooting for the posts.  McAlister converted to set new records to French humiliation.

Man of the Match:  Take your All Black pick but the most impressive player every time he got the ball -- and he got it more often than usual because he looked for work -- was Joe Rokocoko.

Moment of the Match:  There were lots of exciting moments but the most memorable was the clash between Sébastien Chabal, hair wild, and Ali Williams, which may have serious consequences for the All Blacks.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Oliver, Kelleher, Rokocoko 2, MacDonald, Toeava, Collins, Mealamu, Evans
Cons:  McAlister 5
Pens:  McAlister 2

For France:
Try:  Julien Laharrague
Con:  Boyet
Pen:  Boyet

New Zealand:  15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Keith Robinson; 3 Carl Hayman; 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Chris Masoe, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Ma'a Nonu, 22 Doug Howlett.

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Julien Laharrague, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Jean Francois Coux, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Pascal Papé (captain), 3 Olivier Sourgens, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Christian Califano.
Replacements:  16 Raphaël Ibañez, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Olivier Olibeau, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Michael Forest, 21 Nicolas Laharrague, 22 Benjamin Thiéry.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Paul Marks (Australia)
Television match official:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Assessor:  Brendan McCormick (Australia)

Australia flex their muscle against Fiji

Australia recorded a comfortable 49-0 victory over a spirited Fiji on Saturday at the Subiaco Oval in Perth led by a Lote Tuqiri brace on his return to the Wallabies side.

These 80 minutes of Rugby Union, classified as making up a full match of Test rugby, did no favours for the sport concerned, nor for sport itself.

It did not look like Test rugby, the players did not play with the urgency and vigour normally associated with the top flight of one of humanity's proudest sports, and neither did the commentary nor crowd display the passion traditionally given to an international clash.

The Wallabies, never showing any real cohesion nor skill, cantered to an absolute cake-walk of a victory, over a Fijian side looking like the poor son that professionalism forgot.

Tuqiri, the star of the match, and a Fijian-born Australian, has just come off the back of a three-week speed training programme in the midst of the international season.

The fact that, in the midst of professionalism, the low quality of a so-called top 15 side in the world, Fiji, have to come up against an opposition with that amount of backing behind them, is laughable.

What is also laughable is the poor performance of Australia, who have none of the setbacks that the Fijians can claim.

The Fijians looked like a nation that sees no real domestic competition, and does not play together much at all.

They showed glimpses of competitiveness in the opening exchanges, with the brave play of scrumhalf Moses Rauluni, and skipper and number eight Alifereti Doviverata poking some holes in the inside channel, but they simply do not possess the skill and accuracy at the phase interchange to stay in the game with any decent opposition.

The Australians, meanwhile, were clearly aiming for a larger degree of control in their game.

That endeavour, however, was poorly executed.

Their forward drives off the lineout are weak and lacking intent, and the loping passes of Matt Dunning and Phil Waugh gave the impression of a training game.

Early on, their scrum appeared to be heading for trouble, but after the Fijians were blown up for early hits, they over-compensated with a lack of a hit at all, and the Australians gained the ascendancy.

With complete dominance in all phases of the game, the Wallabies shut Fiji out completely, and, from that position, the fact they did not score at will, speaks volume for the trouble in which Australian rugby finds itself.

The Wallaby backs showed a desire to play the ball wide, with Julian Huxley and the new centre combination of Adam Ashley-Cooper and Scoot Staniforth showing penetration and go-forward early on, running good lines.  In fact the centres probably were the only players of Australia who came out with any credibility.

Stephen Larkham was strangely loose, and, while he did some good things, he also caused a lack of congruency amongst his outside backs.

It was a break of Ashley-Cooper that opened the first points of the game, when he fed Staniforth to go over for the first try

After kicking the conversion and then a penalty -- which then gave way to some mostly poorly aimed attempts -- Huxley made the next break, to then double off Drew Mitchell for another try in the same corner.

Lote Tuqiri marked his comeback with a run off Staniforth's inside shoulder to go over after that, and from then on, the Wallabies spent their time fumbling towards the Fijian line off the back of their mistakes and scoring when they managed to put a penetrative move together.

They attempted a greater foward-oriented game, but that simply does not befit them.

The halfbacks must be of concern to the Wallabies -- Gregan showed why many critics say he does not break enough (he simply is not an attacking force) while Larkham is showing an ineptitude in connecting with his inside centre.

It must be said however that these two legends of the game do not have the same thirteen players around them as in their heydey, when the Wallabies possessed the nuance and verve to all run the right lines of their two playmakers at nine and ten.

The Fijians did their best to defend a side they simply were unequipped to play against, and, at various times, they went offsides in that bid to simply stay in the game.

Ultimately, this wasn't a genuine game of rugby, and the fans and the game and the wider rugby community is the poorer for it.

Man of the match:  He scored three tries, and for that reason alone, Lote Tuqiri is our Man of the Match.

Villain of the match:  When there is no battle, there ceases to be villainy.  One is tempted to name the yellow-carded Henry Qiodravu, tighthead prop of Fiji, but one can hardly blame him for doing his best to stop the one-way traffic.

Moment of the match:  The final whistle put an end to the debacle, and for that it must be merited.

The Scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Staniforth 2, Tuqiri 2, Huxley, Larkham, Norton-Knight, Ashley-Cooper
Cons:  Huxley 3
Pen:  Huxley

Yellow Card:  Henry Qiodravu -- Fiji (38th minute -- killing the ball)

The Teams:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Scott Staniforth, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (vice-captain), 8 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Mark Chisholm, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Stephen Hoiles, 19 George Smith, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Sam Norton-Knight, 22 Stirling Mortlock

Fiji:  15 Marika Vakacegu, 14 Mosese Luveitasau, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Isoa Neivua, 10 Jo Tora, 9 Moses Rauluni, 8 Alifereti Doviverata (captain), 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Apolosi Satala, 5 Kele Leawere, 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Henry Qiodravu, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Graham Dewes.
Replacements:  16 Bill Gadolo, 17 Apisai Turukawa, 18 Wame Lewaravu, 19 Tomasi Soqeta, 20 Vitori Buatava, 21 Jack Prasad, 22 Taniela Rawaqa.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Mark Lawrence (Scotland)
Television match official:  Jonathon White (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Andrew Cole (Australia)

Springboks outgun gutsy Samoans

Showing too much pace and power the Springboks withstood an early onslaught and a late rally to race away to a 35-8 victory over Samoa in their one-off test at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, on Saturday.

The Boks outscored the Pacific tourists by five to one.

After South Africa's successes in the Super 14 and in the two Tests against England, people had begun to talk of South African rugby in tones of awe.  Awe turned to awful on this breezy Saturday afternoon at lively Ellis Park when the Samoans came to play.

Now they must view the Springboks through different eyes, frowns relaxed.  The Australians must feel an upsurge of hope and the New Zealanders will be brimming with confidence.  They must be licking their lips at the prospect of playing in Cape Town next week and in Durban the week after that.

In the vogue of recent times this Springboks side would be labelled "weakened" or "understrength" but there was still supposed to be a lot of talent about to do better than that.  The second half bordered on disgrace.

The line-outs were good and the scrummaging excellent but that is where it stopped.  For the rest the Samoans were the ones who kept the ball far better and generally played with greater zest.  They coped with close-in mauls especially well.

The match may well have had more meaning for them and their captain, wise in the world of rugby, Semo Sititi, and their coach, the great Michael Jones, were at pains to than the South African people and South African rugby for giving them this chance to prepare for the World Cup.  Sititi said:  "It was lekker for us.  Baie dankie."

Jones said:  "We are proud of our warriors."

Both men thought that they were on track in their preparations for the World Cup.

Samoa had a horrible time in the scrums.  They were penalised four times and had Justin Va'a sent to the sin bin, as the referee did his best to keep scrumming legal and safe.  They lost two scrums against the head.  The irony was that they were heavier than the Springbok pack but their cohesion and technique were not good enough.  They also did not quite have the speed of the Springboks outside of the forwards, relying on Tuilagi power to get anywhere and it was not enough, for the Springboks can tackle.

The Samoans did their war dance, the manu, before the kick-off which added to the festive nature of the afternoon, for there had been many colourful dancers to precede them.

The islanders then kicked off and took over the first part of the match as they dominated territory and possession and went through phase after phase.  But two penalties in quick succession put the Springboks ahead.  The second was a bit of gratuitous silliness as Sititi took aim and stamped on the back of Albert van den Berg's knee.  Derick Hougaard goaled that.

But the Springboks battled at the kick-off and when Luke Watson was penalised, Gavin Williams kicked the penalty.  Look at Gavin Williams and your heart swells with happy memories for his father is Bryan Williams one of the legends of New Zealand rugby, one of the best wings of all time.

The first scrum of the match came after 12 minutes.  It was a Samoan ball but Va'a was immediately penalised.  6-3.

A penalty gave the Springboks a five-metre line-out.  They threw deep to Skinstad, who was a great source of clean ball.  Still airborne he played the ball back towards the fonts of the line-out into the arms of John Smit and the captain, playing his 45th consecutive Test, just got to the line for the try.  This was the only try Hougaard converted.

After the Springboks had shoved the Samoans into pressure at a scrum, enterprising Enrico Januarie intercepted and played inside where Watson and Danie Rossouw carried it on down the right.  Back the ball went left and eventually Wayne Julies lobbed a long pass over to JP Pietersen who had an easy passage to the line.  18-3 after 24 minutes.

The Springboks were close on the left when it seemed that Waylon Murray had to score.  In this hectic period of attack which included penalties and line-outs, the Samoan scrumhalf Steven So'oialo was sent to the sin bin after the referee had warned his side, penalised for the seventh time, that they were not helping the game along at all.

The Springboks' third try came from a Samoan error.  They overthrew at the line-out and Skinstad was up quickly to fall on the ball and secure possession.  The Springboks went left and Frans Steyn dummied and got past two tacklers to score in the corner.

Moment after So'oialo had returned from the sin bin, Va'a replaced him.  Sin bins were not all that profitable for the Springboks.  They scored five points while So'oialo was there and none at all while Va'a was off.

Half-time came with the Springboks leading 23-8 and one wondered if the sleeping giant would waken to full life in the second half.  This was not to be as he snuggled down and waited for the final siren.

Afterwards Jake White, the coach, who was not pleased with the effort, mentioned injuries as a fact contributing to the poor fare dished up..  Ashwin Willemse did not reappear after half-time, and during the half Enrico Januarie, Luke Watson and Wayne Julies needed replacing.

The second half started promisingly enough when Januarie broke and with Skinstad free on his outside chose to dummy and die.  That was when he was injured and replaced by Ruan Pienaar.

The Samoans now enjoyed great advantage in territory and possession so that when South Africa scored two tries in six minutes it was against the run of play for the other 30 minutes of the half.  After all the Samoans were oh-so close when Lome Fa'atau went for the corner but stuck a foot out in Waylon Murray's tackle.

The first came when Danie Rossouw won a turn-over in his own half and the Springboks spun the ball left where Pietersen swept through a gap and played to Pedrie Wannenburg who ran over a Samoan on his way to scoring.

The second came when the Springboks attacked from a line-out on their left.  They went right where Percy Montgomery an in his 83rd Test, dummied close to the line and beat two defenders to score far out.  He took over the kicking and goaled, the first South African to reach 700 points in Test rugby.

That made the score 35-3 with 216 minutes to play.

Samoa played during those 16 minutes, and after Skinstad had been sent to the sin bin they scored a try.  After many phases they went from left to right and a long pass sent to the right sent sturdy Anitelela Tuilagi racing for the corner as Wannenburg covered.

No wonder Jones and Sititi were proud afterwards.  Their "boys" certainly did not give up.

Man of the Match:  Hard -- and not because there is an embarrassment of riches.  But in the end for resolute defence, sensible direction and two brilliant try-bearing passes we have chosen Wayne Julies.

Moment of the Match:  Even harder.  In fact too hard.

Villain of the Match:  Kane Thompson was silly to grab Johan Ackermann around the neck, to which Ackermann -- understandably -- objected, but their was no villainy in the incident.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Smit, Pietersen, Steyn, Wannenburg, Montgomery
Cons:  Hougaard, Montgomery
Pens:  Hougaard 2

For Manu Samoa:
Try:  Anitelela Tuilagi
Pen:  Williams

Yellow cards:  Steven So'oialo (Samoa, 28 -- repeated infringements, hands in at ruck), Justin Va'a (Samoa, 39 -- repeated infringements, dropping the scrum), Bobby Skinstad (South Africa, 74 -- professional foul, hands in ruck)

Teams:

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Wayne Julies, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Bob Skinstad, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Gary Botha, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Percy Montgomery.

Samoa:  15 Gavin Williams, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Anitelela Tuilagi, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Loki Crichton, 9 Steven So'oialo, 8 Semo Sititi (c), 7 Justin Purdie, 6 Daniel Leo, 5 Filipo Levi, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Muliufi Salanoa, 17 Donald Kerslake, 18 Iosefa Tekori, 19 Alfie Vaeluaga, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Elvis Sevealii, 22 David Levi.

Referee:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Touch judges:  Hugh Watkins (Wales), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Ed Murray (Scotland)

Argentina keep their winning record intact

Argentina ran out comfortable winners by beating an ill-disciplined Italian outfit 24-6 at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, keeping their unbeaten home record this season intact.

The Azzurri front row didn't have enough to compete with the ever-impressive Pumas scrum, thus denying the visitors' backline little ball to play with.

Argentina, however, made sure the obscene amount of possesion was converted into points as they outscored their opposition by two tries to nill.

In what was expected to be a dire encounter between two teams missing a number of their star players, turned out to be a robust Test that kept the packed stadium in raptures for the most part of the match.

It was a trial game for both teams leading up to the World Cup more than anything, but the only players really putting their hands up were those from the home side.

The Italians failed to get enough phases going to really put any pressure on the Pumas, who's forwards did an outstanding job up front to starve the Azzurri backline of any possession of the ball.

The Pumas however made sure they turned their possession they maintained throughout the match into points in every opportunity they were allowed by the visitors.

The home team played with a lot more urgency than Italy and were handling the rugby ball like a hot potato as they used the width of the field to great effect.

This of course meant the Italians were left to do the majority of the tackling on a humid afternoon that eventually would take it's toll as the Pumas wore their opposition down with their hard running at impressive angles.

The Azzurri certainly showed plenty of commitment though, but as the match wore on in the second half -- the commitment turned into frustration, the frustration turned into penalties and the penalties turned into points for the Argentineans.

Referee Lyndon Bray had his hands full at scrum time with the Italian front row picking up more penalties for their ill-discipline than anywhere else on the pitch.  Italy captain and prop Andrea Lo Cicero pushed Bray's patience to the limit and was soon seeing yellow in the third quarter of the match after receiving one warning too many.

In fact the men in blue were forced to play with only fourteen men on the field for the last 20 minutes of the match after flanker Josh Sole was also handed a yellow card ten minutes before his skipper was watching from the sidelines.

The Pumas managed two tries in the first half thanks to wing Francisco Leonelli and full-back Federico Serra in the 25th and 31st minute respectively.

Serra also had a satisfactory day with the boot after kicking four penalties and converting his own try.  His first points of the afternoon came three minutes from kick-off after the Italians were penalised for roaming offside.

Argentina were always going to be favourites heading into this match after winning a Test series against Ireland two-nill on their home track.

Even though a whopping nine changes were made from the team which finished off the Irish last weekend, the quality of their play looked as if no adjustments had been made to the line-up at all.

Leonelli's try proved to be the turning point in the match as before the winger scored -- both sides looked very even.

But after outside centre Martín Gaitán went on an impressive dart into open space, the Azzurri defenders were forced to scramble back in defence.  The support play did well to recycle the ball quickly enough for skilled prop Omar Hasan to take play up further before throwing a fine pass to Manuel Contepomi, who in turn drew the opposition and put in the final pass to send Leonelli diving over in the corner.

It was thought that Contepomi had released the final pass too early, but Leonelli showed superb pace to help him over for the five-pointer.  Serra's conversion attempt was unlucky to hit the upright.

Serra would have better luck just minutes later when scrum-half Nicolás Fernández Miranda put in a wicked box-kick after the restart that saw the bounce nearly beat David Bortolussi on his own goal line.  Winger Horacio Agulla chased well and dragged the Italy full-back over the goal-line for a five meter scrum.

The ball went wide after a shaky scrum, but a lovely long pass to Serra saw the number 15 step inside Azzurri wing Kaine Robertson for an excellent try for Argentina.

This time the conversion was more successful and the Pumas held a handy 15-0 lead.

Bortolussi made up for his earlier blunder by securing the first points for the visitors after the home team were blown for offside, but Serra made sure if his side retained their fifteen-point lead after nailing a 45 meter penalty on the stroke of half-time.

That left the score at 18-3 in favour of the Pumas at the break.

The second half would prove to be a half the visiting Italians would care to forget after literally handing the match to Argentina on a silver kicking tee.

Bortolussi got his team off to a good start with an early kick at goal, but two yellow cards resulted in the two penalties the Pumas needed to seal the game and the Italians can count themselves lucky it wasn't more.

The match soon turned into a frustrating stop-start encounter that was jeered on by the crowd who wanted to see more running and certainly more tries been scored.

Alas it wasn't to be and Argentina could at least lift their heads high for a game well played, whilst the Italians will be happy to get to the airport as soon as possible.

Man of the Match:  Pumas number eight Juan Manuel Leguizamón.  This player shows great promise for the future by the way he commits himself to all facets of play.  His work-rate around the pitch is exhausting to watch.

Moment of the Match:  Francisco Leonelli's try was a relief for Argentina and their home support.  It was also the turning point in the match as from then on the Pumas never seemed to take their foot off the gas -- whilst the Italians couldn't get their boot off the brake.

Villain of the Match:  Perhaps the entire Italian front row for giving tons on penalties away and causing far too many restarts that made the colourful crowd and everyone else watching the game very restless.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Leonelli, Serra
Cons:  Serra
Pens:  Serra 4

For Italy:
Pens:  Bortolussi 2

Yellow cards:  Sole, 45min (Argentina), Lo Cicero 65min (Argentina)

The teams:

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Alessio Galante, 12 Cristian Stoica, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Christopher Burton, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Roberto Mandelli, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero (captain)
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Silvio Orlando, 21 Paul Griffen, 22 Ezio Galon

Argentina:  15 Federico Serra, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Martín Gaitán, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 11 Francisco Leonelli, 10 Marcelo Bosch, 9 Nicolás Fernández Miranda, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand (captain), 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 3 Omar Hasan, 2 Pablo Gambarini, 1 Pablo Henn
Replacements:  16 Eusebio Guiñazú, 17 Santiago González Bonorino, 18 Rimas Álvarez, 19 Martín Schusterman, 20 Nicolás Vergallo, 21 Juan Fernández Miranda, 22 Tomás De Vedia

Referee:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Aussies to face Kiwis in decider

Australia 'A' will play the Junior All Blacks in the decisive match of the Pacific Nations Cup next week, after the Australians eased past a hopelessly outclassed Japan -- winning 71-10 at the Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville on Saturday.

The Junior All Blacks had earlier kept their 100 percent record intact with a 39-13 win over Tonga.

The two results mean Australia remain in second place in the competition, one point behind the Junior All Blacks, who it plays in Dunedin next Saturday.

Scrum-half Josh Holmes scored a hat-trick of tries for Australia 'A' on Saturday, while centre Ryan Cross claimed a double.

Goal-kicking winger Clinton Schifcofske finished with a personal haul of 26 points from one try, nine conversions and one penalty goal.

The unbeaten Australians trailed 10-7 early in their encounter with Japan, but scored 64 unanswered points in the 10-tries-to-one mauling.

Despite a lack of early possession, Japan held a narrow lead midway through the first half, before the class of Australia's outside men put the result beyond doubt.

The Australians scored 10 tries to one, and in the process, showed some promising signs in both attack and defence ahead of their blockbuster clash against the Junior All Blacks next Saturday.

Fly-half Berrick Barnes orchestrated several of the team's tries while 19-year-old Force flanker David Pocock was awarded man-of-the-match honours.

Australia A converted early pressure into points in the seventh minute with a David Pocock break allowing Ryan Cross to score the first five-pointer of the match.

The Japanese hit back soon after with an 11th minute penalty goal, before a converted try against the run of play to Bryce Robins, saw Japan take a shock 10-7 lead after 16 minutes.

A Clinton Schifcofske penalty-goal levelled the scores at 10-10 after 20 minutes before a brilliant solo try to Ryan Cross, his second, triggered a four-try-blitz which saw Australia A take a 36-10 lead into the break.

The nine-minute rampage included a try to Schifcofske in the 30th minute, before Holmes crossed twice in as many minutes on the back of some Berrick Barnes brilliance.

It was much of the same to start the second-half when a pin-point Berrick Barnes kick found Force winger Haig Sare, after just four minutes.

Holmes notched up his hat-trick soon after on the back of a deft Peter Hewat chip and chase to bring up the Australians' half-century to lead 50-10.

Replacement prop Salesi Ma'afu was sent to the sin-bin midway through the second-half when he retaliated to a stray Japanese boot, but in his absence front-row counterpart Gareth Hardy finished some enterprising attack to cross in the 66th minute, which Schifcofske converted to lead 57-10.

Ma'afu redeemed himself sides in the 72nd minute with a try of his own, before replacement fly-half, Kurtley Beale, finished the 71-10 rout with a solo effort in the final minute of the match.

The scorers:

For Australia A:
Tries:  Holmes 3, Cross 2, Schifcofske, Sare, Hardy, Ma'afu, Beale
Cons:  Schifcofske 9
Pen:  Schifcofske

For Japan:
Try:  Robins
Con:  Ono
Pen:  Ono

Red card:  Salesi Ma'afu (Australia -- second yellow card)

Teams:

Australia A:  15 Peter Hewat, 14 Clinton Schifcofske, 13 Junior Pelesasa, 12 Ryan Cross, 11 Haig Sare, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Josh Holmes, 8 Jone Tawake, 7 David Pocock, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Will Caldwell, 4 Alister Campbell (captain), 3 Troy Takiari, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Hardman, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Julian Salvi, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Gene Fairbanks, 22 Kurtley Beale.

Japan:  15 Bryce Robins, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Koji Taira, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 Kousei Ono, 9 Yuki Yatomi, 8 Hare Makiri, 7 Takamichi Sasaki (captain), 6 Hajime Kiso, 5 Tsuyoshi Sato, 4 Takanori Kumagae, 3 Ryo Yamamura, 2 Mitsugu Yamamoto, 1 Masahito Yamamoto.
Replacements:  16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Tomokazu Soma, 18 Hitoshi Ono, 19 Glen Marsh, 20 Koichi Ohigashi, 21 Shotaro Onishi, 22 Go Aruga.

Referee:  James Bolabiu (Fiji)

Pratichetti`s hat-trick sinks Uruguay

Italy wing Matteo Pratichetti scored a hat-trick as the Azzurri topped plucky Uruguay 29-5 at Gran Parque Central in Montevideo on Saturday.

Pratichetti's three tries saw Italy romp to a 22-0 lead by the 44th minute.

Uruguay, incorporating young players into its squad after failing to make the World Cup, attacked throughout but couldn't break through until the 77th minute for a try by fullback Matias Arocena.  But Italy finished with a fourth try in injury time.

Fullback Chris Burton, one of two new Italy caps to start along with centre Enrico Patrizio, notched 14 points.

His only penalty started off Italy, but it couldn't score again until the 40th minute when Pratichetti went over in his left corner.

The wing was over again a minute into the second half, with Burton's conversion.

Three minutes later Pratichetti completed his hat trick again near the flag, and Burton converted from touch for 22-0.

Uruguay lock Juan Alzueta was yellow-carded in the 55th minute but Italy couldn't take advantage.

Back with its full complement, Uruguay was consoled with a try near time by Arocena, whose conversion hit the post.

Replacement prop Matias Aguero scoring the final converted try.

Italy flies to Mendoza on Sunday to play Argentina next weekend.

Argentina have claimed back-to-back victories over Ireland following a 22-20 win in Santa Fe and 16-0 victory in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

The scorers:

For Uruguay:
Try:  Arocena

For Italy:
Tries:  Pratichetti 3, Aguero
Cons:  Burton 3
Pen:  Burton

Canada storm to victory over USA

Canada capitalised on some desperate USA defending to storm to a 52-10 victory in the Churchill Cup Bowl final at Twickenham.

The Eagles repeatedly missed first-up tackles and paid the price by leaking seven tries in a disappointingly one-sided clash between the north American rivals.

Sean-Michael Stephen and Morgan Williams ran in a brace each while David Spicer, Adam Kleeberger and Dan Pletch also punished the hapless US Eagles, with James Pritchard completing all seven of his kicks at goal.

Contests between the sides have generally been close but Saturday's meeting bore more resemblance to Canada's 56-7 triumph in a World Cup qualifier last August Prop Mike MacDonald barged his way over in the eighth minute to get the USA off to a promising start but after that it was all one-way traffic until winger Salesi Sika crossed in injury time.

MacDonald's touch down rewarded the Eagles' early ambition as they opted to kick a penalty into touch when three points were on offer and scored from the ensuing catch and drive.

Canada replied with a 15th minute try after a magnificent break from winger Justin Mensah-Coker had done the initial damage.

The Albi back offloaded at the right time with the ball going through the hands of Spicer and Craig Culpan before finding man of the match Stephen who crashed over.

Stephen was piercing the USA's defence at will, setting off on one long-busting run after breaking from the back of a scrum, and Pritchard slotted a penalty to signal Canada were in full control.

They extended their lead in the 36th minute when a long miss pass from Ryan Smith sent the impressive Mensah-Coker into space and he found Spicer on his inside shoulder with the Victoria centre coasting over.

Canada continued to rack up the points with considerable help from some fragile defending with former Saracens scrum-half Williams scampering over.

Stephen was still punching holes in the USA's defence and he claimed his second try just six minutes after the interval with Williams then completing his brace.

Kleeberger was next up to breach the whitewash, again barging through some feeble tackles, and Dan Pletch completed Canada's score rout by rounding off an eye-catching move -- before USA winger Salesi Sika ran in an injury-time try.

The scorers:

For USA:
Tries:  MacDonald, Sika

For Canada:
Tries:  Stephen 2, Williams 2, Spicer, Kleeberger, Pletch
Cons:  Pritchard 7
Pens:  Pritchard

US Eagles:  15 Francois Viljoen, 14 Chris Wyles, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Albert Tuipulotu, 11 Sika Salesi, 10 Malifa Valenese, 9 Kjar Kimball, 8 Louis Stanfill, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Mark Aylor, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Hayden Mexted, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Mark Crick, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Mike French, 18 Inaki Basauri, 19 Dan Payne, 20 Tasi Mounga, 21 David Williams, 22 Vaha Esikia.

Canada:  15 Mike Pyke, 14 Justin Mensah-Coker, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 David Spicer, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ryan Smith, 9 Morgan Williams, 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Stan McKeen, 5 Colin Yukes, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Scott Franklin, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Josh Jackson, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Dean van Camp.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Roy Maybank (England), Bob Mullis (England)
Television Match Official:  Geoff Warren (England)

Wallabies outstrip Wales in Brisbane

In a dour game that highlighted the mismatches of all the Tests of the weekend, Australia proved too much for a fighting but weak Welsh side, downing them 31-0 to claim the James Bevan Trophy in Brisbane on Saturday.

Wales were out to avenge last weekend's last-minute defeat to Australia were they threw away a 17-point lead and allowed Stephen Hoiles to snatch victory for the Wallabies with the last move of the match.

Australia, for their part, vowed to shake free the rust that had weighed them down in Sydney.

Well, a win's a win and this one was quite comfortable, but nothing on display at the Suncorp Stadium could be described as polished steel.

Perhaps we expected too much from this match.  The drama in Sydney stood out like a brilliant beacon amid the mire of mediocre mid-year "Test" matches, and Brisbanites were expecting a fitting sequel.

What they witnessed was a negative, listless performance from both sides -- a game more suited to a pre-season selectorial joust best played behind closed doors.

The crowd let their feelings be known as the Wallabies trooped off at half-time, booing in protest of the poxy 6-0 scoreline.

The crowd's disdain, a veritable barbecuing during the interval and the introduction of the evergreen George Gregan all led to a marked improvement from the Wallabies in the second half.

Suddenly the gaps began to open up and the use of turnover possession became more instinctive.

It seem to dawn on the Australians that their speedster had the edge on their counterparts and unanswered tries from Digby Ioane, Drew Mitchell and Julian Huxley duly followed.

Welsh misery was compounded by the sight of Chris Czekaj and Jamie Robinson being carried from the pitch in obvious agony, the latter with a serious injury that could see him miss the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

A tentative start was punctuated when Stephen Larkham ushered Nathan Sharpe through a gap in midfield.  The big lock kept the ball alive, and although Stirling Mortlock ran out of turf, the Wallabies suddenly looked alive.

The attack tweaked Welsh nerves and they coughed up a penalty for a collapsed a scrum in the shadow of their posts.  Mortlock struck the place-kick sweetly to draw first blood after 12 minutes.

Wales should have responded in kind through James Hook two minutes later, but his attempt drifted wide from 35 metres and in front of the posts.  The visitors then blew another chance as Jones delayed a pass to Czekaj.

After 19 minutes Wales again found themselves waiting and watching as Mortlock lined up a shot at goal, this time after the visitors fell offside just outside their 22 and the centre did his captain's job by hitting the target.

Six minutes later the night went from bad to worse for Wales and Czekaj in particular as a tackle by hooker Stephen Moore ended with the Cardiff Blues wing appearing to suffer a dislocated kneecap, much to the horror of the crowd as the moment was replayed on the big screens.

After Robinson also departed injured in the 35th minute, Ceri Sweeney came on and the reshuffled back division had Henson at full-back, skipper Gareth Thomas on the wing and Hook at inside centre to accommodate the Dragons fly-half.

As half-time approached, referee Paul Honiss brought the rival skippers together and expressed his frustration, telling them to buck their ideas up because up to that point, "it was all negative".

No-one could argue with that assessment on a Test match that had largely been a skill-free zone in the opening half and the crowd clearly agreed as they booed the teams off at the break.

The Wallabies introduced Gregan at the restart and with the benefit of a dominant scrum, the hosts began to show their true colours.

First Sharpe and Huxley combined to send Digby Ioane racing away for his debut try four minutes into the second period and while Mortlock could not convert, his penalty 13 minutes later after Nathan Brew's high tackle on Matt Giteau, who had moved to centre, provided the cushion his side needed to let rip.

As the shackles came off, Mitchell showed his paces to round Michael Owen and dash 50 yards to the line and despite some brave efforts in attack from the visitors, they were unable to match the Wallabies' new-found zip and zest.

Huxley proved his value to the cause by copying Mike Phillips's chip-and-chase example.  Except that in the Wallaby full-back's case it paid off in spectacular fashion as he gathered to claim a superb solo score.

Mortlock converted Mitchell and Huxley's touchdowns to take his side 31-0 ahead with 16 minutes remaining and that is how it remained as Wales suffered a 2-0 Test series defeat.

Man of the match:  James Hook's star continues to rise, he was the only Welshman who looked capable of shaking the Wallabies during the second half.  A number of Wallabies shone in the final stages -- all feeding off the magnificence of George Gregan.  Stirling Mortlock was his usual busy self, and Drew Mitchell roused the crowd from their slumber on a number of occasions.  But our award goes to the tireless Wycliff Palu who put the Welsh on the backfoot and kept Australia's attacks ticking over by resuscitating moribund move after moribund move

Moment of the match:  Surely the introduction of George Gregan.  Try as they might to plan for life without him, the Wallabies are beginning to learn that he is utterly irreplaceable.

Villain of the match:  All good clean (if slightly boring) fun, no award.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ioane, Mitchell, Huxley
Cons:  Mortlock 2
Pens:  Mortlock 4

For Wales:
Tries:
Cons:
Pens:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Digby Ioane, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Phil Waugh, 21 George Gregan, 22 Mark Gerrard

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (c), 14 Chris Czekaj, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Aled Brew, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Michael Owen, 3 Ceri Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements:  16 Chris Horsman, 17 Richard Hibbard, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 20 Andy Williams, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gavin Henson.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Television match official:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)

Samoa edged out in Coffs Harbour

Australia A recorded a second successive IRB Pacific Nations Cup victory by edging out Samoa 27-15 in Coffs Harbour on Saturday.

Australia A led by as much as 17 points in the second half, but had to withstand a Samoan comeback that saw them score two tries in quick succession to bring the deficit back to five points at 20-15.

A final-minute try by Kurtley Beale flattered the home side in a match that was closer than the final scoreline would indicate.

The win means Australia A moves onto nine points for the competition, just one behind the Junior All Blacks, who disposed of Fiji 57-8 earlier on Saturday to maintain a perfect record after two rounds.

Australia A started strongly and built an early buffer on the back of some Samoan ill-discipline, wing Clinton Schifcofske piloting two long-range penalty attempts through the uprights for a six-nil lead after 13 minutes.

But despite dominating the opening stages it wasn't until midway through the half that the Australians would convert pressure into points, Tatafu Polota-Nau touching down for his side's first try off a rolling maul in the 26th minute.

Schifcofske converted for a 13-nil lead.

Samoa hit back with a penalty goal two minutes later to make it 13-3, which was the score into half time.

Just before the break the home side was dealt a blow with Lachie Turner suffering a shoulder injury that would result in him playing no further part in the match.

The injury will be assessed upon arrival in Townsville on Sunday.

The second half began slowly for the Australians with Samoa showing renewed enthusiasm after the break, the visitors upping the tempo in attack.

However their exuberance would come back to haunt them, Australia A replacement Dean Mumm scoring while the Samoans had a player in the sin bin for punching.

Mumm's strike was converted by Schifcofske to give the Australians the upper hand at 20-3.

But Samoa was far from done, hitting back with an unconverted try to prop Justin Va'a in the 58th minute of play.

Lock Kane Thompson then steamrolled his way over the line to set up a grandstand finish, Australia A's lead cut to 20-15 with just over ten minutes of play remaining.

Samoa surged again but were held at bay by the Australia A defence, while a series of skewed lineout throws also hurt the men in blue.

Australia A also lost man of the match Schifcofske to the sin bin for a late hit with three minutes remaining however it would ultimately not prove a hindrance.

In the end the final say went to Australia A, replacement fly-half Kurtley Beale toeing through a dropped ball to score next to the posts in the final minute of the match.

Beale's touchdown was converted by Peter Hewat, taking the final score along to 27-15 in favour of the Australians.

Australia A relocate to Townsville on Sunday to prepare for next week's clash with Japan at Dairy Farmer's Stadium.

"It wasn't a great performance," Australian coach Laurie Fisher told AAP

"We had plenty of ball in the first half and didn't do a whole lot with it.  We were a bit untidy in our work.

"I think we lost the desire to take the ball forward in the second half.

"They came out and put some heat on in the second half and were quite robust.

"We had the chance to have the game really closed out, but we were a little bit headless in the things we did."

The scorers:

For Australia A:
Tries:  Polota-Nau, Mumm, Beale
Cons:  Schifcofske 2, Hewat
Pens:  Schifcofske 2

For Samoa:
Tries:  Justin Va'a, Thompson
Con:  Williams
Pen:  Williams