Australia 29 New Zealand 26

Never say die was the Wallabies' attitude in the 2001 Tri-Nations decider at Stadium Australia in Sydney as a last-gasp try from Toutai Kefu gave them a 29-26 win over New Zealand and retained the trophy they won in 2000.

As was the case last year, the Tri-Nations title was again sealed in the final moments.  In 2000 the Wallabies snuck home in Durban with a Stirling Mortlock penalty goal.  This time it was Kefu barrelling through to touch down under the posts.

But it was not easy for John Eales and his Wallaby troops who had to withstand an early second half blitzkrieg from New Zealand.

After leading 19-6 at the break the Wallabies must have though they were cruising to victory.  They were more clinical than the All Blacks and kept the visitors at bay with solid, but patient defence.

On the other hand, the Kiwis made too many errors, conceding penalties, which Matt Burke slotted with ease.  And while Burke did not miss once before the break, All Blacks' goal-kicker Andrew Mehrtens missed two attempts at goal.

But the defining moment of the first half came after 17 minutes, with the Wallabies attacking relentlessly.  Burke and Mehrtens had each slotted two penalty goals at that stage.

Wing Chris Latham made good ground and the Wallabies got a good drive going.  Then the always-alert Stephen Larkham spotted a weak link in the All Blacks' defensive line and chipped behind Jonah Lomu.

Lomu failed to gather and winger Chris Latham leaped high, shrugged off the desperate defence and ploughed over for the first try of the match.

Burke's conversion, and another penalty later in the half, saw the home-side take a commanding 19-6 lead at the break.

The All Black line-outs were terrible and New Zealand skipper Anton Oliver was struggling to find his jumpers.  Added to that lock Norm Maxwell was sent to the sinbin by South African referee Tappe Henning for retaliation after he was punched by Michael Foley, the Wallaby hooker.

Australia remained calm throughout the first 40 minutes.  They tried to keep the All Blacks pinned in their half and scored points when the Kiwis made crucial mistakes.  Although it was no spectacle, the Wallabies' tactics worked and they looked set to complete the win without any hitches.

Then the second half started.

Three minutes into the second stanza All Black inside centre Pita Alatini, who had a solid first half, sniped through the Wallaby defence on the half-way line.  He made 30 metres before offloading to Doug Howlett on his left shoulder.

The Blues' wing, who was a late replacement before the start for the injured Jeff Wilson, sped away for a great try.  Mehrtens converted and suddenly New Zealand were just six points behind.

Moments later Aussie prop Rod Moore was penalised for "loitering" and Mehrtens closed the gap to three points.

Moore was in trouble again when he took the law into his own hands and was yellow carded.  Off he went, and Alatini stepped into the spotlight again.

The All Black centre received the ball on the blindside, and with the Wallaby defence in disarray, he passed to Lomu, who drew a number of Aussie defenders before releasing a perfectly timed inside pass back to Alatini, who jogged over for his side's second try.

Mehrtens's conversion was good and suddenly, after scoring 17 points in a mere 11 minutes, the All Blacks took the lead 23-19.

Mehrtens, whose tactical kicking was brilliant, added three more and Andrew Walker, replacement wing for Burke, did the same.  With ten minutes left on the clock the Wallabies were trailing 22-26.

The Wallabies got three penalty goals inside the All Black 22 in that time, and every time Eales indicated to Walker to enforce the line-out.

The All Blacks fended off the first two charges, but it was third time lucky for Australia and Stephen Larkham's inside pass to a barrelling Kefu saw the big No.8 barge over for the series-clinching try.

The conversion was good and when Mehrtens' restart failed to go the 10 metres, the hooter went, Henning awarded the scrum, Latham found touch and it was all over.

Byron Kelleher, the All Black No.9, again upstaged his more illustrious opponent and George Gregan could not stamp his usual authority on the game.  That almost cost the Wallabies the game as New Zealand's continuing pressure, with Kelleher leading the charge, saw their defensive pattern shredded in the second half.

For the Wallabies the driving play of Owen Finegan, Nathan Grey and Kefu were worth gold.  They made a lot of ground and took two or more Kiwi defenders out of the game every time they put their heads down.

In the end the Wallabies are deserved winners and we'll have to wait until next year to see if the All Blacks or Springboks could upstage the world champions.

Man of the match:  This is a difficult decision.  On the Wallaby side John Eales, Michael Foley and Toutai Kefu all had good games.  The All Blacks' best were Troy Flavell, Chris Jack, Byron Kelleher and Andrew Mehrtens.  But Pita Alatini wins it for his second half brilliance, which led to two tries and almost won the game for New Zealand.

Moment of the match:  The last-mintue try by Toutai Kefu, without a doubt.  The whole Wallaby squad exploded with joy and swamped their No.8 and outgoing captain John Eales, whose Wallaby career ended, as it started, with a win.

Villain of the match:  The two "yellows" win this one today -- Norm Maxwell for retaliation, and Rod Moore for the same offence.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Ben Darwin, Andrew Walker, Phil Waugh
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Chris Whitaker

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Troy Flavell, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Leon MacDonald
Reserves:  Carl Hayman, Marty Holah, Christian Cullen, Justin Marshall
Unused:  Tony Brown, Mark Cooksley, Mark Hammett

Attendance:  90978
Referee:  Henning t.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Kefu R.S.T. 1, Latham C.E. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 1, Flatley E.J. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 4, Walker A.M. 1

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Alatini P.F. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 4

New Zealand 26 South Africa 15

New Zealand are back in business, big time, overwhelming South Africa 26-15 in a high-action international at Eden Park.  Their victory ensures the Tri-Nations championship will go right to the wire in Sydney.

With the "new chums" Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens, Chris Jack and Leon MacDonald all excelling, the All Blacks dominated virtually throughout, scoring the game's only two tries, one brilliantly taken by Pita Alatini, the other a penalty try awarded for an early tackle on Leon MacDonald.

Once again, the All Blacks kept the Springboks try-less, the visitors' only points coming courtesy of the deadly accurate boot of Braam van Straaten.

The Springboks haven't won at Eden Park since 1937 and never at any stage looked like improving that record, even though they trailed only 9-13 at halftime.

South Africa came close to salvaging a bonus point in the dying moments, but the knock-ons that had plagued the team, of a ball made slippery by rain which fell for much of the game, denied it even that satisfaction.

And so the Harry Viljoen's Boks are fated to finish last in the 2001 Tri-Nations championship, even though they did not lose to the world champion Wallabies.

The All Blacks demonstrated an energy, resourcefulness and inventiveness that was grossly absent from their play against the Wallabies at Carisbrook.

They took the game dynamically to the South Africans, clearing the ball efficiently from the breakdown zones, where they'd been so inept in Dunedin, and utilising it enthusiasm and enterprise along the backline.  Where at Dunedin they'd played largely by numbers, demonstrating a reluctance to counter-attack, here they swung into sevens mode at times, running everything back at the Springboks with gusto.

Had the rain, which cruelly returned just prior to kick-off, not made the ball so slippery, almost certainly New Zealand would have scored more tries.

Jonah Lomu missed a sitter in the fifth minute when he failed to control Ron Cribb's infield pass with the goalline at his mercy.  And several times in the second half, as New Zealand came at South Africa in waves, tries seemed inevitable until a mix of fumbles combined with desperate defence terminated the thrusts.

New Zealand has been a gloomy country since the All Blacks' loss in Dunedin, but there will be a spring in the Kiwis' step after this magnificent revival.

The selectors gambled on six changes, and they all paid off.  Kelleher had a blinder at halfback and Mehrtens, benefiting from his rocket service, controlled play superbly from first-five.  His giant passes repeatedly set the threequarters attacking.

Jack was a human dynamo from the opening seconds and MacDonald, who alternated with Mehrtens between fullback and first-five, was among the best attackers on the field.

Troy Flavell was a rich success as a blindside flanker, running like an extra back for much of the game.

Alatini was elusive and snaked through for the opening try while Tana Umaga ran with thrust and Lomu enjoyed a 100 per cent more involvement than at Carisbrook.

The All Black scrum was solid and the line-out generally sound.

The Springboks never got out of second gear, being on the back foot throughout, save for the final couple of minutes when the game was out of reach.

Locks Victor Matfield and Mark Andrews battled honestly and the front rowers were competitive but in almost every other phase of play the Springboks were overshadowed.

Perhaps the massive effort they'd put in at Perth had sapped their energy.  Or maybe it was simply the Eden Park bogey striking again.

Man of the match:  All Black halfback Byron Kelleher has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and grabbed it spectacularly.  He cleared the ball beautifully, probed the gaps and pressured both his opposite Joost van der Westhuizen and fullback Conrad Jantjes throughout.  It could be a while before Justin Marshall sees the No.9 Test jersey again.  Other strong contenders for the award were Chris Jack and Andrew Mehrtens.

Moment of the Match:  Springbok hooker Lukas van Biljon's early tackle on Leon MacDonald that led to referee Peter Marshall awarding the All Blacks a penalty try in the 55th minute.  It pushed New Zealand out to 26-9, sinking South Africa's hopes of a comeback.

Villain of the Match:  A few contenders, for there were several punch-ups and some crude rucking, but no one received either a yellow or red card.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Troy Flavell, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jeff Wilson, 15 Leon MacDonald
Reserves:  Carl Hayman, Marty Holah, Mark Cooksley
Unused:  Doug Howlett, Tony Brown, Mark Hammett, Justin Marshall, Penalty Try

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Andre Snyman, 13 Braam Van Straaten, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Deon Kayser, Ollie Le Roux, Albert Van Den Bergh, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Thinus Delport

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Alatini P.F. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 4

South Africa
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 5

Australia 14 South Africa 14

The Springboks of South Africa held the world champion Wallabies to a 14-all draw in a bruising Tri-Nations encounter at the Subiaco Oval in Perth, Australia.

It was a physical match, characterised by bone-crunching defence and few try-scoring opportunities, but the Springboks will be elated with their gutsy performance, which saw the first draw in the history of the Tri-Nations.

Only two tries were scored in the match, one by each side in each half, but the Wallabies will be kicking themselves after failing to exploit a one-man advantage, which they held for 20 minutes in the second half when the Springboks had two players in the sin bin on separate occasions.

First flyhalf Butch James spent 10 minutes off the field when referee Steve Walsh showed him a yellow card for a reckless tackle on Wallaby opensider George Smith, and then with 15 minutes remaining in the match Springbok skipper Bob Skinstad was sent to the bin for killing the ball near his side's line.

No damage was caused with James in the bin, but Skinstad could only watch from the sidelines as Wallaby inside centre Nathan Grey finally found a hole in the Springbok defence, after more than 200 minutes of Tri-Nations rugby this season, to pull his side level.

Matt Burke, who along with Braam van Straaten missed three kicks at goal the entire night, missed the conversion and at 11-all, with nine minutes remaining on the clock, it was still anyone's game ...

The visitors then reclaimed the lead five minutes later, after a high tackle by Wallaby loosehead Nick Stiles, but from the re-start André Venter knocked the ball on, which allowed the Wallabies to swarm into the Bok 22 and secure yet another penalty.  Burke made no mistake from in front of the uprights and with three minutes on the clock the match had not yet been decided.

Skinstad managed to get back on the field before the final whistle, but with his side in an attacking position shortly before the final whistle all they could do was concede a penalty for going off their feet at a ruck after Deon Kayser was wrapped up by Phil Waugh.

The Wallabies kicked to touch, drove up-field and Stephen Larkham attempted a drop, but it just went wide.  Conrad Jantjes dotted down and that was it.  Game over.  The first draw in the Tri-Nations (after the 34th match), and the first-ever draw between the Wallabies and Springboks (after their 47th encounter).

The Wallabies started the match with a bang.  After controlling possession and territory they had three points to show for their efforts after the first 10 minutes.

But when the Springboks eventually started settling down, they lost their vice-captain and main attacking weapon Robbie Fleck, who limped off with an ankle injury.

Fleck and Wallaby No.8 Toutai Kefu were involved in a scuffle shortly before Fleck left the field and whilst it remains to be seen whether or not the scuffle caused the injury, Fleck, as was the case in Pretoria three weeks ago, seemed to be getting on the Wallabies' nerves.  Fleck was replaced by Kayser, who put in a sterling defensive performance, despite not offering much on attack.

Braam van Straaten got his side on the board as Fleck left the field when Breyton Paulse was impeded as he was trying to gather a chip-ahead, and from then on the Bok pack started gaining a slight upper-hand.

The Springboks scored their only try of the match close to the half-time break when Butch James saw some space and unleashed the players on his outside.  Flank André Venter was one of the players who handled the ball as it got down to fullback Conrad Jantjes.  Jantjes raced along the touchline before flinging the ball to Mark Andrews for his third try against the Wallabies in 13 Tests.

Man of the match:  Wallaby flanker Owen Finegan showed power on attack and defence and a never-say-die attitude through the entire match.  He tested the Springbok tacklers on the fringes at rucks and mauls and flung himself from tackle to tackle with no respite.  Nathan Grey also shone for the Wallabies and for the Springboks, former skippers André Vos and Joost van der Westhuizen never gave up.

Moment of the match:  There was a five-minute period in the first half, just before the 30th minute, when the Wallabies attacked the Springboks' line incessantly.  But the Bok defence held firm in the face of danger and when the Wallabies were awarded a scrum on the Bok line a perfect eight-man shove saw them turn the ball over.  If the Boks had won the match, that would have been a very key moment.

Villain of the match:  Springbok flyhalf Butch James got his first yellow card at Test level for his no-arms, no-holds barred tackling style.  Whilst he may feel a trifle unlucky at getting 10 minutes in the sin bin, he can take comfort in the fact that he had received an official caution earlier in the game.  Luckily for James no points were scored when he was off the field, but will he learn from it?

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Graeme Bond, Ben Darwin, Phil Waugh
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Elton Flatley, Chris Whitaker

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Robbie Fleck, 13 Braam Van Straaten, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Deon Kayser, Ollie Le Roux, Albert Van Den Bergh
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Thinus Delport, Corne Krige

Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Grey N.P. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3

South Africa
Tries:  Andrews M.G. 1
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 3

Australia 23 New Zealand 15

Helped by a penalty-try at a critical moment of the game, Australia buried the Carisbrook bogey emphatically and kept their 2001 Tri-Nations prospects alive by downing New Zealand 23-15 with a disciplined performance at Dunedin.

The All Blacks scored the first try, in the second minute, and the last but in between the Australians demonstrated why they are the world champions, operating with composure, patience and assurance.

Most importantly of all, they took their opportunities.

While Tony Brown disappointed his home-town fans by landing just one goal from four attempts, Matt Burke, ever the man for the occasion, coolly slotted five out of six, to complement a stunning individual try.

But the turning point was the awarding by referee Steve Lander of a penalty-try to the Wallabies when All Black No.8 Ron Cribb crudely tackled Joe Roff minus the ball.

The Wallabies were ahead 13-8 at the time with 18 minutes remaining and the game was wide open.  But once Burke added the conversion for 20-8, the All Blacks' fate was effectively sealed.

"The penalty-try killed us," New Zealand captain Anton Oliver declared afterwards.  "It left us with too much to claw back."

Why Cribb flattened Roff as he was setting out in pursuit of a well-judged kick through by Stephen Larkham remains a mystery.  The ball settled short of the deadball line and it would have been a straight sprint between Roff and New Zealand's fastest man Doug Howlett.

But Cribb's rush of blood left referee Lander no alternative but to divert to the goalposts and award the try which, remarkably, is the first penalty-try ever conceded by the All Blacks in a Test.

Burke's third penalty goal in the 67th minute pushed Australia out to 23-8, a scoreline which rather distorted the evenness of the contest.

A flurry of changes, which got Byron Kelleher and Andrew Mehrtens involved, finally sparked an All Black try, tellingly created by Tana Umaga and Jonah Lomu and sweetly finished off by New Zealand's best player Jeff Wilson ... his 50th try -- in all matches -- for New Zealand.

It was too little too late and the All Blacks were left to lament handling lapses, poor goalkicking and indiscipline within range of their goalposts.

The statistical sheet revealed that New Zealand had the greater share of possession, won the rucks and mauls, yet made 18 handling errors against Australia's five, which starkly illustrated where this match was won.

Brilliantly guided by those master tacticians George Gregan and Stephen Larkham, the Wallabies played this game almost chess-like, demonstrating great patience while cutting errors to an absolute minimum.

They won the tactical kicking game hands down.  They almost taunted New Zealand by repeatedly kicking the ball at them, always deep.  "Come on, run it back at us!" they seemed to be saying.

But, surprisingly, New Zealand almost never took up the challenge.

Although they possessed immense strike power among the three-quarters, they rarely sought to counter attack and move the ball wide.

New Zealand had had the best possible start to the game, with Lomu scoring inside two minutes, courtesy of some masterly play by Wilson after Larkham's first kick, a grubber, had come unstuck.  Wilson hacked the ball 70 metres downfield, New Zealand claimed a quick line-out and Umaga pushed the ball through perfectly for Lomu to run on to.

Brown missed the conversion and a penalty attempt soon after.  What could have been 10-nil remained 5-nil.

Burke didn't hiccup when the same opportunities came his way.  He converted his own try, from wide out, and soon after landed a penalty goal.  Suddenly the Aussies had a 10-5 lead, one they would never relinquish.

It became 10-8, then 13-8 after half-time, with both teams creating likely situations, many of them stymied by referee Lander's pedantic interpretation of the tackle ball zone.

That's how it remained until the penalty-try was given, an award that flattened New Zealand's hopes of regaining the Bledisloe Cup which has been the property of Australia since 1998.

If Burke was Australia's most valuable player, it was by the slenderest margin from Gregan and Larkham, who controlled vast portions of the game.

Daniel Herbert was thrustful at centre, Toutai Kefu drove powerfully off the back of the scrum, George Smith scavenged expertly again and John Eales marshaled his troops mightily as always.

The Aussies were often under pressure in the scrums and surprisingly conceded three line-outs against the throw.  But they absorbed every setback and went back to doing the basics beautifully.

The All Blacks would be hugely disappointed with their effort, especially losing at Carisbrook, their favourite ground (where their record against Australia had been intact since 1913).

Justin Marshall was laboured again at halfback, which impacted on Brown whose tactical and goalkicking was sub-standard.

Umaga tried but couldn't get through at centre until the final stages while Lomu oozed aggression on the wing but once again, and it's now reaching an almost criminal level, he was starved of attacking chances.

Wilson was elegant and effective in everything he did at fullback, which included saving a certain try when he gave Roff a 10-metre start and gunned him down.

The All Black scrum was strong, Troy Flavell pilfered Aussie line-out throws and Cribb had a powerful game but undid all his good work by yielding that penalty-try.

Man of the match:  Not for the first time Matt Burke proved the All Blacks' nemesis, accounting for all of Australia's points apart from the penalty-try.  His try was a magnificent solo effort while his general play was faultless.

Moment of the match:  Had to be the penalty-try, witlessly conceded by Ron Cribb through tackling Joe Roff without the ball.  The All Blacks trailed by only five points at the time and could still have salvaged the game.  At 8-20, they were dead and buried.

Villain of the match:  No yellow cards, no red cards, no stoush, no unsavoury moments.  From the New Zealanders' viewpoint, the villain was Cribb for conceding the penalty-try.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Andrew Walker, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Chris Latham, Ben Darwin, Phil Waugh
Unused:  Chris Whitaker

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Troy Flavell, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Taine Randell, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Tony Brown, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Jeff Wilson
Reserves:  Carl Hayman, Marty Holah, Leon MacDonald, Mark Cooksley, Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens
Unused:  Mark Hammett

Attendance:  36000
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Burke M.C. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 2
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3

New Zealand
Tries:  Lomu J.T. 1, Wilson J.W. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 1, Umaga J.F. 1
Pen K.:  Brown T.E. 1

Australia 15 South Africa 20

Visitors Australia were unable to shake their Loftus Versfeld hoodoo, losing by five points to South Africa in their Tri-Nations clash.  The final score was 20-15.

The Bok victory was laid by their powerful pack.  With tighthead Cobus Visagie, hooker Lukas van Biljon, flank André Venter and captain and No.8 Bob Skinstad leading from the front, the home team's forwards built the foundation for a great victory in front of a capacity crowd at Loftus Versfeld.

For the world champions, in their first Test under new coach Eddie Jones, it is back to the drawing board if they are to successfully defend their Tri-Nations crown after the highs of a series win over the Lions.

No-one gave the Springboks a chance to win this game, but they came out firing on all cylinders, and had the Wallabies on the back-foot from the outset.

The score probably flatters Australia, and they can count themselves lucky that they are returning Down Under with one log point in the bag.  They tried their best to break the Springbok defence, but failed to do so.  The South Africans defended like men possessed, and it paid off for them.

The Springboks took a 14-0 lead at the break after their captain Bob Skinstad scored a brilliant try in the corner as the Wallaby defence went AWOL.  Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen fed the Bok No.8 who ran all of 20 metres before crashing over with Matt Burke on his back.

Although Braam van Straaten missed the conversion, he justified his inclusion in the Bok side early when he slotted a penalty goal from inside his half of the field.  That was the first of two first-half penalty goals that Van Straaten struck from more than 50 metres.

After the first penalty, the Boks immediately went on the attack again.  From the restart Breyton Paulse made a break before offloading to Skinstad, who gave the ball to Joost van der Westhuizen who was stopped inside the Wallaby 22, but the visitors' backline were offside and Van Straaten increased the Bok lead to 6-0.

Both sides were keen to throw the ball around, but the defence was good all round.  Butch James and Van Straaten did well in keeping the Wallabies pinned back in their own half with good tactical kicking, while Elton Flatley and Walker did the same for the visitors.

The Wallabies looked dangerous when they got into the Boks' 22, but everytime they spoiled a good overlap with someone trying to break the homeside's defensive line.  Nathan Grey and Toutai Kefu were the culprits, not sending the ball wide when they should have.

Australia's best attacking move came in the 30th minutes when Grey chipped a kick into South Africa's in-goal area, but Andrew Walker knocked on as he was going for the touchdown and the Boks escaped from jail for the third time in the opening stanza.

Burke, who missed two relatively easy attempts early on, got his side's first points in the first minute after the break with a penalty goal.  His second three-pointer came four minutes later when Burke landed a 50 metre attempt with ease.  But Van Straaten increased his side's lead to 11 points from the restart when Nick Stiles went offside.

Burke added two more penalty goals (in the 50th and 58th minutes) before the Wallabies got a good attacking scrum on the Boks' 22.  They spread it wide and the try was on, but Joe Roff held on in the tackle and the Boks were awarded a penalty.

The Boks spent most of the time between the 60th and 70th minutes camped in the Wallaby half and almost scored from a brilliant chip-and-chase by fullback Conrad Jantjes.  Unlucky for the Boks Dean Hall did not get a good bounce in the Australian in-goal area after Butch James kicked through.

However, the Boks' relentless pressure paid off when the visitors were penalised with less than 10 minutes remaining.  Van Straaten did the necessary and the scored changed to 20-12 with nine minutes left on the clock.

With four minutes left, after replacement flyhalf Manny Edmonds narrowed the lead to five points, the Springboks got a good attacking scrum inside the Wallaby 22, but Breyton Paulse, who had a good game, attempted a drop goal, his second of the night, and failed.

The Wallabies were awarded a scrum in their 22, they attacked, the Boks tackled them man for man, the siren went and the referee ended the game.  The Boks are still unbeaten against Australia in Pretoria.

Man of the match:  A few contenders here -- André Venter and Joost van der Westhuizen for the Boks, and George Gregan for the Wallabies.  However, nobody was better than Braam van Straaten.  He proved that you need a good kicker at this level of rugby -- not only at goal, but tactically as well.  His goal-kicking was great and Van Straaten slotted five kicks from six attempts at goal.

Moment of the match:  Bob Skinstad's try late in the first half saw the Wallabies turn 14 points behind the Boks.  They never had it in them to close that gap, and Skinstad left the field smiling after his first taste of victory as captain in the Tri-Nations.

Villain of the match:  Wallaby lock David Giffin for his elbow-charge on Robbie Fleck late in the first half.  Neither the referee nor the touch-judges spotted him, but Giffin deserves to be cited for the incident.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Elton Flatley, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Andrew Walker, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Manuel Edmonds, Chris Latham, Ben Darwin, David Lyons
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Chris Whitaker

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Johan Ackermann, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Robbie Fleck, 13 Braam Van Straaten, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Corne Krige, Ollie Le Roux, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Thinus Delport, Deon Kayser

Referee:  Mchugh d.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 4, Edmonds M.H.M. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Skinstad R.B. 1
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 5

New Zealand 12 South Africa 3

The All Blacks of New Zealand defeated South Africa 12-3 in a hard-fought opening 2001 Tri-Nations encounter at Newlands in Cape Town.

Whilst the Springboks will take some heart from their brave performance, once again the bad out-weighed the good as the Men in Black showed the value of having a well-organised defence and a specialist goalkicker.

Whilst tries were non-existent, blood and guts were a hallmark of a game that did not quite reach the level of play that the near 50 000-strong crowd would have hoped for.  Sure they got a bit of rain and a torrent of tackles, but for the first time in Tri-Nations history no tries were scored in an entire match.

South Africa dominated much of the possession and territory stakes in the first-half, but other than a third-minute penalty by Percy Montgomery they had nothing to show for their efforts in the entire match as New Zealand defended as if their lives depended on it.

There were good moments for the Boks, especially at line-out time where novices Victor Matfield and Lukas van Biljon impressed, but it was New Zealand flyhalf Tony Brown who stole the show with a faultless goalkicking performance in the first 40 minutes, whereas Springbok fullback Percy Montgomery missed three attempts at goal and Butch James missed one fairly long-range attempt very late in the match.

At one stage South Africa spent a considerable amount of time in the All Blacks' half, but they could only watch minutes later as the visiting side entered their territory and Tony Brown kept the scoreboard ticking over with four penalties from different parts of the ground, although none of them were long-range attempts.

There were no real try-scoring opportunities in the first stanza, but in the last five minutes wings Jonah Lomu and Doug Howlett threatened the homeside's defence on numerous occasions.

Some brave defence from vice-captain Robbie Fleck saved the Boks on one occasion in particular when Lomu managed to get his hands through a tackle from André Venter and Breyton Paulse, before feeding lock Troy Flavell on his outside.  Fleck hunted Flavell down and won a penalty for his side.

But the All Blacks continued their knew-found dominance, which was reminiscent of the last time the two countries met at Newlands, and Brown extended their lead by yet another three points shortly before half-time.

The Boks' second half onslaught began with earnest some eight minutes into the second stanza.

They went left, they went right, they re-cycled the ball for over 10 phases, but the All Black defence, with retreaded opensider Taine Randell and skipper Anton Oliver the stand-outs, just stood firm in the face of danger.

The Boks managed to force a scrum on the All Black tryline after Dean Hall was held up by Jonah Lomu with the tryline only a metre away, but despite winning a penalty, which Joost van der Westhuizen took quickly, they did not make any impression on the All Black defence or the scoreboard.

The All Blacks almost managed a break-away try through wing Doug Howlett in the last quarter and the match ended with an interlude from an adventurous spectator dressed in a wet-suit and a botched penalty attempt from Springbok flyhalf Butch James, which could have given his team an all-important bonus-point for losing by less than seven points.

New Zealand will no doubt be delighted with a hard-fought opening Tri-Nations win but where to from here for South Africa?  Well, that is a good question, which could perhaps be answered against Australia next week.  They were not embarrassed, but simply beaten by a side that seemed to want it more in the second half, which produced no score and only one penalty attempt by South Africa.

Man of the match:  Springbok hooker Lukas van Biljon had an outstanding match in only his first start for his country.  He did the basics first.  Cleaning out at rucks and mauls, his line-out throwing was spot-on, he stood his ground at scrum-time and he ran with much power and purpose when given a chance with ball in hand.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody.  Sure there were some niggles and a bit of "how's your father", but boys will be boys.

Moment of the Match:  When the very brave spectator, clad in a wet-suit, emerged on to the pitch abd got the loudest cheer from a subdued crowd.  He even had the guts to initiate a tackle on the policeman, who was about to apprehend him.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Troy Flavell, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Taine Randell, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Tony Brown, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Jeff Wilson
Reserves:  Marty Holah, Chris Jack, Leon MacDonald
Unused:  Carl Hayman, Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Robbie Fleck, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  John Smit, Johan Ackermann, Deon Kayser, Ollie Le Roux, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Conrad Jantjes

Attendance:  49720
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Pen K.:  Brown T.E. 4

South Africa
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 1