Australia 30 South Africa 26

Australia weathered one of rugby's most protracted cliff-hangers to secure a tense 30-26 Tri-Nations victory over South Africa in Perth.  The Boks lead for long periods of the game, but in the end it was South Africa-born Wallaby Clyde Rathbone who delivered the coup de grace with a try in the 71st minute of play.

The match at the Subiaco Oval was filled with drama for the 42,000 crowd.  The Wallabies scored four tries and thus won a bonus point.  South Africa got a bonus point for losing by fewer than seven points.

Rathbone's winning try -- which took a careful effort from the television match official -- was scored in the right corner with replacement Matt Burke kicked the difficult conversion to put South Africa out of penalty goal range.

As the final whistle was imminent, the Springboks threw everything at the Wallabies in search of a winning try -- but to no avail.

Part of South Africa's problem was their inability to win possession.  They lost seven line-outs to the more competitive Wallabies, and threw one in skew.  They also lost a sloppy scrum.  In addition, they again conceded more penalties than their opponents.

There was a great moment to start the match when George Gregan led his side out in his 100th Test, securing his status as one of the great players of rugby's history.

South Africa played into a stiff breeze in the first half as rain fall intermittently, but they led 16-15 at the interval.

South Africa scored first after they ran from a line-out and kept possession through several phases until Rathbone was penalised for going to ground at a tackle near the touch-line, and Percy Montgomery's place-kick went through off the up-right.

Then came a wonderfully athletic Australian try.  From a line-out after AJ Venter had been penalised, Matt Giteau kicked a right-to-left high diagonal ball.  Montgomery and Breyton Paulse were in the vicinity of the dropping ball but it was winger Lote Tuqiri who outjumped them, caught cleanly, twisted and scored.  Matt Giteau converted from far out and after six minutes the Wallabies led 7-3.

South Africa responded by launching an attack on the left.  Paulse came running round from the right wing and gave a pass to Jean De Villiers which looked to be forward.  The wing, just in from touch, rushed ahead and then grubbered left-footed down into the Wallaby in-goal where Jaco van der Westhuyzen fell on it to score.  Montgomery's conversion, relatively easy, went astray.

The Springboks come close again when Montgomery counter-attacked sharply, and only a brilliant tackle by Giteau on De Villiers saved the Wallaby line.

When Al Baxter was penalised at a scrum, Montgomery made it 11-7 to South Africa.

After Venter had been penalised for an early, tackle the Wallabies mounted an attack.  They seemed to have an overlap but the pass to Rathbone went into touch.  Still the Wallabies attacked, but it was the Springboks who scored!

On the bindside, Larkham passed to his right.  De Villiers stuck out a hand, caught the ball and sprinted some 90 metres to score in the corner -- 16-7.

After the restart, Fourie du Preez kicked downfield, Tuqiri marked and suddenly Chris Latham was on the run.  This created much space for the Wallabies on their right.  Only an ankle-tap stopped Giteau until eventually the ball was out at the corner flag with a line-out to the home side.

The Wallabies mauled from the line-out but the Springboks shoved them sharply back.  But Gregan got the ball to Larkham who slipped the on-rushing Van der Westhuyzen and got over in a tackle.  Again an easy conversion was missed.  16-12 to South Africa.

After the Springboks had lost successive line-outs Gerrie Britz went off-side five metres from his line and slap in front of the posts, and Giteau made it 16-15.

Another Bok indiscretion early in the second half gave Giteau another penalty goal when Bakkies Botha was penalised for toppling Nathan Sharpe in a line-out.  Australia led 18-16.

Soon afterwards the locals were guily used their hands in the ruck and the visitors stole pack the lead with a penalty.

Giteau then missed a penalty from in front, but the Wallabies ran the drop-out back.  Larkham skidded past Eddie Andrews before feeding Latham who rushed it on, bumping off Montgomery to score.  23-19 to Australia.

At this stage Gaffie du Toit was on for De Villiers.  De Wet Barry grubbered left-footed towards the Wallaby line and Du Toit brilliantly gathered the ball just short of the line and managed to touch down with Rathbone and Latham closing in.  Montgomery converted to make it 26-23 to South Africa with 16 minutes to go.

Rathbone then ran back a deep ball and beat three men to put the Wallabies back on the attack.  Burke broke and Latham sent out a brilliant, long pass to Rathbone who squeezed in on the right as Du Preez tackled him.

The Wallabies came close again when Latham appeared to ground the ball for a try, but the Springbok snatched up the ball from the in-goal and Du Preez ran and hoofed downfield.  Rathbone saved brilliantly and -- after a long period of play -- Latham's action was referred to the television match official.

It was not a try, but in the proceeding passage of play Marius Joubert and Stirling Mortlock et al had an emotional moment which became a penalty to South Africa which they ran and ran and ran -- phase after phase -- without really troubling the yellow defence.

Man of the Match:  There are many candidates for Australia Nathan Sharpe who did so much to deny the Springboks possession, George Smith who got his mitts just about everywhere, Clyde Rathbone and Lote Tuqiri with their strong running and Stephen Larkham for three moments of genius which made tries, and for South Africa ubiquitous, competitive, energetic Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha who was brave and effective.  But our Man of the Match, especially for this match, goes to George Gregan for the way he notched up his century with a strong, calm and decisive display.

Moment of the Match:  There was that unusual moment of referral to the television match official after a long passage of play.  There was Clyde Rathbone's burst downfield.  There was Gaffie du Toit's pick-up and score.  Our Moment of the Match is that athletic bit of commitment -- and immense concentration -- that spawned Lote Tuqiri's try.

Villain of the Match:  There were silly moments but nothing too serious.  One wishes that Marius Joubert and De Wet Barry would keep tackles lower, that Chris Latham would not feign innocence when he is naughty, and that Justin Harrison would not try to be the clumsy Wyatt Earp of the rugby field.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Matt Dunning, John Roe, Daniel Vickerman
Unused:  Wendell Sailor, Chris Whitaker, Adam Freier

South Africa:  1 Eddie Andrews, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Gerrie Britz, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Schalk Burger Jr., 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Jean De Villiers, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Centre Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Gaffie Du Toit, Joe Van Niekerk, C.J. Van Der Linde
Unused:  Hanyani Shimange, Bolla Conradie, Brent Russell, Albert Van Den Bergh

Attendance:  42107
Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 1, Rathbone C. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 1, Larkham S.J. 1
Conv:  Giteau M.J. 1, Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.:  Giteau M.J. 2

South Africa
Tries:  De Villiers J. 1, Van Der Westhuyzen J 1, Du Toit G.S. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 1
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 3

New Zealand 23 South Africa 21

An inspired South Africa gave the All Blacks the fright of their lives by taking a lead into the final minute of the Tri-Nations clash in Christchurch, but Doug Howlett broke South African hearts by sliding over for a last-gasp winning try.  The Boks won 3-1 on tries, but the spoils go to the home side who finished the day 23-21 to the good.

It was a thriller as the All Blacks attacked and attacked, battered and battered, and then got it wide to Howlett who scored in the corner to win the match.  The Springboks might have scored three tries to one -- but they gave away a heap of penalty.

The victory puts the All Blacks well clear at the top of the Tri-Nations with successive victories, but both at home and each with only a single try.

As against Australia, the All Blacks dominated possession and territory but as against Australia they -- with their much-vaunted back-line -- scored only one try, and that at the death.

The score was 21-18 to the Springboks as the All Black wave broke over the visitors again and again, breaking on the rocks of determined defence till it went wide and there was nobody left to tackle Howlett.  It was the All Blacks' only real chance of a try and they took it -- with ecstatic gratitude.

It was a reward for the grip they had on the game but especially on the second half when they kept the Springboks point-less.  The All Blacks were aided by a powerful display in the scrums, where the Springboks were expected to dominate, and a penalty count of 13-5 in their favour.

It was icy cold, crisp, wind-free and dry at Jade Stadium in Christchurch.

The Springboks ended the first half leading 21-12, but more significantly three tries to zero.

The first try came before half a minute had run.  Jaco van der Westhuyzen kicked off to start.  Marty Holah gathered the rolling kick and charged ahead.  The All Black forwards gathered, the ball came back and John Smit of South Africa was there to pick up.

He passed to Van der Westhuyzen who passed to De Wet Barry who did a switch with Jean de Villiers.  Tackled short De Villiers was able to place the ball for a try in the left corner.

Percy Montgomery converted.  7-0.

Then the All Blacks settled in Springboks territory and garnered penalties.  Daniel Carter's first kick bounced back off the upright but then he goaled three in a row to make the score 9-7 to New Zealand.

But the Springboks came back.  They won their scrum which disintegrated.  Fourie du Preez picked up, put his head down and charged.

He chipped feebly but AJ Venter gathered the ball and got a brilliant pass out to Jacques Cronjé, who had earlier lost the ball three times.  This time he caught it and plunged over in that left corner.  Again Montgomery converted.  14-9.

Carter responded by adding yet another penalty before the third -- and final -- Bok try.  Montgomery countered sharply and with acceleration from a Mils Muliaina kick.  Marius Joubert ran strongly past Greg Somerville and got an awkward pass to Schalk Burger who managed to control the ball and get it to Du Preez who went over in the same corner, from which Montgomery goaled again.

In that half the All Blacks came fairly close once but were well tackled.  The Springboks had a gilt-edged chance when Cronjé knocked on with a four-to-one opportunity.

In the second half Carter kicked two more penalties and then when he went off Carlos Spencer kicked one.  That made it 21-18 with 11 minutes to go.

The Springboks were close-ish on two occasions, both from Breyton Paulse chips.  On the first occasion they were close to getting a five-metre scrum as Muliaina took the ball back for the touch down and once when Joe Rokocoko beat Paulse to the ball and Paulse was penalised.

Then came the victory attack in which Tana Umaga created a telling break and strong replacement Byron Kelleher was an effective presence in everything.

Two moments had a serious bearing -- the Springbok scrum which the All Blacks wheeled to get the put-in and the long throw the Springboks took at a defensive line-out that went awry and created a scrum to New Zealand, six metres out and slap in front.

Man of the match:  Byron Kelleher in his effective quarter of an hour is a candidate as were Kees Meeuws whose scrummaging has been so powerful and meaningful for New Zealand, Chris Jack who was great at line-outs and with ball in hand, Joe Rokocoko who made things out of bits and pieces, Mils Muliaina looked to run whenever possible and Keven Mealamu who does not stop.  Percy Montgomery meant much to the Springboks and Jaco van der Westhuyzen had probably his best match at fly-half.  But our Man of the Match is all-action Schalk Burger who had a huge effect on the match and was certainly the dominant loose forward on the field, just shading strong AJ Venter.

Moment of the Match:  All four tries were glittering moments against a black backdrop.  The brightest pair were early and late -- the Springboks' try in the first minute and the All Blacks' in the last.  But the Moment of the Match was doubtless the last moment as the ball went from Kelleher to Spencer.  He sent a long pass to Mils Muliaina with Brent Russell coming at him.  Muliaina gave the sweetest of passes to Doug Howlett who surfed over in the victorious corner.

Villain of the Match:  None, because it was hard but well-mannered, though two penalties for high tackles by De Wet Barry brings him closest to villainy.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Simon Maling, 6 Jerry Collins, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Ali Williams, Byron Kelleher, Sam Tuitupou
Unused:  Nick Evans, Andrew Hore, Craig Newby, Tony Woodcock

South Africa  1 Eddie Andrews, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Schalk Burger Jr., 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Jean De Villiers, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Faan Rautenbach, Brent Russell, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Danie Coetzee, Bolla Conradie, Quinton Davids, Gaffie Du Toit

Attendance:  34000
Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 5, Spencer C.J. 1

South Africa
Tries:  De Villiers J. 1, Du Preez P.F. 1, Cronje J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 3

Australia 7 New Zealand 16

New Zealand beat Australia 16-7 at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, thus retaining the Bledisloe Cup and taking a strong step forward to Tri-Nations success.  They were full value for their victory as they dominated the match far more comprehensively than the score suggests.  The Wallabies were brave in defence, in which the weather was their ally.

Wellington was wet -- not especially windy -- but wet as the rain teemed down, handling was iffish and footing uncertain.

From Stephen Larkham's first kick-off which went directly into touch, the All Blacks had almost total domination of the first half.  The Wallabies had one foray into the All Black 22 while the New Zealanders were several times close to the Australian goal-line.  In the second half, too, the Wallaby went twice into the All Blacks 22 -- and scored once!

In the first half the All Blacks threw into 18 line-outs, the Wallabies into seven, which is part of the story of getting possession.  True the All Blacks lost three but the Wallabies gave up three as well.

In the second half the All Blacks were not penalised at all, while the two penalties which the All Blacks scored both came from some form of foul play.  For the first Brendan Cannon punched Keven Mealamu in the face in what looked like gratuitous violence.  For the second, just before the end, Stirling Mortlock tackled Tana Umaga high.

After his first failed kick-off, Larkham followed with more flops as the Wallabies appeared unnerved in the absence of George Gregan and in the face of pressure.  Larkham may well have had his worst match in the Wallaby jersey.  Lost without Gregan?

Both teams, the best ball-handlers in the world of rugby, battled with passing, but the All Blacks more than the wallabies as they tried to attack.

The Wallabies threatened first when Justin Harrison charged down a Mils Muliaina clearance but Doug Howlett saved and Clyde Rathbone was penalised.

That was the best of the first ten minutes.

Muliaina broke past Stirling Mortlock and the move was carried on until Muliaina kicked and Chris Latham saved.

Kees Meeuws, twice penalised at scrums, worked a clever move at a line-out and the All Blacks attacked but lost the ball.

They got a ball they did not deserve soon afterwards when the referee adjudged the Wallabies to have carried over and gave the All Blacks a five-metre scrum but a skidding pass became a scrum which became a penalty and relieved the pressure on the wallabies -- temporarily.

The All Blacks had a good moment from a line-out when Mealamu threw short to Chris Jack who set off with Mealamu to within three metres of the line.

After Daniel Carter had been short with a kick at goal when Phil Waugh stamped on a player some distance from the obvious ball. he goaled one when Al Baxter was penalised at a scrum.  Carter later missed one when Bill Young was penalised for playing a man without the ball.

That made the half-time score 3-0 to New Zealand.

The second half was marred by an ugly fight.  Cannon punched Mealamu who objected.  They were not the only fighters as Justin Harrison, who expressed his dislike for Justin Marshall, and Carlos Spencer also appeared to be doing the punching.  In the end both hookers -- Mealamu and Cannon -- were sent to the sin bin, Australia were penalised and Carter made it 6-0.

Twice in the half Chris Whitaker was forced to carry over an All Black grubber.  From a five-metre scrum the All Blacks bashed, Joe Rokocoko came from the left and threw a long pass to his right and Doug Howlett had an easy passage to the line.  Carter converted.  13-0.

The game looked safe for New Zealand who carried on attacking.

Then the Wallabies had two chances, one slight, one realised, both from kicks.

Lote Tuqiri had a long kick but Howlett got back, Wallabies did not arrive and Justin Marshall cleared.

Then Matt Giteau kicked high and seemingly innocuously.  But Rokocoko dropped and slipped to the ground.  Mortlock dived onto the ball and surfed over under the bar.  Giteau converted.  13-7, but that was that -- the Wallabies had no other chances in the match.

With a minute to go Mortlock was penalised and Carter kicked the straight-forward kick over.

Man of the Match:  Brave as Stirling Mortlock was, and hard as Chris Whitaker tried, the Man of the Match has to be an All Black, the question is who.  Chris Jack had a huge game, Keven Mealamu was all action and courage, blotted copybook apart, Tana Umaga was always a handful and Mils Muliaina full of life.  But our choice was eventually between Marty Holah who was here there and effectively everywhere and our eventual choice brave, strong, decisive Justin Marshall on a night when the scrum-half had to be good.

Moment of the Match:  There was the joy of Doug Howlett's try, there was Simon Maling's skidding pass, and there was the unedifying fight.  But our moment is Stirling Mortlock's dive onto the ball as he surfed it over in the wet.

Villain of the Match:  Brendan Cannon and Keven Mealamu were the men with the yellow cards in which Cannon looked more guilty than Mealamu.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 Chris Whitaker, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Jeremy Paul, Wendell Sailor, Matt Henjak, Matt Dunning, George Smith
Unused:  Matthew Burke, Daniel Vickerman

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Simon Maling, 6 Jono Gibbes, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Jerry Collins, Andrew Hore
Unused:  Nick Evans, Craig Newby, Greg Somerville, Byron Kelleher, Sam Tuitupou

Attendance:  38000
Referee:  Rolland a.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Mortlock S.A. 1
Conv:  Giteau M.J. 1

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1
Conv:  Carter D.W. 1
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 3