Resurgent Australia thrash Pumas

Israel Folau scored a hat-trick after 42 minutes as Australia bounced back by hammering Argentina 54-17 in Rosario.

The Wallabies were utterly unrecognisable from the side that left Newlands with their tails between their legs seven days ago, playing with an intensity that was too much for Argentina to contain as they racked up a national record winning score in a Rugby Championship/Tri-Nations match.

Folau was at the heart of everything good that Australia produced, taking his tally to seven tries in nine matches at Test level since making his debut against the British and Irish Lions back in June.

Granted the defence opposite them was more porous than in recent weeks, but the Wallabies have often come unstuck when it has come to finishing off their chances.  There was little complacency in Rosario as they racked up seven tries.

Argentina were for the most part brutally disappointing.  The intensity shown against New Zealand and South Africa at home, based around a ferocious defence and physicality at the breakdown, was at times completely absent.

The Pumas are developing a concerning habit of imploding when the pressure is on to pick up their first victory in The Rugby Championship.  The arrival of a tarnished Australia team torn apart in recent weeks by their critics presented an absolutely golden opportunity.

As much as Wallabies were brilliant, Argentina were painfully lacklustre.  It was the worst possible goodbye for a Pumas legend — Felipe Contepomi bowing out at 36 years of age.

Their inaccuracy was best summed up a ten-minute period of dominance with four scrum penalties on the Australian five-metre line, only to leave the ball loose at the back of the fifth scrum for the Wallabies to pounce and clear.  When their execution needed to be perfect, Argentina spluttered.

Too often the hosts couldn't live with the pace of Will Genia and Quade Cooper controlling the gain line through flat passes and pace around the flat-footed Argentinian forwards on the fringes.

Australia have been undone by bright starts in recent matches but they struck first here, working the ball into space for Joe Tomane who freed up room for Folau down the left touchline for the first score inside three minutes.

Tomane then squandered another golden chance when he failed to find a man after bursting through once more, the home crowd muted by the Wallabies' early impetus.

The Pumas have had the best scrum in the competition and it was no surprise to see them earn a penalty from the first engagement.  A clever kick through behind forced Cooper to concede a five-metre scrum.

A precarious position for the Wallabies saw them buckle under the first engagement and then the second a few minutes later from the same distance.

With the Wallabies warned, they were lucky not to concede a penalty try after their third indiscretion.  James Slipper was sin-binned after the fourth but on the fifth Australia escaped through Genia's kick — a psychological blow far more damaging than Folau's early try.

Argentina's dangerous burst illustrated their confidence at running from within their own half — Marcelo Bosch and Juan Imhoff causing problems for the backtracking Wallaby defence until Julio Farias Cabello was penalised for entering a ruck from the side.

Enjoying more space around the fringes than they have been afforded in the tournament until Rosario, Australia flourished — particularly thanks to the reintroduction of Genia at scrum-half whose flat passes continued to unlock the defence.

An interception from the impressive Marcelo Bosch resulted in Argentina's first points from the boot of fly-half Nicolas Sanchez as the crowd came back into life, before the renewed atmosphere was snuffed out.

Openside Pablo Matera was sin-binned for a tackle without the arms on a rampaging Scott Fardy down the touchline, Lealiifano adding his second penalty as a result to give Australia a healthy ten-point advantage.

Their lead then became insurmountable.  Folau slipped out of the tackle down the right touchline and combined with Genia to release Adam Ashley-Cooper for the Wallabies second score — Australia up 18-3.

Folau, everywhere in first half, then hammered the nail in the coffin.  Rob Simmons pass found the superb full-back on a sweet line up the middle of the field and the tri-code convert galloped over round Juan Martin Hernandez.

The Pumas desperately needed something to take into half-time and it came from Bosch, skipping inside a hapless tackling effort from Folau with Sanchez converting to reduce the deficit to 15 points.

Folau then sealed his hat-trick immediately after the break on an inside pass from Cooper for a score that looked way too easy.

Martin Landajo snapped back with a score for the Pumas as Australia ran out of numbers defending their own line, but with the Wallabies still ahead 32-17.

The Wallabies were reduced to 14 Simmons needlessly checked Contepomi off the ball, but the Pumas misfired on a promising attacking lineout inside the Australian 22.

Michael Hooper put down a simple pass after Tomane again burst through space to keep the Wallabies honest, 15 points ahead but with too long left in the game to be complacent.  Three points from a Cooper penalty helped their cause.

Tomane grabbed an opportunistic score to bring up the 40-point mark for the Wallabies as Contepomi departed to a rousing reception on his 88th and final appearance.

Benn Robinson bounced over for Australia's sixth score before Bernard Foley turned out the lights on debut with a breakaway try, racking up the half century to cap a miserable night for the Pumas in a far cry from the one-point battle between these two sides in Perth earlier this season.

Man of the match:  For finishing the contest so early, Israel Folau takes the plaudits.  A major weapon.

Moment of the match:  Argentina's successive scrums with the Wallabies on the rack before they forgot one thing ... the ball.

Villain of the match:  For daring to body-check the retiring Contepomi, Rob Simmons is your bad guy.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Bosch, Landajo
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pen:  Sanchez
Yellow Card:  Matera

For Australia:
Tries:  Folau 3, Ashley-Cooper, Tomane, Robinson, Foley
Cons:  Lealiifano 2, Cooper, Foley 2
Pens:  Lealiifano 2, Cooper
Yellow Card:  Slipper

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Pablo Matera, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (c), 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Julio Farias Cabello, 3 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Matias Diaz, 19 Manuel Carizza, 20 Benjamn Macome, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Sitaleki Timani, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Nic White, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Bernard Foley.

Venue:  Gigante de Arroyito Stadium, Rosario
Referee:  Wayne Barnes

All Blacks win classic at Ellis Park

The All Blacks retained the Rugby Championship silverware on Saturday as a six wins from six record ended with a 38-27 victory over South Africa.

It had been billed as possessing the ingredients to create one of the great Tests and the two teams did not disappoint.  Put simply, it was a classic.

There were thrills and spills from minute one with nine tries scored in all, but crucially for New Zealand they picked up the try bonus-point.

In fact they got five, despite being down to 14 men for a quarter of the game.  The Boks though can't fault their own efforts and neither will their fans.

But this is a special group of All Blacks who, despite missing Dan Carter, were led superbly by the likes of Kieran Read, Israel Dagg, Ma'a Nonu and Liam Messam.  Substitute fly-half Beauden Barrett was also critical coming off the bench.

New Zealand did begin the stronger but despite their dominance, the All Blacks failed to trouble the scoreboard.  What they did do was show to any pre-game pessimists they weren't here to just defend.

South Africa were clearly awoken and hit back after Charlie Faumuina was penalised by referee Nigel Owens at the scrum.  Morne Steyn made no mistake to put his side 3-0 up.

Attempting to seal victory before going all guns blazing for tries was clearly the message from Heyneke Meyer and unfortunately for South Africa they weren't prepared for the Kiwis' retort.  Ben Smith it was who crossed for the game's first try on twelve minutes following excellent work down the sideline from Read, who offloaded after drawing two defenders.  Smith then stepped inside and raced over for his eighth try of this year's tournament.

Smith's score saw him become the record marksman for a season in the Rugby Championship and old Tri-Nations format, moving above Habana and Christian Cullen.

Cue the aforementioned Bok to show his unique class as he went over for a brace of scores in two minutes.  His first arrived following Duane Vermuelen's line break 35 metres out, with the number eight then firing out a good pass to his wing who did well to get under the posts.

South Africa were now 10-7 ahead before Habana's second moment of brilliance, this time one of the best of his career.  The Toulon-bound wing was this time sent on his way by a superb offload on halfway from Francois Louw, with Habana's chip over the top bringing his pace to the fore as he made it 15-7.  Unluckily for him, he would soon leave the field injured.

New Zealand, as is their wont, responded in kind through Messam's drive over the line, helped by the hard-working Brodie Retallick, as the lead was down to a single point.

It had looked like South Africa might hit back though in the closing stages of the half but streetwise defence saved the visitors' skin before they launched a late attack of their own.  It bore fruit too, with Messam finishing off a fine team try on the left for a 21-15 half-time lead.

So New Zealand had three tries to South Africa's two, as the importance of the next five-pointer became increasingly critical to the destination of the Rugby Championship trophy.

It would be the Boks who claimed it and that arrived following a yellow card for Messam at a ruck.  Willie le Roux was the man to go in from a quickly-taken penalty and with Steyn's successful extras, the home side were 22-21 to the good with 34 minutes remaining.

The lead exchanged hands once again when Barrett kicked a penalty in the 55th minute.

Jean de Villiers then showed grit two minutes later when he sold a dummy and crashed his way over Barrett and Nonu to score his side's fourth try, with Steyn missing the two points.

The tourists then struck a psychological blow as Barrett scored the All Blacks' fourth try of the match — an impressive individual one at that — to ensure they claimed the silverware.

The All Blacks shrugged off another numerical disadvantage when Ben Franks was sin-binned as Read extended their lead with fifteen minutes left in the Ellis Park encounter.

The Boks made a spirited attempt to cut the gap to secure the consolation of victory but their opponents proved too strong and will celebrate another triumph and a 100 percent record.

Man of the match:  The future long-term captain of New Zealand, Kieran Read, showed once again that he is probably the most complete player in world rugby.  Offloads to savour, pace and just a real dog about him made the number eight's performance stand out.

Moment of the match:  It was going to be Bryan Habana's second try but how can one overlook super-sub Beauden Barrett.  He has been the scourge of South Africa this year, being key in Brodie Retallick's try at Eden Park before scoring one of his own today.  Superb.

Villain of the match:  Nothing dirty to report but if we have to, how about that teamsheet typo?

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Habana 2, Le Roux, De Villiers
Con:  Steyn 2
Pen:  Steyn

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B Smith, Messam 2, Barrett, Read
Con:  Cruden 3, Barrett 2
Pen:  Barrett

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Gurthrí¶ Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Charles Piutau

Referee:  Nigel Owens
Assistant referees:  John Lacey, Leighton Hodges
Television match official:  Graham Hughes

Bonus-point win for All Blacks

A late try from right wing Ben Smith helped New Zealand to a 33-15 bonus-point win over Argentina on Saturday.

That critical fourth try puts the All Blacks five points clear of the Springboks ahead of the two team's meeting at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next week.

South Africa know they must beat New Zealand with four tries or more whilst also denying their hosts a losing bonus-point.  It is a tough ask.

It had looked like being an extremely tough night for the All Blacks though when the Pumas enjoyed the better of the opening sparring.  New Zealand were struggling to get their hands on the ball.

Marcelo Bosch had an opportunity to draw first blood when his 55-metre penalty attempt sailed well wide.  However, Argentina weren't to be denied in the eighth minute as Nicolas Sanchez sent over three points following Andrew Hore's high tackle.  It was a lead they richly deserved.

New Zealand responded five minutes later as Argentina failed to release the tackler so up stepped Aaron Cruden — in ahead of the Beauden Barrett and the injured Dan Carter — before the lead was Argentina's again in the sixteenth minute.  Fly-half Sanchez was looking in good shape from the kicking tee at close range.

With a quarter of the game gone came another plus point for the Pumas — and in fact the watching Springboks — as Juan Figallo dominated Tony Woodcock at scrum time.  In fact Marco Ayerza would do the same to Owen Franks later in the half — after Sanchez's first miss.

But as is New Zealand's wont, they struck when given a sniff.  It was Julian Savea who profited as he snaffled up the loose ball before racing in for the game's first try.  Unfortunately for the visitors, Cruden was off-target.  Unfortunately for rugby, the fan with a laser was not.

Cruden did extend the advantage to five points just before the half-hour when the Pumas joined a ruck incorrectly, but then came Leicester prop Ayerza's moment at the set-piece.  Net result being that Sanchez had brought his side back to a 9-11 deficit at the break.

An indication of the Pumas' scrum dominance could have been signalled by Franks being replaced at half-time by Charlie Faumuina.  But worryingly for New Zealand was the sight of the replacement prop being pinged at his first set-piece.  Bosch was successful this time.

11-12 didn't last long though as Cruden landed three points of his own before the All Blacks found top gear.  Their second try arrived following solid tight work from the pack before the ball was shipped wide by Cruden and Ma'a Nonu to the waiting Sam Cane on the left wing.

Two became three in a short space of time as New Zealand had turned the screw at Estadio Ciudad de La Plata.  Their next score en route to the bonus-point saw Nonu again act as the provider, sending off a lovely pop pass to wing Smith off the shoulder in midfield.  The winger raced over from 35 metres making for a simple conversion for Cruden.

New Zealand were now in full control of the Rugby Championship game as the Pumas' fitness combined with the superior mental strength of the All Blacks came to the fore.

And just when it looked like the fourth try was not coming, up stepped wing Smith as he barged over the would be tackler en route to the uprights for the vital bonus point.

Man of the match:  Constantly looking for work while being smart when in possession, Ben Smith takes this ahead of namesake Conrad due to his two scores.  Meanwhile Ma'a Nonu impressed at inside centre, as did the Pumas props Juan Figallo and Marcos Ayerza.

Moment of the match:  It has to be Ma'a Nonu's double pump pass for Ben Smith's first try.  The pass was a beaut and came after Nonu had driven back an Argentine in an earlier phase.  He really is a different player from Super Rugby when he pulls on that Black jersey.

Villain of the match:  The fan(s) with a laser pen.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Pen:  Sanchez 4, Bosch

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Savea, Cane, B Smith 2
Con:  Cruden, Barrett
Pen:  Cruden 3

Argentina:  15 Juan Martín Hernandez, 14 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Ferníndez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolís Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Pablo Matera, 6 Juan Martín Ferníndez Lobbe (captain), 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Julio Farias Cabello, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Benjamín Macome, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Felipe Contepomi, 23 Horacio Agulla.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Kevin Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Charlie Piutau.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Pascal Gauzí¨re (France)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

Boks win without bonus-point

Out-muscled and out-thought, Ewen McKenzie's Wallabies sunk to another dismal loss by 28-8 against a rampant South Africa on Saturday.

The humbling of a half-time team-talk on the field in front of a gleeful Newlands crowd underlined how far Australia have fallen — McKenzie overseeing his fourth loss since taking over as head coach.

The former Reds boss has spoken frequently after recent losses about the need for a better execution from his defence, but in a three-minute blip the game was lost as first Adriaan Strauss and Zane Kirchner found their way to the line.

Certainly the Wallabies tightened up their game in the second-half, their public dressing down adding some resolve as Will Genia made a bright introduction off the bench.

This though was South Africa's day, and by some distance.  Jannie du Plessis and Morné Steyn both celebrated their 50th caps with accomplished performances.

The brute power from the South African starting pack was dominant enough early on to create the gulf on the scoreboard, before the bulk of Bismarck du Plessis and Juandré Kruger were rolled out later on.  That level of physicality will be essential next weekend when South Africa take on New Zealand.

The Springboks put their own torment in Auckland behind them by carrying on from where they left off in Brisbane — proving too clever and too powerful for the Wallabies in a tearaway first half when the score could have been even greater than the 23-3 lead they held going into the break.

The pre-match touting of South Africa's scrum as a key weapon rung true after only three minutes, when Steyn opted for the corner after James Slipper was beaten by Du Plessis.

A crossing penalty against the Boks brought Australia out of their half and yielded the first points for Lealiifano, converting a penalty from the left to give the visitors the lead.

Steyn countered with a penalty after Wallaby captain James Horwill was penalised for not rolling away — the Stade Français fly-half reaching the 600-point mark in Test rugby.

Eben Etzebeth's burst then created the platform for South Africa's first try, the Wallabies infringing to set up an attacking lineout in the corner for the hosts.  Fourie du Preez — back in the side in place of Ruan Pienaar — fired a flat pass through to the other change to the Springboks, Adriaan Strauss, who crashed over.

The Boks followed it up with a sucker punch.  Jean de Villiers' wide pass freed up JJ Englebrecht and the young Bulls centre sucked in the remaining Wallaby defenders to free Zane Kirchner, who scythed his way past Israel Folau to score South Africa's second try in as many minutes.

Steyn's second penalty on the 20-minute mark then meant South Africa had scored as many points as minutes passed.

Michael Hooper's sin-binning further complicated the Wallabies afternoon after he upended Eben Etzebeth — Australia barely surviving with a full compliment, let alone with a depleted side.

A third penalty from Steyn extended the Springboks' lead to 20 points as they ran Australia ragged, an unfortunate slip for de Villiers cutting out another dangerous break with the Wallabies winning a penalty at the breakdown.

No stranger to discrepancies, Flip van der Merwe saw yellow at the start of the second half for an unnecessary forearm on Joe Tomane to give the Wallabies some momentary respite, at least when it came to numbers on the park if not the scoreboard.

Through a combination of South Africa dropping their intensity and the Wallabies building confidence, the third quarter finished scoreless with the Springboks comfortably adrift.

It was an impressive showing of persistence from Australia attacking in the South African 22 that saw Duane Vermeulen also yellow carded, but when the Wallabies needed to execute deep in South African territory they were once again found wanting.

South Africa were slack themselves — dropping passes and missing the intensity that served them so well in the opening 40 as the clock wound down.  A persistent choice to kick the ball away rather than run from deep, in spite of their lead, gradually frustrated the Capetonian crowd.

They duly erupted when Willie Le Roux beat Chris Feauai-Sautia on the outside to cross in the right-hand corner, the lead stretching to 25 points and restoring order to proceedings.

With a try bonus-point in sight, the Springboks botched a five-metre lineout and then Siya Kolisi was penalised for holding on short of the Wallaby line.  Should New Zealand go on to take maximum points against Argentina later on in La Plata, the missed chances will come back to haunt them.

Feauai-Sautia did seal a consolation try from a clever Cooper cross-field kick, but it meant little.  Australia, at their lowest, have their own mountain to climb — one considerably larger than the Table looming over Newlands.

Man of the Match:  Welcome back Fourie du Preez. The Suntory Goliath scrum-half was at his vintage best.

Moment of the Match:  The second blow in a one-two punch from Zane Kirchner has the Springboks out of sight.

Villain of the Match:  Forearms are a hot topic after Ma'a Nonu's two weeks ago.  Flip Van Der Merwe's on Tomane was careless.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Strauss, Kirchner, Le Roux
Con:  Steyn 2
Pen:  Steyn 3
Yellow:  Van der Merwe (39 mins), Vermuelen (66 mins)

For Australia:
Try:  Feauai-Sautia
Pen:  Lealiifano
Yellow:  Hooper (27 mins), Timani (75 mins)

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Sitaleki Timani, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Will Genia, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Chris Feauai-Sautia.

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Pascal Gauzère (France)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

Controversy reigns in All Blacks win

A 29-15 win for New Zealand over South Africa in Auckland was marred by a controversial red card shown to Bismarck du Plessis.

The Springbok hooker, the visitors' first try scorer at Eden Park, was shown two yellow cards within the opening 45 minutes by referee Romain Poite.

The first yellow shown to du Plessis, for a tackle on Dan Carter deemed to be illegal by Poite despite du Plessis' apparent use of the arms, came back to haunt him in the second half after he lead with the forearm going into a tackle with Liam Messam.

With New Zealand already ahead after tries from Kieran Read and Brodie Retallick, the result was never in doubt as one of the most enthralling Test matches in 2013 had the contest cruelly sucked out of it.

Any concern over the choice of Poite as the official was negated by Heyneke Meyer earlier in the week, but how he must have felt watching on from the coaches box must have been near to his worst nightmare.

The All Blacks regardless were as clinical as ever, in the end running in four tries as they capitalised on their numerical advantage.

Read had taken over as captain from the injured Richie McCaw and ran in two tries either side of half-time, with lock Retallick and flanker Sam Cane also going over.

A thunderous first scrum from the Springboks illustrated how the visitors could attack New Zealand at the set-piece, but after Etzebeth failed to take the lineout from the resulting penalty, South Africa paid a price.

New Zealand worked their way upfield and forced Willie Le Roux to run the ball into touch five metres from his own line.

The following lineout was clinical;  a series of forward drives resulting in the captain Read burrowing his way over for the first score.  Morné Steyn's first penalty after an infringement by Retallick then had the Springboks on the board.

Bismarck du Plessis's work at the breakdown has become somewhat of a speciality and the hooker was at it twice in the opening quarter, producing two turnovers of which the second lead to Steyn's second attempt at goal — forcing the distance and as a result paying the price with his accuracy to leave the score at 7-3.

The monster, but legal tackle by Bismarck on Carter then lit a firework under what was an already enthralling contest.

Poite's interpretation that the du Plessis' tackle was illegal, and his consequent sin-binning, was a controversial blow on the chin for the Springboks and the wrong decision, but there was worse news for New Zealand as Carter was forced to leave the field.

The All Blacks, renowned for finishing their chances, made the advantage count.  Beauden Barrett's break sucked in the Springbok forwards and left a space behind which, after Conrad Smith pounced on a loose ball, was capitalised on by Retallick for New Zealand's second try.

Nearly adrift at 14-3, the Springboks desperately needed a response and it came through who else but Bismarck du Plessis.  A rampaging maul near to the All Blacks line ended with the hooker at the bottom of the pile.

Barrett's first penalty shortly after though stemmed any shift in momentum as the All Blacks kept a seven-point lead to close out the first half.

The second began as controversially as the opening 40 minutes finished.  A second yellow card for du Plessis after his forearm on Messam meant the Springboks were down to 14 men for the remainder of the match.

Read's second try shortly afterwards gave New Zealand an unsurmountable lead at 24-10, with the Springboks having to carry out an extra man's work.

The New Zealand skipper Read then had a chance for a hat-trick but the ball just wouldn't bounce in his favour — a moment where the All Blacks run of luck rarely went against them.

An increasingly weary Springbok defence succumbed again when Cane drove over from close-range, adding further gloss to a growing scoreline, although New Zealand lost Read to the bin following a sustained period of Springbok pressure.

Nonu joined his captain on the sidelines for a shoulder charge on Jean de Villiers that in all likelihood will be punished further after an examination by the citing commissioner.

The growing pressure on the All Blacks did yield a second try for the Springboks after Pat Lambie athletically finished off Steyn's cross-field kick as they chased a losing bonus point, but time was against them.

Instead of delivering what might have been an immensely narrow finish with the number one world ranking at stake, we were left wondering what might have been had Poite's influence on the match not been so telling.

New Zealand were the winners, but their success in the wake of the controversy will barely be discussed.

Man of the Match:  Some actual rugby did happen and so credit to Brodie Retallick, who enjoyed his best game in an All Blacks jersey so far.

Moment of the Match:  No guesses here.  The first yellow card shown to Bismarck du Plessis transformed the game for both sides as Carter was forced off, and meant du Plessis had to be sent off in the second half.

Villain of the Match:  All eyes on you, Monsieur Romain Poite.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Read 2, Retallick, Cane
Cons:  Carter, Barrett 2
Pen:  Barrett
Yellow Cards:  Read, Nonu

For South Africa:
Tries:  B. du Plessis, Lambie
Con:  Steyn
Pen:  Steyn
Red Card:  B. du Plessis

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Tawera Kerr Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Charles Piutau

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Gurthrí¶ Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcí¨s (France), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor:  Lyndon Bray

Australia scrape past Argentina

The Wallabies broke their Rugby Championship duck with a narrow 14-13 victory over Argentina in Perth on Saturday.

The win wasn't pretty but the hosts will take it, as it's the first under new coach Ewen McKenzie, and ends a four-match winless streak which stretches back to their loss in the series decider to the British and Irish Lions in July.

With most of the match played in driving rain and a howling wind there were plenty of handling errors and kicking for territory, especially during the opening half.

Los Pumas had the better of the early exchanges and took the lead in the eighth minute, via a Nicolas Sanchez penalty, after Nic Cummins was pinned for holding onto the ball at a ruck in front of his try-line.

The Wallabies soaked up the pressure and were soon level when Horacio Agulla committed a similar offence to Cummins within Christian Lealiifano's range.

Five minutes later, the Brumbies midfielder slotted another penalty after Argentina's front row was punished for illegal scrummaging.

But 10 minutes later Israel Folau left his stamp on the match with a try.  The big full-back brushed off four tackles inside Argentina's 22 after being put into space by quick hand-speed from James O'Connor and Quade Cooper in the build-up.

Lealiifano failed to convert and for the remainder of the half the home side did most of the attacking but without any success.  They were eventually rewarded when Lealiifano added another three-pointer, on the stroke of half-time, after the visitors were pinned for lazy running.

The sides went into the sheds with Australia leading 14-3 and, like in the first half, Argentina piled on the pressure after the re-start.

They spent most of the opening 10 minutes of the half camped inside Australia's 22 but the Wallabies' defended resiliently and los Pumas failed to add to their score during this period.

As expected Argentina dominated the scrums, and they pushed the Wallabies off the ball on at least three occasions.  In the 55th minute, such an offence gave them another chance to narrow the home side's lead but Sanchez's shot at goal fell just short of the uprights.

He made up for that miss with his second penalty, five minutes later, after Australia were penalised once again for a scrum infringement.

And they got to within a point of the lead when Juan Manuel Leguizamón scored a converted try, from close quarters, after running onto a superb offload from Felipe Contepomi in the 65th minute.

To their credit, Australia didn't panic and although Lealiifano missed two further shots at goal, within the last 10 minutes, their defence held firm and denied Argentina their first ever win since joining the tournament last year.

Man of the Match:  Nic White deserves a mention, for a solid display in trying conditions, in his first start to a Test but Argentina's front row gets our vote for another dominant display in the scrums.

Moment of the match:  With the game being played in atrocious conditions, there wasn't much expansive play but another moment of brilliance from Israel Folau ultimately sealed the win for the Wallabies

Villain of the Match:  Nothing to report here as nobody misbehaved.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Folau
Pens:  Lealiifano 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Leguizamón
Con:  Sanchez
Pen:  Sanchez 2

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam-Ashley Cooper, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (c), 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Sitaleki Timani, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Will Genia, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Thomas Cubelli, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Pablo Matera, 6 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 5 Julio Farias Cabello, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Eusebio Guiñaz, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Benjamín Macome, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Santiago Fernández, 23 Lucas González Amorosino.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

McCaw injured in All Blacks win

New Zealand made it three wins from three in the Rugby Championship with a 28-13 success over Argentina at a wet Waikato Stadium on Saturday.

Victory was tinged with concern, however, for the All Blacks as Richie McCaw suffered a knee injury that puts him in doubt to take on the Springboks.

McCaw now has seven days to recover for the clash at Eden Park or Steve Hansen will be forced to start Sam Cane in their biggest test of 2013.

It was a nervy start from both sides but the early signs were good for Argentina, particularly at scrum time as they won themselves a penalty.

And their opening would get even better on six minutes when New Zealand's debut centre, Francis Saili, spilled a ball on his 22 that allowed Argentina to shift the attack left with quick hands to where Juan Manuel Leguizamon was waiting.  Nicolas Sanchez's conversion made it 0-7.

Dan Carter would respond from the kicking tee five minutes later following a line-out offence, moving through the 1,400 point mark in international rugby.  Despite returning number ten Carter missing his second and third attempt at goal from distance, New Zealand were now in the ascendency in a wet Hamilton.

And boy did they turn the screw.  Two tries from Aaron Smith whilst Argentina's Eusebio Guinazu was in the bin for an offside offence propelled New Zealand to a 15-7 lead.  His first score was all down to Kieran Read's brilliance, the number eight sending out a nigh on impossible offload close to the left touchline that allowed Smith to dive over five metres out.

Smith would not have to wait long for his double too as this time Carter's breakout from his 22 led to Ben Smith chipping over before the Highlanders nine grounded.  Things were not rosy for Carter however — despite racking up 100 plus running metres in the first period — as he wasn't enjoying a great evening off the kicking tee, enduring a two from five record.  Sanchez however was in excellent form, cutting the gap to five points going into the break.

The scrum would again play a major part in proceedings after the interval as first Carter and then Sanchez sent over three points to make it 18-13 on 52 minutes.  The Pumas though suffered a blow early in the half as Gonzalo Camacho went off with a dislocated shoulder.

New Zealand meanwhile were beginning to make pre-planned changes as Andrew Hore and Dan Carter were replaced before the hour mark, the latter's last act seeing him send over two points after Julian Savea had scored an opportunistic score.  It again came from Read as this time his charge down of scrum-half Martin Landajo's attempted box kick led to the ball being moved left across the backline.  It was now 25-13 as the All Blacks pounced.

But on 60 minutes came the moment New Zealand did not want to see as captain McCaw would hobble off with a knee injury, just one week before facing South Africa.  Cane emerged with Read taking over the captaincy but all the fresh legs fragmented the game somewhat as there would be no score until five minutes before the end, Beauden Barrett knocking over three.  In truth, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe's pull back on Saili's shirt warranted a card.

Had the Pumas been reduced to fourteen men then maybe the All Blacks would have had a sniff of claiming the try bonus point.  As it was, they must be satisfied with a third straight win as preparations begin ahead of Auckland and that massive clash with South Africa.

Man of the match:  Outstanding from Kieran Read.  His offload for Aaron Smith's first try was worth the entrance money alone while he played a key role in Julian Savea's fine score.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  A Smith 2, Savea
Con:  Carter 2
Pen:  Carter 2, Barrett

For Argentina:
Try:  Leguizamon
Con:  Sanchez
Pen:  Sanchez 2
Yellow:  Guinazu (23 mins — offside)

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Charles Piutau.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Pablo Matera, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (capt), 5 Julio Farias Cabello, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Benjamin Macome, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Felipe Contepomi, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.

Referee:  Jérôme Garcí¨s (France)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Assessor:  Lyndon Bray

Springboks end Brisbane hoodoo

South Africa claimed their first ever win at Suncorp Stadium — and their first in Brisbane for 42 years — by beating Australia 38-12 in their Rugby Championship clash on Saturday.

The results means the Springboks will head to New Zealand next week at the top of the standings, one point above the All Blacks by virtue of a four-try bonus point.

Off the platform of a dominant scrum, South Africa led from start to finish, outscoring their hosts four tries to none.

The Boks were 16-6 ahead at half-time, and Australia were still in touch until the hour mark, but a disastrous last quarter for Ewen McKenzie's men saw the Boks race clear and leave the Wallabies without a single Rugby Championship point after three games under their new coach.

The Springboks got off to a great start via a try from Coenie Oosthuizen — on as a blood replacement — with a powerful drive off the back of a line-out.  Morné Steyn's conversion had the Boks seven points up after as many minutes.

That early momentum was lost however when Willem Alberts saw yellow for a deliberate knock down.  Christian Lealiifano slotted Australia's first points from the penalty but, after Will Genia tried to kick the ball out the back of South Africa's scrum, Steyn could reply in kind to leave the Boks 10-3 up.

A period of sustained pressure from the Wallabies resulted in just three points — Jean de Villiers penalised for slowing the ball at a ruck — and the visitors could again cancel out the Wallaby score when Quade Cooper was caught offside and Steyn split the uprights.

Another Steyn three-pointer on 34 minutes — after Israel Folau held on under pressure from Duane Vermeulen — gave the Springboks a 10-point lead with half-time looming large.

The home side had a chance to pull points back before the break but Genia chose to hunt a try from a line-out instead, but his pack didn't deliver.  In fact, the Wallabies were lucky not to be trailing by more after Bismarck du Plessis knocked-on a metre from the line, before Steyn sent an effort at goal wide.

South Africa would nevertheless have been happy with their lead at the interval.

The Wallabies made the better start to the second period, forcing an early penalty at the breakdown which Lealiifano duly converted to keep his team in touch at 16-9.

But like South Africa in the first-half, the initiative was lost due to a yellow card, this time for Michael Hooper's tip tackle on Bryan Habana.  Steyn sent the penalty over to restore the 10-point gap with half an hour left to play.

The kicking duel continued as Lealiifano hit the target after Flip van der Merwe shoulder checked Adam-Ashley Cooper, who was chasing a kick ahead.

The Boks would land the killer blow on the hour mark though when De Villiers scored a wonderful try.  Habana burst down the touchline and chipped ahead, with the wing taken out by Cooper en route.  But Juandre Kruger claimed the ball one-handed before it was recycled to the speeding De Villiers.

Steyn missed the conversion but the damage was done and the Wallabies would have to look for an extra gear to pull this one out of the fire.

Instead it was the Springboks who cut loose with Zane Kirchner and Willie le Roux combining to send the former over in the corner before the latter touched down in the same place just minutes later to seal a convincing bonus-point win.

Man of the match:  A pat on the back for the entire Springbok pack, who outmuscled their opposition as required by the Heyneke Meyer blueprint for victory.  Duane Vermeulen and Francois Louw were excellent once again but Bismarck du Plessis was our pick on his return to the starting XV, standing out with his sheer strength and impact at the breakdown.

Moment of the match:  The Wallabies were very much still in the game until the Jean de Villiers try took the wind out of their sails.

Villain of the match:  Lots of niggle, but no real nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Pens:  Lealiifano 4
Yellow card:  Hooper

For South Africa:
Tries:  Oosthuizen, De Villiers, Kirchner, Le Roux
Cons:  Steyn 3
Pens:  Steyn 4
Yellow card:  Alberts

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Adam-Ashley Cooper, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Nic White, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Jesse Mogg.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

South Africa squeak past Pumas

Two second-half penalties from Morné Steyn saw South Africa come from behind to win 22-17 in a brutal match against Argentina.

The Springboks were unable to produce the same clinical finishing that saw them rack up so many point last weekend, sucked into a breakdown battle that they often lost until Steyn's boot prevailed in the closing stages.

Argentina, as widely expected, were completely unrecognisable from the sham that turned up at Soccer City last weekend and conceded nine tries.

A repeat of last weekend's 73-13 hammering in Soweto was always unlikely, with Argentina far more productive at containing the Springboks at the breakdown and in the set-pieces.

The hosts general attitude though was outstanding, taking the game to a South Africa side whose execution was far from the excellent level produced the week before.

Mendoza was the setting for the 18-18 draw between these two sides last season and once more South Africa looked unsettled early on.

The hosts couldn't have wished for a better start.  Capitalising on loose ball at the ruck, Argentina surged upfield and from an attacking lineout five metres out they unleashed a clever rolling maul, with Juan Manuel Leguizamon touching down despite a hint of obstruction inside the opening three minutes.

Steyn and Felipe Contepomi traded penalties before the Springboks drew level, Bjorn Basson finding his way over after a harried turnover at the ruck created an overlap on the left-hand side.

It was a score that perhaps would have eluded a maturing South Africa side a year ago, but the 2013 version is a different beast and made the most of this rare chance.

Juandré Kruger's try was ruled out for an earlier knock-on at the lineout closely after Ruan Pienaar was also denied a score, beaten to the bounce in the dead-ball area by Martin Landajo.

South Africa were struggling to find the fluidity that served them so well a week before and their attitude was puzzling;  a poor decision to opt for the corner instead of a simple penalty backfired on the Boks as an easy three points went begging with 25 minutes gone.

Their attack was also littered with knock-ons, with every single one giving the home side and their supporters renewed hope.

That hope was then converted into a second try;  centre Marcelo Bosch forcing his way over through the tackle of Jannie du Plessis to put the Pumas up 17-10, Steyn responding with a long-range penalty before half-time.

Fired up by a rollicking from Heyneke Meyer, the Springboks were reinvigorated after the break and another Steyn penalty cut the deficit to just one point.

The penalty count began to creep up on the Pumas as the second half wore on, who showed at times too much enthusiasm at the breakdown.

Contepomi's departure with a shoulder injury felt like hammerblow to Argentina's prospects, but the continued tenacity shown by the hosts at the ruck meant that they kept their slender lead.

Repetitive small errors didn't help to calm what was already a tempestuous atmosphere and young lock Eben Etzebeth was penalised for lashing out, due to his unhappiness over a reported bite from an Argentinian player.

Experience was introduced in the form of Bismarck du Plessis, who won his 50th cap off the bench and capped it with a series of effective choke tackles to stifle Argentina's possession — but the Boks were still facing an uphill battle.

Steyn's penalty in the 71st minute after a collapsed maul finally put South Africa ahead for the first time in the match — a slender two-point lead silencing the crowd as the match drew to a close.

Desperate to create a final opportunity, Argentina failed to produce the necessary field position to generate a penalty or drop goal, instead finding themselves pinned back in their own 22.

Steyn's final penalty confirmed the result, but Argentina should take heart from an encouraging performance, despite their first win in The Rugby Championship still eluding them against an average South African performance.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Leguizamon, Bosch
Cons:  Contepomi 2
Pen:  Contepomi

For South Africa:
Try:  Basson
Con:  Steyn
Pens:  Steyn 5

Argentina:  15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolís Sínchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamí³n, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Julio Farías Cabello, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú,1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Tomas Lavaninni, 19 Benjamin Macome, 20 Tomís Cubelli, 21 Santiago Ferníndez, 22 Joaquin Tuculet.

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrí¶ Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip Van Der Merwe, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Date:  Saturday, August 24
Venue:  Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
Kick-off:  16.10 (19.10 GMT)
Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:John Lacey (Ireland), Pascal Gauzí¨re (France)
TMO:  Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)

All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup

New Zealand secured the Bledisloe Cup for the 11th straight year after beating Australia 27-16 in Wellington on Saturday.

The Wallabies were more competitive than last weekend's encounter in Sydney but the All Blacks made better use of their opportunities which sealed their victory.

Australia started the match brightly and after setting up 14 phases, close to New Zealand's try-line, Christian Lealiifano got the game's first points, from the kicking tee, after Owen Franks was pinned for not rolling away at a ruck.

That penalty seemed to be the cue for the home side to come alive and for the next five minutes they had the Wallabies under the cosh, but crucially, failed to add any points.

First a sniping break from Ben Smith, inside the Wallabies' half, put Julian Savea into space but a text-book tackle from Israel Folau forced the big number 11 into touch at the corner flag.

Two minutes later it was Israel Dagg who tore Australia's defence to shreds.  He ghosted past three defenders but a wayward pass failed to find a team-mate and although Matt Toomua was penalised for not rolling away at a ruck, Tom Taylor missed with the shot at goal.

The Wallabies upped the ante during the next 15 minutes but failed to cross the whitewash.  Their only points came via a penalty from Lealiifano in the 27th minute.  This after the inside centre ran onto a pass from Stephen Moore, midway between the halfway line and the All Blacks' 22, before being stopped five metres short of the try-line by Aaron Smith, who was penalised for not releasing Lealiifano on the ground.

The All Blacks struck back from the kick-off when Sydney hat-trick hero Ben Smith scored his fourth try in two weeks.  This after good hand speed from Conrad Smith and Steven Luatua put him in the clear down the right-hand touchline.  Smith still had work to do and his pace proved too much for the cover defense who failed to lay a finger on him as he touched down.

Taylor added the extras to give the All Blacks a 7-6 lead but Australia were still competitive.  The visitors thought they had an opportunity to regain the lead in 32nd minute, when Andrew Hore, was pinned for not releasing a tackled player on the ground.  The hooker's infringement was within Lealiifano's goal-kicking range but referee Jaco Peyper reversed his decision after Ben Mowen held Brodie Retallick back — off the ball — in the build-up.

Five minutes later, Taylor gave the All Blacks a 10-6 lead, after another Wallaby infringement at a ruck and the fly-half had an opportunity to add another three-pointer shortly afterwards — after Moore played the ball after not retreating from a Genia up-and-under — but although his effort from the halfway mark had the distance, it was just wide of the mark.

On the stroke of half-time, Luatua broke clear, deep inside the Wallabies' 22, and when he was stopped just short of the try-line, the ball was spun wide and Dagg did well to draw in the defence before offloading to rightwing Smith, who got in for his second try in the corner.

New Zealand took an 15-6 lead into the break and although the Wallabies were still competitive they couldn't match the intensity of the world champions.

Like in the first half, Australia were once again quicker out of the starting blocks after the restart.  James O'Connor launched an attack which had the All Blacks at sixes and sevens, inside their 22, but opted to break infield when he could have offloaded to Genia on his outside.

Taylor extended his side's lead, from the kicking tee, after the Wallabies were pinned for a scrum infringement, but Lealiifano cancelled it out with a penalty of his own after several All Blacks strayed offside at a ruck.

New Zealand added two further penalties through Taylor in the 61st and 70th minutes after the Wallabies were punished for infringements at a scrum and ruck respectively but the Wallabies were given a lifeline when Israel Folau scored their only try thanks to a superb piece of individualism.

The speedster intercepted a wayward pass from Nonu on his 22-metre line and raced away before beating Israel Dagg with an outrageous side-step before scoring next to the posts.

Lealiifano converted but it was too little too late and Dagg sealed the win with his first-ever Test penalty from in front of the posts five minutes before full-time.

Man of the Match:  There were several candidates in the All Black pack, who were in charge in the second half.  A special mention goes to Tony Woodcock, who was dominant in the scrums and Steven Luatua for a superb showing on defence and attack.  But our vote goes to Aaron Smith who got New Zealand's back-line firing with his nippy service, and superb decision-making.  He also won his personal duel with Will Genia which is no mean feat.

Moment of the Match:  With the score at 10-6, the Wallabies were still in with a shout but Ben Smith's second try put the visitors further on the back-foot and knocked the wind out of their sails.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing to report here as both sides went at each other in a hard but fair manner.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B Smith 2
Con:  Taylor
Pens:  Taylor 4, Dagg

For Australia:
Try:  Folau
Con:  Lealiifano
Pen:  Lealiifano 3

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Charles Piutau.

Australia:  15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper

Boks score 73 against Argentina

South Africa opened their 2013 Rugby Championship season with a mightily impressive nine-try 73-13 victory over Argentina in Soweto on Saturday.

Quite simply, the Boks were dominant and had this result sewn up after half-an-hour before the floodgates opened and the Pumas shut down.

South Africa, despite struggling to get into their stride early on, were too good as they looked to start the Rugby Championship term strongly.

Two penalties from Morne Steyn set them on their way before Argentina lost influential lock Patricio Albacete to an injury on thirteen minutes.  That left them with just one notable jumper in the line-out and with the Springboks strong in the set-piece, the Pumas were always going to struggle.

It told as when Steyn and Felipe Contepomi had traded shots to make it 9-6, the lack of territory was too much for the Pumas.  Eusebio Guinazu was the man caught out as he slapped down a pass to Ruan Pienaar which led to a penalty try being given.  Steyn sent over the extra two points, with hooker Guinazu duly sent to the sin-bin.

At 16-6, the Boks were on their way and doubled their try account soon after when Willie le Roux's chip over the top from deep saw JJ Engelbrecht collect and stroll over for seven points that became only four minutes later.  The net result was a 26-6 half-time scoreline.

Things would not improve for the Pumas seven minutes after the restart when Adriaan Strauss powered over off the back of a driving maul, stretching the lead to 27 points after the conversion.  The Boks were now just one try away from joining the All Blacks on five points.

Leonardo Senatore was the second player to take a spell in the bin when his tip-tackle on Engelbrecht saw him shown yellow on 50 minutes.  Unsurprisingly the hosts made the eight pay for his indiscretion too as Willem Alberts was next to cross on the back of a maul.

South Africa would strike while the iron was hot too when Jean de Villiers intercepted a pass before running in to touch down as the margin grew to 45-6.  And the trend would continue with Argentina on the receiving end of yet more tries through Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana and Duane Vermuelen who added the gloss before Bismarck du Plessis' score.

Contepomi did cross for Argentina but it will not paper over the cracks left by this loss.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try:  Penalty, Engelbrecht, Strauss, Alberts, De Villiers, Du Preez, Habana, Vermeulen, B du Plessis
Con:  Steyn 8
Pen:  Steyn 4

For Argentina:
Try:  Contepomi
Con:  Contepomi
Pen:  Contepomi 2
Yellow:  Guinazo (29 minutes), Senatore (50 minutes)

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrí¶ Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip Van Der Merwe, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Matias Diaz, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Juan Figallo.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Julio Farias Cabello, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Horacio Agulla.

Super All Blacks rampant in Sydney

An outstanding match at ANZ Stadium in Sydney saw New Zealand clinch a try-scoring bonus-point 47-29 win over Australia.

The All Blacks kept hold of the lead for the majority of the match as both teams played with great width and endeavour throughout, a classic performance featuring eight tries in total, including a hat-trick for Ben Smith and a length-of-the-field classic from Will Genia.

The occasion marked the return of Richie McCaw to the international stage and he hardly shunned the limelight, ever-present at the breakdown throughout and a try scorer too as he proved that none of his magic had been lost during a six-month sabbatical.

As Test matches go in 2013, the overall quality was at times a cut above — with both the Wallabies and All Blacks underlining why Bledisloe Cup matches are constantly pencilled into diaries.

In the end however, with six tries in the bag away from home and 47 points scored, this was New Zealand's night.

Cruden's perfect slight of hand gave Ben Smith the space he needed to run around into the corner and grab the game's first try after only three minutes.

A mis-timed leap then handed the Wallabies their first points when Lealiifano stroked over a penalty, a second arriving minutes later when the returning McCaw was penalised for going off his feet.

Played out at a relentless tempo, it was Australia who started brighter despite conceding that early try — although Michael Hooper and Andrew Hore both made key interventions for theirs sides at the breakdown in defence.

McCaw gradually flourished as he grew into the match, winning a penalty at the breakdown that allowed Cruden to stretch the score to 10-6 in the All Blacks' favour at the close of the opening quarter.  He wasn't perfect though — another breakdown penalty offence letting Lealiifano close the gap.

The introduction of the new scrum laws saw less resets, but more free-kicks as both Aaron Smith and Will Genia were caught out for not feeding straight into the scrum.

McCaw's mixed fortunes continued with another discrepancy, again on the deck, as Lealiifano put Australia in front for the first time.  It was a lead that lasted less than a minute — the Brumbies inside centre's kick was soon charged down by Cruden, who only had to flop on the bouncing ball to score the All Blacks' second try.

It was a moment that woke New Zealand up — McCaw, who else, crashing over in the right-hand corner from a divine Conrad Smith pass to become the first New Zealand forward to rack up over 100 Test points.

Two tries in five minutes;  the work of a ruthless side and a 22-12 lead for the world champions.

Australia needed something and a loose line-out from Hore was snaffled up by Hooper at the base, finding Genia — who blazed his way past the All Blacks' two Aarons down the right wing, before skipping inside for a remarkable 75-metre try.

It was a score to rival his magnificent effort in the Super Rugby Final two years ago.  A further Cruden penalty left the half-time score at 25-19.

Lealiifano's fifth penalty at the beginning of the second half kept the Wallabies very much in contention for the lead, a three-pointer that came before a completely frantic passage of play.

Both sides breathlessly attacked, culminating in the two of the Smiths combining — Aaron feeding Conrad who scuttled his way in under the sticks for the try bonus point and a 32-22 lead for New Zealand.  With Ben Smith's second try a few minutes later, after good work from blindside Steven Luatua to disrupt a Wallaby scrum, this contest was over.

Quade Cooper's introduction to a chorus of boos felt like a last throw of the dice from new Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie, but there was to be no pay-off.

Instead Ben Smith sealed a memorable hat-trick;  a moment the man from Otago will never forget after the ball squeezed out of a Wallaby ruck and the Highlander cantered down the right wing to finish.

O'Connor crossed for a consolation try after the hooter but Australian minds were already on next weekend — a re-match in Wellington against the world champions and a chance to bounce back.  New Zealand will be lying in wait, purring.

Man of the Match:  Long live the King.  Richie McCaw returned to Test rugby with one of his defining performances in an All Black jersey.  He was everywhere.

Moment of the Match:  It might have been an effort in defeat, but Will Genia's blitzer brought Australia screaming back into the contest at the end of the first-half.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report, although Quade Cooper must have thought he was in a pantomime.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, O'Connor
Cons:  Lealiifano 2
Pens:  Lealiifano 5

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B.Smith 3, Cruden, McCaw, C.Smith
Cons:  Cruden 4
Pens:  Cruden 3

Australia:  15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ryan Crotty.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Lourens Van Der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)