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)

Magnificent Lions win the series

An outstanding performance from the British and Irish Lions sealed a rampant 41-16 victory over Australia to win the Test series 2-1.

Australia were simply unable to live with the Lions in the second half, with the tourists unleashing a triple punch of tries from Jonathan Sexton, George North and Jamie Roberts — inspired by the brilliance of Leigh Halfpenny.

So much talk about whether the Lions had picked the right side was instantly banished by Alex Corbisiero's second-minute score.

The tourists could not have asked for a better start.  Omitting Brian O'Driscoll had stolen plenty of headlines, but the return of Corbisiero was proving paramount as the England loosehead combined with Richard Hibbard and Adam Jones to cause havoc at the scrum.

Ben Alexander's sin-binning was inevitable, but in a way it momentarily swung in the Wallabies favour.  With Sekope Kepu shoring up the tighthead side Australia plugged a hole and stopped their ship from sinking, leading the way for a comeback from 19-3 to 19-16 just after the interval.

Sexton's try gave the Lions daylight, before North hammered the nail into the Wallabies coffin.  By the time Roberts cantered over, the Test was already being written into the history books.

For the Lions it was the perfect start, Corbisiero rolling his way over after a rampant burst from the kick-off.  The hunger that was missing in Melbourne was alive in Sydney after only a minute.

George Smith's return to Test rugby then had the light switch punched out after only four minutes, a collision with Hibbard sending ripples around the Olympic Stadium.  Somehow he returned.

Turning down the three points cost the Wallabies as Halfpenny enlarged the gap from seven points to ten, a monster from the halfway line disposing of any lingering doubts from the second Test over his ability from long-range.

Leali'ifano responded with three points of his own to put the Wallabies on the board and stem the tourists' early momentum, but the Lions scrum dictated — a second and third penalty leaving Halfpenny to stretch the lead to 16-3 with the Lions scoring more points than the number of minutes passed.

An issue for Australia turned into a calamity with Ben Alexander sent to the bin, the Wallabies revisiting some of their darkest scrummaging memories as Halfpenny's fourth penalty sailed over.

Folau shortly followed Alexander off the field, with a hamstring injury rather than for an offence.

There were golden moments for Australia, a burst from replacement Jesse Mogg cut down by a brilliant tap tackle from Geoff Parling, but their tails were firmly up as they pummeled away at the Lions line towards the end of the first half.

It paid dividends — O'Connor skipping and slicing his way in the tiniest box of space to bring the Wallabies back into the game, trailing 19-10 at half-time.

A pair of Leali'ifano penalties after the break shortened the gap to just three — that early Lions gap wiped out.

Kepu's introduction may have alleviated the pressure momentarily, but Jones remained a threat on the other side and earned the tourists another penalty, Halfpenny's fifth of the night.

The Lions then delivered a try straight into Lions folklore.  Patience from Davies with the pass released Halfpenny down the wing, timing his pass to Sexton just right on his inside to open up a thirteen-point lead and a chasm of daylight.

Opting against taking crucial penalty chances was bold in theory but idiotic in execution from the Wallabies.  North then made them pay.

More brilliance from Halfpenny, jinking his way upfield and searing past Genia, fed the giant Welsh wing for the try that sealed not just the third Test, but the series.

Bread of Heaven and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot filled the ground as the clock counted down, with Lions hearts and minds already soaking up every minute and feeling something missed since 1997.

For the Wallabies and Robbie Deans, uncertainty lies ahead after finishing so far behind in a series that at times appeared was there for them to win.

For the Lions, it is immortality.

Man of the Match:  Alex Corbisiero deserves a ton of praise, but impossible to look past the Player of the Series — Leigh Halfpenny.

Moment of the Match:  The Wallabies had fought and clawed their back into the match before Jonathan Sexton cantered under the posts and stopped the fightback.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  O'Connor
Con:  Leali'ifano
Pens:  Leali'ifano 3
Yellow Card:  Alexander

For British and Irish Lions:
Tries:  Corbisiero, Sexton, North, Roberts
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pens:  Halfpenny 5

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 James Horwill (captain), 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Faingaa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Michael Hooper, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Jesse Mogg.

British and Irish Lions:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones (c), 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Manu Tuilagi.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Dogged Australia level the series

A magnificent curling conversion from Christian Lealiifano gave Australia a 16-15 win to level the Lions Test series at 1-1.

Adam Ashley-Cooper's 76th minute sucker-punch broke the Lions hearts, with Leigh Halfpenny's injury-time penalty attempt dropping short of the posts.

It means that the Test series will go down to the wire in Sydney next weekend — the final chapter in an enthralling, brutal tour that has left the nerves of both sets of supporters in shreds.

An opening half dominated by the scrum and interpretation of referee Craig Joubert was at the core of an excruciatingly tense first half — Halfpenny and Leali'ifano finding themselves in a shootout.

The suffocating tension under the Etihad Stadium roof saw both sides make plenty of mistakes in the opening quarter.

There were however obvious strengths early on — the Lions rolling maul for one, and the Australian scrum as Will Genia gradually began to control the tempo of the match.

Halfpenny fell short with his first penalty attempt, hitting the crossbar after good work from Warburton at the breakdown with the Lions free of the constraints placed upon the ruck area under Chris Pollock's officiating in Brisbane.

Bold leadership from Warburton saw the Lions unleash two successive lineout drives on the Wallaby line, a 12-man maul on the second drive bringing a penalty advantage.  Halfpenny this time made no mistake.

Early struggles for Mako Vunipola at the scrum handed the Wallabies their first points, Ben Alexander winning the opening exchange for Leali'ifano to score his first points in an Australian jersey.

Another scrum penalty, again against Vunipola, turned a Lions problem into a calamity as the loosehead's struggles continued but Australia were not beyond conceding a penalty at the scrum themselves — Adam Jones splintering the front row to result in Halfpenny's second penalty and a tied scoreboard at 6-6 after 27 minutes.

Pressure does funny things even to experienced Test players, as the Lions lineout wobbled and James O'Connor dropped a simple pass.  Scrums though persisted to dictate the match — Halfpenny's third penalty coming as the Wallaby pack creaked and turned.

A lazy offside penalty against Dan Lydiate saw Leali'ifano level things up a 9-9 but the Lions had the final say of the half.  North had been subdued throughout the opening 40 but a burst created the penalty chance for Halfpenny to put the Lions ahead again — 12-9 at half-time.

A golden wall repelled the Lions in the opening minutes of the second half held firm but the action was breathless — neither side adding points as Warburton grew into the role of a winning Lions captain.

Utterly draining and breathless stuff from both sides as the game opened up gradually turned the Etihad into a cauldron of screams.

Warburton was enormous, writing his way into Lions folklore as poor execution from both sides hindered the attacks of both sides and saw the total number of scrums rise into double figures.

Australia threw everything at the tourists, enjoying more possession and working the short side, but it came at a price.  North produced an act of incredible physicality to carry Folau on his back, but landed on his head as a result to the concern of every fan in a red shirt.

The introduction of Dan Cole and Richard Hibbard gave the Lions impetus in the battle upfront, leading Halfpenny to slot his most remarkable kick of all from 48 metres out.

Making half the number of tackles as the visitors, the Wallabies continued to stutter — Beale this time the culprit with numbers on his outside as they chased the game.

They nearly came so close.  Folau's step undid the Lions in Brisbane and it nearly bamboozled them again, instead resulting in a five-metre Wallaby scrum under the Lions posts, from which Folau was unable to gather O'Connor's clever inside pass.

Australia's persistence though was undeniable.  With the space on the outside to left, O'Connor sucked in the drift and unleashed Ashley-Cooper through the gap for the try.  It was a hammerblow.

Nor was the drama over.  A loose kick from O'Connor after Genia's pass came back into the 22 handed Hibbard and the Lions a chance to set up the platform for the win.  His accuracy, as so often on this tour, was sorely absent.

It summed up the Lions lack of control, in a second-half were the Wallabies retained 68% possession.

There was one last chance for Halfpenny, a long-range attempt from just on the wrong side of half way.  But as with Beale in Brisbane, it was not to be Halfpenny's night in Melbourne.  The Wallabies have gloriously stayed alive.  All eyes on Sydney.

Man of the match:  Hard to look past the Lions captain.  Sam Warburton was initially a doubt to start in the Test series, let alone lead the Lions, but his performance in Melbourne regardless of how the result turned out was always going to go down in history.  His loss to injury in the 67th minute was a cruel blow.

Moment of the match:  The composure of Christian Leali'ifano to curl in that conversion spoke volumes of the young man.  An incredibly assured performance.

Villain of the match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Ashley-Cooper
Con:  Leali'ifano
Pens:  Leali'ifano 3

For British and Irish Lions:
Pens:  Halfpenny 5

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Rob Horne, 23 Jesse Mogg.

British and Irish Lions:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Makovina Vunipola.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Alex Cuthbert.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Romain Poite (France)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Eight-try Springboks thrash Samoa

South Africa produced their best performance in 2013 to put Samoa to the sword in a 56-23 drubbing at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The result means Heyneke Meyer's team claim the silverware at the end of the four-nation quadrangular series involving Italy and Scotland, but more importantly, they bounced back from an under-whelming display in Nelspruit a week ago.

An impressive four-try effort saw the Boks lead 32-9 at half time as the home backline showed signs of attacking flair and cohesion rarely seen in recent years, with Willie le Roux and JJ Engelbrecht particularly prominent.

The second period was a more disjointed affair and the citing commissioner is in for a busy post-match review as a series of incidents — including a red card for Alesana Tuilagi — soured the last half-hour but the Boks were nevertheless able to add four more tries to their tally.

Bryan Habana rose above it all though, scoring his second try of the evening to become the first South African to reach 50 Test tries, while returning flank Francois Louw also crossed the whitewash either side of half-time.

Samoa also touched down twice after the break but failed to live up to their pre-game billing and will be disappointed with their poor discipline.

The Boks drew first blood with a Morné Steyn penalty for offside but Samoa full-back James So'oialo was able to kick the visitors into the lead by the quarter-hour mark as just reward for a long period of sustained pressure that should have seen resulted in a try, but Tuilagi held on when Alapati Leiua was open in acres of space.

South Africa would move back in front before the end of the first quarter though as a slick backline move saw Engelbrecht and Le Roux combine to put Habana over in the corner.  Credit must be given to skipper Jean de Villiers for twice turning down a shot at goal in favour of attacking line-outs in the build up.

Steyn's extras gave the Boks a 10-6 lead and Samoa where delivered a further blow shortly afterward when Johnny Leota was (literally) forced off the field following a head knock.  It was all downhill from there.

The Bok pack rumbled over the line to give Louw his first try as the South Africans grew in confidence, taking the game by the scruff of the neck.  Steyn slotted the conversion and at 17-6, the signs were ominous for Samoa.

Things went from bad to worse for the Islanders when prop Logovii Mulipola was sent to the sin-bin for entering the ruck from the side.  So'oialo pulled three points back with a penalty but scrum-half Jeremy Su'a was lucky the ref didn't spot his 'footwork' in the middle of a pile of bodies that saw Louw require medical attention to his head.  The citing commission could well have a word to day.

Already enjoying a healthy lead, the Boks began to cut loose and Engelbrecht showed a great step and pace to race home for his team's third try.  The points kept flowing as Habana did very well to reclaim the ball after a kick ahead before it was quickly sent wide for Bjorn Basson, who turned on the gas to score in the corner.

Steyn's conversion on the stroke of half time gave SA a 23-point lead — the result was as good as settled.

Samoa weren't ready to go down easily though and scored first after the break as Teofilo Paulo crashed over under the sticks at the end of a movement that saw the charging Sakaria Taulafo knock Siya Kolisi out cold.

So'oialo almost got his clock cleaned by Adriaan Strauss after touching the Bok hooker in "an indecent manner" — to use the words of the TMO — at a ruck.  He escaped a card but Tuilagi couldn't say the same as he saw red for a terrible high hit on De Villiers.

Habana cashed in on the space left open on Tuilagi's wing to score the 50th try of his international career before Steyn showed he is more than just a big boot as he darted for the line after a cheeky dummy.

The game lost all shape in the closing minutes and the Boks were guilty of shutting off slightly.  Habana saw yellow for an unnecessary deliberate knock down and Junior Poluleuligaga profited from some terrible defence at a line-out for crash over.

Replacement prop Trevor Nyakane rumbled over in the last minute to add a cherry on top of a reassuring performance by the Springboks.

Man of the Match A mention for record-setter Habana but Francois Louw gets the gong for his two tries and tireless work at the breakdown.

Moment of the match:  A few great tries to choose from but JJ Engelbrecht's try was out of the top draw and really took the wind out of Samoa's sails.

Villian of the match:  James So'oialo — mate, only Adriaan Strauss's Mrs should put her hands there!

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Habana 2, Louw 2, Engelbrecht, Basson, Steyn, Nyakane
Cons:  Steyn 3, Lambie 2
Pens:  Steyn 2
Yellow card:  Habana (70th min — deliberate knock down)

For Samoa:
Tries:  T. Paulo, Poluleuligaga
Cons:  So'oialo, Williams
Pens:  So'oialo 2
Yellow cards:  Mulipola (28th min — ruck infringement)
Red card:  Tuilagi (58th min — high tackle)

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 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 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Samoa:  15 James So'oialo, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Paul Williams (c), 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusiata Pisi, 9 Jeremy Sua, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Logovii Mulipola, 2 Wayne Ole Avei, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Cencus Johnston, 18 James Johnston, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Brando Vaaulu, 22 Seilala Mapusua, 23 Alafoti Faosiliva.

Venue:  Loftus Versfeld
Weather:  15°C.  Clear skies
Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Hennessy (Wales), Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)

Strokosch try wins it at the death

An Alasdair Strokosch try in the final minute of a tight battle at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria saw Scotland edge Italy 30-29 on Saturday.

The result leaves Italy win-less on their three-game tour of South Africa having already lost to Samoa and the Springboks.

The teams swapped ends locked at 20-all after an action-packed first half that saw the sides score two tries apiece.

The second period was a very different affair as Italy buckled down, looking to strangle the result over their Six Nations rivals with fly-half Alberto Di Bernardo's boot doing the damage.

Strokosch had other ideas, crossing after the final hooter to leave Greig Laidlaw with an easy match-winning conversion.

It took less that a minute for the scoreboard to start ticking as Italy wing Leonardo Sarto ghosted over for an easy try out wide, just 50 seconds after the kick-off.

Scotland struck straight back however with Matt Scott continuing his strong tour with a try, selling the Italian defence a dummy to cruise over after six minutes.

Sean Lamont also got in on the act on the quarter-hour mark after Greig Laidlaw latched onto a fumble from Giovanbattista Venditti.

Di Bernardo and Laidlaw added the extras to all three tries before the Scottish scrum-half landed a penalty to leave Scotland 17-10 up at the end of the first quarter.

The Italian scrum made mincemeat of the Scottish pack with a series big pushes, leaving Leighton Hodges with no choice but to award a penalty try.  Di Bernardo's conversion leveled the scores at 17-17 after half-an-hour.

The closing stages of the first half sparked a kicking duo between Di Bernardo and Laidlaw and the game disintegrated into an arm wrestle after the interval.

The Azzurri looked to have the result sewn up until, after laying siege to the Italian line, Scotland finally landed the killer blow as Strokosch went around Parisse, who broke the defensive line to leave of hole for the Scottish flank to slip through.

Man of the Match A mention for Strokosch, who was Scotland's top tackler, and di Bernardo, who had his best game of the June series but we'll go for Matt Scott for his excellent effort on attack, that was rewarded with a try.

Moment of the match:  Obviously, Strokosch's try ruined Italy's afternoon.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Sarto, Penalty try
Cons:  Di Bernardo 3
Pens:  Di Bernardo 5
Drop goals:
Yellow cards:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Scott, Lamont, Strokosch
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Joshua Furno, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Leandro Cedaro, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 Gonzalo Canale, 23 Luke McLean.

Scotland:  15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Alasdair Strokosch, 6 David Denton, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Moray Low, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Tim Visser.

Venue:  Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee:  Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
Television match official:  Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)

Lions go 1-0 up

Wallaby back Kurtley Beale missed two late penalty attempts as the British and Irish Lions held on to win 23-21 in the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday.

The replacement was unsuccessful off the tee as an Australian outfit decimated by injuries almost pulled off a famous victory against the tourists.

It was not to be for the home side who had lost Christian Lealiifano, Pat McCabe, Berrick Barnes and Adam Ashley-Cooper to respective injuries.

Instead the Lions managed to take a crucial 1-0 lead in the series with a result that will be best remembered for George North's impact on the wing — his impressive individual score in the first-half silencing the 42,499 at Suncorp Stadium.

Australia, who were handing debuts to Israel Folau, Lealiifano and Ben Mowen, lost two men during an enthralling opening 40 in Brisbane.

Their first to depart was inside centre Lealiifano, who was forced off inside a minute after being knocked out attempting to tackle Jonathan Davies.

That hard-running start from the Welshman was not reciprocated by his Irish midfield colleague though as Brian O'Driscoll coughed up two penalties.  Luckily for the 34-year-old, both those offences were not capitalised on by Wallaby place-kicker James O'Connor.

The Lions would soon find their rhythm and enjoyed field position and possession in the opposition 22, moving through the phases until O'Driscoll was again penalised, this time for holding on at ruck time.  That would be the moment that announced Folau on the Test stage.

From the penalty, Will Genia, as is his wont, went quickly five metres from his own line and promptly set off, causing a backtracking Mike Phillips several issues as the nine held off committing to the tackle.  Genia's magic ended with a grubber to the supporting Folau who cruised in for the first try.  Robbie Deans would have been delighted to see O'Connor knock over the simple two points for a seven-point lead with thirteen minutes on the clock.

Despite falling behind, the travelling Lions supporters will have been warmed to witness the first scrum of the game being dominated by the tourists.  That battle up front was always going to be key so when Wallaby captain James Horwill was penalised for being all over Paul O'Connell at a line-out, Leigh Halfpenny would gratefully reward his forward pack's hard work to make it 7-3 with just over a quarter of the opening Test gone at Suncorp.

Things would get even better for the travelling supporters two minutes later when North collected a kick deep inside his own territory before sprinting through the defence to score.

Halfpenny's touchline conversion made it 7-10 before North almost barged over in the same corner but for TMO replays to show his elbow was in touch.  Consolation was found via an earlier penalty offence, which Halfpenny slotted to continue his excellent kicking form.

Folau would then strike again, this time through all of his own good work as he slipped tackles before going in on the right.  O'Connor's missed conversion meant that the Lions were 13-12 up at the half-time break, with the win there for the taking for both sides.

Upon the turnaround, the Wallabies would lose Barnes and McCabe to respective injuries which meant openside flanker Michael Hooper would move to centre in a make-shift line-up.  And the Lions would capitalise on that fact when North's Welsh team-mate Alex Cuthbert ran through the midfield defence for a converted try that made it 12-20 at the Brisbane venue.

O'Connor would reply off the tee before replacement Beale landed three points to leave it 18-20 to the Lions with 20 minutes remaining.  The tension was palpable in the final quarter.

Halfpenny and Beale traded shots inside the final fourteen minutes and with six minutes left, Beale had the chance to kick the Wallabies in front but he pushed his attempt wide.

Then at the death Beale had another kick to win it, but he dramatically slipped on his run-up as the chance went begging, sparking celebrations from the Lions players and fans.

Man of the match:  Jamie Heaslip was solid, as was Jonathan Davies, Brian O'Driscoll and Leigh Halfpenny.  But for his ability to change a game, George North gets this gong, seeing off opposition wing and two-try debutant Israel Folau.  North's try was something special.

Moment of the match:  Unfortunate that it has to be a mistake but Kurtley Beale's slip in the act of kicking his last-minute penalty effort ultimately saw the Lions hold on.  Heartbreak for Beale, elation for the Lions who, like twelve years ago, take the first Test in Brisbane.

Villain of the match:  Delon Armitage's wave to Brock James was given the thumbs down by us and the same goes to George North's finger wag.  Let's cut that stuff out please guys.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Folau 2
Con:  O'Connor
Pen:  O'Connor, Beale 2

For B&I Lions:
Tries:  North, Cuthbert
Con:  Halfpenny 2
Pen:  Halfpenny 3

Australia:  15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Pat McCabe, 23 Kurtley Beale.

British and Irish Lions:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Makovina Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Sean Maitland.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Romain Poite (France)

All Blacks complete French clean sweep

The All Blacks completed a 3-0 series victory over France on Saturday with a 24-9 win at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth.

The result is New Zealand's seventh consecutive win over the French, who were once again held try-less, but the result hung in the balance right up to the dying minutes.

New Zeland led 8-6 at the end of an entertaining first-half thanks to a try from wing Ben Smith, but there was very little to choose between the sides.

Indeed, the fired-up Bleus put in a much-improved display in all areas on last week's disaster - especially at the set piece and in their kicking out of hand - and regularly breached the All Blacks' defensive line.

But the hosts would strike at crucial times with Smith's try coming just before the break before Beauden Barrett scored in the last minute to give the scoreline a flattering appearance.

The hosts were given an early let off when referee Nigel Owens harshly called France back for being offside after a clever chip over the top had the Kiwi defence scrambling behind their tryline.

The French would nevertheless take a deserved early led as centre Florian Fritz slotted a drop goal to ensure the visitors were given some reward for a period of sustained pressure.

Dan Carter leveled the scores with a penalty on the 15-minute mark after Yoann Maestri was pinged for a side entry after an attacking line-out for New Zealand.

Carter hit the upright with his next effort before Jean-Marc Doussain sent his first attempt wide to leave the scores locked at 3-all after half-an-hour.

The visitors would have felt they had enjoyed the upper hand in the first half but - as has become a pattern in this series - the All Blacks scored just before half time, with some help from the TMO, as Israel Dagg set up Ben Smith to dive into the corner.

Carter's conversion attempt went wide but Doussain bounced a penalty in off the post to leave the gap at just two points at the interval.

France moved back in front early in the second half after Sam Cane caught Doussain high and the scrum-half again got his kick over off the upright.  Carter replied almost immediately to restore the home side's advantage but missed his next shot a goal.

At 11-9 with 25 minutes to play, it was anyone's game.

The second-half ruck penalty count started to add up against France though and Carter slotted a wonderful kick from the touchline to put New Zealand 14-9 up heading into the final quarter.

A reckless head-first dive into a ruck from Maestri, who copped a yellow card, would essentially seal the win for the hosts as Carter slotted his fourth penalty to extend the gap to eight points and les Bleus finished with 14 men.

Barrett rounded off the win with a long-range try as he chased down wing Smith's kick ahead to sink a nail into France's coffin.

Man of the Match A mention for rookie French pivot Remi Talè, who gave France a new attacking dimension but the standout performnace came from Luke Romano who carried like a machine and tackled tirelessly.

Moment of the match:  No doubt about this one, Ben Smith's try turned the tide in New Zealand's favour.

Villian of the match:  If you're French, it must be Yoann Maestri, whose brain fade killed off France's chances when they were still in with a sniff.

The scorers:

For New Zealand: 
Tries:  B. Smith, Barrett
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 4

For France:
Pens:  Doussain 2
Drop goal:  Fritz
Yellow card:  Maestri (72nd min - foul play)

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Victor Vito, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Charles Piutau.

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Marc Andreu, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Remi Talè, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Theirry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.

Venue:  Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth
Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Fiji see off United States in PNC

Fiji kept alive their hopes of winning the Pacific Nations Cup when they claimed a 35-10 win over the United States in Japan on Wednesday.

The Pacific islanders scored four tries against the Americans' one during the game in Nagoya, central Japan.

The victory takes Fiji to two wins against one defeat for 11 points, trailing leaders Canada by only one point.  Canada will play Japan later on Wednesday.

The United States, ranked 17th against Fiji's 14th, opened the scoring in the eighth minute when right centre Adam Siddall kicked a penalty to make it 3-0.

Minutes later, Fiji's left centre Seremaia Bai's squared the scoreline with the first of his three penalties in a game that also saw him land three conversions.

Scrum-half Nikola Matawalu touched down near the left post after winning a scrum in the 16th minute for an 8-3 lead, setting up Bai's conversion.

In the 22nd minute, full back Timoci Nagusa collected the ball near the right corner and scored a converted try, before the United States pulled one back through substitute Andrew Suniula and Siddall's conversion, taking the half-time score to 17-10.

Five minutes into the second half, Fiji number eight Masi Matadigo won a scrum and took the ball over the line to extend the lead.

Bai's attempted conversion hit the post, but he extended the lead with a penalty in the 52nd minute.

The final try of the game came from a run from a strong run by Matawalu, who passed to replacement Nemia Kenatale in front of the USA posts.

Bai again converted and rounded things off with a penalty, allowing the Fijians to run out the game 35-10 winners.

Japan edge out Canada

Japan backed up last weekend's impressive victory over Wales with a 16-13 success over Pacific Nations Cup leaders Canada on Wednesday.

The loss is Canada's first in the 2013 competition and means that either Fiji or Tonga, who face each other on Sunday, June 23, can win the title.

It was Japan's first win in the five-nation tournament after two defeats.

After full-back James Pritchard scored a penalty in the third minute, neither could score a point with Ayumu Goromaru missing one penalty for Japan and Ciaran Hearn missing another for Canada.

The Japanese, fresh from their historic first victory over Wales last week, repeatedly threatened the Canadians but each time they were pushed back.

Japan finally evened the score after the break when Goromaru cashed in on an easy penalty in front of the Canadian posts in the 45th minute.  He added another penalty goal to give Japan a 6-3 lead in the 51st minute.

But their lead was bleak as the visitors connected passes through flanker Nanyak Dala, centre Nick Blevins, scrum-half Sean White before Hearn completed by diving between the posts two minutes later for 8-6 and then 10-6.

Local spectators were delighted when Goromaru touched down in the 62nd minute and he himself converted it for 13-10 before Pritchard evened with a penalty.

Japan again took a 16-13 lead with Goromaru's penalty in the 72nd minute.

On the final day in Tokyo, Fiji will play Tonga and Japan will play the United States.

Tonga triumph over USA

Tonga bounced back from a surprise defeat to Canada with an 18-9 triumph over the United States on Friday in rugby's Pacific Nations Cup.

Tonga, who fell 36-27 in Ontario last Saturday to unbeaten Canada, were without three players suspended by the IRB as a result of last week's match — full-back David Halaifonua, prop Eddie 'Aholelei and centre Siale Piutau.

Even in their absence, the United States couldn't control a physical Tonga side lifted by two tries from Sione Piukala.

Chris Wyles gave the hosts the lead with a penalty kick in the fourth minute — the first of his three penalties that accounted for all of the United States' points.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Tonga's Viliami Hakalo's penalty three minutes later knotted the score.

Tonga made a nice switch to Piukala who had no trouble dotting down between the sticks for the first try of the match, with Hakalo kicking the conversion to give the visitors a 10-3 lead.

Toby L'Estrange caught the Tongan defense off guard in the 18th minute, getting the ball to Andrew Suniula who drew a penalty for Wyles to convert and cut the deficit to 6-10.

The US pulled closer in the 31st after Tonga's captain Nili Latu made a high tackle on Brian Doyle and received a yellow card, with Wyles kicking the penalty to make the score 9-10.

The French connection of Takudzwa Ngwenya and Scott LaValla, who each play in France's Top 14 with Biarritz and Stade Francais respectively, almost created a try for the Eagles before the end of the half, but Ngwenya's pass was too high for LaValla to reach.

Two minutes into the second half however, the Eagles were dealt a blow when Piukala added his second try.

Latu converted another penalty to stretch Tonga's lead to 9-18, and an escalating array of mistakes prevented the United States from cutting into the margin.

The scorers:

For USA:
Pens:  Wyles 3

For Tonga:
Tries:  Piukala 2
Con:  Hakalo
Pens:  Hakalo 2

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 James Paterson, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (C), 7 Peter Dahl, 6 Scott LaValla, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Brian Doyle, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Zach Fenoglio, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Phil Thiel, 19 Graham Harriman, 20 John Quill, 21 Robbie Shaw, 22 Adam Siddall, 23 Blaine Scully.

Tonga:  15 Viliami Hakalo, 14 Viliame Iongi, 13 Fraser Anderson, 12 Sione Piukala, 11 Will Helu, 10 Taniela Moa, 9 Thomas Palu, 8 Paula Kaho, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Hale T Pole, 5 Lua Lokotui, 4 Josh Afu, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Kama Sakalia.
Replacements:  16 Ilaisia Ma'asi, 17 Peni Fakalelu, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Emosi Kauhenga, 20 Daniel Faleafa, 21 Siale Fahiua, 22 Samisoni Pone, 23 Soni Masima.

Referee:  Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Assistant referees:  Bryan Arciero (Canada), David Smortchevsky (Canada)