Australia 19 South Africa 18

Wallaby wing Stirling Mortlock landed a penalty goal ten minutes into additional time to give Australia a thrilling 19-18 victory over South Africa, as well as the Tri-Nations crown for the first time in their proud history.

Only minutes previously, South Africa stand-off Braam van Straaten had slotted a monstrous 52-metre penalty that set up the almost unbearable tension at Durban's Kings Park.

However, while there may have been tension, there was very little evidence of flair and excitement.

When both the Australian and South African camps warned that this Tri-Nations would not be as spectacular as last week, they certainly weren't kidding.  No one realistically expected another dazzling 10-try bonanza, but neither were they prepared for the grim slog that followed.

In stark contrast to the Ellis Park game a week before, this was a game dominated by myriad mistakes and turnovers, some pretty mindless kicking and an extraordinary high number of scrums and set pieces.

Amidst all that, the Springboks had a wonderful opportunity to finally win against Australia this week.  They pinched three lineouts from the mighty Wallaby locks and had the advantage of playing a man to the good when Australian replacement Matt Cockbain was sin binned for a bit of thuggery.

He had been on the field for less than 60 seconds during the second half when he was sent to the sin bin for unleashing a flurry of punches at the fallen Rassie Erasmus.  However, whereas last week against New Zealand when fate smiled on the struggling Springboks, they found the going substantially tougher today against a solid and uncompromising Australia.

For South Africa, the clever overhead kicks bounced awry, the grubbers ended up in Wallaby hands and the gaps that Robbie Fleck and Co. had surged through in Johannesburg were just no longer there.  They were discovering that Australia were a far tougher proposition that New Zealand.

Unlike the fireworks at Ellis Park, the opening half of this Tri-Nations was a dour affair.  South Africa were awarded a penalty as early as the third minute when the Wallabies went off-side, and Braam van Straaten converted.  The Boks, though, were lucky to get the three points after an official failed to notice Fleck's ridiculously late challenge on Joe Roff after the whistle had gone.

From the kick-off, the 'Boks were penalised and Stirling Mortlock levelled the score.  He put Australia in the lead minutes later when Werner Swanepoel and Thinus Delport made a hash of clearing the ball in their own 22.

Matters could have been even worse for the home side were it not for desperate tackling and the clever footwork of Breyton Paulse in his own in-goal area.  On the other wing though, Chester Williams' senses temporarily took leave of him.

Having won a penalty, Williams took a quick-tap and tried to run out of his own half.  Alas, he succeeded only in knocking on.  In the mad-rush to defend, the Boks went off-side, but Mortlock somehow construed to hook the penalty left of the poles from virtually point blank range.

To add to the home woes, Charl Marais' lineout throwing went AWOL again, squandering vital attacking opportunities.

The tide almost turned though when Rassie Erasmus pounced on a stray George Gregan pass and surged towards the line in a tangle of bodies.  TV ref Jonathon Kaplan, however, decided against a try and instead the action moved to the Bok side of the field.

Then just before half-time as Wallaby eplacement hooker Jeremy Paul took a quick tap, rumbled forward and put fullback Chris Latham away in the left corner for what would turn out to be the only try of the corner.  Although Van Straaten pulled a penalty back, South Africa trailed 13-6 going into the break.

The Springbok stand-off slotted another penalty immediately after the break and then the Boks achieved the unheard of;  they won a lineout on Wallaby ball.

So upset was Cockbain, who had been on the field for an entire minute, that he decided to vent his frustrations on Rassie Erasmus' face.  Erasmus had taken over the captaincy when Andre Vos failed to emerge from the tunnel after the break, and he in turn had to hand it over to Corne Krige in order to have his face cleaned up.

Cockbain received a yellow card for his efforts, but the Boks showed that they were not adverse to the rough stuff straight after the kick-off following Van Straaten's penalty.

When the maul cleared, Jim Williams was prone on the turf, and Mortlock extended the lead to four points once more.

It was back to one point when Van Straaten slotted an effort from 45 metres out, before lining up the monster penalty that almost denied Australia their victory.

However, Stirling Mortlock who has been such a points scoring machine all season, stepped up, held his nerve and slotted a kick over from a tricky angle to hand Australia the win and the title.

Man of the match:  A close-call between Rassie Erasmus and Mortlock, but the Aussie gets the nod -- not only because Australia won, but mainly because it took enormous nerve to slot that penalty in front of a baying Kings Park grandstand.

Moment of the match:  That penalty from Mortlock.  At last the Wallabies proved that they could win a test in South Africa.

Villain of the match:  Probably Matt Cockbain who did his reputation, in South Africa at least, no good by indulging in the rough stuff.  His attack on Erasmus could have cost the Aussies the Test and could arguably resulted in a red card instead of the yellow.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Richard Harry, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Fletcher Dyson, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Mark Connors, 7 David Wilson, 8 Jim Williams, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Jason Little, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Rod Kafer, Toutai Kefu, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Ben Tune
Unused:  Sam Cordingley

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Mark Andrews, 5 Andre Venter, 6 Johan Erasmus, 7 Corne Krige, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Werner Swanepoel, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Grant Esterhuizen, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Chester Williams, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves:  John Smit, Warren Brosnihan, Ollie Le Roux, Albert Van Den Bergh
Unused:  Jaco Van Der Westhuizen, Percy Montgomery, Joost Van Der Westhuizen

Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 1
Conv:  Mortlock S.A. 1
Pen K.:  Mortlock S.A. 4

South Africa
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 6

New Zealand 40 South Africa 46

At a pulsating Ellis Park the Springboks shook off a run of poor results to record a stunning 46-40 win over hot-favourites New Zealand.

In all, the Springboks ran in six tries to the All Blacks' four, securing for the Boks their highest tally against the old enemy, and their first victory since beating England in June.

Ever since the horrors of the Antipodes, coach Nick Mallett and his players have had to endure criticism and even ridicule as they battled to convince a sceptical public, let alone SARFU, that they were on the right track.

In the build-up to the game, Mallett said that he felt that his side deserved a win.  In Johannesburg this evening, there won't be many to disagree.  The Boks played with a passion and commitment that characterised Mallett's early reign in charge.

That the Boks may not have any chance of winning the 2000 Tri-Nations is neither here nor there.  What matters is that the Boks, to all intents and purposes, are back and finally a worthy opponent in this year's Tri-Nations.

While the second half failed to live up to frantic scoring of the first (how could it possibly?) the intensity was undiminished.  For long stages in the second period it was as though the Stadium was holding its breath as the Kiwis refused to give up, always smashing their way back into the reckoning.

As expected, it was Christian Cullen who spearheaded the All Black advance and, had he not left the field midway through the second half, may have turned it around for the Kiwis.

Before the game Mallett warned that kicking a ball down Cullen's throat spelt trouble.  From the first set piece, that is exactly what Werner Swanepoel did.  The All Blacks countered and the Boks conceded a penalty which Andrew Mehrtens converted.

The Boks, though, countered immediately.  From a Bok scrum on the Kiwi 22, Andre Vos picked up from the base, creating an extra man in Swanepoel.  He slipped through a tackle, drew another defender before sending the ball wide to Chester Williams.  The right wing, starting his first Test since 1995, easily rounded Cullen to score South Africa's first try since the inaugural Mandela Cup in Sydney in June.

Mehrtens kicked the restart directly out and the Boks were on the attack again.  Cullen sliced the clearance and Charl Marais managed to find Mark Andrews in the line-out.  The ball passed down the line and Robbie Fleck nipped between the defence to give the Boks an unbelievable start and a 14-3 lead.

Two minutes later, Thinus Delport failed to gather a Braam van Straaten pass.  Mehrtens picked it up, handing on to Tana Umaga who strolled over to close the gap.

The frenetic toing-and-froing continued as Justin Marshall uncharacteristically fumbled at the scrum.  The Boks turned it over and Fleck skipped past Taine Randell without breaking a sweat to dot down for his second.

The Boks though weren't done yet.  Corne Krige made a blinding break from within his own half, almost outstripping the entire New Zealand defence before being brought to ground metres from the line.  The Boks put on an almighty push, with Swanepoel darting round the side of the maul for a 26-13 lead.

Then enter Delport;  South Africa's most exciting player of the Super 12 finally came good at his home ground.  The fullback received the ball in his own half and, ala the Cats versus Highlanders game, slipped through tackles until finally rounding Cullen.

Cullen however made up for those defensive lapses immediately, hammering through a South African gap.  South Africa were further let down when Marais let Umaga through for the simplest of tries as the hooter sounded, with the Boks leading 33-27.

After the break, Cullen turned on the pace to score a brilliant try in the corner.  It signalled a period of sustained pressure on the Bok line.  To their credit, the Boks soaked it all up and when Williams turned Leon MacDonald and Esterhuizen kicked into touch, the relief was almost palpable.

It was short-lived however, as Mehrtens sunk a drop-goal from 35m out to silence the crowd.

Down 39-40 with 10 minutes on the clock, Van Straaten set off on a wonderful break, punching a huge hole through the Kiwi tacklers.  From the breakdown, John Smit almost bulldozed over before Swanepoel once again twisted over for the try that finally gave the Boks victory.

Man of the match It was a close call between Fleck and Swanepoel.  Fleck came into particular censure and only won his place through injury to De Wet Barry.  Despite playing at inside centre, Fleck was magnificent, his darting breaks a constant thorn in the New Zealander's side.  This much-valued accolade though goes to "Smiley" Swanepoel for his two tries, his clever kicks over the top and his incredible work rate.

Villain of the match That part of the western grandstand that pelted officials with bottles.  They showed how superior they were to the Kiwis in Wellington by mimicking their actions when they disagreed with a decision.

Moment of the match For any South African.  That final whistle from Andrew Cole.  What blessed relief.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hoeft, 2 Anton Oliver, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Todd Blackadder (c), 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Josh Kronfeld, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Alama Ieremia, 14 Tana Umaga, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Troy Flavell, Leon MacDonald, Greg Somerville, Mark Hammett, Scott Robertson
Unused:  Tony Brown, Byron Kelleher

South Africa:  1 Ollie Le Roux, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Mark Andrews, 5 Andre Venter, 6 Johan Erasmus, 7 Corne Krige, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Werner Swanepoel, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Grant Esterhuizen, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Chester Williams, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves:  John Smit, Jaco Van Der Westhuizen, Warren Brosnihan, Willie Meyer, Albert Van Den Bergh
Unused:  Percy Montgomery, Joost Van Der Westhuizen

Attendance:  57250
Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Cullen C.M. 2, Umaga T.J.F. 2
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 4
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 3
Drop G.:  Mehrtens A.P. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Delport G.M. 1, Fleck R.F. 2, Swanepoel W. 2, Williams C.M. 1
Conv:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 5
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 2

Australia 24 New Zealand 23

Christian Cullen and Andrew Mehrtens claimed the records but the Wallabies claimed the Bledisloe Cup through a dramatic injury-time penalty goal by their heroic captain John Eales gave Australia a 24-23 win in another blockbusting trans-Tasman rugby test at Wellington's WestpacTrust Stadium.

Three weeks after the All Blacks won the Greatest Test Ever 39-35 in Sydney, the world champion Wallabies won this one 24-23 after trailing from the 35th minute and appearing to be down and out.

But the never-say-die Aussies stole two lineouts in injury time to stay alive.  And when replacement prop Craig Dowd infringed in a ruck, the opportunity to steal a fairytale victory presented itself.

Because the team's goalkicker Stirling Mortlock had been replaced, the responsibility for one of the most important kicks in the history of the game fell to Eales.

From 15 metres in on the 22, on an afternoon when goalkicking was challenging because of the swirling breeze, Eales raised the flags -- to the absolute delight of his colleagues and the dismay of the All Blacks.

Eales hadn't landed a goal for Australia since 1998 but must have known something was coming up because he practiced goalkicking diligently at training on Friday.

So much rested on this one kick.  It secured the Bledisloe Cup, which Australia had held since 1998, it brought the Wallabies level with the All Blacks in the Tri-nations championship and, of course, it allowed Rod Macqueen's men to justify their status as world champions.

Eales admitted afterwards he thought the game was lost as time ran out.  "We got away with it, albeit through a penalty goal.  The All Blacks won in the last minute in Sydney and we managed it here.  It was another very special game and we admire the way the All Blacks are playing the game."

In the reverse of the Sydney encounter, it was the Wallabies who established the early advantage this time, leading 12-0 after 16 minutes through well-taken tries by Stirling Mortlock (who is becoming a first-try specialist) and Joe Roff.

But just like Sydney, back came the other team and in a flash the amazing Christian Cullen bagged a brace of tries to put the All Blacks in front.

Those two five-pointers give Cullen eight for the year and put him equal with Jeff Wilson on 39 Test tries, the record for New Zealand.

Before halftime, Mehrtens was also among the records, his first penalty goal taking him past Grant Fox's mark of 645 as the All Blacks' most prolific Test pointscorer.

The All Blacks were ahead 20-18 at halftime and in a desperately tight second half kept their noses in front until those frantic final few moments.

When referee Jonathan Kaplan indicated two minutes to play, the Wallabies were under their goalposts, a million miles away from the zone they needed to be in to salvage the match.

But encouraged by their captain Eales they dug deep.  When they stole a lineout on their own 22, flyhalf Stephen Larkham bravely kicked deep.

It was a calculated gamble with only seconds remaining, but he knew Australia's best chance of creating something was inside All Black territory.

Came the final lineout and once again Australia pilfered poor Mark Hammett's throw.  It gave them the opportunity to launch one last attack, at which, to the despair of an entire nation, the All Blacks infringed, allowing Eales to slot the winning goal.

The All Blacks will be enormously disappointed but they still have a chance to win the Tri-nations title, currently being locked on 10 points with Australia.

New Zealand has to play South Africa in Johannesburg while Australia will meet them (in the final game of the series) at Durban.

Australia's heroes, besides Eales, were playmaker Larkham, powerful centre Daniel Herbert and ever-enterprising fullback Chris Latham.

New Zealand's best were captain Todd Blackadder, flanker Josh Kronfeld, centre Tana Umaga and the tryscoring freak Christian Cullen.

The team, without a specialist openside flanker on the reserves bench, sorely missed Kronfeld when he limped off with an ankle injury in the 56th minute.

Man of the match:  Wallaby captain John Eales, without a shadow of a doubt.  Eales showed why he is considered as one of the best footballers on the planet when he stepped up to slot the three-pointer that gave Australia victory and secured them the Bledisloe Cup for the third successive season.

Moment of the match:  The moment Eales' kick sailed through the uprights the whole Australian team were off their feet in jubilation.  They had done it yet again, with captain Eales the man of the moment.

Villain of the match:  The two villains, in this case, were All Black hookers Anton Oliver and Mark Hammett, who both missed their jumpers regularly.  Hammett's last two throws were poached by the Wallabies and the final lineout eventually led to the match-winning penalty.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Richard Harry, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Fletcher Dyson, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Toutai Kefu, 7 David Wilson, 8 Jim Williams, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Jason Little, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Mark Connors, Jeremy Paul, Ben Tune
Unused:  Matt Cockbain, Rod Kafer, Glenn Panoho, Sam Cordingley

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hoeft, 2 Anton Oliver, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Todd Blackadder (c), 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Josh Kronfeld, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Alama Ieremia, 14 Tana Umaga, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Tony Brown, Craig Dowd, Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher, Reuben Thorne
Unused:  Troy Flavell, Leon MacDonald

Attendance:  36500
Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Mortlock S.A. 1, Roff J.W.C. 1
Conv:  Mortlock S.A. 1
Pen K.:  Mortlock S.A. 3, Eales J.A. 1

New Zealand
Tries:  Cullen C.M. 2
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 3