New Zealand 26 South Africa 15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 14 South Africa 14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 23 New Zealand 15

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

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

Most importantly of all, they took their opportunities.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Attendance:  36000
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

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

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