South Africa 43 United States 20

The result was not surprising, but South Africa will know that they were in a Test match after they beat a brave United States outfit 43-20 in Houston on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles tested the former world champions right to the bitter end, and the scoreline even flattered the Springboks somewhat thanks to a late score by Bok fullback Conrad Jantjes after the Americans had camped in the South African 22 just before the final whistle.

Jantjes's try came as a result of some good work from Bok veterans Joost van der Westhuizen and Pieter Rossouw, but Eagles No.12 Juan Grobler will be kicking himself after he lost possession on the Springbok tryline when he had support on his outside.

Grobler, who holds the distinction of having scored the only try against the Wallabies at the 1999 World Cup, backed himself against the Bok defence, but could only watch as Trevor Halstead ripped the ball away from him before Rossouw and Van der Westhuizen combined to put Jantjes away.

Earlier in the game, some 74 minutes earlier to be exact, Jantjes got the first try of the day after some good work from Bok No.12 Adrian Jacobs, even though Jacobs's pass to Jantjes did look suspiciously forward ...

Louis Koen did not convert the try -- his only miss of the day -- but South Africa led 5-3 after a first-minute penalty from Eagles flyhalf Link Wilfley.

Wilfley was in excellent kicking form throughout the day -- he also missed just one shot at goal -- and he struck three long-range penalties, to see his side hold a 9-5 lead after 15 minutes of play.

The Springboks were guilty of losing a lot of ball in contact situations, going off-sides and holding on in the tackle, and shortly after his team's second try -- by hooker Lukas van Biljon -- Bok tighthead prop Cobus Visagie found himself in the sin bin when he impeded Eagles scrumhalf Kevin Dalzell as he tried to take a quick tap-penalty.

The Eagles were unable to capitalise on their one-man overlap, but left-wing Jason Keyter slotted a neat drop-goal just after Visagie arrived back on the field.  Keyter's drop went straight and true after a good passage of play from the Eagles, but soon afterwards, Springbok skipper-of-the-day André Vos strolled over for his side's third try.

Eagles flyhalf Link Wilfley narrowed the gap to 22-15 at half-time, and after the break two Springbok substitutions up front -- Ollie le Roux for debutant Lawrence Sephaka and Willie Meyer for Cobus Visagie -- were the prelude to Pieter Rossouw's 21st Test try.

Rossouw took a nice inside-pass from Conrad Jantjes, who for the record looked much more assured this week after some shaky performances in recent week, after some quick hands from centres Adrian Jacobs and André Snyman.

Jacobs teased the Eagles defence with subtle changes of pace and some deft footwork at times, but he never got enough ball to make enough of an impression on the Eagles defence, which stood up to all the Boks had to offer.

Soon after Rossouw's try, former captain Dan Lyle was forced from the field with a head injury, and his departure, along with South Africa's greater level of fitness and the sin-binning of lock Eric Reed for an intentional knock-down, saw the match fizzle out as a contest before the home side stormed back in the final five minutes.

The Springboks had used their entire bench by then, and with utility forward André Venter, who came on early in the game for Joe van Niekerk after he took a knock to his ankle early in the first stanza, struggling with an injury, the Eagles forwards combined to get young loosehead prop Mike MacDonald over the tryline for their first try of the day.

No.6 flanker Kort Schubert took some good ball at the tail of the Eagles line-out and MacDonald was the lucky man with the ball after a powerful Eagles drive surged into the Bok in-goal area.

The Eagles, who are basically a bunch of amateurs, can hold their heads high after they were given no price against the fully-professional Springbok outfit.

At times they tested the Springbok defence around the fringes of the rucks and mauls, but their discipline was streets ahead of South Africa's, and this performance bodes well for their future.

The Springboks will return home after a less-than-satisfactory tour, which yielded just two wins from four Tests.  They missed the stability of Robbie Kempson up front, the attacking prowess of Robbie Fleck in the midfield and a specialist fetcher in their starting fifteen.

Maybe the tour was part of Harry Viljoen's much-vaunted "process", but either way it proved that the 1995 World Cup champions need a major overhaul if they are to be competitive in 2002.

Man of the match:  Eagles No.8 Dan Lyle was superb before he left the field just after half-time, as was South African-born No.13 Philip Eloff.  For the Boks, hooker Lukas van Biljon and lock Victor Matfield were brilliant and inside centre Adrian Jacobs showed touches of class.  But in the end, Springbok skipper of the day André Vos scoops our man of the match award for his outstanding leadership and never-say-die attitude.

Moment of the match:  When Springbok flyhalf Louis Koen got the match underway at 20.00 GMT.  This was the first meeting between the USA and South Africa in 20 years and a big day for sport -- and rugby in particular -- in the United States.

Villain of the match:  Springbok tighthead prop Cobus Visagie picks up our award for his blatant foul on Eagles No.9 Kevin Dalzell in the 25 minute of the first half.  It was out of character for Visagie and the only bit of foul-play in the match.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Lawrence Sephaka, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Andre Vos (c), 8 Joe Van Niekerk, 9 Deon De Kock, 10 Louis Koen, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Adi Jacobs, 13 Andre Snyman, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  De Wet Barry, Trevor Halstead, John Smit, Ollie Le Roux, Willie Meyer, Joost Van Der Westhuizen, Andre Venter

United States:  1 Mike MacDonald, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Paul Still, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Eric Reed, 6 Dave Hodges (c), 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Link Wilfley, 11 Jason Keyter, 12 Phillip Eloff, 13 Juan Grobler, 14 Johnny Naqica, 15 Kurt Shuman
Reserves:  Dan Dorsey, Olo Fifita, Kimball Kjar, Brian Surgener, Mose Timoteo
Unused:  Dan Anderson, Andy McGarry

Attendance:  10000
Referee:  Mene d.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Hall D. 1, Jantjes C.A. 2, Van Biljon L. 1, Rossouw P.W.G. 1, Vos A.N. 1
Conv:  Koen L.J. 5
Pen K.:  Koen L.J. 1

United States
Tries:  MacDonald M. 1
Pen K.:  Wilfley L.M. 4
Drop G.:  Keyter J.C. 1

New Zealand 24 Argentina 20

A storming try two minutes into injury time by No 8 Scott Robertson allowed the All Blacks to preserve their unbeaten record against the Pumas in an error-ridden international played before a massive crowd at the River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires.  New Zealand won 24-20.

Two calamitous defensive blunders that gifted Argentina two converted tries meant the All Blacks were almost always coming from behind in their final outing for 2001.

They trailed 3-7 after 20 minutes, were behind 8-10 at halftime and conceded Argentina a 17-20 start going into the final 10 minutes.

Argentina had the opportunity to stretch that advantage close to injury time but goal kicker Felipe Contepomi missed a penalty attempt from point-blank range.

And so John Mitchell's All Blacks, who would have had only themselves to blame if they'd lost, because of their handling mistakes, remained in contention.

Enterprising winger Doug Howlett created the opportunity with a bold counter-attacking run that took the All Blacks right to the Pumas' goal-line.

Under pressure, Contepomi sliced his clearing kick which provided the All Blacks with the Heaven-sent opportunity they needed.

Young fullback Ben Blair, who'd started nervously but became a key player in the second half, burst through the Pumas' first line of defence, then threw a beautiful long pass to No 8 Robertson who finished off wide out.

To the All Blacks' enormous relief, Andrew Mehrtens, who'd brought up 800 test points during the game, slotted the wide-angle conversion, to give his side a four-point buffer.

The All Blacks had had to play their get-out-jail card which allowed them to complete their five-match tour undefeated.

They were a far more creative team than the Pumas, who, except when Agustin Pichot was sniping from halfback, preferred to pressure the enemy through kicks.

These tactics produced two unexpected tries.

On the first occasion, it seemed skipper Lisandro Arbizu had wasted quality ruck ball when he chipped a kick into the All Blacks' in-goal zone.

But, inexplicably, halfback Mark Robinson, starting in a test for the first time, let the ball slip through his arms, back towards Arbizu who couldn't believe his good fortune as he pounced on it for a gift five-pointer.

That was bad enough for the All Blacks.  Worse followed 15 minutes into the second half, immediately after Mehrtens had put the tourists ahead 14-10 with a superb 50-metre penalty goal.

Poised to take control of the match, the All Blacks initiated a bold counter-attack from the restart.  But skipper Anton Oliver got in the way of a pass destined for Lomu in midfield and the ball deflected back towards the posts.

Howlett was there to retrieve but instead of playing safe, he tried to slip a pass to Robertson who wasn't expecting it.  The ball spewed free and Arbizu was all happiness as he pounced for another bonus try.

Suddenly, the Pumas were in front 17-14.

Matching penalty goals by Mehrtens and Contepomi made it 20-17 which is how it remained for 15 tense minutes, until Robertson's match winner in the second (of six) minutes of injury time.

While it won't be recorded as an epic All Black victory, because of the alarmingly high error rate, the tourists nonetheless demonstrated character and skill to uncork a winning try in a desperate situation.

And beating a fired-up Pumas team in Buenos Aires is no easy assignment, as the Wallabies and the Springboks have proven in recent times.

The All Blacks missed dynamic halfback Byron Kelleher, who had returned home concussed.  His replacement, Robinson, who had ongoing problems with his contact lens, gave a laboured service and made costly mistakes.

Blair also had a nervous opening 30 minutes while Howlett finished about all square in terms of attacking brilliance and general blunders.

The one individual who didn't make any mistakes and who was a constant menace to Argentina was Jonah Lomu.

His try in the 25th minute represented All Black rugby at its best, combining the sizzling speed of Howlett with the brilliant link work of the new loose forward star Richard McCaw with the awesome finishing off Lomu, who swotted aside four defenders before dotting down.

Mehrtens directed operations sweetly from first-five and goal-kicked beautifully but Aaron Mauger and Tana Umaga were frustrated for opportunities in midfield.

Best of the All Black forwards were loosies McCaw and Robertson and lineout ace Norm Maxwell.

There was much talk about the might of the Pumas scrum in the shakedown to the game but in the event the All Black scrum held solid.

Argentina's star was its captain Arbizu for claiming those two opportunist tries that so nearly brought an historic victory.

Loose forwards Rolando Martin and Gonzalo Longo were mightily effective, Martin cutting Blair down from behind to save a try, and Pichot was always dangerous.

But the Pumas were guilty of kicking too much possession away and, at the death, pressure told on Contepomi, who missed a sitter of a penalty goal and sliced a clearing kick that created the opportunity for New Zealand's winning try.

Man of the match:  It came as no surprise that the individual who made the greatest impact was Jonah Lomu.  His try, in which he swotted away four determined defenders, was a classic and he repeatedly made territory for the All Blacks.

Moment of the Match:  Two minutes into injury time, Felipe Contepomi missed touch, allowing the All Blacks to launch into attack.  Ben Blair slipped fullback Ignacio Corleto and put Scott Robertson across for the match winner.

Villain of the Match:  Pumas halfback Agustin Pichot who copped 10 minutes in the sin bin for a head-butt.  All Black prop Kees Meeuws also received a yellow card for trampling an opponent in a ruck.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 David Hewett, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Richard McCaw, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Scott Robertson, 9 Mark Robinson, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Aaron Mauger, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Ben Blair
Reserves:  Greg Somerville, Dion Waller
Unused:  Marty Holah, Jason Spice, Tom Willis, Pita Alatini, Caleb Ralph

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Ignacio Corletto
Reserves:  Martin Durand, Roberto Grau, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Gonzalo Quesada, Bernardo Stortoni
Unused:  Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Pedro Sporleder

Attendance:  59000
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Lomu J.T. 1, Robertson S.M. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 1, Umaga J.F. 1
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 4

Argentina
Tries:  Arbizu L. 2
Conv:  Contepomi F. 2
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 2