Australia stun New Zealand

Australia's new dawn burst into brilliant day as the Wallabies recorded a sublime 34-19 victory over New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday, running four tries past the dumbfounded visitors.

As the golden swatches of the 80,000-strong crowd at ANZ Stadium absorbed this famous victory, the suits of New Zealand rugby fingered their collars in the executive boxes.

This win makes it five from five for Australia under Robbie Deans, the man who was whisked away from New Zealand after failing to oust Graham Henry from the All Black throne.

Full plaudits will be heaped at the feet of Australia's adopted Kiwi, and the NZRU will be asked, once again, how on earth they let him get away.

Australia's dominance of the All Blacks was nothing short of remarkable -- and it was pure Deans.

They outplayed their visitors in every facet of play.  One year ago the gold pack was the laughing stock of world rugby.  Today, as against the Boks last week, they dominated the forward exchanges in the set-pieces and in the loose.  New Zealand actually went out of their way to avoid scrums and line-outs.

The Wallabies also bossed the breakdown area.  Injured New Zealand skipper Richie McCaw looked on in horror as his side was turned over -- and over and over.  The official figure stands at 25 stolen black balls.  No team can win with that sort of stat on their back.

Elsewhere, without Stirling Mortlock and Chris Latham, there were worries that Australia's backline was a little greener than it was gold.  But the youngsters proved more than a match for their counterparts, with Berrick Barnes to the fore.  Ma'a Nonu had been tasked to target him, but the languid playmaker proved his defensive mettle time and time again.  Charlie Hodgson he is not.

Moreover, the locals displayed a mental edge that belied their tender years as New Zealand threatened a comeback early in the third quarter of the match.

The Australian players deserve as much praise as Deans for this near-miraculous turnaround -- they are obviously quick learners.  It has taken them just five outings to perfect the sort of winning rugby that Deans made famous with the Crusaders.

Although they dominated territory, the Wallabies were happy to allow their opponents the time and inclination to run the ball -- and to make mistakes whilst under relentless defensive pressure.

The All Blacks duly held up their end of this dodgy deal.  They were at complete odds with themselves.  The Wallabies made them pay for every error with intuitive counter-attacking and canny decision-making.

Likes his bosses, Henry will have to answer a number of probing questions.  New Zealand's tactics looked stale and negative.  They seemed wholly lacking in structure, leadership and cohesion.  That they scored any tries at all was down to the individual brilliance of Daniel Carter and the workaholic tendencies of Mils Muliaina.

Henry deserves respect for staying true to himself with regards to his much-maligned rotational policy, but one wonders whether he is now just being stubborn.  Yes, it will undoubtedly bear fruit for the future, but empirical evidence suggests that his players would do better in settled surrounds.

No country in world rugby can match New Zealand in terms of pure talent and ability with ball in hand, but the telepathic understanding that normally makes the All Blacks such a threat was conspicuous by its absence in Sydney.  As pass after pass was knocked on or spilled, it became painfully obvious that Henry's troops are no longer functioning as a collective.

The opening passage of the game exemplified the tactics of both sides with Giteau kicking deep and New Zealand looking to keep the ball alive.  It fell to Nonu to muscle it out of his own 22 but ferocious tackling caused him to cough up possession.

And so the stage was set.  Australia would keep the pressure on and New Zealand would keep making mistakes, and their next being a biggy.  Brad Thorn caught Giteau with a high tackle and was trudging towards the sin-bin with the game barely five minutes old.

New Zealand fans could rightly claim that the challenge was not designed with malice in mind, but it did deserve punishment:  it killed Australian momentum and spared the All Blacks from conceding anything more than the three points that Giteau duly collected.

Australia soon had their guests pinned to their posts once again.  Not for the first or last time in the match, New Zealand chose to relieve pressure by kicking down Lote Tuqiri's throat, and the big wing punished them severely.  He skipped past three despairing tackles before off-loading to Nathan Sharpe.  The lock off-loaded to Giteau who found Ryan Cross on his outside and unmarked.  Ten minutes on the clock and Australia held a 10-0 lead.

New Zealand hit back in determined fashion, finally breaking out of their half and driving towards Australia's line.  A penalty was awarded after the Australians killed the raid illegally.  A penalty is a rare gift in these days of McRugby, but New Zealand chose to tap and go.  The bizarre decision caught Carter by surprise -- he received the unexpected pass and Giteau at the same moment and Australia were off the hook and out of their half.

Despite the setback, New Zealand now had a foothold on the game.  Muliaina confirmed his side's ascendency with a brilliant counter-attack out of his own 22.  The fullback skinned the gold backline with an arching run before kicking ahead.  The ball bounced high on the hard turf, straight over the heads of the two chasers and into Muliaina's hands.  He was taken down by the Australian cover-defence but was soon back on his feet to power over the whitewash for a try.

Carter missed the conversion but Australia's lead had been cut in half, and the All Blacks were on the up and up.  The Australians were smashed at the next scrummage and when Carter found a gaping hole down the left it seemed that Australia had run out of puff.

But solid defence kept the Wallabies afloat and Giteau kick-started an attack with a fine break of his own.  He fed Adam Ashley-Copper who put boot to ball and Peter Hynes won the race to dot down.  Giteau duly landed his 50th conversion of his Test career to pull his side 12 points clear.

Again, New Zealand responded well, with a fine run from Sitiveni Sivivatu putting the visitors within range.  A back-door pass from Andy Ellis almost put Muliaina through, but a great double tackle from George Smith and Rocky Elsom forced the knock-on just short of the line.

But this time New Zealand didn't budge.  They drove their tent pegs into the gold 22 and soon had a free-kick out on the left.  The ball was spun wide at speed and Sivivatu wore a face of horror as he realised his pass out of the tackle was destined for Andrew Hore.  He need not have worried.  The splendidly named hooker cut in off his right foot like a seasoned wing and raced over to score.

Carter slotted a fine conversion with the last kick of a hectic half and Australia went to the break nursing a precarious 17-12 lead.

There was no doubting the general gist of Henry's half-time talk:  New Zealand looked very composed in the opening period of the second half, patiently building the phases and thinking two moves ahead.

With the platform set, Carter sprinkled his magic, making a clean break between Giteau and Barnes.  Again, the Australians back-tracked well but they could not stop Ellis when he plunged over the line from short range.

Carter's conversion stole the lead and it looked like Australian resolve would finally start to crumble.  It didn't.  They actually edged back in front when Elsom galloped through broken field to score Australia's third try after another brilliant run from Ashley-Cooper.

New Zealand could not find a response this time, and for that the Wallabies might like to thank some pretty liberal officiating.

Sivivatu hacked on and was winning the race to the ball when he appeared to be brought down by Hynes in the shadow of Australia's sticks.  Whether he would have scored is a matter of conjecture, yet a penalty under the sticks might have been fair result for New Zealand.  But not a whistle sounded.

Perhaps referee Craig Joubert had one eye on the ruckus on the touchline.  New Zealand had replaced Ellis with Jimmy Cowan and then brought back the former after the latter was forced off the field.  The officials joined together to debate the legitimacy of the move and it was decided that it was all kosher.  It seems that Cowan had been taken off for a blood problem even though it looked like he had limped off with a knee injury.  Had the Wallabies lost the game, the local media would surely have stripped Cowan down to his underpants in a search for punctures.

The chaos, coupled to the usual raft of hour-mark replacements, killed New Zealand's bourgeoning momentum.

Sione Lauaki, on for New Zealand's only specialist openside Daniel Braid, clearly forgot to pack his hands for the trip across the Tasman Sea.  His errors proved to be contagious and heads began to hang after Sivivatu made his first mistake of the game.  It was a harbinger of the oncoming doom.

Giteau then provided Australia with an eight-point buffer with a smart drop-goal, but the cushion was not needed:  James Horwill sealed the win and the bonus point by galloping through another gaping hole to score the final try of a compelling contest.

One coach from New Zealand will sleep peacefully tonight, one won't.

Man of the match:  What can we say about Dan Carter that has not been said before?  Perhaps only that he does not deserve to be part of the first New Zealand side to have lost two on the bounce since 2004.  He was simply magical.  Mils Muliaina, the unsung hero of New Zealand rugby, was also outstanding.  Meanwhile, the Wallabies were brilliant to a man, with the contributions of Stephen Moore and Benn Robinson particularly impressive considering Australia's recent woes in the front row.  Australia's victory was down to the collective rather than an individual, but how can we look past Matt Giteau?  The cool-headed commander extinguished all doubts as to his rightful position with a fine display -- even his illustrious opposite number looked awed.

Moment of the match:  Plenty of noteworthy incidents and seven fine tries.  The build-up to Elsom's try was very special, but New Zealand deserve something for their efforts so we'll opt to signal out Andrew Hore's try for special praise.  Is it the new laws, or do they not make front-row forwards like they use to?  He'll claim he was taking a breather out there on the wing, but don't believe a word of it!

Villian of the match:  We'll excuse Brad Thorn for his yellow card -- he's not a dirty player, and we'll leave Sione Lauaki well alone -- he has enough misery to work through without having to take receipt of this ghastly gong.  In deference to the spirit of the game we hate to point accusing fingers at the officials, but this time we just must.  The chaos caused by the Ellis/Cowan/Ellis switches does rugby no favours.  The laws are quite clear on the matter.  Law 3.12 -- If a player is substituted, that player must not return and play in that match even to replace an injured player.  Exception 1:  a substituted player may replace a player with a bleeding or open wound.  Exception 2:  a substituted player may replace a front row player when injured, temporarily suspended or sent off.  So was Cowan bleeding or not?  Do we really need to stop the game and stage a convention to establish whether a man is leaking his innards?

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Cross, Hynes, Elsom, Horwill
Cons:  Giteau 4
Pen:  Giteau
Drop:  Giteau

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Muliaina, Hore, Ellis
Cons:  Carter 2

Yellow card(s):  Thorn (New Zealand) -- high tackle, 5.

The teams:

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith (c), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Daniel Vickerman, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Timana Tahu, 22 Drew Mitchell.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Anthony Tuitavake, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Rodney So'oialo (c), 5 Ali Willliams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Conrad Smith.

Referee:  Craig Joubert
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence, James Bolabiu
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch

Wallabies off the mark with a win

Australia threw the Tri-Nations wide open by recording a tense 16-9 victory over South Africa in Perth on Saturday, with tries from Lote Tuqiri and Stirling Mortlock trumping three penalty goals from the visitors.

Australia held a narrow 5-3 lead at the break and maintained their advantage throughout the second period, but it took a last-minute drop goal from Berrick Barnes to finally kill off the South African challenge.

The Springboks, flying high after the win over New Zealand in Dunedin, had hoped to mark Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday with a win over the Wallabies at Subiaco Stadium.  Alas, it was not to be.  Yet there was a hint of a tribute to the great man:  the visitors found themselves under lock and key for much of the match, bullied out of proceedings by their ruthless jailers.

Fans of the Springboks will point an accusing finger at the half-baked fixture list that deposited their team in Western Australia after two punishing meetings with the All Blacks.

The tourists duly lacked the spring in their step that accounted for New Zealand's five-year unbeaten run at home, and the Wallabies -- fresh and fully fit -- took full advantage of the opportunity.

But that shouldn't distracted from Australia's performance -- the same system sent the stone-cold Wallabies into the fray against battle-hardened foe and it took them some time to find the requisite tempo from the standing start.

If only there was another big rugby nation that could even up the numbers and ensure two games per week;  if only there was, say, a World Cup semi-finalist in the southern hemisphere that isn't currently involved in a major tournament and itching to play ...

But we digress! Back to the action in Perth.

Tuqiri's try came from a terrific team set-up from a clever line-out, with Mortlock carrying three Springboks on his back to score the only try of the second half.

But Australia's captain soon went off with concussion after a knock to the head, leaving George Smith to take over the captaincy and lead the team to victory as he became the most-capped Wallabies forward of all time.

The Springboks were well led by Juan Smith and Jean de Villiers, but the lack of a try on their last Tri-Nations Test of this trip was costly.

Penalty conversions to Francois Steyn and Butch James still left them seven points short.

South Africa opened the scoring six minutes in when Steyn converted a penalty kick.

The Springboks had their best chance to get a try 32 minutes in when hooker Schalk Brits, who came in for the suspended Bismarck du Plessis, could have put Bryan Habana in out wide, but he held onto the ball and Hynes brought him down.

The Wallabies made them pay just minutes later with the only try of the first half.

A line-out fell into the arms of Smith who was waiting out back and after terrific passes from Elsom, Nathan Sharp, Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tuqiri crossed in the corner.

Giteau missed the conversion, but the Australians led 5-3 at the break.

The Wallabies made a great start to the second half with Mortlock crossing for a tremendous try to see them up 10-3.  Mortlock pushed off a Springbok tackler, then carried three more on his back to walk over and ground the second try of the match.

Giteau and James then converted opposing penalties soon after to see the Wallabies still lead 13-6.

But what looked a poor late tackle call from referee Bryce Lawrence almost led to a Springbok try with 15 minutes to go.

The referee ruled Giteau had tackled JP Pietersen late, when Giteau appeared to have been just run into after the South African kicked.

The resulting line out saw Habana get to the try line, but Ryan Cross helped knock the ball out just before it was grounded.

It was Habana's last action as he immediately came off and iced his shoulder, and with 10 minutes to go Steyn kicked his second penalty to put the Springboks within four.

The South Africans continued to attack, but the Australia defence held firm before Barnes sealed the victory with a drop goal with a minute remaining.

Man of the match:  Juan Smith was outstanding for the Boks, as was third-choice hooker Schalk Brits -- quite why he was replaced so early in the game is a mystery.  Matt Giteau was in commanding form behind an impressive gold scrummage, as was the industrious Peter Hynes and the indomitable Stirling Mortlock.  But it was Australia's loose forwards who stole the show, completely dominating their illustrious opposite numbers.  Wycliff Palu was his usual muscular self, George Smith was solid in defence and quick-witted in attack, but Rocky Elsom pips them to the post with a display of cunning physicality.

Moment of the match:  Tendai Mtawarira's burst out of his own 22 will go down in propping folklore, but the moment of the match is surely Australia's opening try.  All students of the game would do well to study its composition -- it was simple rugby, well executed.

Villian of the match:  Could it be the man who butchered the Australian anthem by adding an extended warble to the final note?  Or perhaps Bakkies Botha for what seemed a rather unsavoury shoulder-first challenge on Stirling Mortlock?

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Tuqiri, Mortlock
Pen:  Giteau
Drop:  Barnes

For South Africa:
Pens:  Steyn 2, James

The teams:

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Drew Mitchell.

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Francois Steyn, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Andries Bekker, 20 Ryan Kankowski, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Peter Grant.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Garrat Newman (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (New Zealand)

Boks end ten-year drought

South Africa recorded their first victory on New Zealand soil after a decade of trying with a thrilling 30-28 Tri-Nations win in Dunedin on Saturday.

A converted try from Ricky Januarie with just four minutes left on the clock won it for the Springboks, who had silenced the Carisbrook crowd as they led 17-15 at the break.

New Zealand reclaimed the lead after the break thanks to the boot of Dan Carter and a converted try to replacement Sione Lauaki which kept the All Blacks ahead.

Another defeat at the House of Pain looked imminent for South Africa who until now, had never won at this stadium in their previous seven attempts.

However, it was a sensational solo effort by Bok scrum-half Januarie that left Francois Steyn with a pressure conversion to snatch the lead and the match with fourteen players on the field after captain Victor Matfield was sin-binned for a high tackle.

The hosts threw everything at their visitors who defended with resilience, watching one drop-goal attempt from Carter sail wide and charging down the other.

And thus South Africa held on gallantly for an historic victory in a fine spectacle of rugby that will go down as one of the best played between these two proud nations.

The victory re-affirmed the Springboks' world champion status as they broke a run of 30 home victories by the All Blacks and handed their hosts only their fourth defeat in Dunedin.

It was another incredibly physical match and the result has now thrown the Tri-Nations wide open.

There was no secret formula for the improved performance from the first Test.  It was simply shades of the World Cup in France.  Solid set phases, punishing, controlled defence and accurate touch and goal-kicking blended with a fair deal of intelligence, patience and passion.

It's the mix that worked for the 2007 Springboks and one that served the current generation well.

In Wellington last week the Springboks waited until the 31st minute for their first line-out, but the addition of Percy Montgomery and his prodigious boot ensured that they regained that attacking platform at Carisbrook.

Matfield assumed his expected role of sky general, ruling the line-outs on his own ball and forcing the All Blacks to look for their front jumper far more than they would have been comfortable with.

That robbed the hosts of a primary attacking platform, and when they did shovel the ball to Carter, the Springbok chasing line -- led by the mongrel-like Januarie -- gobbled up his space, subsequently exposing his fallibility under pressure.

But it was in the scrums where the most significant improvement came.

CJ van der Linde redeemed himself after the battering he took at the hands of Tony Woodcock, and this meant that the loose forwards and back-line were freed up to play.

And while their attack lacked the clinical edge it needed to put the All Blacks under pressure regularly, they did capitalise on the All Blacks' ill-discipline through the boot of Percy Montgomery and Butch James.

Both teams tried to play with pace but the match was largely dominated by the whistle of Australian referee Matt Goddard, who was hard on anything that resembled foul play and kept an eagle eye on the breakdown.

The tone was set for another torrid affair with an early high-tackle from Schalk Burger on Carter, who got up off the deck to kick the first points of the game with a longish penalty.

It kick-started a penalty goal duel, with Springboks full-back Montgomery kicking one, Carter one, Montgomery two and Carter one to have the hosts 12-9 up.

Trouble struck for the home side when lock Ali Williams was forced from the field in the 29th minute after a head clash with Burger, which also aggravated his troublesome ankle, leaving debutant Kevin O'Neill to partner rookie Anthony Boric in the second row.  In contrast, the Springbok second row of Bakkie Botha and Victor Matfield boast 122 caps between them.

Following a botched line-out by the home side, South Africa then snared the first try and the lead when they worked the blindside from an ensuing five-metre scrum with Joe van Niekerk finding enough space for winger JP Pietersen to crash over in the corner.

It was a nice present for the recalled Pietersen who was celebrating his 22nd birthday.  Unable to cross the whitewash in the Super 14, the Sharks flyer silenced his critics with his crucial touchdown, though the conversion was missed by Montgomery.

The pressure on the All Blacks was apparent when Carter tried a long-range drop at goal that went wide.

But James slotted a cheeky drop of his own to give South Africa a 17-12 lead that could have been extended had Montgomery not missed a handy penalty as the clocked ticked away.

The All Blacks managed to strike back with Carter's fifth penalty that brought the first half to an end that made it 17-15 to the visitors at the break.  The normally boisterous House of Pain was eerily silent as Rodney So'oialo's men trudged to the dressing room.

The All Blacks made an adjustment for the second half, bringing off right wing Sitiveni Sivivatu.  Mils Muliaina took his place there with Leon MacDonald coming on at full-back.

The All Blacks made a concerted effort to up the tempo after the break, mounting a series of frenzied attacks that were stifled by the Springboks' unrelenting defence.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry went to the bench again for impact, bringing on big Lauaki for Jerome Kaino.

And the reward was instant with Rudi Wulf setting up another attack that saw the ball spun right, and some wonderful hands from Conrad Smith and Andy Ellis freed up Lauaki to surge over for the crucial try.

Carter's conversion moved the All Blacks 22-17 in front and set the stage for a vibrant final quarter.

With Montgomery having been replaced by Conrad Jantjes, James kicked a penalty after Bryan Habana was tackled high to make it 20-22, but then Carter -- caught in a tight spot -- swivelled and dropped ball to boot that again widen the gap to five points.  25-20.

Another penalty by James cut their lead back to 25-23 but the flow was with the All Blacks and it took a mighty tackle by Steyn, with a little assistance from Pietersen, to stop a rampaging Tony Woodcock on the corner flag.

However it seemed a brave Bok effort would be frustrated when Matfield was sin-binned for his high tackle on Lauaki and Carter goaled the ensuing penalty to have the All Blacks 28-23 clear with just seven minutes left to play.

The Springboks made a double substitution at this point, Ruan Pienaar for James and Schalk Britz for Bismarck du Plessis, and they had hardly joined the action when the opportunity arrived for Januarie to write his name large in history.

It was a moment of superlative skill from the little scrum-half with the football sized heart that broke the curse.

Picking up the ball behind a maul he darted sharply around the left, spurted between Keven Mealamu and Neemia Tialata and into the clear and then performed the most perfect of chip kicks over the head of MacDonald.  The whole of South Africa held its breath.  Would the bounce be favourable?  It was.  Januarie gathered and dived over the line.

It seemed that before he even hit the deck he was swamped by team-mates.  Screams of joy shot from the heap of bodies who had converged on the number nine.  Scores level at 28-all.

Steyn's conversion sailed painfully close to the right upright, but snuck inside that handed the shell-shocked All Blacks and their home crowd a two-point game in favour of the Springboks.

New Zealand weren't finished yet though.  They got back on attack, Carter missed a drop goal, Nonu got close with a powerful surge but somehow the Boks held on for their famous win.

The All Blacks sit out a week to lick their wounds before they tackle the Wallabies in Sydney in a fortnight.  Home losses in this championship hurt though and the pressure is firmly back on this young All Blacks side.

As for South Africa, boasting a crucial away win, now head to Perth to take on the Wallabies next Saturday with their Springbok tails very high.

Man of the match:  Human dynamo Schalk Burger was at the forefront of another vigorous forward effort, making countless heavy tackles.  Hooker Bismarck du Plessis was strong at scrum time, good with his line-out throws and played by far his best Test in a green and gold jumper.  Victor Matfield turned his below par perfomance last week with a hole in one after causing havoc once again in the line-out, while Jean de Villiers continues to put in the hard yards.  Yet it was fitting that the feisty half-back Ricky Januarie should kick the ball into touch in the final act as he was the game's standout player.

Moment of the match:  Christmas came early for Januarie and South Africa with that try.

Villian of the match:  Three high tackles in the game and Victor Matfield was the scapegoat that paid the price.  He was unfortunate to get binned because there was no malice in it and were far worse ones in the game.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  Lauaki
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 6
Drop goal:  Carter

For South Africa:
Tries:  Pietersen, Januarie
Con:  Steyn
Pens:  Montgomery 3, James 2
Drop goal:  James

Yellow card:  Matfield, high tackle (South Africa, 73 min)

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rodney So'oialo (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 John Afoa, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Kevin O'Neill, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Leon MacDonald.

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 Schalk Britz, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes.

Referee:  Matt Goddard
Assistants:  James Leckie, Paul Marks
TMO:  George Ayoub

Waldrom try wins Maori the PNC

Thomas Waldrom's last-gasp try gave New Zealand Maori the Pacific Nations Cup with a 21-18 win over Australia A in Sydney on Sunday.

Even then Mark Gerrard had the chance to tie the scores with the last kick of the game -- and give Australia A the title -- but his penalty shot from 45m dropped just short.

The home side started well, and had got to a 7-0 lead with an early try from rising star Timana Tahu, but quickfire tries from Jacob Ellison and Tanerau Latimer had the Maori 14-7 in front at the break.

But Tahu struck again, and Gerrard landed two crucial penalties to put his team 18-14 ahead before Waldrom's late surge.

Relieved New Zealand Maori coach Donny Stevenson paid tribute to his side's character, although he said they were often their own worst enemies.

"In the end we had some experienced guys to get us through but we didn't make it easy for ourselves, we were really scrambling at the end," he told reporters.

"We thought if we could put some phases together the opportunities would come but we lost the ball at critical times. I was concerned at some of the decision making."

The scorers:

For Australia A:
Tries:  Tahu 2
Con:  Gerrard
Pens:  Gerrard 2

For New Zealand Maori:
Tries:  Ellison, Latimer, Waldrom
Cons:  Bruce 3

Australia A:  15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Timana Tahu, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Richard Brown, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 Peter Kimlin, 4 Al Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements:  16 John Ulugia, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Van Humphries, 19 Leroy Houston, 20 Ben Lucas, 21 Sam Norton-Knight, 22 Matt Carraro.

New Zealand Maori:  15 Dwayne Sweeney, 14 Shannon Paku, 13 Jason Kawau, 12 Tamati Ellison (Co-captain), 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Callum Bruce, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam (Co-captain), 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Bronson Murray/Ben May, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Jacob Ellison.
Replacements:  16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 Bronson Murray/Ben May, 18 Hoani MacDonald, 19 Scott Waldrom, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Tim Bateman, 22 Zar Lawrence.

Referee:  James Bolabiu (Fiji)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Samoa wow their way to victory

Samoa stole a nine-try thriller by five tries to four in a pulsating 37-31 win over Japan in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday.

With nothing to lose, both teams threw themselves into the match aiming to score as many tries as possible, and ended up matching wach other almost try for try.  It was 17-17 at the break, but the home side just had a little too much in reserve.

The Samoans shot into the lead through tries by Semo Sititi and Loleni Tafunai in the first ten minutes, both converted by Gavin Williams.

But Ryu Holani's try and a conversion and penalty from Dragons-bound James Arlidge brought Japan back into the match, and after Williams had made it 17-10 with a penalty of his own, Japan full-back Shaun Webb struck on the stroke of half-time with Arlidge once again converting.

Once again, Samoa surged into the lead in the second half, with tries from Hiroshi Tea and Henry Tuilagi and another conversion from Williams making it 29-17, but Japan kept hitting back, and aconverted try from Hirotoki Onozawa made it 29-24.

Williams put Samoa two scores ahead with another penalty, but Takashi Kikutani's try with five minutes to go -- again converted by Arlidge -- made it 32-31.

James Johnston struck for Samoa with three minutes to go, but Williams' miss from the conversion ensured a tense final couple of minutes.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Sititi, Tafunai, Tea, Tuilagi, Johnston
Cons:  Williams 3
Pens:  Williams 2

For Japan:
Tries:  Holani, Webb, Onozawa, Kikutani
Cons:  Arlidge 4
Pen:  Arlidge

Samoa:  15 Gavin Williams, 14 Esera Lauina, 13 Henry Faafili, 12 Anitele'a Tuilagi, 11 David Lemi, 10 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 9 Uale Mai, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Semo Sititi, 6 George Stowers, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Filipo Levi (C), 3 Census Johnston, 2 Loleni Tafunai, 1 Hiroshi Tea.
Replacements:  16 Simon Lemalu, 17 James Johnston, 18 Daniel Leo, 19 Jonathan Faamatuainu, 20 Notise Tauafao, 21 Roger Warren, 22 Paletuatoa Toelupe.

Japan:  15 Shaun Webb, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Bryce Robins, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Tomoki Yoshida, 8 Ryu Holani, 7 Hare Makiri, 6 Takuro Miuchi (C), 5 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Tomokazu Soma, 2 Yusuke Aoki, 1 Tatsukichi Nishiura.
Replacements:  16 Noanori Mizuyama, 17 Yuta Inose, 18 Tomoaki Taniguchi, 19 Takashi Kikutani, 20 Fumiaki Tanaka, 21 Shotaro Onishi, 22 Hiroki Yoshida.

Tonga sign off in style

Tonga finished their IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2008 campaign on a high by defeating Fiji 27-16 at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku'alofa on Saturday.

In victory, they secured their first win of the season to the delight of the watching King Taufa'ahu Tupou V of Tonga.

The Tongans had lost on the road to New Zealand Maori (20-9), Japan (35-13) and Australia A (90-7) before collecting a first bonus point in losing 20-15 to Samoa last weekend, but they had never lost to Fiji since the PNC began in 2006.

Both sides made their intentions clear early on with a hard and fast start to what was an entertaining and heart-stopping match, Fiji enjoying the wealth of possession and perhaps ruing their failure to score a try or two during this time.

Tonga dug deep and seized their first real opportunity when their powerhouse forward pack drove on and returned to halfway with a try for captain and flanker Nili Latu, one of his side's stars at Rugby World Cup 2007.

Fiji did play their running game and continued to punch holes in the centres, although this flair caused the home crowd to go wild and produce even more noise when a robust Tongan ended the movement with a great tackle.

The home side seemed to get more bulletproof as the game went on, the chance to impress on home soil kept them charging and in the end Tonga were simply too strong, their pack laying the platform for the victory.

Epeli Taione caught the eye in the centre, carving up the metres to earn his reward with a late try to put the gloss on a Tongan victory that was followed by scenes of dancing and hugging as the crowd joined their heroes on the pitch in celebration.

The final round of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2008 continues with Samoa entertaining Japan at Apia Park on Saturday before Australia A and New Zealand Maori clash in Sydney to determine who gets their hands on the silverware.

Tonga:  15 Lilo Vungakoto, 14 Pone Samisoni, 13 Hudoan Tonga'uhia, 12 Epeli Taione, 11 Suka Hufanga, 10 Pierre Hola, 9 Enele Taufa, 8 Samiu Vahafolau, 7 Nili Latu (capt), 6 Hale T Pole, 5 Paino Hehea, 4 Milton Ngauamo, 3 Kisi Pulu, 2 Ephraim Taukafa, 1 Semisi Telefoni.
Replacements:  16 Ma'asi Viliami, 17 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 18 Joshua Afu, 19 Vilii Vaki, 20 Soane Havea, 21 Fangatapu Apikatoa, 22 Seti Kiole.

Fiji:  15 Dan Rawaqa, 14 Jerry Tuilevu, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Saula Radidi (Marika Vakacegu), 11 Vereniki Goneva (Michael Tagicakibau), 10 Waisea Luveniyali, 9 Aporosa Vata, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Aca Ratuva, 5 Deryck Thomas, 4 Josefa Domolailai, 3 Jone Railomo, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Graham Dewes
Replacements:  16 Vereniki Sauturaga, 17 Viliame Seuseu, 18 Sailosi Rabonaqica, 19 Rupeni Nasiga, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Jonetani Ralulu, 22 Iliesa Keresoni.

Referee:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

All Blacks prevail in Wellington

New Zealand opened their Tri-Nations account with an abrasive 19-8 win over South Africa at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday, coming off the ropes after the Boks had silenced the sodden crowd with a fine first-half performance that featured a try from Bryan Habana.

But the All Blacks refused to lose their cool and bounced back in the second-half by scoring ten unanswered points that included a try from Jerome Kaino.

Credit must go to the Boks -- they matched the All Blacks in every asset of play.  They stood toe-to-toe in defence and found more holes in attack than the Irish and English had managed in three games.

Indeed, New Zealand's quest to notch up a 30th consecutive victory on home soil might have been foiled had it not been for one factor:  Dan Carter.

The golden boy of world rugby found himself under siege in the early stages of the match, but a number of off-the-ball incidents and late hits failed to ruffle his majestic features.  Nor the appalling conditions.  Nor the absence of his Praetorian Guard, Richie McCaw.

An early miss at the sticks had the Boks hoping that the rough-housing had done the trick, but the fly-half regather his composure and went on to set up Kaino's try and collect 14 points.

He also thought his team out of a deep hole.

The All Blacks had attempted to use the ELVs to their advantage and play the game at a high tempo.  Keeping the ball in hand also reduced the threat of South Africa's peerless line-out -- indeed, it was the 31st minute before they got a throw-in.

But the conditions just weren't suited to warp-speed rugby.  South Africa's brutal defensive effort put the brakes on New Zealand's aspirations and spawned plenty of counter-attacking opportunities, with Habana punctuating one with a trademark score.

A more measured approach to the second-half was needed, and Carter duly delivered, opting to substitute his side's aerobic exertions with a little clear thinking.

Carter's missed penalty stemmed directly from an off-the-ball encounter with his opposite number, Butch James.

He made amends just seconds later after the Boks strayed off-side, but James soon responded with a penalty of his own after Brad Thorn was pinged for a late and extremely reckless challenge on John Smit.

The ferocious nature of the opening minutes showed no sign of abating with Thorn and Ali Williams -- in his 50th Test -- putting in some thunderous tackles and generally making their presence felt in the tight exchanges.

New Zealand certainly had the better at scrum time, putting the world champions under immense pressure and, despite the conditions, their ball retention was generally good.

The Boks on the other hand hardly saw the ball and when they did opted to kick, often without much success.

Carter extended his side's lead to 6-3 with another penalty in the 20th minute when Smit -- playing under the ELVs for the first time -- was penalised for offside.

James wasted an opportunity to close the gap when Andrew Hore was penalised for offside in the 25th minute but Carter made no mistake with his fourth attempt of the night when Boks number eight Joe van Niekerk, who had put team-mate Adrian Jacobs under huge pressure in his own 22 with an awful pass, then compounded the error by being caught offside.

Then four minutes before half-time and against the run of play, lightning quick wing Bryan Habana dived over for the opening try of the match.

The All Blacks turned over possession at the breakdown in the Boks half and a well-weighted pass from Jacobs found fellow midfielder Jean de Villiers who burst through the gap before sending Habana in at the corner.

James failed to add the conversion and the All Blacks held on for a slender 9-8 lead at the break.

The All Blacks were quick out of the blocks in the second half with Jerome Kaino scoring his first international try and Carter adding a brilliant touch-line conversion for a 16-8 lead.

Kaino should have had a second in the 57th minute when he chased a Carter cross-field kick but assistant referee James Leckie ruled he had been ahead of the fly-half.

Both teams rang the changes in the second period and Francois Steyn, who came on for James, fired a speculative long-range drop-goal in a bid to close the gap but watched as it dropped just short.

Inevitably, it was Carter who had the final say, slotting his fourth and final penalty of the night with nine minutes to play.

Man of the match:  If a doubter remains, Conrad Jantjes silenced the moron with a commanding performance in difficult conditions, Enrico Januarie offered yap and scrap at the base of a harassed scrum, and Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers offered up their signature dish of brawn and brain.  Rodney So'oialo led with authority and was ably assisted by Ali Williams, the rarest of beasts:  a kicking lock!  Meanwhile, Jerome Kaino proved to be a handful for the Boks and destroyed the doubts over New Zealand's back-row unit, and Ma'a Nonu instilled fear and loathing across the Bok backline.  But how can we look past Dan Carter?  So astute with his options, so elegant in attack, so solid in defence.

Moment of the match:  Jerome Kaino's score proved to be the turning point, but we'll opt for Bryan Habana's try.  It was a canny collective effort that gave hope to Wallabies and Springboks alike.  It seemed to prove that these All Blacks can be beaten at their own game of hitting at speed on the counter-attack.

Villian of the match:  Plenty of amateur refereeing on display, but that could be down to the shaky professional on show -- poor Stuart Dickinson had trouble with the ELVs (or, rather, version 1.3 of the ELVs!) with more than one penalty signal quickly morphing into a bent arm!  But our award goes to Brad Thorn, who was lucky to escape the sin-bin after taking exception to John Smit off the ball and after the whistle.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  Kaino
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 4

For South Africa:
Try:  Habana
Pen:  James

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rodney So'oialo (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Leon MacDonald.

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Percy Montgomery.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Matt Goddard, James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Wallabies trounce fiery France

Australia recorded successive wins over an under-strength France side with a 40-10 success in Brisbane on Saturday.

In the final game of rugby to be played under the "old" laws, Matt Giteau's faultless performance -- albeit against visitors with holidays on their minds -- was very much a warning shot to Tri-Nations rivals New Zealand and South Africa.

As predicted, the game at Suncorp Stadium was an non-contest, but for the Wallabies it was the perfect hit out before the Springboks come to town in fortnight's time.

All four tries -- scored by Peter Hynes, James Horwill and two from replacement Ryan Cross -- were created by the impressive Giteau, who also slotted 100 per cent of his goals.

And, boy, did the Wallabies come out firing as an early Giteau penalty was followed up by the same man's cross-field kick to wing Hynes for a clinical opening score on seven minutes -- unlike last week's early arm-wrestle.

The in-form fly-half then booted a further nine points to notch a personal milestone of 300 Test points, whilst extending the lead to 19 on the half-hour as things started to look ominous.

However, the Western Force star's most memorable play was yet to come.  In broken field, he pirouetted through an attempted tackle on the French 22 before slipping a backhand pass to the swan-diving James Horwill for his moment of glory.

With Australian tails now firmly up following their slick opening quarter, the result was sealed and therefore only pride was at stake for Marc Lièvremont's touring men.

Then came a temporary tide-turning incident that seemed to spur Les Bleus into life just as they had one knee on the Brisbane canvas.

An altercation between hooker Stephen Moore and flank Matthieu Lièvremont quickly turned into two packs going toe-to-toe with several punches thrown, mainly in the vicinity of Horwill's left eye.

And that was seemingly the tonic that France so desperately needed -- up until half-time at least -- as they went in with a penalty on the hooter from François Trinh-Duc.

Upon returning, the second period was not nearly as pulsating as what had past, as the Wallabies struggled to recapture their early magic.

Subsequently, Robbie Deans decided to shuffle his pack with his entire bench getting a run ahead of their southern hemisphere opener.

And it was replacement centre Cross who re-sparked the bonfire by crossing for a brace of well-taken tries with Giteau once again the provider.

But France had the last word, Francois Trinh-Duc finishing off a rare break-out with a consolation try in the final minute of the match.

Australia now have two weeks to get their minds and bodies right for the visit if the world champions in what will be a far sterner test than the French or Irish provided.

However, Deans may be without Cameron Shepherd -- the full-back departed the action on a stretcher with a worrying looking knee injury late in the record-breaking result.

Man of the match:  In an attacking master-class from the Australian fly-half, Matt Giteau was in scintillating form from the first minute as he set up the quartet of scores with a swagger that will keep Graham Henry and Peter de Villiers's homework books well inked.

Moment of the match:  Surely the off-the-cuff play from Giteau that set up James Horwill.  In a moment of brilliance the sniping ten slipped tackles before giving a pass that has to be seen to be believed.

Villain of the match:  In the dying embers of the first half, a seemingly innocuous altercation between Stephen Moore and Matthieu Lièvremont led to Imanol Harinordoquy throwing several punches in the direction of James Horwill.  The lock's eye subsequently held all of the proof of the number eight's busy fists!

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Hynes, Horwill, Cross 2
Con:  Giteau 4
Pen:  Giteau 4

For France:
Tries:  Trinh-Duc
Con:Yachvili
Pen:  Trinh-Duc

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dean Mumm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 George Smith, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Cameron Shepherd.

France:  15 Benjamin Thiery, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Maxim Mermoz, 12 Thibault Lacroix, 11 David Janin, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Sebastian Tillous-Borde, 8 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Matthieu Lièvremont, 5 Lionel Nallet (captain), 4 Sebastien Chabal, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Pierre Correia.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Benoit Lecouls, 18 Louis Picamoles, 19 Benjamin Boyet, 20 Yannick Caballero, 21 Dimitri Yachvili, 22 Jean-Baptiste Peyras.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Marius Jonker (South Africa), Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Andrew Cole (Australia)