Wallabies bow to resurgent Boks

South Africa clawed back some much-needed pride by notching up an emphatic 53-8 victory over Australia at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday, with Jongikhaya Nokwe running four tries past the out-of-sort Australians.

Just when you thought the Tri-Nations could not possibly throw up another humdinger, we get this:  title contenders decimated by wooden spoonists!

Where did the Springboks pull this performance from?  Easy.  From the very depths of their wounded souls.

A week ago they were booed from the field after a performance that made Laurel and Hardy look employable.  Today they ran straight, supported in numbers, held their passes, bossed the set-piece and ran in eight tries.

If this was about saving face, Bok coach Peter de Villiers might be forgiven for thinking that his troops ensured the future of his features.

Indeed, a broad smile nestled under that luxuriant moustache as the final whistle blew.

That the novice Nokwe became the first man to score four tries against the Wallabies in a Test would have given the beleaguered coach particular satisfaction.

But after the embers of the last of tonight's braais have been extinguished, the world champions and their fans will have to face up to some uncomfortable truths.

Firstly, the manner of this win actually makes the last couple of weeks harder to swallow.  Now we know that the Boks can still play brilliant rugby, why can they not produce the goods on a consistent basis?

Moreover, this was an empty victory devoid of any meaning.  Australia clinched their place in the Tri-Nations 'final' with last week's win and needed for nothing in Johannesburg.  At times during today's hammering it was patently obvious that they had more than one eye on the big date in Brisbane.

The non-game allowed Wallaby boss Robbie Deans the chance to experiment and he duly made five changes to the side that triumphed in Durban.

Not all the experiments worked (Tatafu Polota-Nau's line-out work was a mess) but the reshuffle -- and even the loss -- could yet work in their favour:  the All Blacks will have garnered precious little from this game.

South Africa were dominant for all but five minutes of the game:  the first five minutes of the game.

But for a wayward pass from Matt Giteau, the Australians would have been at least five points up in the second minute.

The visitors had to settle for a penalty after Butch James was pinged for being off-side, and with that Australia took an early lead.

From that point on it was all South Africa.

The first try came after Australia got themselves into a real muddle as they attempt to clear their lines.

Giteau eventually manage to put boot to ball, but only as far the outstanding Conrad Jantjes.  The industrious full-back hoisted the perfect bomb and was on hand to collect a long pass from James to set Andries Bekker on his way to the line after drawing his man with aplomb.

South African tails went up and Fourie Du Preez combined with Jean De Villiers to set Nokwe free down the left to dot down with nonchalance in the corner.

James missed the tricky conversion, but suddenly the drummers in the crowd sounded less like the hungry cannibals that had called for blood in Durban.  Had the beating heart of South African rugby been massaged back to life?  It seems so.

Two missed opportunities followed, one for each side -- Lote Tuqiri knocked on a dolly pass down the left and Pierre Spies was dispossessed in the act of scoring in the left corner.

But the ball was then moved left with speed and decisiveness (a new tactic for the Boks) and Nokwe was on hand to collect another easy try.

James was again off-target with his conversion but made amends moments later when Phil Waugh went off-side within easy range of the sticks.

Nokwe then dotted down his third of the game, becoming only the second Bok to score a hat-trick against Australia.

Such feats should not be accomplished with ease, but the Cheetahs flyer managed to put three tries past the Wallabies without a finger being laid on him.

His final effort was the easiest of the trio -- a simple trot across the line after another lengthy pass from James found him in his own private acre of space.

James converted and the Boks, somewhat incredulously, disappeared for their half-time oranges with a 27-3 lead to their names.

The Boks started the second half as they ended the first.  De Villiers straightened up, got his arms through the tackle and delivered a pin-point reverse pass to the supporting Adi Jacobs.  The burly centre then showed great pace and a fine step as he ate up the forty yards of grass between himself and the tryline.  James converted and the locals were out of sight.

Simple rugby, well executed.  It ain't so hard when you put your mind to it.

Nokwe then popped up to make history, becoming the first man to score four tries against the Wallabies in a Test.

But this time he had to work for the laurels.  He came looking for work on the opposite wing, chasing up a clever grubber from Jantjes, and was on hand to collect the final pass from his fellow wing, the hard-working Odwa Ndungane.

The try proved to be the record-breaker's last contribution of the day -- he limped from the field after injuring his leg in the act of scoring.  He might opt to stay out on the luck-kissed left in the future, and fans will forgive him for such an indulgence after his efforts here today.

Giteau looked like he had pulled back seven points after he intercepted and made off for the sticks, only to be hauled back for being off-side.  But the playmaker made immediately amends by working a pass out of the tackle to allow Drew Mitchell an easy route to the line.  A full 56 minutes on the clock and Australia had their first try, albeit unconverted.

Not that if worried the Boks.  With the result all but secured, the bench was emptied onto the pitch and the new boys were soon in on the action.

A lovely jinxing run from Ruan Pienaar -- on for James -- saw him through the first line of flagging Australians and he stepped past Mitchell to claim South Africa's seventh try of the game.  Percy Montgomery -- on for Nokwe -- nudged over the easy conversion.

Australian heads began to hang.  It became obvious that they could not live with the pace of the Boks -- or the altitude.

But it still wasn't over.  A bullocking run from Danie Rossouw smashed the gold lines asunder once more and Ndungane was on hand to punctuate the massacre.

And so South Africa's abortive attempt to add the Tri-Nations trophy to the Webb Ellis Cup ended on an artificial high -- an emotional cocktail that will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Boks fans, and a nagging question on their lips:  why did we wait so long before producing a performance like this?

Man of the match:  Jongi Nokwe's four-try effort deserves special praise, even if they weren't the hardest-won scores of his career.  Elsewhere, Butch James made all the right calls and was quick to spot gaps in all parts of the field, and Odwa Ndungane got through a heap of work in attack and defence.  Pierre Spies reminded his crab-like colleagues that forward is still the best direction known to rugby, but the standout Bok of the game and the tournament has to be Conrad Jantjes.  Solid under the high ball, slippery on the run, fearless and canny in defence.  A star is born.

Moment of the match:  Surely the sight of Jongi Nokwe dotted down his fourth try -- a fine effort.

Villian of the match:  Absolutely no monkey business.  Well played to both sides -- and to the officials.  No award.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Nokwe 4, Bekker, Jacobs, Pienaar, Ndungane
Cons:  James 3, Montgomery 2
Pen:  James

For Australia:
Try:  Mitchell
Con:  Giteau

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Andries Bekker, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Percy Montgomery.

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

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Rob Debney (England)
Television match official:  Romain Poite (France)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Boks out for the count

Australia ended South Africa's tilt at Tri-Nations glory by notching up a solid 27-15 win over the world champions in Durban on Saturday -- a result that sends vultures swooping over the heads of Bok boss Peter de Villiers and his cohorts.

If you feel that smacks of media hysteria, let's examine the facts.  South Africa won the World Cup just ten short months ago -- there they were, standing on the shoulders of giants.  Last week they were nilled at home.  Today they were booed off the field by their own supporters.  Something is rotten in the Republic.  Something really stinks.

It's not the back-to-back defeats on African soil that irked the fans, it was that their heroes looked completely ill-equipped for the task in hand.

South Africa needed a bonus-point win to stay in the race for the Tri-Nations, and the lengthy to-do list proved to be their undoing.  With minds set on bagging four tries, the Boks forgot the basics.  At times they went out of their way to avoid them.  Victories are built on solid foundations, yet the locals set out with plans to construct a cathedral on custard.

All but two South African raids petered out due to lack of support and/or poor skills.  Faced with such a lack of unity all Australia had to do was to sit back and wait for the opportunities to present themselves.

Indeed, the real worry for the Boks is that the Wallabies were far from a study in authority.  They were good but not great.

But credit where credit is due -- the young visitors showed remarkable maturity in a country where Australia had not won since 2000.

The Boks threw everything at their opponents in the opening moments of the game and it seemed that the Wallabies were having trouble getting their eye in.

But all the while they were sussing out their hosts, identifying chinks in the green armour and planning their response.  Then, with three clinical jabs of the golden lance, the Boks -- and the millennium bug -- were dead.

As was the case in their last two outings, South Africa's breakdown play was found wanting.  Three promising raids in the first ten minutes all died in the arms of isolated players.

With the Boks lacking the finishing touch, it was left to the Australians to collect the first points of the day -- and they stemmed directly from local frustrations.

CJ van der Linde took out Sam Cordingley with what can only be described as a flying headbutt to the face.

The Bok prop will surely be receiving a call from the citing officials, but in the heat of the battle the incident was deemed to be no more than a simple penalty, which Matt Giteau dispatched between the sticks.

The Boks got a chance to draw level when Peter Hynes strayed off-side at a ruck, but Butch James was off-target with his kick at goal.

The near-miss, and an another sweeping but unconsummated green attack, stirred the Wallabies into action and they began to boss the game via clever positional play from Giteau and Stirling Mortlock.

Jongi Nokwe was soon caught out by a bobbling kick upfield and conceded a free-kick in an isolated position.  Cordingley ushered his forwards to lay siege to the green line and Benn Robinson was on hand to burrow under a herd of Boks, but did he make contact with the whitewash?

It was left to video official Rob Denbey to untangle the impromptu game of Twister, and he ruled that the prop had done enough.  Giteau converted and Australia had a 10-point lead with just under 30 minutes on the clock.

The crowd grew more subdued still as Andries Bekker was pinged for a high-tackle on Hynes.  It was not South Africa's first or last of the game, but the only one that received the appropriate sanction.

Giteau failed to plant a line-out in the corner from the dead-ball situation, with Conrad Jantjes batting the ball back over his dead-ball line to force the drop-out, a decision that was also referred "upstairs".

The Boks started well after the break, appearing more structured after Percy Montgomery came on for the out-of-sorts JP Pietersen.

Butch James got South Africa on the scoreboard with a penalty for their first score in 153 minutes of rugby, doing the honours after Victor Matfield had been manhandled at the line-out by Rocky Elsom.

One box was ticked -- another nilling had been avoided -- but two remained:  four tries and a win.

Giteau made box three a little tricker by restoring the 10-point lead by slotting his second penalty of the day after Tendai Mtawarira was penalised at a scrum.

Lote Tuqiri then almost got on the end of a well-weighted grubber from the impressive Drew Mitchell, only to be beaten to the punch by the back-tracking Adrian Jacobs.

With alarm bells sounding in South African ears, Peter de Villiers responded by throwing his star-studded bench at the match, tasking Francois Steyn to weave his magic at fly-half.

But far from galvanising the side, the changes made South Africa look more disjointed still, and Australia took full advantage of the mess of misunderstanding.

An innocuous ball was sent down the Australian line and Tuqiri rounded the last man to score the simplest of tries.

As so often before, it was the sharp mind of Jean de Villiers that conjured South Africa's belated response.  The elegant centre cut a hole in the gold lines and it was left to Jacobs to score the Boks' first Tri-Nations try since their win against New Zealand in Dunedin on July 12 -- a result which now seems almost unreal.

But whatever Jean de Villiers can do, Stirling Mortlock can do better.  As whispered hopes began to circulate around the green-clad crowd, Australia's skipper found a gap in the green lines and powered through the tackles and over the line in trademark fashion.

The Boks got another try back via Jacobs, thanks to a fine inside-pass from Montgomery, but the Australians were all but out of sight and never looked in danger of seeing their plump cushion diminished in the closing minutes.

Whilst Australia's win tees up a series decider against New Zealand in Brisbane in September, South Africa's immediate future might prove as dramatic.  The curse of the Webb Ellis Cup endures despite of its change of abode -- the Boks are in grave danger of becoming the new England.

Man of the match:  Not really that much to write home about.  Adrian Jacobs took his tries well and Tendai Mtawarira proved to be a handful in the tight and in the loose.  Drew Mitchell impressed for Australia, as did George Smith and Matt Giteau.  But our man of the match is Stirling Mortlock, not so much for his display -- although his try was a peach -- as for his leadership.  He savoured that win here in 2000 and allowed his young troops to believe a repeat was eminently possible.  Indeed it was.

Moment of the match:  Mortlock's strike was a stunner, but we'll opt for Lote Tuqiri's try -- it killed off the game as a contest and summed up South Africa's shortcomings.

Villian of the match:  Easy.  A lengthy ban would be too good for CJ van der Linde, his flying headbutt was disgraceful.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Jacobs 2
Con:  Montgomery
Pen:  James

For Australia:
Tries:  Robinson, Tuqiri, Mortlock
Cons:  Giteau 3
Pens:  Giteau 2

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Andries Bekker, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Joe van Niekerk, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Enrico Januarie, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Percy Montgomery.

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

Referee:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Romain Poite (France)
Television match official:  Rob Debney (England)

All Blacks nil world champions

Crisis?  What crisis?  New Zealand exorcised a host of demons by recording a solid 19-0 victory over the Boks at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, a result that leaves the world champions with a mountain to climb.

The Springbok faithful had arrived on a gorgeous afternoon in high spirits, aware of an All Blacks backlash following their recent loss against the world champs in Dunedin, but all the while knowing another South African victory was there for the taking.

How very wrong they were.

That the Springboks failed to score a solitary point could spell the end for their Tri-Nations campaign where even a losing bonus-point can go a long way in deciding who the eventual winners will be.

In fact, this was the first time South Africa had failed to score a point at home against the All Blacks.

It was also a Test match Springbok centurion Percy Montgomery would rather forget, with the veteran full-back not having the best day at the office in his 100th appearance in the green and gold.

The two simple chances South Africa had at grabbing three points went up in smoke with Montgomery failing to score on both occasions.

In fact, it was a poor kicking display all round with All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter who, despite registering his 800th point in Tests, uncharacteristically missed four kicks at goal in the first half that kept the score at 5-0 until the last quarter of the match.

Eleven points (one conversion and three penalties), all of them simple attempts for his ability, were pushed left, right, left and then left again.

But it matter not.  The hosts were soundly outplayed and never showed the purpose the All Blacks brought to the match.  The Springboks attempted to run the ball but unfamiliarity led to mistakes under pressure.

South Africa had made a nervous start with fly-half Butch James landing the kick-off in touch, and then a tap-penalty was kicked dead by returning scrum-half Fourie du Preez, who was starting his first Test match of 2008 after a long injury lay-off.

It didn't get much better for the Springboks, a well-timed grubber kick ahead by Richie McCaw caught the South African back three sleeping and the wide-awake Conrad Smith was only happy to take advantage.

The TMO was called in to double check the grounding, but it was rightly agreed that Smith had put enough downward pressure on the ball for the All Blacks' opening score.

Carter's conversion missed the left upright by a whisker, but New Zealand were on the board -- a perfect start.

Five points down, the hosts awoke from their slumber and had a five-man overlap to boot.  However, hooker Bismarck du Plessis was still sleepwalking and opted to take the pigskin up himself which resulted in another turnover and -- even worse for South Africa -- an early try-scoring opportunity gone a-begging.

The set-piece -- bar the scrum -- was a nightmare for the Springboks.  Two line-outs lost in the space of five minutes to the superior Ali Williams, who was a dominant figure all afternoon.

Ill-discipline, too, could have cost the world champs dearly, with the home side giving away far too many free kicks and penalties that halted any momentum they did manage to gather through the little phase play they were presented with.

South Africa were also let off for constant infringing on the ground with referee Matt Goddard several times telling captain Victor Matfield that he was giving a last warning.

South Africa's biggest chance came three minutes from half-time, a Tendai Mtawarira break may have had the Springbok supporters in raptures but it was Bryan Habana that had the 46,500 sell-out Newlands crowd on their feet after stepping his way in and out for a would-be five-pointer had it not been for his left boot straying into touch.

With forty minutes already ticked away on the stadium clock, Goddard sent the teams in for their oranges and pep talks.  Both sides would have heard more of less the same rants from their respective coaches:  be patient, limit the mistakes and make the penalties count.

South Africa did well to carry out two of their three orders, but the two missed penalty attempts by Montgomery in the same amount of minutes kept the home side scoreless with 54 minutes up on the clock.

James had an ordinary match but provided a neat nudge behind the All Blacks defence that was well chased by the Bok backs.  The hosts won the five-metre scrum after sacking a retreating defender over his own tryline, but the subsequent attack again came to nil when the ball was slowed and eventually turned over.  There's no other way to describe it -- it was painful to watch if you were a Springbok supporter.

South Africa's gallant defence is what kept them in the game, as the All Blacks struggled to get over the gain line.  Replacement prop John Afoa thought he was over in the 55th minute until Montgomery effected a heroic tackle in the corner.

It would be the last time Montgomery would have any say in the match with Francois Steyn taking over full-back duties from South Africa's centurion.  Du Preez, responsible for knocking another three kicks out on the full, was also given an early shower after coach Peter de Villiers had decided enough was enough.

Ricky Januarie was called on to repeat the magic he produced in Dunedin four weeks ago, but his rabbit was nowhere to be seen as the All Black defence continued to halt South Africa's charge.

Instead it was the All Blacks own magician, Dan Carter, who waved his magic wand and left the Springbok defence spellbound with a brilliant solo effort that resulted in the New Zealand pivot under the posts for the visitors' second try in the 65th minute.

With green and gold jerseys lined up in abundance, Carter backed his strength and agility to stretch over -- backwards -- for a wonderful score that was duly followed by a simple conversion.

Again, the Boks tried to fight back, but with little success as desperate passes ended up in the hands of the assistant match referee and aimless kicks were left for the All Blacks to counter-attack back to where the ball went skyward.

The second half was bruising with some hard hits from both sides but the pace of the game, and it was frenetic, seemed to take a greater toll on the South African forwards.  The only injury loss was to the All Blacks with wing Sitiveni Sivivatu forced to leave the field with a leg injury.  His place was taken by Isaia Toeava.

With the game all but lost, the final nail came crashing down into South Africa's coffin when a wayward Jean de Villiers pass was intercepted by replacement hooker Keven Mealamu who couldn't believe his luck as he run in unopposed for the All Blacks third and final try.

At this stage, the Bok fans were streaming out of the stadium gates faster than it took them to get in.  And who could blame them?  The match was always going to be won by the team who wanted it most, in this case it was New Zealand.

The All Blacks are now on 14 points in the Tri-Nations, after five games and with one game to go.  Australia, with three Tri-Nations games left -- two against South Africa and one against the All Blacks -- are second on nine points.  The Springboks, who need a miracle to now win the Tri-Nations, are on five points with just two games left.

South Africa will have to cope with the fact that they are all but out of the Tri-Nations.  They will have to cope with the fact that they scored zero points in a home match where they were slight favourites.  Worst of all, they will have to cope with the fact that they were beaten by an average New Zealand outfit and were ultimately undone by their own incompetence.

Man of the match:  Simple.  Richie McCaw, playing in his second Test back from an ankle injury, was again at his best.  The All Blacks' captain fantastic battled on after suffering a painful blow to the ribs to lead his charges to victory.  Throughout the match he dominated the breakdown, pulled off numerous telling tackles and gave errant referee Matt Goddard several reminders on what the rule book actually states.

Moment of the match:  For South Africa, it could have been the final whistle, however they had to first deal with Dan Carter's solo effort that saw the All Blacks pivot turn his body with little difficulty for a superb show of gymnastics that would have won him at least a bronze at the Olympics.

Villain of the match:  Take a bow world champions for denying your home crowd a single point to cheer about.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Carter, Mealamu, Smith
Cons:  Carter 2

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Andries Bekker, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Enrico Januarie, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 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 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Referee:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)

Boks run Pumas ragged

South Africa overcame a poor opening half an hour to record an emphatic 63-9 victory over a subdued Argentina at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday, giving Nelson Mandela the perfect 90th birthday present.

For thirty minutes it looked as if Argentina had forgotten the script as they edged into a nine-point lead to leave the Springbok faithful a touch nervous.  But once South Africa found their rhythm Argentina had no answer to their host's attacking intent - not through a lack of skill but rather a lack of fitness.

South Africa are in the middle of their international season, whilst Argentina came into this game with the bulk of their players in the middle of pre-season training with their clubs.  Once South Africa got the better of their guests it was only ever going to be a case of how many points.  Argentina simply didn't have the fitness to live with the Boks at altitude.

But whilst their lungs were fresh the Pumas gave South Africa a severe wake-up call, if they are to win the Tri-Nations they can ill afford to play as badly as they did in the opening thirty minutes.  Too often passes went astray, balls were lost in contact and tackles were not made to great effect.  On top of that the South Africans' lack of discipline proved costly.

Felipe Contepomi kicked three from four penalties to give his side a healthy lead after half an hour, only for it to amount to little more than a scant consolation as the Springboks ran riot in the final sixty minutes.

It took a poor pass from Enrico Januarie to spark the Springboks into life.  As the ball skidded along the floor to Jean de Villiers the Argentine defence paused for a second, allowing De Villiers to exploit the gap and send Adrian Jacobs over for a fine opening score.  Butch James kicked the first of nine conversions to narrow the gap to two.

Two minutes later and the Springboks were in front, thanks to a fine solo try from debutante Jongi Nokwe.  The Cheetahs wing gathered the ball on the blue 22 before dancing his way past two defenders and cruising over to give his side the lead.

The score remained at 14-9 until half-time, but after the break it was more one-way traffic from the home side.  Clearly Argentina were not up to scratch as they progressively grew worse in defence, allowing South Africa to exploit them almost at will.

It took only three minutes of the second half for Pierre Spies to extend the lead, superbly gathering a hack ahead from JP Pietersen to put daylight between the two sides.  The game was put beyond doubt when Pietersen himself cruised through a gaping hole in the Pumas defence to score his side's fourth try.

Bok boss Peter de Villiers saw that as the perfect time to introduce some fresh legs, bringing on Fourie du Preez and Jaque Fourie.  Sadly for Fourie his game would end within ten minutes as he was forced from the field with a suspected fractured cheekbone.  Du Preez on the other hand marked a fine cameo appearance with a try with just his second touch of the ball.

His return will spark a mass debate as to who should play at scrum-half against the All Blacks next week.  Januarie has proven he is worthy of a spot in the side, but not at Du Preez's expense.  The Blue Bulls half-back added an extra dimension to the Springboks back-line when he came on and allowed them to attack with quicker ball.

The question is who does De Villiers prefer, will he stick with the tried and tested Januarie or look to win the game gambling on the more exciting Du Preez?  We will soon find out.

Another area in which he will have reason to think is at second row.  If Bakkies Botha fails to recover from the injury that forced him off in the first half Andries Bekker will step into the breach.  But based on today's efforts there is a strong case for Bekker to start regardless of Botha's fitness, South Africa can't afford to lose out on a player of Bekker's ability in favour of Botha's one-dimensional approach.

Argentine heads dropped following Du Preez's try and further tries were added through Joe Van Niekerk (2), Bismarck du Plessis and a second for Pietersen.  Van Niekerk scored his brace within two minutes of coming on to leave Argentina facing their biggest ever defeat at the hands of the Springboks.

It was hardly surprising to see All Blacks scouts in the stands, as their team trained for the first time since arriving in Cape Town on Friday, recording the game to analyse next week's opposition.  On the evidence of this showing they will be confident of picking up their first away win of this season's Tri-Nations.

In truth South Africa were average.  The opening half an hour, when Argentina were fresh, highlighted several weaknesses in their game, and although they ran in nine tries the majority came when their under-cooked opponents were failing to stay with the pace of the game.  A repeat of the opening thirty next week and the All Blacks will be leaving for home with five points and a smile on their faces.

Plenty for Peter de Villiers to think about this week then as Graham Henry looks to take revenge for the 30-28 defeat dished out in Dunedin.

Man of the Match:  Argentina fought bravely but had few standout performers, with Juan Manuel Leguizamón the pick of their side.  For the Springboks Tendai Mtawarira shone in the scrum, Jongi Nokwe was impressive on debut and Conrad Jantjes was as solid as ever.  But it was Luke Watson who stole the show with his action-packed display to soften the loss of Schalk Burger.  Watson was so often the link man in all that was good for the Springboks and did his fair share of work at the breakdown too.

Moment of the Match:  If it wasn't for Enrico Januarie's wild pass from the base of the scrum that flew over Butch James' head South Africa might never have got going.  As it was Jean de Villiers scooped it up before racing away to send Adrian Jacobs in for the try - a score that opened the floodgates.  A special mention should also go to the Ledesma brothers, Mario and younger brother Pedro, who in the sixth minute packed down together for the first ever time in international rugby.

Villain of the Match:  There was the usual petulant fists thrown from Bakkies Botha in the early exchanges, but nothing to warrant this ghastly gong.  Instead we will rather give it to the moneymen who organised this match.  Apart from giving Nelson Mandela a nice present this game was pointless.  Argentina were in pre-season training and were never going to present a serious challenge for a match-fit Springbok side in the midst of the Tri-Nations.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Jacobs, Nokwe, Spies, Du Preez, Du Plessis, Van Niekerk 2, Pietersen 2
Cons:  James 9

For Argentina:
Pens:  Contepomi 3

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Butch James, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha,3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Joe van Niekerk, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Percy Montgomery.

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 José María Núñez Piossek, 13 Federico Martín Aramburu, 12 Miguel Avramovic, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Felipe Contepomi (c), 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 3 Pedro Ledesma, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Álvaro Galindo, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Benjamín Urdapilleta, 22 Rafael Carballo.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Matt Goddard (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (IRB)

New Zealand back in the black

New Zealand avenged last week's loss in Australia by recording a cerebral 39-10 victory over the Wallabies in Auckland on Saturday, notching up a crucial bonus-point with the last move of the game.

The win moves New Zealand back to the top of the Tri-Nations table and removes the angry mob from Graham Henry's door -- this was a perfect response from the besieged All Blacks.

Henry allowed himself a rare smile as Ma'a Nonu crashed over at the death to punctuate what has been a fortnight of introspection.  It was the final act of a win built on hard work and iron resolve, and the wily old coach and his cohorts deserve to bask in the glory of this emphatic response.

With the spectre of a third straight defeat looming large, New Zealand stiffened the sinews and got back to basics.  They were majestic at the line-out, indefatigable at the breakdown and canny with their options.  In short, they were dominant in the all the areas in which they were outplayed last weekend.

For this, Henry owes a large debt of gratitude to Richie McCaw.  The talismanic skipper returned to reattach heads to the decapitated chickens that masqueraded as All Blacks in Sydney.

Dan Carter, inevitably, also deserves praise for his efforts.  The fly-half won rave reviews for his running game during New Zealand's back-to-back defeats but here he decided to play the role of puppet-master, and the All Blacks were all the better for it.  His boot allowed his side to play the game on its own terms and the Australians were unable to gain anything more than a foothold.

Indeed, astute kicking led to New Zealand's first two tries -- both scored by prop Tony Woodcock.

A beautifully weighted kick by Carter, who had traded penalties with opposite number Matt Giteau for a 6-3 lead to the All Blacks, resulted in a five-metre line-out to the Wallabies, who were then penalised for not throwing the ball five metres.

From the resulting scrum, the ball was spun wide to Nonu, who broke through the first line of defence.  After a series of pick-and-goes that went close to the line, Rodney So'oialo popped the ball out to Woodcock, who burrowed under Giteau to score.

The prop went over for his second just moments after Adam Ashley-Copper was adjudged to have taken the ball dead in the gold corner after he collected a scooting grubber with one foot in touch.  Law 19 dictates that a "catch" in such a stance would have handed the Wallabies the line-out, but the locals got the nod -- presumably Ashley-Cooper had merely "fielded" the ball -- and added mortal injury to grave insult.

The outstanding Ali Williams -- who stole six gold line-out balls during the game -- dropped the ball down at the apex of his jump and Woodcock burst between the two black pods to score.

Despite the setback, the Australians responded with a well-worked try of their own.

Giteau floated a delicious pass out to Mortlock who drifted outside Conrad Smith before setting Ashley-Copper on his way to the line.

Giteau's conversion reduced the deficit to 18-10 but that was short-lived as George Smith was penalised for playing the ball off his feet and Carter stepped up to slot his third penalty of the game to give the All Blacks a 21-10 lead.

The second half started with a roar for the home side, with Nonu charged over for the first of his two try.

The inside centre, who had been roughed up for by the local media in the build-up to the game, had a hand in the move three times after McCaw forced the turnover with a huge tackle on Australian scrum-half Luke Burgess.

The ball was scooped up by hooker Andrew Hore and made its way out to Nonu, who charged through the gap, fired the ball off to wing Sitiveni Sivivatu before collecting it again and charging for the line.

Carter's conversion gave the All Blacks a healthy 18-point cushion with just over 20 minutes to go.

That lead was pushed out to 24 points with successive penalties for Carter before Nonu wrapped up a gripping encounter when he raced away to touch down in the corner at the death, with the try being confirmed via video referral.

It wasn't a patch on Jean-Luc Sadourny's famous late effort at Eden Park back in 1994, but New Zealand will take it:  it could prove to be a turning point.

Man of the match:  The Wallabies were simply bullied out of the game, with the All Blacks doing a fine job on Matt Giteau, who threatened to turn the tables on a number of occassion.  Ma'a Nonu put in a fine performance, Jimmy Cowan had his best ever Test, and Dan Carter was clever and effective.  However, New Zealand's dominance was carved out by their granite forwards.  Tony Woodcock deserves hefty praise for his two-try effort whilst Richie McCaw was, as always, majestic.  But Ali Williams just pips the great man with a titanic display at the line-out and in the loose.

Moment of the match:  Plenty of fine moves, with Australia's try being the pick of the scores.  But we'll opt for Tony Woodcock's second try.  It was a well-worked move straight off the training paddock.  Better than the ploy was the prop's embarrassed blush as he trotted back to his own half.  We have new laws, referees with highlights, centres in make-up and tight shiny jerseys, so it's good to see that some things in rugby will never change.  Props, know your place!

Villian of the match:  George Smith deserves a ticking-off for a high tackle on Conrad Smith late in the game, but the moment followed a case of mistaken identity in which Smith was blamed for an indiscretion perpetrated by Wycliff Palu, so we'll decline from making matters more confusing still!  No award.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Woodcock 2, Nonu 2
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 5

For Australia:
Try:  Ashley-Copper
Con:  Giteau
Pen:  Giteau

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

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 Phil Waugh, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dan Vickerman, 19 Hugh McMeniman, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Drew Mitchell.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), James Bolabiu (Fiji)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)