ABs fail to break SA resolve

New Zealand came up short against South Africa in the Tri-Nations on Saturday, going down 28-19 after fighting back from 17-3 down.

As with last week, it was the first half that cost the All Blacks.  A dire 47 minutes left them trailing 17-3 and having had barely a sniff of the line.  Only when Conrad Smith wove his way through three tackles to score a scintillating solo try did the belief finally begin to course through the black shirts.  This time it was too late.

Last week's slow All Black start could have been forgiven.  But this is now two weeks in a row.  The first-half statistics -- three line-outs lost out of seven, two scrums out of five, only 20 per cent of the first half-hour possession and eight penalties conceded -- would be gruesome reading for Graham Henry and co. in isolation, but couple that with similar stats from last week and you have a burgeoning problem.  Expect a first half of fire and improved set pieces from the All Blacks in Durban next week in response.

South Africa's gameplan was as limited as we have seen all year -- even more so than against the Lions.  So much for Peter de Villiers' initial ideals of expansive and beautiful rugby.  Debate rages on about whether he coaches the team or they do their own thing with him giving bits of advice, but the unity of purpose here suggests that players and coach are now singing from the same songsheet, regardless of whose it is.

It ain't pretty though.  Bryan Habana had nothing to do bar chasing kicks, a task he set about with gusto -- it probably saved him from frostbite, so cold was the rarified Bloemfontein air.  Fourie du Preez controlled the game peerlessly from the base of the scrum with the boot, teaching Brendon Leonard a masterclass in the measured arts.  It was no coincidence that when Piri Weepu brought his own culture to the game, things evened up immeasurably -- Graham Henry should take careful note there, using Weepu and Leonard with the latter making an impact would have been a far better option.

Leonard was also penalised twice for feeding at the scrum;  a laudable initiative from Alain Rolland but one he failed to sustain.  one scrum feed, from Fourie du Preez in the second half, actually surprised number eight Spies so much that the ball popped out and was stolen by the All Blacks.  Overfeed!

The South African ball rarely made it past the centres;  so blinkered were they to the concept of keeping it near the forwards that even Jean de Villiers at one point eschewed a three-man overlap, not even looking outside, and popped it inside to an onrushing forward.  Stephen Donald's channel was mercilessly targeted, a tactic which only really half-worked.

The driving maul, also frequently employed, worked a good deal better.  Out of all the nations in world rugby to try and react since those abominable ELVs were dropped, South Africa have mastered the driving maul the best.

But the abrasion and pressure created by the green-clad Leviathans bullied out the penalties which ultimately won them the game.  Had Ruan Pienaar had his kicking boots on, it could have been wrapped up by the break.

New Zealand's attempts to move the ball wide foundered under that forward pressure as well, not to mention some abysmal execution at times which occasionally left you wondering if the All Blacks hadn't merely first met each other on the flight over.  Again, Leonard's hesitancy as he felt his way into the game was a drawback, but neither Nonu nor Donald found any change from the defence and Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu were wrapped up tight.  Once throttled, the All Black game went limp.

The visitors took an early lead after De Villiers had conceded a needless penalty for a late tackle and Donald had landed his first, but that was cancelled out by Frans Steyn from over 50m when Brad Thorn was caught not rolling away.

Pienaar hit the post with two more penalties -- one of them a sitter -- as the home side's intensity with the ball up-jumper and accuracy with the boot told.  The ball-carrying from Juan Smith and Pierre Spies in particular was exceptional.

Pienaar made it third time lucky as the All Blacks collapsed a maul, precipitating a nine-minute spell where the Boks did not leave the All Blacks 22 except to take a line-out for a clearance kick.  It culminated in a try for Pienaar, who looped the tackled De Villiers and cantered though the space vacated by Rokocoko into the corner.

Frans Steyn added a penalty on the half-hour to make it 14-3, Pienaar missed another sitter on the stroke of half-time as the Boks took full control.

Pienaar did not emerge from the dressing room after the break as a result of a foot injury, but replacement Morne Steyn fitted the initial bill, landing the first penalty of the half for a marginal offside involving Smith.

Momentum swung dramatically when Smith scored his try, with New Zealand looking more energetic, more effective and more cohesive.  Passes stuck, turnovers were forced, gaps sprung up in the green wall.  Donald narrowed the gap from the tee to 17-13, having converted the try.  It seemed as if those missed kicks might come back to haunt the Boks.

Frans Steyn steadied the boat with a penalty, but Donald once again pegged him back.  New Zealand had it all to do still with 17 minutes to go but the opposition was in sight.

But with eight minutes to go, Weepu dithered at the back of a ruck and Kieran Read over-ran him.  Spies hacked the ball forward, Weepu rescued it then threw a silly no-look past, picked off by Juan Smith who gave Jaque Fourie the run-in for the killer try.

In the final minutes, Donald's penalty gave New Zealand license to dream of a late winner once more before Morne Steyn sealed the deal with two minutes to go.

Man of the match:  Hard work up front was the order of the day, and the hardest and most effective grafter of all was Pierre Spies.  He's not just about the tries he scores in Super 14 ...

Moment of the match:  The killer blow was Jaque Fourie's try

Villain of the match:  A few bits of niggle, but nothing too untoward.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Pienaar, Fourie
Pens:  F Steyn 2, Pienaar, M Steyn 3

For New Zealand:
Try:  Smith
Con:  Donald
Pens:  Donald 4

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Wynand Olivier.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Cory Jane.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
TMO:  Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)

All Blacks take advantage

New Zealand have won the opening match of the 2009 Tri-Nations, struggling past Australia 22-16 in Auckland on Saturday.

Having trailed 13-10 at half-time, the All Blacks utilised the stiff breeze at their backs to full advantage in the second half and played the game firmly in Australia's half.  Three penalties from the boot of Stephen Donald did the trick as Australia failed to find away through the All Black defence and the men in yellow made far too many infringements.

Australia will look at it as one that got away.  Stirling Mortlock was candid in his on-pitch post-match interview that his side's discipline let them down and it was hard to argue with him.  There were 12 penalties conceded in all, far too many at this level, and the turnover count will be gruesome reading for Robbie Deans when it arrives.

Then there were the first half errors that cost the Wallabies precious points.  Berrick Barnes, having scored one wonderful try himself already, utterly ruined what was effectively a five on two overlap through a mixture of indecision and poor execution under pressure.  All he needed to do was draw and pass.  He was not the only guilty party when it came to decision-making though.

In the other camp, New Zealand will need to up their game before travelling to South Africa to face the Boks.  The men in black missed 19 tackles in all, also losing four of their own throws at the line-out.  Excellent work in the rucks was often undone by a lack of cohesion in the half-backs and only when Piri Weepu took a firm hold of the game at scrum-half did the All Blacks find their shape.

Tactically, Australia came with a high-risk policy of committing as few people as possible to the rucks.  It worked to an extent -- certainly they played all the rugby in the opening half-hour -- but the Wallabies have to be prepared for opponents to counter it physically.  The strategy only works if the service from the base of the scrum is crisp and zippy.  Today it was not and the All Blacks were able to pile in the numbers and win those turnovers as a result.

But after 25 minutes you would have been a fool to predict a New Zealand win.  Australia led 13-3, a scoreline which flattered New Zealand.  The Wallabies did all the attacking, moving the ball ably and sweetly with Matt Giteau and Barnes alternating at fly-half to direct the traffic.

After five minutes, Barnes took a ball on the short side at pace and sliced through, beating off two weak covering tackles to get to the line for a super opening score which Giteau converted.

When Giteau landed a penalty four minutes later to make it 10-0, there seemed already to be little way back for the hosts, who just could not keep pace with the Wallaby movement.

Yet the Wallaby scrum provided a point of weakness for the All Blacks to concentrate on, with Al Baxter given a rough ride both by Tony Woodcock and referee Craig Joubert.  It was a little chink of armour the All Blacks used well.  Stephen Donald missed a chance from the tee after Baxter had been penalised once, he made no mistake five minutes later after Mortlock had been caused offside at a high kick.

The match turning point could well have been Barnes' missed opportunity.  Donald had a kick charged down from a line-out, a charge-down with more than a whiff of offside about it.

Giteau did wonderfully to regather and pop a pass out, almost while sliding across the turf on his belly.  Barnes took the ball at pace and had Mortlock and Smith coming close at straight angles, Horwill inside him and Drew Mitchell out wide to pass to.

Too many options?  Maybe, but at this level you have to make a decision.  Barnes dummied a switch with Mortlock which Muliaina read well.  The full-back caught Barnes, whose offload to the onrushing Smith was too late, too hard, too high and knocked on.  Giteau's penalty a minute later for hands in the ruck did nothing to ease the sense that a huge opportunity to take a match-winning lead had been blown;  there's a world of difference between 13-3 and 17-3.

On 25 minutes, the All Blacks finally stitched together a movement off a line-out and it yielded a try for Richie McCaw.  Sitiveni Sivivatu and Rodney So'oialo -- both of whom stood out as workhorses all night -- combined to make ground in midfield, then after a few more phases Conrad Smith broke the line and offloaded inside to McCaw for a score through a gap where a back-row should have been covering.

Australia's attack kept plugging away with some ever more creative formations, not least the move which had five players as a running screen in front of Giteau standing deep, but couldn't find a way through to extend the lead to the extent that it should have been with that wind at their backs.  Indeed, had Mitchell not batted down the pass from Donald's clean break, Australia could have been behind at the break.

The second half began with a flurry of penalties, two to New Zealand and one to the Wallabies, tying the scores at 16-apiece.  But with Weepu on for Cowan, New Zealand found an extra measure of control, crucial to be able to utilise that wind properly and pin Australia back.

It became an arm-wrestle, which suited New Zealand far more.  On the hour, they took the lead again after a dreadful pass from Burgess saw Giteau's kick charged down.  Three phases later, George Smith was fortunate not to be yellow-carded for the hand that took the ball out of Weepu's hands at the ruck, but Donald's penalty was punishment enough.

Australia had another gilt-edged chance to launch a line-threatening attack after Kieran Read dropped a high ball in his own 22, but the ball was turned over at second phase, once again with the Wallabies failing to commit enough people to secure possession.  It was turned over and hoofed a mile downfield.

Donald landed another with eight minutes to go, as Australia upped their desperation levels, to seal the game.

Man of the match:  Hard work was the order of the day in this win and none worked harder than Jerome Kaino.

Moment of the match:  It has to be the missed chance to go two tries ahead from Australia in the first half.  They could have been out of sight if that had been run home.

Villain of the match:  So clean it was almost sanitised!  No award.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  McCaw
Con:  Donald
Pens:  Donald 5

For Australia:
Try:  Barnes
Con:  Giteau
Pens:  Giteau 3

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Josevata Rokocoko.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Richard Brown, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 David Pocock, 21 Will Genia, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Marius Jonker (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO:  Vinny Munro (New Zealand)

US Eagles pip Canada

The US Eagles celebrated Independence Day with a hard-fought 12-6 victory over Canada in Saturday's Rugby World Cup qualifying tie at the Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.

The winner over two legs, the second of which will be played in Edmonton, Canada on 11 July, will claim the Americas 1 spot in Pool A of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand to face the host nation as well as France, Tonga and the top Asian qualifier.

The loser moves on to face Uruguay, the winner of the South American qualification phase, in a two-match series to determine the Americas 2 qualifier in Pool C against Australia, Ireland, Italy and the Europe 2 qualifier.

In Oceania, Papua New Guinea overcame the Cook Islands in Port Moresby 29-21 to win the Oceania Cup and reach the region's qualifying final.

The PNG side now faces a daunting two-match series against relative heavyweights Samoa, who finished outside the top three in their 2007 World Cup pool meaning they had to qualify for the 2011 event.

Veteran USA fly half Mike Hercus kicked all of the USA's as the Eagles ground out a first win against Canada since 2005.

Hercus kicked one drop goal and three penalty goals in the sweltering South Carolina heat in front of a patriotic home crowd.

"The forwards played exceptionally well.  They built the platform for Hercus and he executed.  Canada is always a very tough competitor and this was a hard fought match.  But I thought these boys deserved this victory," said USA coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

"We missed a couple of opportunities, but a win is a win and I'm really happy we could get the job done at home.  Now we just need to repeat it next week."

Hercus was named man of the match, but remained modest about his own performance.

"I just happen to be the kicker, the forwards did all the hard work.  It was a tough game and they played very well.

"We only had five guys on the team, including myself, who had ever beaten Canada before and of course this is our biggest game of the year.  This is about as good as it gets," said Hercus, who was joined by Mike MacDonald, Todd Clever, Salesi Sika and Paul Emerick on the team that dealt Canada a 20-19 defeat in the 2005 Churchill Cup tournament.

Canada coach Kieran Crowley tipped his hat to the USA's effort and knows that his side will have to perform a lot better next weekend to avoid the play-off withUruguay.

"They just out-passioned us and they deserved the win," said Crowley after the match.  "That's what this series is about and today we just weren't good enough.

"They got good go-forward ball and our ball was slow.  In the first half we got sucked into their game a little bit and the pressure just kept on."

The scorers:

For the United States:
Pens:  Hercus 3
Drop:  Hercus

For Canada:
Pens:  Pritchard 2

The teams:

United States:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Roland Suniula, 11 Kevin Swiryn, 10 Mike Hercus, 9 Tim Usasz, 8 Nic Johnson, 7 Todd Clever (c), 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 John Van der Giessen, 3 Shawn Pittman, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mate Moeakiola.
Replacements:  16 Brian McClenahan, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Alec Parker, 19 JJ Gagiano, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Ata Malifa, 22 Alipate Tuilevuka.

Canada:  13 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Dan Pletch, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Mike Pletch,17 Andrew Tiedemann, 18 Frank Walsh, 19 Stu Ault, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Ciaran Hearn.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)

Lions win back their pride

The British and Irish Lions notched their first win in eight Tests on Saturday, beating South Africa convincingly 28-9 in Johannesburg.

The tourists had been widely-tipped to fall flat on their faces in the third match, a dead rubber at the end of a long tour.  Not a bit of it.  All the energy and pride associated with the proud red jersey was on display for the full eighty minutes, while the Boks floundered under the weight of changes and occasional lack of experience at key moments.

But South Africa will not garner any sympathy.  They took to the fields with white armbands emblazoned with "Justice 4", a puerile protest at the two-week ban handed out to the Bakkies Botha.  It was an absolutely ludicrous idea, which smacked of Peter de Villiers' nonsensical thinking and deserves full censure from the IRB, who must surely examine this brazen flouting of their authority and take some form of action.

The stats also tell a little tale.  The Lions have outscored their hosts by seven tries to five, and by 74 points to 63 over the three games.  The key stat is obviously the 2-1 series defeat, but small wonder that the tourists did a lap of honour at the end.  The Lions brand is alive and strong and whatever the result, credit has to be lavished upon the touring party for the way they have gone about their business.

The Lions set their stall out to up the pace of the game early on, eschewing kicks for touch for measured up and unders or the mesmerising counter-attack talents of Rob Kearney.  It worked a charm.  Riki Flutey and Shane Williams got ball in the danger zones as a result and rather than the blunt hammer of the first two Tests, the Lions wielded a honed sword in attack.  Martyn Williams in particular, was pure class, aided by his team-mates' deft handling skills.

They were in fine fettle in the set-pieces too.  At the first scrum both Phil Vickery and Andy Sheridan annihilated their opposite numbers, forcing a penalty.  Stephen Jones missed with his first, but succeeded minutes later after a penalty conceded for not releasing the tackled player -- the Boks' fourth penalty to zero from the Lions.

Those points were donated back at the restart, with Shane Williams slicing the clearance kick and the Boks forcing a penalty from the resulting line-out and subsequent phases.

In defence, the tourists tightened up significantly, not so much in technique but with some indomitable spirit.  Flutey put in a monstrous hit on Wynand Olivier, while Joe Worsley's backtrack to grad Odwa Ndungane by the ankles was near-miraculous.

The Boks looked like a team with ten changes at times, especially in defence.  Heinrich Brüssow, mentioned by Ieuan Evans before the game as a possible player of the series, was nowhere to be seen.  Martyn Williams was everywhere -- at times the gulf in positioning ability and game-reading was that of tutor and tutee.  Brüssow lashed out at Williams after 63 minutes as his frustration boiled over;  he was not the only Bok to have a go as they faced an ignominious defeat in a pugnacious final twenty minutes.

There was not the same accuracy at the rucks and mauls from the men in green, especially with the ball in hand.  As a result, the Lions forced all sorts of turnovers, two of which yielded tries.

The first one was imbued with a whiff of controversy, with South Africa justly complaining that Simon Shaw had run in front of Jamie Heaslip as the Irish number eight broke the line on the blindside.

Neither Stuart Dickinson nor Vinny Munro picked it up though, and Heaslip drew Zane Kirchner masterfully before popping inside to Shane Williams for the opening score under the posts.

A bizarre missed conversion followed, as the ball fell off the tee during Jones' run-up and he was unable to pick it up and drop goal it in time -- and was there just a sniff of a lash-out from Brüssow's boot as he smothered Jones?

8-3 seemed precarious, but the Lions quickly put that to rights with the try of the series.  Flutey's chip bounced kindly, but his catch and flip over his head to Williams was as instinctive as it was scintillating.  Williams again had the simplest of run-ins to the posts and this time there was no intervening gust of wind.

In between the two there could have been a third try had anyone chased up Williams' infield kick but it was perhaps the one criticism of the Lions at times.

The Boks got themselves a toe back in the door at the end of the half, controlling the ball better and tempting Simon Shaw to incur the wrath of the crowd with a knee to the upper back of Fourie du Preez.  Shaw got ten minutes, but Du Preez did not re-appear after half-time -- given the atmosphere around the tams with regard to foul play, a citing will surely follow.

Two more penalties followed the line-out, the second of which Morné Steyn knocked over on half-time to make it 15-6, a deserved lead for the tourists.

The game followed a similar pattern in the second half, although Francois Steyn's introduction sparked a bit of life into the South African attack.

Tommy Bowe made a terrific cover tackle on Ndungane, knocking the ball out of the winger's hands as he neared the corner.

The decisive moment came on 55 minutes.  As the Boks searched for the try out wide that would get them back into it, Ugo Monye came in off his wing.  It's a defensive move that has cost the Lions four or five tries during this series but this time the Harlequins flyer picked off the floated pass and hared away for an 80m try under the posts.

That sealed the game.  The Boks fought briefly and secured three further points from the boot of Steyn, but discipline crumbled under pressure, enabling Jones to put the game out of reach with two quick penalties.

Man of the match:  Another magnificent performance from Martyn Williams in his last showing in a Lions jersey.

Moment of the match:  Ugo Monye's intercept -- with a little juggle and against a three-man overlap to put hearts in mouths -- killed it all off.

Villain of the match:  Quite a few nasty moments.  Simon Shaw will no doubt be censured for his knee to Fourie du Preez's back, while Francois Steyn was fortunate not to catch Mike Phillips with a vicious backhand swing.  One apiece there ... so a joint award.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens:  Steyn 3

For the British & Irish Lions:
Tries:  S.Williams 2, Monye
Cons:  Jones 2
Pens:  Jones 3

Yellow card:  Shaw (Lions, 38, knee)

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Johann Muller, 3 John Smit, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Guthro Steenkamp, 18 Dean Carstens, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Frans Steyn.

British & Irish Lions:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Tommy Bowe, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 John Hayes, 18 Alun-Wyn Jones, 19 David Wallace, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Harry Ellis, 22 James Hook.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referee:  Christophe Berdos (France), Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning