Pumas claim historic draw with Boks

South Africa needed a charge-down try to snatch a 16-all draw against Argentina at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza on Saturday.

The outcome is the Pumas' best result in 15 Tests with the Springboks, but the hosts will nevertheless be bitterly disappointed after leading the match until the 65th minute.

Argentina held a deserved 13-3 lead at half-time as the limitations of South Africa's predictable game plan were exposed.  Unable to dominate their opponents physically or at the set piece, the Boks no had alternative solution to get past the resolute Argentine defence.

Intensity is sometimes an overused word in rugby columns but the Pumas were positively breathing fire!  It's a rare sight to witness the Springboks outmuscled at the breakdown area but they were coming off second best as the hosts threw numbers into the contact area, especially in the first hour.

Poor decision making and an inexcusable number of missed tackles left Heyneke Meyer's men staring defeat in the face until Frans Steyn saved their blushes with an opportunistic try.

The verdict from Boks fans will be clear:  Simply not good enough.

Argentina were first on the scoreboard when Martín Rodríguez landed a penalty with his second attempt at goal.

The Pumas showed a refreshing commitment to keep the ball alive and were rewarded with a try via Route One at the end of an eight-phase charge.  Centre Santiago Ferníndez collected the ball after a strong run form prop Juan Figallo to ghost into a gap and score under the sticks.  Rodríguez added the easy extras.

The full-back missed another opportunity to extend the lead but visiting pivot Morné Steyn was also off target with his first penalty attempt, leaving the scores at 10-0 on the half-hour mark.

South Africa's fly-half landed his next shot though to become the Springboks' highest all-time points scorer, but Rodríguez replied in kind just before the interval to maintain the ten-point gap as the teams swapped ends.

Steyn and Rodríguez traded penalties early in the second period but referee Steve Walsh was starting to tire of Argentina's infringements on the deck and the South African fly-half could reduce the deficit to seven points.

Ferníndez narrowly missed a drop goal as the hosts tried to run down the clock, but the Pumas were getting ahead of themselves.  The game was far from over.

The boisterous crowd was finally subdued when Frans Steyn charged down Marcelo Bosch and jogged in for a match-changing try.  His namesake's conversion levelled matters and the scorers were not troubled again.

Man of the match:  Veteran prop Rodrigo Roncero had a storming game but we can't look past Pumas skipper Juan Martín Ferníndez Lobbe who was brilliant at the breakdown, outstanding on defence and made life very difficult for the Boks in the line-outs.

Moment of the match:  You've never heard a roar from a rugby crowd like the one after Santiago Ferníndez's try.  It was a great moment for Argentine rugby not only because it put the Pumas ten points ahead but because of the way the hosts threw themselves into contact to set it up.  'Commitment' does not even begin to describe it.

Villain of the match:  Heyneke Meyer.  Not even the Bulls play old-school Bulls rugby anymore.  Something needs to change.  Fast.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Try:  Ferníndez
Con:  Rodríguez
Pens:  Rodríguez 3

For South Africa:
Try:  F. Steyn
Con:  M. Steyn
Pens:  M. Steyn 3

Argentina:  15 Martín Rodríguez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Ferníndez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolís Sínchez, 9 Nicolís Vergallo, 8 Juan Martín Ferníndez Lobbe (c), 7 ílvaro Galindo, 6 Julio Farías Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Leonardo Senatore, 19 Tomís Leonardi, 20 Martín Landajo, 21 Lucas Gonzílez Amorosino, 22 Juan Imhoff.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.

Venue:  Estadio Malvinas Argentinas
Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garces (France), John Lacey (Ireland)

Wallabies nilled in Auckland

New Zealand eased to a comfortable 22-0 win over Australia in Auckland on Saturday, which sees the hosts retain the Bledisloe Cup.

The All Blacks once again underlined their status as world champions by keeping their trans-Tasman rivals scoreless for the first time since 1962.

Last week's victory was built largely on a dominant first-half performance, this time the home side came out firing after the break after leading 9-0 at half-time.

Once again the All Blacks dominated their Australian counterparts in general play, which saw them thrive with ball in hand.  But despite this ascendancy, the hosts failed to convert pressure into more than one five-pointer being scored due to a couple of knock-ons at key moments.

As a result, Dan Carter kept the scoreboard ticking over thanks to another 17-point haul from the talismatic All Blacks pivot who punished mistakes made by the ill-discliplined Wallabies as the hosts came at them.

The Wallabies enjoyed a good start to the match, and looked a far better unit than the one on display in Sydney as they kept New Zealand scoreless for 25 minutes.  But a yellow card shown to stand-in skipper Will Genia 10 minutes before the break arguably was the start of Australia's downfall, as the All Blacks kicked into gear and gained control of the match.

Robbie Deans' record against the All Blacks now reads three wins from 17 fixtures.  And with yet another Bledisloe out of reach and their points-less Rugby Championship campaign on life support, the pressure on the Wallabies' coach is sure to intensify.

New Zealand had the best chances to score during the opening exchanges, with only a superb cover tackle from Adam Ashley-Cooper denying Israel Dagg, while Liam Messam was held up over the line thanks to some superb work from lock Sitaleki Timani.

After missing an early first penalty attempt, Carter finally moved the All Blacks into the lead after 25 minutes and added his second three-pointer from the resulting penalty when Genia was given his marching orders.

The visitors, though, did well to restrict the All Blacks — who now had a one-man advantage — to only one more Carter penalty before the interval as Berrick Barnes took over scrum-half duties.

With the game still anyone's for the taking at half-time, Carter landed his fourth successful kick of the match with a monster 51m effort two minutes into the second half.

And the game was effectively put out of sight soon as New Zealand went through the phases before quick ball from Aaron Smith found a superb running line of Dagg for the full-back to score his second try in as many weeks.

Carter converted and then added another penalty to move New Zealand 22-0 in front.

Australia finally had their best spell and they thought they had found a way through but a desperate tackle from Kieran Read denied Barnes.  From there the All Blacks reassumed their dominance, with replacement Ben Smith and Dagg both having good breaks — while Read lost the ball reaching for the line.

The hosts coughed up another couple of chances when Richie McCaw dropped the ball trying to spin over after Hosea Gear had been held up, while Carter passed to no one when it looked easier to score.

But at that stage of the game, it really didn't matter as the one-sided result kept the Kiwis unbeaten after two matches in the Rugby Championship whilst the Bledisloe Cup stays in New Zealand for the 10th consecutive season.

Man of the match:  Dan Carter once again played a starring role with the boot whilst Sonny Bill Williams played a key role on attack.  But we're going to give this to Kieran Read — the number eight had a quiet first forty, but was sublime on attack, defence and everything else in between after the break.

Moment of the match:  13 points in the opening eight minutes of the second half saw New Zealand take the game by the scruff of the neck, and the Kiwis didn't look back.

Villain of the match:  Oh, Will Genia ... so gracious in defeat after the match, but forced to hang his head in shame for the brain implosion suffered during it.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  Dagg
Con:  Carter
Pen:  Carter 5

Yellow card:  Genia, 29th min (Australia, professional foul)

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia (c), 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Radike Samo, 19 Liam Gill, 20 Nick Phipps, 21 Anthony Fainga'a, 22 Kurtley Beale.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

Boks teach Pumas a lesson

Argentina were welcomed into the Rugby Championship with a 27-6 hiding at the hands of the Springboks at Newlands on Saturday.

The Pumas arrived in Cape Town with high hopes of an historic upset but never looked like troubling the South Africans, who led from start to finish.

The men in green and gold scored three well-worked tries while Argentina could only reply with two penalties.

Defeat for the Boks would have spelt a drop to sixth place in the IRB rankings but it was clear from early on that was never going to happen.  Heyneke Meyer's team showed great composure and patience, taking their opportunities when they were presented and pressurising the Argentineans into errors which translated into a 20-6 lead at the break.

A single try in the second half was enough to seal the win for South Africa but they will be disappointed not to have secured a bonus point given the one-sided nature of the clash.

The miserable weather that had belted Cape Town all week finally packed it's bags for pastures further north and glorious sunshine greeted the players and the Newlands faithful.  But the perfect conditions didn't encourage either side to play adventurous rugby.  Argentina were, however, given a lesson on how to effectively employ a forwards-orientated approach.

The Pumas' game-plan was clear to see from the outset as they looked to give the Springboks a taste of their own medicine with a plethora of bombs from the boot of Juan Martín Herníndez.  But the kicks weren't quite accurate enough and the chase was lacking fire, meaning the home side's back three were seldom seriously troubled.

It took just five minutes for Morne Steyn to get the Boks on the board with a penalty but the opening score coincided with a massive blow for the hosts, who saw Bismarck du Plessis leave the field with a knee injury.

Herníndez levelled the scores on the 15-minute mark but when Lucas Amorosino spilt an easy pass just in front of his own try-line, the Pumas looked in trouble.

True enough, three phases after the scrum Zane Kirchner was over in the corner.  Steyn added the extras to give the Boks a 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Steyn added another penalty before Marcell Coetzee broke off the back of a rolling maul to stretch out an arm and thereby extend the hosts' lead.  The conversion took the scores to 20-3 after half-an-hour and the writing was on the wall for the visitors.

Herníndez landed a penalty just before half time and missed two more after the break but it would be the Boks who scored next.  Bryan Habana plucked Steyn's cross-field kick out of the sky (and Horacio Agulla's hands) for an all-too-easy try.

Credit must be given to the Pumas for holding on and not handing over a bonus-point try but their attack was woefully inadequate.  Next week's rematch in Mendoza should provide them with an opportunity to give the Boks a run for their money.

Man of the Match:  Schalk who?  South Africa has a new star openside and his name is Marcell Coetzee.  Another fantastic display from the Sharks youngster bodes well for the future.  A try was just reward.

Moment of the Match:  From the moment Zane Kirchner scored the Boks' first try the result never looked in doubt.

Villain of the Match:  Whoever decided that drum majorettes qualify as pre-game entertainment.  It's not 1981, man.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Kirchner, Coetzee, Habana
Con:  M Steyn 3
Pen:  M Steyn 2

For Argentina:
Pen:  Hernandez 2

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.

Argentina:  15 Lucas Gonzílez Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Ferníndez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Herníndez, 9 Nicolís Vergallo, 8 Juan Martín Ferníndez Lobbe (c), 7 ílvaro Galindo, 6 Julio Farías Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Tomís Leonardi, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Martín Rodríguez.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garces (France), John Lacey (Ireland)
TMO:  Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)

Winning start for All Blacks

New Zealand opened their Rugby Championship account with a 27-19 win over Australia at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.

In a tale of two halves in an overall scrappy game, the All Blacks did enough in the opening forty minutes of the match to bag four competition points as they kicked off the inaugural championship with a hard-fought victory.

The world champions raced to a commanding lead after scoring 18 unanswered points which left the Wallabies with a mountain to climb.

However, the hosts clawed their way back after trailing 18-10 at half-time and continued to stay in touch with their trans-Tasman rivals who had to work a little harder in the second half before Dan Carter sealed the deal with his fifth penalty goal on full-time.

Carter's three-pointer after the siren also denied the Wallabies a losing bonus point, which could prove vital in the overall standings later down the line.

Australia drew first blood after Berrick Barnes opened the scoring with an early penalty with barely three minutes gone on the clock, before Carter leveled matters in the 10th minute.

Three minutes later the All Blacks struck from a scrum outside Australia's 22.  Two decoy runners in midfield allowed Carter to feed full-back Israel Dagg who stepped out of a tackle and then beat Kurtley Beale on the outside to score the opening try.  Carter added the tricky conversion and the All Blacks were smiling with a seven-point lead (3-10) after 14 minutes played.

Australia were found wanting again after New Zealand's relentless pressure and masterly forwards overwhelmed their hosts who coughed up another penalty that Carter dualy converted into three more points.

Whilst the visitors' attack was giving the Wallabies a throbbing headache, so too was the All Blacks defence as Robbie Deans' troops hammered at New Zealand's tryline in a bid to narrow the ever-increasing scoreline but to no avail.

A dropped pass by Scott Higginbotham with Australia hot on attack and then another by Beale didn't help matters for the Wallabies either — the moans and groans from the home crowd becoming a regular feature.

The well-oiled black machine continued to rumble forward and with the Australians' defence once again stretched, Cory Jane finished off superbly in the corner for the world champs' second try of the night — Beale once again exposed out wide.

Carter's conversion missed by inches, but his team-mates wouldn't have been too concerned with an 18-3 lead.  However, the same couldn't be said of their hosts, who looked down and out with eight minutes of the first half still remaining.

Finally, Australia struck gold when Digby Ioane made the intitial inroads after the wing found a chink in the All Blacks' armour only to be tackled inches short of the line.  Nathan Sharpe wasn't to be denied from close range though, and the soon-to-be retired lock powered over.  Barnes converted and the hosts headed into the half-time sheds with some restored confidence.

The second half became a battle of the boots as Carter and Barnes exchanged penalties.  But, even after drawing the second half 9-9, the Wallabies weren't able to bridge the gap.

The result also means Richie McCaw and his merry men have taken a giant stride towards holding onto the Bledisloe Cup which has been in their possession since 2003.

Man of the match:  All Blacks flanker Liam Messam repaid his coaches' faith by carrying his impressive Super Rugby form to the Test arena, while halfback pair Aaron Smith and Dan Carter proved once again to be a lethal combination.  But the player who stood head and shoulders above the rest was Israel Dagg.  The star full-back caused havoc whenever he touched the ball, bagged a try for his efforts and set up another.

Moment of the match:  You just can't keep a good Dagg down!  With only centimetres to work with, Dagg's 13th-minute touchdown after skinning his opposite number on the outside takes the cake.

Villain of the match:  Despite an improved second half from Australia, they were unable to atone for Kurtley Beale's critical blunders in what was an error-prone performance by the full-back who will carry some self-inflicted psychological damage to Eden Park after letting in both of New Zealand's tries.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Sharpe
Con:  Barnes
Pens:  Barnes 4

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg, Jane
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 5

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Anthony Fainga'a, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 David Pocock (capt), 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Drew Mitchell.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (IRFU)