Fiji 10 Italy 66

In a one-off international in Treviso, Italy ran in seven tries and Diego Dominguez scored 31 points as the home side crushed Fiji 66-10.

Italy, who opened the scoring with a Diego Dominguez penalty in the first minute, eventually led 31-10 at half-time, but they had found themselves 10-3 down after the first four minutes of play after Sevens master Waisale Serevi had scored a 65-metre break-away try, the conversion and one penalty goal.

But Italy stormed back and managed to keep the physical Fijians, who had one player red-carded and two yellow-carded, scoreless, for the rest of the game.

Skipper Alifereti Doviverata was red-carded in the 52nd minute for levelling Italian fullback Paolo Vaccari with a flying forearm, while Serevi and Sisa Koyamaibole were the yellow-card recipients.

Diego Dominguez's boot was a major factor in Italy's win, and coach Brad Johnstone, who coached Fiji at the 1999 World Cup, would have been satisfied with his side's performance after their poor showings in the Six Nations.

The win, Italy's second in six matches against Fiji, also avenged Italy's 45-9 loss to Fiji last year.

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Isaia Rasila, 3 Apisai Nagi, 4 Isoa Domolailai, 5 Emori Katalau, 6 Alifereti Doviverata (c), 7 Jope Tuikabe, 8 Mesake Davu, 9 Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi, 10 Waisale Serevi, 11 Vilimoni Delasau, 12 Saimoni Rokini, 13 Viliame Satala, 14 Marika Vunibaka, 15 Jonetani Waqa
Reserves:  Paula Biu, Sisa Koyamaibole, Fero Lasagavibau, Nicky Little, Henry Qiodravu

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Andrea Muraro, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Carlo Checchinato, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Caione, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Walter Pozzebon, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Massimiliano Perziano, 15 Paolo Vaccari
Reserves:  Andrea Benatti, Luca Martin, Wim Visser, Giampiero De Carli, Francesco Mazzariol, Tino Paoletti, Juan Manuel Queirolo

Attendance:  7000
Referee:  Turner a.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Serevi W.T. 1
Conv:  Serevi W.T. 1
Pen K.:  Serevi W.T. 1

Italy
Tries:  Dallan D. 1, Martin L. 1, Checchinato C. 1, Moscardi A. 1, Persico A.R. 1, Stoica A.C. 1, Vaccari P. 1
Conv:  Dominguez D. 4, Mazzariol F. 1
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 7

Scotland 43 Tonga 20

Scotland scored three second half tries to claim a hard-fought 43-20 win over Tonga at Murrayfield on Saturday, despite going into half time at only 11 points up.

Tries by James McLaren, Glenn Metcalfe, Roland Reid and Gordon Simpson did the damage for the Scots, after Tonga downed the first five-pointer of the afternoon through second-row Viliami Vaki.

Scotland got out of the blocks quickly, with fly-half Gordon Ross showing great composure in his first cap, nailing two early penalties to put the hot favourites into an early lead.

Tonga never looked completely outclassed as some of the pre-match hype may have suggested, and they touched down the first try of the game when lock Vaki breached the Scottish defence and raced over for the score from 30m out.

The failed conversion attempt kept Scotland still one point in front, one which was to grow bigger as the half went on, Ross' third penalty putting Ian McGeechan's side four points to the good.

Barnstorming centre James McLaren extended that further with a try 23 minutes into the game, as he crashed over in the left corner after three or four phases of good retention.

Ross converted the try, and two more penalties from him before the break ensured that Scotland went into the interval with a 22-11 lead, as Tongan fullback Sateki Tuipulotu struck two penalties to add to Vaki's try.

Two more penalties from Tuipulotu got Tonga back to 22-17, but Scotland finally found a bit of cohesion, when fullback Glenn Metcalfe went over for a well-worked try in open play.

It stemmed from good play by scrum-half Andy Nicol, who offloaded to Scott Murray at pace, with the Saracens lock finding John leslie in the centres down the left flank.  Leslie drew the last man, and gave Metcalfe a relatively easy run in from ten metres out for the score, as Ross converted well from out wide on the left.

The Scots finally got in gear in thelast quarter, with Rolan Reid grabbing the third try of the day in the left corner on 68 minutes, followed by Gordon Simpson who picked up and drove over from short range for the fourth score of the afternoon.

The crowd had to wait for the video referee to award the try though, before the obligatory strains of the Proclaimers on the stadium tannoy rang out again, Gordon Ross striking a fine conversion for a 43-17 advantage.

Siua Taumalolo struck a late penalty for the Tongans, who far from disgraced themselves against the 1999 Five Nations champions, Scotland not showing the Murrayfield crowd that they will have enough in store to give New Zealand too much trouble when they visit in the coming weeks.

Man of the match:  John Leslie.  The Northampton centre was instrumental in most of Scotland's good work in open play, and made the opening for Glenn Metcalfe's try.

Moment of the match:  Glenn Metcalfe's try.  A superb handling move in open play involving John Leslie, Scott Murray, and started by scrum-half Andy Nicol, Metcalfe went in at the left corner in the second half for a well-worked, and fully deserved score.

Villain of the match:  The Proclaimers.  I'm a big fan of the bespectacled Scottish duo, but whether their pop anthem was totally appropriate over the tannoy after every moment of excitement at an atmospherically lacking Murrayfield remains to be seen.  The fact that the "villain of the match" award has to be filled with such futile observations shows the professional and even-tempered spirit the game was played in, with pre-match talk of the Tongans' overly-aggressive tackling proving irrelevant as they competed in their usual tough but fair manner.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith (c), 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Andrew Mower, 7 Jason White, 8 Jon Petrie, 9 Andy Nicol, 10 Gordon Ross, 11 Jon Steel, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Cammie Murray, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves:  Roland Reid, Graeme Burns, George Graham, Andrew Henderson, Steve Scott, Gordon Simpson
Unused:  Duncan Hodge

Tonga:  1 TPA2, 2 Aleki Lutui, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 Feleti Fakaongo, 5 TVA7, 6 Maama Molitika, 7 Matt Te Pou, 8 'Inoke Afeaki, 9 Sililo Martens, 10 'Elisi Vunipola, 11 David Tiueti, 12 Siua Taumalolo, 13 TLE2, 14 'Epeli Taione, 15 Sateki Tuipulotu
Reserves:  TAL2, Salesi Finau, TFI9, Fakataha Molitika, Tauna'holo Taufahema

Attendance:  44649

Referee:    Whitehouse n.
Touch judges:  Steve Lander (England) & Alain Rolland (Ireland).

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Metcalfe G.H. 1, Reid R.E. 1, McLaren J.G. 1, Simpson G.L. 1
Conv:  Ross G. 4
Pen K.:  Ross G. 5

Tonga
Tries:  Vaki V. 1
Pen K.:  Taumalolo S. 1, Tuipulotu S. 4

Argentina 30 Wales 16

A 25 point haul from Felipe Contepomi paved the way for Argentina to post a 30-16 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium, as the pressure increased on Welsh coach Graham Henry.

Following the win, Contepomi said:  "I think we needed that.  In the last four years we have come here three times and I think the third time is the one that you win.  To beat Wales here is something marvellous.  Argentina rugby was waiting for this.  Twenty-five years ago we lost in the last seconds but today we did it and played well."

He was quick to pay tribute to all those unsong Pumas heroes in the Argentina pack.

Contepomi added:  "The battle always starts in the forwards but it is our strength.  We would like to play more in the backs but we know our weaknesses and we know our strengths.  Our gameplan is to play for field position and then make it hard for teams up front."

Wales lacked ideas and discipline as they had done in the Six Nations defeat to Ireland last month, and the future of Welsh rugby and coach Graham Henry looks bleak especially when the world champions, Australia arrive in the capital in a fortnight's time.

Argentina had lost the five previous full internationals between the two nations even though they had beaten a John Dawes led Welsh XV back in 1968.

Tenth placed Zurich World Ranking side Argentina were always on top of Wales, ranked three places above them, and from the kick-off there was really only one side with the desire to win this Test.

In beating Wales by 14 points the Pumas finally completed a series of wins over the whole of the Six Nations countries, that game 33 years ago was not recognised as a full Test match.

It was another woeful Wales performance throughout the whole of a terribly uninspiring first 40 minutes.  Iestyn Harris' Test debut did not go to as scripted and two major errors from the 1995 Rugby League Player of the Year were punished by the Pumas with two tries.

Harris had his forwards to thank early as 13 minutes for saving five points after his kick was charged down.

Argentina were much sharper, particularly at the breakdown, and were not flattered after thet went into the break 16-7 ahead thanks to three penalties and a converted try from Contepomi.

Contepomi put the away side ahead with his first penalty after 25 minutes before he charged down another attempted Harris kick just outside the Welsh 22.  The 24-year-old showed some super soccer skills to tap the ball over the whitewash and hold off Lions back row Colin Charvis in a race to touch the ball down.

Contempomi added the conversion and then another penalty to put his side 13-0 in front but a terrific Welsh move just before half-time brought Henry's side back into contention.

Scott Quinnell, overtaking the legendary Mervyn Davies as Wales' most capped No.8, was heavily involved as well as Harris.  The Welsh half-back pairing moved the ball right across to the right flank and Darren Morris was one of three on the overlap and easily touched down for his first Test try to put Wales right back into the game.

Harris easily slotted the conversion for his first union Test points to make the score 13-7.

However, more home side indiscipline gifted Contepomi another penalty and the last kick of the half left nine points between the teams at the interval.

Contepomi missed a chance to extend Argentina's lead again straight after the restart with his second wayward penalty but Welsh counterpart made no mistake three minutes later to pull the score back to 16-10.

Argentina's second try 10 minutes into the half put two scores between the sides once more and wrested the game out of Wales' reach.

Another poor Harris kick collected by Contepomi gave the initiative to the Pumas deep inside the Wales half.  Gloucester's Diego Albanese showed great awareness to send the ball out to Roma's Gonzalo Camardon, who out-muscled Rhys Williams on the Welsh right wing to go over in the corner.

Contepomi missed the conversion and when another Harris penalty dissected the uprights just after the hour a Welsh escape seemed a remote possibility.

The two opposing No.10 swapped further penalties before a simple Contepomi drop goal put the Pumas 11 points ahead once more.

Contepomi's fifth penalty five minutes before the end put plenty of daylight between the two teams and sealed a magnificent first victory for the Argentina Test team in Cardiff over Wales.

Man of the match:  Bristol's Felipe Contepomi did everything asked of him without doing anything spectacular or out of the ordinary.  We thought that this game would be all about his opposite number Harris but the 24-year-old Argentinean stamped himself on the game from the off.  Capitalised on the inexperienced Harris' horrendous mistake to take the game by the scruff of the neck and from there never looked back.

Moment of the match:  Wales never recovered from Argentina's second try which again arose from a Harris kicking error.  Contepomi started the move and fed another Premiership Puma in Gloucester's Diego Albanese, who showed great composure to feed Camardon and the Roma wing completed the formality.

Villain of the match:  It would be harsh to pick out Harris but his error strewn performance probably owed more to his inexperience in the two complete union games he has participated in.  Wales coach Henry probably needs to give Harris more time to adapt to his new code especially after never playing the 15-man game before his arrival at the Arms Park.

Sin-bin:  Ostiglia 80 mins

The Teams:

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

Wales:  1 Darren Morris, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Andrew Moore, 5 Craig Quinnell, 6 Gavin Thomas, 7 Colin Charvis, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Iestyn Harris, 11 Rhys Williams, 12 Stephen Jones, 13 Gareth Thomas, 14 Anthony Sullivan, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Jamie Robinson, Iestyn Thomas, Allan Bateman, Brett Sinkinson, Chris Wyatt
Unused:  Dwayne Peel, Barry Williams

Referee:  Dume j.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Camardon G.F. 1, Contepomi F. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 1
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 5
Drop G.:  Contepomi F. 1

Wales
Tries:  Morris D.R. 1
Conv:  Harris I. 1
Pen K.:  Harris I. 3

South Africa 10 France 20

The Springboks of South Africa lost 20-10 to France in an error-ridden Test at the Stade de France in Paris.

France led 9-3 at half-time, but former French captain Raphaël Ibañez scored a crucial try in the 75th minute that gave France a 10-point lead with just five minutes remaining in the game.

Les Blues scored just one try in the game, but they relied on the boot of debutant flyhalf François Gelez, who was promoted to the starting fifteen on Friday when Montferrand's Gérald Merceron pulled out of the Test with a hamstring injury.

Gelez kicked four penalties, and Pau centre Damien Traille also came to the party when he kicked a monster 50-metre penalty in the 60th minute of the match to put France back in the lead after South Africa had snuck into the lead after the break with a try from veteran left-wing Pieter Rossouw.

Centres Trevor Halstead and André Snyman did some good work in the build-up to Rossouw's try, which came in the 48th minute, but France weathered the storm before launching their comeback in the final quarter of the match.

It was Rossouw's 20th Test try -- his sixth against France and first since the 1999 World Cup quarter-final against England -- and it gave the Boks some hope after their shocking first-half performance.

The Boks were lucky to be just six points down at the break after committing a series of knock-ons, conceding numerous penalties at scrum-time and over-complication in the backline.  While both teams were guilty of kicking good ball away in the first half, South Africa's woes were compounded with some sloppy handling in crucial situations.

On one occasion in the first half, Western Province winger Breyton Paulse merely had to dot down the ball after a (rare) clever Joost van der Westhuizen grubber turned the French defence behind their own goalline.  Paulse was under pressure from the French defenders, but his pace had taken him past the would-be defenders, only for his hands to let him down.

The Springbok line-out was the only positive feature of the Boks' performance, but that also went awry when John Smit replaced Lukas van Biljon in the last quarter of the game.

Substitutions are normally made to inject fresh legs and an extra dimension to a game, but hooker is such a crucial position that sometimes a substitution does not always have to be made.

Springbok coach Harry Viljoen replaced his entire front row during the match, but it would have made more sense to introduce the talents of loose forward Joe van Niekerk, who could have given the Boks more attacking options when they needed it, a bit earlier.

As it turns out Van Niekerk finally got on to the field with five minutes remaining, but Ibañez had already scored his try by then and it was basically game, set and match.

This win was France's first over the Boks in France since 1992 when France won 29-16 in Paris over Naas Botha's raw and inexperienced side, who were on their first tour since re-joining the international rugby fraternity in August of 1992.

Interestingly, seven players in the French starting fifteen were making their debuts, but one would not have thought so as Gelez, Traille, fullback Clement Poitrenaud, wing Aurélien Rougerie, centre Tony Marsh, No.8 Francis Ntamack, brother of wing-cum-centre Emile, and lock Thibault Privat all put in assured performances on debut.

Man of the match:  Greenhorn French flyhalf François Gelez enjoyed a magnificent debut in the blue French jersey.  His place-kicking was superb (he missed just two shots at goal), but his kicking out of hand and passing game were superb too.  The French front row of Pieter de Villiers, Raphaël Ibañez and Jean-Jacques Crenca were also brilliant and if Harry Viljoen wants to see players getting "go-forward", he can watch the video of the French front-rankers from this Test.

Villain of the match:  The Springboks' performance in the first half.  Whilst their performance in the entire 80 minutes left much to be desired, their showing in the opening stanza was the worst of the day.

Moment of the match:  Ibañez's try in the 75th minute.  Not only was it France's only try of the night, but it stretched their five-point lead to 10 at a time when the Boks could just not afford it.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Ollie Le Roux, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Trevor Halstead, 13 Andre Snyman, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Willie Meyer, Percy Montgomery, Toks Van Der Linde, Joe Van Niekerk, Andre Venter
Unused:  Neil De Kock

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 David Auradou, 5 Thibault Privat, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Patrick Tabacco, 8 Francis Ntamack, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Francois Gelez, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Clement Poitreneaud
Reserves:  Serge Betsen Tchoua, Nicolas Jeanjean, Frederic Michalak, Lionel Nallet
Unused:  Yannick Bru, Christophe Dominici, Jean-Baptiste Poux

Attendance:  80000
Referee:  Lewis a.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Rossouw P.W.G. 1
Conv:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 1
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 1

France
Tries:  Ibanez R. 1
Pen K.:  Gelez F. 4, Traille D. 1

Australia 15 England 21

A rugged England side shook off the disappointment of their Dublin nightmare by claiming the scalp of World and Tri-Nations champions Australia with a gutsy 21-15 triumph at Twickenham on Saturday, despite being outscored two tries to nil by the Wallabies.

Retaining the Cook Cup they won last year, England's hero was Jonny Wilkinson, as his five penalties and two drop-goals saw them triumphant in a game where their superb 15-0 first half performance was blighted by a jittery second period as a "Jekyll and Hyde" Australia were denied by some stern defence, and superb goal-kicking.

Even second-half tries from Matt Burke and replacement flanker Phil Waugh weren't enough to obliterate the first half lead racked up by a superb England, helped largely by Kyran Bracken's recall at scrum-half, and an added thrust from a dynamic pack including Leicester prop Graham Rowntree and clubmate Ben Kay in the second-row.

Last year's argument that England beat a below-strength Wallaby team can well and truly be thrown out of the window after this latest win, as both Gregan and Larkham took the field, but both failed to light the fuse for most of the game, as their stale midfield produced lateral running patterns and frequent breaches of the rules at the breakdown.

Credit to their defence, which kept out an occasionally dynamic, but sometimes headstrong England attack, with Luger, Robinson and Greenwood all breaking their line on more than one occasion, but being foiled by the numbers of cover tacklers near the Wallaby line.

Much pre-match attention in the Wallaby camp had been focused on the comparative inadequacies of Jason Robinson in the England No.15 shirt, but the Sale Sharks Rugby League convert silenced the doubters in the very first minute with a plunging take to claim his first up-and-under.

From then on, the first-half was dominated in total by the English, whose bullying and possession control in the pack kept the Wallabies constantly on the back foot.

It was only three minutes into the game when that physical upper hand manifested itself on the scoreboard, a 50 metre penalty from Jonny Wilkinson injecting adrenalin into the full Twickenham stadium, on what was a surprisingly mild day given the recent cold snap in the English capital.

Two quickfire drop-goals from Wilkinson put England even further ahead, and what was even more surprising than the total supremacy of the England tight five, was the total and utter capitulation early on of the Australian's cohesion, so apparent in their Lions' series win.

Owen Finegan's dismissal into the sin-bin on 13 minutes for bringing down Danny Grewcock in the lineout did not help matters, but with their constant indiscretions in the tight, referee Paddy O'Brien was spot on in his penalising of the back-row, who spent large portions of the game on the wrong side of the ruck.

The England pressure during that first 40 was immense, helped in large parts by the energetic of play of Kyran Bracken, who was constantly at the breakdown, and showed a neat range in short breaks as his passing gave Jonny Wilkinson that extra yard of thinking time which had been so lacking in Dublin only three weeks earlier.

A missed Matt Burke penalty from the left touchline was the only Australian moment of note from a first half which saw them go in 15-0 down, limited to thumping clearing punts from Latham and Burke, with new captain George Gregan left marshalling a pack which always seemed to be second in terms of dynamism, thrust, and crucially discipline.

It was a different looking Australia which came out for the second half, not in personnel, but in demeanour.  Their heads were up, and the world champions went about redressing the imbalance in the scoreline when Matt Burke turned down an easy shot at goal -- after missing one just before.

Instead he went for the touchline, and from the lineout the damage was done as they cut into England's lead.  The ball was transferred through the hands via Gregan and Nathan Grey, and with Roff cutting into the line, it found its way to Burke out wide, the fullback evading the tackle of Jason Robinson to touch down in the right corner for a fluid score, Burke himself converting from the touchline for a 15-7 scoreline.

England's passing dropped a notch, and the certainty with which they went about their business in the first half was diluted as Burke nailed a penalty to further rein them in, with George Gregan becoming his snappy self around the fringes of the ruck.

This England team are a stern breed though, and their resilience came to the fore with two more penalties from Wilkinson to pin the Wallabies back to an 11 point deficit, as the comparatively quiet Toutai Kefu showed some of his undoubted mettle.

It was to get worse for England, who like Australia in the first half were reduced to punting from within their 22, and it was one of those desperate clearance kicks from the subdued Austin Healey in his own dead ball area which started the move from which the Wallabies got their second try.

The ensuing move saw England concede a penalty five metres fro their own line as the Wallabies pressed, and with captain Gregan going for touch, the lineout which followed set up a move from under the posts, as Gregan passed right, the ball eventually going to prop Nic Stiles, who put in replacement openside Phil Waugh to the right corner for the diving try.

Burke missed the conversion from way out wide though, leaving England hanging onto their 21-15 lead, and setting up a nervy finish.

Hold out they did though, and despite not managing to breach the Wallaby tryline, the English kept their proud recent record going against Australia, who now head to France as they aim to get back on winning ways after the retirement of John Eales.

Man of the match:  Kyran Bracken.  Cast into the apparent international wilderness after the previous form of Matt Dawson, and some bad injuries which kept him away from the immediate fray of the national team, Bracken marshalled the forwards and gave valuable ball to the backs with necessary confidence and authority.  His strong running around the fringes was a constant thorn in Wallaby sides, and Matt Dawson will have to go some way to displace Bracken from the England team in future years if the Saracen continues in this vein.  Other contenders for man of the match include Graham Rowntree, the returning Leicester prop who added vital thrust from loosehead, both in the set piece and in the loose.  Jason Robinson hardly put a foot wrong at fullback, and candidates from the Wallaby team could arguably include Chris Latham, whose defensive punting showed real skill, despite their attacking options being limited to their two tries in the second half.

Moment of the match:  Matt Burke's try.  Coming in the 49th minute at 15-0 down, Australia could have gone for the easy three points from a penalty, but taking the game by the scruff of the neck, their decision to go for the lineout deserves praise.  That faith in attack was justified, as from the lineout the ball went through the hands to put Burke in at the right corner, the NSW Waratah nailing the conversion from the touchline as their gameplan finally got off the ground.  This one passage of play turned the balance of the match, and could well have seen the Wallabies to victory.

Villain of the match:  Owen Finegan.  The Brumbies' blindside cynically brought down Danny Grewcock in a 13th minute lineout, an unnecessary indiscretion at a time when England were just getting going.  Finegan was rightly sin-binned for his dangerous play as Grewcock crashed to the floor from a great height, and could have even seen red in the second half if referee Paddy O'Brien -- who had an excellent match -- had deemed fit to give him a second yellow for repeating the offence.

Sin-bin:  Finegan (Aus, 13-23 mins)

The teams:

Australia:  1 Ben Darwin, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 David Giffin, 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Rod Moore, Graeme Bond, Phil Waugh
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Elton Flatley, Chris Whitaker

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Dorian West, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Neil Back (c), 7 Richard Hill, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Half Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Will Greenwood, 14 Dan Luger, 15 Jason Robinson
Unused:  Jason Leonard, Matt Perry, Mark Regan, Steve Borthwick, Ben Cohen, Charlie Hodgson,, Lewis Moody

Referee:  Paddy O'Brien (NZ)
Touchjudges:  André Watson (SA), Didier Méné (France)

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Burke M.C. 1, Waugh P.R. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 1

England
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 5
Drop G.:  Wilkinson J.P. 2

Australia 92 Spain 10

World champions Australia crushed Spain by a record score of 92-10 at Ciudad Universitaria in Madrid, comprehensively winning their 400th Test and the first against the Spaniards.

A total of 8,000 people turned up to see the world, Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup champions, and they were not disappointed.  The Wallabies scored 13 tries and conceded just one, late in the match.

The visitors led 57-3 at the break.

The result surpasses Australia's previous biggest Test win, 76-0 over England in 1998, and equals the record of 13 tries in a game against Korea in 1987.

Australia scored the first points of the game after just three minutes when fullback Matthew Burke slotted a penalty goal.  Ten conversions later he ended on 23 points.

Spain, who are fourth in the Six Nations B Championship, kept in touch when they levelled five minutes later through a penalty by scrumhalf Jaime Alonso.

But Joe Roff scored the first of the Wallabies' 13 tries soon after.  The Wallaby forwards drove their Spanish counterparts up the park before the experienced left wing crossed for the try.

Chris Latham, playing on the right wing, added the second try in the 17th minute as the side captained by George Gregan began to tighten its grip on the game.

Inside centre Nathan Grey, hooker Michael Foley, flank George Smith, and No.8 Toutai Kefu all touched down before the break.

Prop Nick Stiles and centre Daniel Herbert added their names to the scoresheet soon after the restart, and Burke took Australia past 76 points in the 53rd minute with his tenth conversion after Roff had scored the Wallabies' 11th try.

The Wallabies took their foot off the gas after that, and after 10 minutes of sustained pressure by the home side, lock Jose Miguel Villau scored Spain's only try in the 66th minute.

Replacements Graeme Bond and Matt Cockbain notched the Wallabies' final tries of the game in the closing minutes with Elton Flatley converting both kicks.

Australia's next game is against Oxford University on 4 November and their second Test, against England, follows six days later on 10 November.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Ben Darwin, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 David Giffin, 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Rod Moore, Warwick Waugh, Chris Whitaker, Graeme Bond

Spain:  1 Javier Salazar Lizarraga, 2 Roger Ripol, 3 Jose Ignacio Zapatero Ferreras, 4 Sergio Souto Vidal, 5 Jose Miguel Villau Cabeza, 6 Alfonso Mata Suarez, 7 Carlos Souto Vidal, 8 Antonio Leon Justel (c), 9 Jaime Alonso Lasheras, 10 Marc Ventura Miranda, 11 Miguel Angel Frechilla Manrique, 12 Fernando Diez Molina, 13 Alberto Socias Olmos, 14 Noe Macias Gimeno, 15 Ferran Velazco Querol
Reserves:  Fernando De La Calle Pozo, Jorge De Urquiza, 3FO1, Marco Garcia Kristenson, Alfonso Martinez, Antonio Socias Olmos, Steve Tuineau Iloa

Attendance:  8000
Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Cockbain M.J. 1, Foley M.A. 1, Grey N.P. 1, Herbert D.J. 1, Kefu R.S.T. 1, Latham C.E. 3, Roff J.W.C. 2, Bond G.S.C. 1, Smith G.B. 1, Stiles N.B. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 10, Flatley E.J. 2
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 1

Spain
Tries:  Villau Cabeza J.M. 1
Conv:  Martinez A. 1
Pen K.:  Alonso Lasheras J. 1

Ireland 20 England 14

Ireland blew England's chances of a Grand Slam with a 20-14 win in Dublin, as the desperate English once again fell at the last hurdle.

Going into the game without even a chance by the bookies, Ireland surged into the lead with a Keith Wood try in the first-half and never looked back, David Humphreys striking three penalties and replacement Ronan O'Gara adding another two as a Martin Johnson-less England failed to show any leadership or cohesion in the heat of battle.

Sole try-scorer for England was replacement wing Austin Healey, but even his 75th minute try could not rescue what was one of the worst England performances in recent memory, and one which brought their run of 11 consecutive wins crashing down in front of their very eyes, in a manner all too familiar in recent years.

The fallout from this game will take time to set in, with even the Sunday morning Dublin hangovers failing to mask the fact that even without captain Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio, England -- on paper -- should have had enough in the locker to put away their opponents.

Man for man, Ireland showed more desire, heart and importantly composure, and the amount of good ball kicked away by England to an eager Ireland will undoubtedly see Clive Woodward's gospel of "Total Rugby" brought down from the shelf and dusted off as the Irish party gets underway.

England still claim the Six Nations title, which was a mere mathematical formality after Ireland's bad day at the office against Scotland, but had the Irish not drawn a blank on that afternoon, they would have been the deserved holders of a memorable Grand Slam.

It was a surprisingly disjointed England which took the field, sloppy handling and too many wasted punts besetting a first half which saw them gain the early lead through a Wilkinson penalty after Humphreys had missed one from wide out on the right for the home side.

England hooker Phil Greening tried to emulate his bald-headed opposite number Keith Wood with a break and a chip down the right wing, but the most effective run of the half was that by the male streaker on 40 minutes, who ran the length of the field unopposed, beating the stewards for pace and power before being ejected from Lansdowne Road.

The stadium volume went up considerably after 16 minutes when Ireland spurned the chance of three easy points from a penalty, bravely electing instead to go for a lineout in the right corner of the England 22.

A superb high take saw hooker Keith Wood peel away to the back of the lineout and take the ball on the burst on an arcing course.  His momentum was too much for the England back-row from five metres, and his barging run saw the Harlequins man wriggle over to plant the ball on the whitewash for the try, Humphreys missing the conversion from right of the posts.

Jason Robinson showed the only real glimpse of spark for England with a rare break from his own 22, sprinting and jinking all the way to the centre spot before being hauled down.  The England support -- as was the general case in the half-failed to maximise the energy of their three-quarters as the attack petered out.

Ulsterman Humphreys -- despite his perfect kicking record against Wales last week -- proceeded to miss the third of his four attempts at goal from a penalty as England captain Matt Dawson bode farewell to the game after injury before the break.

His replacement was not however the lively Leicester scrum-half Austin Healey, rather Saracens' No.9 Kyran Bracken, a conservative choice by England as they stuttered into half-time only 11-6 down after a further penalty each from Humphreys and Wilkinson.

One penalty apiece for Humphreys and Wilkinson kept the home side's five point advantage, but England looked like snatching that lead back when wing Dan Luger started a run from halfway.

The Harlequins wing outstripped scrum-half Peter Stringer before powering through the tackle of fullback Girvan Dempsey, and with the after-burners turned on and the tryline beckoning, Stringer somehow stretched out and ankle-tapped the explosive Luger for what would have been a certain try.

With fly-half Humphreys leaving the pitch through injury on 60 minutes, Ronan O'Gara's first act was the prospect of a 35-metre penalty to extend their lead to 17-9.  He held his nerve and with England continuing to drop the ball in vital areas, yet another Grand Slam capitulation seemed inevitable -- even with 20 minutes left.

O'Gara again held his nerve as Ireland struck a penalty from the right touchline to take an even bigger lead, but the England attack finally reared its head with five minutes to go near the Irish line.

Left out of the starting line up, it was Leicester's Austin Healey who gave the English a fighting chance as he dived in the right corner on a diagonal short run from a Wilkinson pass, but with the Newcastle fly-half failing to strike the tricky conversion wide from the touchline, the six point gap looked too big to bridge.

The tension mounted as injury-time deepened and England pressed near the Irish line, but even sparks from Jason Robinson and Dorian West were rendered irrelevant as Austin Healey knocked on in the 22 -- the last effective passage of play for Clive Woodward's side.

After the final whistle had sounded to a rousing Dublin crowd, the sight of the dejected England team trudging across the stage on the centre spot to collect their Six Nations winners' medals was a surreal one, and summed up the frustrations of a way-below-par performance from virtually every single player in the white shirt.

Credit to Ireland, their grit and desire put shame on a mis-firing England, whose endless wasted possession ruined what -- in theory -- should have been a historic afternoon for England.

Instead, their Grand Slam wagon once again lies wrecked by the side of the road, as Ireland deservedly emerged victorious.

Man of the match:  Keith Wood.  Candidates from the England team were virtually non-existent, with Jason Robinson not putting too many feet wrong on the wing, but being starved of sufficient ball to make an impact.  Austin Healey looked lively on the wing, but his brief cameo as a replacement was blotted by a decisive knock-on deep into injury-time which could have theoretically cost England a score.  David Humphreys in the Ireland No.10 shirt solidified the Irish attack, although his missed kicks mean Wood gets our vote for the award, with Girvan Dempsey and Denis Hickie also well worth a mention after their efforts in the backs.

Moment of the match:  Stringer's ankle-tap on Luger.  A fleeting run from England wing Dan Luger in the Ireland half saw him sail through the tackle of Girvan Dempsey, and with a seemingly clean run into the tryline, it was Stringer whose outstretched palm clipped the heels of the Harlequin, sending him crashing to the floor, and keeping Ireland in the lead.  Stringer's tackle gets our vote not just for the drama, but for the importance.  Coming as it did at 14-9 to Ireland, Stringer effectively nipped English momentum in the bud, and went a long way to dampening their spirits.

Villain of the match:  The England team.  England failed to show up at Lansdowne Road -- the England who have recorded 11 consecutive Test match wins anyway.  To single one player out may seem harsh, not because there were no poor performers, but because as a collective unit, they failed to function.  Bad decisions, poor execution and handling errors in crucial areas meant that defeat was fully justified.  Of course they could have conceivably won the game, but it would have been a Grand Slam they did not deserve based on this 80 minute showing -- however good the previous 320 minutes may have been.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Eric Miller, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Kieron Dawson, Mike Mullins, Trevor Brennan, Emmet Byrne, Ronan O'Gara
Unused:  Guy Easterby, Frankie Sheahan

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Neil Back, 7 Martin Corry, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Matt Dawson (c), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Will Greenwood, 14 Jason Robinson, 15 Iain Balshaw
Reserves:  Kyran Bracken, Austin Healey, Graham Rowntree, Dorian West, Lewis Moody
Unused:  Matt Perry, Steve Borthwick

Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Wood K.G.M. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 3, O'Gara R.J.R. 2

England
Tries:  Healey A.S. 1
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 3

Wales 6 Ireland 36

Three tries in the last seven minutes saw Ireland surge to a record 36-6 win over Wales in the 2001 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship, with recalled fly-half David Humphreys producing a man-of-the-match performance at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

Ulster fly-half Humphreys did not miss a single kick all day as he struck five penalties and two conversions, after a spectacular late rally which saw tries by Leinster trio Denis Hickie, Brian O'Driscoll and Shane Horgan.

Ireland led 15-6 with seven minutes of normal time left on the clock, after a scrappy game which looked like ending without a try being scored due to a litany of handling errors and incohesion from both sides.

The 30-point winning margin tops Ireland's previous record -- a 19-3 win over Wales in Belfast in 1925 -- as Wales' unenviable home run against the Irish continued, their last Cardiff triumph over the men in green coming way back in 1983.

The magnitude of the score flattered Ireland somewhat, but anything other than a win for the visitors would have been unthinkable, despite glimpses of promise for Wales through lively fullback Kevin Morgan and Neath wing Shane Williams -- both never given sufficient room to fully show their explosive pace.

A try-less first half could have realistically seen four touchdowns as twice Ireland were denied by the video referee, and attacks by both sides seeing players bundled into the corner flag as the tryline beckoned.

Instead, it was the kicking of Humphreys which dominated the opening 40, the first of the Ulsterman's five first half penalties coming after only two minutes, with Ireland surging forward early on.

David Wallace and Eric Miller made serious headway in the back row, Wallace breaching the Welsh defence for a 60 metre run early on, the lack of support preventing what could have eventually resulted in a try as Wales missed tackle after tackle.

A further penalty for Humphreys, swiftly followed by Wales' first points from a Jones penalty, brought the score to 6-3 in Ireland's favour, before another three for the influential Humphreys pulled Ireland away from the mis-firing home side, who for all their enterprise and intent, failed to consistently hold onto their good ball when it mattered.

Swansea fullback Kevin Morgan came closest to scoring for Wales in the first half when he combined with Shane Williams down the left wing.  With Neath speedster Williams inside him, Morgan chose to go for the corner himself, the retreating Denis Hickie bundling him into the corner flag for what would have been a certain try had the ball been swiftly moved.

Ireland themselves blew an even easier scoring chance when Shane Horgan chose to go himself from ten metres away, after quick ball was received by the Irish three-quarters.  With Brian O'Driscoll and Girvan Dempsey on a two-man overlap outside him, the big wing was hardly the toast of the team after Shane Williams held him up magnificently over the line -- forcing the video referee to give a five metre scrum.

The drama did not stop there though as injury-time approached, Mick Galwey driving over the line from the ensuing scrum, with the video ref again turning down the try as the pile of bodies seemingly prevented the recalled Munsterman from downing the ball.

Ireland upped the tempo in injury-time and Denis Hickie went close to scoring when he attempted to dive in the left corner just before the half-time whistle, but the attentions of Dafydd James and Kevin Morgan sent the Leinster wing into the flag as Ireland went into the interval at 15 -- 3 up, and very much in the driving seat.

An early second half penalty for Jones saw Wales get back into the game, but when Ireland were awarded a penalty under the Welsh posts on the 50 minute mark, skipper Keith Wood chose instead to go for the lineout in the corner.  The three points went begging as Ireland infringed in the line, and Wales nicked possession back.

Both sides lost cohesion as the second half went on, the game petering out as handling errors and offsides forced referee Kaplan's whistle to ring loudly over a subdued Millennium Stadium.

Jones bludgeoned a heavily-struck elementary penalty wide of the posts as Wales as they searched for an avenue back into the game, but with consistent forward momentum at a premium, a scrappy midfield battle was the end result, with Humphreys persistently pinning Wales back in their own half with a string of punishing long-distance punts.

Ireland pressed under the Welsh posts, and after driving to within a yard of the line they worked the ball back to the base of the ruck.  With no scrum-half though it was Stephen Jones who pounced on the loose ball for Wales.

The try eventually came on 73 minutes though, and it was wing Denis Hickie who outpaced replacement back-row Gavin Thomas, from a move which saw Humphreys combine with Hickie in midfield to produce the space for the try.

It was Keith Wood and Malcolm O'Kelly who spun the ball wide from the ruck, and Thomas was no match for Hickie who dived into the left corner for the score, converted by Humphreys.

Ireland ensured a record win over Wales when Lions centre Brian O'Driscoll chipped and chased, racing past veteran Allan Bateman on the right wing from the 22.  O'Driscoll had an easy run-in after the kick bounced favourably, with Humphreys completing his perfect afternoon by nailing the conversion from the touchline before being replaced late on by Ronan O'Gara.

The scoring wasn't finished there though, as Shane Horgan grabbed an injury-time try in the right corner, after quick ruck ball from Peter Stringer saw Kevin Maggs do the basics and ship the ball wide for Horgan to dive over, O'Gara striking the conversion just inside the left upright for a morale-boosting triumph.

The scoreline flattered them -- of that there is no doubt -- but a disjointed and frustrating showing from Wales will not go a long way to easing discontent in some quarters over the state of the national side, with Ireland setting up what promises to be a red-hot afternoon at Lansdowne Road next Saturday when they face Grand Slam hopefuls England.

Man of the match:  David Humphreys.  Ronan O'Gara's kicking deficiencies paved the way for Humphreys to again strut his stuff on the international stage, and his 100 per cent kicking record shows that the Ulsterman's return was more than justified.  Humphreys consistently kept Wales on the back foot with his raking punts deep into Welsh territory, and his generally solid handling showed he can marshall a midfield with excellence under pressure.

Moment of the match:  Denis Hickie's try.  Okay, so it was an overlap try, and a wing like Hickie should always beat a forward one-on-one, but this score ignited what had until then been a pretty turgid affair, and injected a bit of life into a largely dormant second-half backline.

Villain of the match:  Shane Horgan.  Definitely harsh to use the label "villain" for Horgan after a game which did not see a single punch thrown in anger or even a handbag raised from either side.  Horgan's blatant waste of a two-man overlap in the first half prevented a certain try out on the right wing in the first half, and with no other candidates for the award, Horgan is the unfortunate recipient of the honour -- despite his late try.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Andrew Moore, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Colin Charvis, 7 Brett Sinkinson, 8 Geraint Lewis, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Allan Bateman, 13 Leigh Davies, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Gavin Thomas, Rhys Williams, Chris Anthony, Craig Quinnell, Barry Williams
Unused:  Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Eric Miller, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Kieron Dawson, Guy Easterby, Mike Mullins, Trevor Brennan, Emmet Byrne, Ronan O'Gara, Frankie Sheahan

Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 2

Ireland
Tries:  Hickie D.A. 1, Horgan S.P. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 3
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 5

Ireland 10 Scotland 32

Scotland upset the odds and realistically ended Ireland's hopes of landing the 2001 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship by running in four tries for a 32-10 win at Murrayfield.

Tipped as no-hopers by the bookies going into the game, Scotland punished a stagnant Ireland with tries from captain Budge Pountney, Tom Smith, John Leslie and replacement Andrew Henderson on his debut.

Had it not been for Ireland's only try of the day deep in injury-time from fullback Girvan Dempsey, the visitors would have suffered a record defeat against Scotland, with the 38-10 win back in 1997 still the most convincing by Ian McGeechan's side.

Delighted Lloyds TSB Man of the Match and Scotland captain Pountney said after the game:  "We owed that to ourselves.  We changed a few things, and well done to the coaching staff.  James McLaren was hard to stop in the centres, and we stepped up our defence a lot."

"We had a poor start but we had changed a few things in training and it paid off.  That was down to the coaches.

"I didn't think that they [the Irish] were particularly poor.  We stepped up in our defence and it worked.  It was difficult for them to recreate their momentum after the long break.  It was very difficult to come back and get things going again."

"Our defence was outstanding," added injured Scotland wing Kenny Logan following the game.  "It was disappointing to give that try away at the end but I think that the Man of the Match Budge Pountney did brilliantly.

"Both sides were very rusty at the start and found it hard to get into it.

"We've had lots of squad sessions before this game and Ian [coach McGeechan] will keep it going.  It was a great game and we played brilliantly."

England are now all but mathematical certainties to retain their Six Nations title, with Warren Gatland's dejected Ireland still facing trips to the Millennium Stadium to face Wales before what would have been a potential Grand Slam decider against England on October 20 in Dublin.

That game now looks to be a watered down version of what could have been a champagne occasion, as Ireland are left reflecting on a day which saw kicker Ronan O'Gara miss his first three penalty attempts in a staid and largely sideways performance.

The scoreline perhaps suggests a perfect afternoon's rugby for Scotland, but they too failed at times to keep ball in hand in what was not a classic display of rugby excellence, but nevertheless a fulfilling one for most of the full house at Murrayfield.

With regular goal-kicker Kenny Logan sidelined with injury, Scottish kicking duties fell to Gregor Townsend, who in the first minute of the game appeared to have slotted a drop-goal over as Scotland's momentum showed going forward.

English referee Chris White had already blown his whistle though -- in favour of Scotland -- but the straightforward penalty in front of the posts from the 22 saw Townsend's kicking frailties exposed as he struck wide to the audible displeasure of the 67,500 sellout crowd.

Irish kicker Ronan O'Gara was having an equally sparse time of it on the kicking front as he blazed wide early efforts, Scotland looking the more adventurous in a scrappy half.

Townsend again bludgeoned a penalty wide from distance, but it was Metcalfe who probed the Irish defence on more than one occasion during the opening half, combining with Jon Steel on one occasion for a 40 metre gain in to Ireland territory, but the recycled ball was knocked on by prop Mattie Stewart as a try beckoned.

That try finally came on 22 minutes to break the deadlock, and it was a good running score when it came, captain Budge Pountney eventually touching down a move which started 50 metres away from the line.

It owed much to the creativity of the Scottish backline, centre John Leslie putting Paterson way down the left flank, the Glasgow flyer eventually cutting inside on a speedy diagonal line, stepping inside twice before floating a pass to Pountney at pace for the run in.

Townsend converted, but finally succumbed to the kicking pressure, left wing Chris Paterson taking over kicking duties for the Scots as half-time approached.

With Ireland's defence showing holes in the open play, and after a Paterson penalty for Scotland, the home side powered further into the lead on 37 minutes after a punishing spell of pressure inside the Irish half.

The move was ignited by a testing run from hooker Gordon Bulloch near the 22, and with the ball being worked through the hands left to right, it eventually created a ruck right under the posts.

The ball came to Townsend who drew the Irish defence before spinning to prop Tom Smith, the Northampton man battering a hole between Brian O'Driscoll and Kieran Dawson for the score, Paterson adding the extras for a 17-0 half-time lead.

Ireland started the second half in the same manner which had dogged their first 40 minutes, with O'Gara again failing to hit the target when presented with a kickable penalty.

The out-of-sorts Munsterman finally registered Ireland's first penalty nine minutes into the half after some good interplay involving Brian O'Driscoll.

Warren Gatland's side were again pinned back though as the Scots punished their defensive holes, John Leslie touching down near the posts for the third try of the afternoon.

It was Townsend who broke the Irish line after a lineout near the 22, the fly-half bursting through for a two-on-one with fullback Girvan Dempsey.

Dempsey held Townsend in the tackle, but the Castres No.10 offloaded to Leslie from short range, who under the attention of Shane Horgan still managed to put the ball down for the five points, Paterson having no trouble adding the conversion.

Searching for some attacking edge, Ireland shipped off half-backs Guy Easterby and Ronan O'Gara for Peter Stringer and David Humphreys.  It didn't have the desired effect though as Paterson added a penalty to take Scotland further away at 27-3.

O'Driscoll had the chance to register the first Ireland try of the afternoon after a skilled chip-and-chase outside the Scottish 22, but the awkward bounce eluded the Lions star as he knocked agonisingly on.

Scotland got their fourth try when replacement centre Andrew Henderson grabbed a debut try only minutes after coming on for John Leslie.

A Townsend kick ahead saw Metcalfe hack the ball on from the right wing, the bounce seeing Henderson pick up for a simple five metre run in past O'Driscoll, Paterson's conversion attempt being charged down as Murrayfield roared with sound.

A record defeat was narrowly avoided when Ireland fullback Girvan Dempsey got their only try of the day deep into injury-time, the only bright spot on a thoroughly devastating afternoon for his side's Six Nations hopes, but one Scotland will relish as they got their derailed train back on the tracks.

Man of the match:  Chris Paterson.  Shifted to the wing to accommodate Glenn Metcalfe at fullback, the running Edinburgh star tested the Irish defence, and played a crucial part in the first try after a typically fleeting run.  With Gregor Townsend struggling as goal-kicker, Peterson was game enough to stand up and steady the ship.

Moment of the match:  Tom Smith's try.  Not the most spectacular of the four Scottish tries, but one which owed everything to superb interplay throughout the team.  Gordon Bulloch was instrumental early on from hooker before the three-quarters and the back-row stretched the Irish rearguard, before fly-half Townsend made the gap for prop Smith to dive through.

Villain of the match:  Ronnie Browne.  Who's Ronnie Browne? you might be asking, but he is the bow-tied Kenny Rogers lookalike who sang the Scottish national anthem "Flower of Scotland" before kick-off.  As a consequence, the traditionally rousing rugby anthem that usually raises the hairs on the back of the neck was reduced it to a virtual slow march, and a thoroughly uninspiring spectacle.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Jeremy Davidson, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Simon Easterby, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Guy Easterby, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  David Humphreys, Gary Longwell, David Wallace, Emmet Byrne, Kevin Maggs, Peter Stringer
Unused:  Frankie Sheahan

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney (c), 7 Gordon Simpson, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Jon Steel, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves:  Jon Petrie, George Graham, Stuart Grimes, Andrew Henderson, Duncan Hodge, Andy Nicol, Steve Scott

Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Dempsey G.T. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 1
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Scotland
Tries:  Pountney A.C. 1, Henderson A. 1, Leslie J.A. 1, Smith T.J. 1
Conv:  Paterson C.D. 2, Townsend G.P.J. 1
Pen K.:  Paterson C.D. 2

Australia 29 New Zealand 26

Never say die was the Wallabies' attitude in the 2001 Tri-Nations decider at Stadium Australia in Sydney as a last-gasp try from Toutai Kefu gave them a 29-26 win over New Zealand and retained the trophy they won in 2000.

As was the case last year, the Tri-Nations title was again sealed in the final moments.  In 2000 the Wallabies snuck home in Durban with a Stirling Mortlock penalty goal.  This time it was Kefu barrelling through to touch down under the posts.

But it was not easy for John Eales and his Wallaby troops who had to withstand an early second half blitzkrieg from New Zealand.

After leading 19-6 at the break the Wallabies must have though they were cruising to victory.  They were more clinical than the All Blacks and kept the visitors at bay with solid, but patient defence.

On the other hand, the Kiwis made too many errors, conceding penalties, which Matt Burke slotted with ease.  And while Burke did not miss once before the break, All Blacks' goal-kicker Andrew Mehrtens missed two attempts at goal.

But the defining moment of the first half came after 17 minutes, with the Wallabies attacking relentlessly.  Burke and Mehrtens had each slotted two penalty goals at that stage.

Wing Chris Latham made good ground and the Wallabies got a good drive going.  Then the always-alert Stephen Larkham spotted a weak link in the All Blacks' defensive line and chipped behind Jonah Lomu.

Lomu failed to gather and winger Chris Latham leaped high, shrugged off the desperate defence and ploughed over for the first try of the match.

Burke's conversion, and another penalty later in the half, saw the home-side take a commanding 19-6 lead at the break.

The All Black line-outs were terrible and New Zealand skipper Anton Oliver was struggling to find his jumpers.  Added to that lock Norm Maxwell was sent to the sinbin by South African referee Tappe Henning for retaliation after he was punched by Michael Foley, the Wallaby hooker.

Australia remained calm throughout the first 40 minutes.  They tried to keep the All Blacks pinned in their half and scored points when the Kiwis made crucial mistakes.  Although it was no spectacle, the Wallabies' tactics worked and they looked set to complete the win without any hitches.

Then the second half started.

Three minutes into the second stanza All Black inside centre Pita Alatini, who had a solid first half, sniped through the Wallaby defence on the half-way line.  He made 30 metres before offloading to Doug Howlett on his left shoulder.

The Blues' wing, who was a late replacement before the start for the injured Jeff Wilson, sped away for a great try.  Mehrtens converted and suddenly New Zealand were just six points behind.

Moments later Aussie prop Rod Moore was penalised for "loitering" and Mehrtens closed the gap to three points.

Moore was in trouble again when he took the law into his own hands and was yellow carded.  Off he went, and Alatini stepped into the spotlight again.

The All Black centre received the ball on the blindside, and with the Wallaby defence in disarray, he passed to Lomu, who drew a number of Aussie defenders before releasing a perfectly timed inside pass back to Alatini, who jogged over for his side's second try.

Mehrtens's conversion was good and suddenly, after scoring 17 points in a mere 11 minutes, the All Blacks took the lead 23-19.

Mehrtens, whose tactical kicking was brilliant, added three more and Andrew Walker, replacement wing for Burke, did the same.  With ten minutes left on the clock the Wallabies were trailing 22-26.

The Wallabies got three penalty goals inside the All Black 22 in that time, and every time Eales indicated to Walker to enforce the line-out.

The All Blacks fended off the first two charges, but it was third time lucky for Australia and Stephen Larkham's inside pass to a barrelling Kefu saw the big No.8 barge over for the series-clinching try.

The conversion was good and when Mehrtens' restart failed to go the 10 metres, the hooter went, Henning awarded the scrum, Latham found touch and it was all over.

Byron Kelleher, the All Black No.9, again upstaged his more illustrious opponent and George Gregan could not stamp his usual authority on the game.  That almost cost the Wallabies the game as New Zealand's continuing pressure, with Kelleher leading the charge, saw their defensive pattern shredded in the second half.

For the Wallabies the driving play of Owen Finegan, Nathan Grey and Kefu were worth gold.  They made a lot of ground and took two or more Kiwi defenders out of the game every time they put their heads down.

In the end the Wallabies are deserved winners and we'll have to wait until next year to see if the All Blacks or Springboks could upstage the world champions.

Man of the match:  This is a difficult decision.  On the Wallaby side John Eales, Michael Foley and Toutai Kefu all had good games.  The All Blacks' best were Troy Flavell, Chris Jack, Byron Kelleher and Andrew Mehrtens.  But Pita Alatini wins it for his second half brilliance, which led to two tries and almost won the game for New Zealand.

Moment of the match:  The last-mintue try by Toutai Kefu, without a doubt.  The whole Wallaby squad exploded with joy and swamped their No.8 and outgoing captain John Eales, whose Wallaby career ended, as it started, with a win.

Villain of the match:  The two "yellows" win this one today -- Norm Maxwell for retaliation, and Rod Moore for the same offence.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Ben Darwin, Andrew Walker, Phil Waugh
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Chris Whitaker

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Troy Flavell, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Leon MacDonald
Reserves:  Carl Hayman, Marty Holah, Christian Cullen, Justin Marshall
Unused:  Tony Brown, Mark Cooksley, Mark Hammett

Attendance:  90978
Referee:  Henning t.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Kefu R.S.T. 1, Latham C.E. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 1, Flatley E.J. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 4, Walker A.M. 1

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Alatini P.F. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 4

New Zealand 26 South Africa 15

New Zealand are back in business, big time, overwhelming South Africa 26-15 in a high-action international at Eden Park.  Their victory ensures the Tri-Nations championship will go right to the wire in Sydney.

With the "new chums" Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens, Chris Jack and Leon MacDonald all excelling, the All Blacks dominated virtually throughout, scoring the game's only two tries, one brilliantly taken by Pita Alatini, the other a penalty try awarded for an early tackle on Leon MacDonald.

Once again, the All Blacks kept the Springboks try-less, the visitors' only points coming courtesy of the deadly accurate boot of Braam van Straaten.

The Springboks haven't won at Eden Park since 1937 and never at any stage looked like improving that record, even though they trailed only 9-13 at halftime.

South Africa came close to salvaging a bonus point in the dying moments, but the knock-ons that had plagued the team, of a ball made slippery by rain which fell for much of the game, denied it even that satisfaction.

And so the Harry Viljoen's Boks are fated to finish last in the 2001 Tri-Nations championship, even though they did not lose to the world champion Wallabies.

The All Blacks demonstrated an energy, resourcefulness and inventiveness that was grossly absent from their play against the Wallabies at Carisbrook.

They took the game dynamically to the South Africans, clearing the ball efficiently from the breakdown zones, where they'd been so inept in Dunedin, and utilising it enthusiasm and enterprise along the backline.  Where at Dunedin they'd played largely by numbers, demonstrating a reluctance to counter-attack, here they swung into sevens mode at times, running everything back at the Springboks with gusto.

Had the rain, which cruelly returned just prior to kick-off, not made the ball so slippery, almost certainly New Zealand would have scored more tries.

Jonah Lomu missed a sitter in the fifth minute when he failed to control Ron Cribb's infield pass with the goalline at his mercy.  And several times in the second half, as New Zealand came at South Africa in waves, tries seemed inevitable until a mix of fumbles combined with desperate defence terminated the thrusts.

New Zealand has been a gloomy country since the All Blacks' loss in Dunedin, but there will be a spring in the Kiwis' step after this magnificent revival.

The selectors gambled on six changes, and they all paid off.  Kelleher had a blinder at halfback and Mehrtens, benefiting from his rocket service, controlled play superbly from first-five.  His giant passes repeatedly set the threequarters attacking.

Jack was a human dynamo from the opening seconds and MacDonald, who alternated with Mehrtens between fullback and first-five, was among the best attackers on the field.

Troy Flavell was a rich success as a blindside flanker, running like an extra back for much of the game.

Alatini was elusive and snaked through for the opening try while Tana Umaga ran with thrust and Lomu enjoyed a 100 per cent more involvement than at Carisbrook.

The All Black scrum was solid and the line-out generally sound.

The Springboks never got out of second gear, being on the back foot throughout, save for the final couple of minutes when the game was out of reach.

Locks Victor Matfield and Mark Andrews battled honestly and the front rowers were competitive but in almost every other phase of play the Springboks were overshadowed.

Perhaps the massive effort they'd put in at Perth had sapped their energy.  Or maybe it was simply the Eden Park bogey striking again.

Man of the match:  All Black halfback Byron Kelleher has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and grabbed it spectacularly.  He cleared the ball beautifully, probed the gaps and pressured both his opposite Joost van der Westhuizen and fullback Conrad Jantjes throughout.  It could be a while before Justin Marshall sees the No.9 Test jersey again.  Other strong contenders for the award were Chris Jack and Andrew Mehrtens.

Moment of the Match:  Springbok hooker Lukas van Biljon's early tackle on Leon MacDonald that led to referee Peter Marshall awarding the All Blacks a penalty try in the 55th minute.  It pushed New Zealand out to 26-9, sinking South Africa's hopes of a comeback.

Villain of the Match:  A few contenders, for there were several punch-ups and some crude rucking, but no one received either a yellow or red card.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Troy Flavell, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jeff Wilson, 15 Leon MacDonald
Reserves:  Carl Hayman, Marty Holah, Mark Cooksley
Unused:  Doug Howlett, Tony Brown, Mark Hammett, Justin Marshall, Penalty Try

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Andre Snyman, 13 Braam Van Straaten, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Deon Kayser, Ollie Le Roux, Albert Van Den Bergh, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Thinus Delport

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Alatini P.F. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 4

South Africa
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 5

Australia 14 South Africa 14

The Springboks of South Africa held the world champion Wallabies to a 14-all draw in a bruising Tri-Nations encounter at the Subiaco Oval in Perth, Australia.

It was a physical match, characterised by bone-crunching defence and few try-scoring opportunities, but the Springboks will be elated with their gutsy performance, which saw the first draw in the history of the Tri-Nations.

Only two tries were scored in the match, one by each side in each half, but the Wallabies will be kicking themselves after failing to exploit a one-man advantage, which they held for 20 minutes in the second half when the Springboks had two players in the sin bin on separate occasions.

First flyhalf Butch James spent 10 minutes off the field when referee Steve Walsh showed him a yellow card for a reckless tackle on Wallaby opensider George Smith, and then with 15 minutes remaining in the match Springbok skipper Bob Skinstad was sent to the bin for killing the ball near his side's line.

No damage was caused with James in the bin, but Skinstad could only watch from the sidelines as Wallaby inside centre Nathan Grey finally found a hole in the Springbok defence, after more than 200 minutes of Tri-Nations rugby this season, to pull his side level.

Matt Burke, who along with Braam van Straaten missed three kicks at goal the entire night, missed the conversion and at 11-all, with nine minutes remaining on the clock, it was still anyone's game ...

The visitors then reclaimed the lead five minutes later, after a high tackle by Wallaby loosehead Nick Stiles, but from the re-start André Venter knocked the ball on, which allowed the Wallabies to swarm into the Bok 22 and secure yet another penalty.  Burke made no mistake from in front of the uprights and with three minutes on the clock the match had not yet been decided.

Skinstad managed to get back on the field before the final whistle, but with his side in an attacking position shortly before the final whistle all they could do was concede a penalty for going off their feet at a ruck after Deon Kayser was wrapped up by Phil Waugh.

The Wallabies kicked to touch, drove up-field and Stephen Larkham attempted a drop, but it just went wide.  Conrad Jantjes dotted down and that was it.  Game over.  The first draw in the Tri-Nations (after the 34th match), and the first-ever draw between the Wallabies and Springboks (after their 47th encounter).

The Wallabies started the match with a bang.  After controlling possession and territory they had three points to show for their efforts after the first 10 minutes.

But when the Springboks eventually started settling down, they lost their vice-captain and main attacking weapon Robbie Fleck, who limped off with an ankle injury.

Fleck and Wallaby No.8 Toutai Kefu were involved in a scuffle shortly before Fleck left the field and whilst it remains to be seen whether or not the scuffle caused the injury, Fleck, as was the case in Pretoria three weeks ago, seemed to be getting on the Wallabies' nerves.  Fleck was replaced by Kayser, who put in a sterling defensive performance, despite not offering much on attack.

Braam van Straaten got his side on the board as Fleck left the field when Breyton Paulse was impeded as he was trying to gather a chip-ahead, and from then on the Bok pack started gaining a slight upper-hand.

The Springboks scored their only try of the match close to the half-time break when Butch James saw some space and unleashed the players on his outside.  Flank André Venter was one of the players who handled the ball as it got down to fullback Conrad Jantjes.  Jantjes raced along the touchline before flinging the ball to Mark Andrews for his third try against the Wallabies in 13 Tests.

Man of the match:  Wallaby flanker Owen Finegan showed power on attack and defence and a never-say-die attitude through the entire match.  He tested the Springbok tacklers on the fringes at rucks and mauls and flung himself from tackle to tackle with no respite.  Nathan Grey also shone for the Wallabies and for the Springboks, former skippers André Vos and Joost van der Westhuizen never gave up.

Moment of the match:  There was a five-minute period in the first half, just before the 30th minute, when the Wallabies attacked the Springboks' line incessantly.  But the Bok defence held firm in the face of danger and when the Wallabies were awarded a scrum on the Bok line a perfect eight-man shove saw them turn the ball over.  If the Boks had won the match, that would have been a very key moment.

Villain of the match:  Springbok flyhalf Butch James got his first yellow card at Test level for his no-arms, no-holds barred tackling style.  Whilst he may feel a trifle unlucky at getting 10 minutes in the sin bin, he can take comfort in the fact that he had received an official caution earlier in the game.  Luckily for James no points were scored when he was off the field, but will he learn from it?

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Graeme Bond, Ben Darwin, Phil Waugh
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Elton Flatley, Chris Whitaker

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Robbie Fleck, 13 Braam Van Straaten, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Deon Kayser, Ollie Le Roux, Albert Van Den Bergh
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Thinus Delport, Corne Krige

Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Grey N.P. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3

South Africa
Tries:  Andrews M.G. 1
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 3

Australia 23 New Zealand 15

Helped by a penalty-try at a critical moment of the game, Australia buried the Carisbrook bogey emphatically and kept their 2001 Tri-Nations prospects alive by downing New Zealand 23-15 with a disciplined performance at Dunedin.

The All Blacks scored the first try, in the second minute, and the last but in between the Australians demonstrated why they are the world champions, operating with composure, patience and assurance.

Most importantly of all, they took their opportunities.

While Tony Brown disappointed his home-town fans by landing just one goal from four attempts, Matt Burke, ever the man for the occasion, coolly slotted five out of six, to complement a stunning individual try.

But the turning point was the awarding by referee Steve Lander of a penalty-try to the Wallabies when All Black No.8 Ron Cribb crudely tackled Joe Roff minus the ball.

The Wallabies were ahead 13-8 at the time with 18 minutes remaining and the game was wide open.  But once Burke added the conversion for 20-8, the All Blacks' fate was effectively sealed.

"The penalty-try killed us," New Zealand captain Anton Oliver declared afterwards.  "It left us with too much to claw back."

Why Cribb flattened Roff as he was setting out in pursuit of a well-judged kick through by Stephen Larkham remains a mystery.  The ball settled short of the deadball line and it would have been a straight sprint between Roff and New Zealand's fastest man Doug Howlett.

But Cribb's rush of blood left referee Lander no alternative but to divert to the goalposts and award the try which, remarkably, is the first penalty-try ever conceded by the All Blacks in a Test.

Burke's third penalty goal in the 67th minute pushed Australia out to 23-8, a scoreline which rather distorted the evenness of the contest.

A flurry of changes, which got Byron Kelleher and Andrew Mehrtens involved, finally sparked an All Black try, tellingly created by Tana Umaga and Jonah Lomu and sweetly finished off by New Zealand's best player Jeff Wilson ... his 50th try -- in all matches -- for New Zealand.

It was too little too late and the All Blacks were left to lament handling lapses, poor goalkicking and indiscipline within range of their goalposts.

The statistical sheet revealed that New Zealand had the greater share of possession, won the rucks and mauls, yet made 18 handling errors against Australia's five, which starkly illustrated where this match was won.

Brilliantly guided by those master tacticians George Gregan and Stephen Larkham, the Wallabies played this game almost chess-like, demonstrating great patience while cutting errors to an absolute minimum.

They won the tactical kicking game hands down.  They almost taunted New Zealand by repeatedly kicking the ball at them, always deep.  "Come on, run it back at us!" they seemed to be saying.

But, surprisingly, New Zealand almost never took up the challenge.

Although they possessed immense strike power among the three-quarters, they rarely sought to counter attack and move the ball wide.

New Zealand had had the best possible start to the game, with Lomu scoring inside two minutes, courtesy of some masterly play by Wilson after Larkham's first kick, a grubber, had come unstuck.  Wilson hacked the ball 70 metres downfield, New Zealand claimed a quick line-out and Umaga pushed the ball through perfectly for Lomu to run on to.

Brown missed the conversion and a penalty attempt soon after.  What could have been 10-nil remained 5-nil.

Burke didn't hiccup when the same opportunities came his way.  He converted his own try, from wide out, and soon after landed a penalty goal.  Suddenly the Aussies had a 10-5 lead, one they would never relinquish.

It became 10-8, then 13-8 after half-time, with both teams creating likely situations, many of them stymied by referee Lander's pedantic interpretation of the tackle ball zone.

That's how it remained until the penalty-try was given, an award that flattened New Zealand's hopes of regaining the Bledisloe Cup which has been the property of Australia since 1998.

If Burke was Australia's most valuable player, it was by the slenderest margin from Gregan and Larkham, who controlled vast portions of the game.

Daniel Herbert was thrustful at centre, Toutai Kefu drove powerfully off the back of the scrum, George Smith scavenged expertly again and John Eales marshaled his troops mightily as always.

The Aussies were often under pressure in the scrums and surprisingly conceded three line-outs against the throw.  But they absorbed every setback and went back to doing the basics beautifully.

The All Blacks would be hugely disappointed with their effort, especially losing at Carisbrook, their favourite ground (where their record against Australia had been intact since 1913).

Justin Marshall was laboured again at halfback, which impacted on Brown whose tactical and goalkicking was sub-standard.

Umaga tried but couldn't get through at centre until the final stages while Lomu oozed aggression on the wing but once again, and it's now reaching an almost criminal level, he was starved of attacking chances.

Wilson was elegant and effective in everything he did at fullback, which included saving a certain try when he gave Roff a 10-metre start and gunned him down.

The All Black scrum was strong, Troy Flavell pilfered Aussie line-out throws and Cribb had a powerful game but undid all his good work by yielding that penalty-try.

Man of the match:  Not for the first time Matt Burke proved the All Blacks' nemesis, accounting for all of Australia's points apart from the penalty-try.  His try was a magnificent solo effort while his general play was faultless.

Moment of the match:  Had to be the penalty-try, witlessly conceded by Ron Cribb through tackling Joe Roff without the ball.  The All Blacks trailed by only five points at the time and could still have salvaged the game.  At 8-20, they were dead and buried.

Villain of the match:  No yellow cards, no red cards, no stoush, no unsavoury moments.  From the New Zealanders' viewpoint, the villain was Cribb for conceding the penalty-try.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Andrew Walker, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Chris Latham, Ben Darwin, Phil Waugh
Unused:  Chris Whitaker

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Troy Flavell, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Taine Randell, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Tony Brown, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Jeff Wilson
Reserves:  Carl Hayman, Marty Holah, Leon MacDonald, Mark Cooksley, Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens
Unused:  Mark Hammett

Attendance:  36000
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Burke M.C. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 2
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3

New Zealand
Tries:  Lomu J.T. 1, Wilson J.W. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 1, Umaga J.F. 1
Pen K.:  Brown T.E. 1

Australia 15 South Africa 20

Visitors Australia were unable to shake their Loftus Versfeld hoodoo, losing by five points to South Africa in their Tri-Nations clash.  The final score was 20-15.

The Bok victory was laid by their powerful pack.  With tighthead Cobus Visagie, hooker Lukas van Biljon, flank André Venter and captain and No.8 Bob Skinstad leading from the front, the home team's forwards built the foundation for a great victory in front of a capacity crowd at Loftus Versfeld.

For the world champions, in their first Test under new coach Eddie Jones, it is back to the drawing board if they are to successfully defend their Tri-Nations crown after the highs of a series win over the Lions.

No-one gave the Springboks a chance to win this game, but they came out firing on all cylinders, and had the Wallabies on the back-foot from the outset.

The score probably flatters Australia, and they can count themselves lucky that they are returning Down Under with one log point in the bag.  They tried their best to break the Springbok defence, but failed to do so.  The South Africans defended like men possessed, and it paid off for them.

The Springboks took a 14-0 lead at the break after their captain Bob Skinstad scored a brilliant try in the corner as the Wallaby defence went AWOL.  Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen fed the Bok No.8 who ran all of 20 metres before crashing over with Matt Burke on his back.

Although Braam van Straaten missed the conversion, he justified his inclusion in the Bok side early when he slotted a penalty goal from inside his half of the field.  That was the first of two first-half penalty goals that Van Straaten struck from more than 50 metres.

After the first penalty, the Boks immediately went on the attack again.  From the restart Breyton Paulse made a break before offloading to Skinstad, who gave the ball to Joost van der Westhuizen who was stopped inside the Wallaby 22, but the visitors' backline were offside and Van Straaten increased the Bok lead to 6-0.

Both sides were keen to throw the ball around, but the defence was good all round.  Butch James and Van Straaten did well in keeping the Wallabies pinned back in their own half with good tactical kicking, while Elton Flatley and Walker did the same for the visitors.

The Wallabies looked dangerous when they got into the Boks' 22, but everytime they spoiled a good overlap with someone trying to break the homeside's defensive line.  Nathan Grey and Toutai Kefu were the culprits, not sending the ball wide when they should have.

Australia's best attacking move came in the 30th minutes when Grey chipped a kick into South Africa's in-goal area, but Andrew Walker knocked on as he was going for the touchdown and the Boks escaped from jail for the third time in the opening stanza.

Burke, who missed two relatively easy attempts early on, got his side's first points in the first minute after the break with a penalty goal.  His second three-pointer came four minutes later when Burke landed a 50 metre attempt with ease.  But Van Straaten increased his side's lead to 11 points from the restart when Nick Stiles went offside.

Burke added two more penalty goals (in the 50th and 58th minutes) before the Wallabies got a good attacking scrum on the Boks' 22.  They spread it wide and the try was on, but Joe Roff held on in the tackle and the Boks were awarded a penalty.

The Boks spent most of the time between the 60th and 70th minutes camped in the Wallaby half and almost scored from a brilliant chip-and-chase by fullback Conrad Jantjes.  Unlucky for the Boks Dean Hall did not get a good bounce in the Australian in-goal area after Butch James kicked through.

However, the Boks' relentless pressure paid off when the visitors were penalised with less than 10 minutes remaining.  Van Straaten did the necessary and the scored changed to 20-12 with nine minutes left on the clock.

With four minutes left, after replacement flyhalf Manny Edmonds narrowed the lead to five points, the Springboks got a good attacking scrum inside the Wallaby 22, but Breyton Paulse, who had a good game, attempted a drop goal, his second of the night, and failed.

The Wallabies were awarded a scrum in their 22, they attacked, the Boks tackled them man for man, the siren went and the referee ended the game.  The Boks are still unbeaten against Australia in Pretoria.

Man of the match:  A few contenders here -- André Venter and Joost van der Westhuizen for the Boks, and George Gregan for the Wallabies.  However, nobody was better than Braam van Straaten.  He proved that you need a good kicker at this level of rugby -- not only at goal, but tactically as well.  His goal-kicking was great and Van Straaten slotted five kicks from six attempts at goal.

Moment of the match:  Bob Skinstad's try late in the first half saw the Wallabies turn 14 points behind the Boks.  They never had it in them to close that gap, and Skinstad left the field smiling after his first taste of victory as captain in the Tri-Nations.

Villain of the match:  Wallaby lock David Giffin for his elbow-charge on Robbie Fleck late in the first half.  Neither the referee nor the touch-judges spotted him, but Giffin deserves to be cited for the incident.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Elton Flatley, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Andrew Walker, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Manuel Edmonds, Chris Latham, Ben Darwin, David Lyons
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Chris Whitaker

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Johan Ackermann, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Robbie Fleck, 13 Braam Van Straaten, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Corne Krige, Ollie Le Roux, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Thinus Delport, Deon Kayser

Referee:  Mchugh d.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 4, Edmonds M.H.M. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Skinstad R.B. 1
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 5

New Zealand 12 South Africa 3

The All Blacks of New Zealand defeated South Africa 12-3 in a hard-fought opening 2001 Tri-Nations encounter at Newlands in Cape Town.

Whilst the Springboks will take some heart from their brave performance, once again the bad out-weighed the good as the Men in Black showed the value of having a well-organised defence and a specialist goalkicker.

Whilst tries were non-existent, blood and guts were a hallmark of a game that did not quite reach the level of play that the near 50 000-strong crowd would have hoped for.  Sure they got a bit of rain and a torrent of tackles, but for the first time in Tri-Nations history no tries were scored in an entire match.

South Africa dominated much of the possession and territory stakes in the first-half, but other than a third-minute penalty by Percy Montgomery they had nothing to show for their efforts in the entire match as New Zealand defended as if their lives depended on it.

There were good moments for the Boks, especially at line-out time where novices Victor Matfield and Lukas van Biljon impressed, but it was New Zealand flyhalf Tony Brown who stole the show with a faultless goalkicking performance in the first 40 minutes, whereas Springbok fullback Percy Montgomery missed three attempts at goal and Butch James missed one fairly long-range attempt very late in the match.

At one stage South Africa spent a considerable amount of time in the All Blacks' half, but they could only watch minutes later as the visiting side entered their territory and Tony Brown kept the scoreboard ticking over with four penalties from different parts of the ground, although none of them were long-range attempts.

There were no real try-scoring opportunities in the first stanza, but in the last five minutes wings Jonah Lomu and Doug Howlett threatened the homeside's defence on numerous occasions.

Some brave defence from vice-captain Robbie Fleck saved the Boks on one occasion in particular when Lomu managed to get his hands through a tackle from André Venter and Breyton Paulse, before feeding lock Troy Flavell on his outside.  Fleck hunted Flavell down and won a penalty for his side.

But the All Blacks continued their knew-found dominance, which was reminiscent of the last time the two countries met at Newlands, and Brown extended their lead by yet another three points shortly before half-time.

The Boks' second half onslaught began with earnest some eight minutes into the second stanza.

They went left, they went right, they re-cycled the ball for over 10 phases, but the All Black defence, with retreaded opensider Taine Randell and skipper Anton Oliver the stand-outs, just stood firm in the face of danger.

The Boks managed to force a scrum on the All Black tryline after Dean Hall was held up by Jonah Lomu with the tryline only a metre away, but despite winning a penalty, which Joost van der Westhuizen took quickly, they did not make any impression on the All Black defence or the scoreboard.

The All Blacks almost managed a break-away try through wing Doug Howlett in the last quarter and the match ended with an interlude from an adventurous spectator dressed in a wet-suit and a botched penalty attempt from Springbok flyhalf Butch James, which could have given his team an all-important bonus-point for losing by less than seven points.

New Zealand will no doubt be delighted with a hard-fought opening Tri-Nations win but where to from here for South Africa?  Well, that is a good question, which could perhaps be answered against Australia next week.  They were not embarrassed, but simply beaten by a side that seemed to want it more in the second half, which produced no score and only one penalty attempt by South Africa.

Man of the match:  Springbok hooker Lukas van Biljon had an outstanding match in only his first start for his country.  He did the basics first.  Cleaning out at rucks and mauls, his line-out throwing was spot-on, he stood his ground at scrum-time and he ran with much power and purpose when given a chance with ball in hand.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody.  Sure there were some niggles and a bit of "how's your father", but boys will be boys.

Moment of the Match:  When the very brave spectator, clad in a wet-suit, emerged on to the pitch abd got the loudest cheer from a subdued crowd.  He even had the guts to initiate a tackle on the policeman, who was about to apprehend him.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Troy Flavell, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Taine Randell, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Tony Brown, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Jeff Wilson
Reserves:  Marty Holah, Chris Jack, Leon MacDonald
Unused:  Carl Hayman, Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Robbie Fleck, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  John Smit, Johan Ackermann, Deon Kayser, Ollie Le Roux, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Conrad Jantjes

Attendance:  49720
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Pen K.:  Brown T.E. 4

South Africa
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 1