Fiji 14 Wales 58

Wales broke the half century mark as they beat a somewhat lacklustre Fijian side 58-14 in their one-off Test at a closed-roof Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.  The seven tries to two victory is Wales' biggest win ever over the Fijians.

The previous biggest win by the Welsh was a 40-3 triumph over the Fijians on 9 November 1985.  The seven tries scored by the Welsh on Saturday also equals the record of seven, scored back in '85.

While the Fijians showed some resistance in the early stages of the game, the second half was one-way traffic.

It was a first half that produced plenty Fijian aggression, maybe a bit too much, as the yellow card showed to Seremaia Bai after about 20 minutes can attest.

A string of penalties cost the Fijians dearly, with Stephen Jones slotting five penalties in the first 24 minutes to give his team a handy 15-0 lead.

But two tries in the final five minutes before the break put the game beyond the tourists, with Rhys Williams going over under the posts after turnover ball and great counter play by the Welsh -- with Jones adding the conversion -- while Mark Jones added a second try in injury time.

At 27-0 it seemed as if there was no way back for the Fijians.

There was a period around the 30-minute mark in the first half when the powerful Fijian runners tested the Welsh defence.  Wales were forced to make tackle after tackle on their tryline, but held firm.

This period, which brought no reward, seemed to take the fight out of the tourists.

At the break Fiji took off Joseph Narruhn, and brought on the Sevens specialist Waisale Serevi in the hope of sparking their backline into action.

But it was the Welsh Dragons who produced the first score of the second period, when loose forward Colin Charvis went over under the posts, after a period of sustained pressure.

With the Fijians still giving away penalties, almost at will, the next score also went to the Welsh -- with the home team spreading it wide and Sonny Parker crashing over the line to score a fourth try for the Welsh.

This was followed by another Mark Jones try and Stephen Jones' third conversion.

At this stage the Fijian defence seemed to have fallen apart and they also lost the heart that is usually associated with the physical Fijians.

They did finally manage a score, when winger Fero Lasagavibau used his pace to go over under the posts.  Nicky Little added the conversion to make it 46-7, but the game was long over as a contest.

There were late tries for Gareth Thomas (Wales) and Waisale Serevi (Fiji) as the game opened up towards the end.

Man of the match:  Mark Jones scored two great tries for the Welsh, but he gets our vote for his all-round performance -- which included help setting up a great try for his team.

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Richard Nyholt, 4 Apisai Naevo, 5 Simon Raiwalui, 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 7 Seta Tawake Naivaluwaqa, 8 Alfi Mocelutu Vuivau, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Fero Lasagavibau, 12 Seremaia Bai, 13 Seru Rabeni, 14 Norman Ligairi, 15 Joseph Narruhn
Reserves:  Waisale Serevi, Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi
Unused:  Paula Biu, Bill Gadolo, Isaia Rasila

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Ben Evans, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Colin Charvis (c), 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Iestyn Harris, Martyn Madden, Richard Parks, Jamie Robinson, Steve Williams
Unused:  Ryan Powell, Andrew Lewis

Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Serevi W.T. 1, Ligairi N. 1
Conv:  Serevi W.T. 1, Little N.T. 1

Wales
Tries:  Jones M.A. 2, Parker S. 1, Williams G.R. 1, Penalty try 1, Charvis C.L. 1, Thomas G. 1
Conv:  Harris I.R. 1, Jones S.M. 3
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 5

South Africa 10 France 30

France gave the Springboks a rugby lesson at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, beating them by 30-10, after leading 12-3 at the half-time break.

The Boks would want to forget this match, a record loss at France's hands, in a hurry.  They were out-muscled and out-classed in every facet of the game, their much-vaunted pack and backline both being made to look decidedly second-rate.

The match began with Springbok skipper Corné Krige conceding a penalty from the kick-off -- for playing the man without the ball -- but the Boks' woes were compounded minutes later when debutant centre Jean de Villiers was carried from the field after twisting his left knee in an attempt to play the ball after making a tackle on fullback Nicolas Brusque.

In the process, De Villiers, who was replaced by Marius Joubert, had conceded a penalty, with French flyhalf François Gelez making no mistake, opening his side's account with his first three-pointer of the evening.

Gelez soon added another penalty, from 39 metres out, before recalled utility back Thomas Castaignède, who had a fairly quiet night on attack, slotted an angled drop-goal with his side on the attack.

At 9-0 the Boks would have been extremely concerned with not only the scoreline, but their high penalty count and error-rates too.  They were not able to build up any phases, whilst the French played it coolly, staying in SA's territory and slotting any penalties (or drop-goals) that came their way.

The Boks were soon in even more trouble when debutant lock forward Bakkies Botha was sent to the sin bin by referee Alain Rolland for kneeing a French player on the ground.  To add insult to injury, Gelez made no mistake with the penalty and the home team was ahead at 12-nil.

Springbok flyhalf André Pretorius, who missed his first penalty attempt of the night, made no mistake with his second shot at goal towards the end of the first period -- thanks to some French hands in the ruck -- but, worryingly, in Botha's absence the Springbok scrum crumbled, with France claiming two tightheads in quick succession.

With the South Africans 12-3 down at half-time, their woes were compounded by Willie Meyer's absence when the teams returned for the start of the second half, leaving Wessel Roux, a regular loosehead prop, having to make his Test debut at tighthead prop.

Loosehead prop Lawrence Sephaka soon joined Meyer on the sidelines, with hooker Lukas van Biljon making his comeback to the Test arena at prop, which saw the scrums become uncontested.

Before Sephaka left the field, however, the Boks were on attack in France's 22, perhaps looking to open their try-scoring account, but all they could do was watch the French turn the ball over and score a try of their own.  A creative flick-pass from No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy created the space for Olivier Magne to free Vincent Clerc on the right-wing before he joined up with his flying captain Fabien Galthié, who managed to hack the ball in-field, where Cedric Heymans latched onto the ball before beating a defender for a simple run-in to the Bok line.

Heymans looked marginally in front of Galthié's kick, but one gets the impression that it was more an indication of his pace than anything else.  Gelez added the two points to put his side ahead at 19-3.

That 16-point lead relaxed the French players, who up till then were happy feeding off the Boks' incompetence, whilst the South Africans upped their error-rate and ball-in-hand jitters.

Bulls flanker Pedrie Wannenburg was introduced shortly before the start of the final quarter, with Botha leaving the fray and AJ Venter moving to lock, and although he combined nicely with No.8 Joe van Niekerk, the Boks were not able to get over the advantage line at all.

Van Niekerk managed a consolation try for the Boks after a comedy of errors from both sides -- and good work from flyhalf Pretorius, whose initial kick-ahead was central to the try, scrumhalf Neil de Kock, right-wing Breyton Paulse, combined to put Van Niekerk over.

Pretorius added the two points, only for Gelez to kick a penalty soon afterwards to put his side more than two converted tries ahead at 25-10.

De Kock came close to saving face with a near charge-down try, but France ended up scoring one more try just minutes before the final whistle when flying right-winger Clerc, on his Test debut, beat the Bok defenders to the ball in their in-goal area after a kick-ahead from replacement back Xavier Garbajosa.

Surprisingly, Gelez missed the conversion, but at 30-10 the damage had been done and the final whistle from referee Rolland must have been a welcome relief to Corné Krige and his charges.

Krige, and his coach Rudolf Straeuli, have just seven days to lift the spirits in the Bok camp, with Scotland, who recorded an unconvincing 37-10 victory over Romania, suddenly not shaping up like the easy-beats they were meant to be.

France, however, will be champing at the bit to add the scalp of New Zealand (they play them next week), who were narrow losers to England earlier in the day, to that of South Africa.

Man of the match:  No South Africans came close to this award, although Joe van Niekerk was the only Bok to come away with the match with half his reputation intact.  For the French, tighthead prop Pieter de Villiers was brutally strong, No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy was fast, full of skill and powerful, captain Fabien Galthié ran the show brilliantly from scrumhalf and flyhalf François Gelez kicked the goals that mattered.  In the end, however, our vote goes with Imanol Harinordoquy, who despite being in doubt for this Test because of injury, delivered a commanding performance from the back of France's scrum.  His flick-pass to fellow back rower Magne in the build-up to Heymans' try was superb and highlighted his influence on the game.

Moment of the match:  Clerc's try looked good from the start, but the only problem is that it took ages for the TMO Gareth Simmons to make his choice.  Why?  Well, the radio connection between the referee and the TMO was down, leaving the "fourth official" to run around and deliver the thumbs up verdict in person.

Villain of the match:  The Springboks.  Every single player, with the exception of No.8 Joe van Niekerk, has to have a serious look at his performance.  It was disappointing, embarrassing, record-breaking and certainly unexpected.  Sadly, it was even worse than last year's debacle in Paris under former coach Harry Viljoen.  A runner-up to the entire Bok side, was the Planet Rugby writer, who predicted a South African win in the build-up, whilst Bakkies Botha deserves a mention here for his yellow card in the 33rd minute.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Willie Meyer, 2 James Dalton, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 Bakkies Botha, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Corne Krige (c), 8 Joe Van Niekerk, 9 Neil De Kock, 10 Andre Pretorius, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Adi Jacobs, 13 Jean De Villiers, 14 Brent Russell, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves:  Wessel Roux, Lukas Van Biljon, Marco Wentzel, Marius Joubert, Pedrie Wannenburg

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Francois Gelez, 11 Vincent Clerc, 12 Thomas Castaignede, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Cedric Heymans, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Xavier Garbajosa, Sylvain Marconnet

Attendance:  60000
Referee:  Rolland a.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Van Niekerk J.C. 1
Conv:  Pretorius A.S. 1
Pen K.:  Pretorius A.S. 1

France
Tries:  Clerc V. 1, Heymans C. 1
Conv:  Gelez F. 1
Pen K.:  Gelez F. 5
Drop G.:  Castaignede T. 1

New Zealand 28 England 31

As if the aura of the All Blacks was not enough to whet the appetite, rugby connoisseurs will be salivating over this one for months, after a game that had everything, including a pair of tries for England's nemesis Jonah Lomu, on a day where English creativity triumphed in a superb advert for the game.

It was tries from flanker Lewis Moody, fly-half Jonny Wilkinson and wing Ben Cohen that did the damage from the home side, while Man of the match Wilkinson's 16 points with the boot proved vital in the end.

For New Zealand, despite being on the back foot in the scrum and wavering occasionally in the line-out, their enterprise in the loose and fiery back row play was rewarded with tries for Auckland wing Doug Howlett and replacement scrum-half Danny Lee.

While the likes of first-choice All Blacks Reuben Thorne, Richie McCaw and Justin Marshall may have been watching at home on TV in New Zealand, they would have been among the millions worlwide on the edge of their seat during a nailbiting finale, England hanging on to their three point lead with some last-ditch tackling.

It was however a colossal take from replacement lock Ben Kay from a New Zealand throw-in five metres from the English line in injury-time that sealed New Zealand's fate, with the English at least going some way to exorcising the ghosts of their 1995 and 1999 World Cup losses.

Despite a week of build-up focusing mainly on the perceived weakness of what some harsh pundits had labelled this supposed All Black second XV, the Twickenham crowd's rousing rendition of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" during an emotional Haka set the tone for a superb 80 minutes.

After some fine early takes from Keith Robinson in the black jersey, it was Wilkinson whose boot propelled the home side into a 6-0 lead with two penalties after enterprising runs from Greenwood in midfield.

The greenhorn All Black pack however showed their strength in the loose with a rolling maul near the Englnd posts, and it was from this pacey early pressure that the first try of the day came.

It started from captain Taine Randell's decision to kick a penalty near the English line into touch, where after a solid grab in the lineout, the ball was worked right to left through the hands, the eventual two-on-one overlap down the right wing seeing Lomu run over a combination of Mike Tindall and Jason Robinson for a score in the corner after being sent upstairs to the video ref.

Ben Blair converted brilliantly from way out wide, and with Spencer punting well from defence, England were forced to look to their dominating scrum to gain headway in opposition territory.

It was that forward momentum that chiselled a gap for Wilkinson to regain a narrow lead with a close-range drop-goal on 24 minutes, although it was not long after before the visitors were again edging ahead.

A sloppy spell of midfield play from both sides saw the ball intercepted by Tana Umaga, who slapped it down in the direction of Howlett, the Auckland speedster tearing away down the right-wing to cross the line, beating the retreating Jason Robinson for pace on the way, with Blair converting from under the posts.

Blair then fired a long penalty wide of the posts, with Wilkinson getting England to within two points with a 43 metre effort approaching the break.

The Newcastle star then stuck another monster attempt marginally wide of the left upright, but just when the half-time whistle looked like coming, the Twickenham crowed sprung to their feet to hail a try from Leicester blindsider Lewis Moody.

In the team at the expense of club-mate Neil Back, he was put in to the right corner after superb combination play from Simpson-Daniel and Wilkinson as they sucked in the defenders -- Wilkinson missing the conversion, but England still going into the interval at 17-14 up, a scoreline perhaps flattering them after a less than convincing first 40 minutes.

The half-time break saw the exit of one creative force from each side, Spencer (shoulder) and Greenwood (dead leg) but it was the off-the-cuff brilliance of Wilkinson that illuminated the first few minutes of the half, faking for a drop-goal only to chip-and-chase over the flat-footed All Black defence, despite referee Jonathan Kaplan having already signalled an England penalty.

He converted his own score, and it was almost from the restart that what had looked like a tight scoreline turned into a landslide, Mehrtens spilling the ball at first receiver for Cohen to turn on the after-burners from halfway, running strong and straight to the line with Wilkinson again adding the extras -- New Zealand huddling under the crossbar for a much-needed spot of soul-searching, despite some shining first-half performances.

Mehrtens further endeared himself to the home fans with a missed penalty from long range, although his next shot at goal had the desired result, as he converted Lomu's second try.

It came after a rumbling rolling maul, with back rower Marty Holah yet again showing his strength before the ball was shipped left to right, Umaga's superb decoy run giving Lomu a straight path to the line from 10 metres, the minor problem of Mike Tindall being in the way proving little obstacle to the big man on the burst.

New Zealand seized on the momentum of that try, and there was some vintage Lomu down the left-wing as he swatted opposite man Simpson-Daniel away like a fly before taking three tacklers to haul him down.

Fullback Ben Blair was the man however to really penetrate, his break down the right nearly seeing Kees Meeuws over the line as the English defence was forced into drastic action on their own line.

They were not so lucky moments later however after a forceful run into the 22 from No.8 Sam Broomhall created the platform for replacement scrum-half Lee to dummy and go from close range, a superb predator's try which got the All Blacks to within three points at 31-28, setting up a tantalising finale.

Had it not been for a crushing try-saver from Cohen in the last minute then the result could well have been different, as he bundled Canterbury fullback Blair into the corner flag after a fleeting run covering all of 50 metres.

With referee Kaplan's watch ticking round toward the 80-minute mark it was then the turn of Ben Kay to assume the mantle of hero as he snatched a line-out five metres from the English line on a New Zealand throw, with that superb leap at fourth man ending the hopes of the New Zealand fans, the final whistle coming seconds later to end a truly thrilling encounter between two teams intent on running the ball.

Man of the match:  Jonny Wilkinson (England):  Another masterful display from the Newcastle fly-half, not least for his cool-head and vision in setting up his own try, but his marshalling of the backline was exemplary yet again.  Elsewhere in the England side, notable mentions for hooker Steve Thompson after some energy-sapping support play, and Bath centre Mike Tindall after grit and creation alongside Will Greenwood.  For New Zealand, Doug Howlett down the right-wing showed that he was the class act in the side with a brilliantly-taken try, and opensider Marty Holah landed some massive hits in defence.

Moment of the Match:  With England three points up, and with two minutes left on the clock, New Zealand fullback Ben Blair tore away down the left wing, with a seemingly clean run-in to the line.  England left wing Ben Cohen had other ideas though, and hared across the pitch in the nick of time, bundling Blair into the corner-flag with a top-draw ball-and-all challenge when a certain try was on the cards.  Wilkinson's superb chip-and-chase try and Kay's injury-time line-out take were close contenders, but Cohen's heroic tackle gets our vote.

Villain of the Match:  No real villains in a match which was marvellously refereed, and with no sin-binnings as both teams battled hard in the best rugby traditions.  The fans who booed All Black captain Taine Randell's decision to go for goal from a penalty with 30 minutes to go and at 31-14 down did however show firstly a lack of respect for one of the great men of the game, and secondly, a complete lack of rugby knowledge.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Joe McDonnell, 2 Andrew Hore, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Keith Robinson, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Marty Holah, 7 Taine Randell (c), 8 Sam Broomhall, 9 Steve Devine, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Keith Lowen, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Ben Blair
Reserves:  Danny Lee, Andrew Mehrtens, Brad Mika, Mark Robinson
Unused:  Keven Mealamu, Carl Hayman, Rodney So'oialo

England:  1 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Trevor Woodman, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Richard Hill, 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Ben Kay, Neil Back, Austin Healey, Ben Johnston
Unused:  Jason Leonard, Mark Regan, Tim Stimpson

Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Lee D.D. 1, Lomu J.T. 2
Conv:  Blair B.A. 2, Mehrtens A.P. 2

England
Tries:  Cohen B.C. 1, Moody L.W. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 2
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 3
Drop G.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Australia 9 Ireland 18

Fly-half Ronan O'Gara kicked six penalties to give Ireland an 18-9 victory over Australia at a rain-soaked Lansdowne Road, the first Irish victory over the Wallabies since 1979.

It was not a day for expansive rugby with neither side able to breach their opponents' tryline in a match that had plenty of blood and thunder on show, with the Irish victory owing much to a gusty and highly organised defensive effort.

O'Gara stood up to plate against the world champions, showing the doubters for once and for all that he has the temperament to battle against the best at the top level.

The Munster man was coolness personified as he slotted his six penalties in difficult conditions in Dublin, but was also a key man in Ireland’s tactical battle against the Wallabies, his kicking from hand keeping the opposition pinned back into their own territory for long stretches and giving his forwards plenty of momentum.

He was aided in his task by the comforting backline presence of new skipper Brian O'Driscoll who had another memorable game against the Wallabies following his heroics Down Under with the 2001 Lions.

O'Driscoll was a constant threat in attack, making a number of telling half breaks throughout the match and also put in more than his fair share of midfield hits to break the Wallabies' rhythm.

While O'Driscoll can expect to drop back down into the ranks once Keith Wood is fit for international duty again, coach Eddie O'Sullivan will be delighted he has found an admirable deputy for the ever-fragile Wood.

But much of the credit for the win must go to the home pack, who gained the upperhand over their opponents early on in proceedings and never relinquished it.

With halfbacks O'Gara and Peter Stringer playing to the corners with the boot, the Irish forwards kept the pressure up in set-piece and loose play, rocking the Wallabies back with some highly effective dynamic drives up the middle of the paddock.

O'Gara opened up a 3-0 lead in the 12th minute after Australia were ruled offside in their own half following a period of sustained early pressure.

Then, the Wallabies, already sporting six changes from the team who beat Argentina in Buenos Aires last week, were disrupted by the loss of influential Brumbies forward Owen Finegan with a dislocated shoulder to be replaced by Justin Harrison.

Finegan's departure coincided with one of Ireland's best attacking passages, O'Gara firing a wide pass to unleash O’Driscoll up the middle.  Moments later, a canny cross kick the fly-half nearly saw Shane Horgan over for a try in the right-hand corner, the Australian defence just managing to hold up the winger and bundle him into touch.

O'Gara kicked a total of four penalties in the first period, while Australia -- despite coming close to scoring a try through wing Scott Staniforth -- were only able to hit back with one penalty of their own from Matt Burke.

Ireland made a change in personnel at the break, winger Denis Hickie going off after an earlier collision with Wendell Sailor to be replaced by Munster's John Kelly.

But Kelly quickly settled into the team's defensive pattern as Ireland continued to soak up the pressure from an increasingly desperate Wallaby team.

Burke kicked his second penalty after 45 minutes, but Ireland were able to nose further ahead again just a few seconds later with another successful penalty kick from O'Gara.

Then came a moment of drama when it appeared that Australia had made a crucial breatkthrough.

Centre Stirling Mortlock's clever chip ahead appeared to produce a try, leading to a few anxious moments for Ireland as the video refereee Brian Campsall was called upon to run the rule over the near try.

But Campsall decided that Irish fullback Girvan Dempsey had beaten Giffin to the ball over the tryline and Lansdowne Road breathed a collective sigh of relief.

There was more drama a few moments later, this time at the other end of the field as O'Driscoll charged down a clearance kick to pressurise the Wallabies right on their own tryline.

Somehow, George Gregan and Stephen Larkham managed to scrabble the ball away, although Ireland did manage to force another penalty some minutes later, O'Gara kicking his sixth -- and final -- penalty.

Burke kicked his third penalty in the 60th minute to set up a nailbiting last quarter which saw the Irish defence standing up to a series of dangerous Wallaby attacks to defend their lead and effect a famous victory.

Man of the match:  Ronan O'Gara: There were some fine Irish performances from some of the Irish forwards -- most notably recalled backrower Victor Costello -- but Ronan O'Gara's demonstration of grace under pressure makes him Planet Rugby's Man of the match.  The Munster fly-half has often had his big-match temperament questioned, but on this occasion O'Gara showed himself up to the task in hand, keeping a cool head.  Throughout the match, O'Gara ran the game very effectively, his cross-field kicks keeping the Wallabies pinned into their own half for long stretches.

Moment of the match:  The final whistle -- the Lansdowne faithful had waited a long time for this victory -- since 1968 to be exact -- and erupted joyfully at the end of the match.  As the delighted players jogged around the pitch to the booming strains of U2 being played over the stadium PA system, there was barely a dry eye in the house, certainly not from the watching Irish Prime Minister Bertie Aherne who looked positively choked by the win.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Adam Freier, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 Owen Finegan, 5 David Giffin, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Scott Staniforth, 15 Matthew Burke
Unused:  Matt Giteau, Chris Whitaker

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reg Corrigan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Victor Costello, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Unused:  Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Marcus Horan

Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3

Ireland
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 6

Australia 17 Argentina 6

The Wallabies opened their four-Test 2002 November tour with a scrappy win over Argentina at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, winning 17-6 after leading by 14-6 at the break.

It was far from a good performance from the world champions, and had it not been for dreadful goal kicking by Pumas flyhalf Felipe Contepomi -- who missed seven penalties out of nine attempts at goal -- the Wallabies would have started their tour on a very sour note.

While Contepomi had a nightmare at flyhalf for the home side, his opposite number, Stephen Larkham, kept the Wallabies going forward with superb tactical kicking.

Larkham did not run with the ball much, but the one tume he did, he set up left-wing Stirling Mortlock's try -- the only five-pointer of the game -- just before the break.

Outside centre Matt Burke added three first-half penalties for the Wallabies.

During the same time Contepomi missed five kicks at goal.  Had he been successful, the Pumas could have led by 21-14 at half-time.

From an Australian point of view, two of the few highlights of the game were Test debuts for hooker Adam Freier and openside flanker David Croft, who both earned their first caps from the bench.

Winger Wendell Sailor made his appearance early in the game, when Ben Tune limped off with what looked like a hamstring injury.

It was not a pretty match, and the two cards handed out by referee Kelvin Deaker in injury-time -- to Mortlock and Pumas lock Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe -- proved just that.  Both teams got stuck into each other regularly.

The Pumas' handling was also not up to standard, and the game did not come close to last year's Test in Argentina, when the All Blacks managed to beat the home team by 24-20 in the final minute.

The Wallabies now jet off to Europe, with their next Test against Ireland in Dublin.  They will have to improve considerably, or the third tour match, against England at Twickenham, can end in defeat.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Ben Tune, 15 Mat Rogers
Reserves:  Elton Flatley, David Giffin, Wendell Sailor, Chris Whitaker, David Croft, Ben Darwin, Adam Freier

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 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Ignacio Corleto
Reserves:  Martin Durand, Roberto Grau, Mario Ledesma Arocena
Unused:  Gonzalo Camardon, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Pedro Sporleder

Attendance:  65000
Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Mortlock S.A. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3, Flatley E.J. 1

Argentina
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 2

Wales 40 Romania 3

It was with a whimper rather than a bang that Wales got their 2002 November Test campaign off to a start, battling in the Wrexham rain to an uninspiring 40-3 win over the Oaks of Romania, in a win which will do little to boost optimism ahead of their upcoming date with New Zealand.

Only 12-0 up at the break after four penalties from Pontypridd's returning fly-half Neil Jenkins, the Welsh finally turned the screw to some extent in the second half, although the three tries they managed -- as well as a late penalty try -- will not have gone a long way to appeasing their many disenchanted fans.

An admittedly experimental side containing debutants Sonny Parker and Gethin Jenkins failed to blow away the unfancied Romanians, who relied on the French second division for the majority of their squad, and in the end proved difficult to break down on a frustrating evening.

The scoreline was given a more creditable look with a penalty try at the death, as well as five missed goal kicks from Romanian stand-off Ionut Tofan, who struggled to find the posts all night, succeeding with one penalty attempt to register his side's only points.

This result on the back of a 38-9 defeat to Ireland at Lansdowne Road at least gives the Romanians another competitive scoreline, but it is in Wales where the questions will be being asked after failing to rack up a big score against a side who were there to be beaten.

No.8 Scott Quinnell was the man who finally gave the Wrexham crowd something to cheer about seven minutes into the second half when he chalked up the opening try, latching onto a useful dummy from Pontypridd debutant Parker in the centre.

Llanelli flyer Mark Jones was next over as the Romanian defence continued to stand firm in the main, combining with Gareth Thomas down the left to score in the corner.

Captain Colin Charvis -- playing at openside -- was then to play a role in the third try as he and Jenkins combined to send Thomas over in the right corner, with the last-minute penalty try and subsequent conversion bringing the curtain down on a performance which lacked in inspiration, and may well leave the Welsh management going back to the drawing board ahead of their upcoming dates with Fiji, New Zealand and Canada.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Martyn Madden, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Steve Williams, 6 Michael Owen, 7 Colin Charvis (c), 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Neil Jenkins, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Craig Morgan, Gavin Thomas, Ben Evans, Stephen Jones, Andrew Lewis, Gareth Llewellyn
Unused:  Ryan Powell

Romania:  1 Silviu Florea, 2 Razvan Mavrodin, 3 Petrisor Toderasc, 4 Sorin Socol, 5 Petre Cristian, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 7 Alin Petrache, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 9 Petre Mitu, 10 Ionut Tofan, 11 Vasile Ghioc, 12 Gabriel Brezoianu, 13 Romeo Gontineac (c), 14 Marius Picoiu, 15 Dan Dumbrava
Reserves:  Daniel Chiriac, Marius Coltuneac, Nicolae Dragos Dima, Remus Lungu, Marian Constantin, Marcel Socaciu
Unused:  Cristian Podea

Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Jones M.A. 1, Penalty try 1, Quinnell L.S. 1, Thomas G. 1
Conv:  Jenkins N.R. 4
Pen K.:  Jenkins N.R. 4

Romania
Pen K.:  Tofan I.R. 1

Italy 25 Romania 17

Italy booked their place at Rugby World Cup 2003 after battling to a 25-17 win over Romania in Parma, the Azzurri now pooled with New Zealand, Wales, Canada and a repechage qualifier in Group D next year.

The match at the Stadio Lanfrachi stadium in the northern city of Parma ensured that Romania's hopes of a place in the World Cup finals now rest on a winner-takes-all clash against Spain in the Romanian city of Iasi in two weeks.

The match was tense and close, spoilt by bad handling, in which the losers scored two tries to the victors' one.

It was the fifth Test Italy had played in Parma, and the fourth time it has won there.  In 1948 Italy beat Czechoslovakia 17-0;  in 1964 France won 12-3.  Italy beat Romania 13-12 in 1976 and Spain 62-15 in 1994.

Parma may be the gastronomic capital of Italy, if not Europe as far as the Parmigiani are concerned, famous for cheese and ham, a university city of grand buildings and many bicycles, a famous baptistry and Giuseppe Verdi, but, despite its two Super 10 clubs, rugby does not have a great following there, not as great as in Treviso, and the crowd was pretty threadbare for this important World Cup Qualifier.

Before the match John Kirwan called on the people to sing the national anthem, Inno de Mameli, with the team, but there were not enough to raise the roof of the Parma Opera House, not nearly.

Victory has ensured that Italy will end top of its group with victories over both Spain and Romania.  That means that Romania and Spain will have to fight it out for second place in the group, and a direct passage to Australia.

In this match Italy played in white with black shorts.  Romania, unchacteristically played in jerseys that were mainly black with gold flashes and slashes.

On the evidence of this match, one would expect Romania to win well in Iasi as they did better against Italy in Parma than Spain had done in Valladolid when they lost 50-3 to Italy.

There was a time in the first half when Italy looked on the way to building a healthy score.  Andrea Lo Cicero, the bulky prop who is supposed to be playing for Toulouse, scored when the forwards rumbled.  Lo Cicero was brought down but raised the ball and place it for the try.  The Romanians had their doubts about the try.

Gert Peens the Italian fullback, converted the try and added two penalty goals to give Italy a 13-0 lead.

But the Romanians had got their mauling going and their tall, athletic captain, Alin Petrache, who plays for Racing in France, was over for the try.  Flyhalf Ionut Tofanu, also of Racing, converted -- 13-7.

Peens kicked his third penalty goal to make it 16-7.

Then from close quarters sturdy scrumhalf Lucian Sirbu, also of Racing, who was in for injured Petre Mitu, stepped inside two defenders top score.  Tofanu converted -- 16-14.

That was the score at half-time.

The second half started with Romania in charge of possession and showing all the attacking ideas as they tried to run with their backs and rumble with their forwards, but their hands let them down.

When the Italian were penalised for holding on, Tofanu put his side in the lead for the first time at 17-16.

Kirwan then sent in the old brigade.  In came Mauro Bergamasco and Carlo Checchinato for Andrea De Rossi and Marco Bertolami.

From then on Checchinato ruled the line-outs and Bergamasco played like a man possessed, defending with ruthless exuberance.

A late tackle penalty gave Peens the chance to get the lead back for Italy who seemed to lift their game from then on as Alessandro Troncon kept them going forward.

Two more penalties for off-side brought the score to 25-17, where it ended.  This was not without some hectic Romanian attack which broke on great Italian defence in which Bergamasco was the most prominent.

The best of the Italian backs was big, fast, strong, young Nicola Mazzucato.  The best of the forwards, throughout, was No.8 Sergio Parisse, also a young player.

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Andrea Moretti, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Enrico Pavanello, 5 Marco Bortolami, 6 Andrea De Rossi, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Sergio Parisse, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Cristian Zanoletti, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Ramiro Martinez-Frugoni, Mauro Bergamasco, Carlo Checchinato
Unused:  Mirco Bergamasco, Francesco Mazzariol, Juan Manuel Queirolo, Stefano Saviozzi

Romania:  1 Silviu Florea, 2 Marius Tincu, 3 Petrisor Toderasc, 4 Cristian Petre, 5 Ovidiu Tonita, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 7 Alexandru Manta, 8 Alin Petrache (c), 9 Lucian Sirbu, 10 Ionut Tofan, 11 Cristian Sauan, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 13 Valentin Maftei, 14 Mihai Vioreanu, 15 Gabriel Brezoianu
Reserves:  Sorin Socol, Remus Lungu, Razvan Mavrodin, Marius Picoiu, Cristian Podea, Marcel Socaciu, Dan Tudosa

Attendance:  2000
Referee:  Courtney d.

Points Scorers:

Italy
Tries:  Lo Cicero A. 1
Conv:  Peens G. 1
Pen K.:  Peens G. 6

Romania
Tries:  Sirbu L.M. 1, Corodeanu F. 1
Conv:  Tofan I.R. 2
Pen K.:  Tofan I.R. 1

Ireland 63 Georgia 14

Ireland cemented their place in the Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia with a convincing 63-14 thumping of Georgia at Lansdowne Road, scoring eight tries in a Dublin procession which leaves the losers waiting on their own qualification chances.

Ireland's win means they assume a position in Pool A in the 2003 World Cup, the group which also sees Australia, Argentina and one further qualifier.

The Georgian Lelos however must bank on beating Russia in Tbilisi in two weeks' time if they are to land the remaining automatic World Cup berth from the European section, defeat in that game meaning they have to negotiate the tricky repechage system.

They were never really in contention in this game however, Leinster centre Brian O'Driscoll once again proving his undoubted class with a pair of tries in the first half for coach Eddie O'Sullivan's side, only seven days after their energy-sapping win in Siberia against Russia.

O'Driscoll's Leinster team-mate Denis Hickie got the Irish off to a flyer with an early try, converted by Munster fly-half Ronan O'Gara, who claimed a personal haul of 19 points with the boot before being replaced by Ulster's David Humphreys.

Bath centre Kevin Maggs showed his true barnstorming qualities with a typically robust score to follow two O'Gara penalties, O'Driscoll bagging the first of his brace with a chargedown after some lacklustre Georgian defending.

O'Driscoll claimed his second before fellow Leinsterman Girvan Dempsey crashed over before the break, seeing the Irish through the 40-point barrier after a first half blitz.

The second half early on did not see the pressure relent, the green wave up front allowing Llanelli's Simon Easterby to be the next try-scorer, although replacement centre Vassil Katsadze shocked the crowd by going past O'Gara for the Lelos' first try of the day.

Bessik Khamashuridze restored at least some pride to the visitors when he went over from fullback for their second

With Humphreys on at fly-half, Ireland did however resume normal service towards the end, with back-row Alan Quinlan and replacement scrum-half Guy Easterby both crossing the line to cap off a businesslike performance -- one which was never really in doubt, but one which could have well been more difficult than it transpired to be.

The Georgians could be forgiven for having one eye on their next match against bitter rivals Russia in Tbilisi, which promises to be a truly explosive occasion.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reg Corrigan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley (c), 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Guy Easterby, Rob Henderson, David Humphreys, Paul Wallace, Leo Cullen, Alan Quinlan, Frankie Sheahan

Georgia:  1 Goderdzi Shvelidze, 2 Akvsenti Guiorgadze, 3 Levan Tsabadze, 4 Vano Nadiradze, 5 Victor Didebulidze (captain), 6 David Bolghashvili, 7 George Chkhaidze, 8 Ilia Zedguinidze, 9 Irakli Abusseridze, 10 Paul Jimsheladze, 11 Badri Khekhelashvili, 12 Kakha Alania, 13 Tedo Zibzibadze, 14 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 15 Bessik Khamashuridze.
Replacements:  16 Mevlud Mtiulishvili, 17 Tariel Ratianidze, 18 Zurab Mtchedlishvili, 19 Irakli Gundishvili, 22 Otar Barkalaia, 21 Vassil Katsadze, 20 Elguja Iovadze.

Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Dempsey G.T. 1, Easterby S.H. 1, Easterby G. 1, Hickie D.A. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 2, Maggs K.M. 1, Quinlan A. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 2, O'Gara R.J.R. 5
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 3

Georgia
Tries:  Vassil Katsadze 1, Bessik Khamashuridze 1
Conv:  Malkhaz Urjukashvili 2

Ireland 35 Russia 3

Ireland survived a potentially tricky Rugby World Cup 2003 qualifier against Russia in Krasnoyarsk, scoring two tries either side of the break for an unspectacular 35-3 win.

Leinster fullback Girvan Dempsey set the early pace with two tries in the first half to send the Irish one step closer to Australia 2003, the boot of Ronan O'Gara supplying 15 points to make the scoreline look marginally more convincing in the end.

Despite some periods of domination for the Russian pack, Ireland never looked like losing this one, and tries from skipper Keith Wood and second-row Malcolm O'Kelly stamped their authority on the match as the second half wore on.

Early on, any hopes that the Russians had of containing the free-running Irish were dashed in the opening minutes when a neat grubber from O'Gara saw fullback Dempsey touch down in the corner.

Russia fly-half Konstantin Rachkov took on much of the attacking burden for the under-pressure home side, whose big forward pack gave the Irish a torrid time in the lineouts, especially early on.

Ireland's defence held firm though in the first quarter, and with the Russians gradually struggling to contain their more illustrious opponents, two O'Gara penalties took the lead to 11-0.

With the Irish enjoying more posession and territory, it was once again Dempsey who found himself on the end of a well-worked passage of play, touching down his second try after O'Driscoll had started the move further down the pitch.

O'Gara converted, and despite yet more Irish pressure near the Russian line, 18-0 to Ireland was the half-time scoreline.

It was 13 minutes into the second half before Ireland extended their lead further, captain Wood rumbling over from hooker after a Kevin Maggs pass, O'Gara making no mistake with the extras.

With the Irish pack finally asserting some ascendancy, second-row Malcolm O'Kelly went over for a businesslike try from a lineout, O'Gara's conversion taking the lead to 32-0.

Despite the late sin-binning of Leinster prop Reg Corrigan, O'Gara another penalty for Ireland towards the end, Russia's Werner Pieterse registering the home side's only points with a penalty of his own before the whistle.

While Ireland may look upon this game as being mission accomplished, their lack of assertiveness in some quiet passages will give coach O'Sullivan food for thought going into their November Test programme, and also their home qualifying date with Georgia in Dublin.

For the defeated Russians, next Sunday's clash with bitter rivals Georgia in Tbilisi in front of a huge local crowd will be weighing heavily on their minds, and they will have gleaned much from this promising performance.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Reg Corrigan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Guy Easterby, Rob Henderson, David Humphreys, Paul Wallace, Leo Cullen, Alan Quinlan

Russia:  15 Alexander Zakarlyuk, 14 Andreï Kuzin, 13 Igor Dymchenko, 12 Alexeï Korobeinikov (W Pieterse 68), 11 Alexeï Sergeev; 10 Konstantin Rachkov, 9 Viktor Motorin, 8 Viacheslav Zykov, 7 Renier Volschenk (A Khrokin 62), 6 Viacheslav Grachev, 5 Sergei Sergeev, 4 Valereï Phedchenko, 3 Johan Hendriks (I Nikolaichuk 62), 2 Roman Romak, 1 Oleg Shukailov (M Uambaev 73)

Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Dempsey G.T. 2, O'Kelly M.E. 1, Wood K.G.M. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 3
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 3

Russia
Pen K.:  Pieterse

Ireland 39 Romania 8

A rusty looking Ireland side did enough in an efficient first-half performance to help them to a 39-8 win over Romania in an international friendly in Limerick, a useful work-out ahead of their RWC 2003 qualifier against Russia in Siberia.

However, Eddie O'Sullivan's side hardly impressed in the second-half and what was looking out to be a impressive tally against the plucky east European minnows became little more than ordinary.

Munster prop John Hayes crashed over for his first Test try after just five minutes on his home ground and although his provincial teamate Ronan O'Gara missed the conversion the stand-off did not waste a penalty opportunity that followed eight minutes later as Ireland moved out to a 8-0 lead.

The home side extended their lead just a minute later, Bath centre Kevin Maggs broke the fragile Romanian defence to set-up a try for flanker Keith Gleeson.

At 15-0 up, Ireland were already in cruise control before O'Gara added his second penalty and desperate Romanian defence saw Italian referee Giulio de Santis award a penalty try after a dangerous tackle on fullback Girvan Dempsey and he closed in on the line.

Romanian got some points on the scoreboard, fly-half Ionut Tofan knocking over a penalty but the respite was short-lived as the workhorse Maggs set up his midfield partner Brian O'Driscoll for his 14th try in 28 appearances.

However, that was virtually the last contribution from the Leinster star as he was replaced by Rob Henderson just before half-time with a slight knock with Ireland going in 32-3 up at the interval.

Romania showed that they would not go down without a fight, flanker Alexandru Manta going close before centre Valentin Maftei ran in for their first try, however, normal service was resumed as Rob Henderson grabbed his first try of the year as he pounced on a kick ahead by O'Gara who later added the conversion.

Despite that fifth try from the Irish, Romania battled away, causing Ireland a number of problems as the men in green never got back into their stride with the rest of the game remaining scoreless.

Ireland now embark on a marathon journey into the depths of Russia for their game in Krasnoyarsk on September 21 time whilst Romania prepare for their first RWC qualifier against Italy on September 21.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reg Corrigan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley (c), 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Victor Costello, Guy Easterby, Rob Henderson, David Humphreys, Leo Cullen
Unused:  Paul Wallace, Paul Shields

Romania:  1 Marian Dumitru, 2 Razvan Mavrodin, 3 Marius Tincu, 4 Marius Dragomir, 5 Cristian Petre, 6 George Chiriac, 7 Alexandru Manta, 8 Alin Petrache, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 10 Ionut Tofan, 11 Cristian Sauan, 12 Romeo Gontineac (c), 13 Valentin Maftei, 14 Mihai Vioreanu, 15 Gabriel Brezoianu
Reserves:  Augustin Petrechei, Marius Picoiu, Cristian Podea, Petrisor Toderasc, Dan Tudosa, Roland Vusec

Referee:  De santis g.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Hayes J.J. 1, Henderson R.A.J. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 1, Gleeson K.D. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 1, O'Gara R.J.R. 3
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 2

Romania
Tries:  Maftei V.D. 1
Pen K.:  Tofan I.R. 1

United States 9 Uruguay 10

Uruguay defeated the USA 10-9 in Americas Zone qualifying action and in the process have put the American bid to qualify direct for Australia 2003 in jeopardy.

In a windswept match which saw the two forward packs battle to a standstill, Uruguay prevailed over Dave Hodges' XV by a converted penalty try and a penalty goal to three penalty goals.  Some 3,000 watched the River Plate Stadium contest.

Coupled with Canada's 29-11 victory over Chile in Santiago, the Teros victory means the winner of next Saturday's Uruguay-Chile match in Montevideo will claim second place in the Americas qualifying pool and a trip to the 2003 World Cup in Australia.  Barring a draw, the United States will finish third based on a tiebreak formula and go into a special "repechage" playoff series.

"The scoreline reflects how difficult it was for both teams to play rugby," USA coach Tom Billups said after the match.

"But I really want to hand it to our forwards.  We were dramatically better [than the Chile match], and went toe to toe with Uruguay on their home ground," Billups said.

Uruguay scored first, benefiting from a penalty try called by referee Peter Marshall.  Nineteen minutes into the game, at scrummage some eight meters away from the tryline, two set pieces collapsed.  When the third scrum went down, the Australian promptly awarded Uruguay five points, an unusual decision so far out.

The USA struck back with penalty goals from Mike Hercus, at 24 minutes and in first-half injury time.  But the Eagle flyhalf also missed three-point opportunities at 6 and 39 minutes.  On the first occasion the ball hit the upright and rebounded within reach of pursuing Philippe Farner, who had a clear run to the line, before bouncing crazily away.

The two sides traded penalty goals in the second half, one by Diego Aguirre at 67 minutes and one by Hercus at 70 minutes.  Again the Eagles narrowly missed a try, when halfback Kevin Dalzell went over the line but couldn't ground the ball.  Following America's five-meter scrum, Uruguay jumped offside, giving Hercus his chance.

"We held Uruguay to ten points, including a dubious penalty try, a week after Canada shipped 25 in losing here.  They got nothing out of their rolling maul, and we leave South America with our honor intact," Billups said.

"I told the boys that we were going to find a way to Australia, and it looks like we're going to get our chance," Billups said.

The Teams:

United States:  1 Dan Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Mike MacDonald, 4 Philippe Farner, 5 Alec Parker, 6 Dave Hodges (c), 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Mike Hercus, 11 David Fee, 12 Jason Keyter, 13 Juan Grobler, 14 Al Lakomskis, 15 Link Wilfley
Reserves:  Chris Miller, Shaun Paga
Unused:  Johnny Naqica, Conrad Hodgson, Kimball Kjar, John Tarpoff, Mose Timoteo

Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers:

United States
Pen K.:  Hercus M. 3

Canada 29 Chile 11

Canada scored a deserved 29-11 win over Chile at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago and in the process qualified in first place in the Americas Zone for the 2003 World Cup.

Canada played an unsteady first-half at the Prince of Wales Country Club in front of 4,000 as Chile caused it some early problems, but Canada stuck to its game plan of getting the ball wide.  In the second-half after an 8-5 half-time score, it put together some constructive phases of polished rugby scoring two tries by its wingers Calgary's Sean Fauth and Victoria's Fred Asselin.  In the first half Canada's No.8 Ryan Banks, who won "Man of the Match" honours, and a silver platter, scored a blustering try.

"We stuck to our plan," said Canada's coach David Clark.  "And we achieved our goal of winning the tournament and gaining first place.  The quality of refereeing was exemplary today and that allowed us to play the game the way we wanted to."

After a long feeling-out period that saw both teams squander scoring chances, Victoria's Bob Ross put Canada ahead with a penalty from 25-metres at 23 minutes:  3-0.  Canada went farther ahead two minutes later when Rod Snow, then Winston Stanley and finally Fred Asselin put together a fine phase of play down the left touch-line.  When Asselin was stopped in a tackle, No.8 Ryan Banks was there to take the ball in from the 22-metere line in a powerful run that saw him score in the corner carrying two tackler over with him.  No conversion:  8-0.

Chile worked its way to near Canada's line where it won a line-out at 35 minutes.  From the line-out it attacked in numbers employing South America's favourite weapon, the rolling maul.  When Canada stopped the maul No.8 Cristian Manzur broke around the side and scored.  Onetto missed the conversion.  8-5 and Ross missed a penalty at 38 minutes to end the half.

Canada looked far more focused and crisper as the second-half began as it put together some fine runs with Banks and scrum-half Ed Fairhurst to the fore.  Ross hit for a penalty at 43 minutes to put Canada ahead 11-5 before Fauth scored a wonderfully engineered try.

Canada won a line-out and with the backs on the attack, centre Nik Witkowski chip-kicked the loveliest of weighted kicks toward the Chilean corner-flag.  Sean Fauth passed his opposite number, leapt in the air, secured the ball and touched down for his fifth try in a Canadian jersey.  No coversion:  16-5.

At 53-minutes, referee Scott Young sent lock Jamie Cudmore, in his first start for Canada, to the sin-bin for using the elbow in a tackle.  After Edmundo Olfos was stretchered off Onetto made good on the penalty:  16-8.

Jared Barker, who replaced Ross at 53 minutes, kicked his first penalty at 59-minutes to widen the margin to 19-8 but Onetto hit one of his own at 66 minutes to make it 19-11.  A try by Fred Asselin, however broke Chilean resolve.  Ron Johnstone won a line-out, the ball went out to Barker who passed directly to Witkowski and this time the nifty play maker, tore though a gap and made ground.  He eventually passed to Asselin going at top speed to score under the posts.  Barker converted:  26-11.  Barker hit another penalty at 76 minutes as the clock wore down.  Final 29-11.

"They put a lot of store in their scrum and it fought manfully but in the end, when we got the ball wide, we scored two cracking tries," said Clark.

"We had to work hard for all our points today," said Canada's captain Al Charron.  "We put in a much better effort today than last week, and though we made mistakes our intensity and focus was there.  It is great to achieve our goal of first place."

"Its been long summer, but it has been fun," said vice-captain Winston Stanley.  "It was a close first-half, but we stuck to it and got the job done."

Whichever team wins next week, that team will win second-place and the loser and the USA will be tied on points and the winner will be determined by the margin ofpoints scored for and against in their respective matches.

"We must go to Uruguay and win next weekend," said a sad Alfonso Escobar the Chilean captain after the match.  "Canada played a very strong game today.  We made a lot of mistakes.  We were very nervous going into the game and we did poorly in the line-out.  We weren't focused enough and Canada took their opportunities well.  We will work hard this week and we'll strive for second-place in Montevideo."

The teams:

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Mark Lawson, 3 Kevin Wirachowski, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 5 Ron Johnstone, 6 Alan Charron (c), 7 Adam Van Staveren, 8 Ryan Banks, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 John Cannon, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Jared Barker
Unused:  Leif Carlson, Marco Di Girolomo, Josh Jackson, Chad Plater, Kevin Tkachuk, Colin Yukes

Attendance:  4000
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Asselin F. 1, Fauth S. 1, Banks R. 1
Conv:  Barker J. 1
Pen K.:  Ross R.P. 2, Barker J. 2

Chile
Tries:  Cristian Manzur 1
Pen K.:  Cristian Onetto 2

Canada 23 Uruguay 25

Canada's five game winning streak came to an unexpected end as they crashed to a 23-25 defeat at the hands of Uruguay in Montevideo in a 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying clash.

The loss in front of 3000 noisy fans at River Plate Stadium does not spell disaster for the Canadians as it already holds second-place, and has a berth in the 2003 World Cup secured.  It still must play Chile next weekend in Santiago in an attempt to gain the first -place finish it covets.

With few friends in the crowd, a very small and sandy pitch, Canada fought manfully.  But the loss of two men to the sin-bin which, when they were off, accounted for sixteen of Uruguay's points, and four vital missed kicks eventually told the story.

"Uruguay played a tight game with a stronger and more forceful pack than in Edmonton in the first game and were able to employ their rolling maul to effect," said Canada coach David Clark.  "We had the measure of them in the backs but we didn't put our sequences together often enough, and didn't get the ball wide as much as we would have liked."

Canada played into the wind for the opening half and with the game only a minute old Los Teros fullback Juan Menchaca hit for a 40-metre penalty to gain the lead.  Canada's Jared Barker followed at three-minutes with one of his own to tie the score at 3-3.

Uruguay captain Diego Aguirre hit for a second at 14-minutes after Menchaca had rattled one off the posts a few minutes earlier.  Uruguay 6-3.  At 18-minutes, Canada passed the ball wide left to wing Fred Asslein and the speedy winger went inside, then outside, then inside again to beat two men and beat all opponents as he touched down under the posts for a beautiful try.  Barker converted 10-6 and Canada looked in control at this stage in the game, winning Uruguayan line-outs with frequency and forcing the play.

At 31-minutes Barker struck again from 42-meters for his thirty-third (33rd) official kick in succession since last missing one against Scotland, and his 28th kick in succession in these World Cup Qualifiers.  It brought his kicking rate to 50 of 52 in his nine internationals.

Soon after Jon Theil went off with a knock and Kevin Tkachuck replaced him.  Rod Snow moved to tight-head.  Menchaca hit another penalty at 35-minutes for offside as Uruguay moved the score closer at 16-9.  Just on half-time Aguirre hit another as referee Pablo De Luca issued a yellow carded to Ed Fairhurst for what he decreed a stomp.  Very unlike Fairhurst if true.  Half time:  16-12.

Beginning the second-half with fourteen men Canada took an early penalty which Menchaca converted 16-15 and when Barker had the opportunity of edging Canada in front on a penalty at 43-minutes and with the crowd whistling like mad-men, he pushed the ball wide from 45-metres.

Canada found itself on the back foot and deep in its own end and when Uruguay won a line-out five-metres from Canada's line the home team launched its vaunted rolling maul.  Second-row Rodrigo Capo went over in the pile up and managed to touch down:16-20 Uruguay.

Barker had two more shots at goal which went wide before No.8 Ryan Banks, at 55-minutes, launched a strong attack straight up the middle of the pitch.  He linked with fullback Winston Stanley who zigged and zagged through tacklers until he handed to Fairhurst.  He had just returned to the field of play, and the young halback sprinted 22-metres and took two men over in the tackle to give Canada a 23-10 lead with Barker's conversion.

With frustration mounting Kevin Tkachuck received a yellow carded for bringing down a maul after a line-out.  Uruguay took the ball to Canada's line as Canada defended well on the first onslaught, but on the second attempt, at 72-minutes, Eduardo Berrutti rode the maul over the line to give Uruguay a 23-25 lead.  Later Bob Ross had a long range attempt at the posts, but amid the deafening roar of the crowd the ball sailed just wide.  25-23 final.

"It is amazing to me that punching is given a warning and condoned down here, while the collapse of a maul by one tackler is admonished with a yellow card," said David Clark after the game.

"But, in spite of all that, we didn't play well.  Great goal kicking is a luxury that we have come to enjoy with Barker and Ross, and they can't be faulted for missing those long-range kicks today.  We'll just have to re-group for next week's game against Chile."

"We were able to use our maul to better effect today," said Uruguay coach Diego Ormaechea.  "We used the ball better than we did in our game in Edmonton.  Canada is big and strong, and every game for Uruguay is difficult.  This will give us a boost for when we meet the USA next weekend."

"A big disappointment," said Canada captain Al Charron.  "We came down here to win two games, but we didn't play well today.  It was a physical game on a narrow pitch and we didn't get things done properly."

Vancouver's Mark Lawson enjoyed a strong game in his first start for Canada and Ed Fairhurst also played with flair as he ran well from the base of the scrum keeping the Los Teros back-row honest.  Leif Carlson also had his first run in a red jersey as he came on for Adam van Staveren in the second-half.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Mark Lawson, 3 John Thiel, 4 Ron Johnstone, 5 Colin Yukes, 6 Alan Charron (c), 7 Adam Van Staveren, 8 Ryan Banks, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 10 Jared Barker, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 John Cannon, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Marco Di Girolomo, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Leif Carlson, Bobby Ross, Kevin Tkachuk
Unused:  Jamie Cudmore, Sean Fauth, Josh Jackson, Matt King

Attendance:  3000
Referee:  De luca p.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Asselin F. 1, Fairhurst E. 1
Conv:  Barker J. 2
Pen K.:  Barker J. 3

Uruguay
Tries:  Capo Ortega R. 1, Berruti E. 1
Pen K.:  Menchaca J. 3, Aguirre D. 2

Australia 31 South Africa 33

The Springboks scored their first win of the 2002 Tri-Nations thanks to a try from Bok fullback Werner Greeff on the stroke of full-time.  South Africa led 14-9 at half-time and won 33-31 thanks to Greeff's conversion of his own score.

In the process, the Springboks wrested the Mandela Cup, which is played on a bi-annual basis, from the Wallabies, whilst the All Blacks were crowned as the Tri-Nations champions for the fourth time in their history.  The Wallabies were in search of their third Tri-Nations series in a row.

Greeff, who came flying in from fullback at the perfect angle, took a neat pass from replacement scrumhalf Johannes Conradie and broke through desperate tackles from Wallaby forwards Nathan Sharpe and Matt Cockbain before diving over next to the uprights.

With the scores tied at 31-all, the courageous Western Province fullback, who had a nightmare start in the goalkicking department, stepped up and calmly slotted the match-winning conversion under huge pressure from a horde of storming Wallabies.

Maybe a draw would have been a fair reflection of the match -- a ding-dong affair if ever -- but the joy on the Boks' faces was plain to see and it was a much-needed win that can only bode well for the future.

This is a good young team with a lot of promise, but after running into a 26-9 lead they very nearly gave the match away when the Wallabies stepped out of first gear and took the lead three minutes from full-time through a spectacular try from Brendan Cannon, which was set up by George Smith.

Smith burst away from a line-out thanks to a stray Ollie le Roux throw and beat attempted tackles from Jannes Labuschagne and Lawrence Sephaka, before setting off on a brilliant solo run into South Africa's 22.  There, he beat tackles from Conradie and Breyton Paulse, before passing to replacement hooker Brendan Cannon, who fell over for the try.

Matthew Burke missed the conversion, but at 31-26 it seemed all over for the brave Boks, who conceded tries to Mat Rogers and Toutai Kefu just before their classy midfielder Marius Joubert was shown a red card for a high tackle on Rogers.

Joubert's centre mate De Wet Barry had also spent some time in the sin bin for a punch on a Wallaby player, while, to make matters worse for them, their captain Corné Krige had left the fray in the 50th minute after taking another bang to his sternum.

But credit must go to stand-in skipper Bob Skinstad for rallying his troops one more time in the dying moments of the match after they won a scrum in Australia's 22 just before the final hooter.

Skinstad made the initial burst off the base of the scrum, Labuschagne carried further and when Greeff came screaming up to collect Conradie's pass, Ellis Park erupted.  It was comparable to scenes from the 1995 World Cup Final at the same venue.

There were similar scenes of joy for the Ellis Park contingent when the Boks eventually woke up close to half-time thanks to tries from their pocket-sized battle-ships Breyton Paulse and Brent Russell.

Paulse's try, his first at Test level since he scored a double against Italy on 30 June last year, was preceded by a neat dart from Marius Joubert, who managed to pass the ball off the ground to a rampaging Sephaka, who hit the Wallaby defence with vigour.

The ball was re-cycled one more time after some other Bok heavies did the hard work and Paulse danced straight between front rankers Jeremy Paul and Bill Young for the five-pointer.

Greeff kicked the conversion from right in front and the Boks were just two points down -- Burke kicked three penalties after some silly Bok errors within striking-distance -- close to the break.

A two-point deficit soon became a five-point lead when Russell, a late replacement for André Pretorius -- who went down with a knee injury at the captain's run on Friday -- spun out of tackles from Daniel Herbert and Stirling Mortlock before turning on his after-burners and leaving Chris Latham in his wake.

Paulse's second try, scored shortly after the break, put the Boks in control at 21-9, but some tigerish defence (on one occasion Joe van Niekerk and Dean Hall combined to deny Toutai Kefu a try in the corner after a brilliant burst from a scrum) and Van Niekerk's second try at Test level -- just before the final quarter -- seemed to be the final nail in Australia's Tri-Nations and Mandela Cup coffin.

Van Niekerk's try, courtesy of a clever pass from Bob Skinstad, was reminiscent of the latter's match-winning try against the Wallabies in the 1998 Tri-Nations, was probably the best of the day, until Smith nearly stole the thunder from the Boks with his 70-metre dash in the lead-up to Cannon's seemingly match-clinching try.

It would have been cruel for the Boks if they had been denied again, but this is Test (at its best we might add!) rugby and sometimes the harshest lessons are the best.  The Boks will feel it was a season of "what-if?" or "could have", but if they are honest with themselves, they contrived to throw away all of their previous matches.

At one stage it seemed as if this match was headed in the same direction.

Acting NZRFU CEO Steve Tew collected the Tri-Nations trophy on behalf of the All Blacks, South Africa's elated skipper Corné Krige collected the Mandela Shield from the former President's son.

It was hard to wipe the smile off Krige's face.  "This one is for you," he said to the Ellis Park faithful after collecting the shield.

Man of the match:  There are tons of contenders here.  For the Wallabies, Nathan Sharpe, George Smith and Toutai Kefu were exemplary, as were George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Matthew Burke.  For the Boks, Lawrence Sephaka showed his worth and ability, locks Jannes Labuschagne and AJ Venter were hard and never took a backwards step, whilst Joe van Niekerk continues to play better each week, especially in tandem with Bob Skinstad.  Amongst the backs, Neil de Kock, Brent Russell, Breyton Paulse and Werner Greeff deserve praise, but in the end we have settled for a forward.  The lucky man?  Loosehead prop Lawrence Dumisani Sephaka, who at 23, played the match of his life.  He scrummed well, carried the ball strongly (He featured prominently in the build-up to both of Paulse's tries) and defended as if his life depended on it.  He just edges Van Niekerk to this award and wins one back for his fellow prop forwards, whose hard work often goes unnoticed!

Moment of the match:  Brent Russell's try was a wonderful moment as was Joe van Niekerk's burst down the touchline en route to his try, whilst George Smith's burst away from a stray Bok line-out throw, in the build-up to Cannon's try, was brilliant.  But in the end, one cannot ignore Greeff's sensational try.  He took the ball at pace and broke through the attempted tackles from Nathan Sharpe -- the Wallabies' best forward again -- and Matt Cockbain before coolly slotting the conversion (his fourth of the day).  This is a young Bok side with character and verve, and Greeff personified it with his heroics.  Who will forget stand-in skipper Bob Skinstad's celebrations?

Villain of the match:  In a match like this, choosing a villain is not the easiest exercise.  AJ Venter deserves a mention here when he rucked close to Owen Finegan's head, Nathan Sharpe punched a Springbok player and De Wet Barry was penalised for a nifty punch on a Wallaby.  The winner then?  Marius Joubert, who was shown a red card for a high tackle on Mat Rogers.  The Boks were guilty of three other high tackles on the day.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Ben Darwin, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Ben Tune, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, Matt Cockbain, Rod Moore, Mat Rogers, David Lyons
Unused:  Elton Flatley, Chris Whitaker

South Africa:  1 Willie Meyer, 2 James Dalton, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 A.J. Venter, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Bobby Skinstad, 9 Neil De Kock, 10 Brent Russell, 11 Dean Hall, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves:  Faan Rautenbach, Hendro Scholtz, Bolla Conradie, Ollie Le Roux, Stefan Terblanche
Unused:  Adi Jacobs, Victor Matfield

Attendance:  63000
Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Cannon B.J. 1, Kefu R.S.T. 1, Rogers M. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 2
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3
Drop G.:  Gregan G.M. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Greeff W.W. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Russell B. 1, Van Niekerk J.C. 1
Conv:  Greeff W.W. 4

United States 35 Chile 22

Two first-half tries from David Fee propelled the United States to a 35-22 win over Chile in a Rugby World Cup qualifying match.

In a hard-hitting contest, the USA jumped to a 25-3 halftime lead and were never in danger of losing the first-ever rugby international between the American hemisphere countries, played before 2,075 fans on a 75-degree summer afternoon.

Local star Kimball Kjar and Philip Eloff added tries for the USA, while flyhalf Mike Hercus added 15 points goalkicking,.  Nicolas Damm, Bernardo Garcia, and captain Alfonso Escobar scored the visitors' tries, the latter two in the game's dying stages.

With the win, the USA improved its World Cup qualifying tournament record to 1-2 while Chile fell to 1-1.  In other World Cup qualifying action today, Calgary downed Uruguay 51-16 in Edmonton to move its record to 3-0.  Uruguay dropped to 0-2.

Fee, in just his third match for the USA, opened the scoring at 15 minutes.  Hard running by forwards Dan Dorsey and Phillippe Farner set up the winger's first international try.  Hercus converted to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.

Following two penalty goals by Hercus and one from Chilean flyhalf Cristian Gonzalez, Fee's second try broke the match open at 36 minutes.  Mose Timoteo's strong counterattack run opened up the Chilean defense for Fee to scamper 40 yards down the right sideline.

One minute before halftime, Utah native Kjar darted from the base on a ruck to run 40 yards untouched.  Hercus' conversion made the count 25-3.

Chile's Damm scored a converted try 7 minutes after halftime to bring the visitors to within 15 points, but Hercus' third penalty goal and Eloff's converted try at 59 minutes put the game out of reach at 35-10.

With several American starters on the bench resting for Thursday's match with Uruguay in San Francisco, Chile's forward power came to fore in tries by Garcia and Escobar.

"Today was a good victory.  It's great to see young guys like Kimball [Kjar] and David Fee taking their chances and scoring tries.  But now we have to immediately focus on Uruguay," USA captain said after the match.

The Teams:

United States:  1 Dan Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Mike MacDonald, 4 Philippe Farner, 5 Alec Parker, 6 Conrad Hodgson, 7 Dave Hodges (c), 8 Kort Schubert, 9 Kimball Kjar, 10 Mike Hercus, 11 Johnny Naqica, 12 Jason Keyter, 13 Phillip Eloff, 14 David Fee, 15 Mose Timoteo
Reserves:  Chris Miller, Andy McGarry, Shaun Paga, John Tarpoff, Link Wilfley
Unused:  Kevin Dalzell, Isaac Mbereko

Attendance:  2075
Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers:

United States
Tries:  Fee D. 2, Eloff P. 1, Kjar K. 1
Conv:  Hercus M. 3
Pen K.:  Hercus M. 3

Canada 51 Uruguay 16

Canada defeated Uruguay 51-16 in Edmonton, Alberta to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the Americas Zone 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifiers.  The South Americans meanwhile now fall to last place behind Chile (3rd) and the United States who beat Los Condores in Salt Lake City.

Jared Barker continued his kicking dominance, putting across 19 points on the day from two conversions and five penalties -- and has not missed a kick at goal in the current test season.  Overall he is a staggering 41 of 43 and impressed the 3,000 strong crowd at Ellerslie Park

Canadian tries were scored by Winston Stanley, Marco DiGiroamo, Morgan Williams, and forwards Pat Dunkley and Jon Thiel.

Coach David Clark was a bit surprised by the approach the Uruguayans took -- opting to kick possession away rather than use the more familiar rolling maul that is a trademark of South American rugby.

"We didn't think they would do that -- though we saw them do it last week against Chile," offered Clark.  "They started the game by [kicking] all their possession away -- which is no way to play really.  They did surprise us because they didn't get into their rolling maul as much as I thought they would -- and we were ready for that."

Coach for Los Teros Diego Oramechea said they had planned to use that tactic in order to create rucking opportunities -- but Canada simply did too much when they got possession.

"We have our plan and we used the kick up to ruck over the ball.  But when Canada has the ball they are so effective.  I didn't think the final score reflected the effort we put across for three quarters of the game," he said.

Urugauay opened the scoring after playing some useful rugby in the Canadian end -- with inside centre Joaquin De Freitas slotting a penalty after Canada was penalized for an offside -- and then a further ten metres for not retreating quickly enough.

Barker began his perfect day with a kick in the 17th minute from 41 metres to tie the game at 3-3.

Two minutes later he punished an offside by the Teros -- putting the ball across from ten metres.  The Uruguayans continued to be heavily penalized by referee Steve Walsh -- as Barker kicked his third of the day to make the score 9-3 after twenty-five minutes.

Outside centre Nik Witksowski continues to shine this season since making the move from the wing -- and on this day initiated a run to the Teros thirty metre line before passing to Sean Fauth who then freed fullback Winston Stanley for a try under the posts.  Barker converted and then added a penalty at forty minutes to give Canada a 19-3 lead at the interval.

The Uruguayans played with some fire to start the second half -- and ground down to the Canadian ten metre line before No.8 Hernan Ponte broke free for a try just left of the posts.  De Freitas converted and it was 19-10 to the Canucks.

Clark brought standout utility back Marco DiGirolamo in for Sean Fauth to start the second half -- and the Toronto native who had scored two tries against the US did not disappoint -- taking a counter attack from thirty metres -- touching down for the converted try to give Canada a 26-10 lead after 55 minutes.

De Freitas then added his third penalty of the day to keep his side in the game.  Then -- as if the struggle against the larger Canadian forwards was not enough fly-half Sebastien Aguirre was sinbinned for putting his boots in a ruck -- putting the visitors down to 14 men.

Barker hit a 39 metre shot to keep his streak alive -- with Uruguay countering with a Juan Menchaca drop-goal two minutes later to make the score 29-16 after 60 minutes.

Bob Ross came on for Barker in the final fifteen minutes -- kicking a long penalty to increase the advantage to 31-16.

As the Uruguayan forwards began to tire -- as did the team doctor who was tending to many wounds -- the Canadian attack picked up a notch with Morgan Williams scoring a sparkling try off passes from Colin Yukes and Phil Murphy.  With the Ross conversion the Canadians were well in the lead 39-16.

DiGirolamo added to his impressive test season with a huge break that got him to within fifteen metres of the line before defensive cover pulled him down.  As he was about to hit the turf he threw a pass to trailing hooker Pat Dunkley who eagerly took the gift across for Canada's fourth try of the day -- which Ross converted to make the score 46-16.

Mike James initiated the final try of the day -- as the impressive second row charged to the Uruguayan ten metre line before getting bundled into touch.  Before he went out he managed a sharp backhand pass to keep the ball alive with prop Jon Thiel charging over for the final score.

The Bridgend prop admitted the visiting forwards made the Canadian pack work hard for the victory.

"They were pretty big and they took it to us in the first little bit and then they got tired which helped us [open] the game up," said Thiel.

We didn't come out as well as we should have in the second half," noted Clark.  "We allowed them to score a try and we were under pressure.  We would have liked to come into the second half spark it up a bit and really rip into them -- and I think we need to look at that when we prepare for [Chile] next week."

Man of the Match:  Fly-half Jared Barker's flawless kicking kept the Canadians in this match in the early going when the offense sputtered at times.  Then with good distribution, pressure relieving kicks and thoughtful running he helped create a number of flowing moves.

Moment of the match:  The second half try by Marco DiGirolamo exposed the Uruguayan defence -- but also showcased his raw speed and nose for the line.  It was the try that really opened the match up for Canada.

Villain of the match:  Fly-half Sebastien Aguirre getting sinbinned really put his team behind when they were beginning to show some signs of purpose.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 John Thiel, 4 Mike James, 5 Colin Yukes, 6 Dan Baugh, 7 Alan Charron (c), 8 Ryan Banks, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Jared Barker, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 John Cannon, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Marco Di Girolomo, Ed Fairhurst, Mark Lawson, Phil Murphy, Bobby Ross, Adam Van Staveren
Unused:  Kevin Tkachuk

Attendance:  3000
Referee:  Walsh s.r.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Stanley W.U. 1, Williams M. 1, Dunkley P. 1, Thiel J. 1, Di Girolomo M. 1
Conv:  Barker J. 2, Ross R.P. 2
Pen K.:  Barker J. 5, Ross R.P. 1

Uruguay
Tries:  Ponte H. 1
Conv:  De Freitas J. 1
Pen K.:  De Freitas J. 2
Drop G.:  Menchaca J. 1

New Zealand 30 South Africa 23

A late try from centre Aaron Mauger gave New Zealand a hard-fought 30-23 win over South Africa in Durban and a crucial bonus point to put them in pole position for the 2002 Tri-Nations title, although the game will be remembered for all the wrong reasons after a fan raced on to the pitch and assaulted referee David McHugh midway through the game.

Mauger's late try in the second half secured the Kiwis' bonus point -- after they had scored three tries in the first half -- and put all the pressure on the Wallabies ahead of their meeting with the Springboks at Ellis Park in the final clash of the 2002 tournament.

While one has to feel sorry for the Boks, who had their chances in the second period, which they did not take, and some refereeing decisions going against them in the first half, the All Blacks held their nerve and finished the stronger of the two sides after a bizarre and embarrassing incident threatened to leave its mark on a match that proved to be very exciting at times.

The incident in the 43rd minute -- when a crazed fan ran onto the field and tackled Irish referee David McHugh as a scrum was about to form -- nearly soured the entire afternoon as play had to be held up for some time as McHugh was picked up from the ground and eventually replaced by England's Chris White, who, before then, was one of the touch judges.

Springbok skipper Corné Krige kept his troops in a huddle, trying to get them to put the incident of their minds, while All Black skipper Reuben Thorne and his team-mates tossed a ball about in the hope of staying focused on the match.

The scores were tied at 17-all when the oversized -- and clearly drunk -- fan managed to get onto the field of play, but the Boks seemed to be the stronger of the two sides after the hold-up.

A penalty from André Pretorius put the Boks ahead at 20-17 some 10 minutes after the hold-up, but an Andrew Mehrtens penalty, virtually from the re-start tied the scores at 20-all.

Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli introduced Brent Russell and Johannes Conradie into the game -- shortly before the final quarter.  Russell came on at fullback -- with Werner Greeff moving to inside centre and De Wet Barry leaving the field -- while Conradie replaced his provincial colleague Neil de Kock at scrumhalf

A sweetly struck drop-goal from Pretorius put the Boks back in front by three points, but Russell's dynamic running from the back set his fellow backs on fire soon after his arrival, only for the Boks' poor finishing let them down at crucial moments.

One instance saw Joe van Niekerk outpace the Kiwis down the right-hand touchline, after a well-timed pass from Greeff, but a great tackle from a New Zealand defender saw the ball spill forward before he could find his support.

The Boks hit the Kiwis hard for the next 10 minutes with Russell, Breyton Paulse and Marius Joubert asking questions of the New Zealand defence in their own half.  But Reuben Thorne's men kept their heads before working their way back into enemy territory.

It did not take New Zealand long to force the equaliser (AJ Venter was the guilty man for pulling down a Kiwi line-out jumper), but the Kiwis managed to work their back into the Boks' territory very soon afterwards with a powerful run from tighthead prop Greg Somerville.

Andrew Mehrtens carried it further before opensider Richard McCaw was held up just before the Bok line.  The TMO ruled a five-metre scrum and after Tana Umaga battered the Bok defence from close-in, the Kiwis recycled the ball one more time and went right, where Mauger had enough space to throw a dummy a touch down underneath the uprights.

Mauger's try gave the Kiwis their bonus point after their try-scoring account was opened early in the first half after the visitors were rocked by an early try from the home.

Neil de Kock, who was preferred to Johannes Conradie at No.9, got the Boks' try after James Dalton had created a turnover for South Africa in their own half.  Barry carried the ball on, hit a half-gap before releasing Dean Hall, who handed off Reuben Thorne before racing down the left-hand touchline.

Hall eventually passed inside to Greeff, who linked up with De Kock, and Pretorius's conversion made it 7-0 before New Zealand fullback Leon MacDonald replied with his first Tri-Nations try.

MacDonald's try was as a result of some poor first-time tackling in the Boks' midfield, while further poor defence saw referee McHugh award a controversial penalty try to New Zealand just before the end of the first quarter.

New Zealand tore the Bok defence apart again, but a high-tackle from Barry and Joubert on their own tryline was ruled to have cost the Kiwis a try, hence the penalty try, which Mehrtens soon turned into a goal.

At 12-7 down the Boks chipped away at New Zealand's score -- firstly via a Pretorius penalty and then courtesy of a wonderful try from the latter after some good hands and vision from Joe van Niekerk.

The Boks had an earlier Breyton Paulse try disallowed -- after referee McHugh ruled that James Dalton had obstructed the All Black defenders, when he clearly had not -- and they fully deserved their try, only to lose composure one more time before half-time when a basketball-style pass from Tana Umaga put Doug Howlett away for another try just before the break.

Mehrtens missed the conversion, but both teams would have been satisfied with the 17-17 scoreline at the break.  Little did they know, however, how the second half would begin ...

Man of the match:  For the Boks, flanker Joe van Niekerk was superb, lock Jannes Labuschagne was his usual consistent self and winger Dean Hall was courageous.  For the All Blacks, tighthead prop Greg Somerville, lock Chris Jack, flanker Richard McCaw, second five-eighth Aaron Mauger, and right-wing Doug Howlett were excellent.  In the end though -- and for the second time in as many weeks -- our vote goes with the No.7 flanker from the losing side.  Last week it was Richard McCaw, but this week South Africa's Johann van Niekerk wins the man of the match award.  A wonderful attacking force for the Boks -- with his powerful running and clever off-loads -- and a more-than-capable defender, Van Niekerk's mature approach is another impressive part of his make-up.  The man, known to us all as Joe, has come of age.

Moment of the Match:  The Boks' start to the game was superb.  Hall made a smashing run down the left-hand touchline and Greeff and De Kock did well to follow-up.  However, the moment of the match belongs to Kiwi second five-eighth Aaron Mauger for his late try, which was eventually the difference between the two teams.  Mauger troubled the Bok defence all day long with his probing kicks and varied play.

Villain of the Match:  There is no doubt here.  The fan who attacked Irish referee David McHugh was an absolute disgrace to South African rugby and rugby around the world.  He did not belong on the field in the first place and while we may not have agreed with all of McHugh's decisions, an act like that was just unacceptable and it does not belong in this wonderful sport.  Hopefully McHugh did not pick up a serious injury, while we can only hope that the man involved in the incident will be severely punished.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 David Hewett, 2 Tom Willis, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Simon Maling, 6 Richie McCaw, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Scott Robertson, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Aaron Mauger, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Caleb Ralph, 15 Leon MacDonald
Reserves:  Sam Broomhall, Daryl Gibson, Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher
Unused:  Marty Holah, Joe McDonnell, Jonah Lomu

South Africa:  1 Willie Meyer, 2 James Dalton, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 A.J. Venter, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Bobby Skinstad, 9 Neil De Kock, 10 Andre Pretorius, 11 Dean Hall, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves:  Victor Matfield, Faan Rautenbach, Hendro Scholtz, Bolla Conradie, Ollie Le Roux, Brent Russell
Unused:  Adi Jacobs

Attendance:  52500
Referee:  Mchugh/white c.(43)

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  MacDonald L.R. 1, Howlett D.C. 1, Umaga J.F. 1, Mauger A.J.D. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 2

South Africa
Tries:  Pretorius A.S. 1, De Kock N.A. 1
Conv:  Pretorius A.S. 2
Pen K.:  Pretorius A.S. 2
Drop G.:  Pretorius A.S. 1

Australia 16 New Zealand 14

A penalty from Wallaby centre Matthew Burke on the stroke of full-time gave his side a come-from-behind 16-13 Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup win over the All Blacks at a blustery Telstra Stadium in Sydney.

It was almost a carbon-copy of the 2001 fixture in Sydney, which Australia won 29-26 courtesy of a late Toutai Kefu try, as the Wallabies ran into an early lead before the All Blacks launched a spirited fightback, only to watch the world champions steal it at the end.

The Wallabies' win, sealed in dramatic fashion by Burke, who up till then had kicked just one from four attempts at goal, sees them retain the Bledisloe Cup for the fifth time in succession and, most importantly, it also keeps the 2002 Tri-Nations series alive with two big games coming up over the next two weeks in South Africa.

The All Blacks, who had the consolation of a bonus point, despite losing their first game in 10 starts under John Mitchell, meet the Springboks in Durban next week, while the Wallabies will know exactly what they have to do against the Springboks in Johannesburg -- the following week -- to determine the outcome of the Tri-Nations, which can still be won by either of the three teams involved.

All Black replacement Leon MacDonald was the man that conceded the penalty on the stroke of full-time -- for putting his hands in a ruck in his own 22 -- but the match was turned on its head a few minutes earlier after a sensational try from Wallaby replacement back Mat Rogers.

Rogers had replaced Chris Latham in the 60th minute, but he made his presence felt with under 10 minutes to play when he slipped through a tiny gap in the All Black defence to put his team back into the game.

The build-up to Rogers's try was wonderful as the Wallabies combined power and skill to work their way into enemy territory.  Hooker Jeremy Paul was a central figure as the Australians hit the ball up and some clever stepping from Stephen Larkham saw the Wallabies take the ball up to the All Black tryline.

Gregan fired the ball out to his backs, they sent it out to Rogers and the try was scored! But, with the Wallabies one point down (at 14-13), Burke's conversion hit the uprights and kept New Zealand in the lead.

The Wallabies fought their way back into the Kiwi 22, only for Chris Jack to turn Paul over and win a penalty, but George Gregan and his team-mates kept their cool, kept the ball in hand and forced the penalty after MacDonald's indiscretion.

The All Blacks were leading 13-8 before Rogers's try, his first at Test level, after a second-half score from Richard McCaw and Andrew Mehrtens's second penalty goal of the night.

McCaw's try came as a result of a sloppy line-out throw from Jeremy Paul on his own goalline and it put the "Men in Black" in the lead for the first time at 11-8.

Paul missed his target -- Justin Harrison -- with a wobbly throw and McCaw plucked the ball from the air and dived over without any pressure from the Wallabies.  Mehrtens missed the conversion -- he kicked only three from seven attempts at goal -- but he struck his third penalty in the 63rd minute to put some daylight between the sides at 14-8.

The first half was all Australia as the home team began the match with a furious onslaught on the Kiwis.  Burke and Mehrtens missed four kicks at goal between then in the first 40 minutes, but the difference between the two teams at half-time was Wallaby lock Nathan Sharpe's try in the 16th minute.

Stirling Mortlock and Toutai Kefu did the hard-yards for the Wallabies up the right-hand touchline, but play broke down after some poor option-taking from Jeremy Paul on the left.

The ball went loose, but Ben Tune was on hand to run it up -- and over the advantage line through some hesitant New Zealand defence -- and when Stephen Larkham turned the ball inside, Queensland lock Nathan Sharpe hit the Kiwi defence at an awkward angle to crash over for the try.

Burke missed the conversion, with the wind playing tricks with the kickers, but the Wallaby centre, who had the final say in the match with his boot, and Mehrtens, traded penalties shortly before half-time to see the Wallabies hold a slender 8-3 lead after dominating much of the first stanza of play.

Man of the match:  In the first half two men -- locks Nathan Sharpe and Chris Jack -- stood head-and-shoulders above anybody else, but the second 40 minutes belonged entirely to the dynamic All Black opensider Richard McCaw.  He followed the ball around like a trusty hound, turning it over on the ground or carrying it off the shoulders of his team-mates.  It would be rough on George Smith to say that McCaw totally out-played him, but he certainly won the one-on-one battle between two of the premier No.7s in world rugby.  Other players that caught the eye at times were "Bernie" Larkham and Tom Willis.

Moment of the match:  Mat Rogers's try in the 71st minute was a beauty, after a superb build-up, but the moment that sealed the match was Burke's penalty after the hooter had sounded.  Burke had missed a conversion kick from exactly the same spot just a few minutes earlier, but this time he held his nerve and calmly slotted the match-winning kick that has turned the 2002 Tri-Nations on its head.

Villain of the match:  Compared to last week's match this game was squeaky clean.  Wallaby tighthead Pat Noriega seemed intent on getting his revenge on the All Blacks after the Bledisloe Cup opener in Christchurch, but all he managed to do was cost his team a crucial try in the first half.  Our villain then?  Kiwi replacement Leon MacDonald, who conceded that final penalty for putting his hands in the ruck ... Yes, it is rough on the Crusaders back, who had not even been on the field for very long, but it cost his team the match, the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri-Nations.  Then, to add insult to injury, MacDonald then tried to trip Wallaby No.8 Toutai Kefu when the Wallabies finally got the ball back and after referee André Watson had called out "advantage" to Australia.  A close second?  The two streakers who held up play in the 60th minute as Andrew Mehrtens was about to have a kick at goal.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Ben Tune, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Mat Rogers, Ben Darwin, David Lyons
Unused:  Brendan Cannon, Chris Whitaker

New Zealand:  1 David Hewett, 2 Tom Willis, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Simon Maling, 6 Richard McCaw, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Scott Robertson, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Aaron Mauger, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Caleb Ralph, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Marty Holah, Leon MacDonald, Joe McDonnell, Daryl Gibson
Unused:  Sam Broomhall, Andrew Hore, Byron Kelleher

Referee:  Watson a.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Rogers M. 1, Sharpe N.C. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 2

New Zealand
Tries:  McCaw R.H. 1
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 3