Ireland make light work of Canada

Ireland brushed aside Canada 55-0 in front of a delighted Thomond Park crowd on Saturday, although heavy rain put pay to the open game many had expected to see.

Much like England earlier in the day Ireland were beginning life under a new coach, and looking to put an average year behind them, and just like England, they did enough to suggest that there is plenty still to come without ever really convincing.

Despite the bleak conditions Ireland showed plenty of adventure.  And if they are capable of stepping it up ahead of next week's Test, they could be on their way to rediscovering the form of 2006 -- back-to-back victories over South Africa and Australia proving their worth.

There is a long way to go before that, but for now the signs are good.

The writing was on the wall as early as the third minute, Keith Earls making the perfect start to his Ireland career with a strong run to finish a sweeping move.  Earls has been in superb form for Munster this season, and with his first touch in an Ireland shirt he crossed for a memorable score.

Canada did little to help themselves in the early exchanges, giving away several needless penalties -- the third of which Ronan O'Gara slotted over to consolidate Earls' opening try.  With Ireland running the show, mainly through some slick back play, it was no surprise to see them add a second try soon enough.

In fact, such was Ireland's dominance, the only surprise was the nature of the try.  James Pritchard seemed to have an O'Gara grubber covered but a half-hack from Earls saw the ball skid into the in-goal area and Rob Kearney was the quickest to react.  But no sooner had Ireland settled than the heavens opened and suddenly the game was for more fragmented.

True to the conditions, which called for an increase in tight play, Ireland's third try came from a powerful Jamie Heaslip drive off the base of a five metre scrum.  Heaslip's drive served to reiterate the fact Ireland had the ability to dominate in any area of the game, be it in the tight or playing rugby with ball in hand.

A fourth try belied the conditions, after Luke Fitzgerald made a telling break that forced the Canadian defence to cough up yet another penalty.  From there it was all down to Eoin Reddan's vision -- spotting Kearney on his own out wide -- and his weighted kick found the Leinster man with ease.  Although not as much ease with which O'Gara slotted his touchline conversion.

Tommy Bowe's try completed the first half action, and, just in case there was any doubt, put the result past Canada.  What will please Kidney is the manner in which his forwards created the try with some meaningful driving, which allowed Bowe to switch the angle and cruise over.

With a host of changes at the break from both sides, the second half was slow to get going.  But once Ireland found their rhythm again they began to demonstrate the gulf in class, although their inability to press home a telling advantage will be of concern.

The home fans broke into a rousing version of Fields of Athenry on the hour, but it did little to lift the players.  With the game meandering along with no real purpose Ireland were able to run their bench, which in turn did little for the fading consistency of the game.

It took a moment of individual brilliance from Bowe, breaking the defensive line before offloading to David Wallace, who streaked over to lift the mood of those drenched in the stands.

There were two more tries, and it was perhaps fitting that Ireland saved their best until last.  Some fine inter-play between Kearney, Bowe and David Wallace afforded Alan Quinlan the luxury of strolling over to bring the fifty up.  And then Shane Horgan made a fine run before sending Bowe over for his second.

All in all Ireland coach Declan Kidney will be pleased with what he saw here, albeit the bulk of what was good came in the first half, and will have plenty to build on ahead of more challenging tests.

As for Canada this was a challenge they were not prepared for, and if they are to ever improve as a side they will need more exposure to such class opponents, as anything less and they will continue to languish at the level they are currently at.

Man of the Match:  Ronan O'Gara did everything you could ask of your fly-half, and was superb with the boot.  But it was Keith Earls and Rob Kearney who stood out the most for Ireland, and but for rain we may have seen a lot more of them.  The duo have time on their side, which will please Ireland, and have the potential to develop into quality Test players.  A mention also for Tommy Bowe who was full of running and created havoc on a few occasions.

Moment of the Match:  This has to be Keith Earls' try, for two reasons.  The first being that from the moment Ireland scored the game was only ever going to produce one outcome.  And what a way for one of Ireland's form players to mark his debut, a try inside two minutes.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing that merits such a ghastly award.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls, Kearney 2, Heaslip, Bowe 2, D.Wallace
Cons:  O'Gara 5, P.Wallace
Pen:  O'Gara

Ireland:  15 Keith Earls, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Robert Kearney, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements (From):  16 Rory Best, 17 John Hayes, 18 Alan Quinlan, 19 David Wallace, 20 Paddy Wallace, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Shane Horgan.

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Bryn Keys, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Sean Michael Stephen, 5 Josh Jackson, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan (c), 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Mike Pletch, 17 Frank Walsh, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Morgan Williams, 21 Matt Evans, 22 Phil Mackenzie

Referee:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Springboks limp past dominant Welsh

South Africa kept their almost perfect record against Wales intact as they dramatically held on for a 20-15 win at Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

The tourists' impressive one defeat in 23 matches against their hosts that has stretched over 104 years was ultimately clung to on the day -- but it was by no means a performance of world champions as Wales set up camp in opposition territory for large parts of the second half.

The Springboks' recent summer whitewash headlines against the Grand Slam holders was always going to become chip paper in Cardiff's autumn air with the hosts able to call upon such names as Lee Byrne and tireless flank Martyn Williams as they looked to right some wrongs.

And the latter's British and Irish Lions hopes would surely have not gone unnoticed by key personnel on either side of 2009 tour agendas as he looked assured at the back.

Pre-game, set-piece and physicality was always going to be crucial in the victor's direction and with powerful Messrs Andy Powell and Pierre Spies on show in the capital, collisions were also predicted to be aesthetically fierce.

Yet in the early exchanges, it was the usual comically and irritating suspects named Bismarck du Plessis and Bakkies Botha who warmed up referee Alain Rolland's whistle and the predominantly red-shirted crowd of home spectators.

As mentioned, the opening possession was with the tourists and when slick handling from Victor Matfield and Schalk Burger led to centre Adrian Jacobs crossing within six minutes -- the Webb Ellis champions looked like they meant business.

That early cushion was swiftly extended to ten points just two minutes later as the first quarter breakdown battle continued to favour the visitors -- the perfect settling start for fly-half hopeful Ruan Pienaar.

The Sharks utility man was in commanding form from the outset as smart positional play steered his team-mates into the more dominant territorial positions with Wales struggling for a foothold.

That was until 27-year-old Cardiff Blues debutante Powell announced himself on the international stage with a timely rampaging run from halfway, which ultimately lifted the northern side's spirits.

Soon after though, a missed opportunity from the tee from Stephen Jones proved a temporary setback for Wales before consolation came through a timely shift in momentum.

As they would have set out to do, Warren Gatland's men finally managed to change the point of attack and keep the Springboks chasing with threats appearing through Shane Williams and company.

And their chance to reduce the arrears subsequently followed when the youthful Leigh Halfpenny opened his international account -- not with five points however -- as the wing slotted a penalty while Jones received treatment.

But with Butch James watching with his friends in the crowd, it was Peter de Villiers fresh-faced calm pivot who was once again on target three minutes before the interval, extending the scores back to 3-13 before Halfpenny was found wanting in response, albeit from 56 metres.

South Africa returned from the dressing rooms without the brute force of substituted Botha who arguably did what was asked on his injury comeback.  But in the rangy Andries Bekker they possessed serious height and mobility for the second period, which opened at quite a pace.

Firstly, a loose pass from green possession found the confident Halfpenny, who combined with Tom Shanklin to break 60 metres downfield with Spies chasing back in the nick of time -- the crowd stirred.

And just ten minutes into the final forty, the ten-point gap seemed to be heading in only one direction as Wales threw on attacking threats Dwayne Peel and James Hook at half-back.

Not so though, as within 20 seconds of emerging from the bench, fly-half Hook was found out by the intelligent Jean de Villiers who read the expansive shift of tactics.

The man from Western Province rushed up in an umbrella defensive line to cut off the attempted pass to be found by the new man for a 70-metre stroll to stem the fearsome Welsh tide.

Hook made amends on 57 and 59 minutes with a couple of penalties that brought the scores to 9-20, but crossing the whitewash was surely going to be the only tonic for a shock revival in Cardiff.

Coach De Villiers must have sensed that it was to be a holding on job for the final quarter as the volume and pressure increased dramatically -- not helped by substitute Jaque Fourie's almost immediate sin-binning for going off his feet close to his line.

Subsequently, the tempo continued to rise as Wales ate away at a fast reducing lead with another pair of penalties leaving South Africa searching desperately for much-needed ball that just wasn't coming.

With five minutes remaining the possession statistics continued to elude the Springboks, who were in a desperate frame of mind that will encourage Scotland ahead of next week's second autumn Test.

Man of the match:  Both new Welshmen on debut can be proud of their efforts on home soil but in Cardiff Blues number eight Andy Powell, Wales seem to have finally unearthed a power runner that ultimately counteracted the strength of Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger.

Moment of the match:  Had this opportunistic passage not occurred then the result may have gone in a distinctly different direction.  Thrown onto the field in an attempt to improve Wales' attacking options with ball in hand, James Hook's introduction saw him immediately throw a wide and wild pass that Jean de Villiers looked to have seen coming before the Osprey had.  The Stormers intercept and cruise to the line proved the vital score in the final whistle.

Villain of the match:  You've guessed it, Bakkies Botha!  The muscular lock was at his irritating best as he got in the faces of the opposition, not least when he laid a cheap hit on Ian Evans early on.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pen:  Halfpenny, Hook 4

For South Africa:
Tries:  Jacobs, De Villiers
Con:  Pienaar 2
Pen:  Pienaar 2

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 James Hook, 22 Andrew Bishop.

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Brian Mujati, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Frans Steyn, 22 Jaque Fourie.

Referee:  Alan Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), George Clancy (Ireland)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Paul Bridgman (England)

Improving England take care of Islanders

England began life under Martin Johnson with a 39-13 victory over a plucky Pacific Islands side at Twickenham on Saturday.

Danny Cipriani, in only his second Test, collected nineteen points -- a try, three conversions and two penalties -- as England eventually pulled away from a Pacific Islands side who tested England's defence on more than one occasion.

Given that this was the first game under Martin Johnson, we were not expecting a masterpiece that flowed with an ease so dearly sought by the top sides and their coaches.  However, if the glimpses of brilliance are to go by Johnson and his cohorts could be on to something, clearly Brian Smith's desire to attack has seen his players show more adventure in eighty minutes than England ever saw under Brian Ashton.

There were foundations for a performance of note, sadly in the first half errors and penalties cost England when they looked most likely to score.  Instead they had to rely on two moments of magic -- sadly for England sandwiched in between was a Pacific Islands try that Cipriani will be in a hurry to forget.

Delon Armitage was a shining light at the back, taking to Test rugby like the proverbial duck to water, and had more than a hand in England's first try.  Clean line-out ball saw Danny Care slip through a weak tackle and set England rolling towards the line.  As England exploited the space Armitage timed his entry into the line to perfection before throwing an audacious pass over his shoulder to a flying Paul Sackey.  With Cipriani adding the extras England looked to be settling into the game.

Less than a minute later they were stood under their own posts ruing a poor Cipriani clearance kick -- his only blot on the copy book -- that Seru Rabeni pounced on for one of the easiest tries he will ever score.  Whilst the nature of the try was not what the Islanders had in mind it was nothing less than they deserved for an enterprising start to the game.

Strangely the game began to drift, as England twice went through twelve phases -- looking impressive in doing so -- only to see the hard work wasted with lapses in concentration from players you would expect better of.

It took Danny Care's splendid vision -- and a horrendous missed tackle from Vilimoni Delasau -- to spark the England backs into life, and how they reacted to the smallest chance to stretch their legs.  Wide it went to Ugo Monye, deep in his own twenty-two, and after bumping off Delasau's feeble effort, he opened his legs and set England on their way to a stunning counter-attacking try.  It was finished by Cipriani, Monye suffering the indignity of eventually being caught by a prop, but it showed England are slowly shaking off Ashton's shackles.

The second half started in fine fashion, England playing with plenty of intent -- despite the heavy rain -- and testing the Islander's defence.  In the end it cracked with Nick Kennedy cutting back against the grain to score a well taken try on debut.  As in the first-half England failed to kick on, once again settling back into their old habits that Johnson and co. have worked so hard to eradicate.

By the time Lee Mears added a fourth try with just ten minutes to go the game, as a contest, was as good as over.  The Islanders, with a raft of replacements on the field, lost all shape and reverted back to what they knew best -- running rugby at all costs.

It was their undoing as Sackey added a second, benefiting from turnover ball deep inside the Islander's twenty-two.  As for the Islanders, we got what we expected -- a direct and physical approach with plenty of adventure thrown in for good measure.

And whilst this was not vintage England the signs are there that Johnson can mould a team capable of winning at all costs, with the added bonus of some "sexy rugby" when the hard work has been done up front.

The tests that lie ahead will prove a lot more difficult, and they will be punished for the slightest of errors, but on the whole this was a vastly improved England from the one that came back from New Zealand earlier in the year.

Man of the Match:  Making your Test debut is usually about settling into the side and getting to grips with the increased intensity of the rugby.  Not if your name is Delon Armitage.  The London Irish full-back, who was not even in Martin Johnson's original plans, announced himself on the international stage with a superb performance.  There was an air of Chris Latham about him as he climb highest on every occasion to collect towering kicks, and an ease in his running that saw him create the first try.  The test for Armitage now is to deliver to this standard on a regular basis, easier said than done with the big three Southern Hemisphere sides lying in wait.

Moment of the Match:  Surely this award has to go to Danny Care's quick tapped penalty that lead to England's second try.  It showed both Care's Sevens vision coming to the fore, but also the new belief England have in trusting their ability.  And with the likes of Monye, Armitage and Sackey lurking out wide why not chance your arm from time to time.  Hats off to Brian Smith for unearthing England's hitherto dormant attacking potential.

Villain of the Match:  Hats off to both sides for staying focused on the rugby.  Nothing untoward to report here.

The Scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Sackey 2, Cipriani, Kennedy, Mears
Cons:  Cipriani 4
Pens:  Cipriani 2

For Pacific Islands:
Try:  Rabeni
Con:  Hola
Pens:  Hola 2

The Teams:

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Dan Cipriani, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Nick Kennedy, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Phil Vickery, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 James Haskell, 20 Michael Lipman, 21 Harry Ellis, 22 Toby Flood.

Pacific Islands:  15 Kameli Ratuvou (Fiji), 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau (Samoa), 13 Seru Rabeni (Fiji), 12 Seilala Mapusua (Samoa), 11 Vilimoni Delasau (Fiji), 10 Pierre Hola (Tonga), 9 Mosese Rauluni (Fiji), 8 Finau Maka (Tonga), 7 Nili Latu (Tonga), 6 Semisi Naevo (Fiji), 5 Kele Leawere (Fiji), 4 Filipo Levi (Samoa), 3 Census Johnston (Samoa), 2 Aleki Lutui (Tonga), 1 Justin Va'a (Samoa).
Replacements:  16 Sunia Koto (Fiji), 17 Kisi Pulu (Tonga), 18 Hale T Pole (Tonga), 19 George Stowers (Samoa), 20 Sililo Martens (Tonga), 21 Seremaïa Bai (Fiji), 22 Epi Taione (Tonga).

Referee:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assessor:  Dennis Immelman (South Africa)

All Blacks re-assert their superiority

New Zealand wrapped up the 2008 Bledisloe Cup series 3-1 on Saturday, coming back from 14-6 down to beat Australia 19-14 in Hong Kong.

Australia made the early running, but New Zealand's patience paid off in the second half as their forwards -- helped somewhat by some lenience at the breakdown -- dominated the ball and starved Australia's dangerous backs of any possession.

This was absolutely no classic.  It gave the Honkers faithful a few moments to wow about, but by and large the ball spent too much time up in the air and too little time in the hand.

The fact that the pitch was not really conducive to aggressive scrumming didn't help, certainly not Australia, whose struggles at the set piece were compounded by the rickety and slippery surface, and produced a steady stream of penalties to the All Blacks.

Both sides set their stall out in the first half, with Australia banking on acceleration at every possible moment, and New Zealand opting to hoof anything in their own half into the other half and then follow it up in rigid and watertight defensive fashion.  Discipline did win the All Blacks the day in the end -- they conceded only one penalty in the first half to Australia's seven -- but it was the accuracy of the field positioning by the entire XV that ensured Australia struggled to quicken the game up as they would have liked.

Of course, early in a game acceleration of possession is no problem.  Australia scored two excellent first-half tries despite a dearth of possession, but undermined their superior attacking play with a succession of penalties for a myriad of offences.  Dan Carter nailed three of them, none particularly easy.  Any Australian transgression was punished, while New Zealand gave nothing to punish.

But did they really give nothing?  New Zealand have often been described as cheats for certain breakdown tactics, which is a harsh call.  You play what you can get away with.  But at times in the second half there were so many players diving off their feet into rucks, aiming for thin air, that you could imagine much of the midweek training taking place around the edges of a swimming pool.

At other times, support players would not step over the tackler and tacklee to create the ruck, but stand lateral to the men on the ground, basically, hanging round the side.

It widened the "gate", but it also looked suspiciously like a tactic to block Australians coming in from the open side.  Is block overstating it?  I've never seen the positioning that pronounced before, so it had to create some sort of function, and widening the gate would normally be counter-productive.  Certainly, wherever the player would stand, he would not be coming in through the gate ... it is a moot point whether the ruck was formed or not sometimes, but at others, it clearly was, in which case, the man was either offside or coming in from the side.  Potentially both.

Anyway, back to the positive stuff.  Drew Mitchell claimed both tries, and his first was a gem.  Having pressured Stephen Donald and Hosea Gear off the ball, Australian forwards bashed the ball up six phases on the left, before Matt Giteau took the ball at pace into the 10-12 channel and popped it up expertly for Mitchell on a straight line to crash over under the posts.

Carter reduced the gap to 7-6 with two penalties, but then came Mitchell again, after excellent quick distribution by Luke Burgess gave George Smith enough time to slip away a flat scoring pass in the left-hand corner.  Giteau converted with elegance for a 14-6 lead, but Carter quickly replied with his third penalty for a ruck infringement for a 14-9 half-time scoreline.

Graham Henry said at half-time that his team had been "out-passioned", and the All Blacks certainly came out with more zip in the second half -- in all areas of the game, not just the dives into the rucks.

It reaped instant dividends, with a quick handling movement exploiting a six on five overlap for a try from Sitiveni Sivivatu.  Carter's radar went on the blink though, and it was tied at 14-14.

Not much happened after that.  Australia's pack buckled almost as readily as the playing surface, and attempts to redress the imbalance by driving before the put-in were quickly halted by referee Alan Lewis.  The All Blacks were dominant at the ruck, for reasons detailed above, meaning Luke Burgess could not speed the game up as he had done so well in the first half.

It was only a matter of time before the breakthrough came, and it fell to Richie McCaw to deliver the coup de grace, with Sivivatu's lobbed pass a moment of rare magic in an ordinary game.  New Zealand shut up shop thereafter disturbingly effectively, which is perhaps the aspect that the home nations should pay most attention to.  That and some aggressive rucking.

Man of the match:  Luke Burgess stood out for Australia in the early part of the match before the All Blacks cut off his supply of ball, and Sitiveni Sivivatu was the pick of New Zealand's backs.  But for an all-round contribution, look no further than Rodney So'oialo's all-chasing, all-harrying, all-tackling display.

Moment of the match:  Matt Giteau's swerving run and switch with Drew Mitchell for the opening try capped off a fine minute of high-speed rugby.

Villain of the match:  Ali Williams nearly worked himself into this one, but pulled his punch on Stephen Moore in the nick of time.  No award.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Sivivatu, McCaw
Pens:  Carter 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Mitchell 2
Cons:  Giteau 2

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

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Phil Waugh, 19 David Pocock, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Lachie Turner.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  George Clancy (Ireland), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

All Blacks retain their crowns

New Zealand have retained their Tri-Nations trophy and the Bledisloe Cup after beating Australia 28-24 in a scintillating rugby encounter at Suncorp Stadium, that will go down as one of the all-time classics.

The All Blacks piled on 21 unanswered points in a match-defining seventeen-minute spell during the second half, after trailing 17-7, to clinch the winner-takes-all contest.

The result means New Zealand hang on to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Tri-Nations title as well as holding a 2-1 lead in the Bledisloe Cup series, with a final game in Hong Kong scheduled for November 1.

The Wallabies were going in search of their first Tri-Nations title since 2001 and looked to be on course to end that drought when they led 10-7 at the half-time break, but it wasn't to be.

New Zealand built their challenge on tackle point dominance, patient defence and an accurate kicking game.  They excelled in all these facets of play and the Wallabies were reacting to the All Blacks rather than imposing themselves on their visitors for the bulk of the Test.

The hosts did, however, exceed expectations at the set phases, excelling on their own line-out ball and troubling the visitors on theirs, while also achieving parity at scrum time -- and this kept them in the game.

Australia fly-half Matt Giteau had a solid platform from which to orchestrate play, but he struggled initially, kicking poorly and often passing the ball behind those on his outside halting any momentum they had built up.

He wasn't helped by the fact that his side were being dominated at the tackle point and subsequently the breakdowns, ruining the quality of service he received.

But the Wallabies remedied their flaws as the match wore on, committing more cleaners to the rucks and Giteau's potency was amplified, seen by the fact that he was prominent in both their tries either side of half-time.

New Zealand pivot Dan Carter controlled the game well when in possession, blending midfield bombs with good tactical kicks, sniping breaks and good distribution.  His cause was aided by some very efficient ruck cleaning, which ensured he received quick ball.

The Wallabies had the better of the opening exchanges with the first seven minutes of the match played exclusively in All Blacks territory.

But the hosts failed to turn pressure into points -- Giteau had the first shot at goal in the fourth minute but failed to convert from 43 metres out.

The visitors finally got their hands on the ball in enemy territory and took almost immediate advantage when full-back Mils Muliaina crossed untouched in the 11th minute.

Some quick thinking from scrum-half Jimmy Cowan off a short-arm penalty put the Wallabies on the back foot and quick hands was all that was needed from New Zealand who made Australia pay for not numbering up in defence.

Carter's conversion made it 7-0 the visitors' way with 15 minutes played.

A string of costly errors and poor skill execution kept the Wallabies scoreless despite enjoying the bulk of possession.

Australia's best opportunity came on the 20-minute mark but again failed to trouble the scoreboard attendant as Wycliff Palu ignored two unmarked men on his outside to bomb an almost certain try.

The Wallaby number eight was unable to make ammends after limping off with a medial ligament injury which may cost him his place in the end-of-season tour.

Australia finally had something to show for their efforts when Giteau slotted a penalty goal from close range after All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was penalised for being offside at the breakdown.

Australia continued to ask questions for the remainder of the half but had to wait until after time had expired to post their first five-pointer of the contest.

A clever Giteau cross-kick found Peter Hynes on the right wing who delivered a clever one-touch pass inside to a streaming Adam Ashley-Cooper who showed tremendous footwork on his way to the tryline.

Giteau's sideline conversion handed the hosts a 10-7 half-time lead.

It took just five minutes for the Wallabies to strike in the second stanza when lock James Horwill barged over on the back of some brilliant lead-up work from Giteau.

The Wallabies playmaker danced through the All Blacks defensive line before linking with replacement forward Richard Brown who was grassed within touching distance of the line.

Giteau finished the job from the ensuing phase drifting across field before throwing the final pass for the charging Horwill for the converted try to extend to a ten-point lead.

New Zealand's response was swift as Conrad Smith found space to send loosehead prop Tony Woodcock in for his side's second try -- Carter's sideline conversion cut the deficit to three points with half an hour to play.

Having denied a sustained attack from the Wallabies, the All Blacks reclaimed the lead in the 62nd minute when Sitiveni Sivivatu found replacement scrumhalf Piri Weepu for the converted try and a 21-17 advantage.

The All Blacks continued to carve up the Wallabies defence, a sustained attack allowing Carter to run around Stirling Mortlock and then bounce off an attempted shoulder charge by Ryan Cross to score the clincher with 12 minutes left.

Victory -- along with the Tri Nations trophy and Bledisloe Cup -- appeared all but assured for Graham Henry's men.

But in a finish worthy of the occasion, a bustling try from former Rugby League star Cross and a last-minute attack by Australia, had the hosts inside the visitors quarter on the last play of the game.

However, the Wallabies couldn't produce the dream finish most of the 52,328-strong crowd had hoped for.

The All Blacks were forced to defend well after the siren had sounded before the turnover finally came and Weepu booted the ball into the stands to claim a famous victory.

Man of the match:  There were heroes all over the park.  Richie McCaw and Dan Carter served up their class once again, but others played lead roles too.  Both half-backs Jimmy Cowan and Piri Weepu had big games, Conrad Smith was a colossus in midfield, Richard Kahui rock solid on his wing, while up front Rodney So'oialo and Jerome Kaino had strong matches.  Tony Woodcock shook off a head knock to produce another memorable Test and Ali Williams and Brad Thorn gave it everything.  A team award to the All Blacks.

Moment of the match:  Tough one to call in a match that had it all.  But Ryan Cross' late strike ensured a dramatic finish that will long be remembered by all who witnessed it.

Villain of the match:  A fantastic spectacle played in a gentlemanly manner.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ashley-Cooper, Horwill, Cross
Cons:  Giteau 3
Pen:  Giteau

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Muliaina, Woodcock, Weepu, Carter
Cons:  Carter 4

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

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

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert, Mark Lawrence
TMO:  Johann Meuwesen

All Blacks shape up well

New Zealand have given themselves a useful training-match hit-out, beating Samoa by a record 101-14 margin in New Plymouth on Wednesday.

The performance was not flawless by any means.  Restarts were messy, and the handling was often rusty early on.  Having built up a commanding early lead, the concentration fell away for a while and Samoa caused one or two problems, not least when they finished off a clinical try.

The opening All Black try was as textbook as could be.  New Zealand had a scrum out right, and they wheeled it to the left with consummate ease, meaning that the Samoan back-row was left struggling to cover the extra yards across the middle of the park.

Ma'a Nonu fed Adam Thomson inside, who punched it up the middle.  From the ruck, the ball was swung wide left, and another ruck was formed, and then the ball came back wide right where Mils Muliaina had space to get through some rather shabby tackling and go under the posts.  A perfect three-phase training ground plan.

Samoan full-back Alatasi Tupou had a shot for posts to at least get his side on the board two minutes later when Andrew Hore was caught offside, and referee Stuart Dickinson was certainly unforgiving on marginal decisions against the All Blacks, which is fair enough -- the All Blacks should not have been getting anything even marginally wrong today.

Tupou's kick flew high and wide though, and from the counter attack, Anthony Tuitavake made 50m down the left, before the ball moved through four sets of hands from one touchline to the other, and Adam Thomson scored.

Muliaina notched his second on thirteen minutes after Tuitavake accelerated out of a tight spot, and New Zealand's attack from the restart took them into Samoa's 22, before Dan Carter's high kick was taken by Tuitavake, who linked with Muliaina to send Conrad Smith through.

Thomson showed us his sevens talents by bursting through a midfield gap and nearly out-stripping the Samoan cover, but Samoa did well to dig in for the resulting five minutes of heavy pressure -- including several 5m scrums -- before hacking clear a dropped ball from Nonu.  At the next spell of pressure, they even managed to turn over the ball, as New Zealand's concentration of players at the ruck diluted.

It spurred the visitors on, and after Kahui was caught out by the new laws about kicking from the 22, George Stowers' break off the back of the line-out ended in a try for Samoan Sevens star Uale Mai, who burst through a half-gap from seven metres out.

Conrad Smith ghosted in for a try under the posts shortly after, with Ma'a Nonu making the initial yardage down the left.

Then Samoan scrum-half Notise Tauafao was yellow-carded for a stupid offside -- his team's tenth penalty to New Zealand's one -- and the All Blacks immediately exploited it, drilling the scrum backwards and then with Rodney So'oialo feeding Jimmy Cowan down the short side.

From the restart, the All Blacks spread the ball wide, sensing the bowing heads in the Samoan camp, and once Kahui had slipped through some tired tackles, Muliaina was free to sprint clear and claim his hat-trick.

Dan Carter converted six of the seven tries, surpassing 2,000 career points in the process, and it was 47-7 at the break.

Garham Henry rang some changes in the second half, bring on Stephen Donald and Isaia Toeava, and it was Toeava who provided the scoring pass for Kahui within five minutes of the start of the second half.

Sione Lauaki and Keve Mealamu were the next to enter the fray as replacements, but neither were involved in the next try, a slick move up the right both started and finished by Stephen Donald.

More replacements followed, with Piri Weepu and Neemia Tialata next in, and Ali Williams was next in on the scoresheet after some more neat inter-passing down the right following a useful Donald kick.

Rudi Wulf butchered another try by trying to do a little too much before offloading the ball, having made a terrific break.

But by this point, the Samoan pack was exhausted.  They were pushed off their own ball twice at 5m scrums -- this still before the hour mark -- and at the third, a penalty try was awarded.

With a century in sight, the All Blacks became guilty of trying to force it a little too much.  Not enough rucking, too much speculative and loose passing.  Standard stuff for a team already 80 points to the good, but perhaps a little dissatisfying for Graham Henry, who had spoken at half-time of the need to finish things off and be a bit more clinical.

Tries from Toeava, Weepu -- a length of the field move after it had appeared Samoa might score again -- and then Samoa did score again, when a kick through by Mai was taken on by Alafoti Faosiliva to the line.  Roger Warren converted.

Stephen Donald was given the shot at goal to make it a century when Richard Kahui finished off a long passage of play in which the build-up was good but the finishing far from it.  He made it.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Muliaina 3, Thomson, Smith 2, Cowan, Kahui 2, Donald, Williams, Kaino, penalty try, Toeava, Weepu
Cons:  Carter 6, Donald 7

For Samoa:
Tries:  Mai, Faosiliva
Cons:  Mai, Warren

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Anthony Tuitavake, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo (c), 7 Adam Thomson, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Willliams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Sione Lauaki, 19 Piri Weepu, 20 Stephen Donald, 21 Isaia Toeava, 22 Rudi Wulf.

Samoa:  15 Alatasi Tupou, 14 Reupena Levasa, 13 Pale Toelupe, 12 Jerry Meafou, 11 Esera Lauina, 10 Uale Mai, 9 Notise Tauafao, 8 George Stowers, 7 Alafoti Faosiliva, 6 Semo Sititi, 5 Chad Slade, 4 Filipo Levi (c), 3 Heroshi Tea, 2 Loleni Tafunai, 1 Simon Lemalu.
Replacements:  16 Lafoga Aoelua, 17 Roysiu Tolufale, 18 Maselino Paulino, 19 Simaika Mikaele, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Roger Warren, 22 Romi Ropati.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  James Leckie (Australia), Paul Marks (Australia)
Television match official:  Geoff Acton (Australia)
Assessor:  Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)

Wallabies bow to resurgent Boks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From that point on it was all South Africa.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The scorers:

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

For Australia:
Try:  Mitchell
Con:  Giteau

The teams:

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

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

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

Boks out for the count

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The scorers:

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

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

The teams:

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

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

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

All Blacks nil world champions

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

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

How very wrong they were.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The scorers:

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

The teams:

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

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

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

Boks run Pumas ragged

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The scorers:

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

For Argentina:
Pens:  Contepomi 3

The teams:

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

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

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

New Zealand back in the black

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The scorers:

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

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

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

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

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

Australia stun New Zealand

Australia's new dawn burst into brilliant day as the Wallabies recorded a sublime 34-19 victory over New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday, running four tries past the dumbfounded visitors.

As the golden swatches of the 80,000-strong crowd at ANZ Stadium absorbed this famous victory, the suits of New Zealand rugby fingered their collars in the executive boxes.

This win makes it five from five for Australia under Robbie Deans, the man who was whisked away from New Zealand after failing to oust Graham Henry from the All Black throne.

Full plaudits will be heaped at the feet of Australia's adopted Kiwi, and the NZRU will be asked, once again, how on earth they let him get away.

Australia's dominance of the All Blacks was nothing short of remarkable -- and it was pure Deans.

They outplayed their visitors in every facet of play.  One year ago the gold pack was the laughing stock of world rugby.  Today, as against the Boks last week, they dominated the forward exchanges in the set-pieces and in the loose.  New Zealand actually went out of their way to avoid scrums and line-outs.

The Wallabies also bossed the breakdown area.  Injured New Zealand skipper Richie McCaw looked on in horror as his side was turned over -- and over and over.  The official figure stands at 25 stolen black balls.  No team can win with that sort of stat on their back.

Elsewhere, without Stirling Mortlock and Chris Latham, there were worries that Australia's backline was a little greener than it was gold.  But the youngsters proved more than a match for their counterparts, with Berrick Barnes to the fore.  Ma'a Nonu had been tasked to target him, but the languid playmaker proved his defensive mettle time and time again.  Charlie Hodgson he is not.

Moreover, the locals displayed a mental edge that belied their tender years as New Zealand threatened a comeback early in the third quarter of the match.

The Australian players deserve as much praise as Deans for this near-miraculous turnaround -- they are obviously quick learners.  It has taken them just five outings to perfect the sort of winning rugby that Deans made famous with the Crusaders.

Although they dominated territory, the Wallabies were happy to allow their opponents the time and inclination to run the ball -- and to make mistakes whilst under relentless defensive pressure.

The All Blacks duly held up their end of this dodgy deal.  They were at complete odds with themselves.  The Wallabies made them pay for every error with intuitive counter-attacking and canny decision-making.

Likes his bosses, Henry will have to answer a number of probing questions.  New Zealand's tactics looked stale and negative.  They seemed wholly lacking in structure, leadership and cohesion.  That they scored any tries at all was down to the individual brilliance of Daniel Carter and the workaholic tendencies of Mils Muliaina.

Henry deserves respect for staying true to himself with regards to his much-maligned rotational policy, but one wonders whether he is now just being stubborn.  Yes, it will undoubtedly bear fruit for the future, but empirical evidence suggests that his players would do better in settled surrounds.

No country in world rugby can match New Zealand in terms of pure talent and ability with ball in hand, but the telepathic understanding that normally makes the All Blacks such a threat was conspicuous by its absence in Sydney.  As pass after pass was knocked on or spilled, it became painfully obvious that Henry's troops are no longer functioning as a collective.

The opening passage of the game exemplified the tactics of both sides with Giteau kicking deep and New Zealand looking to keep the ball alive.  It fell to Nonu to muscle it out of his own 22 but ferocious tackling caused him to cough up possession.

And so the stage was set.  Australia would keep the pressure on and New Zealand would keep making mistakes, and their next being a biggy.  Brad Thorn caught Giteau with a high tackle and was trudging towards the sin-bin with the game barely five minutes old.

New Zealand fans could rightly claim that the challenge was not designed with malice in mind, but it did deserve punishment:  it killed Australian momentum and spared the All Blacks from conceding anything more than the three points that Giteau duly collected.

Australia soon had their guests pinned to their posts once again.  Not for the first or last time in the match, New Zealand chose to relieve pressure by kicking down Lote Tuqiri's throat, and the big wing punished them severely.  He skipped past three despairing tackles before off-loading to Nathan Sharpe.  The lock off-loaded to Giteau who found Ryan Cross on his outside and unmarked.  Ten minutes on the clock and Australia held a 10-0 lead.

New Zealand hit back in determined fashion, finally breaking out of their half and driving towards Australia's line.  A penalty was awarded after the Australians killed the raid illegally.  A penalty is a rare gift in these days of McRugby, but New Zealand chose to tap and go.  The bizarre decision caught Carter by surprise -- he received the unexpected pass and Giteau at the same moment and Australia were off the hook and out of their half.

Despite the setback, New Zealand now had a foothold on the game.  Muliaina confirmed his side's ascendency with a brilliant counter-attack out of his own 22.  The fullback skinned the gold backline with an arching run before kicking ahead.  The ball bounced high on the hard turf, straight over the heads of the two chasers and into Muliaina's hands.  He was taken down by the Australian cover-defence but was soon back on his feet to power over the whitewash for a try.

Carter missed the conversion but Australia's lead had been cut in half, and the All Blacks were on the up and up.  The Australians were smashed at the next scrummage and when Carter found a gaping hole down the left it seemed that Australia had run out of puff.

But solid defence kept the Wallabies afloat and Giteau kick-started an attack with a fine break of his own.  He fed Adam Ashley-Copper who put boot to ball and Peter Hynes won the race to dot down.  Giteau duly landed his 50th conversion of his Test career to pull his side 12 points clear.

Again, New Zealand responded well, with a fine run from Sitiveni Sivivatu putting the visitors within range.  A back-door pass from Andy Ellis almost put Muliaina through, but a great double tackle from George Smith and Rocky Elsom forced the knock-on just short of the line.

But this time New Zealand didn't budge.  They drove their tent pegs into the gold 22 and soon had a free-kick out on the left.  The ball was spun wide at speed and Sivivatu wore a face of horror as he realised his pass out of the tackle was destined for Andrew Hore.  He need not have worried.  The splendidly named hooker cut in off his right foot like a seasoned wing and raced over to score.

Carter slotted a fine conversion with the last kick of a hectic half and Australia went to the break nursing a precarious 17-12 lead.

There was no doubting the general gist of Henry's half-time talk:  New Zealand looked very composed in the opening period of the second half, patiently building the phases and thinking two moves ahead.

With the platform set, Carter sprinkled his magic, making a clean break between Giteau and Barnes.  Again, the Australians back-tracked well but they could not stop Ellis when he plunged over the line from short range.

Carter's conversion stole the lead and it looked like Australian resolve would finally start to crumble.  It didn't.  They actually edged back in front when Elsom galloped through broken field to score Australia's third try after another brilliant run from Ashley-Cooper.

New Zealand could not find a response this time, and for that the Wallabies might like to thank some pretty liberal officiating.

Sivivatu hacked on and was winning the race to the ball when he appeared to be brought down by Hynes in the shadow of Australia's sticks.  Whether he would have scored is a matter of conjecture, yet a penalty under the sticks might have been fair result for New Zealand.  But not a whistle sounded.

Perhaps referee Craig Joubert had one eye on the ruckus on the touchline.  New Zealand had replaced Ellis with Jimmy Cowan and then brought back the former after the latter was forced off the field.  The officials joined together to debate the legitimacy of the move and it was decided that it was all kosher.  It seems that Cowan had been taken off for a blood problem even though it looked like he had limped off with a knee injury.  Had the Wallabies lost the game, the local media would surely have stripped Cowan down to his underpants in a search for punctures.

The chaos, coupled to the usual raft of hour-mark replacements, killed New Zealand's bourgeoning momentum.

Sione Lauaki, on for New Zealand's only specialist openside Daniel Braid, clearly forgot to pack his hands for the trip across the Tasman Sea.  His errors proved to be contagious and heads began to hang after Sivivatu made his first mistake of the game.  It was a harbinger of the oncoming doom.

Giteau then provided Australia with an eight-point buffer with a smart drop-goal, but the cushion was not needed:  James Horwill sealed the win and the bonus point by galloping through another gaping hole to score the final try of a compelling contest.

One coach from New Zealand will sleep peacefully tonight, one won't.

Man of the match:  What can we say about Dan Carter that has not been said before?  Perhaps only that he does not deserve to be part of the first New Zealand side to have lost two on the bounce since 2004.  He was simply magical.  Mils Muliaina, the unsung hero of New Zealand rugby, was also outstanding.  Meanwhile, the Wallabies were brilliant to a man, with the contributions of Stephen Moore and Benn Robinson particularly impressive considering Australia's recent woes in the front row.  Australia's victory was down to the collective rather than an individual, but how can we look past Matt Giteau?  The cool-headed commander extinguished all doubts as to his rightful position with a fine display -- even his illustrious opposite number looked awed.

Moment of the match:  Plenty of noteworthy incidents and seven fine tries.  The build-up to Elsom's try was very special, but New Zealand deserve something for their efforts so we'll opt to signal out Andrew Hore's try for special praise.  Is it the new laws, or do they not make front-row forwards like they use to?  He'll claim he was taking a breather out there on the wing, but don't believe a word of it!

Villian of the match:  We'll excuse Brad Thorn for his yellow card -- he's not a dirty player, and we'll leave Sione Lauaki well alone -- he has enough misery to work through without having to take receipt of this ghastly gong.  In deference to the spirit of the game we hate to point accusing fingers at the officials, but this time we just must.  The chaos caused by the Ellis/Cowan/Ellis switches does rugby no favours.  The laws are quite clear on the matter.  Law 3.12 -- If a player is substituted, that player must not return and play in that match even to replace an injured player.  Exception 1:  a substituted player may replace a player with a bleeding or open wound.  Exception 2:  a substituted player may replace a front row player when injured, temporarily suspended or sent off.  So was Cowan bleeding or not?  Do we really need to stop the game and stage a convention to establish whether a man is leaking his innards?

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Cross, Hynes, Elsom, Horwill
Cons:  Giteau 4
Pen:  Giteau
Drop:  Giteau

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Muliaina, Hore, Ellis
Cons:  Carter 2

Yellow card(s):  Thorn (New Zealand) -- high tackle, 5.

The teams:

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

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

Referee:  Craig Joubert
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence, James Bolabiu
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch