Australia 26 South Africa 6

So concerned was Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen about his side's goal-kicking that he seriously considered using lock and skipper John Eales in Saturday night's Tri-Nations clash against South Africa at Stadium Australia.  But his last-minute decision to persevere with ACT Brumbies ace Stirling Mortlock paid handsome dividends as the youngster landed six-from-six and a try for a personal tally of 21 points in Australia's grinding 26-6 victory.

The Springboks may have come out blazing, with a stray boot opening up Wallaby No.8 Jim Williams' head in the first minute, but it was the Australians who opened the scoring, when winger Mortlock landed a penalty after two minutes.

Williams recovered and three minutes later flyhalf Stephen Larkham split the Boks' defence in a movement that eventually saw the big Wallaby No.8 bundled into touch near the left-hand corner flag.

Larkham was at it again soon after when he sent the ball wide for Herbert, who placed a well-wighted kick into the South African 22.  New Bok fullback Thinus Delport collected the ball and his opposite Chris Latham at the same time and Latham managed to drive Delport backwards for a five metre scrum.

But for all their spirit and endeavour, the Wallabies couldn't capitalise and in the 10th minute Springbok flyhalf Braam van Straaten levelled the scores with a well-struck penalty goal.  Australia 3 South Africa 3.

Throughout the week the Australian and South African press corps repeatedly sang the praises of Larkham.  Even Bok coach Nick Mallett referred to Larkham as the main danger to his side's success, while van Straaten copped abuse for his performance against the All Blacks a week ago.  Van Straaten reacted by stating that he thought he played well at Christchurch, but when during an interview on Wednesday, Larkham's name popped up again, Van Straaten stormed off in frustration.

In the early stages at Stadium Australia Van Straaten played like a man possessed.  He took the ball to the line and his forwards were at his side; time and again pressing the Wallaby defence.

Cheeky halfback Werner Swanepoel joined in on the act and his sniping around the scrumbase and the rucks and mauls proved a menace to Australia.  But as in Christchurch last week, the Boks couldn't cross the line.

The Wallabies in the 12th minute showed their intricate handling skills when Larkham twice looped and handled in a movement that ended when Latham was tackled into touch.

Two minutes later rugged Bok flanker Andre Venter (playing his 50th Test) was unlucky to be penalised for a late charge on Larkham.  Mortlock goaled for a 6-3 lead.

At this stage, the game was all cut and thrust, with neither side giving any quarter, but it was fast becoming obvious that the Wallabies were gathering some momentum and the ascendancy.

Van Straaten landed a penalty for 6-all after referee Ed Morrison ruled against Wallaby centre Daniel Herbert for a high tackle on Delport.  On reflection, the call was a harsh one, but probably evened things up for Morrison's ruling against Venter for his alleged late charge on Larkham.

The Wallabies continued to attack and their confidence increased as the game wore on.  In the 23rd minute that man Williams again charged onto the ball, only to be held up over the line.  It seemed inevitable the Australians would eventually score.

And four minutes later, Mortlock, who had been the Aussies' go-go man, did the honours after some superb lead-up work by centre Daniel Herbert.  Herbert took a pass from Larkham on the angle, committing De Wet Barry to the tackle.  Larkham doubled round and kept the movement going with a slick pass to inside-centre Jason Little.

Little handed to winger Joe Roff who found Mortlock on his outside.  Herbert's ability to commit Barry created the overlap out wide and Mortlock crossed the tryline without a finger being laid on him.  He then converted for a handy 13-6 lead.

Two further penalty goals by Mortlock saw Australia lead 19-6 at halftime.

The second half began in almost the same fashion as the first, with the Boks creating opportunities but failing to finish.  But for the most part, the half belonged to Australia.

Toutai Kefu replaced Williams six minutes into the second half and if the Boks thought they would be given some respite, they were seriously mistaken as Kefu showed just why he is regarded in many circles for being the most explosive No.8 in the world.

Every time he touched the ball, Kefu proved a handful for the Boks.  Then in the 60th minute he busted through a couple of defenders and popped the ball up for Little, who zigged and zagged his way past Bok winger Pieter Rossouw, only to be stopped millimetres from the line.  But that didn't matter as replacement hooker Jeremy Paul was on hand to dot down for the conclusive try.  And with Mortlock's conversion, the Australians held a formidable 26-6 lead.

Try as they did, the Boks simply could not breach the Australian line for the remainder of the match.  Once again the Wallabies' defence held firm and once again, the Boks failed to score a try for their second successive outing.

After the game Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen said:  "We have a lot of pride in our defence.  We were disappointed with our defence in our earlier games and I would have liked to see us with more ball in tonight's second half."

The cauldron Bok coach Nick Mallett and his team will walk into when they arrive home on Tuesday is likely to be white-hot.  But as always, South Africa will be a formidable opponent on their own soil when they tackle the All Blacks in Johannesburg on August 19, and then the Wallabies in Durban a week later.

Mallett's comments during the week that he didn't have to win and that he didn't see this as a "must-win" Test for his team may come back to haunt him.  Further defeat this season could cost him his job.

Man of the match:  Who else but Stirling Mortlock, who scored 21 of his side's 26 points and landed an impressive tally of six place-kicks from as many attempts.  Once again he showed that he is a powerful runner and very hard to stop with the ball in hand.  Matt Burke may be on his way back to full fitness but Mortlock's display makes life difficult for the selectors when they are forced to make a choice.

Moment of the match:  Mortlock's try in the first half showed how clinically brilliant this Wallaby backline can be.  The buildup was well-planned, Herbert took the ball on the angle, Larkham handled twice and a couple of passes later, Mortlock was in for the try.  A superbly executed try.

Villain of the match:  South Africa's inability to score tries in the big games is becoming a huge headache for coach Nick Mallett.  The Boks scored some wonderful tries against Australia in Melbourne when nothing was at stake.  But in their two Tri-Nations outings the Boks have been shown-up for their shortcomings in attack.  A big black mark that Mallett must rectify fast.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Richard Harry, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Fletcher Dyson, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Mark Connors, 7 David Wilson, 8 Jim Williams, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Jason Little, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Matt Cockbain, Rod Kafer, Toutai Kefu, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Ben Tune
Unused:  Sam Cordingley

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Mark Andrews, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 Corne Krige, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Werner Swanepoel, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves:  John Smit, Warren Brosnihan, Ollie Le Roux, Percy Montgomery, Joost Van Der Westhuizen
Unused:  Jannes Labuschagne, Chester Williams

Attendance:  77048
Referee:  Morrison e.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Mortlock S.A. 1, Paul J.A. 1
Conv:  Mortlock S.A. 2
Pen K.:  Mortlock S.A. 4

South Africa
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 2

New Zealand 25 South Africa 12

Date:  22 Jul 2000
Venue:  Christchurch
Attendance:  38000
Referee:  White c.

Christian Cullen was the hero as the All Blacks ground out a 25-12 victory over the Springboks in a colourless Tri-nations encounter at Jade Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon.

The All Black fullback survived a fearsome collision with Corne Krige in the first minute to score two tries and use his blistering pace to deny Breyton Paulse a five-pointer at a critical stage of the second half.

Cullen's crisply-taken tries represented two of the few highlights in a game that was defence dominated, the balance of the points coming through penalty goals and dropped goals.

After the champagne rugby produced in Sydney the previous weekend, when 10 tries were registered as New Zealand defeated Australia 39-35, this was flat beer indeed, with the fans expressing disappointment as poured out of Jade Stadium.

But All Black coach Wayne Smith was smiling because his team has now won two out of two in the Tri-nations championship.

"Last week we won with exhilarating running rugby," said Smith, "and this week we proved we could grind out a victory.  It was an important result in the development of this team."

All Black skipper Todd Blackadder acknowledged that the game did not live up to the highs of last weekend:  "It was a great physical game and there were a lot more errors than against Australia.  But that is to do with pressure," he said.

Springbok captain Andre Vos said New Zealand deserved to win.

"Our handling let us down and we were turning the ball over.  The All Blacks defended outstandingly," he said.

The performances of the two fullbacks wielded a major influence on the outcome of this game.  If Cullen was man of the match, Percy Montgomery was undoubtedly bunny of the match, turning in a shocker in the No 15 jersey.

Cullen gave the All Blacks a winning break in the opening 15 minutes, but only after being knocked flat in a spectacular head-on collision with Krige, less than 60 seconds after kick-off.

Alarm spread through the All Black bench when it looked as though Cullen had been knocked unconscious.  But he was only dazed and after three minutes on the sideline returned to action.

Within a minute of his return he was running in his 36th test try for New Zealand, courtesy of a precision grubber kick by Andrew Mehrtens and a woeful attempted flykick by Montgomery.

Test try No 37 followed soon afterwards, this time thanks to a superb long pass from Mehrtens across the noses of Pita Alatini and Jonah Lomu.

That score -- which leaves Cullen only two short of Jeff Wilson's New Zealand Test record -- gave the All Blacks a 10-3 advantage and the crowd settled back to enjoy the tryfest.

They were to be hugely disappointed.  The remaining 66 minutes produced six penalty goals, two dropped goals and no further tries.

The Springboks had two golden scoring opportunities, one in the first minute when Justin Marshall stayed abreast of Werner Swanepoel in a desperate sprint to the goalline and managed to knock the ball away from the Springbok's grasp.

If that was an exciting race, the sprint between Cullen and Paulse (with the score at 22-12) was worthy of the Olympics.  The two fastest individuals in the game gave it everything over 40 metres with Cullen getting his nose in front, enough to nudge the ball safely over the deadball line.

Although the Springboks enjoyed an advantage in possession and territory, the All Blacks importantly secured four of the South African's lineout throws, a major achievement given their lineout woes in Sydney last weekend.

Norm Maxwell, who replaced Troy Flavell at halftime (after Flavell suffered a minor injury), was responsible for three of those steals.

The Boks, coming off losses to England and Australia, certainly had enough ball to win, recycling it well, but they were unable to break New Zealand's water-tight defence and often looking pedestrian along the backline.

The defence from both sets of loose forwards was outstanding, with Josh Kronfeld, Taine Randell, Rassie Erasmus and Krige achieving massive tackle counts.

Todd Blackadder, captaining the All Blacks in his home town for the first time, turned in a big game, as did Mehrtens.

Man of the match
Christian Cullen was the most commanding individual, by a wide margin.  Ran in the game's only two tries and denied the Springboks a five-pointer with a burst of speed worthy of the Olympic Games 100 metres final.

Villain of the match
Percy Montgomery has produced many outstanding performances for his country, but this would probably rank as his worst display.  Presented Cullen his first try with a flykick that missed and registered a fearful catalogue of blunders back at fullback.

Moment of match
The Olympic sprint between the game's speedsters, Cullen and Paulse, won by Cullen, to deny the South Africans the try they needed to get back into the game in the second half.

New Zealand 25 South Africa 12 Half-time 19-12

New Zealand:  Christian Cullen (Leon McDonald 1, Cullen 5);  Tana Umaga, Mark Robinson, Pita Alatini, Jonah Lomu;  Andrew Mehrtens (Tony Brown 67), Justin Marshall;  Ron Cribb, Josh Kronfeld (Scott Robertson 73), Taine Randell;  Todd Blackadder (capt.), Troy Flavell (Norm Maxwell 46);  Kees Meeuws, Anton Oliver (Mark Hammer 61), Carl Hoeft (Craig Dowd 48) Replacement not used:  Byron Kelleher

New Zealand:  Tries:  Christian Cullen (2);  Penalty goals:  Andrew Mehrtens (3), Tony Brown;  Drop goal:  Mehrtens

South Africa:  Percy Montgomery;  Tinus Delport, Robbie Fleck (Grant,Esterhuizen 74), De Wet Barry, Breyton Paulse;  Braam van Straaten, Werner Swanepoel (Joost van der Wethuizen 74);  Andre Vos (capt.), Johan Erasmus, Cornus Krige (Warren Brosnihan 1, Krige 6);  Andre Venter, Albert van den Berg (Jannes Labushchagne 70);  Cobus Visage (Willie Meyer 65), Charl Marais, Robbie Kempson (John Smit 34, 74) Replacement not used:  Chester Williams

South Africa:  Penalty goals:  Braam van Straaten (3);  Drop goal:  Percy Montgomery

Referee:  Chris White (Eng)

Australia 35 New Zealand 39

Date:  15 Jul 2000
Venue:  Sydney-Stadium Australia
Attendance:  109874
Referee:  Watson a.

Jonah Lomu scored a dramatic try three minutes into stoppage time to give New Zealand a heart-stopping 39-35 win over Australia in a glorious match that produced 10 tries and brought to an end the world champions' 10-match winning run.

Replacement hooker Jeremy Paul appeared to have won the match for Australia with a try with just two minutes of normal time remaining that put the Wallabies 35-34 ahead.

Then former captain Taine Randell flipped an overhead pass out to Lomu and there was no stopping him from close range to finish the highest scoring match ever between the two countries.

Australia had fought their way back off the canvas to hold New Zealand 24-24 in a sensational first-half in the opening match of the Tri-Nations rugby union series in front of a world record crowd of 109,874 at the Olympic Stadium.

Australia fought back from conceding 24 points in the first eight minutes to draw level after half an hour in a match that also counts for the Bledisloe Cup and which each team showed they were ready to die for.

New Zealand caught Australia cold with three tries from Tana Umaga, Pita Alatini and Christian Cullen -- all converted by Andrew Mehrtens -- in the first five incredible minutes.

A Mehrtens penalty made it 24-0.  Right wing Stirling Mortlock, twice, full-back Chris Latham and left wing Joe Roff hit back with tries for Australia, who drew level with Mortlock converting his two tries.  They lost a chance to go ahead when Mortlock asked John Eales to take the kick for Roff's try.  But the captain's kick drifted wide and a great first half finished all-square.  Mortlock put Australia ahead for the first time with a penalty after 58 minutes but New Zealand ran the ball at Australia from the re-start and Randell made the all-important break to give scrum-half Justin Marshall the hint of a chance.

He grabbed it with both hands and ran 30 metres for a try Mehrtens converted to put the All Blacks 29-27 in front.  Mehrtens kicked the conversion and then a penalty to make the score 34-27.

Mortlock kicked a penalty to pull the score back to 34-30 and Australia missed a chance to go ahead when Umaga caught Roff as the left wing tried to make the last 20 metres.

Then Paul crashed over after Gregan had again split the All Black defence to bring the crowd to its feet.  But they had not reckoned with Lomu and the world star made them pay the penalty with a last-gasp try in an amazing climax.

"We had a great start but they came back at us hard and we had to dig deep to find that winner after Paul scored," said man of the match Justin Marshall.

New Zealand coach Wayne Smith praised his team's resolve:  "It looked as if we had thrown it away after starting so well but we showed our determination and fought to the end," he said.

Australia coach Rod Macqueen said New Zealand had made the most of the bounce of the ball in the first five minutes to go 21 points clear.

"It was pleasing to see us work our way back into the game when we got some ball.  But in the end one or two missed tackles cost us dearly," he said.

"Lomu is one of the game's most difficult people to tackle.  We've got a very good defensive side but he showed tonight why he's such a great player," said Macqueen.

Australia captain John Eales said he had never played in such an extraordinary match.

"It had everything you would want from a match of rugby.  Unfortunately for Australia the final result just went against us, but it was still an extraordinary match for a world record crowd," he said.

New Zealand captain Todd Blackadder said:  "We had a dream start, couldn't have wished for a better start.  The boys were on fire out there.

"But Australia scored some amazing tries and the game was on a knife edge and could have gone either way."

New Zealand coach Wayne Smith said next week's match with South Africa would be another physical game.

"They will want to move it around a lot and there are certain areas of our game we will have to improve.  Tonight we were not as as accurate as we could have been.  We did not shut them down eough with our chasing tackles," he said.

Wallaby full-back Chris Latham was caught napping for the first two tries as he fisted a Mehrtens high ball into the clutch of Umaga and then failed to tackle Jonah Lomu as he stormed down his left wing.  Lomu offloaded inside to Alatini, who skipped away for the try, as Australian scrum-half George Gregan hung on grimly.

Then All Black centres Alama Ieremia and Alatini combined smartly to put Cullen through a gap for another try under the posts.

Australia snapped back with a try of their own made by a quick midfield break by fly-half Stephen Larkham who sent Stirling Mortlock clear on the right.  Mortlock then converted his own try.

Australia steadied and then scored a well-worked try when Mortlock came in like a train on a Gregan outside pass after No 8 Jim Williams had almost reached the try line with a terrific charge from a lineout won by Australia captain John Eales.

Australia were finding a rhythm of their own and made 60 metres after winning a New Zealand lineout before No 8 Ron Cribb stopped Wallaby flanker Mark Connors as the New Zealand defence started to stretch.

Australia got to within five points when Latham broke free of Kees Meuws' tackle to power over from close range after Larkham, Dan Herbert and Gregan had combined quickly to set up an opening.  Mortlock converted and the score was 19-24.

Then Roff squirmed his way through as Australia again combined well to pull the Wallabies level and briefly keep alive their hopes of winning a record 11th successive Test.

The second half could not match the fireworks of the first 40 minutes but the final score delivered a record Bledisloe Cup score -- the aggregate of 74 surpassing the 60 points scored in Dunedin three years ago.  The Bledisloe Cup will now be on the line, after being held by Australia for the past two years, when the teams meet in Wellington next month.

The win also gave New Zealand a flying start in the Tri Nations series, which they are trying to win for the fourth time in five years.

Australia 35 New Zealand 39 HT:  24-24

Australia:  Chris Latham;  Stirling Mortlock (Andrew Walker 76), Daniel Herbert (Little 70), Jason Little (Rod Kafer 53), Joe Roff;  Stephen Larkham, George Gregan;  Jim Williams (Troy Jaques), David Wilson (Toutai Kefu 45), Mark Connors, John Eales (capt), David Giffin, Fletcher Dyson, Michael Foley (Jeremy Paul 40), Richard Harry (Glenn Panoho 57)

Tries:  Stirling Mortlock (2), Chris Latham, Joe Roff, Jeremy Paul;  Conversions:  Mortlock (2);  Penalty goals:  Mortlock

New Zealand:  Christian Cullen;  Tana Umaga, Alama Ieremia, Pita Alatini, Jonah Lomu;  Andrew Mehrtens (Tony Brown 65), Justin Marshall;  Ron Cribb, Scott Robertson (Josh Kronfeld 43), Taine Randell, Norm Maxwell (Troy Flavell 50), Todd Blackadder (capt), Kees Meeuws, Anton Oliver (Mark Hammett 73), Carl Hoeft Replacements not used:  Leon MacDonald, Byron Kelleher, Craig Dowd

Tries:  Tana Umaga, Pita Alatini, Christian Cullen, Justin Marshall, Jonah Lomu;  Conversions:  Mehrtens (4);  Penalty goals:  Mehrtens 2

Referee: Andre Watson (Rsa)
Att:  109,874

Samoa 43 Italy 24

With a scoreline very similar to the Mandela Challenge clash, Samoa beat the touring Italy side 43-24 in Apia.

Running in five tries to three, Samoa's victory was spearheaded by excellent performances by fullback Toa Samania and veteran wing Brian Lima.

Italy started off slowly, and were no match for the pass from To'o Vaega that saw Samania cross the tryline in only the sixth minute.  In fact, the Italians failed to get on to the scoreboard until the 32nd minute, and by then, the Samoans had raced to 17 points.

Italy's first points came from a try under the posts to Carlo Cecchinato (lock).

Samoa were rampant in the frist 10 minutes of the second half, adding 11 points and forcing Italy to make some substitions.  The change of personnel helped and the Azzuri scored two tries in five minutes.

But by then it was too late.

The Teams:

Samoa:  1 Polo Asi, 2 Tani Fuga, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Tom Curtis, 5 Lama Tone, 6 Tim Cowley, 7 Craig Glendinning, 8 Isaac Fea'unati, 9 Joe Filemu, 10 Tanner Vili, 11 Brian Lima, 12 Terry Fanolua, 13 To'o Vaega (c), 14 Afato So'oalo, 15 Toa Samania
Reserves:  Iva Motusagu

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi, 3 Tino Paoletti, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Andrea Gritti, 6 Andrea De Rossi, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Caione, 9 Juan Manuel Queirolo, 10 Ramiro Pez, 11 Luca Martin, 12 Manuel Dallan, 13 Cristian Stoica (c), 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Corrado Pilat
Reserves:  David Dal Maso, Luca Mastrodomenico, Giampiero De Carli, Juan Francescio, Giacomo Preo, Lisandro Villagra

Attendance:  7500
Referee:  Henning t.

Points Scorers:

Samoa
Tries:  Lima B.P. 1, Samania T. 1, So'oalo A. 1, Vaega T.M. 1, Vili T.A. 1
Conv:  Samania T. 3
Pen K.:  Samania T. 4

Italy
Tries:  Checchinato C. 1, Gritti A. 1, Stoica A.C. 1
Conv:  Pez R. 3
Drop G.:  Pez R. 1

Australia 44 South Africa 23

Date:  08 Jul 2000
Venue:
Attendance:  34042
Referee:  O'brien p.

World Champions Australia fought back from a 23-17 half-time deficit to beat South Africa 44-23 in the inaugural playing of the Mandela Challenge at the indoor Colonial Stadium in Melbourne, inspired by two tries and five penalties from wing Stirling Mortlock.

South African coach Nick Mallett declared before Saturday night's Mandela Challenge match against Australia in Melbourne that he wanted his side to throw caution to the wind.

Mallett called for enterprising, attacking rugby.  Rugby that to many diehards, was the antithesis of Springbok tradition.  Play they did and entertain they did.  But unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the Australians proved too classy to record their 10th successive win in a compelling 44-23 victory.

The Boks outplayed the world champions in the first 30 minutes.  Not only did they show they were eager, they also showed they were keen to impress Mallett in the leadup to the first Tri-Nations encounter against the All Blacks at Christchurch on 22 July.

The Wallabies pushed too many passes and they dropped too much ball, so it didn't surprise when the new-look Boks scored the first try of the match after just 13 minutes.

Halfback Werner Swanepoel, a surprise replacement for the mercurial former captain Joost van der Westhuizen, strolled across after a clever passing interchange with flanker Rassie Erasmus for an 8-3 Springbok lead.

Stirling Mortlock landed his second penalty to bridge the gap to two points, but six minutes later the Wallabies' impatience cost them dearly.  Inside centre Rod Kafer threw a gift intercept to Bok winger Breyton Paulse near the South African quarter.  The speed machine bolted like a startled rabbit untouched to the other end of the field.

South Africa 15 Australia 6.

The Boks at this stage looked well in command.  Cool, calm and collected.  But Mortlock's accurate boot kept the world champions in the game and by the half hour mark, the ACT Brumbies' sharpshooter landed his fourth kick for 12-15.

But three minutes later, Paulse struck again.  Springbok flyhalf Louis Koen chipped ahead and Mortlock received the ball and lock Albert van den Berg at the same time.  Mortlock lost control and the ball spilled backwards for Paulse to collect and scamper across for the simplest of tries and a handy 20-12 advantage.

Australia finally showed they could play when Larkham made a scything break through the Bok defence.  Gregan retrieved the ball, sent it wide to Kafer, who flicked it on to Latham.  The Queensland fullback flung it wide to Mortlock, who touched down in the corner to bridge the gap to 17-20.  Koen landed a penalty in the shadow of half-time for a 23-17 South African lead at the break.

South African rugby history has been one dominated by huge forwards and goal-kicking flyhalves -- a combination that has created a Test record second-to-none.  But Springbok coach Nick Mallett wants to change the way rugby is played in the republic and he wants to alter the way South African fans think.  He wants to convert them to the virtues of playing an enterprising, vibrant style, one he believes is the way of the future.

Mallett is not aiming at dispensing with a powerful forward pack, only to make sure the backs are involved in the game, as well.  But to play such an expansive game, aerobic fitness levels must be first class and unfortunately for the Boks, their lack of oxygen cost them dearly in the second half.

Australia showed just why they're the reigning world champions.  And they showed why this could well be the year they finally break through for their first Tri-Nations championship.

They played with composure, patience and ruthless efficiency as the tiring Boks faded into oblivion.

Five minutes into the half, Joe Roff launched an audacious breakout from his own 22 and with Larkham, Daniel Herbert and Mortlock handling, the ball reached replacement Jason Little, who lost forward with the tryline in his sights.

Australia continued to attack, but the Boks' defence held true and the score remained 23-17 until Mortlock goaled in the 69th minute to bridge the gap to just three points.

The inevitable finally happened when in the 70th minute Larkham spotted a gap in the Bok defensive line between forwards Ollie le Roux and Andre Venter to streak through for a fine individual try.  Further tries to Toutai Kefu, who showed he was serious about winning his No.8 spot back from Jim Williams when he took the field midway through the second half;  Jason Little and Mortlock sealed a clinical victory.

The indoor clash at Melbourne's brand new Colonial Stadium was the first meeting between the two sides since their epic World Cup semifinal at Twickenham last year.

And while the Wallaby gold once again prevailed, the Boks showed tremendous courage and skill to begin a bright new era of attacking rugby.  May it continue.

Man of the match
Much has been made of Stephen Larkham's remarkable match-winning dropped goal in last year's World Cup semi at Twickenham, but he showed his full range of skills in the inaugural Mandela Trophy clash.  He ran, he passed, he set up his outsides and he varied his play.  He even kicked on occasion and surprise, surprise, attempted a droppy, which careered to the left of the uprights.  His try had the mark of genius on it, and his ability to break the line almost at will showed that he is going to be a key man in Australia's Tri-Nations campaign.

Moment of the match
There were plenty of worthwhile moments in a match that many deemed would be a fizzer because it was seen as nothing more than a cash-cow.  But the players threw caution to the wind and provided one of the best matches in recent memory.  Some of the tries were spectacular and it was so good to see the Boks doing their best to emerge from the shadows of their usual dour, one-dimensional style of rugby.  May it continue.

Villain of the match
The ARU for expecting people in a non-rugby city to pay up to $130 for a ticket to what was essentially a 'friendly' international.  Little wonder there were so many empty seats in a stadium that holds a little over 50 000 fans.  Imagine if they had of taged it at the 95 000-capacity MCG?

The scorers

For Australia
Five penalties, two conversions to Stirling Mortlock.  Tries to Stirling Mortlock (2), Stephen Larkham, Toutai Kefu, Jason Little.

For South Africa
Tries to Werner Swanepoel, Breyton Paulse (2).  Conversion, two penalties to Louis Koen.

Tonga 29 United States 6

Date:  07 Jul 2000
Venue:  Nuku A'lofa
Attendance:  Not Recorded
Referee:  Hyde-lay i.

Home team Tonga took charge of their Epson Cup clash with the United States with a first minute try and never let their grip slip -- eventually beating the North Americans 29-6 on Friday.

The islanders' fullback Siua Taumalolo crossed for a try from the kick-off and scored another five-pointer later in the first half.  However, he failed to convert his own tries in the heavy conditions brought on by tropical downpours both before and during the game.

Tonga led 10-3 at half-time after the Eagles' flyhalf Grant Wells scored the first of his two penalties.

The home side kept up the pressure in the second stanza, scoring a further three tries -- by prop Ngalu Ta'u, winger Tevita Tiueti and flyhalf Elisi Vunipola.  Taumalolo converted two of these.

USA head coach Duncan Hall expressed disappointment with his team's performance along with disbelief at the extremity of the conditions.  "The weather was unbelievably atrocious.  We really struggled to hold on to the ball.  We did have opportunities, but they played better wet weather football."

The Tongan halfbacks wisely relied on a kick-ahead game, one of the few tactics available given the conditions.  "It was very difficult for the backs to operate with any semblance of order," noted Hall whose hopes for a contest of skills were washed away.

Fiji 42 Canada 11

Date:  07 Jul 2000
Venue:  Apia
Attendance:  Not Recorded
Referee:  Hamala t.

With only one win in four attempts Canada have shown little positive growth over last year's 0-5 Epson Cup performance, adding a 42-11 loss to Fiji at Apia, Samoa.  They must now do a post mortem and make some changes for their remaining match against Japan next week in Toronto.

Sounding like a parent having to answer yet another complaint about a troublesome child Canadian coach David Clark was crestfallen following his team's second defeat in six days, losing to Fiji 42-11.

Sticking to his blunt style Clark did not hide behind excuses, choosing instead to identify where the team weaknesses were in this their third straight Epson Cup loss since their opening victory over Tonga in May.

"Again we were incompetent in our individual skills, knocking balls on, not catching the high ball, missing tackles," said Clark from Apia, Samoa early Saturday morning (Friday evening Samoa time) as he dropped a laundry list of problems displayed by the young team.  "The forwards toiled manfully and did a hell of a lot of work and the backs let us down.

"We didn't kick the ball judiciously, it went off the side of our boot we took wrong options.  We paid the penalty," concluded Clark, who has a 1-3-1 record since becoming coach of Canada in February.

Back from club commitments in France, centre Vili Satala, had Canada stretched with his assertive running that set up Marika Vunibaka for a try and gained one for himself as well.

Clark admits some frustration is setting in not only for him-self, but some players on others, threatening to divide the camp.

"Some players are frustrated with other players, and they shouldn't be," Clark said firmly.  "Because everybody was at blame.  After last week (a 41-22 loss to Samoa) there was nobody who escaped criticism and today there were probably only a couple of players who enhanced their reputation.  The rest of them were still tentative, they have an in-ability to threaten defense, particularly in our back-line."

With one match remaining in the 2000 Epson Cup Pacific Rim tournament against Japan in Toronto, Clark has a scant three days to right a listing ship as the team only reassembles on Wednesday following their nearly 35 hour flight home.

The former Queensland coach admits the task will be hard one, and there will be some tough questions of certain players before selections are made against the last place Cherry Blossoms.

"We've got to get some people in and talk to them one on one and find out exactly how they are contributing to this team," said Clark pointedly.  "What they think they are doing and what they are not doing.  And then there will be some changes."

Clark also believes that the 27-27 draw against Ireland June 17th may have given some players a false sense of achievement, something he was worried about, and even mentioned to the board of directors the following day.  The wake up call has been the 83 points scored on them in the past two games while only generating 33.

Said Clark of the waning Canadian reputation of always providing a tough defensive stand against opponents, "We're losing the Canadian treasure, which has been our toughness and commitment, and it's fast becoming a myth."

"I'm absolutely distressed at the lack of shoulder tackling in our backs and I am at a loss to work out why," admitted the subdued Australian.

Team captain Al Charron, playing in his 58th international for Canada was very downbeat following the match, and had little to offer as to why the team has struggled in recent times.

"I'm very disappointed.  We still can't do the fundamentals that you need to win a game," said the 33 year old Ottawa native.  "We can make all the excuses in the world, but we are just not good enough at fundamentals, and that's disappointing."

Not wanting to make excuses for the relatively young sides lack of performance, Charron does feel it is necessary to point out that Canada does not have it's best players available, and until that changes he fears there will be little improvement.

"We don't have our best players here.  We're not playing from a position of strength," he said, adding "I wish we could have won these games so we could come back to the Canadian board to ask them to correct things."

Charron is referring to the player's growing discontentment at the travel arrangements made for their unusually long itinerary in the last 7 weeks.  But the veteran also knows that making too much of the myriad of connections and multi-hour layovers will sound like sour grapes from the under achieving side.

"Unfortunately because we lost it only sounds like whining and looking for excuses.  It's just disappointing the way that we're treated and expected to do things.  And there is no support from the board as far as getting things done properly," concluded the veteran of three World Cups.

For Fiji, they have played their final match of the Epson Cup and can now only find a satellite dish and watch next Saturday's match between Samoa and the USA to see who will win the championship.  If the Eagles can manage a win, then Fiji will capture the title, an achievement all the more incredible since they have not had one home game in the series because of the ongoing political crisis in Suva.

The Fijians did not waste time celebrating their win as they had to get changed and race for an 8:00 p.m. (local time flight) following the conclusion of the match at 5:45 p.m.  A quick field side tray of sandwiches and exchange of ties and the Islanders were off to reunite with family for the first time in almost two months.

Fiji
Tries:  Vili Satala, Marika Vunibaka (2), Alifereti Doviverata, Seremaia Bai, Kameli Natoba.
Conversions:  Nicky Little (6).

Canada
Try:  Phil Murphy.
Penalty:  Scott Stewart.  Drop goal:  Winston Stanley.

Samoa 41 Canada 22

Manu Samoa beat Canada 41-22 in the Epson Cup Pacific Rim tournament as the Pacific Islanders ran in four tries to Canada's one.

Samoa looked in real trouble early on as Canada executed rucks and mauls with composure and commitment, finally freeing Sean Fauth on the wing to score wide, followed by a good conversion from Scott Stewart.  Good support featured in Canada's play with strong hits from the Samoans shrugged off.

Samoa, however, found Canada vulnerable to the kick and chase.

Their first try was founded on fullback Winston Stanley running a high ball and when swamped Samoa got a penalty.  Captain Semo Sititi scored from mauling the resulting lineout.

Three minutes later Canada tried to run another high ball, and as his teammates were sucked into a ruck, Brian Lima ran in from the wing for a pass, straightened and went over.

Canada ran another high ball, then a kick under pressure found Sititi instead of touch, and support from Toa Samania and Lima on the inside put Craig Glendinning clear for a try.

Samoa displayed, mainly through halfback Joe Filemu, the intelligent kicking John Boe had been looking for since taking over as Samoa coach this year.

"And that to me was the best part of the whole game because we now have another weapon on attack," Boe said.

"I mean we scored some good tries, but at the end of the day it was the kick and chase in the first half that set up the victory," he said.

"The forwards didn't get back but neither did the backs," said Canada's captain, Al Charron.  "Or if we did have the backs back, the guy who had the ball didn't recognise the (right) option -- he tried to jink too much.

"And that was what we were doing and that was putting us in a lot of trouble," said Charron.  The second half was stop-start as lost possession and injuries took over.

Bright moments came from Fanolua cutting through to score after a tight-head and an Opeta Palepoi mid-field bust that Saveaalii finished off under the posts.  Canada also scored from botch-ups by Samoa at lineouts as concentration faded late in the game.

The Teams:

Samoa:  1 Polo Asi, 2 Tani Fuga, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Tom Curtis, 5 Opeta Palepoi, 6 Craig Glendinning, 7 Semo Sititi (c), 8 Isaac Fea'unati, 9 Joe Filemu, 10 Tanner Vili, 11 Brian Lima, 12 Terry Fanolua, 13 To'o Vaega, 14 Elvis Seveali'i, 15 Toa Samania
Reserves:  Tim Cowley, Lome Faatau, Malaga Leota, Onehunga Matauiau Esau, Ngapaku Ngapaku, Lama Tone, Denning Tyrell

Canada:  1 John Thiel, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 Kevin Tkachuk, 4 Alan Charron (c), 5 John Tait, 6 Gregor Dixon, 7 John Hutchinson, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Sean Fauth, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Mark Irvine, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Ed Knaggs, Harry Toews, Adam Van Staveren

Referee:  Tagivetaua s.

Points Scorers:

Samoa
Tries:  Fanolua T.L. 2, Glendinning C.R. 1, Lima B.P. 1, Seveali'i E. 1, Sititi S. 2
Conv:  Ngapaku N. 1, Vili T.A. 2

Canada
Tries:  Fauth S. 1, Hutchinson J.R. 1, Tait J.N. 1
Conv:  Stewart D.S. 2
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 1

New Zealand 48 Scotland 14

Date:  01 Jul 2000
Venue:  Auckland-Eden Pk
Attendance:  Not Recorded
Referee:  Erickson w.

Josh Kronfeld celebrated his 50th Test in style, scoring the opening try, as New Zealand wrapped up the series against Scotland, winning 48-14 on rain-drenched Eden Park.

His team wanted to party and played high-risk rugby, which often came unstuck because of the slippery ball.  But they still scored eight tries, giving them 19 for the series, and gave a further demonstration of the exhilarating rugby they are prepared to play under Wayne Smith and Tony Gilbert.

The match was in many respects a carbon copy of the first Test in Carisbrook with Scotland enjoying a huge advantage in possession again, but lacking the players of the skill of Tana Umaga, Andrew Mehrtens, Christian Cullen and Ron Cribb who proved again tries can be scored from anywhere on the park.

How do you relate a half-time score of 24-nil to the fact Scotland had enjoyed 70 percent of the possession?  Seventy percent, a staggering statistic.

Yet as at Carisbrook, the All Blacks scored a series of long-range tries, with Mehrtens always looking to set his dangerous outside backs alight.

While there was disappointment that more cohesion was not possible from the All Blacks, skipper Todd Blackadder said that was a by-product of still trying to play in attacking style in the wet conditions.

"Scotland was more committed than last week.  We had trouble getting our hands on the ball at times.  Their ball retention tonight was outstanding," he said.

"We probably tried too much at times.  We were trying things but they didn't come off.  We were disappointed with that, it was a tough night."

All Black coach Wayne Smith said the Scots deserved a lot of plaudits.  "They fronted physically, and we were too positive for our own good in the conditions.  Their defence was a lot better tonight, they were a lot sterner," he said.

"We wanted competition for places and the guys who have had their first tests have obviously fronted.  Some have put their hands up higher and we have to assess that now," Smith said.

One try they didn't score would have been the most incredible of all, after the backs flicked the ball along behind their own posts to centre Mark Robinson who broke loose and took play to halfway before a handling mistake snuffed out this daring counter-attack just as the fans were rising to their feet.

The All Blacks have obviously adopted the Crusaders mentality, that it doesn't matter how little ball you have as long as you attack wholeheartedly with what you do have.

Umaga was again a revelation and it must have been a huge relief to the Scots when Smith subbed him with 15 minutes to play.

He scored two tries, created a couple more, missed two others through a forward pass and an offside and was dynamite every time he handled the ball.

Jonah Lomu also had his moments, setting up a try for Ron Cribb as only Jonah could as he ran outside his marker Cameron Murray and held him at bay till Cribb arrived.

Newcomer Mark Robinson grew in confidence as the game developed and made some electrifying breaks in the second half, to give the selectors plenty to think about as they prepare for the Tri-Nations opener in Sydney.

If Kronfeld was the star of the New Zealand forward effort, there were also mighty contributions from Norm Maxwell, till he retired after a heavy collision, the multi-talented Cribb and front rowers Carl Hoeft and Kees Meeuws.

With all the possession they enjoyed, the Scots should have scored more than two tries, those two coming from All Black errors in midfield.

Andrew Mehrtens conceded the first when what was meant to be a deft chip kick lodged in the hands of fullback Chris Paterson who had an unobstructed 50-metre sprint to the tryline.

The second came when Gregor Townsend intercepted a hasty Umaga pass on the halfway line and cleverly punted downfield, winger Murray having the toe (just as well) to get to the ball ahead of Anton Oliver.

The Scots competed doggedly up front, as they always do, with major input from front rowers Tom Smith and Gordon Bulloch, lock Ian Fullarton and flankers Martin Leslie and Jason White.

Scotland captain and halfback Andy Nicol was delighted his players had produced the effort the Scottish jersey deserved.

"I'm proud of that effort.  For a large part of the game we matched an All Black team that is very good.  Our new caps have come through the tour well," he said.

Scottish coach Ian McGeechan said he was a little disappointed with the final result in the match.  "There was a lot of good rugby from us in the game.  In rugby terms we were a lot closer," he said.

Man of the match
Although Tana Umaga was again a human dynamo in midfield, sentimentality insists that the award go to Josh Kronfeld who scored a try and gave a command performance as an openside flanker.

Villain of the match
Hughie, he who is responsible for the weather over Auckland.  He has to be a Scot with a complex because every time Scotland come to town, it rains.  A shame because it took some of the gloss off what could have been a truly spectacular contest.

Moment of the match
Even though it fizzled out on halfway, it had to be the All Blacks' audaciousness to launch a counter-attack by spinning the ball behind their own goalposts.  With an attitude like that' anything's possible in the internationals ahead.

The Scorers

For New Zealand:  Tries by Tana Umaga (2), Josh Kronfeld, Ron Cribb, Alama Ieremia, Mark Robinson, Justin Marshall and Christian Cullen.  Andrew Mehrtens kicked three conversions and Tony Brown kicked one.

For Scotland:  Tries by Chris Paterson and Cameron Murray.  Duncan Hodge kicked two conversions.

Fiji 37 United States 21

Date:  30 Jun 2000
Venue:  Apia
Attendance:  Not Recorded
Referee:  Hyde-lay i.

Despite playing at the neutral Apia, Fiji managed to record their third win in the 2000 Epson Cup as they defeated the United States 37-21.

The Fijians showed their finishing ability with four tries for maximum tournament points, while the USA, who lost their unbeaten record, managed just two.

Despite the set-back USA head coach Duncan Hall was upbeat:  "We played very positively.  We actually used the ball a lot better than Fiji which is a great credit to the guys.  We had our chances, but unfortunately there were a few mistakes as well."

Fiji were first out of the blacks, fullback Kameli Natoba raced in for a converted try in the opening minutes although Eagles answered quickly with a 35m Well's penalty kick.  Then the USA pack established pressure inside the Fijian 22m, and scrumhalf Kevin Dalzell put through a grubber kick that was mishandled by Fiji's defense, allowing USA No.8 Olo Fifita to regather and score on his debut.

While the USA had an edge in possession through most of the first half, helped by a couple of lineout steals, an isolated turnover was all the Fijians needed to spring Crusaders pace-man Marika Vunibaka for a 50m romp to make it a 14-8 margin mid-way thorugh the half.

Two more penalties from Grant Wells versus one from Fiji made it 17-14 nearing halftime.  Fiji then punished a momentary defensive lapse, crossing in the corner with about three minutes to play in the period.

After the break, the team's were deadlocked for nearly 20 minutes, until Fiji stand-off Nicky Little added a penalty and then converted the fourth Fijian try to take control of the match.  But the Eagles weren't done and an attacking lineout saw lock Philippe Farner driven to the line and then stretch out for the team's second try.

"I thought the forward pack played well," noted Hall.  "The tight five were solid."  Hall made four forward changes in the second half, subbing out both Fifita and Farner with injuries and two in the front row.

Robbie Flynn came in at hooker and prop Mike MacDonald earned his first cap in relief of Joe Clayton.  Tighthead prop Ray Lehner--a late change to the USA line-up after John McBride became ill -- played the full match.

Aided by the fresh legs, the Eagles pressured Fiji's line again inside the last ten minutes with hopes of narrowing the gap and taking at least a bonus point out of the match.  The Fijians not only withstood the pressure but created breathing space with a penalty at the death.

"The guys were disappointed, but I told them to keep their heads up," coach Hall said.  "We really took the game to Fiji.  If we can do that against Tonga, it'll be good."

Scotland 20 New Zealand 69

All Black power rolled all over Scotland on Saturday as the tourists conceded a record 11 tries as New Zealand won the first Test 69-20 at Carisbrook.

They have already been described as the Awesome All Blacks.  They are far more than that, but no adjective can truly describe them.  If their performance in the victory over Tonga last week saw the adulation pour in, then the mauling of Scotland left their supporters and critics speechless.

The 11 tries that they scored were phenomenal for more than one reason.  Firstly it is the most tries ever conceded by Scotland -- with the Springboks having touched down 10 times against the Scots in 1997.

But most importantly for the Kiwis is the quality of the rugby they produced in scoring those tries, a quality that will cause many of their opponents this year to have nightmares.

When coach Wayne Smith appointed Todd Blackadder as captain, it was regarded as a masterstroke.  The real "masterstroke" is the manner in which he has transformed their game into a means by which to destroy their opponents with exhilarating rugby.

After the games Todd Blackadder was delighted with the result:  "We backed up our effort of last week and although we had several new players we gelled well.  We have been putting work into our scrum and I think we scrummed well."

"We knew we would have to vary our lineouts but we worked on our options and they came off well," he added.

And it is that famous back three, Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga en Jonah Lomu, which ran like proverbial steam engines through the Scottish defenders.

Let's give the visitors credit.  They continued to try their utmost throughout and were rewarded for their steadfast attitude with two fine tries in the final five minutes.  And their defence was sturdy for most part, but simply not good enough to stop this black juggernaut.

Scottish skipper Andy Nichol, who proved highly effective in getting Lomu to ground at times, said:  "You can't afford to give a team of the All Blacks quality turnover ball.  In the first half all we had to do was keep the ball for one or two more phases and the holes might have appeared.

"But in the second half we committed second, third or fourth rate tackles.  "We didn't do particularly well with our scrums and hopefully we can put this right before the second test," he said.

Former Scottish great Gavin Hastings said Scotland performed well for the first 20 or 30 minutes.  "But the All Blacks kept pounding and pounding away and while Scotland scored two tries the game was well and truly over by then."

The All Blacks' approach to rugby this year can probably best be described by the start to this test.  From the kick-off the ball was carried in hand for an astonishing one minute and 28 seconds even though the Scots managed to gain control at some stage.  Thereafter the Kiwis for kept the ball in hand about another two minutes, before hooker Anton Oliver in the fourth minute crashed over for the first try.

Even more phenomenal is that the game had already reached the nine minute and 30 seconds mark before the All Black flyhalf, Andrew Mehrtens, kicked the ball for the first time.

The home team at first struggled to find gaps in a very brawny Scottish defence and the visitors even managed to put the All Blacks under enough pressure to force them into giving penalties away.  In fact, after 25 minutes the score was only 7-6 in favour of the Men in Black.  In the subsequent 15 minutes to halftime the New Zealanders of Todd Blackadder scored three tries to turn around at 26-6.

That was a mere appetiser of what was to follow.

Seven tries (no, if fact it was nine, since the Scots also dotted down twice) and 40 minutes of exhilarating rugby later and the All Blacks had sent a clear message to the rest of the world:  "We are number one and we aim to prove it this year."

Those detractors who were ready to write the All Blacks off after their disastrous World Cup campaign last year, must now all eat humble pie.

Not just is this All Black pack a very mobile unit, but they do not have to take a step back in the tight facets either.  Scotland's scrum was constantly under pressure.

Man of the match:  Many candidates, but my vote goes to Tana Umaga.  He not just scored two typical bullish tries, but his general game is making him every bit as awesome as Jonah Lomu (another contender).

Villain:  In a game where the penalty count did not even reach double figures, the scrums were also minimal and 13 tries were scored ... you must be joking.  Maybe the clock which signalled the end of a truly wonderful advertisement of rugby union.

Decisive moment(s):  The two tries scored in the 25th and 28th minutes -- by Ron Cribb and Jonah Lomu respectively -- took the stuffing out of the brave Scots.  The score went from 7-6 to 19-6 and the match ended as a contest (not that the Scots seemed to have noticed).

Scotland has a game against Hawke's Bay in Napier on Tuesday before the final test in Auckland on Saturday.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Barry Stewart, 4 Richard Metcalfe, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Martin Leslie, 7 Jason White, 8 Ross Beattie, 9 Andy Nicol (c), 10 Duncan Hodge, 11 Shaun Longstaff, 12 James McLaren, 13 Gregor Townsend, 14 Craig Moir, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Iain Fullarton, Craig Joiner, Graham Shiel, Gordon Simpson, Mattie Stewart
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge, Steve Scott

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver, 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Todd Blackadder (c), 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Taine Randell, 7 Scott Robertson, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Alama Ieremia, 14 Tana Umaga, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Troy Flavell, Leon MacDonald, Craig Dowd, Mark Hammett, Josh Kronfeld
Unused:  Tony Brown, Justin Marshall

Attendance:  26128
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Metcalfe R. 1, Simpson G.L. 1
Conv:  Hodge D.W. 2
Pen K.:  Hodge D.W. 2

New Zealand
Tries:  Cribb R.Te H. 1, Flavell T.V. 1, Alatini P.P.F. 1, Cullen C.M. 1, Lomu J.T. 3, Oliver A.D. 2, Umaga T.J.F. 2
Conv:  Ieremia A.I. 1, Mehrtens A.P. 7

England 27 South Africa 22

A rock-solid England inspired by a near-faultless Jonny Wilkinson at fly-half dominated South Africa 27-22 at the Free State Stadium to square the two-Test series 1-1.

A last-ditch effort sparked by a controversial Joost van der Westhuizen try could not see South Africa through a heroic England defence in the dying minutes, as the Springboks were left to rue their many infringements punished by penalties.

Twenty-one-year-old England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson was sublime, scoring all 27 his team's points, with a breathtaking kicking display that included eight penalties and a drop-goal.

Wilkinson who missed out on last week's Test, won 18-13 by the Springboks hardly put a foot wrong during the match, marshalling his backs brilliantly.

The Springboks, however, will have to go back to the drawing board.  Their first-phase possession was woefully inadequate, with referee Stuart Dickenson of Australia warning the South Africans on numerous occasions for infringements on the deck.

The Boks, however, hardly heeded his calls and their indiscipline cost them dearly.  England employed a rock-solid defensive pattern, giving the Springboks very little chance of crossing the line.

The 37,000 strong crowd who braved a chilly Free State evening showed their disapproval of the Boks' display.  The Springboks scored their points through flyhalf Braam van Straaten, who slotted four penalties in the first-half, with Percy Montgomery adding a penalty and a conversion in the second half.

Up until the 80th minute, the Springboks were trailing the tourists 15-27, but former skipper Van der Westhuizen scored a controversial try after the television referee Andre Watson ruled that the scrumhalf had grounded the ball from a ruck on the England line.

Van der Westhuizen's try seemed to put the spark back in the Springboks, who attacked ferociously, but were let down by handling errors and their inability to breach the England defence.

The match was by no means a classic, but was characterised by tough battles among the forwards, with scythe-like defence from both sides.

The win sees England registering their third-only win on South African soil, and very fitting that they should beat the Springboks in Bloemfontein, known as South Africa's City of Roses.

The two-Test series, like the one in 1994, is shared 1-1.

The Teams:

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Simon Shaw, Joe Worsley, David Flatman, Leon Lloyd
Unused:  Will Greenwood, Mark Regan, Tim Stimpson

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Selborne Boome, 5 Krynauw Otto, 6 Corne Krige, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Ollie Le Roux, Chester Williams
Unused:  John Smit, Warren Brosnihan, Japie Mulder, Werner Swanepoel, Albert Van Den Bergh

Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

England
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 8
Drop G.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Van Der Westhuizen J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 1
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 1, Van Straaten A.J.J. 4

Australia 32 Argentina 25

The world champions Australia were pushed all the way by a combative Argentina before winning the second rugby international 32-25 at a freezing Bruce Stadium.

The Australians only led by one point (21-20) with 20 minutes left before winger Stirling Mortlock secured victory with a 68th-minute try out wide.

It was a far cry from the previous Saturday's record 53-6 romp in Brisbane, as the Pumas showcased their famed forward muscle to take the game to the Wallabies.

Australia scored all their three tries via the backs, while the dour Argentinians powered their two tries through pushover tries through the forwards.

It wasn't pretty, but highly effective as the Pumas, led by Roberto Grau and skipper Federico Mendez kept grinding away at the Australian forwards, who had to defend grimly in their own quarter for long periods in the second half.

Puma halfback Agustin Pichot said his team knew the Wallabies' weakness was up front.  "We can't compete with their speed and strength, we need to play a tight game because we know they are not very strong up front and we did that," he said.

"We can be very pleased with what we did in these last three weeks."

The Australian forwards will be without flanker Matt Cockbain (medial ligaments) when they play South Africa in Melbourne in a fortnight.

Skipper John Eales said Saturday's Test was a truer indication of the Argentines -- who reached the quarter finals of last year's World Cup -- than last week's result, but acknowledged the Wallabies had to improve if they were to win their first Tri Nations title against the Springboks and New Zealand this year.

"Obviously, we didn't play our best and we know we have a long way to go before we can have a chance of doing well in the rest of the Test matches this year," Eales said.

Coach Rod Macqueen was disappointed by the scrappy performance but praised the Pumas' forwards who set up two tries from rolling mauls.

"I thought they'd actually done some excellent work on their driving mauls, they were very well structured and continually attacked our guys ... and we couldn't stop them," Macqueen said.

"They shut us down and we had a lot of trouble recouping the ball, we made a lot of mistakes but we also had a lot of penalties against us."

The Wallabies exploded to a 11-0 lead in as many minutes from the kickoff and looked set to reproduce the high-scoring form of the Brisbane Test, before the determined Pumas reeled them in.

Winger Joe Roff scored in the ninth minute after a dazzling interchange of passes across the backline, and Mortlock was in improved goal-kicking touch landing two of his first three kicks after bombing out with all five attempts in Brisbane.

But Argentina hit back after flyhalf Felipe Contepomi kicked a 13th-minute penalty and fullback Ignacio Corletto scored in the 16th minute after a lovely break by Diego Albanese.

The Argentine forwards took the play on and Corletto was shoved over to score.

Contepomi levelled the scores in the 19th-minute with his second penalty goal, before Mortlock nudged the home side ahead with another penalty in the 23rd minute.

Quicksilver fullback Chris Latham, who scored four tries the previous week, stepped through two tackles to score his seventh try in eight Tests and with Mortlock's conversion the Wallabies led 21-14 with seven minutes to halftime.

But Contepomi's fourth kick narrowed the margin to 21-17 at the interval.

The Pumas came out with renewed vigour in the second half and Contepomi narrowed the gap to one point (21-20) in the 53rd minute as Australia wrestled with the relentless Puma forwards.

The Australians, with replacement hooker Jeremy Paul, Eales and flanker David Wilson superb in defence, kept out the Argentinians before Mortlock skipped through Corletto's tackle to score out wide in the 68th-minute.

The Australians appeared safe at 29-20, but again the Pumas came back through another pushover try with skipper Mendez at the heart of it to score to trail 29-25 with eight minutes left.

The Australians strengthened their forwards with three replacements and carried play out of their territory before Mortlock kicked his fifth penalty and a seven-point lead to hold on to full time.

Mortlock finished with 22 points from a try, five penalties and a conversion from eight attempts.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Richard Harry, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Fletcher Dyson, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 David Wilson, 8 Jim Williams, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Rod Kafer, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Mark Connors, Jason Little, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, David Lyons
Unused:  Elton Flatley, Sam Cordingley

Argentina:  1 Roberto Grau, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Martin Scelzo, 4 Alejandro Allub, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Octavio Bartolucci, 15 Ignacio Corleto
Reserves:  German Llanes
Unused:  Agustin Canalda, Jose Cilley, Fernando Diaz Alberdi, Martin Durand, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Jose Nunez Piossek

Attendance:  15072
Referee:  Mchugh d.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 1, Mortlock S.A. 1, Roff J.W.C. 1
Conv:  Mortlock S.A. 1
Pen K.:  Mortlock S.A. 5

Argentina
Tries:  Corletto I. 1, Mendez F.E. 1
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 5

England 13 South Africa 18

Lucky South Africa held on in a tense finish at Loftus Stadium to defeat England 18-13 after leading 15-10 at half-time in the first of a two-Test series.

Fly-half Braam van Straaten kicked six penalty goals from eight attempts for the Springboks while winger Tim Stimpson converted his fellow wing Dan Luger's try for England and landed two penalties.

England, who held their own in a grim forward battle and displayed more adventure behind the scrum, were unlucky not to be awarded another try 13 minutes into the second half.

Stimpson, a late replacement for the sick Jonny Wilkinson with Austin Healey moving to fly-half, appeared to get a slight touch to the ball over the line, but the television referee ruled otherwise.

There was also the possibility of a penalty try as Stimpson was tackled by South African captain Andre Vos while the ball was in the air, but after consultation with the TV referee, New Zealand referee Colin Hawke awarded a five-metre scrum to South Africa for an English knock-on.

This incident was one of many that went against luckless England with captain Martin Johnson querying a host of first-half penalties awarded for infringements on the ground.

However, one of Johnson's predecessors as captain, inspirational number eight Lawrence Dallaglio, said that England had not deserved to win.

"They deserved to take the match because at this level if you don't take your chances you do not merit the victory," he gracefully admitted.

"The margin between scoring and not converting your chances is very thin and today we were not putting the points on the board that were there for the taking.

"We deserved to lose but we know now that we can beat this team and next time round we should do so if we convert the chances we had today," he added.

South Africa, who have vowed to play a more expansive game this year, were a major disappointment before a capacity 45,150 crowd on an overcast, chilly evening in the Highveld city.

They were, however, disrupted by a series of injuries that, at one stage in the first-half, left them without two of their back row and both centres.

However, only flanker Johan Erasmus was unable to return.  The Springboks had little to offer when it came to flair apart from a couple of half-chances created by pint-size wing Breyton Paulse that soon fizzled out.  Free State Stadium in the central city of Bloemfontein hosts the second Test on June 24 and England will entertain hope of squaring the series judged by this match.

Van Straaten kicked penalties after five and nine minutes to give the Boks a six-point advantage that was halved when Stimpson was on target with his first attempt at goal.

Another couple of successful kicks at goal by the South African fly-half had South Africa 12-3 ahead midway through a first-half that became progressively more untidy.

Erasmus was forced to retire with Corne Krige coming on and a knock on the neck led to centre Robbie Fleck being temporarily replaced by Thinus Delport.

De Wet Barry and Vos also had to leave the field for short periods before half-time.  Amid all the changes, van Straaten added a fifth South African penalty before Luger rounded off sustained English pressure by diving between Barry and Joost van der Westhuizen for a try near the posts.

Hawke sent South African prop Willie Meyer and English hooker Phil Greening to the sin bin just before the end of a first half that lasted 49 minutes because of constant stoppages.

England had more than enough possession to have won the match in the second half, but a 57th-minute Stimpson penalty was the only tangible reward and when Leon Lloyd punched Barry near the end, van Straaten slotted his sixth goal.

Vos hailed his team defensive effort to keep out England in the second half.

"It was very tough up front, it was always going to be a very physical confrontation," said an exhausted Vos.  "Whether we were taking the ball in or were defending, we just had to be rock solid, and we were today so hats off to the guys, they did fantastically," he added.

However, Krige, who deputised as skipper while Vos was temporarily replaced, said the Springboks would have to be more positive in the second test.

"We didn't score a try and they did.  We need to go out there and attack, to keep the ball through phases as we did at the end.  Next week we'll be looking at scoring a few tries", he said.

The Teams:

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Austin Healey, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Tim Stimpson, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Mark Regan, Simon Shaw, Joe Worsley, David Flatman, Leon Lloyd
Unused:  Martyn Wood, Ben Cohen

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Selborne Boome, 5 Krynauw Otto, 6 Johan Erasmus, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Thinus Delport, Corne Krige, Ollie Le Roux, Albert Van Den Bergh, Chester Williams
Unused:  John Smit, Dan Van Zyl

Referee:  Hawke c.

Points Scorers:

England
Tries:  Luger D.D. 1
Conv:  Stimpson T.R.G. 1
Pen K.:  Stimpson T.R.G. 2

South Africa
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 6

Ireland 27 Canada 27

Despite scoring three tries in the first half, Canada could not hold onto a 13 point half time lead, allowing Ireland to fashion a 27-27 draw in the final match of the Irish tour of the America's.

Canada's Scott Stewart scored 17 points including a penalty late in the game to give Canada a 27-24 lead with ten minutes to go, but it was Ronan O' Gara's penalty in injury time that preserved a 27-27 draw for Ireland.

Canada opened the scoring in the first minute with a Winston Stanley try, after the fullback scooped a low pass from Kyle Nichols and scampered under the posts.  Scott Stewart converted to give Canada a 7-0 lead.

Irish fly-half David Humphreys scored his only points of the match with an 18 metre penalty at the six minute mark to narrow the Canadian lead to four.

Number 8 Phil Murphy, playing in only his fourth international had a rollicking run from 8 metres out, charging over the try line for his second test try.  Stewart converted to put Canada ahead 14-3.

Irish wing Shane Horgan scored a beautiful try, the result of a Kevin Magg's pass that put him into the corner.  Humphreys missed the conversion to make it 14-8 Canada.

The try of the match came after Morgan Williams fed the ball to Stewart who passed to flanker Gregor Dixon, who after a big inside out move, flicked it back to Stewart who chipped and recovered for the try that brought the capacity crowd of 6,000 to their feet.

Ireland responded with two second half tries including a huge 70 metre effort from Justin Bishop who scooped a Canadian knock on and galloped untouched, flanked only by speedy Canadian second row John Tait.  Replacement Paul Wallace scored the other try, following a hard charge up the middle that had Canada defending on their back foot.

But it as the sure footed kicking of Ronan O'Gara, who took over for Humphreys that preserved the tie for Ireland.  With Canada leading 27-24 following Scott Stewart second penalty of the second half, O'Gara slotted a 24 metre penalty at the 79 minute mark to even the tally.

Canada pressed hard in the final minutes but could not manage a shot at goal before referee Joel Dume blew full time.

Canadian team coach David Clark, while disappointed they did not come away with the win, still was pleased with a tie.

"We're just as comfortable with the draw, as Warren Gatland would be with his team.  He may not be happy with it, but it's a very good result for a damn good game of rugby."

Ireland coach Warren Gatland, thought that Ireland were fortunate to come away with the tie after Canada put such a solid first half together.

"I thought the second half we played extremely well.  We didn't play well at all in the first half, and in fairness to Canada they played very well.  They defended well, they took their opportunities, and unbelievably committed and gutsy performance from the Canadians.  I've got to take my hat off to them, I thought they played really well," said the New Zealander, who led his team to a 1-1-1 tour of the Americas, the only win being an 83-3 thumping of the USA last week.

Man of the Match:  Scott Stewart in only his fourth match as flyhalf for Canada kicked from the hand and at goal like he has been there for years.  His 17 points on three conversions, two penalties and a try were the key to the Canadian success.

Villain of the Match:  The soft pitch, made soggy after a solid week of rain, made what could have been extraordinary plays late in the game missteps instead.

Key Play of the Game:  The 7's like moves of Canadian flanker Gregor Dixon in his first full test as he made space for Scott Stewart on the chip through try.  Dixon will make good use of his 7's prowess in the 15's game.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Justin Fitzpatrick, 4 Jeremy Davidson, 5 Mick Galwey, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Andy Ward, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Shane Horgan, 12 Mike Mullins, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Justin Bishop, 15 Dominic Crotty
Reserves:  Bob Casey, Guy Easterby, Eric Miller, Paul Wallace, Geordan Murphy, Ronan O'Gara
Unused:  Frankie Sheahan

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 John Thiel, 4 Ed Knaggs, 5 John Tait, 6 Ryan Banks, 7 Gregor Dixon, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Sean Fauth, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Mark Irvine, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Dan Baugh, Duane Major
Unused:  Nick Milau, Kevin Tkachuk, Harry Toews, Jason Verstraten

Attendance:  6,000
Referee:  Joel Dume (France)

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Horgan S. 1, Wallace P.S. 1, Bishop J.P. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 1, O'Gara R. 3

Canada
Tries:  Murphy P. 1, Stewart D.S. 1, Stanley W.U. 1
Conv:  Stewart D.S. 3
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 2

Australia 53 Argentina 6

Fullback Chris Latham scored four tries as the world champions Australia kicked off their international season with a 53-6 win over Argentina at Ballymore.

The Queensland faithful had come to say farewell Tim Horan and David Wilson, two of Queensland and Australia's greatest players of the past decade.  But by the end, the Ballymore crowd saluted a new hero in four-try fullback Chris Latham.

Latham turned on a superb exhibition of fullback play as the Wallabies clinically destroyed the South Americans 53-6 in a mere stroll at Queensland Rugby Union headquarters.

Latham, Australia's Super 12 player of the year, bedazzled the Pumas' defence with his flair, panache and deception, and showed what a great support-player can achieve when his nose follows the ball.

Latham opened the scoring after just 22 seconds and was still at it in the shadows of full-time, when he crossed for his fourth and the Wallabies' final try.

But despite the Australians' impressive opening, Argentina almost struck back immediately when the forwards surged across the tryline, only to see their efforts disallowed by the video referee.  Horan then forced to make a try-saving tackle on Pumas centre Diego Giannantonio just millimetres from the line.

The Pumas continued to trouble the Australians in the early skirmishes, showing a considerable amount of dash and flair.  But the green and gold defence held on.

New flyhalf Jose Cilley, stepping in for unavailable match-winner Gonzalo Quesada, had a horror match, missing two easy kicks in front of the posts and suffering the ignominy of having a clearing kick charged down by marauding Wallaby flanker Matt Cockbain inside his own quarter.  As memorable as the match was for Latham, it will be an evening Cilley won't forget in a hurry either, albeit for different reasons.

Scottish referee Jim Fleming earned his keep, sending three Argentines to the sin-bin, the first being winger Octavio Bartolucci, who earned the ire of the crowd when he dumped Latham as the Wallaby fullback leapt high to defuse a bomb.  Bartolucci was fortunate not to receive a red card.

In Bartolucci's absence Joe Roff scored a try in the left-hand corner, when Daniel Herbert busted the Pumas' midfield.  The Reds' centre held up the ball for a straight-running Latham, who spun wide to Horan.  Horan gave the final pass to Roff who scampered across the line untouched.

Five minutes later, Herbert scored after great leadup work by Latham and eighthman Jim Williams.  But on a touch judges report, the try was disallowed and instead Cilley landed a simple penalty goal to bridge the gap to seven points.

But from the ensuing kickoff, the Pumas forwards suffered an embarrassing lapse in concentration when they didn't contest possession on the assumption the ball wouldn't reach 10 metres.  It did, and Roff streaked away like a startled rabbit before feeding replacement Mark Connors, looming up on his inside.  Australia 15 Argentina 3.

The Wallabies then had another try disallowed when Fleming called Connors back for a forward pass from Latham.  But touch judge Paddy O'Brien gave the Australians some respite when he advised Fleming of foul play by Puma skipper Lisandro Aribizu and winger Diego Albanese on Wallaby halfback George Gregan.  The duo was lucky to escape with a caution and Australia went to the break ahead by 15-3.

The Australians continued the second half in the same vein as the first, when eighthman Jim Williams showed his excellent support skills to score twice in the space of seven minutes for a handy 25-6 lead.

Argentina's nightmare continued when Cilley missed another simple place kick at goal, then in rapid succession, front rowers Martin Scelzo and Fernando Diaz were despatched to the sin bin for reckless rucking and a professional foul respectively.

Further tries to Roff and three more to Latham completed the scoring on an inspiring evening that three Reds will never forget.

Horan and Wilson bowed out in fine style, while 24 year-old Latham was the shooting star in a superb season-opening team performance.

While there's always room for improvement, coach Rod Macqueen should be a happy man.

Man of the match:  Brilliant Reds fullback Chris Latham just couldn't do anything wrong.  On a golden evening he not only scored four superb tries but he also carved the Pumas' defence apart at will and tormented them with his fancy feet and explosive speed.  A real crowd pleaser, Latham has the skill to become one of Australia's greatest fullbacks.

Moment of the match:  The cacophony of noise generated by the crowd for departing veterans Tim Horan and David Wilson.  Crammed to its 20 000 capacity, Ballymore provided the perfect backdrop for two of the most talented and humble footballers the state has produced.

Villain of the match:  Argentina's indiscipline saw three players despatched to the sin bin and it could have been worse as the South Americans lost the plot and their heads as the scoreline extended beyond their reach.  Coach Loffreda has a job on his hands to get his team up for the second international at Canberra in seven days' time.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Richard Harry, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Fletcher Dyson, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 David Wilson, 8 Jim Williams, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Tim Horan, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Mark Connors, Rod Kafer, Jason Little, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Sam Cordingley, David Lyons

Argentina:  1 Fernando Diaz Alberdi, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Martin Scelzo, 4 Alejandro Allub, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Jose Cilley, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Diego Giannantonio, 14 Octavio Bartolucci, 15 Felipe Contepomi
Reserves:  Agustin Canalda, Julio Garcia
Unused:  Hugo Dande, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Juan Fernandez Miranda, German Llanes, Facundo Soler

Attendance:  18216
Referee:  Fleming j.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 4, Roff J.W.C. 2, Williams R.W. 2, Connors M. 1
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 4

Argentina
Pen K.:  Cilley J.L. 2

Tonga 0 New Zealand 102

The All Blacks celebrated their first outing of the century with a century of points, overwhelming Tonga 101-0 in a glittering performance at North Harbour Stadium, Albany, on Friday night.

It was a magical start to Wayne Smith's international coaching career, as the rejuvenated All Blacks ran in 15 tries and produced a quality of rugby which electrified the fans and devastated the opposition.

The defeat was the heaviest in Tonga's history, surpassing their defeat at the hands of England during RWC'99, and only the fourth time the Tongans have been shut-out since 1924.

It was a sensational night for debutantes, with lock Troy Flavell picking up three tries before half-time, replacement fullback Doug Howlett scoring twice in the second half and substitute number eight Filo Tiatia also dotting down.

It didn't seem possible that Tony Brown could maintain his test average of 31 points a game, but he sure did, compiling 32 points, including a try.

He was in such vintage form that the All Black management left their top-ranking first-five Andrew Mehrtens untroubled on the reserves bench for the full 80 minutes.

New skipper Todd Blackadder, chuffed with the outcome, said the players had studied the World Cup game against Tonga (when the All Blacks laboured to a 45-9 win) and were determined to get on the front foot from the start.

They sure did.  The All Blacks were ahead 29-nil after 19 minutes, 48-nil in front at half-time and hit the century mark with two minutes left on the clock.

"It's only a start," said Blackadder, never one to get too carried away.  "We're not kidding ourselves, there are tougher matches ahead.  But tonight we'll celebrate because this was a great team effort."

"We wanted to go out and get on the front foot, both with the ball and in defence, and I think we did that.  But it was only one step.  We've got a long way to go.  We respected Tonga but we wanted to play for 80 minutes."

He said the new management and the introduction of new players meant the game felt like everyone had been making their first appearance.

Beleaguered Tongan captain Elisi Vunipola could only admire the All Black effort.

"Their fitness came out on top from the start and they were a yard in front of us, that was the game," he said.

Flavell was the toast of the North Harbour crowd in the first half, marking his All Black debut in sensational style with the team's first try in the sixth minute and two more in the 34th and 38th minutes.

His second was an absolute knockout.  Suddenly operating in midfield, he burst between two startled defenders and nonchalantly ran around the fullback to dive across beside the posts.

Howlett had an even more stunning entry into the All Black scene.  Entering the action at half-time as a replacement for Christian Cullen, who'd twinged a hamstring, Howlett sprinted 50 metres to dot down behind the posts a mere 26 seconds after the restart.

The All Blacks played fabulous rugby.  The backs flourished because the forwards kept powering up the middle, committing the Tongans, who must have thought they were caught up in a black tornado.

Out back, it was great to see players like Cullen, Alama Ieremia and Tana Umaga bursting on to passes, something seriously absent from the All Blacks' game throughout the World Cup campaign.

While Flavell probably merited the player of the night trophy because of his three tries, Umaga was no less impressive, shattering the Tongan defence every time he handled the ball.

Centre Ieremia was unrecognisable as the ponderous individual at the World Cup.  He was all aggression and thrust and forced countless turnovers with his punishing tackles.

Justin Marshall was mighty at halfback, Brown the perfect general at flyhalf, Pita Alatini dazzling on his feet at second-five, Jonah Lomu dynamic on the wing (committing up to five players every time he handled the ball) and Cullen a dynamo at fullback.

Up front, the Tongans were completely overwhelmed, but a shadow of the side that had held the All Blacks to 16-9 half-time score at the World Cup in Bristol eight months earlier.

Hooker Mark Hammett continued his outstanding form of the Super 12, props Craig Dowd and Greg Somerville created the go-forward that was so important, Blackadder did the hard graft, Reuben Thorne was unrivalled at the back of the lineout and the loosies plus Flavell had a ball.

Only a series of forward passes, which cost probably four tries, marred an otherwise classic performance by the All Blacks.

The Scots, who would have watched the game from New Plymouth, must be wondering what on earth's in store for them at Dunedin next Saturday!

Man of the Match:  It could easily go to Tana Umaga for the chaos he caused among the Tongan defence every time he received the ball, but sentimentally it has to go to lock Troy Flavell who in his test debut scored three tries, equalling the New Zealand test record for a forward.

Villain of the match:  None of those.  It was an amazingly trouble-free match.  No yellow or red cards, hardly any penalties at all really.

Moment of the match:  Had to be Troy Flavell's second try when he made like a centre, exploding through the Tongan defence and leaving the forlorn fullback stranded as he raced on to the goalposts.  Quite a night for the kid from North Harbour, really.

The Teams:

Tonga:  1 Ngalu Taufo'ou, 2 Fe'ao Vunipola, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 Isi Fatani, 5 Ben Hur Kivalu, 6 Jonathan Koloi, 7 Henry Saafi, 8 Va'a Toloke, 9 Doug Havea, 10 'Elisi Vunipola, 11 David Tiueti, 12 Siua Taumalolo, 13 Sam Alatini, 14 Semi Taupeaafe, 15 Tauna'holo Taufahema
Reserves:  Ta'u Fainga'anuku, Latiume Maka, Loni Manako, Sione Tuipulotu
Unused:  Feleti Fakaongo, Fakataha Molitika, 'Epafasi Ta'ufo'ou

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Mark Hammett, 3 Craig Dowd, 4 Troy Flavell, 5 Todd Blackadder (c), 6 Josh Kronfeld, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Taine Randell, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Tony Brown, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Alama Ieremia, 14 Tana Umaga, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Doug Howlett, Filo Tiatia, Kees Meeuws, Anton Oliver, Scott Robertson
Unused:  Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens

Attendance:  20000
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Troy Flavell 3, Tana Umaga 2, Doug Howlett 2, Alama Ieremia, Christian Cullen, Mark Hammett, Todd Blackadder, Josh Kronfeld, Filo Tiatia, Justin Marshall and Tony Brown
Conv:  Tony Brown 12
Pen K.:  Tony Brown 1

Canada 18 South Africa 51

In East London, South Africa unveiled their new-look rugby with a scintillating 51-18 win over Canada on Saturday night.

Yet while the Waverley Park thrashing kicked off a tough international season for the Boks in fine style, the lessons learned were few against a Canadian side where guts were plenty but options few.

The local fans, witnessing their first Springbok Test in these parts, were given a prime display of running rugby, as Andre Vos' charges kept their promise to entertain after a disappointing finish at last year's World Cup.

The win eclipsed the 20-0 scoreline in the only other game between these two sides and gave the Boks some much needed confidence ahead of next week's Test against England in Pretoria.

However, where the Boks were expecting a tough, physical match, they found none.  Canada's transformation into a running side has left them bereft of physical presence up front to unsettle their more fancied opponents.

The Boks powered up to a 27-3 lead in as many minutes as they stunned the Canadians with controlled running rugby.  Dynamo Breyton Paulse, already a household name in the Western Cape became a folk legend in the Eastern Cape when he sprinted down three quarters of the field to open the scoring untouched by any red jersey.

His opening try was followed by another 10 minutes later before the Boks added two more through Robbie Kempson (a drive close to the line) and Robbie Fleck.

The Boks, however, were guilty of a bit too much elaboration and allowed the Canadians to capitalise on their mistakes.  Al Charron dived over in the first half, with Winston Stanley crossing in the second to give the scoreline a decent ring to it.

In all, six Boks crossed for eight tries, although the scoreline could have been greater if Braam van Straaten's kicking was more on target.

Andre Vos added a try to his CV in his first game as captain but a lot of work still needs to be done to refine the playing style.

The Boks have begun in style, but unless a number of their mistakes are ironed out, the going will be much tougher against England next weekend, and the points scored will mean nothing at all.

Man of the match:  In a losing cause Canadian No.9 Morgan Williams proved just why everyone around the world is raving about him.  He wasn't afraid to take the likes of Andre Venter and Krynauw Otto on and was always looking to spark something for the visitors.  An argument can also be made for Cats skipper Rassie Erasmus or Stormers flyer Breyton Paulse.

Moment of the match:  When new Bok skipper Andre Vos crashed over for a try in his former hometown.  It was just reward for the likeable captain and capped off a satisfactory performance for him in his new role.

Villain of the match:  Considering what happened the last time South Africa played Canada -- this match was a rather tame affair!  But, Springbok centre Robbie Fleck, who was devastating on attack, spoilt a good night out with a silly trip on Morgan Williams.  It wasn't necessary in the context of the match.

The teams:

Canada:  1 John Thiel, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 Kevin Tkachuk, 4 Alan Charron (c), 5 John Tait, 6 Dan Baugh, 7 Ryan Banks, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Mark Irvine, Ed Knaggs, Duane Major
Unused:  Gregor Dixon, Nick Milau, Harry Toews

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Selborne Boome, 5 Krynauw Otto, 6 Johan Erasmus, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  John Smit, Thinus Delport, Corne Krige, Willie Meyer, Japie Mulder, Chester Williams
Unused:  Dan Van Zyl

Attendance:  12000
Referee:  Alan Lewis (Irl)

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Charron A.J. 1, Stanley W.U. 1
Conv:  Stewart D.S. 1
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 2

South Africa
Tries:  Barry De W. 1, Fleck R.F. 2, Kempson R.B. 1, Montgomery P.C. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Vos A.N. 1
Conv:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 4
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 1

Ireland 83 United States 3

Center Mike Mullins scored a hattrick of tries as Ireland swamped the United States 83-3 in the second match of their American tour here Saturday.

Halfback Guy Easterby added two tries in his first international for the Irish.  His brother Simon Easterby and Geordan Murphy also had two tries as Ireland posted a national record 13 tries.

Consistently splitting the US defense, hard-running Mullins crossed the American line once in the first half and twice in the second.  The Young Munster center was named man of the match for his efforts.

"It was good to get a big win after last week's disappointment against Argentina," Mullins said.  "The forwards played very well today."

US coach Duncan Hall tried to offer his players some encouragement in the wake of the disaster, which was played out before a ground record crowd of 5,200 Manchester's Singer Park.

"I told the team Ireland payed us a compliment by continuing to play rugby after building a big lead," said Hall, the former Australian international who signed a two-year contract to guide the US in February.  "We'll have to get some rest and then pull back together quickly before we go down to play the Island teams."

Ireland rolled to a 31-3 halftime lead, scoring five tries to Grant Wells' lone penalty goal for the hosts.

Simon Easterby scored just minutes into the game for Ireland, but Wells countered with a three-pointer before fullback Geordan Murphy and Mullins opened the floodgates with converted tries at 17 and 19 minutes, making the count 19-3.

Again scoring in rapid succession, Guy Easterby and Malcolm O'Kelly scored at 28 and 31 minutes, respectively, as the backpedaling American defense was consistently outnumbered.  In a typical sequence, the US looked to have stopped Ireland several times on Easterby's score, only for supporting Irish players to continue the downfield run.

Unlike last week's 34-25 comeback win over Canada, when the US racked up 27 points in the second half, this week's contest grew more one-sided over the second 40 minutes.  Mullins sandwiched tries at 42 and 48 minutes around a Paul Wallace score, all three converted by Ronan O'Gara to make the count 52-3.  Ireland's goalkicker finished with 12 points, connecting on six of 11 attempts.  Replacement David Humphreys converted one of two attempts.

Ireland scored five more tries down the stretch, while the US twice failed to convert strong scoring opportunities into points.

Ireland meet Canada next week in Toronto to complete their three-match tour, while the United States are idle until a July 1 Pacific Rim championship match against Fiji.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Paul Wallace, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Justin Fitzpatrick, 4 Jeremy Davidson, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Eric Miller, 9 Guy Easterby, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Tyrone Howe, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Mike Mullins, 14 Jimmy Topping, 15 Geordan Murphy
Reserves:  Bob Casey, David Humphreys, Marcus Horan, Kevin Maggs, Frankie Sheahan, Andy Ward
Unused:  Peter Stringer

United States:  1 Ray Lehner, 2 Robbie Flynn, 3 John McBride, 4 Philippe Farner, 5 Matt Kane, 6 Kort Schubert, 7 Don Younger, 8 Dave Hodges (c), 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Grant Wells, 11 Andre Blom, 12 Phillip Eloff, 13 Juan Grobler, 14 Malakai Delai, 15 Kurt Shuman
Reserves:  John Burke, Joe Clayton, Tom Kelleher, Kirk Khasigian, Link Wilfley
Unused:  Ryan Fried, John McGeachy

Referee:  Thomas c.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Easterby S.H. 2, Easterby G. 2, Humphreys D.G. 1, Mullins M.J.M. 3, O'Kelly M.E. 1, Topping J.A. 1, Wallace P.S. 1, Murphy G.E.A. 2
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 1, O'Gara R. 8

United States
Pen K.:  Wells G. 1