New Zealand 26 South Africa 15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 14 South Africa 14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 23 New Zealand 15

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

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

Most importantly of all, they took their opportunities.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Attendance:  36000
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 15 South Africa 20

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Referee:  Mchugh d.

Points Scorers:

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

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

New Zealand 12 South Africa 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

Attendance:  49720
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Pen K.:  Brown T.E. 4

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

Argentina 38 Italy 17

Argentina scored four tries (three converted) and four penalties to Italy's one try and four penalties.

On Saturday, Argentina defeated Italy 38-17 in a one-off Test in front of 20 000 spectators at Ferreocarril Oeste soccer stadium.

The tough Italians put up more of a fight than expected in an evenly matched first half, but the Argentinians got the upper-hand in the second half after leading 13-6 at half-time.

Diego Albanese's try after 23 minutes was the only highlight of the first half.

Felipe Contepomi converted Argentina's try and slotted two penalties in the first half, compared to Francesco Mazzariol scoring Italy's only first-half points with two penalties.

Mazzariol added two early penalty goals after the break, but with the Azzurri trailing 13-12 the Argentines ran away with the score courtesy of stand-off Gonzalo Quesada, who came on just before the end of the first half as a substitute.

Quesada scored a penalty and a try, converted by himself within five minutes to make it 23-12 after 50 minutes.

Argentina's two other tries were scored by Eduardo Simone, converted by Quesada in the 54th minute, and Albanese.

Italy attacked furiously during the last 10 minutes, but could only get over the tryline once as Los Pumas mounted a sturdy defence.  Giovanni Rainieri crossed the line two minutes before the end.

The Italians lost a Test to South Africa, but beat Uruguay last week and now return home to rest.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Lucas Ostiglia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Eduardo Simone, 14 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Bernardo Stortoni
Reserves:  Martin Durand, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Gonzalo Quesada
Unused:  Leopoldo De Chazal, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Mariano Sambucetti, Facundo Soler

Italy:  1 Andrea Muraro, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Wim Visser, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Salvatore Garozzo, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Checchinato, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Francesco Mazzariol, 11 Luca Martin, 12 Walter Pozzebon, 13 Giovanni Raineri, 14 Massimiliano Perziano, 15 Nicola Mazzucato
Reserves:  Luca Mastrodomenico, Fabio Ongaro, Roberto Pedrazzi, Andrea De Rossi, Tino Paoletti
Unused:  Filippo Frati, Ramiro Pez

Attendance:  20000
Referee:  Whitehouse n.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Albanese D.L. 2, Quesada G. 1, Simone E. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 1, Quesada G. 2
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 2, Quesada G. 1
Drop G.:  Quesada G. 1

Italy
Tries:  Raineri G. 1
Pen K.:  Mazzariol F. 4

Australia 29 British Isles 23

Two tries from centre Daniel Herbert helped Australia to a 29-23 win over the Lions in the decisive third Test in Sydney, claiming an enthralling 2-1 Test series win at a tension-filled Stadium Australia.

The scores were tied at 23-23 going in to the last 12 minutes, but fullback Matt Burke stepped up and shrugged off the pressure to become the Wallabies' hero landing two penalties to fend-off a gallant, if at times headstrong Lions' challenge.

The home side had gone into the half-time interval at 16-13 in front after an early Lions' try from wing Jason Robinson, but Herbert's touch down just before the break set the tone for a see-saw match, which had pulses on both sides of the equator racing as the Lions mounted a failed late challenge.

The Lions' other try on the day came from Jonny Wilkinson just after half-time, putting the Lions in front only until Herbert's second in the 49th minute.

In truth, the series could have swung either way, but it was the Wallabies' tenacity in the 50/50 contests which saw them edging ahead, Justin Harrison in the second row having a debut to remember, stealing a memorable late lineout from Lions skipper Martin Johnson with the hooter imminent to drive a further nail into the Lions' coffin.

The tourists far from disgraced themselves, with the back-row in particular exposing the soft underbelly of the home side in the loose, where they repeatedly drove through the heart of the Wallaby pack with a string of surging rolling mauls.  But in the battle on the ground, it was Wallaby openside George Smith who emerged victorious, with team-mates Kefu and Finegan not far behind him.

Without late injury withdrawal Austin Healey, the 84,000 crowd at Stadium Australia were denied the chance to witness the Leicester wing's pre-match slurs against all things Australia being rammed down his throat.

His late replacement was Welshman Dafydd James, but with Healey also due to serve as Matt Dawson's scrum-half replacement, the Lions' management had to take desperate measures and recruit Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol to the bench.

Nicol had not even been part of the squad, being in Sydney merely as a tour guide, but found himself thrown into the cauldron of Stadium Australia.  He was not used in the end, but his inclusion in the squad served as a fitting marker of the drama surrounding the 2001 tour right from day one.

But the real drama unfolded on the pitch and it was Jason Robinson -- one of the shining lights for the Lions -- who made the first in-roads to the Wallaby defence out wide when he touched down in the left corner after 20 minutes.

It was a move which proved that the tourists -- underdogs going into this match -- were capable of playing their own brand of "total rugby", two front row players out wide playing a valuable part in the score.  Firstly hooker Keith Wood drew in Andrew Walker ten metres out, and then loosehead Tom Smith pulled in the last defender before putting Robinson in for a textbook 2 on 1 overlap try next to the corner flag, with Wilkinson nailing the tricky extras in a mixed kicking half.

By this time though Matt Burke had already kicked three penalties to Wilkinson's one, and Herbert's try just before the half-time whistle was the next score as both teams sparred around the fringes of the ruck -- the Wallaby front-row again given a rough ride by the Lions as Nick Stiles and Rod Moore looked out of sorts.

Herbert's try when it came was a result of constant Wallaby pressure, the marvellous George Gregan in particular back to his marshalling best at the base of every ruck, capitalising on some quick breaks by the three-quarters to set the scene for the try, which eventually came after a quick exchange between Herbert and Andrew Walker on the right flank, Burke hitting the conversion for a 16-13 half-time lead.

Jonny Wilkinson gave the vast and noisy legions of Lions fans something to cheer when he jinked over from short range just after the break, showing a shimmy to Toutai Kefu before cutting in past Dan Herbert for the try, and then hitting the conversion to snatch the lead.

Herbert made amends five minutes later when he was on the end of a quick transfer through the Wallaby hands, their speedy continuity play creating the stage for hooker Michael Foley out wide to unselfishly offload to Herbert for his second try.  Foley could well have gone himself, but made sure of the score by putting in the Queensland centre on the overlap, Burke again converting.

Herbert's next contribution to the match was not so glorious when his clothes-line tackle on the below-par Lions centre Brian O'Driscoll landed the Wallaby a ten-minute spell in the sin-bin.

The Lions failed to make the most of the space though, Wilkinson's penalty drawing the scores, but no more points coming in what could have been a crucial ten-minutes.

The England man missed his third kick of the day shortly after, the pivot's hit-and-miss kicking day giving heart to the Wallabies, particularly during the enforced absence of Herbert.

Almost immediately after Herbert's return to the fray, Burke again put the home side in front with a penalty.  It was a decisive moment, and the Lions had a mountain to climb as injury-time approached.

The Lions' rolling-maul got into full swing, and as a Lions' lineout came with seconds to go in Wallaby territory, the visitors knew this was the moment they had to sieze the initiative.

Keith Wood threw in, and Justin Harrison claimed an awesome take at the front, eclipsing Martin Johnson at the front, leaping across his line of sight, stealing the ball, and shutting the door firmly on the Lions.

Referee Paddy O'Brien pulled the curtain down on a memorable series with the final whistle, Australia on balance deserved victors in a series which had everything, great tries, big-hits, controversy, injury, two well-matched teams and most of all, a true rugby atmosphere.

Australia were wounded after their first Test humiliation, but the last eight days have seen them stamp their mantle as true champions, obliterating the Lions in Melbourne, and then finding the scrapping spirit to pull out a win under adversity in Sydney.

The 2001 Lions may have been only seven points away from emulating their 1997 counterparts, but the Wallabies will be partying away in to the wee small hours, knowing that they have beaten the northern hemisphere's finest.

It was a fitting way for the cerebral and dignified Rod Macqueen to end his tenure as Wallaby coach, and sets up a fascinating Tri-Nations series as Eddie Jones takes the reins.

So, a day of joy for Australia but disappointment for the many thousands of away supporters who had journeyed across the globe to yell themselves hoarse for their team.  No matter, after this epic series, the majority of them will already have begun their plans to play their part in British and Irish rugby's next great crusade -- the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand.

Man of the match:  Justin Harrison.  What a debut!  On this showing, it is hard to imagine why the aggressive Brumbies lock has been frozen out of the starting XV for the first two Tests.  His edgy, abrasive play may have earnt him the wrath of opponents and Lions' fans, but his lineout play and general combative game will surely see him as a must for the Wallabies in the Tri-Nations.  Two try hero Dan Herbert may be the scoreboard's choice for our award, but although his support play may have earned him his two scores, Harrison's excellence throughout shades our vote.  Not a vast abundance of Lions' contenders, with Martin Corry and Scott Quinnell the main two that spring to mind, as well as a largely impressive showing from Jonny Wilkinson.

Moment of the match:  Daniel Herbert's second try.  Herbert's first score may have been easier on the eye, but the sheer importance of this try wins the vote by a mile, as it eventually led to the scores being ties going in to the final stages with Burke's conversion.  Coming from a quick series of Wallaby phases, Michael Foley created the overlap for Herbert to dive in the left corner and set the scene for a Wallaby series win.

Villain of the match:  Daniel Herbert.  The only blot on Herbert's copybook was his deserved second-half sin-binning after flattening opposite number Brian O'Driscoll with a stiff-arm clothesline tackle round the neck.  Not normally a malicious competitor, Herbert served his ten-minute penance with relative calm as the Lions failed to capitalise on his absence.

Sin bin:  Herbert (Aus, 52-62 mins)

The teams:

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

British Isles:  1 Phil Vickery, 2 Keith Wood, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Martin Corry, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Jason Robinson, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Iain Balshaw, Colin Charvis, Darren Morris
Unused:  Dorian West, Ronan O'Gara, Andy Nicol, Martyn Williams

Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Herbert D.J. 2
Conv:  Burke M.C. 2
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 5

British Isles
Tries:  Robinson J.T. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 2
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 3

Canada 7 Japan 39

In the third-place play-off in the Pacific Rim Championship, Japan thrashed Canada 39-7 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo.

A year ago, at Markham in Canada, Canada thrashed Japan 62-18.  This Tokyo result is a remarkable turn-around.

In the semi-finals Japan had been thumped 47-8 by Samoa, which made this victory over Canada all the sweeter.  In their semi-final Canada had been well beaten by Fiji, 52-23.

Japan were simply too fast and too skilful for the Canadians.  They scored five tries to one.

Wing Toru Kurihara scored two tries and Yuya Saito, Hideki Namba and Luatangi Vatuvei scored one each.  Kurihara added another 14 points with the boot.  Phil Murphy, the Canadian No.8, scored his team's only try.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Harry Toews, 3 Kevin Wirachowski, 4 Ron Johnstone, 5 Ed Knaggs, 6 Brad Major, 7 Colin Yukes, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 Jeremy Cordle, 12 John Cannon, 13 Shane Thompson, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Jeff Williams
Reserves:  Ryan Banks, Garth Cooke, Mike Danskin, Pat Dunkley, Kyle Nichols, Kevin Tkachuk

Japan:  1 Shin Hasegawa, 2 Masaaki Sakata, 3 Ryo Yamamura, 4 L. Vatuvei, 5 Hiroyuki Tanuma, 6 Kouichi Kubo, 7 Yuya Saito, 8 Takeomi Ito, 9 Yuji Sonoda, 10 Syotaro Oonishi, 11 Toru Kurihara, 12 Yukio Motoki, 13 Hideki Nanba, 14 Terunori Masuho, 15 Hirotoki Onozowa
Reserves:  Sinichi Tsukida

Referee:  Aiolupotea a.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Murphy P. 1
Conv:  Ross R.P. 1

Japan
Tries:  Vatuvei 1, Kurihara T. 2, Nanba H. 1, Saito Y. 1
Conv:  Kurihara T. 4
Pen K.:  Kurihara T. 2

Fiji 28 Samoa 17

Fiji beat holders Samoa 28-17 to win the Pacific Rim Championship in a tough final played at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo.

This was the third time the two teams have met in the last five weeks.  Before the final they had each won a match.

For Fiji it was a glorious end to troubled season that saw their performance at Sevens take a dive and the sudden departure of their 15-a-side coach.

Fiji dominated most of the match as their forwards got on top to send their backs running.  Manu Samoa did not really get into the game till the last ten minutes, when they, the proud holders of the Epson Cup, threw attack after attack at the Fijian defence which held firm.

Tries were scarce.  Each side scored only one.  In the end it was the boot of Nicky Little, the Fijian flyhalf, which won the day.  He scored with eight of nine attempts at goal.  At half-time Fiji led the kicking duel and were ahead 12-9.

Both tries were scored early in the second half -- by Alfie Uluinayau for Fiji from a backline movement after a line-out and scrumhalf Steven So'oialo for Samoa.

For most of the match the Samoans looked sluggish, which was hardly surprising as they were playing their eighth test in six weeks, their fourth in a fortnight.  Losing both locks in the first half did not help their cause.

In the second half the match threatened to boil over and the referee, Bruce Kuklinski was forced to keep a firm hand on proceedings.

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Henry Qiodravu, 4 Apisai Naevo, 5 Simon Raiwalui, 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 7 Jope Tuikabe, 8 Inoke Male, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Vilimoni Delasau, 12 Viliame Satala, 13 Alfred Uluinayau, 14 Adriu Rinakama, 15 Norman Ligairi
Reserves:  Dan Baleinadogo, Peniasi Damu, Sisa Koyamaibole, Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi, Isaia Rasila, Saimoni Rokini

Samoa:  1 Polo Asi, 2 Ace Tiatia, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Opeta Palepoi, 5 Lama Tone, 6 Craig Glendinning, 7 Semo Sititi (c), 8 Junior Paramore, 9 Stephen So'oilao, 10 Earl Va'a, 11 Brian Lima, 12 Inga Tuigamala, 13 To'o Vaega, 14 Elvis Seveali'i, 15 Tanner Vili
Reserves:  Terry Fanolua, Trevor Leota, Silao Leaega, Mark Luafalealo, Alfie To'oalo

Referee:  Kuklinski b.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Uluinayau A.B. 1
Conv:  Little N.T. 1
Pen K.:  Little N.T. 7

Samoa
Tries:  So'oilao S. 1
Pen K.:  Va'a E.V. 3, Leaega S. 1

Australia 35 British Isles 14

A resurgent Australia put to bed the ghosts of Brisbane a week earlier by dominating the Lions in the second Test in Melbourne, claiming a powerful and well deserved 35-14 win as Joe Roff touched down two tries.

The third Test in Sydney is now the series decider after Rod Macqueen's Wallabies battled back from an 6-11 half-time deficit, Roff's score immediately after the break cancelling out Neil Back's first-half try.

Roff added another five minutes later, and when Matt Burke went over for Australia's third on 64 minutes, the result was beyond all doubt.

Burke was equally potent with the boot after his recall at fullback, kicking six penalties and a conversion under the Colonial Stadium roof.

There were only brief early signs of the Lions' penetration in the backs, with Rob Henderson in particular failing to summon up the sort of composure and pace which typified their first Test win seven days previously.

In truth, the Lions weren't given half the room to play that they had last time out, with the Wallaby back-row a constant threat, Toutai Kefu and George Smith first to the breakdown more often than not, and George Gregan marshalling the whole team with superb poise throughout.

Ominous signs for the Lions were the departures through injury of Jonny Wilkinson and Rob Howley in the second-half, with Richard Hill also leaving the field with a facial injury as a result of Nathan Grey's clumsy high challenge just before the interval.  Andrew Walker went off looking groggy for the Wallabies after a clattering Jason Robinson tackle.

For all the Australian Rugby Union's free handouts of flags, scraves and baseball caps, it was clear from the start that the vast legions of Lions' fans would not be easily silenced -- even tinkering with the traditional Australian pre-match rugby anthem in their own rendition of Waltzing O'Driscoll, but their volume was only to last 40 minutes as the Wallabies fought back.

Just as in Brisbane last week, the early momentum was with the Lions, but with both sides showing signs of nerves, a one-dimensional start to the match saw the Lions take a 6-0 lead via two Jonny Wilkinson penalties.

There was no Wallaby defensive capitulation though, with George Smith finally living up to at least some of the hype, spoiling Lions' ball in the ruck in tandem with Toutai Kefu.

Matt Burke -- shipped in for goal-kicking duties after last week -- missed his first ambitious shot from the halfway line, but got the Wallabies back in the game with an elementary penalty on 20 minutes after a needless offside at the base of the scrum from Lions scrum-half Rob Howley, showing his impatience as Kefu kept the ball at his feet.

The Wallaby scrum also showed added steel after their abysmal performance last week, and held their own in the set piece, although in the loose, it was the constant battering-ram running of Scott Quinnell early on which punctured the defensive line time after time.

The Lions put their foot on the pedal after 25 minutes, and the result sent the vast Lions' contingent in to delirium, when Brian O'Driscoll's breath taking chip-and-chase down the right wing saw the ball worked back to Jonny Wilkinson on the Australia 22.

Wilkinson fired a precision crossfield kick right on top of right wing Andrew Walker near the try line, and Richard Hill's pressure on the Brumbies star forced a close lineout on the left flank for the Lions.

A typically Leicester-esque rolling maul saw the ball worked first left then right, and as the heap of bodies crossed the line, it was recalled openside Neil Back who emerged with the ball, excellent referee Jonathan Kaplan awarding the try, with Wilkinson slicing the wide conversion attempt.

George Gregan continued to test the Lions' defence around the fringes, and Australia narrowed the tourists' lead two minutes before the half-time whistle after a clothes-line tackle by Martin Johnson on Steve Larkham in midfield -- not a malicious stiff-arm, but still round the neck as Richard Hill clattered in to Larkham's ribs.

Wilkinson dropped a 45 metre penalty effort from way out on the left just short of the posts, before the hooter went for half-time with the Lions in front at 11-6.

The lead was instantly diminished as the game restarted, a careless miss pass by Wilkinson in the loose, snapped up by Joe Roff on the 22, with Roff beating Howley for pace and evading the challenge of O'Driscoll for the touchdown.

It took a video-referee decision to confirm the score, but after the brief wait, Burke had the chance to give the Wallabies the lead for the first time with the conversion attempt.  He missed though, leaving the game on a knife edge at 11-11.

For the first time in the Test series, the Wallabies took the lead as Burke nailed a long penalty.  Andrew Walker left the field looking groggy after a massive, but legal tackle from Robinson, with Chris Latham coming on for the former League flyer.

The Wallabies turned the screw as the Lions' gameplan went up in smoke, their discipline and cohesion seemingly evaporating as Kefu and Smith in the scrum conspired to wheel the Lions' put-in.

From the turnover, Gregan picked the ball up in midfield, shipping it to Larkham at pace on the left.  With an overlap at their disposal, Larkham put in Roff.  The Brumbies wing ran through the tackle of Dafydd James on the 22, stepping inside O'Driscoll for the try, converted by Burke as the Australian crowd finally made some noise.

A penalty miss from Wilkinson failed to reel-in the 21-11 deficit as Iain Balshaw replaced Perry at fullback for the Lions as they looked desperately for some kind of spark.

Owen Finegan gave the Lions a chance of points when once again he was on the wrong side of a ruck on the floor, presenting a penalty for Wilkinson outside the 22 which the Newcastle man made no mistake with, the Lions finally finding some forward momentum as the Wallaby lineout started to dominate, Giffin and skipper Eales both taking clean ball to set the platform.

Now at full tilt in both the forwards and backs, the Wallabies' quick recycling had the Lions on the ropes, with the knockout blow coming on 65 minutes, with phase after phase of swift ruck ball.

It was the break of Owen Finegan down the left wing near the 22 which did the damage, Henderson standing him up in the tackle, but giving him sufficient space to sneak out a basketball pass to Burke on the flank, with the fullback wriggling over the line for a try, but failing to hit the tough conversion attempt from the touchline.

A further Burke penalty put the game beyond the reach of the Lions, with Jonny Wilkinson's early exit through injury not cheering up their already miserable day, Neil Jenkins replacing him for the last five minutes.

Burke kicked two injury-time penalties to end proceedings, setting up a fitting climax to a dramatic series when the two sides clash at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Not a great evening for the Lions, in a game which saw Australia reveal their true colours with a physical and dominant 80 minutes, and demonstrated the tourists' failings under adversity.

The best of Britain and Ireland now have to draw on the positives, but after such a brutal dismantling, all the momentum lies with the impressive Wallabies.

Roll on Sydney.

Man of the match:  Joe Roff.  Harsh to deny contenders such as George Gregan, Owen Finegan and the sole standout for the Lions Scott Quinnell, but Roff finished the opportunities which came his way with pacy ruthlessness, burning off Dafydd James for the first, and showing brilliant support play for the second.  Biarritz fans must be raising a glass of the finest chablis to his imminent arrival.

Moment of the match:  Joe Roff's first try.  It came immediately after the half-time break, and obliterated the Lions' lead.  A foolish, misjudged lob pass from Wilkinson was sniffed out by Roff on the intercept, leaving Rob Howley for dead down the left flank for the touch down.  From then on it was all Wallaby.

Villain of the match:  Nathan Grey.  Not a dirty game by any stretch, but Grey's challenge on Richard Hill in the first-half saw the Waratahs' centre catch Hill in the face, forcing the flanker to leave the field after an initial blood-bin period.  Arguably a sin-binning offence, but more clumsy than brutal in the heat of battle.  Steve Larkham took two uncalled for late challenges from Rob Henderson and Scott Quinnell, but neither had the effect of Grey's, drawing blood and leaving the Lions without one of their most effective back-row weapons.

The teams:

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

British Isles:  1 Phil Vickery, 2 Keith Wood, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Jason Robinson, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Matt Dawson, Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw, Neil Jenkins
Unused:  Dorian West, Martyn Williams

Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Burke M.C. 1, Roff J.W.C. 2
Conv:  Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 6

British Isles
Tries:  Back N.A. 1
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 3

South Africa 60 Italy 14

In Port Elizabeth, South Africa awoke from a first-half slumber at Telkom Park to beat Italy 60-14.  Whilst the scoreline may look convincing, with the Boks scoring eight tries to one, the truth is, the win was not easy.

Also, whether or not Springbok coach Harry Viljoen will be satisfied that he has all the answers he was looking for before this match, is up for discussion.

But at least Viljoen knows that debutants Neil de Kock and Conrad Jantjes have futures at this level, new captain Bob Skinstad is an inspirational leader, but still a game or two away from top-form, and Percy Montgomery is worth another look at flyhalf.  After all, Skinstad himself said as much after the match.

With half-time approaching, the Boks were 12-9 ahead -- thanks to four Montgomery penalties -- but minutes before the break, veteran lock Mark Andrews saved the homeside blushes when ran over unopposed for his 11th try in 71 Tests.

Shortly after half-time an avalanche of Bok tries ensued -- with Breyton Paulse, André Venter and Thinus Delport all touching down -- but other than that five-minute golden-period, there was precious little to write home about in the match.

The Boks will be concerned about the lack of quality first-phase ball, with the Azzurri nearly claiming a tighthead in the opening 20-minute period, and hooker John Smit missing his jumpers on at least two occasions in the line-out.

Incidentally, Smit left the field after 27 minutes of play with a hip injury and his replacement, Lukas van Biljon, in his first Test, spearheaded the Boks' "revival" with some bullocking runs and good handling in close-contact situations.

One of those runs from Van Biljon, who played most of the second half with a suspected broken hand, led to arguably the best try of the match.  Van Biljon collected the ball from the re-start after South Africa's second try, and charged downfield before releasing a flying Breyton Paulse, who passed inside to Mr Perpetual motion, André Venter, for the team's third try.

Thinus Delport squeezed over in the opposite corner only minutes later, but after that 19-point blitz the Boks went to sleep again.

They soon awoke when Italian scrumhalf Alessandro Troncon scored a well-taken try after an impressive build-up, their first against South Africa since 1997, which equates to over 200 minutes of rugby.

But the Boks soon hit back via Breyton Paulse's second try of the night following a good off-load from new skipper Bob Skinstad, to centre and vice-captain of the day Robbie Fleck, who made some ground before releasing his flying Stormers team-mate, who stepped inside a would-be defender for the try.

The entire Springbok bench got a run, with veteran scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen claiming two tries, taking his tally to 34 tries in 71 Tests, and looking full of running, perhaps indicating that he would be the ideal sort of player to come off the bench in the dying minutes of a Test.

Lock Victor Matfield celebrated his first taste of Test rugby with a knock-on, his Bulls team-mate Jaco van der Westhuyzen earned some more mileage in his very young Test-career, Corné Krige won his 18th cap and crowd favourite Deon Kayser made a sniping run in the closing minutes, much to the PE crowd's delight.

Man of the match:  Much-maligned and much-criticised, but always giving his best, Percy Montgomery delivered an impressive performance in the Springbok No.10 jersey.  His decision-making was superb and not once did he look jittery with the ball in his hand.  It remains to be seen whether or not Viljoen will look to Montgomery to play at flyhalf in the Tri-Nations, but if Monty can repeat this performance against bigger teams, then who knows.  Centre Robbie Fleck looked sharp, as did replacement hooker Lukas van Biljon, who was praised by Viljoen after the match for his performance.

Moment of the match:  South Africa's 24-point scoring burst on either side of half-time.  Andrews' try gave them the breathing-space they needed before half-time, then a team hat-trick by Breyton Paulse, André Venter and Thinus Delport stretched their lead at the start of the second stanza.

Villain of the match:  Nobody.  The Springboks behaved.  The Italians behaved and, for once, so did the crowd ...

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Ollie Le Roux, 2 John Smit, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Johan Ackermann, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Andre Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Neil De Kock, 10 Percy Montgomery, 11 Thinus Delport, 12 Robbie Fleck, 13 Japie Mulder, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  Etienne Fynn, Victor Matfield, Jaco Van Der Westhuizen, Lukas Van Biljon, Deon Kayser, Corne Krige, Joost Van Der Westhuizen

Italy:  1 Andrea Muraro, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Wim Visser, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Fabio Ongaro, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Checchinato, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Francesco Mazzariol, 11 Nicola Mazzucato, 12 Luca Martin, 13 Walter Pozzebon, 14 Massimiliano Perziano, 15 Giovanni Antoni
Reserves:  Marco Bortolami, Andrea De Rossi, Giampiero De Carli
Unused:  Claudio Beltramini, Filippo Frati, Ramiro Pez, Giovanni Raineri

Referee:  Dume j.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Andrews M.G. 1, Delport G.M. 1, Montgomery P.C. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Van Der Westhuizen J. 2, Venter A.G. 1
Conv:  Janjies C.A. 1, Montgomery P.C. 3
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 4

Italy
Tries:  Troncon A. 1
Pen K.:  Mazzariol F. 3

New Zealand 37 France 12

Comeback Kid Jeff Wilson was the stand-out as New Zealand wound up their Tri-Nations preparations on a satisfactory note with a hard-won 37-12, four tries to none, victory over France at WestpacTrust Stadium, Wellington.

Wilson surged past Christian Cullen to become the All Blacks' leading Test try-scorer by running in the game's first try and he created two more against a defiant French team which was coming off a squared series against the Springboks.

Given that the All Blacks had lost five of their last eight Test encounters against the French, it was a particularly satisfying victory.

But it took the creativity of the outside backs, Wilson and Tana Umaga in particular, and a lot of resolute defence before the All Blacks could consider this game won.

The only areas of concern for coaches Wayne Smith and Tony Gilbert were the scrum, which was often under pressure and never once capitalised on the several five-metre scrum opportunities that arose, and the laboured play of halfback Justin Marshall.

With the scrum a troublesome zone, the All Blacks made capital off the line-out, three of their four tries coming directly from this launching pad.

Umaga, who was back to his brilliant best, created the first with a powerful surge in midfield, Wilson came off his wing to scorch through in the centres and set up Lomu for another while Howlett, in fairytale fashion, did it all himself a mere 22 seconds after coming on as a replacement.

Howlett didn't join the action until the 76th minute, scarcely enough time, one would have thought, for him to maintain his amazing record of having scored in every Test appearance.

But Lomu, who'd maintained a massive work-rate throughout the game, sucked the French defence in by running decoy, allowing Howlett to sprint through for his eighth try in seven internationals.

Howlett's try putting the trimmings on a performance which had the All Black management satisfied, even if they recognise there is still improvement needed before the side fronts up to South Africa and Australia.

Skipper Anton Oliver conceded that this was the team's "first real Test" of the season.  "The French were tough and disruptive, like the Pumas, and forced us into errors.  We probably needed to be more patient, but I'm stoked that we scored four tries to none and won so decisively."

The French could take encouragement from their performance, given the number of inexperienced individuals they had in their starting fifteen.

Fullback Pepito Elhorga and winger Nicolas Jeanjean, who did an excellent job in trying to contain Lomu, look footballers of the future and if David Skrela, the flyhalf, looks to be lacking a metre of pace, he nevertheless possesses a cultured boot and a cool head.

It was in the scrum, particularly after Raphaël Ibañez, Jean-Jacques Crenca and Pieter de Villiers joined the action in the second half, that the French exerted the greatest pressure.

There were major contributions from No.8 Patrick Tabacco, flanker Olivier Magne and veteran lock Olivier Brouzet as well, but in the finish it was the skill and inventiveness of the All Black backs and the tenacity of their defence that thwarted the tourists.

While Marshall struggled all night, often being disrupted by Fabien Galthié, Tony Brown was all aggression and commitment at first-five, challenging Wilson for the man of the match award.

Goalkicking impeccably, he accumulated 17 points, which dropped his Test average marginally (in matches where he's worn the No.10 jersey) from 31 to 29.

Pita Alatini was elusive again in midfield but it was Umaga, all thrust and power, Wilson and Lomu who eventually brought about the demise of the tourists.

The best of the New Zealand forwards were captain and hooker Oliver, lock Troy Flavell and blindside flanker Reuben Thorne.

It's questionable whether Taine Randell did on the openside of the scrum to hold off Marty Holah's challenge for the major Tests ahead.

The All Blacks led 17-6 at half-time and were ahead 23-12 before the two late tries by Lomu and Howlett secured their first victory at Wellington's new stadium.

Man of the match:  Hard to go past Jeff Wilson who demonstrated all his skills in his first test at WestpacTrust Stadium, on attack as well as defensively, and in the process overtook Christian Cullen as New Zealand's leading Test try-scorer.

Moment of the Match:  Jonah Lomu's try six minutes from time.  The French were hanging in at 12-23 but a scorching break by Wilson put the big man in behind the posts which represented game, set and match to the All Blacks.

Villain of the Match:  The only individual who visited the sin bin was Norm Maxwell but he's been guilty of countless more heinous offences than the tackle on Stéphane Glas which only referee Alan Lewis seemed to consider dangerous.

The Teams:

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

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Olivier Azam, 3 Olivier Milloud, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Lionel Nallet, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Jean Bouilhou, 8 Patrick Tabacco, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 David Skrela, 11 Christophe Dominici, 12 Stephane Glas, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 14 Nicolas Jeanjean, 15 Pepito Elhorga
Reserves:  David Auradou, Jean-Jacques Crenca, Pieter De Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Gerald Merceron, Sebastien Bonetti, Sebastien Chabal

Attendance:  36000
Referee:  Lewis a.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Lomu J.T. 1, Thorne R.D. 1, Wilson J.W. 1
Conv:  Brown T.E. 4
Pen K.:  Brown T.E. 3

France
Pen K.:  Skrela D. 4

Australia 13 British Isles 29

The Lions upset the odds to beat Australia 29-13 on Saturday in the first Test at the Gabba, Brisbane, after a monumental tussle which saw the tourists hold-off a late Wallaby rally to claim a memorable win.

Jason Robinson set the game alight with a try in the second minute, then setting one up for Welshman Dafydd James in a first-half which saw the Lions tame a Wallaby team who never fired on all cylinders until the last 20 minutes -- by which time the game had passed them by.

After a 12-3 interval lead, the Lions' second-half tries came through Brian O'Driscoll and Scott Quinnell, with the game showing no manifestation of the pre-match bickering which had threatened to turn it in to a dour slug-fest.

When Australia finally got their act together, their two late tries came through Andrew Walker and Nathan Grey, with Rod Macqueen's experiment of fielding Walker as goal-kicker failing to pay-off as first he, then Matt Burke struggled to counter the rampant Lions.

It was not only the result, but the magnitude of the Lions' performance for the first 60 minutes which clearly stunned a talented Wallaby team, with the Lions' pack pillaging ball all evening, and not giving the Gregan/Larkham combination time to exercise their tried and tested gameplan.

The Wallaby backs were equally subdued for large periods, Steve Larkham shipped off near half-time after failing to ignite the game, and the centre pairing of Dan Herbert and Nathan Grey thoroughly overshadowed by Rob Henderson and Brian O'Driscoll, whose adventure and industry created many of the openings.

Talk of water-tight defences and slow ball was dispelled after only two minutes when Robinson's dashing finish in the left corner past a sluggish Chris Latham saw the England man touch down a memorable try for the many legions of Lions fans who descended on Brisbane, almost turning the Gabba in a home ground for the Lions.

It was a move which stemmed from good combination play between Ireland centre pairing Rob Henderson and Brian O'Driscoll, with Jonny Wilkinson the link man as O'Driscoll set away down the middle of the pitch on a diagonal left slant.  The ball found Matt Perry -- up from fullback -- and with only Latham to beat, he offloaded to Robinson who skinned Latham on the outside, exposing the Queenslander's lack of pace for the touchdown.

With no Matt Burke, goal-kicking duties fell to internationally untested Andrew Walker, but he was not the only kicker having trouble in the first-half as Wilkinson missed his first three attempts at goal.

The Wallaby scrum was having trouble against the power of Phil Vickery in particular, Nick Stiles and Glenn Panoho getting driven into the ground on a number of occasions.  Stiles then showed his gamesmanship by slowing down play by first going down with an 'injury' and then taking more than a minute do tie his bootlaces after another set-piece tussle with Vickery on his own five metre line.

Walker narrowed the margin to 5-3 with a penalty on 18 minutes, but missed another one seven minutes later as George Gregan's relentless ball-chasing kept the Wallabies in it, and his combination play with Larkham started to rear its head.

Nathan Grey and Dan Herbert were struggling though with Henderson in fine tackling form, and the next try of the game came just after the half hour, going again to the tourists.

This time it was Dafydd James who touched down in the right corner, but again it owed much to the improved tactical play of Robinson, whose timely switch from left wing to right saw him on the end of another O'Driscoll break, with the Ireland centre showing Owen Finegan a clean pair of heels down the blindside from midfield.

Robinson scooted on to the ball, and again exposed Latham by popping a short ball for James to surge over the line from five metres out in the right corner, with Wilkinson making up for his earlier misses by striking the conversion from way out wide.

Another missed penalty from Walker failed to bolster the Wallabies' cause as the first-half came to an end, with the Lions going in to the break in front 12-3.

It was always risky opting for Walker as the kicker, and by half-time Rod Macqueen had seen enough, shipping on the more tested Burke as goal-kicker, Latham the man to make way after a torrid first-half, with opposite number Perry off for Iain Balshaw due to injury.

Burke got a taste of the Lions' attack straightaway though with a superb individual try from Brian O'Driscoll.

The Leinsterman picked up the ball on halfway and showed a dummy to Nathan Grey, before accelerating past the NSW player, and leaving George Smith exposed in the middle.

Streaking away to the 22 in a straight line, O'Driscoll showed that his pace is not just effective over the short distances, rounding Burke on the 22 before diving under the posts for a superb solo score.  The Wallabies were in a state of shock, their half-time containment plans destroyed as Wilkinson's conversion put the score at 19-3.

A penalty from Wilkinson extended that lead by three points, but there was even more to come as the Wallabies' defensive capitulation coincided with the rampant Lions' attacking streak.

A diagonal run from Henderson -- having the game of his life -- saw the Ireland man take on Matt Burke and win in the 22, before recycling the ball for Balshaw five metres out.  Balshaw could not find the gap, but sensibly worked it back in the ruck.

Scott Quinnell picked up, and instead of going round the ruck, drove straight through it, taking the flailing Burke with him to barge over for what turned out to be the Lions' final try of the evening.  Wilkinson converted to make it 29-3 and it seemed the Wallabies were out for the count.

Steve Larkham -- not allowed the time by the Lions' back-row to play his natural game -- then left the field for Elton Flatley to pick up the reins at fly-half, but his task was an impossible one with the Lions so far ahead, and the Wallaby pack coming off second best to their counterparts.

Jeremy Paul left the field injured for Michael Foley in the Wallaby hooking slot, but Australia finally put the Lions under pressure near their own line as Gregan worked the ball from left to right through the hands.  Walker was just halted by Balshaw, but as the ball came back after a break by Finegan, Burke found space on the right.

Diving for the corner he appeared to get the ball down, but referee Andre Watson signalled for the video ref, with the tape revealing Burke slightly brushing the flag just millimetres before the ball was put down.  A decision which could have gone either way as the world champions appeared to find some composure, using their assets like Gregan as they had failed to do early on.

Toutai Kefu looked too as if he had broken the Lions' defence when he went over the line on 60 minutes, but previous crossing in the move saw yet another try chalked off, this one a more clear-cut case.

The sin-binning of Martin Corry a minute later for killing the ball showed that the referee's patience had finally worn out with the Lions, as Colin Charvis replaced Quinnell in a back-row reshuffle.

Australia were again frustrated when a break from Kefu looked like putting Joe Roff in at the left corner, but a poor shovel pass from the No.8 gave Roff no chance of taking the catch on the overlap.

The try finally came though, and it was worth the wait as Walker finally got a free run at Robinson down the wing.  The Brumbies star passed Robinson on the inside before changing the angle to wrong-foot Balshaw on the inside, but the Wallaby cause was not helped by Burke failing to nail the conversion, and the Lions still led 29-8, with 13 minutes left.

Nathan Grey also exposed the 14-man Lions -- still without the sin-binned Corry -- touching down the Wallabies' second try, one created by Roff down the left wing in the Lions' 22.  Both James and Balshaw went for Roff, leaving Grey a clear run-in when the inside ball came from short range, but Burke's conversion struck the post, still leaving a 29-13 mountain to climb, with the clock working against them.

Phil Vickery found himself in the sin-bin for yet more Lions' hands in the ruck, but the contest was all but over by then, a failed drop-goal attempt from Keith Wood with 30 seconds to go the last real act of the game as the Lions upset the pundits.

It was a match which saw the tourists claim a heroic win over the world champions on their own soil -- one that will go down in history as a great day in northern hemisphere rugby, and one the Wallabies will want to forget.

So advantage to the Lions but surely the Wallabies won't get caught out again?  Roll on Melbourne.

Man of the match:  Rob Henderson.  So many options and all in the Lions side.  The fleet-footed Robinson, the surging O'Driscoll, the ever-present Hill but we opt for Rob Henderson who represented the whole Lions team today -- written off beforehand but stepped up to the plate and barely put a foot wrong.  Earning his Test place by default arguably, after injuries to Mike Catt and Will Greenwood, Henderson needed a huge game to quieten the call for Scott Gibbs to play inside centre, and he produced the goods.  Combination play with O'Driscoll in the open field, his resolute defence and the fact he found an extra yard of pace.

Moment of the match:  Jason Robinson's try.  Only two minutes into the game, Robinson ignited the match by taking the outside line offered to him by Chris Latham, showing the Wallaby fullback a clean pair of heels by turning on the after-burners in the left corner.  His first Test try, and what a way to do it.  Set the tone for the Lions and their fans.

Villain of the match:  The Lions' pack.  It was always going to be a tough encounter up front, but the Lions pack delayed ball throughout by lying over the top and putting hands in the ruck, particularly during the Australian second half fightback.  Vickery and Corry were the only ones sin-binned, but there could have been more yellow cards flourished if referee Andre Watson had been stricter earlier on in the match.

Sin bin:  Corry (Lions, 61-71), Vickery (Lions, 74-full time)

The teams:

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

British Isles:  1 Phil Vickery, 2 Keith Wood, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Martin Corry, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Jason Robinson, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw, Gordon Bulloch, Colin Charvis
Unused:  Matt Dawson, Austin Healey, Martyn Williams

Referee:  Watson a.

Points Scorers

Australia
Tries:  Grey N.P. 1, Walker A.M. 1
Pen K.:  Walker A.M. 1

British Isles
Tries:  Robinson J.T. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 1, James D.R. 1, Quinnell L.S. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 3
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Samoa 23 Tonga 14

A late try from Gloucester centre Terry Fanolua saw Samoa to a 23-14 win over Tonga in Friday's Pacific Rim clash at Nuku’alofa, Tonga.

Samoa finish top of the Pacific Rim qualifying pool as a result, with Tonga's defeat consigning them to bottom spot, and ending their involvement in this year's competition

Samoa assistant coach Michael Jones told Teivovo after the match:  "Both teams were very committed and the game was physical in nature

"Naturally, we are pleased with the win and proud of the boys’ character to pull through.  It’s never easy to win here in Tonga.  I think we owed this to our people back home after the loss to Fiji last week."

Samoa's other try on the day came from Semo Sititi, with Tonga getting their two touchdowns from Viliami Ma'asi and Solomone Matangi.

Second-placed Fiji are the other side from the group to qualify for the Japanese phase of the Pacific Rim Championship, which sees the Canada and Japan involved.

The Teams:

Samoa:  1 Polo Asi, 2 Ace Tiatia, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Leo Lafaiali'i, 5 Setefano Tone, 6 Craig Glendinning, 7 Semo Sititi, 8 Junior Paramore, 9 Joe Filemu, 10 Earl Va'a, 11 Brian Lima, 12 Fereti Tuilagi, 13 To'o Vaega, 14 Afato So'oalo, 15 Silao Leaega
Reserves:  Terry Fanolua

Tonga:  1 Ta'u Fainga'anuku, 2 Viliami Ma'asi, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 Fakataha Molitika, 5 Viliami Vaki, 6 Jonathan Koloi, 7 Manako Tonga, 8 Christopher Hala'ufi, 9 Sione Tuipulotu, 10 'Elisi Vunipola, 11 'Aisea Havili, 12 Salesi Finau, 13 Semi Taupeaafe, 14 Solomone Matangi, 15 Kusitafu Tonga

Points Scorers:

Samoa
Tries:  Fanolua T.L. 1, Sititi S. 1
Conv:  Leaega S. 2
Pen K.:  Leaega S. 3

Tonga
Tries:  Ma'asi V. 1, Matangi S. 1
Conv:  Tonga K. 2

Fiji 22 Samoa 19

Fiji kept its chances of making the Pacific Rim semifinals by beating Samoa 21-19 at Apia.

Two tries apiece by Fijian Sevens star Vilimoni Delasau and Samoan wing Brian Lima meant victory depended on the boots of Nicky Leto and Silao Laeaga.

Fiji's Leto scored three penalties and a conversion to give the visitors the two-point win.  Laeaga could only manage three penalties, missing both conversion attempts.

This win moves Fiji from last place on the Pacific Rim table to joint top-place with Samoa on 10 points.  The top two teams in the Pacific Islands pool qualify for the Pacific Rim semifinals in Tokyo next month and game automatic entry to the 2003 World Cup.  Samoa and Tonga have a game in had against the Fijians.  Japan and Canada have already qualified for the semifinals.

Fiji were ahead 15-11 at half-time, thanks to Delasau's spectacular tries, the first of which came in the opening minute.  Laeaga put the home team in the lead with two penalties, but Delasau struck again, running about 50 metres to score out wide.

Lima took the field midway through the first half and immediately made an impact.  Not only did he score the first of his tries quickly, but he also sharpened his team's backline, putting more pressure on the Fijian defence.

Lima struck again the second half, taking the score to 18-16 to the visitors.  And then it was up to the kickers.  Samoa went ahead 19-18 with 15 minutes to go, but Leto nullified that with a penalty that gave his team the win.

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Henry Qiodravu, 4 XKO7, 5 Apisai Naevo, 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 7 Jope Tuikabe, 8 Inoke Male, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Vilimoni Delasau, 12 XBA6, 13 Saimoni Rokini, 14 XRI1, 15 Norman Ligairi
Reserves:  XBO3, Emori Katalau, Kameli Natoba, Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi, Isaia Rasila, XSE6

Samoa:  1 Polo Asi, 2 Trevor Leota, 3 Mark Luafalealo, 4 Opeta Palepoi, 5 Lama Tone, 6 MSE2, 7 Semo Sititi (c), 8 Junior Paramore, 9 Stephen So'oilao, 10 Earl Va'a, 11 Afato So'oalo, 12 Terry Fanolua, 13 To'o Vaega, 14 Fa'apulou So'olefai, 15 Silao Leaega
Reserves:  Ace Tiatia, Craig Glendinning, Kas Lealamanu'a, Brian Lima, Tanner Vili

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Delasau V. 2, Male I. 1
Conv:  Little N.T. 2
Pen K.:  Little N.T. 1

Samoa
Tries:  Lima B.P. 2
Pen K.:  Leaega S. 3

South Africa 20 France 15

In a tale of two halves, South Africa beat France by 20-15 at Durban's ABSA Stadium on Saturday as they restored parity following their upset loss in the 1st Test but it was rather a dour affair.

Trailing 14-15 (also the score at half-time) for most of the second half, the Springboks launched one attack after another.  But Les Bleus defence held out and if it was not for a penalty goal by Butch James in the 75th minute, the score would have remained the same for the whole of the second stanza.

Incidentally James' penalty attempt was one of only two successful attempts out of five after the break, after he slotted three from four in the first 40 minutes.

The game started at pace, and both teams ran hard at each other.

The Springboks held their heads high in the opening exchanges, and although coach Harry Viljoen would still not be completely satisfied with their play, they showed a lot of promise on attack.

The only try of the match was scored after 32 minutes in the first half, when the Boks broke the advantage line a number of times with great attacking play.  After a number of well-constructed phases flank Corné Krige, who conceded three early penalties, barged over for the five-pointer in the corner.

The Boks lead 11-9 after the missed conversion, with the two flyhalves slotting two penalty goals each in the first half-hour.

Sadly for South Africa, Krige's try was the only real highlight of the game.  They could not break the French defence in the second half and will have to put in a lot of work it they are going to score tries in the Tri-Nations.

However, the Boks were much more committed and fluent on the attack than last week, with centre Robbie Fleck and wing Dean Hall looking dangerous when they got the ball.

However, the last week's disciplinary problems reared its ugly head again, and Mark Andrews (lock) and De Wet Barry (centre) spent some time in the sinbin in the opening 40 minutes.

James, slotting five from nine in only his second Test, was also lucky not to be yellow carded in the first half for an armless tackle.  Two crucial penalties, under a lot of pressure, came late in the game.

The Springboks' line-outs, though much better than last week with the lanky Albert van den Berg the stand-out player, were still not good enough and they will struggle against the Aussies and All Blacks if they don't improve drastically in this department.

Van den Berg's injury late in the game -- he left the field on a buggy with a suspected rib or chest injury -- will provide Viljoen with a few problems, as he was really good in this game, his line-out jumping in the second half virtually flawless.

Like the rugby public in South Africa has become accustomed to, captain André Vos was every where on the field.  His leadership was outstanding and his general play much better than last week.

The French played well and their patience in the first half paid off as they were awarded 12 penalties -- four of which flyhalf Gérald Merceron converted into points.  The little French general also slotted a drop-goal late shortly before half-time.

No.7 flank Olivier Magne again looked dangerous and they missed him when he had to leave the field for a yellow card.  Stéphane Glas (centre) and Merceron also gave their all for Les Bleus.

The visitors' best player was their veteran captain and scrumhalf Fabien Galthié, who was a thorn in the Boks' side with his great defence around the fringes as well as varying his attacking play very well.

However, in the second half things were much different for Les Bleus.  They had to defend like lions and their first scoring opportunities was in the 77th minute (when Merceron missed a drop goal) and 79th minute (missed penalty goal by the flyhalf).

Both teams were warned against foul play by English referee Chris White, who controlled the game well.

France, leaving South Africa for one Test agaist the All Blacks, will be satisfied with the first stop of their three-Test tour.  The drawn series against the Boks would be much more than they expected to achieve with an inexperienced team, and the promise showed by some of the youngsters is a good omen for the future of French rugby.

For the Boks it is back to the drawing board.  They were somewhat lucky to escape with the win in Durban and their lack of finishing moves is something Viljoen and his assistant coaches must seriously look at if they want to prevent a whitewash at the hands of Australia and New Zealand in the Tri-Nations.

Their veteran scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen would have been pleased with his effort this week after a somewhat indifferent performance in Johannesburg.

But Rassie Erasmus (flank) and Willie Meyer did not impress and they will have to lift their games considerably if they want to feature in the Tests later in the year.

Man of the match:  The Springbok captain André Vos played very well for the home side, committing himself 200 per cent on defence and on the attack.  His cover play was also much better than last week.

Moment of the match:  After 32 minutes Corné Krige scored the only try of the game after a good build-up by the Boks.  That was the only real highlight of the game.

Villain of the match:  The three players that received yellow cards -- Mark Andrews, De Wet Barry and Olivier Magne -- share the "award".  Their stupid play could have cost their teams dearly, but lucky for the trio, it did not amount to too much.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Ollie Le Roux, 2 John Smit, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Mark Andrews, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 Johan Erasmus, 7 Corne Krige, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Butch James, 11 Dean Hall, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves:  Johan Ackermann, Robbie Kempson, Percy Montgomery, Bobby Skinstad
Unused:  Neil De Kock, Etienne Fynn, Conrad Jantjes

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 David Auradou, 5 Olivier Brouzet, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Sebastien Chabal, 8 Patrick Tabacco, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 David Bory, 12 Stephane Glas, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Nicolas Jeanjean
Reserves:  Olivier Azam, Christian Califano, Lionel Nallet, Elvis Vermeulen
Unused:  Pepito Elhorga, Pierre Mignoni, David Skrela

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Krige C.J.P. 1
Pen K.:  James A.D. 5

France
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 4
Drop G.:  Merceron G. 1

New Zealand 67 Argentina 19

Brain triumphed over brawn big time as New Zealand ran Argentina ragged at Jade Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday night, scoring 10 tries to two in winning 67-19.

Predictably, the Argentinians were combative up front but were exposed ruthlessly out wide by the All Blacks who dealt them a lesson in the art of counter-attacking and slick passing to create the overlap.

The Pumas had come to New Zealand determined to erase the agony of their 93-8 loss at Wellington in 1997 but, although competitive, they were dealt another rugby lesson by the men in black.

New Zealand's victory was achieved at the expense of several injuries, however, some of which could be serious.

New No.8 Jerry Collins dislocated his shoulder, first-five Andrew Mehrtens damaged his quadricep muscle, lock Troy Flavell was damaged in a crude off-the-ball incident involving Roberto Grau and fullback Leon MacDonald, who was shaping up as one of the stars of the evening, limped off with a leg muscle strain.

The reshuffles allowed other individuals to grab their share of glory.

When MacDonald went off, and was replaced by Doug Howlett, Jeff Wilson reverted to fullback, the position he'd occupied for the All Blacks in 1999.

He flourished, showing many deft touches and scoring two tries to equal Christian Cullen's New Zealand test record of 42 tries.

Marty Holah also prospered as Collins' replacement, having a huge second half and capping it with his first test try.

The 80-minute stars of New Zealand's handsome win were halfback Justin Marshall, midfielder Pita Alatini, Wilson in his twin positions, MacDonald in the 43 minutes he was on the field, lock Norm Maxwell, who ruled the line-out, a rampaging Flavell and Randell, who proved his versatility by playing one half as the openside flanker, the other as the No.8.

Marshall completely outplayed his rival Agustin Pichot who was contained throughout by New Zealand's close-in defence.

Indeed, the All Blacks' aggressive tackling in the second half was truly sensational.

As captain Anton Oliver later explained, "The Argentinians obviously decided at halftime the only way to win was to through the forwards, but we stopped them with some big hits."

Oliver had the embarrassment of being shown a yellow card, and having to sit out 10 minutes of the second half, ostensibly for throwing a punch, but TV replays showed clearly he was guilty of nothing more than pushing an opponent in the chest.

He was delighted that the backs were able to piece together so many tries.  "We played conservatively against Samoa but decided to try a few moves tonight.  It resulted in us making mistakes at times but we scored some classic tries.  I'm happy with 67 points."

Jonah Lomu marked his return to the test line-up with some typically bruising runs.  Although he didn't feature among the tryscorers, he did set up Tana Umaga for New Zealand's first five-pointer.

Umaga mishandled a few times but he and Alatini created huge problems for the Argentinian defence, as did MacDonald as a counter-attacker and, from the 43rd minute, Howlett, who has now scored seven tries in six tests.

The New Zealand scrum, shaky against Samoa, held solid this time, with young Carl Hayman coming through his challenging debut with flying colours.  Not only did he hold steady in the scrums, he made some huge tackles.

Maxwell had one of his finest games for New Zealand, winning every one of his own balls and a few Argentinian line-out throws as well.

Apart from some elusive footwork by flyhalf Felipe Contepomi, and a couple of well-taken, opportunist tries, it was a rather forgettable evening for the Pumas backline.

They seemed to forget they had backs who could attack and as the scoreline mounted, reverted to type, trying to outmuscle the All Blacks.

Skipper Lisandro Arbizu started and finished a 75-metre try, knocking the ball away from Alatini on his own 22 and joining the action in time to sprint away for the touchdown.

That took Argentina to 14 points in the 33rd minute, which is where they stayed until Gonzalo Camardon won the sprint after a Quesada grubber kick 46 minutes later.

Man of the match:  Several contenders all wearing black jerseys, but none was classier throughout the 80 minutes than halfback Justin Marshall who threw strong passes and several times burst through the Pumas defence.

Moment of the Match:  Probably New Zealand's 90-metre try in the sixth minute, instigated by fullback Leon MacDonald, who counter-attacked brilliantly, and finished off by Tana Umaga.  It set the tone for the evening.

Villain of the Match:  Pumas prop Roberto Grau who recklessly pile-drove into Troy Flavell off the ball, Flavell went off injured and Grau spent 10 minutes in the sin bin.

The Teams:

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

Argentina:  1 Roberto Grau, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Omar Hasan Jalil, 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 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Bernardo Stortoni
Reserves:  Lucas Ostiglia, Jose Nunez Piossek, Gonzalo Quesada, Mauricio Reggiardo

Attendance:  20000
Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Holah M.R. 1, Jack C.R. 1, MacDonald L.R. 1, Alatini P.F. 2, Randell T.C. 1, Umaga J.F. 1, Wilson J.W. 2
Conv:  Brown T.E. 4, Mehrtens A.P. 3
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 1

Argentina
Tries:  Arbizu L. 1, Camardon G.F. 1
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 3