Australia 17 Argentina 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Attendance:  65000
Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers:

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

Argentina
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 2

Wales 40 Romania 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

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

Romania
Pen K.:  Tofan I.R. 1

Italy 25 Romania 17

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That was the score at half-time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Attendance:  2000
Referee:  Courtney d.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Ireland 63 Georgia 14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers

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

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

Ireland 35 Russia 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

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

Russia
Pen K.:  Pieterse

Ireland 39 Romania 8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

Referee:  De santis g.

Points Scorers:

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

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

United States 9 Uruguay 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers:

United States
Pen K.:  Hercus M. 3

Canada 29 Chile 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

Attendance:  4000
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Canada 23 Uruguay 25

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

Attendance:  3000
Referee:  De luca p.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 31 South Africa 33

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Attendance:  63000
Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers:

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

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

United States 35 Chile 22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

Attendance:  2075
Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers:

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

Canada 51 Uruguay 16

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

Attendance:  3000
Referee:  Walsh s.r.

Points Scorers:

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

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

New Zealand 30 South Africa 23

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Teams:

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

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

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

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 16 New Zealand 14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams:

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

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

Referee:  Watson a.

Points Scorers:

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

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

Australia 38 South Africa 27

Australia, with an early try for the much talked about winger Ben Tune, survived a strong second-half comeback from South Africa before a late Chris Latham try secured a 38-27 win, and a bonus point, in a thrilling Tri-Nations Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The Wallabies raced into an early 24-3 lead thanks to three tries and some sub-standard Springbok defence and at one stage they looked likely to run away with things as the Boks committed one clanger after another.

Wallaby right-wing Ben Tune, who dominated the news in the build-up to this Test with his drug-scandal, powered his way over in the fourth minute after an elaborate Wallaby backline move.

Matt Burke, who had a solid game in the No.13 jersey, struck the conversion from close-in and he was on target soon afterwards when Stirling Mortlock ran through attempted tackles from Johannes Conradie, André Pretorius and Werner Greeff after Chris Latham had made the initial running when Joe van Niekerk couldn't hold onto him in a tackle.

Mortlock's try was also as a result of a poor attempted skip-pass from Pretorius flew into touch and the Wallabies used the ensuing line-out to attack the Bok defence.

Latham was the next try-scorer after Daniel Herbert had done well to retain the ball -- despite being hit from both sides by Victor Matfield and Corné Krige -- and George Gregan spun the ball to Larkham before the Wallaby fullback ghosted over.

Burke kicked his first penalty just before the half-hour mark to take the scoreline to 24-3 -- the Boks had a solitary Pretorius penalty to show for their efforts at that stage -- but the next bit of action came from the players' fists as tempers flared somewhat after Greeff tackled Latham in the air when the Boks had a rare foray into enemy territory.

The players took the law into their own hands after Greeff's awkward tackle and it ended rather ugly with Wallaby hooker Jeremy Paul and his main line-out target Justin Harrison ending up in the sin bin along with Greeff.

Paul and Harrison landed a torrent of punches on Bok tighthead Faan Rautenbach as nearly all the players got involved.  Bok skipper Corné Krige left the field shortly afterwards with a bloodied face, but it seems that his ribs were bothering him after making another one of his usual bone-crunching hits.

Krige was replaced by debutant Hendro Scholtz, who finally injected some zest into the Boks' play.  Scholtz put in some strong runs and his flanking partner Van Niekerk also started punching small holes in the Wallaby defence.

The Boks were however guilty of rushing things with their one-man overlap, but they were finally rewarded with a try after some excellent play from outside centre Marius Joubert.

The South Africans, with Breyton Paulse at the fore, ran the ball from their own 22 and Joubert found some space just inside the Wallaby 10-metre area before dummying a kick and rounding Latham for the try.

Pretorius wasted no time by drop-kicking the conversion through the uprights, but the Boks' ill-discipline came back to haunt them as James Dalton conceded three points on the stroke of half-time to leave the score at 27-10.

Joubert's try gave the visitors a sniff as they came out firing in the second stanza and it was the self-same man who cork-screwed his way over for the Boks' second try.

Bob Skinstad, who took over the captaincy from Krige, did well to pick up a bouncing ball from a wayward line-out throw before getting the ball to hard-working second rower Jannes Labuschagne.  The Boks recycled the ball quickly and De Wet Barry through a neat long pass to Joubert, who spun through Latham's brave tackle, despite having Stefan Terblanché on his inside.

Burke kept the Wallabies' score ticking over with another penalty soon afterwards, but the Boks hit back shortly before the final quarter when Skinstad showed good power from close-range.

The talented No.8 -- who performed much better than he did against the All Blacks last week -- held off a tackle from Harrison after Paulse presented the ball to him from five metres out.  Paulse had hunted down the ball after a Barry grubber and when Tune could not control the ball the nippy Bok left-wing picked it up and calmly passed it back to Skinstad.

Pretorius missed his first kick of the night, but, at 30-22 it was game-on!

Both sides made some changes shortly after the 60-minute mark and when Burke was replaced by his namesake Mat Rogers, and Mortlock had to step up to the plate to give the Wallabies another three points after yet another Bok infringement near their own goalline.

Springbok utility back Brent Russell gave the Boks a glimmer of hope in the last five minutes of play with a brilliant try shortly after replacing Terblanché on the right-wing to cut the scoreline to 33-27.

Russell showed that he has pace to burn after some great interplay from Joubert and Van Niekerk on his inside and he recovered from a desperate last-ditch tackle from Larkham before diving over.

The Boks had a few chances in the dying minutes of the game, but the Wallabies managed to keep them in their own half before forcing a penalty on the Boks' goalline with the final whistle imminent.

Gregan signalled for the attacking scrum -- when a kick at goal or to touch would have ended the match -- but the Wallaby skipper's faith was rewarded with Latham squeezed over in the left-hand corner for his team's fourth and final try, which also happened to clinch their second bonus point of the 2002 Tri-Nations.

Both teams got four-try bonus points, but Latham's second try at the end robbed the Boks of what should have been a well-deserved bonus point for finishing within seven points.

Man of the match:  There are numerous contenders here ... For the Wallabies, Bill Young was very effective up front, George Smith was brilliant on the ground, Stephen Larkham was his usual self, Daniel Herbert was at his powerful best in the midfield and Chris Latham took his chances.  For the Boks Faan Rautenbach, Joe van Niekerk and Hendro Scholtz were superb up front, while Marius Joubert was the best Bok back with his incisive and powerful running.  But, in the end our wise men opted for George Smith for his crucial turnovers and massive tackle-count.  He was evidently under pressure in the build-up to this game, but he certainly silenced a few doubters with his energetic and ultimately match-winning performance.  Van Niekerk and Joubert pushed him hard for this award.

Moment of the match:  Nippy utility back Brent Russell wasted no time in getting involved when he replaced Springbok right-wing Stefan Terblanché in the 72nd minute.  He showed pace and good determination, but the build-up to his try was superb with Joe van Niekerk the central figure.  It was also the Boks' fourth try and only their second four-try bonus point in Australasia.

Villain of the match:  We have a tie this week and it is hard to separate the two.  Wallaby hooker Jeremy Paul and his Brumby team-mate Justin Harrison were very lucky to get just a yellow card for their efforts in the 32nd-minute punch-up.  They launched a vicious attack on Springbok prop Faan Rautenbach and somehow Springbok skipper Corné Krige ended up with a bloodied face when the players were finally parted.  The fight began after Werner Greeff tackled Chris Latham in the air and the players decided to take the law into their own hands.  But, we have one question -- what more must players do before they are shown red cards?

The teams:

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

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

Attendance:  37528
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 2, Mortlock S.A. 1, Tune B.N. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 3
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3, Mortlock S.A. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Joubert M.C. 2, Russell B. 1, Skinstad R.B. 1
Conv:  Pretorius A.S. 2
Pen K.:  Pretorius A.S. 1

New Zealand 41 South Africa 20

An 18-point blitz either side of half-time was all the impetus that the All Blacks needed to record a comprehensive 41-20 Tri-Nations win over the Springboks in Wellington.

New Zealand led 21-13 at half-time despite the Springboks running into an early 10-3 lead after a sensational individual try from fullback Werner Greeff in the sixth minute.

Greeff beat Mark Robinson, Christian Cullen and Doug Howlett en route to the tryline and André Pretorius's conversion put the visitors into a 7-3 lead after an Andrew Mehrtens penalty got the scoreboard ticking over in the second minute.

Pretorius soon added a penalty to stretch the Boks' lead to 10-3, and although Andrew Mehrtens cut the lead to four points, Greeff was on target with a drop-goal just a few minutes later to put the Boks in control at 13-6.

But All Black skipper Reuben Thorne rallied his troops and they hit back with a try of their own shortly before the end of the first quarter.  Kiwi hooker Mark Hammett, who had a nightmarish performance against the Wallabies last week, finally found one of his jumpers -- Chris Jack -- at a line-out, and scrumhalf Justin Marshall made some ground before Richard McCaw carried the ball further.

A third Crusader, No.8 Scott Robertson, soon arrived on the scene to make a telling forage into enemy territory and although Marshall took the wrong option by turning the ball inside to Mark Robinson, the Kiwis quickly re-cycled the ball to the right for Doug Howlett to dive over.

Mehrtens swung in a wonderful conversion from far out to tie the scores 13-all, but that was where the Boks' scoring ended for some time as the All Blacks slowly started making and breaking first-time tackles.

Mark Hammett was the man to benefit from the Kiwis' renewed vigour as he streaked over from a clever line-out move with Robertson, although replays suggest that Hammett's throw did not go five metres and both his feet were in the field of play at the time of his throw.

Mehrtens missed the conversion, but he added a penalty on the stroke of half-time and a drop-goal soon afterwards to put his side ahead at 24-13.

Then Greeff, who could do no wrong up till then, mis-judged a chip-ahead from Kiwi second five-eighths Aaron Mauger from the re-start to Mehrtens's drop-goal, which allowed Mauger to have another hack at the ball.  Caleb Ralph nailed Stefan Terblanché in the tackled and Tana Umaga, who had replaced the injured Mark Robinson, won the ball on the ground and presented it to Justin Marshall.

Marshall went right and the Boks defended bravely, but a change of direction saw Thorne crash over for the try.  Mehrtens did the necessary and at 31-13 the All Blacks had ripped the heart out of the young Bok side.

To their credit Krige's side did manage to pull one try back -- Marius Joubert won the race to the goalline after Pretorius's attempted penalty kick to touch bounced loose -- but 31-20 soon became 36-20 after Justin Marshall powered his way over for his fifth career try against the South Africans.

Marshall's try came just after the self-same Joubert had been sin-binned in rather dubious circumstances after a high-tackle on Doug Howlett and a few swats at Tana Umaga, who came to Howlett's assistance.

Scott Robertson rubbed more salt into the Boks's already infected wound with a late try after yet another well-executed line-out move close to the Bok line.

In the end a 21-point winning margin -- as predicted by the Zurich Computer rankings -- seems massive.  And, indeed it is.

The All Blacks will feel well-satisfied with their ninth straight Test triumph -- and bonus point -- that reinforces their position at the top of the Tri-Nation standings while Bok captain Corné Krige believes his team can take something out of the performance.

The Bok performance had shades of Nick Mallett's side's determination in 1998, but it also provided us with a trip down memory lane into Carel du Plessis' beleaguered side of 1997, which lost 55-35 to New Zealand at Eden Park.  Hopefully the Boks will remember next week to keep their error-rate down as the world champion Wallabies lie in wait.

Man of the match:  Springbok fullback Werner Greeff started the match like a house on fire and his captain Corné Krige did not stand back to anyone.  For the All Blacks, opensider Richard McCaw was at his brilliant best -- ripping the ball away from hapless Bok attackers and supporting his team-mates on the run -- while flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens ran things well from the crucial flyhalf spot.  But, in the end our vote goes to All Black No.8 Scott Robertson for his complete performance from the base of the Kiwi scrum.  He broke numerous Bok tackles on attack and tackled like a man possessed and for good measure he also scored the All Blacks' fifth try.  He completely out-played his opposite number Bob Skinstad.

Moment of the Match:  At first we pencilled in Werner Greeff's try -- the Boks' first in New Zealand since Pieter Rossouw's try during their 13-3 triumph in Wellington in 1998 -- but once the complexion of the game changed so did our moment of the match.  Our moment then?  Robertson's try, which came shortly before the final whistle.  It was fully-deserved by the Canterbury and Crusaders No.8 and just-reward for hard work a wonderful performance from him.

Villain of the Match:  It may be a bit rough on him, but Marius Joubert wins our vote here for his sin-binning in the 55th minute.  He cannot be blamed for the high-tackle, as he was going in the opposite direction to Doug Howlett, but his flurry of punches afterwards were unnecessary.

The Teams:

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

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

Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Hammett M.G. 1, Marshall J.W. 1, Robertson S.M. 1, Thorne R.D. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 3
Drop G.:  Mehrtens A.P. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Greeff W.W. 1, Joubert M.C. 1
Conv:  Pretorius A.S. 2
Pen K.:  Pretorius A.S. 1
Drop G.:  Greeff W.W. 1

Canada 36 United States 13

Canada has stayed at the top of the Americas Zone World Cup qualifying table with a resounding 36-13 victory over the USA in Chicago in front of 2,400 fans.  A pair of Marco DiGirolamo tries in the first half proved to be the difference, while fly-half Jared Barker had a perfect day, kicking four penalties and two conversions for 16 points.

The US got a late second half try from replacement fullback Mike Hercus who also had a conversion and two penalties to account for all the US points.

Fly-half Link Wilfley's first shot at goal -- from 39 metres into a stiff breeze went instantly off course -- and it appeared the Rotherham player was still struggling to find his once prominent kicking form.

"We took advantage of [US] mishaps, and it comes from pressure defense," Canadian captain Al Charron said after the match.

"Our execution today was a lot more crisp.  You can't expect to win test match football if you don't convert pressure into points.  We didn't do that today," USA coach Tom Billups said.

Barker got his side on the board in the eleventh minute with a 41 metre kick, punishing a US offside to make the score 3-0 to the visitors.

Olo Fifita went down at 16 minutes and after some treatment on the pitch went off, with Brian Surgener coming on as a blood substitution.

Canada was awarded a penalty on the play for obstruction, and Barker hit the long 42 metre penalty.  6-0 Canada.

Wilfley then had a 15 metre shot go awry, and a few boo-birds began to whistle.

Referee Nigel Whitehouse continued to call the USA for a variety of infractions and it was Barker again two minutes later to extend the Canuck lead to 9-0.

At 27 minutes Sean Fauth found a seam inside the US 22 and then off-loaded to late substitution Marco DiGirolamo who touched down under the posts.  Barker added the extra two points and the Canadians were out to a storming 16-0 lead.

DiGirolamo then added his second of the day in the 32nd minute, diving into the left corner, and with the touchline conversion by Barker Canada was in control 23-0.

Just before the half Canada threatened again with a five metre scrum, but the Eagles dodged that bullet as the Canucks wheeled giving possession to the US.  The next scrum resulted in a penalty for boring in, and the US kicked out of trouble.

The US went to Mike Hercus, who had come on just before the break as a replacement for Mose Timoteo, and he was true on a 45 metre effort, bringing the pro-USA crowd to its feet.  26-3.

Hercus added another penalty at 61 minutes to cut the Canadian lead to 26-6.

With a hard day of work behind him, Jared Barker came off, to be replaced by veteran Bob Ross, who promptly slotted a shot from 39 metres 29-6 Canada.  Barker is now 12 for 12 in the kicking department over the last two qualifying games.

With the US showing little forward momentum Canada continued to press, winning a lineout at the American ten metre line, and the ball was spun wide with Sean Fauth coming in from the opposite wing, taking a quick pass and then feeding Fred Asselin who touched down in the right corner.  Ross converted and the score ballooned to 36-6

The US managed to organize a drive, getting down to the Canadian five metre line with the a US ruck freeing Mike Hercus under the posts.  He converted his own score to take the sting out of a poor US performance, making the final score 36-13.

The USA now takes on Chile in Salt Lake City on August 10th, while Canada plays Uruguay in Edmonton on the same day as Americas Zone qualifying continues.

Man-of-the-match:  As a replacement for John Cannon, Marco DiGirolamo took all the guessing out of what his abilities are in the mid-field, scoring two tries but also showing tremendous defensive resolve and solid distribution skills.  As team captain Al Charron said following the victory:  "Discounting his two tries Marco still was outstanding in defense and with the ball in hand, so a real great effort by him!"

Moment of the match:  The final Canadian try which came from a Canadian penalty lineout.  It was a complete team try with the forwards winning the ball cleanly, quick ball down the line, and Sean Fauth showing innovation coming off the opposite wing with Winston Stanley also helping from the fullback spot to free the speedy Fred Asselin for the score.

Villain-of-the-match:  While he is a talented and very fast wing, Jone Naqica continues to put his side in jeopardy with poor decision making.  On a day when his team was under pressure and all hands on deck were required his yellow card offence for disrupting a quick tap ball by Morgan Williams was the last thing the Americans needed.

The teams:

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

United States:  1 Olo Fifita, 2 Kort Schubert, 3 Dave Hodges (c), 4 Philippe Farner, 5 Eric Reed, 6 Dan Dorsey, 7 Kirk Khasigian, 8 Mike MacDonald, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Link Wilfley, 11 Johnny Naqica, 12 Jason Keyter, 13 Phillip Eloff, 14 David Fee, 15 Mose Timoteo
Reserves:  Juan Grobler, Mike Hercus, Kimball Kjar, Brian Surgener, John Tarpoff

Attendance:  2500
Referee:  Whitehouse n.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Asselin F. 1, Di Girolomo M. 2
Conv:  Barker J. 2, Ross R.P. 1
Pen K.:  Barker J. 4, Ross R.P. 1

United States
Tries:  Hercus M. 1
Conv:  Hercus M. 1
Pen K.:  Hercus M. 2

Australia 6 New Zealand 12

The All Blacks, playing the last few minutes with only 14 men, held onto a six-point lead with the Wallabies attacking relentlessly to win this Tri-Nations/Bledisloe Cup clash by 12-6 at a cold and wet Jade Stadium in Christchurch.

It was the first tryless encounter between New Zealand and Australia since 1991, but what the game lacked in attack, the two teams more than made up for with superb defence.

The Wallabies, after being pinned back in their half for most of the game, changed that trend in the final 15 minutes and launched the one attack after the other.

And when outside centre Mark Robinson was sent to the sin-bin with less than 10 minutes left on the clock, the tide seemed to be turning for the visitors.

But the Australians miscalculated the All Blacks' resilience in defence, and every time they got a promising move going, the home team tackled them into the ground and won back the ball.

The miserable conditions turned the game into a kicking contest between All Black pivot Andrew Mehrtens and the Wallabies' Stephen Larkham and Chris Latham, a battle Mehrtens won in the end.

The outside backs saw very little ball as both sides elected to mince it up in the forwards, and it is here where the All Blacks laid the platform for their win.

The home team had the upper-hand up front, and with Richard McCaw and Scott Robertson leading the charge, they had the Wallabies under pressure at rucks at mauls.

McCaw, despite the few penalties he conceded, was brilliant, and the turn-ver count of 28-19 in New Zealand's favour shows that he had the acsendancy on the ground over Wallaby opensider George Smith.

Chris Jack and Greg Somerville also had good games for the home team, while Toutai Kefu and Nathan Sharpe were the Wallabies' best forwards on the night.

But the All Black General Andrew Mehrtens was the biggest thorn in the Wallabies' side.

His tactical kicking was superb and he constantly had the Australians turn around with probing kicks downfield.  In total, the All Blacks kicked the ball almost 90 times, with Mehrtens doing the honours most of the time.

From there Larkham and Latham were forced to find touch, and although the All Blacks struggled at the line-outs (the Wallabies poached five of their throws), the enjoyed territorial advantage to such an extent that, before the last quarter, the Wallabies had less that 40 percent of the ball.

It was clear that New Zealand coach John Mitchell had told his team -- and Mehrtens in particular -- to keep Australia away from their 22, something the All Blacks did with clinical perfection.

And although the Wallabies had 60 percent of the ball, there was nothing they could do with it as the All Blacks drilled into them every time they tried to get an attack going.

The Wallabies also made life difficult for themselves with too many handling errors.  And as Australian coach Eddie Jones rang the changes in the second half, Mitchell stuck with the team he had sent onto the field, not disrputing their rhythm, a tactical move that paid off towards the end as the All Blacks stuck to their game-plan that eventually won them the match.

Man of the match:  Richard McCaw was good, as was Toutai Kefu.  But Andrew Mehrtens, the man who did most of the pre-match talk in the media, played his part to perfection, keeping the Wallabies as far away from the All Black try-line as possible.  He was also successful with all his kicks at goal under difficult circumstances, while Wallaby kicker Matt Burke missed two penalties.

Moment of the match:  The last movement of the game was quite special.  The Wallabies got a penalty, which Chris Latham stabbed into touch on the New Zealand 22, with 45 seconds left on the clock.  They did get the ball back, but the All Blacks applied so much pressure that when the Wallabies finally lost possession, they were on their own 10-metre line.  Justin Marshall kicked the ball into touch and the final whistle went.

Villain of the match:  Seeing that the game was quite clean, Mark Robinson, who got yellow carded for an early tackle late in the game, wins this dubious award.

The teams:

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

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

Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 2

New Zealand
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 4