Australia 30 South Africa 26

Australia weathered one of rugby's most protracted cliff-hangers to secure a tense 30-26 Tri-Nations victory over South Africa in Perth.  The Boks lead for long periods of the game, but in the end it was South Africa-born Wallaby Clyde Rathbone who delivered the coup de grace with a try in the 71st minute of play.

The match at the Subiaco Oval was filled with drama for the 42,000 crowd.  The Wallabies scored four tries and thus won a bonus point.  South Africa got a bonus point for losing by fewer than seven points.

Rathbone's winning try -- which took a careful effort from the television match official -- was scored in the right corner with replacement Matt Burke kicked the difficult conversion to put South Africa out of penalty goal range.

As the final whistle was imminent, the Springboks threw everything at the Wallabies in search of a winning try -- but to no avail.

Part of South Africa's problem was their inability to win possession.  They lost seven line-outs to the more competitive Wallabies, and threw one in skew.  They also lost a sloppy scrum.  In addition, they again conceded more penalties than their opponents.

There was a great moment to start the match when George Gregan led his side out in his 100th Test, securing his status as one of the great players of rugby's history.

South Africa played into a stiff breeze in the first half as rain fall intermittently, but they led 16-15 at the interval.

South Africa scored first after they ran from a line-out and kept possession through several phases until Rathbone was penalised for going to ground at a tackle near the touch-line, and Percy Montgomery's place-kick went through off the up-right.

Then came a wonderfully athletic Australian try.  From a line-out after AJ Venter had been penalised, Matt Giteau kicked a right-to-left high diagonal ball.  Montgomery and Breyton Paulse were in the vicinity of the dropping ball but it was winger Lote Tuqiri who outjumped them, caught cleanly, twisted and scored.  Matt Giteau converted from far out and after six minutes the Wallabies led 7-3.

South Africa responded by launching an attack on the left.  Paulse came running round from the right wing and gave a pass to Jean De Villiers which looked to be forward.  The wing, just in from touch, rushed ahead and then grubbered left-footed down into the Wallaby in-goal where Jaco van der Westhuyzen fell on it to score.  Montgomery's conversion, relatively easy, went astray.

The Springboks come close again when Montgomery counter-attacked sharply, and only a brilliant tackle by Giteau on De Villiers saved the Wallaby line.

When Al Baxter was penalised at a scrum, Montgomery made it 11-7 to South Africa.

After Venter had been penalised for an early, tackle the Wallabies mounted an attack.  They seemed to have an overlap but the pass to Rathbone went into touch.  Still the Wallabies attacked, but it was the Springboks who scored!

On the bindside, Larkham passed to his right.  De Villiers stuck out a hand, caught the ball and sprinted some 90 metres to score in the corner -- 16-7.

After the restart, Fourie du Preez kicked downfield, Tuqiri marked and suddenly Chris Latham was on the run.  This created much space for the Wallabies on their right.  Only an ankle-tap stopped Giteau until eventually the ball was out at the corner flag with a line-out to the home side.

The Wallabies mauled from the line-out but the Springboks shoved them sharply back.  But Gregan got the ball to Larkham who slipped the on-rushing Van der Westhuyzen and got over in a tackle.  Again an easy conversion was missed.  16-12 to South Africa.

After the Springboks had lost successive line-outs Gerrie Britz went off-side five metres from his line and slap in front of the posts, and Giteau made it 16-15.

Another Bok indiscretion early in the second half gave Giteau another penalty goal when Bakkies Botha was penalised for toppling Nathan Sharpe in a line-out.  Australia led 18-16.

Soon afterwards the locals were guily used their hands in the ruck and the visitors stole pack the lead with a penalty.

Giteau then missed a penalty from in front, but the Wallabies ran the drop-out back.  Larkham skidded past Eddie Andrews before feeding Latham who rushed it on, bumping off Montgomery to score.  23-19 to Australia.

At this stage Gaffie du Toit was on for De Villiers.  De Wet Barry grubbered left-footed towards the Wallaby line and Du Toit brilliantly gathered the ball just short of the line and managed to touch down with Rathbone and Latham closing in.  Montgomery converted to make it 26-23 to South Africa with 16 minutes to go.

Rathbone then ran back a deep ball and beat three men to put the Wallabies back on the attack.  Burke broke and Latham sent out a brilliant, long pass to Rathbone who squeezed in on the right as Du Preez tackled him.

The Wallabies came close again when Latham appeared to ground the ball for a try, but the Springbok snatched up the ball from the in-goal and Du Preez ran and hoofed downfield.  Rathbone saved brilliantly and -- after a long period of play -- Latham's action was referred to the television match official.

It was not a try, but in the proceeding passage of play Marius Joubert and Stirling Mortlock et al had an emotional moment which became a penalty to South Africa which they ran and ran and ran -- phase after phase -- without really troubling the yellow defence.

Man of the Match:  There are many candidates for Australia Nathan Sharpe who did so much to deny the Springboks possession, George Smith who got his mitts just about everywhere, Clyde Rathbone and Lote Tuqiri with their strong running and Stephen Larkham for three moments of genius which made tries, and for South Africa ubiquitous, competitive, energetic Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha who was brave and effective.  But our Man of the Match, especially for this match, goes to George Gregan for the way he notched up his century with a strong, calm and decisive display.

Moment of the Match:  There was that unusual moment of referral to the television match official after a long passage of play.  There was Clyde Rathbone's burst downfield.  There was Gaffie du Toit's pick-up and score.  Our Moment of the Match is that athletic bit of commitment -- and immense concentration -- that spawned Lote Tuqiri's try.

Villain of the Match:  There were silly moments but nothing too serious.  One wishes that Marius Joubert and De Wet Barry would keep tackles lower, that Chris Latham would not feign innocence when he is naughty, and that Justin Harrison would not try to be the clumsy Wyatt Earp of the rugby field.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Matt Dunning, John Roe, Daniel Vickerman
Unused:  Wendell Sailor, Chris Whitaker, Adam Freier

South Africa:  1 Eddie Andrews, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Gerrie Britz, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Schalk Burger Jr., 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Jean De Villiers, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Centre Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Gaffie Du Toit, Joe Van Niekerk, C.J. Van Der Linde
Unused:  Hanyani Shimange, Bolla Conradie, Brent Russell, Albert Van Den Bergh

Attendance:  42107
Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 1, Rathbone C. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 1, Larkham S.J. 1
Conv:  Giteau M.J. 1, Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.:  Giteau M.J. 2

South Africa
Tries:  De Villiers J. 1, Van Der Westhuyzen J 1, Du Toit G.S. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 1
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 3

New Zealand 23 South Africa 21

An inspired South Africa gave the All Blacks the fright of their lives by taking a lead into the final minute of the Tri-Nations clash in Christchurch, but Doug Howlett broke South African hearts by sliding over for a last-gasp winning try.  The Boks won 3-1 on tries, but the spoils go to the home side who finished the day 23-21 to the good.

It was a thriller as the All Blacks attacked and attacked, battered and battered, and then got it wide to Howlett who scored in the corner to win the match.  The Springboks might have scored three tries to one -- but they gave away a heap of penalty.

The victory puts the All Blacks well clear at the top of the Tri-Nations with successive victories, but both at home and each with only a single try.

As against Australia, the All Blacks dominated possession and territory but as against Australia they -- with their much-vaunted back-line -- scored only one try, and that at the death.

The score was 21-18 to the Springboks as the All Black wave broke over the visitors again and again, breaking on the rocks of determined defence till it went wide and there was nobody left to tackle Howlett.  It was the All Blacks' only real chance of a try and they took it -- with ecstatic gratitude.

It was a reward for the grip they had on the game but especially on the second half when they kept the Springboks point-less.  The All Blacks were aided by a powerful display in the scrums, where the Springboks were expected to dominate, and a penalty count of 13-5 in their favour.

It was icy cold, crisp, wind-free and dry at Jade Stadium in Christchurch.

The Springboks ended the first half leading 21-12, but more significantly three tries to zero.

The first try came before half a minute had run.  Jaco van der Westhuyzen kicked off to start.  Marty Holah gathered the rolling kick and charged ahead.  The All Black forwards gathered, the ball came back and John Smit of South Africa was there to pick up.

He passed to Van der Westhuyzen who passed to De Wet Barry who did a switch with Jean de Villiers.  Tackled short De Villiers was able to place the ball for a try in the left corner.

Percy Montgomery converted.  7-0.

Then the All Blacks settled in Springboks territory and garnered penalties.  Daniel Carter's first kick bounced back off the upright but then he goaled three in a row to make the score 9-7 to New Zealand.

But the Springboks came back.  They won their scrum which disintegrated.  Fourie du Preez picked up, put his head down and charged.

He chipped feebly but AJ Venter gathered the ball and got a brilliant pass out to Jacques Cronjé, who had earlier lost the ball three times.  This time he caught it and plunged over in that left corner.  Again Montgomery converted.  14-9.

Carter responded by adding yet another penalty before the third -- and final -- Bok try.  Montgomery countered sharply and with acceleration from a Mils Muliaina kick.  Marius Joubert ran strongly past Greg Somerville and got an awkward pass to Schalk Burger who managed to control the ball and get it to Du Preez who went over in the same corner, from which Montgomery goaled again.

In that half the All Blacks came fairly close once but were well tackled.  The Springboks had a gilt-edged chance when Cronjé knocked on with a four-to-one opportunity.

In the second half Carter kicked two more penalties and then when he went off Carlos Spencer kicked one.  That made it 21-18 with 11 minutes to go.

The Springboks were close-ish on two occasions, both from Breyton Paulse chips.  On the first occasion they were close to getting a five-metre scrum as Muliaina took the ball back for the touch down and once when Joe Rokocoko beat Paulse to the ball and Paulse was penalised.

Then came the victory attack in which Tana Umaga created a telling break and strong replacement Byron Kelleher was an effective presence in everything.

Two moments had a serious bearing -- the Springbok scrum which the All Blacks wheeled to get the put-in and the long throw the Springboks took at a defensive line-out that went awry and created a scrum to New Zealand, six metres out and slap in front.

Man of the match:  Byron Kelleher in his effective quarter of an hour is a candidate as were Kees Meeuws whose scrummaging has been so powerful and meaningful for New Zealand, Chris Jack who was great at line-outs and with ball in hand, Joe Rokocoko who made things out of bits and pieces, Mils Muliaina looked to run whenever possible and Keven Mealamu who does not stop.  Percy Montgomery meant much to the Springboks and Jaco van der Westhuyzen had probably his best match at fly-half.  But our Man of the Match is all-action Schalk Burger who had a huge effect on the match and was certainly the dominant loose forward on the field, just shading strong AJ Venter.

Moment of the Match:  All four tries were glittering moments against a black backdrop.  The brightest pair were early and late -- the Springboks' try in the first minute and the All Blacks' in the last.  But the Moment of the Match was doubtless the last moment as the ball went from Kelleher to Spencer.  He sent a long pass to Mils Muliaina with Brent Russell coming at him.  Muliaina gave the sweetest of passes to Doug Howlett who surfed over in the victorious corner.

Villain of the Match:  None, because it was hard but well-mannered, though two penalties for high tackles by De Wet Barry brings him closest to villainy.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Simon Maling, 6 Jerry Collins, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Ali Williams, Byron Kelleher, Sam Tuitupou
Unused:  Nick Evans, Andrew Hore, Craig Newby, Tony Woodcock

South Africa  1 Eddie Andrews, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Schalk Burger Jr., 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Jean De Villiers, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Faan Rautenbach, Brent Russell, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused:  Danie Coetzee, Bolla Conradie, Quinton Davids, Gaffie Du Toit

Attendance:  34000
Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 5, Spencer C.J. 1

South Africa
Tries:  De Villiers J. 1, Du Preez P.F. 1, Cronje J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 3

South Africa 38 Pacific Islanders 24

The Springboks got their Australasian tour off to a victorious start with a 38-24 win over the Pacific Islanders in Gosford.  The win also saw veteran fullback Percy Montgomery overtake Naas Botha as the most prolific points scorer for the Boks.

But the Boks will not be happy with a performance that saw them slip from total domination in the first half to an outfit that lacked cohesion and structure to allow the gutsy Islanders team back into the game after the break.

The Boks were never going to attempt to beat the Islanders at their own game and they signaled their intent early on, destroying their out-gunned opponents in the forward exchanges.  It was an awesome display by the South African pack, out-muscling the Islanders at the breakdowns and scrums and out-jumping them at the lineouts.

The commentators implied that the Islanders were suffering from fatigue after a gruelling Test schedule, but such an assumption was laughable.  The Boks were simply denying their opponents any ball, and the little they got was on the back-foot and under immense pressure.

Montgomery got the scoring underway with a long-range penalty and the Boks then spent the next five minutes camped in the Islander half for a prolonged period of assault from their gargantuan tight five.

Predictably the first Bok try came from the scrum -- an area the Islanders never came to grips with despite their weight advantage -- and young No.8 Jacques Cronje broke from the back and scored underneath the posts.  Montgomery continued to find the middle of the posts.

The Islanders attempted to gather some momentum after the try, but when Bok centre De Wet Barry put in a massive hit on his opposite number the Islanders were turned over and hurried back into their own 22.

Scrum-half Bolla Conradie chipped over the retreating defence and winger Breyton Paulse showed a clean pair of heels to snap the ball up and go over for the first of his two tries.  Montgomery continued to close in on Botha's record with the conversion.

At the break it looked ominous for the Islanders with the Boks well in control at 23-0.

But the second half was a different game.  The Islanders looked more motivated, while the Boks -- sensing a big win -- began to play as individuals, seeking personal glory over the whitewash, rather than keeping to the game-plan that had worked to their advantage.

It worked initially with fly-half Jaco van der Westhuyzen drawing the defence to put Paulse over for his second of the evening.

Montgomery then claimed the South African record with another long-range effort, but the glory was short-lived when brilliant Islander winger Sitiveni Sivivatu burst through some shabby Bok defence to score in the corner.

But it served as little motivation to the South Africans who continued to throw the ball around shamelessly.  The result was a host of errors and another Sivivatu try in the corner.

The sight of the Chiefs star grounding the ball again seemed to sting the Boks back into action and it was again Montgomery who proved the catalyst, chipping through the Islanders defence for winger Jean de Villiers to pick up his first international try.

But from that point onwards the Boks did little to impress.  Their game-plan was thrown out the window never to return.  Montgomery in particular seemed to suffer a rapid change of fortune, but he was not the only one.

Two more tries from hard-running No.8 Sione Lauaki and big winger Sireli Bobo made the score more respectable for the Islanders at 38-24.  But it should never have been that close.

The Boks should have closed the game down long before Bobo went over in the 80th minute and it should serve as a wake-up call for the South Africans who will face a far more challenging All Blacks side next weekend in Christchurch.

Man of the match:  For the Islanders Sivivatu and Lauaki were both superb and never threw in the towel.  But this award could go to only one man -- Schalk Burger -- who once again got through a mountain of work for the Boks.  Where he gets the energy is anybody's guess.

Moment of the match:  There were some fantastic tries, but Jean de Villiers' try in the second half welcomed the belated return of a phenomenal talent, who has been kept off the centre stage for far too long.

Villian of the match:  It was a clean game and despite some poor option-taking, nobody deserves this award.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Eddie Andrews, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Gerrie Britz, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Schalk Burger Jr., 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Bolla Conradie, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Jean De Villiers, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Fourie Du Preez, Quinton Davids, C.J. Van Der Linde, Pedrie Wannenburg
Unused:  Danie Coetzee, Gaffie Du Toit, Brent Russell

Pacific Islanders:  1 Soane Tonga'uiha, 2 Aleki Lutui, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 'Inoke Afeaki (c), 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 6 Sione Lauaki, 7 Alifereti Doviverata, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 9 Mosese Rauluni, 10 Tanner Vili, 11 Sireli Bobo, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 13 Seru Rabeni, 14 Sitivini Sivivatu, 15 Norman Ligairi
Reserves:  Filipo Levi, Tu Tamarua, Brian Lima, Steven So'oialo, Taufa'ao Filise, Seremaia Baikeinuku, Joeli Lotawa

Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Paulse B.J. 2, De Villiers J. 1, Cronje J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 3
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 4

Pacific Islanders
Tries:  Bobo I. 1, Sivivatu S.W. 2, Lauaki S. 1
Conv:  Rabeni R.S. 2

Australia 7 New Zealand 16

New Zealand beat Australia 16-7 at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, thus retaining the Bledisloe Cup and taking a strong step forward to Tri-Nations success.  They were full value for their victory as they dominated the match far more comprehensively than the score suggests.  The Wallabies were brave in defence, in which the weather was their ally.

Wellington was wet -- not especially windy -- but wet as the rain teemed down, handling was iffish and footing uncertain.

From Stephen Larkham's first kick-off which went directly into touch, the All Blacks had almost total domination of the first half.  The Wallabies had one foray into the All Black 22 while the New Zealanders were several times close to the Australian goal-line.  In the second half, too, the Wallaby went twice into the All Blacks 22 -- and scored once!

In the first half the All Blacks threw into 18 line-outs, the Wallabies into seven, which is part of the story of getting possession.  True the All Blacks lost three but the Wallabies gave up three as well.

In the second half the All Blacks were not penalised at all, while the two penalties which the All Blacks scored both came from some form of foul play.  For the first Brendan Cannon punched Keven Mealamu in the face in what looked like gratuitous violence.  For the second, just before the end, Stirling Mortlock tackled Tana Umaga high.

After his first failed kick-off, Larkham followed with more flops as the Wallabies appeared unnerved in the absence of George Gregan and in the face of pressure.  Larkham may well have had his worst match in the Wallaby jersey.  Lost without Gregan?

Both teams, the best ball-handlers in the world of rugby, battled with passing, but the All Blacks more than the wallabies as they tried to attack.

The Wallabies threatened first when Justin Harrison charged down a Mils Muliaina clearance but Doug Howlett saved and Clyde Rathbone was penalised.

That was the best of the first ten minutes.

Muliaina broke past Stirling Mortlock and the move was carried on until Muliaina kicked and Chris Latham saved.

Kees Meeuws, twice penalised at scrums, worked a clever move at a line-out and the All Blacks attacked but lost the ball.

They got a ball they did not deserve soon afterwards when the referee adjudged the Wallabies to have carried over and gave the All Blacks a five-metre scrum but a skidding pass became a scrum which became a penalty and relieved the pressure on the wallabies -- temporarily.

The All Blacks had a good moment from a line-out when Mealamu threw short to Chris Jack who set off with Mealamu to within three metres of the line.

After Daniel Carter had been short with a kick at goal when Phil Waugh stamped on a player some distance from the obvious ball. he goaled one when Al Baxter was penalised at a scrum.  Carter later missed one when Bill Young was penalised for playing a man without the ball.

That made the half-time score 3-0 to New Zealand.

The second half was marred by an ugly fight.  Cannon punched Mealamu who objected.  They were not the only fighters as Justin Harrison, who expressed his dislike for Justin Marshall, and Carlos Spencer also appeared to be doing the punching.  In the end both hookers -- Mealamu and Cannon -- were sent to the sin bin, Australia were penalised and Carter made it 6-0.

Twice in the half Chris Whitaker was forced to carry over an All Black grubber.  From a five-metre scrum the All Blacks bashed, Joe Rokocoko came from the left and threw a long pass to his right and Doug Howlett had an easy passage to the line.  Carter converted.  13-0.

The game looked safe for New Zealand who carried on attacking.

Then the Wallabies had two chances, one slight, one realised, both from kicks.

Lote Tuqiri had a long kick but Howlett got back, Wallabies did not arrive and Justin Marshall cleared.

Then Matt Giteau kicked high and seemingly innocuously.  But Rokocoko dropped and slipped to the ground.  Mortlock dived onto the ball and surfed over under the bar.  Giteau converted.  13-7, but that was that -- the Wallabies had no other chances in the match.

With a minute to go Mortlock was penalised and Carter kicked the straight-forward kick over.

Man of the Match:  Brave as Stirling Mortlock was, and hard as Chris Whitaker tried, the Man of the Match has to be an All Black, the question is who.  Chris Jack had a huge game, Keven Mealamu was all action and courage, blotted copybook apart, Tana Umaga was always a handful and Mils Muliaina full of life.  But our choice was eventually between Marty Holah who was here there and effectively everywhere and our eventual choice brave, strong, decisive Justin Marshall on a night when the scrum-half had to be good.

Moment of the Match:  There was the joy of Doug Howlett's try, there was Simon Maling's skidding pass, and there was the unedifying fight.  But our moment is Stirling Mortlock's dive onto the ball as he surfed it over in the wet.

Villain of the Match:  Brendan Cannon and Keven Mealamu were the men with the yellow cards in which Cannon looked more guilty than Mealamu.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 Chris Whitaker, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Jeremy Paul, Wendell Sailor, Matt Henjak, Matt Dunning, George Smith
Unused:  Matthew Burke, Daniel Vickerman

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Simon Maling, 6 Jono Gibbes, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Jerry Collins, Andrew Hore
Unused:  Nick Evans, Craig Newby, Greg Somerville, Byron Kelleher, Sam Tuitupou

Attendance:  38000
Referee:  Rolland a.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Mortlock S.A. 1
Conv:  Giteau M.J. 1

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1
Conv:  Carter D.W. 1
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 3

Australia 29 Pacific Islanders 14

Australia were made to work very hard for their 29-14 win in the historical inaugural Test against the Pacific Islanders at the Adelaide Oval.  The Wallabies outscored the hardy visitors by five tries to two, but the game was a lot closer than the margin suggested.

In an historic match in Adelaide, Australia beat the Pacific Islanders 29-14, a tough encounter on a slithery evening before a cheerful crowd of some 20 000.  The Wallabies won but the Islanders hurt the Wallabies.

Clyde Rathbone, three-try scorer against England, was hurt in three tackles this week and eventually left the field.  Joe Roff hurt a knee in a tackle and left.  George Gregan was heavily dumped in a tackle and left.  Stirling Mortlock was hurt in a tackle and left with a bulging eye.  Others could also have been hurt as the Islanders bashed with ball in hand and then bashed the Wallabies when the Australians had the ball.

The Islanders played their first Test ever and did so well.

There were also memorable moments for André Watson, who was refereeing his last Test after a wonderful career, and Brumbies prop Nic Henderson, brought into the squad when Matt Dunning hurt an eye.  Late in the match Henderson got onto the field, just in time to win his first cap.

It certainly was a contest.  One interesting area of contention was at the tackle where the Islanders drove in hard and won a surprising number of turn-overs.

For long periods of the match, despite the conditions, the Islanders, in their blue and red shorts and red, white and blue jerseys, deprived the Wallabies of the ball as they went through many phases -- more phases than metres against a determined Australian defence.

A feature of the match was the judicious kicking by the Wallabies against the pointless kicking of the Islanders.

The rain held off for the start of the match.  There was none while the Australians sang their anthem and the Pacific Islanders their aggressive dance, a sipi tau, a Tongan form of wardance, led by a tattooed baggage master in war dress.

Not long afterwards, the rain started and the ground became increasingly slippery, very much a cricket ground in shape, amenities and bald pitch.

The Islanders' full back, experienced Norman Ligairi, had problems getting to the ball as the Wallabies kicked cleverly.  A Stephan Larkham kick forced a line-out, to the Islanders, five metres from the Islanders' line.  The Islanders lost five of their 16 line-outs but won this own and scrumhalf Mosese Rauluni cleared badly.  Rathbone, back after his first shaking up, played inside.  The Wallabies countered on their left, Lote Tuqiri straightened up to fix two defenders before giving to Mortlock who still had hard work ahead as he scored in Lome Fa'atua's tackle.  Roff missed the conversion from the corner.  He missed the next two conversions as well, unusual for the great man.

Just before half-time Australia countered off a Tanner Chan Vili kick and got their second try when Larkham grubbered ahead on the left and Matt Giteau did well to grab the bobbing ball to score in the corner.

That made it 10-0 at half-time.

The best two breaks of the half had been by Larkham and Vili.  It was a half of stern defence.

In the second half Seremaia Bai missed his second penalty kick at goal but then the Islanders bashed with urgent purpose at the Wallaby line, which held.  The ball then came to their left and strong flank Sione Lauaki burst through George Gregan and Justin Harrison to score near the posts.  10-7 after 48 minutes.

Australia had had two five-metre line-outs in the first half without scoring.  But in the second half they got one right, drove their maul over for back-man Jeremy Paul to score:  15-7.

They tried it again soon afterwards but the maul fell down.  Back the ball came to Larkham who lobbed a long high kick across the posts to his right.  Lote Tuqiri was one of those contesting the ball.  He knocked it back and Giteau dropped on it.  This time Roff converted.  22-7 after 57 minutes.

Paul was just short after a fourth five-metre line-out and then the television match official judged that Chris Latham had lost the ball in grounding it.

The Islanders survived and scored when Bai broke, looked to his right and chipped a delightful ball which speedster Sireli Bobo caught and scored.  Bai converted.  22-14 after 71 minutes.

The Wallabies caught the Islanders napping from the kick off.  Larkham kicked left.  Matt Burke got the ball, and got a clever pass to Mortlock who battled his way ahead to score in the corner.  Matthew Burke converted.

Man of the Match:  There were two excellent, creative flyhalves -- Tanner Chan Vili for the Islanders and Stephen Larkham for the Wallabies.  Our Man of the Match is Stephan Larkham, who ran with decision, kicked judiciously and tackled as effectively as anybody on the field.

Moment of the Match:  Seremaia Bai's chip that gave Sireli Bobo his try.

Villain of the Match:  Dan Vickerman got the only yellow card of the match but our villain is Inoke Afeaki.  Long after Clyde Rathbone had passed to his right Afeaki, from behind, laid him waste and forced the young wing off the field.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Chris Whitaker, Nic Henderson, George Smith, Daniel Vickerman

Pacific Islanders:  1 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Aleki Lutui, 3 Soane Tonga'uiha, 4 'Inoke Afeaki (c), 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 6 Sione Lauaki, 7 Sisa Koyamaibole, 8 Alifereti Doviverata, 9 Mosese Rauluni, 10 Tanner Vili, 11 Lome Fa'atau, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 13 Seremaia Baikeinuku, 14 Sitivini Sivivatu, 15 Norman Ligairi
Reserves:  Sireli Bobo, Leo Lafaiali'i, Semo Sititi, Steven So'oialo, Tevita Taumoepeau, Seru Rabeni
Unused:  Joeli Lotawa

Attendance:  19296
Referee:  Watson a.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Mortlock S.A. 2, Giteau M.J. 2, Cannon B.J. 1
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 1, Burke M.C. 1

Pacific Islanders
Tries:  Lauaki S. 1, Bobo I. 1
Conv:  Baikeinuku S. 2

South Africa 53 Wales 18

South Africa brushed Wales aside with disdain as they scored a 53-18 win over the hapless Dragons at Loftus in Pretoria, outscoring their opponents by seven tries to two.  It was another impressive performance by a South African team that improves every week.

But for the third successive week their victory celebrations were tempered by the news that a player may have suffered a potentially serious injury.  Lock Victor Matfield left the field late in the 60th minute, and was later seen with ice packed to his knee.

Coach Jake White admitted that he was concerned, but said that he was not sure how serious it was.  It is unlikely the Boks will know before Sunday or Monday what the full extent of the injury is, but it is not the kind of news he would have wanted ahead of the Tri-Nations series next month.

But Matfield's injury aside, it was another performance that displayed the potential in White's team.

Many still expected the Boks to win and win comfortably, but few expected such a brutal performance, despite the team still being way off the pace.

Even against the Welsh on Saturday there were periods when the Boks were simply too casual or over eager and wasted scoring chances.

The tight forwards totally dominated proceedings and the Welsh were always living off scraps.  As a result, the visitors spent large periods of the game defending deep inside their own half.

But in the end the visitors had no answer for the wave, after wave of Springbok attacks.

The South Africans were full of running in the early stages, but their finishing let them down.

In fact it was Wales who scored first, when Gavin Henson slotted a 50-metre penalty, after a South African went offside on the halfway line.

The Boks continued to enjoy territorial dominance, but a number of chances were lost -- either through some sloppy play or just over-eagerness.

But after 14 minutes the Bok machine clicked into gear and from phase ball they spun it to the left, where fly-half Jaco van der Westhuyzen floated through a gap.

He was brought down just five metres out, but captain John Smit came flying through and despite being scragged saw his momentum carry him over for a try that had the crowd jumping out of their seats in delight.  Montgomery added the conversion for a 7-3 lead.

Penalties dominated the play for the next 15 minutes, with Montgomery slotting two and Henson one as the scored moved on to 13-6.

It was not until the 30th minute that the crowd had something to really cheer about.  It started with a failed touch-finder.  The Boks started running it back and it was giant lock Victor Matfield who powered his way through the Welsh defence to set up the try.

Matfield timed his pass to perfection as he sent winger Brent Russell over for a try under the uprights.  Montgomery's conversion moved the score along to a comfortable 20-6.

The next moment of brilliance came in the 39th minute, when the Boks again showed their brilliant counter-attacking abilities.  It came from a ruck and No.8 Jacques Cronjé bursting away with the ball.  Quick hands by Percy Montgomery and Schalk Burger saw the ball go wide to Marius Joubert, who threw a long pass to a flying Breyton Paulse on the right.

He set off down the touchline, with the Welsh desperately scrambling in cover.  But a neat little inside step saw him burst through a tackle and over for the try.  Montgomery added the conversion to make it 27-6 at the break.

The Boks appeared to become a touch sloppy after the break, probably knowing they had the game won and wanted to run everything and in the process neglecting the basics.

But they were simply still too powerful for the brave Welsh and by the 52nd minute they powered their way over for another try.

After some scrappy play, which saw the Boks go backwards, they settled and Wayne Julies powered his way through a tackle, off-loaded to Marius Joubert and stayed up in support to collect the inside pass and go over for his try.

Six minutes later it was winger Brent Russell who went over for his second try after some very quick and slick passing by the Boks.  Montgomery's conversion made it 39-6.

The Welsh scored a consolation try, when the Boks when into a lull, in the 66th minute.  Henson's conversion made it 39-13.

But it wasn't long before the Boks scored again, with scrum-half Bolla Conradie going over after a brilliant little dart down the left touchline in the 70th minute.  Montgomery took it to 46-13 with the conversion.

The Boks broke the half century mark when young Schalk Burger powered his way over in the 78th minute, while the Welsh completed the scoring with a consolation touch-down in the 80th minute.

Man of the match:  There was stirling performances from Jaco van der Westhuyzen at fly-half, who was always dangerous and really troubles the Welsh defence, Percy Montgomery, Brent Russell and Breyton Paulse -- all who did themselves proud.  In the forwards the loose trio were again and outstanding feature and the tight forwards dominated as they should.  But our vote for man of the match goes to veteran prop forward Os du Randt, who did all that was expected of him in the set pieces, drove the ball up strongly and then still found the energy to chase down backs on the defence -- such as that 80th minute tackle he put in on Welsh centre Tom Shanklin.

Moment of the match:  With nine tries in the match there is sure to be many great moments -- such as scrum-half Bolla Conradie's dart down the touchline in the 70th minute, Breyton Paulse's step inside to beat the cover defence on his way to a try and captain John Smit's hurdling antics when he scored his try.  But for us the moment was the sight of big lock Victor Matfield charging downfield and powering through the defence in midfield, before off-loading to a flying Brent Russell in the 30th minute.

Villain of the match:  None, not in this match.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Faan Rautenbach, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Quinton Davids, 6 Schalk Burger Jr., 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Marius Joubert, 13 Wayne Julies, 14 Brent Russell, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Eddie Andrews, Geo Cronje, Henno Mentz, Hanyani Shimange, Gerrie Britz, Bolla Conradie, Gaffie Du Toit

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Deiniol Jones, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Colin Charvis (c), 8 Alix Popham, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Nicky Robinson, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Haldane Luscombe, 15 Gavin Henson
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Duncan Jones, Ceri Sweeney, Jonathan Thomas, Darren Morris
Unused:  Rhys Williams, Mike Phillips

Attendance:  43920
Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Paulse B.J. 1, Julies W. 1, Russell R.B. 2, Smit J.W. 1, Burger Jr. S.W.P. 1, Conradie J.H. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 6
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 2

Wales
Tries:  Williams S.M. 1, Peel D. 1
Conv:  Henson G.L. 1
Pen K.:  Henson G.L. 2

Australia 51 England 15

Australia secured their first win over England since 1999 -- and the Cook Cup -- by recording an impressive 51-15 victory in Brisbane, with Clyde Rathbone making the most of a very late call-up by collecting a hat-trick of tries.

The South African-born flyer was asked to start the match after wing Wendell Sailor pulled up injured during the warm-up, and the replacement went on to show England a clean pair of heels on three occasion.

Despite the frightening symmetry of the final scoreline, England were full of industry, and played reasonably well in patches.

Whether their overall performance was an improvement on their games in New Zealand is a matter of debate, but they manage to play some effective forward-dominated rugby that kept Australia in reverse gear for long periods of the match.

Not that it seemed to worry the Wallabies too much.

Each time England lost the ball in attack -- and there were numerous occasions of this -- the yellows seized on the opportunity and countered from deep with peerless verve, instinct and imagination.

England -- in their 18th Test of the season -- looked positively geriatric in comparison to the fleet-footed Australian backs, and had no answers to their opponents' scything breaks.

Australia fullback Joe Roff got the scoreboard ticking with a penalty after his opposite number, Josh Lewsey, failed to release -and he added another soon after for an England infringement at the line-out.

England fly-half Charlie Hodgson reduced the deficit from in front of the posts, but the home side replied with the first of their six tries.

Fly-half Stephen Larkham's long pass from a line-out on the half-way line found Matt Giteau, who released Lote Tuqiri, who sent Rathbone over in the right corner.

England responded with some tight rugby and got themselves back into the game with their first try of their three-Test tour on the 30-minute mark.

A wave of English attacks broke down in the Australian 22 and winger Ben Cohen reacted quickly, swapping passes with Tom Voyce before sending the supporting Richard Hill over in the left corner for an unconverted try.

The five-pointer sparked England's confidence, but the Wallabies soon burst the tourists' balloon with another long-range try.

Larkham's cut-out pass found Roff steaming up the middle.  The veteran No.15 sold Cohen a dummy and sent Rathbone in for his second at the stroke of half-time.

Despite Rathbone's brace, England went into the break with a game to win -- trailed as they did by only 21-8.

Their optimism was evident early in the second half when the arrival of Matt Dawson and Olly Barkley added a little initiative to the England backs, and they were soon rewarded with a try.

Dawson was at his spiky best, and two quick tap-penalties saw the Wallabies chasing backwards, and they failed to grips with England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio who went over from close range.

Hodgson converted to make it 24-15, and England were eyeing up a shock victory to close out their season -- but it was not to be.

Rathbone opened the Australian floodgates by collected his own kick ahead to complete his hat-trick, and three more tries followed in a devastating 15-minute spell.

Roff showed his class to scythe through and send replacement hooker Jeremy Paul over a try, and the hooker collected his second score moments later when England's defence was caught short out wide.

Tuqiri then jinked his way through a demoralised field of English defenders to notch up Australia's sixth try, before Roff delivered the coup de grace by bring up the half-century with a penalty in the final minute.

This was England's fourth successive loss -- equalling their worst sequence of results since coach Sir Clive Woodward took charge almost seven years ago.

England -- like their footballing counterparts -- will now return to the UK for a thankful rest, and a chance to work out where it all went so horribly wrong.

Tim Henman, it's over to you!  Heaven help us.

Man of the Match:  Of course, Clyde Rathbone deserves a stout thump on the back for seizing the initiative and three tries -- but it was the outstanding Joe Roff who masterminded the breaks and marshalled the Australian attack.  What England would do to have such a thinker behind the scrum.

Moment of the Match:  Rathbone's speed and Samo Radike's athleticism combined to dizzying effect early in the second half during a break down the wing, but it was Lote Tuqiri's try that will live longest in the memory.

Villain of the Match:  Wallaby captain George Gregan may deserve a slap on the wrists for deciding to go for the poles in the last minute of the game -- he was simply effectively a bucket of salt into a very painful English wound.  But the 50 points were all well deserved, and it will only add to this fixture's rich pageantry -- we'll let him off with a warning!

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Henjak, Matt Dunning, John Roe, George Smith, Daniel Vickerman

England:  1 Julian White, 2 Mark Regan, 3 Tim Payne, 4 Simon Shaw, 5 Steve Borthwick, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Joe Worsley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Andy Gomarsall, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Tom Voyce, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Fraser Waters, Martin Corry, Matt Dawson, Olly Barkley, Michael Lipman, Steve Thompson, Mike Worsley

Attendance:  52492
Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Rathbone C. 3, Tuqiri L.D. 1, Paul J.A. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 3
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 5

England
Tries:  Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Hill R.A. 1
Conv:  Hodgson C.C. 1
Pen K.:  Hodgson C.C. 1

NZ Maori 26 England A 19

A long-range try in the final minute of extra-time sealed a first ever Churchill Cup win for the New Zealand Maori, who saw of England XV in the Final with a 26-19 victory.

Had the Maori not scored they would have won based on tries scored in the game, but the stamp of the try was a pleasing end to a long day of rugby in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.

With the scores tied 19-19 in the 99th minute of play, Caleb Ralph streaked to the five-metre line popping up to Hosea Gear -- who then crossed untouched for the winner.

Before that, in the first period of extra time, New Zealand's Glen Jackson failed to land a drop-goal from 30 metres out.  He was then rewarded for an English hand in the ruck, giving him a 39-metre kick from the touchline for the lead -- but his effort drifted to the left, and the deadlock dragged on.

England fly-half Dave Walder -- in for the injured Alex King -- also missed a drop-goal and then a penalty in extra time.

Jackson could have saved the Maori from extra time in the 84th minute of regular time, but he missed a penalty, and opened the door to England.

Indeed, it was England who had all the early play, and got the scoreboard ticking over with a Walder penalty in the fifth minute, but Ryan Nichols responded two minutes later with a try from 20 metres out -- Jackson failed to convert and the Maori had a tenuous two point lead 5-3.

Newcastle Falcons centre Jamie Noon got the English back into the lead after getting a pass from Henry Paul who release him from 25 metres out.  Walder added the conversion and England had the lead at 10-5 after fifteen minutes.

Maori skipper Corey Flynn then put his side into arrears with a sin-binning for killing the ball as England were threatening to attack.  Walder added his second penalty from the offense to increase the English lead to 13-5.

Walder hit his third penalty of the game to extend the England lead to 16-5 after thirty four minutes.

New Zealand were showing promise on limited possession, but had no answers for the waves of English movement with ball in hand -- and Walder added his fourth penalty to give his side a 19-5 lead at the break.

The Maori cracked the try-line for the first time in the second half when Ralph stayed out on the far left and collected a miss-two that allowed the speedster to go over with a clean pair of heels.  With the conversion the Maori were back in it -- adrift by only 19-12 after 49 minutes.

Two minutes later it was an interception by Jackson -- which he converted himself -- that set by the 19-19 tie that the Maori managed to break at a death.

Man of the Match:  Former All Black wing Caleb Ralph for the Maori was impressive on his second half try, and it was his tireless efforts in the overtime period that finally broke the English defense to put Hosea Gear away for the eventual winner.

Moment of the Match:  Again, involving Ralph, when the inventive winger streaked for some forty metres to set up the Gear try -- ending a 99-minute classic of a game between England and the Maori.

Villain of the Match:  None of note in a relatively clean match -- though the finger could be pointed at Maori captain Corey Flynn for his sin-binning (killing the ball) in the first half -- putting his team under stress early on.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Nicholas, Ralph, Jackson, Gear
Cons:  Jackson 2

England
Try:  Noon
Con:  Walder
Pens:  Walder 4

Referee:  Pearson d.

England 12 New Zealand 36

There was drama at Eden Park when the All Blacks beat England 36-12 -- and not all the drama was acceptable.  It was a cantankerous match which will be remembered for unpleasant reasons.

Whatever happened in the first half was overshadowed by the fighting which had its nadir in the sending off of Simon Shaw of England for using his knee on Keith Robinson of New Zealand.  Robinson was not England's favorite New Zealander.

It was never a charming match with simmering violence there all the time.

There was much in the England performance which was admirable -- but their virtues spilled over into vices as a bit of Albuferra came to Auckland, but this time amongst the players, not the fans.

The All Blacks also suffered a player reduction late in the match when with 12 minutes left Marty Holah was sent to the sin-bin for a critical infringement near the All Black line.

Oh, and the All Blacks won the series 2-0, twice scoring more than thirty points against the holders of the World Cup who failed to score a try in either Test.

England started off doing to the All Blacks what the All Blacks did to them in Dunedin -- getting stuck in at the tackle and doing it in numbers.In those first ten minutes of English aggression England went 6-0 ahead when Carl Hayman was penalised at a scrum and then a second three minutes later when New Zealand were off-side during a concerted England attack.

Then came the fighting madness.  First Joe Worsley and Keith Robinson were spoken to.  Then came worse when Robinson was lying over bit of a tackle area.  Julian White put an admonishing boot on him and then Shaw stuck the knee, producing unhappy reactions on both sides.

The referee showed Shaw a red card.  Reduced to 14 men England battled manfully and with more control but gradually the All Blacks got on top.

Daniel Carter broke sharply down the New Zealand right and gave to Mils Muliaina, who had wasted an earlier run by footing into the England in-goal.  Back this time the ball came going left and then back right.  Justin Marshall was close, possibly within stretching distance.  He lost the ball.

England eventually broke out and were in a position to score a try but the game was brought 80 metres back because Mark Regan had tackled Marshall without the ball.  Carter goaled and the score was 6-3 to England.

The All Blacks collected an England drop-out and there was the electric majesty of Joe Rokocoko surging thorough their defence.  He gave to Carter who seemed to have a straight ruin to the line, but Tom Voyce hauled him in and it took a sharp decision by the television match official for the try to be awarded.  Carter then converted from far out.

That made the score 10-6 to New Zealand at half-time.

Joe Rokocoko scored a hat-trick of tries in the second half.

From a line-out Muliaina came wrapping round from the right-wing.  Nick Evans burst ahead and gave to Rokocoko who scored.  Carter converted.  17-6 after 47 minutes.

Seven minutes later it was the Evans-Rokocoko combination that made the wing's second try with an inside pass.  Carter, inevitably, converted.  24-6.

In this half the All Blacks were penalised repeatedly, England not at all.  Hodgson kicked two at a time when substitutions proliferated.  24-12 to England after 62 minutes.

Andrew Mehrtens came on as a replacement at this stage to rapturous Eden Park applause.  He had one masterful break which should have led to a try but petered out on a Carter grubber into in-goal.

From a scrum Xavier Rush and Marshall did clever thins.  The ball came back to Spencer who kicked a high diagonal kick which Rokocoko juggled, gather and used to score his thirds Test-match hat-trick.  Cater converted.  31-12.

While Holah was considering his sins on the side-line, the All Blacks scored a sweeping, long-range try with Spencer surging over in the corner.  Mehrtens missed the conversion.

There was a little time for some more containerise moments but eventually the final whistle blew on an affair that was noble in some aspects, so sad in others.

Man of the Match:  Elegant Joe Rokocoko.  He made one and scored three.

Moment of the Match:  Moments are not always pleasant.  There were pleasant ones, such as Trevor Woodman's break, and Joe Rokocoko's third try off the high hoof, but the dominant moment was Simon Shaw's indiscretion and sending off.

Villain of the Match:  Simon Shaw.

Red card:  Simon Shaw

The Teams:

England:  1 Trevor Woodman, 2 Mark Regan, 3 Julian White, 4 Simon Shaw, 5 Steve Borthwick, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Joe Worsley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Andy Gomarsall, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Tindall, 13 Stuart Abbott, 14 Tom Voyce, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Fraser Waters, Matt Dawson, Danny Grewcock, Olly Barkley, Michael Lipman, Andy Titterrell, Matt Stevens

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Keith Robinson, 6 Jono Gibbes, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Mils Muliaina, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Nick Evans
Reserves:  Jerry Collins, Andrew Hore, Craig Newby, Tony Woodcock, Andrew Mehrtens, Sam Tuitupou
Unused:  Byron Kelleher

Attendance:  49000
Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers:

England
Pen K.:  Hodgson C.C. 4

New Zealand
Tries:  Carter D.W. 1, Rokocoko J.T. 3, Spencer C.J. 1
Conv:  Carter D.W. 4
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 1

Argentina 20 Wales 35

Wales leveled their series with Argentina by recording a 35-20 win over the Pumas in Buenos Aires, with winger Shane Williams collecting a hat-trick of tries in the first half.

Wales promised ahead of the game that they would bring more fire than in their somewhat insipid display in Tucumán last weekend and it was immediately evident that it would be different in Buenos Aires.

The visitors showed that they were keen to spread the ball wide and attacked the Pumas' defensive lines with gusto.

The hosts -- desperate to close their opponents down quickly -- were penalised repeatedly at the tackle, and it seemed Wales coach Mike Ruddock's plea to referee Donal Courtney to police this area did not go unnoticed.

Wales fullback Gavin Henson pushed a drop-goal attempt wide in the second minute, and his penalty attempt shortly after was also off the mark.

But six minutes later the Welshman found his radar with a sweetly struck kick.  And the floodgates suddenly burst open for his team.

The Wales backline -- who suffered frequently from their own errors in Tucumán -- were on song.  Spreading the ball through the hands and speeding past the Pumas backs, the visitors were breathing fire.

Centre Tom Shanklin showed his ability to find the gap in the 13th minute and the big midfielder set up a superb movement that put little winger Shane Williams over in the corner for his first of the afternoon.

Henson -- with boot seemingly reconfigured -- added the extras.

Williams was in the action two minutes later and the speedy Ospreys star provided a moment of genius and delight when he stepped inside Pumas fly-half Felipe Contepomi.

Left with only Hernan Senillosa to beat -- Williams stepped twice on his left, then jinked on his right and left the dizzy Pumas fullback in his wake.  Henson continued to find the middle of the posts.

Argentina didn't see much of the ball in the early exchanges, and it took over 20 minutes before the Pumas launched an attack on the Welsh line.  But the hosts' troubles soon got worse when lock Ignacio Lobbe was sent to the sin-bin for slowing down the ball.

Henson widened the gap with another penalty.

Williams then capped off a profitable outing with his third try of the afternoon, two minutes from the break -- and although Henson pushed his kick wide -- the Pumas were more undoubtedly more concerned with the amount of injuries they had sustained.

The game as a contest should have been over by the break, but -- as Wales did in Tucumán -- Argentina fought back and threatened to douse Wales' fire.

Skipper Colin Charvis was sent to the cooler to think for 10 minutes and the game was turned on its head with Pumas fullback Hernan Senillosa slotting a penalty, followed by Federico Aramburu dotting down for a try.

Senillosa converted and the Pumas were back in the game.  The hosts began to fall back on their traditional strength -- in the forwards -- and they used it to great effect, driving the stuttering Wales pack backwards.

Big tighthead prop Omar Hassan dotted down to score the Pumas' second after their monstrous forwards drove through and over the line.  But Senillosa failed with the kick and Wales were triggered back into action.

Henson slotted another penalty to add a cushion to his side's lead and then Williams gave fly-half Nicky Robinson some space out wide to speed through for a well-worked try.

The game was effectively over, but not before Courtney conspired with the Television Match Official, Roy Maybank, to record the longest half in rugby history.

The Irishman kept the game running well over time -- and called on Maybank twice to look at possible Pumas' tries.

Shane Williams was issued a yellow card on the stroke of regulation time and the game was mercilessly brought to an end over 50 minutes into the second half as Pumas winger Lucas Borges was awarded the try.

Man of the match:  Wales midfielder Tom Shanklin showed just how dangerous he can be -- all afternoon -- and Gavin Henson was a model of calm with the boot.  But that little speedster Shane Williams was simply superb.

Moment of the match:  Williams' second try was a moment of magic.  Nothing else came close.

Villain of the match:  Wales coach Mike Ruddock would surely disagree, but Donal Courtney was pedantic to the ninth degree as he kept the game ticking over when it was wholly unnecessary.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Rodrigo Roncero, 4 Patricio Albacete, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Martin Durand, 7 Lucas Ostiglia, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia (c), 9 Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Lucas Borges, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Hernan Senillosa
Reserves:  Matias Albina, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Eusebio Guinazu, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Federico Martin Aramburu, Martin Schusterman
Unused:  Pablo Bouza

Wales:  1 Duncan Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Brent Cockbain, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Colin Charvis (c), 8 Michael Owen, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Nicky Robinson, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Haldane Luscombe, 15 Gavin Henson
Reserves:  Mefin Davies, Gethin Jenkins, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Thomas, Darren Morris
Unused:  Barry Davies, Ceri Sweeney

Attendance:  40000
Referee:  Courtney d.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Borges L. 1, Hasan Jalil O.J. 1, Aramburu F.M. 1
Conv:  Senillosa H. 1
Pen K.:  Senillosa H. 1

Wales
Tries:  Williams S.M. 3, Robinson N. 1
Conv:  Henson G.L. 3
Pen K.:  Henson G.L. 3

South Africa 26 Ireland 17

Jake White's tenure as Springbok coach started with a two-nil whitewash of Ireland, after the Boks brilliantly buried the Irish with another outstanding performance -- beating the visitors by 26-17 in the second Test at Newlands in Cape Town.  It was far more emphatic than the scoreline suggests.

The Boks showed some of the old-fashioned character that made previous Bok teams such fearful foes, putting the Irish under pressure in the set pieces and hitting them hard in the tackle.

As captain John Smit said afterwards, it was always going to be the game where the team that took its chances were going to win.  The Boks kept the Irish under pressure with some exceptionally brave defence and then scored two outstanding tries from turnover ball -- taking those rare opportunities that come in these tight games.

The Irish certainly had their moments, and their opportunities, but the number of times they were forced to kick proved just how solid the South Africans were on defence on Saturday.

There is still work for the Boks to do, granted, but if they keep building on these two performances and show the same kind of grit they did at Newlands, the team will be back to the top of the rugby world sooner rather than later.

This team has the making of a truly great outfit and with players like Jaco van der Westhuyzen (at fly-half) and Percy Montgomery (fullback) back in the fold the creative abilities are there.

The Irish will be disappointed that they conceded an early lead and allowed the Boks to build a comfortable 13-point lead in the first half, but after the break the tourists looked more like the outfit that put England away in the Six Nations.

They too have some great backline players and a solid pack, but the Irish will have to learn that rugby is played for 80 minutes and that 40 minutes of comeback rugby is not going to win you too many games.

It was the kind of start the Irish had wanted, when they went 7-0 up, but they let it slip all too easily.

After the canned noise (read canned fans) had died down, the players could get down to do what the 50,000 fans had paid to come and watch -- rugby.  Why this obsession with American style pre-match hype, which certainly doesn't excite the crowd and is rather more irritating than entertaining?

But when the rugby started it was exciting enough to get the crowd into action, even though the Newlands faithful had to watch Ireland score first.

It came in the seventh minute, when a couple of Bok blunders saw the Irish get a line-out close to the South African line.  They first mauled it up, then set up a ruck, before taking it up in the midfield, where they set up another ruck.  With the Boks defence stretched to the limit the Irish spun the ball wide where Tyrone Howe had a free run to the line.

Ronan O'Gara added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The Boks fans had to wait nine minutes before the home team opened their account, with a sweetly struck Montgomery penalty.

South Africa's next score was far more empathic and started with a brilliant line break by Montgomery, which turned into a Bok penalty.  From a tap-and-go by scrum-half Fourie du Preez they set up a couple of quick rucks, before the ball was spun wide where the Irish had no defenders left.

Breyton Paulse beat the cover to the line for South Africa's first try.  Montgomery added the conversion and a penalty five minutes later to make it 13-7 to the home team.

The Boks were now on the front foot and could have had another try from turn-over ball, in the 32nd minute, but a bit of selfish play by fly-half Van der Westhuyzen saw a certain try being murdered.

But it did not matter, as the Boks' brilliant counter attacking soon had the Irish on the rack again, when Montgomery broke the line again and the Boks set up a series of rucks which saw Brent Russell dart down the right and send Jaque Fourie over in the corner for the try.

Montgomery added the conversion to see South Africa take a commanding lead.

This try came while the Irish were down to 14 men, after prop Reggie Corrigan decided to pick on the smallest Springbok -- winger Breyton Paulse -- and was yellow carded for his cowardly punch.

On the stroke of half-time Irish fly-half Ronan O'Gsara slotted an opportunist drop-goal to see the Boks take a 10-point lead (20-10) into the break.

South Africa scored first in the second half, but not before withstanding a fierce Irish onslaught, which nearly resulted in a try.

But from a quick line-out and a huge punt downfield, the Boks applied pressure and were awarded a penalty -- which Montgomery slotted for a 23-10 lead.

As the game approached the final quarter the Boks were reduced to just 14 men, when centre Wayne Julies was yellow carded for a professional foul.

In this period the Boks conceded a try, when replacement fly-half David Humphreys grubbered the ball through the Bok line and Brian O'Driscoll grabbed it out of Montgomery's hands to score.  The conversion by Humphreys narrowed the gap to just six points -- 23-17.

As the half progressed, the tension built and the Boks were made to defend more by a determined Irish outfit.  But the Boks defence held and they turned the ball over several times or forced the visitors to kick -- with a near impenetrable wall of white facing the Irish.

And with time officially up on the clock, the Irish conceded a penalty inside their own 22.  Montgomery slotted it to give the Boks victory and maintain their 100 percent home record over the Irish.

Man of the match:  There was some very big hits by Marius Joubert in Midfield, some clever work by Wayne Julies on his inside and tactical brilliance by Jaco van der Westhuyzen.  The Bok forwards did yeoman work, with Schalk Burger leaving his impression all over the park and on the game..  For Ireland Brian O'Driscoll and Kevin Maggs were always dangerous and the rest of their team as brave as ever.  But the man that stood out for me was Bok fullback Percy Montgomery.  His two line breaks that resulted in Bok tries were top class.  There was the odd slip, but his return was worthy of a man of the match reward.

Moment of the match:  It has to be the lead-up to Breyton Paulse's try in the 21st minute, which started by a brilliant break from Percy Montgomery.  The Bok veteran announced his return in emphatic fashion.  There were more, lots more, but this was the start of a great Bok win.

Villain of the match:  This one has to go to Irish prop Reggie Corrigan for his cowardly punch on Breyton Paulse and the yellow card was just reward.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Eddie Andrews, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Quinton Davids, 6 Schalk Burger Jr., 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Jaque Fourie, 12 Marius Joubert, 13 Wayne Julies, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Gerrie Britz, Brent Russell, C.J. Van Der Linde
Unused:  Geo Cronje, Hanyani Shimange, Bolla Conradie, Gaffie Du Toit

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Tyrone Howe, 12 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Gavin Duffy, Marcus Horan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Alan Quinlan
Unused:  Frankie Sheahan

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Paulse B.J. 1, Fourie J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 2
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 4

Ireland
Tries:  O'Driscoll B.G. 1, Howe T.G. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1, Humphreys D.G. 1
Drop G.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Australia 34 Scotland 13

Australia wrapped up the Hopetoun Cup by subjecting Scotland to a 34-13 defeat in Sydney.  Scotland played beautifully and enjoyed the lion's share of possession, but they could not rein in the Wallabies' strike runners.

Australia beat Scotland 34-13 in the second Test of the series, this one played at Telstra Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.  The result does not do the Scottish effort justice.

The Scots were manful.  They scored a try, they kept possession, they played wide, the were full of valour and they were stopped at the line near the end, just before the Wallabies scored their last try which made the result took more comfortable.

Australia led 17-10 at half-time.  Australia had more points, Scotland greater kudos.

The Scots were not just defensive, not at all.  They attacked.  They kept the ball.  They scored a try.  If there had been points for keeping the ball, the Scots would have led at half-time.

Getting to the goal line was not easy and the reward for persistence rather than individual ability.  Several times in the half they went through many phases but those were 15 vs 15 stages and it seemed that no Scot would be at an Australian.  But they did deny the Wallabies ball.

The Wallabies' best ball came from line-outs.  They attacked from each one of them, involving both wings each time.

The Scots scored first, after only four minutes, when Stephen Larkham was off-side.

The third Wallaby attack produced a penalty when Donnie Macfadyen came in the side.

Lote Tuqiri had a good run, slapping the ball back inside to keep the attack going but it ended in a scrum to the Wallabies close to the Scots' line.  A powerful Wallaby scrum won a tighthead.  Larkham did a strong dart and popped the ball to Wendell Sailor for a catch-and-dot try, Roff converted.  10-3 to Australia

It became 17-3 when the Wallabies attacked and little pass gave Tuqiri a catch-and-dot try in the corner, which Roff converted.

Then the Scots got their try.  They had to score twice to get it.  First Andy Henderson was over but just before then George Gregan had tackled the referee and, in a dubious decision, it became a five-metre scrum to Scotland instead of a try.  But, mercifully, from the scrum, Chris Cusiter darted over.  Parks converted, 17-10.

After Iain Fullarton had a great 20-metre charge, a clever pass to Paul Cannon to Joe Roff gave Tuqiri his chance to score the second of his tries.

Henderson had a great break but the movement died.  The Scots did get the next score when parks goaled a penalty.  22-13 after 62 minutes.

That was it for the Scots.

Morgan Turinui, a late replacement in the Australian aside for indisposed Matt Giteau, cut through some tentative tackling to score near the posts.  39-13 after 67 minutes.

Then the Scots attacked and the television match official could not see whether Tom Smith had grounded the ball and the Wallabies survived some keen Scottish attacking, started by a clever kick by Gordon Ross.

Instead the Wallabies got the last try when Chris Latham, at fullback, came charging up to put Joe Roff, playing left-wing, over in Cusiter's tackle.  Roff missed the conversion and the final whistle went.

Pigs did not fly at Telstra Stadium.  They did not really look like getting off the ground but they made a lot of runaway running in their effort to do so.  Not that anything insulting intended by referring to pigs.  You could substitute royal stags, if you liked.

Man of the Match:  There were many fine Scottish efforts, especially those of Chris Cusiter, Tom Smith and Andy Henderson.  Lote Tuqiri, so active, was great for the Wallabies and so was Brendan Cannon but our man of the match -- forget that silly missed penalty -- was Joe Roff whose every touch of the ball was meaningful.

Moment of the Match:  There was Ben Henshilwood's dumping tackle on Wendell Sailor, there was Nathan Sharpe's clever flip to Paul Cannon but out moment was a bit of cleverness at the line-out when Gordon Bullock popped the ball to Jason White who went on a long run which ended at the Wallaby line.

Villain of the Match:  It was a keenly played match played at less intensity than the day's earlier match in Auckland but with grand good manners -- no bad guys.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 13 Morgan Turinui, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Dunning, George Smith, Daniel Vickerman, Clyde Rathbone
Unused:  Matt Henjak

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Iain Fullarton, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Daniel Parks, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Hugo Southwell
Reserves:  Craig Hamilton, Jon Petrie, Gordon Ross, Craig Smith, Graeme Morrison
Unused:  Michael Blair, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  56143
Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Roff J.W.C. 1, Sailor W.J. 1, Turinui M.P. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 3
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 1

Scotland
Tries:  Cusiter C.P. 1
Conv:  Parks D.A. 1
Pen K.:  Parks D.A. 2

Australia 35 Scotland 15

If the crowd at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne came looking for a massacre, they would have left still thirsty for blood.  Australia beat Scotland 35-15, but the score does not reflect the determination of the tourists who asked some difficult questions of their hosts.

The injury-ravaged Scottish tourists were given exceedingly slim odds to get a result out here -- but their perseverance, temperance and outstanding forwards saw them go to the break only one point adrift.

Australia -- clearly ruffled by the manful Scots -- were outplayed at the set-piece and had immense difficultly reining in the Scottish raids around the fringes.

But thankfully for the partisan crowd, the Wallabies are blessed with a set of fine backs, and they located Scotland's jugular in the second half with some scything breaks orchestrated by skipper George Gregan.

Australia opened the scoring with Joe Roff slotting two penalties within the first nine minutes of play, and Scotland's goose looked well and truly cooked when centre Matt Giteau crossed for a well-worked try after 16 minutes.

But the tourists fought back, defending stoutly and surging up field with several impressive driving mauls to get within sight of the Australian posts -- and there they remained for the reminder of the half.

Under pressure, the Wallabies conceded four penalties -- all of which were converted by Scotland's Australian-born fly-half Dan Parks to leave the scores poised at 13-12 at the interval.

Australia hit back early in the second period when Tuqiri breached the Scottish defence after slick approach work, but Parks narrowed the deficit once again with another fine penalty.

Joe Roff then became only the fifth Australian to surpass 200 Test points with a penalty as the Wallabies superiority with ball in hand began to show.

Tuqiri dotted down his second try of the evening in the 63 minutes to leave the Scots 13 points adrift, and when Wendell Sailor plucking a poor Simon Webster kick out of the air to stroll home unopposed it was all over the tourists.

Despite the result, Scotland coach Matt Williams should allow his men a night on the beers.

After a doom-laden start to this tour, the positive approach they took into this game was highly admirable, and they were a number of pluses.

Fullback Hugo Southwell had an impressive debut, and their scrum and line-out work was immaculate -- and when they got near the Australian posts they came away with points.

Unfortunately, they still seem unable sustain the attack -- they put in all the good work, but fail to put the cherry on the top.  Should they learn to hold their nerve -- and find a game-breaking midfielder -- Scotland could soon win their place back at rugby's top table.

Man of the Match:  The Scottish pack showed grit, and Wallaby Clyde Rathbone had an exciting debut -- but the man of the moment was George Gregan who got his side moving with some shrewd distribution that was peppered with trademark reverse flicks.  Beautiful stuff!

Moment of the Match:  Scotland spent the day toiling upfield, only to self-destruct within sight of the line, allowing the Australians to counter from depth.  No where was this more painfully obvious than Australia's first try, when Gregan seized on a turn-over and send his men right down the middle of the park.

Villain of the Match:  There was a good old fashioned 30-man squabble in the second-half, and groundsmen probably deserve a kicking for a pitch that resemble the floor of a sports hall.  But this award goes to Australian coach Eddie Jones for his unsporting remarks about Scotland fly-half Dan Parks prior to the game.  Parks responded with a 100 percent kicking display.  If that's a bad player, we'd love to see a good one!

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 George Smith, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Clyde Rathbone, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Dunning, Daniel Vickerman, Phil Waugh, Morgan Turinui

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Daniel Parks, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Hugo Southwell
Reserves:  Michael Blair, Iain Fullarton, Jon Petrie, Gordon Ross, Craig Smith, Graeme Morrison, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  38222
Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Sailor W.J. 1, Giteau M.J. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 2, Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 3

Scotland
Pen K.:  Parks D.A. 5

Argentina 50 Wales 44

Wales scored more points against Argentina than they have ever scored before, and Argentina scored more points against Wales than they have ever scored before.  The Pumas' more was bigger than the Welsh more and Argentina won 50-44 at Estadio del Atletico in Tucuman on a sunny Saturday afternoon before a boisterous crowd who saw an amazing second half.

If the match had been a meal the trifle would certainly have come after a stodgy main course!

Nobody could have said that Wales would have been in with a chance of victory after being down 50-23 after 68 minutes -- nobody except the Welsh players who kept on playing and scored the next 21 points.  It may well have been a victorious 28 but for a knock-on as they strove for victory.

There was one try, a barging effort in the first half, ten in the second.  Ten!

The match threatened to be inordinately long.  After long, slow anthems the first half went long, and largely slowly, petering out after 47 minutes when Felipe Contepomi goaled his fourth penalty goal to make the score at the break 19-9 to the Pumas.

Contepomi nearly opened the scored after half a minute when Wales passed from the first scrum and he intercepted to race thorough to score, but the referee ruled a knock-on.

Wales also had their moment with an "almost" try when Shane Williams gathered a wayward pass and went off to the goal-line, but Colin Charvis was penalised for off-side.

Passes that went astray were typical of the half -- and so were penalties against Charvis.  There were three, the third earning him a yellow card at a time when the score was three kicks each.  Nine-all.

As Charvis went off, the Pumas tapped and captain Gonzalo Longo, upright, surged over the line as little Ceri Sweeney did his best to stop him.

The referee referred the matter to the television match official for a lengthy look with umpteen re-looks before deciding that Longo had indeed scored.

The Welsh had actually had the best chances to score in the match.  Where the Pumas tended to bash they were happy to scatter passes on the run.  Their best attack was a counterattack.  They went down the right.  Then spun it left till Duncan Jones of the burning bush was tackled five metres from the line on the left wing.  From the scrum Charvis charged at the line.  Another two five-metre scrums ensured.  Then the Welsh were held up over the line and there was another five-metre scrum.  They went right but José María Núñez Piossek did a sharp bit of in-tackling and the Pumas turned the ball over to clear.

The Welsh came back on the attack and Haldane Luscombe dived over in the corner -- in vain as there had been a forward pass.

Fullback, Hernán Senillosa, claimed a fair catch.  This was advanced when Dwayne Peel interfered.  Felipe Contepomi launched a long, high up-and-under which, athletically, his brother Manuel caught.

After that cumbersome half on the greenish-brown field with its confetti fringe, the Pumas cut loose.  From the Welsh kick-off the locks burst down the tight, the ball went left and Lucas Borges surged over far out via some splendid passing under pressure.  24-9.

From the kick-off the ball went loose.  Borges snapped it up and raced the long race to the posts.  31-9.

The Pumas came back.  The ball bobbed about behind their forwards.  Felipe Contepomi scooped it up, ran through the Welsh pack, thumped Luscombe away in a hand-off and scored.  38-9, and the second half was only six minutes old.  The Pumas had doubled their score in six minutes.

The Welsh were not done.  Dwayne Peel tapped the second of two penalties in quick succession and darted over near the posts for the first Welsh try.  38-16.

The Pumas mauled strongly.  The ball came back quickly and outside centre Martín Gaitán came sweeping round to score.  43-16.

From this point on both aides made as many substitutions as they had players, and the game became even looser.

Gavin Henson ran strongly, Tom Shanklin ran strongly and then Michael Owen popped a pass to Jason Forster, who scored.  43-23.

The Contepomi twins worked an elegant scissors for Manuel to sire under the crossbar.  50-23.

Wales tapped a penalty, Duncan Jones charged and Colin Charvis scored easily under the bar.  50-30.

The Pumas attacked but when a pass went astray near the Welsh line Shane Williams gathered and went speeding away.

Then replacement Nicky Robinson had the best centre break of the match and sent Sonny Parker over.  50-37 after 76 minutes which included injury time.

In injury time Shane Williams darted on the left.  Luscombe had come from the right and chose a different angle and a path to the posts.  5-44 and the Welsh were a goal away from victory, but the Pumas managed to squeeze out the remaining scrap of injury time.

It was a remarkable match.

Man of the match:  Michael Owen, Dwayne Peel, Gavin Henson and the darting duo of Shane Williams and Rhys Williams were stars for Wales.  For the Pumas Patricio Albacete and Felipe Contepomi had fine matches but our choice was Matías Albina for his energy, speedy service and decision-making.

Moment of the match:  The twins' scissors.  It was perfect in its execution.

Villain of the match:  I suppose it was Colin Charvis of the yellow card.  While he was off the Pumas scored a try and twice destroyed the Welsh scrum.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Rodrigo Roncero, 4 Patricio Albacete, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Martin Durand, 7 Lucas Ostiglia, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia (c), 9 Matias Albina, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Lucas Borges, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 13 Martin Gaitan, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Hernan Senillosa
Reserves:  Pablo Bouza, Pablo Cardinali, Eusebio Guinazu, Lucio Lopez Fleming, Jose Orengo, Martin Schusterman
Unused:  German Bustos

Wales:  1 Duncan Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Brent Cockbain, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Colin Charvis (c), 7 Jason Forster, 8 Michael Owen, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Gavin Henson, 13 Sonny Parker, 14 Haldane Luscombe, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Gethin Jenkins, Nicky Robinson, Tom Shanklin, Mike Phillips, Darren Morris
Unused:  Jonathan Thomas

Attendance:  15000
Referee:  Courtney d.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Gaitan M. 1, Contepomi M. 1, Borges L. 2, Contepomi F. 1, Longo Elia G.M. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 4
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 4

Wales
Tries:  Luscombe H. 1, Parker S. 1, Peel D. 1, Charvis C.L. 1, Forster J.A. 1
Conv:  Henson G.L. 5, Henson G.L. 3

New Zealand 36 England 3

New Zealand gave England a lesson in total rugby in Dunedin, recording an awe-inspiring 36-3 victory over the world champions.  Some might venture to think that the proper world order has been re-established after that "blip" in 2003 -- and on today's evidence they could be right.

Indeed, this win is the biggest defeat by any reigning Rugby World Cup champion, eclipsing South Africa's 28-0 defeat to the All Blacks in 1999.

If fans had been looking forward to this game, their excitement paled in comparison to the enthusiasm shown by the All Blacks, who tore into the bewildered tourists with abandon.

The wily mind of new All Black boss Graham Henry paid immediate dividends with New Zealand opting to call England's bluff and take them on at their strongest point -- the pack.

Clearly not one of England's army of back-room analysts had envisioned the opposition having the gaul -- or ability -- to tussle with the hulking English forwards, and the tourists were visibly stunned by the sheer cheek of the home side.

In the blitz that ensued from the very first second of play, New Zealand forced the English off the ball, upset their line-outs, and generally got up their noses at the break-downs.

England -- who were clearly banking on forward domination -- could not cope with the sheer ferocity of the New Zealand onslaught, and failed to impose structure to their game.

With England unable to get their mitts on the ball, tempers got the better of them, and a few tantrums during the first half will surely give the citing officials plenty to chew over.

A lot has been made of the absence of fly-half Jonny Wilkinson from England's cause since the Rugby World Cup, but in the pressure cooker of Carisbrook they missed the iron-will of Martin Johnson, their former leader.

With the world champions desperate for leadership and a calming word, Lawrence Dallaglio chose to substitute his furrowed brow for a dumb-struck gaze, and the England's skipper's only words of advice were directed at the match officials.

Still, none of this should take away form the brilliance of the All Blacks.  Whilst England plodded along making elementary mistakes, New Zealand were all verve and passion -- incredible when you consider that they have not played together for over seven months -- astounding given the fact that they are under new management and a new captain.

The home team made a mockery of both the damp conditions and England's fabled defence by running in three tries in the first half via fly-half Carlos Spencer, and wingers Joe Rokocoko and Doug Howlett.

Dan Carter showed that the "new" New Zealand can be methodical as well as magical by nailing all his kicks to add 21 points to the home side's admirable total.

In contrast, all England could muster was a single penalty by fly-half Charlie Hodgson.

Carter opened his side's account with a penalty, but England appeared to have weathered the early cyclone when Hodgson answered back in the 13th minute to score England's only points of the game.

But just two minutes later the All Blacks moved the ball neatly down the line with Spencer releasing Howlett before looping round the wing to touch down in the right corner.

Soon enough, another brilliant All Blacks counter-attack ended when flanker Richie McCaw fed Rokocoko after a dazzling display of inter-passing between forwards and back, and the big wing cut inside some flailing English arms to score a converted try.

Howlett crosses for his side's third and final try in the 32nd minute after a straight-forward move of a scrum combining captain Tana Umaga and the outstanding back three of Mils Muliaina, Howlett and Rokocoko.

Carter converted and added two further penalties to leave England 30-3 adrift at half-time.

England coach Sir Clive Woodward tried to injected some new blood into his weary-looking side, sending on Joe Worsley for Chris Jones and Steve Borthwick for Danny Grewcock.

The visitors managed to hold their own for the majority of the second half, but -- with a cushion of 27 points -- the All Blacks began to indulge their adoring fans with a series of adventurous moves that looked pretty but failed to worry the English unduly.

But given the standards this crop of All Blacks has set themselves, a few more outings should be enough to allow them to iron out even the most minor imperfections in their game.

England, on the other hand, have plenty to think about ahead of the second Test in Auckland on Saturday.

Man of the match:  Many contenders for this award, and all New Zealanders -- although England fullback Josh Lewsey once again showed immense heart.  Chiefs flanker Jono Gibbes had an outstanding debut, but Joe Rokocoko is the hero of the hour -- grabbing his 18th try in only his 13th Test is no mean feat, but he showed a great deal of maturity and his defence was impeccable.

Moment of the Match:  The opening five seconds set the tone for the game, with England left stunned by a Joe Rokocoko break from the kick-off, gliding past three tacklers to immediately put England on the back-foot -- and there they remained.

Villain of the Match:  Perhaps the most full-bloodied game of the past year -- and what a spectacle it made!  The ferocious early exchanges saw Danny Grewcock -- sent off on the same ground in 1998 -- and All Blacks prop Carl Hayman exchange punches, with Simon Shaw also swinging his handbag a little later on.  But we bring Ben Cohen to trial for deciding to have a whinge at referee Jonathan Kaplan after England WON a penalty in front of the post with the scores standing at 17-3.  The decision -- quite correctly -- was immediately reversed.  You what, Ben?

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Keith Robinson, 6 Jono Gibbes, 7 Richie McCaw, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Nick Evans, Marty Holah, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock, Sam Tuitupou
Unused:  Jerry Collins, Byron Kelleher

England:  Trevor Woodman, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Chris Jones, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Andy Gomarsall, Mark Regan, Joe Worsley, Stuart Abbott, Steve Borthwick, Matt Stevens
Unused:  Olly Barkley

Attendance:  36000
Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Rokocoko J.T. 1, Spencer C.J. 1
Conv:  Carter D.W. 3
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 5

England
Pen K.:  Hodgson C.C. 1

Samoa 3 Scotland 38

Coach Matt Williams experienced his first Test win at the helm of Scotland, after his charges thumped Samoa 38-3 at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.  The win will undoubtedly do wonders for the tourists confidence ahead of their first Test against Australia next weekend.

Going into the match Scotland had won just three of their last 12 Test matches and in 2004 the struggling Scots had failed to win a match.  Their tour of Australia got off to a dismal start with a 41-5 loss against the Queensland Reds -- Australia's weakest Super 12 franchise -- while a win against the largely amateur NSW Cockatoos in a mid-week clash was hardly worthy of praise.

But against Samoa the Scots showed the type of resolve that has been lacking in past performances and their defence in particular showed a great deal of improvement.

It was Samoa who took the lead early with a penalty by fly-half Roger Warren and his boot put the hosts in control in the opening exchanges.

But the visitors were soon on the attack and by the break they were in control.

Two penalties by fullback Chris Paterson and a try to fly-half Gordon Ross shortly before half-time saw Scotland lead 11-3 going into the second-half.

The visitors kicked into second gear immediately after the restart when prop Bruce Douglas was stopped just short of the line, but Ross found centre Ben Hinshelwood out wide and the latter went over for his maiden Test try.

Paterson failed with the conversion, but he soon made amends by slotting his third penalty to put his side 19-3 ahead.

Scotland began to turn the screws starting with a half-break by Debutant winger Sean Lamont, flanker Donnie MacFayden then drove it forward before talented loose forward Ali Hogg was bustled over for Scotland's third of the match.

Samoa began to fall off the pace as the Scots had the game all but won -- Williams began to send the reserves on and replacement fly-half Dan Parks sent winger Simon Webster over in the corner with six-minutes remaining.

Edinburgh scrum-half Mike Blair, who had replaced Chris Cusiter, then compounded the Samoans' misery as he broke from the base of a ruck -- adding salt to bleeding wounds -- to run in a try in the final minute of the game.

The win will undoubtedly do wonders for the team's morale -- Scotland have been waiting for eight months for a Test victory -- and for the moment Williams can enjoy the fruits of his labour and sweet taste of success.

But with Australia just around the corner the former Leinster coach cannot afford to bask in the glory for too long.

The Teams:

Samoa:  1 Tamato Leupolu, 2 Jonathan Meredith, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Leo Lafaiali'i, 5 Opeta Palepoi, 6 Ulia Ulia, 7 Siaosi Vaili, 8 Semo Sititi (c), 9 Steven So'oialo, 10 Roger Warren, 11 Lome Fa'atau, 12 Brian Lima, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 15 Tanner Vili
Reserves:  Simon Lemalu, David Lemi, John Senio, Kitiona Viliamu, Michael Von Dincklage
Unused:  Mussolini Schuster, Loleni Tafunai

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Gordon Ross, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Chris Paterson (c)
Reserves:  Michael Blair, Iain Fullarton, Daniel Parks, Jon Petrie, Craig Smith, Hugo Southwell, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  13000
Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers:

Samoa
Pen K.:  Warren R. 1

Scotland
Tries:  Hinshelwood B.G. 1, Webster S. 1, Ross G. 1, Hogg A. 1, Blair M.R.L. 1
Conv:  Paterson C.D. 1, Parks D.A. 1
Pen K.:  Paterson C.D. 3