Wales warm up in style

All Blacks await simmering Welsh

Wales look in fine form for their match against New Zealand next week, after they beat Canada 61-26 at the Millennium Stadium on Friday, scoring nine tries.

It suffered from being a foregone conclusion and yet there was still fun as both sides adopted a positive approach to the game and ran with the ball.  The Canadians were earnest, the Welsh striving to give the impression that they were hanging onto their structures.

But at anthem time when you looked down the Canadian line they looked so boyish compared to the rugged Welsh -- made more boyish because Mike James and Jamie Cudmore were playing club rugby in France.  They could have done with them.

When you looked down the lines during the Welsh anthem you saw Sonny Parker.  Gavin Henson was a last-minute withdrawal -- for "injury".  It was not a manly injury like a hamstring or ligaments somewhere.  Henson could not be that ordinary.  It was an ingrown toenail, proving the fragility of his humanity.

Rain threatened Cardiff and so the roof was closed.  The Canadians wore red and so Wales played in a jersey that was not quite white, perhaps ivory, perhaps steel, as the sponsors insisted on calling it, but their numbers were red.

Bless Wales's rugby folk!  Last week when Romania played Scotland there were 12 128 spectators at Murrayfield.  This week at Millennium Stadium there were 74 022 spectators to watch Canada and Wales.

Canada scored first when Australian James Pritchard, sometimes a fly-half but today on the wing, goaled a penalty when Ian Evans was penalised for coming in the side.  He goaled another two penalties in the first half and flyhalf Derek Daypuck slotted a left-footed drop when a penalty set Canada attacking.

Wales did not kick at goal once.  They tapped, they kicked for touch and they took a scrum as they went in search of inevitable tries.

The first came after six minutes as they attacked following a tapped penalty.  Ryan Jones got to the posts but Canada won a great turn-over only to have the clearing kickpartially  charged down by Dwayne Peel.  Wales attacked on the left and James Hook dropped the pass straight onto his boot to thread a perfect grubber through the defence for a try for captain, Gareth Thomas who was celebrating his 90th cap for Wales.

Shane Williams got the next when Wales went through many phases and the left wing danced between two props and then clean past two defenders on a run of some 30 metres to score at the posts.

Canada had a good opportunity to score when Pritchard, wearing 11 but playing on the right wing, ran and chipped.  Dwayne Peel was tackled out at the corner but Canada lost the five-metre line-out They had three more of those in the second half but then Wales did not contest, looking instead to defend the maul -- not all that successfully as Canada scored two tries.

Shane Williams set the next try going somewhere in Wales's 22 and down the field they went switching and changing angles and passing happily amongst themselves till hooker Matthew Rees enjoyed scoring the try.  When Wales took a five-metre scrum instead of a penalty they shoved Canada to smithereens.  The Canadians broke out of the scrum and the referee awarded a penalty try.  And all the time James Hook kept converting, missing just one of the nine tries Wales scored.

At half-time Wales led 28-12.

It threatened to become a rout early in the second half when three tries took the score to 47-12.  The first was scored by Peel when Wales split a line-out and threw deep to Jonathan Thomas.  He played back to Peel who burst through for a simple try.

After first Gareth Thomas and then Mark Jones had lost the ball over the line, Jonathan Thomas got two tries.  The first came when Peel broke wide from a five-metre scrum and played back inside to him.  The second came as the Canadians fell off many tackles till eventually they ran out of tacklers altogether.  That was the conversion which Hook missed.

Penalties brought the Canadians to a six-metre line-out and then a five-metre line-out and then one of the Fletch twins, Dan, plunged over for a try.  From far out Pritchard, whose goal-kicking was immaculate, converted.

The rhythm of the match was disrupted by numerous substitutions going into the final 20 minutes, but when Martyn Williams collected a stray Canadian pass in the Welsh 22 he started a move which ended with a clean break and a jink by replacement Ceri Sweeney for a try.

Canada came to within a few metres of the line when replacement Justin Mensah-Coker broke going right.  Canada kept on the attack, thanks to penalties, and eventually Mike Pyke came off the left wing to take an inside pass and plunge over with six minutes left to play.

After Sweeney had kicked a cross-kick dead Pritchard tried a quick drop-out near touch.  He played inside where there were two Canadians and a good chance of scoring.  But Tom Shanklin got the pass and went off for an easy try, which Hook converted to give Wales its highest score against Canada.

Man of the Match:  The most obvious candidates, in ascending order, were Ian Evans, James Hook, Martyn Williams, Dwayne Peel and our Man of the match Shane Williams.  There was a frisson of excitement every time the ball went his way and he did not disappoint when he got it.

Moment of the Match:  The whole move that led to Matthew Rees's try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.  As referee Tony Spreadbury said to Ian Evans with ten minutes to go:  "I've got cards in my pocket and I've not been anywhere near 'em, it's not been that kind of game."

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Thomas G., Williams S., Rees, penalty try, Peel, Thomas J.  2, Sweeney, Shanklin
Cons:  Hook 8

For Canada:
Tries:  Pletch D., Daypuck
Cons:  Pritchard 2
Pens:  Pritchard 3
Drop goals:  Daypuck

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (c), 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Dwayne Peel,  8 Ryan Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Robert Sidoli, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Lee Byrne.

Canada:  15 Ed Fairhurst, 14 Mike Pyke, 13 Ryan Smith, 12 David Spicer, 11 James Prichard, 10 Derek Daypuck, 9 Morgan Williams (c),  8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Stan McKeen, 6 Mike Webb, 5 Mike Burak, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Forrest Gainer, 2 Mark Lawson, 1 Kevin Tkachuk
Replacements:  16 Pat Riordan, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Stu Ault, 20 Aaron Carpenter, 21 Ander Monro, 22 Justin Mensah-Coker

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

England plumbing record depths

Argentina conquer Twickenham and leave England rock bottom

Argentina made their most emphatic statement yet that they should be competing in meaningful competition after beating England 25-18 at Twickenham on Saturday.

While the Pumas were in seventh heaven, England's seventh consecutive defeat heaps the pressure on Andy Robinson, who marched tight-lipped to the dressing room as the final whistle blew with boos ringing in his ears, and the knowledge that England must beat the Springboks next week to avoid overseeing England's worst ever run weighing on his mind.

The sounds of Twickenham were interesting.  There was an early silence as people remembered the war dead, for these two countries, no doubt, those involved in the Falklands/Malvinhas War.  Then there was the singing of the anthems, Land of Hope and Glory and Sweet Chariot.  And then there was a long period of desultory noise, growing quieter as the Pumas put pressure on England.

Much of the match was played to a mutter.  And then at the end, there was booing.  Surely it is rugby's ugliest sound, made even more ugly when local folk boo their own players.

There were also two contrasting faces -- the grim visage of Andy Robinson and the glittering glee on the face and in the eyes of Agustín Pichot as his victorious troops made a circle around him - victorious in the arena of Twickenham for the first time ever.

It was not a match to make a great noise about except for Paul Sackey's moment of genius, a jewel set off all the brighter by the dull foil around it.

It was a match of many, many errors -- mainly by England.  The Pumas dominated the early part of the match, enjoying the better of possession and territory, but the only try they got, well into the second half, came from an interception of a novice's pass.

Against the All Blacks, novice Anthony Allen gave the pass that Joe Rokocoko intercepted.  This time it was Toby Flood's pass that set sartorially elegant Federico Todeschini running 60 metres or so for a try -- the try that sank England.

It was not the slender Todeschini's only contribution.  He also kicked penalties, and England conceded several of them.  He was brought on early for Gonzalo Tiesi with Felipe Contepomi shifting to inside centre.  Todeschini's goal kicking was as impeccable as the creases in his shorts.  Mind you, the creases did not last, the kickking did.

England actually scored first when Charlie Hodgson kicked a penalty after just three minutes for a tackle infringement, but Hodgson did not last the game.  With the Pumas leading 12-10 early in the second half he was replaced by Flood, the lanky 21-year-old from Newcastle Falcons.

It was a big call -- a hard one for the young man who gave the wonky pass not long afterwards and then with the score at 19-18 hooked the conversion which could have given England the lead.  It was hard for the young man.

The first break of the match was by centre Miguel Avramovic and probably should have led to a try.  It did yield a penalty against Allen for being off-side and gave Contepomi an easy kick to level the scores.

England were spreading the ball but to little effect.  The Pumas played it closer but were sharper.  Juan Martín Hernández, with a chip and gather, produced a situation which could also have led to a try.

Then England started to get more and more into the match.  A break by Allen down the right should have produced a try but the young centre entirely ignored Ben Cohen open on his outside.  Jamie Noon had a promising moment but grubbered harmlessly into the in-goal.

Then came the try as England countered left and then went right where Paul Sackey was in an outside centre position.  He sped ahead, took the outside gap past Pichot, came back inside and then left Hernández sprawling on the deck as he sped past him for his first try for England in his second official Test.

It was a jewel of a moment.

England led 10-3 with seven minutes to half-time, but in that time Todeschini goaled two penalties and England led just 10-9 at the break.  Just one point and not a convincing one either, but it did have the glory of Sackey's try.

When Lewis Moody was penalised for going in at the side of a tackle/ruck, Todeschini goaled from far out and near touch.  Argentina led 12-10.  They never lost that lead.

They went 19-10 up when Todeschini intercepted, but England looked to be about to score when Pat Sanderson broke and fed Cohen but the big wing was caught from behind by new cap Esteban Lozada.  But there was a penalty soon afterwards and Flood kicked his first points for England.  19-13 with 21 minutes to go.

Seven minutes into the half, Pete Richards had replaced Shaun Perry at scrum-half after the Bristol man had found Puma pressure hard to deal with -- Puma pressure and Sanderson's difficulty in controlling ball at the back of the scrum.

Richards set England's second try in motion.  He tapped a penalty inside his own half and there was Ian Balshaw cutting inside, brushing aside Pablo Gomez Cora and swerving off down the field on a run of over 60 metres, swerving past Todeschini to score in a good position.  19-18 with 18 minutes to play, but the groans as Flood missed the conversion forebode the disaster to follow.

England became increasingly frantic in those 18 minutes while the Pumas stayed calm and effective.

When Sanderson lost the ball at the back of a pressured scrum and then held on, Todeschini made it 22-18.  When Julian White was penalised for loitering, Todeschini made it 25-18 with seven minutes to go.

England had two penalties in quick succession when the Pumas dropped mauls.  The second gave them a line-out five metres from the Puma line but they forsook the traditional maul to play the ball back to substitute hooker Lee Mears and the Pumas held.

England attacked going right but still the Pumas were there, controlled and strong -- and then England lost the ball at a tackle and Pichot picked it up.  As cool as you like he wandered nonchalantly away from the tackle and then hoofed a long ball down into England territory.  There were the just 34 seconds to go.

When time was up, a hooter sounded -- a first for Twickenham.  When England knocked on, the final whistle went and the Pumas had won.  Also a first for Twickenham.

Man of the Match:  For the Pumas there was the smooth skill of Juan Martín Hernández and the effective boot of Federico Todeschini but it would be proper to name Agustín Pichot, captain of Argentina and marshall of his courageous troops.

Moment of the Match:  There was certainly Paul Sackey's try and the desperate thrill of Federico Todeschini's intercept but our moment of the match was the sight of Agustín Pichot, with the calm of a saint-philosopher as he came away with the ball to kick it miles downfield.

Villain of the Match:  None, but in Rome Brendan Cannon got a yellow card for the sort of temper tantrum that earned Ben Cohen and Mario Ledesma a smile.  There did not seem much to separate the three slaps.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Sackey, Balshaw
Con:  Hodgson
Pens:  Hodgson, Flood

For Argentina:
Try:  Todeschini
Con:  Todeschini
Pens:  Contempomi 2, Todeschini 4

England:  15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon,12 Anthony Allen, 11 Ben Cohen,10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Shaun Perry, 8 Pat Sanderson, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry (captain), 5 Ben Kay, 4 Danny Grewcock, 3 Julian White, 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Stuart Turner, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Pete Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Josh Lewsey.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernández, 14 Jose Nuñez Piossek, 13 Miguel Avramovic, 12 Gonzalo Tiesi, 11 Pablo Gomez Cora, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Omar Hasan, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Albert Vernet Basualdo, 17 Martin Scelzo, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Martin Schusterman, 20 Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Horacio Agulla.

Referee:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Peter Allan (Scotland)
Assessor:  Dougie Kerr (Scotland)

All Blacks wreak havoc in Lyon

France silenced by the Men in Black

New Zealand recorded a terrific win over France, on Saturday with the visitors comprehensively beating their hosts 47-3 at a rain-soaked Stade Gerland in Lyon.

There were enough sporting/rugbying clichés attached to the build-up to this match to create a useful little lexicon of phrases for commentators and journalists to use in the future.  In the aftermath, we may well be able to create a second reference volume covering hyperbolic expressions of inadequacy.

The match started badly, not helped in the slightest by referee Stuart Dickinson's insistence of imposing his authority when there was no need to do so.  The whistle often came far too early in the first ten minutes, and the teams looked uninterested.

One scrum alone took up two minutes and twenty seconds as the front rows slipped on the soccer surface, while the previous two minutes -- the first of the game -- had been marked by kicking of the most ordinary order.

The French displayed one tactic throughout the match, and one tactic alone.  In their own half they kicked, and the nearer they got to the New Zealand half, the higher the trajectory of the kick.

In New Zealand's half, they would either kick wider or even higher.  On the rare occasions they got a line-out in the French half, they would drive a maul.  This facet was by far the most positive and encouraging aspect of their play.  It didn't yield a try -- indeed it only truly came close once, and by that time the score was 37-3 to the visitors.

Once Sitiveni Sivivatu had jinked past Aurelien Rougerie and brushed off Julien Bonnaire for the first try, the French just didn't want to know.  Damien Traille, faced with the All Black wall of defence, suddenly looked every bit a panicking novice fly-half, and as a result, he held on to the ball far too long -- that is if he wasn't kicking.

Not one of the backs stood deep enough to help out the ball carrier, not one of the forwards looked for the offload out of contact.  Runners ambled into their tacklers, where they were knocked back time and time again, and often on their own.

Shortly before half-time, the French scrum disintegrated completely, gifting the All Blacks their third try (the second had come from a fudged line-out).  It was the second scrum of five they lost against the head in the first half, an unforgiveable statistic at this level.  In the second half, les bleus fought gamely for the five minutes it took New Zealand to score a fourth try, and thereafter they just shuffled around from ruck to maul to hanging-kick landing-spot, heads down, shoulders drooped, heels dragging ... they just looked plain weary and bored.

It is quite important, that last bit, for there will be many who point at the ludicrous volume of rugby many of the players have been asked to play in the opening part of this season.  Twice since August the Top 14 has featured midweek fixtures, meaning clubs play three matches in eight days.  Then comes the Heineken Cup, and in between all the French squad commitments, and all this on the back of what was barely a close season compared to other countries in Europe.

Bernard Laporte will have his French team together non-stop during the Six Nations as a result, but I doubt he would have wanted success in November's Tests to be sacrificed as a result.  Burning out players is a hard mistake to rectify -- ask Andy Robinson -- and given the magnitude of favours in this regard Laporte has been afforded, his employers will have a right to angrily enquire what, precisely, is going on?

Fittingly then, the match ran as many Top 14 matches have run this season.  Once the favourites had enough of a lead, they were quite content to pick off the mistakes made by their pretenders and just soak up the pressure the rest of the time.  It made for a largely tired and uninspiring game, played in the greyest of drizzles.

It also led to some peachy tries.  Sivivatu's opener was a fine solo effort in itself, and McCaw's second owed as much to the thigh-pumping driving skills of Ali Williams after he had seized up the dropped line-out ball, as it did to the hesitation in the French tackles caused by the two white lines (the soccer goal-line was clearly visible half a yard behind the try-line making some occasions confusing).

The third try was also a fine example of clinical finishing, with superb handling from Rodney So'oialo, McCaw, and Piri Weepu all combining to send Carter in -- and it could have been any of three men outside him.

The score was 23-3 at half-time, with Carter hitting only one conversion and adding two penalties, and France's three forlorn points coming from a Florian Fritz drop goal that slumped over the bar every bit as airily as the team wandered about the pitch.

For the first four minutes of the second half, the French flickered.  There was fight, drive, even innovation.  Yannick Jauzion suddenly reminded us he could slip a tackle.  Elvis Vermeulen threw his weight around -- he stood out for the French for much of the match.  The French got a penalty near the New Zealand line, and then stood around waiting for the ball and waiting for Dickinson to understand that all they wanted to do was tap and go -- a process which took some 20 momentum-sapping seconds.

They tapped, went, lost the ball, Ali Williams picked it up and then flipped the ball reverse-handed to Conrad Smith, who sprinted 80m for the fourth try.  Down went the French heads, never to rise again.

There were three more tries to tell you about.  Luke McAlister once again reminded us of his running abilities and improvisation with a 50m break, a hand-off of Julien Laharrague, and a cheeky pass behind his back to Joe Rokocoko for the fifth try.

Jerry Collins initiated the next, ripping the ball out of a tackle and spreading it over to the other side of the field via Williams to where Sivivatu was the lucky one of four potential scorers.

Then Byron Kelleher, who had so tortured France two years ago when New Zealand won 45-6 in Paris, broke around the fringe of a ruck, and passed the ball inside to Sivivatu, who then handed on to McAlister, who scored in the corner.  It was so simple.  But it was way way beyond anything the French could offer.

France are now under pressure to at least make a fist of things in the rematch next weekend, and not only to save some face.  It will not have escaped the notice of the French faithful that their two heavyweight opponents in their Rugby World Cup pool in ten months' time, Ireland and Argentina, both looked decidedly tasty on Saturday, and another limp surrender will go a long way to dispelling any qualms they had about visiting the French next year.

Man of the match:  Nobody French!  For New Zealand, Rodney So'oialo had a better than average game, busying himself in the loose, and Ali Williams acted like a flanker at times.  But the finesse and jaw-dropping moments came from the wing, where Sitiveni Sivivatu gave a masterclass in finishing and line-breaking skills.

Moment of the match:  There were plenty of isolated moments of wonder from the men in black, but we will plump for a dummy and break by Sivivatu late in the first half, a move which took him some 40m untouched through the centre of the field.

Villain of the match:  No villains here, nobody seemed interested enough most of the time.

The scorers:

For France:
Drop goal:  Fritz

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Sivivatu 2, McCaw, Carter, Smith, Rokococo, McAlister
Cons:  Carter 3
Pens:  Carter 2

Yellow cards:  Pelous (France, 24 min)

France:  15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Damien Traille, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements:  16 Raphaël Ibañez, 17 Olivier Milloud, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 21 David Marty, 22 Cédric Heymans.

New Zealand:  15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Rodney So’oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams, 4 James Ryan, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Chris Masoe, 20 Byron Kelleher, 21 Ma'a Nonu, 22 Malili Muliaina.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland Simon McDowell (both Ireland)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Ireland make light work of heavy Boks

Impressive Irish put South Africa to the sword

Ireland underlined their Rugby World Cup credentials by notching up a handsome 32-15 victory over South Africa at Lansdowne Road in Dublin on Saturday.

The margin did not flatter Ireland, who weathered an initial storm, and then produced phases of devastating running to blow away the South African resistance far more effectively than the wind that whipped into the tourists' faces during the conclusive first half.

It was a Test match for South Africa to commemorate 100 years playing in the Springbok jersey, but the Boks of yesteryear will surley be turning in their graves after the visitors appalling display.

South Africa never once had a stranglehold on the game that was marred by too many silly penalties, heaps of turnovers and ruined opportunities.

Not taking anything away from a superb Irish performance that left the former world champions scratching their heads for the majority of the match.

It was well noted in the build up to the match that this would not be the Boks strongest team ever, but if this was a test of South Africa's squad depth with the a Rugby World Cup just around the corner, Bok coach Jake White should have a lot to worry about.

The match started off well enough for the visitors, after some great running rugby off their first touch of the ball found them in the Ireland 22 and, better yet, a shot at goal.

After brilliant running off the ball from forwards and backs alike, Ireland's big number eight Denis Leamy was blown for hands in the ruck.

This must have been a relief to South Africa fly-half Andre Pretorius, who had fluffed a drop-goal attempt with an overlap shouting for the ball.

The No.10 struck the ball well enough for the gust of wind to bring the ball inside the left hand upright for the side's three points in as many minutes.

First blood to the Springboks, but it would be the first and the last time the visitors would score in that half.

With barely two minutes gone after the restart, Ireland came back strongly with an incredible burst into the Bok 22 that had the visitors scrambling back in defence.

Ireland fly-half Ronan 'O Gara popped the ball up to a flying Andrew Trimble off his left wing in the midfield, only for the young star to burst through two attempted tackles and score the first try of the match.

The pace and power of Trimble had the Lansdowne Road crowd standing on their feet, as the failed Bok defenders struggled to get back on theirs.

O'Gara made no mistake with the conversion and Ireland had an early four point lead.

South Africa certainly weren't deterred by the early five-pointer and carried on with their ambitious play, only to be let down by an unfortunate forward pass that had the Ireland defence on the ropes.

The Bok debutants certainly didn't have time to get themselves setteled into the fast pace of the game, and the nerves stood out on more than on one occasion from the influx of Ireland attacks.

Balls that were left to bounce when they should have been taken on the first attempt, caused unnecessary pressure on the new boys.

Passes that should have been made were instead kicked into the hands of the opposition who eventually punished them for their bad option taking.

A perfect example came when new Bok Bevin Fortuin kicked into the hands of Gordan D'Arcy, only for the giant centre to run back at the South Africans and earn his side a penalty for the South Africa big men not rolling away in the tackle.

O'Gara slotted the easy penalty to extend the lead for his team.

It was at this moment of the match that the floodgate opened for a barrage of Ireland attacks that left the Bok defence in sixes and sevens.

Not even Fortuin's high tackles could stop the electric pace of Trimble, who was once again involved in a superb attacking display for his country.

As the Bok midfield tried to contain the Ulster winger, Ireland scrum-half Peter Stringer spotted flank David Wallace floating unmarked on the touchline.

All Wallace had to do was catch the long, floating pass and use his speed to take him to the open tryline.

He did just that as he rounded off a superb try from some great vision from Stringer.

O'Gara was unfortunate not to nail the conversion as he had two attempts to do so.

The wind blew the ball off the kicking tee on the fly-half's first approach, only for O'Gara to try again with a drop-goal but to no avail.

Again the Irish were knocking on the South Africa's try-line door, but a shoddy pass resulted in Wallace failing to go over for his second after knocking on.

The visitors came close a few minutes later, after some well worked tactical kicking from Pretorius saw the Boks end up just five meters from the Ireland try-line.

The hosts were lucky not to be given a penalty try against them after countless offences on their line.

South Africa must have really been hoping for some luck of the Irish to come their way after yet another silly mistake in the ruck saw Ireland awarded with a penalty to clear their lines.

Amazingly enough, the Boks somehow found themselves scampering back again in defence as the Irish got used to the sloppy tackling from the visitors.

However, South Africa number eight Pierre Spies threw in the tackle of the game as he saved a certain try from none other than Trimble again.

The tackle set up a line-out five meters from the Bok line, but the big men failed to win their own throw and were forced to defend their line.

The Irish forwards made some good work from high quality ball and it took a stretched out arm from prop Marcus Horgan to dot the ball down on the stroke of half-time.

O'Gara made sure of the conversion and Ireland had a more than comfortable lead at half-time with the scoreline standing at 22-3.

The second half started well for the home team, just as they ended the first with the entire Ireland XV piling on the pressure.

The visitors match performance was clearly summed up after it took South Africa prop CJ van der Linde to clear the Bok tryline after the ball was turned over on an early Irish attack.

The second half wasn't nearly as close to the pace of the first and it took a good piece of work by flank Danie Rossouw in the Bok midfield to send wing Francois Steyn over to score on debut.

At last, South Africa had something to shout about, but Pretorius soon put that to rest after a sloppy conversion attempt.

O'Gara certainly didn't give the visitors much time to work on their comeback after nailing a beauty of a conversion from far out.

At 25-8, the game looked well done and dusted.

South Africa didn't seem to think so and the earlier try-scorer Steyn put in a wonderful pass to speed merchant Bryan Habana to race past two Ireland defenders for a brilliant touchdown.

With six minutes left on the clock, any hope of a miraculous Bok comeback was ruled out with another Ireland try to wing Shane Horgan in the corner.

That surley was the final nail in the Springbok coffin, or at least we thought so.

O'Gara rubbed the defeat in the Bok's noses by slotting another flawless kick on the right-hand touchline to end the match 32-15.

South Africa heads dropped as Ireland fans cheered their team on in what was a game full of Irish flair and heart.

Another reason the Irish could celebrate was the daunting number of records broken.

This included the highest winning margin, the most amount of tries scored and the biggest result scored against their southern hemisphere rivals.

Man of the Match:  A couple of Ireland players can take a well earned bow for this one.  In the forwards, Denis Leamy was outstanding with his brute strength on the charge, whilst Paul O'Connell was superb in the line-outs and in loose play.  The backline were phenomenal all night, and the Ireland team owe their victory to tremendous play from scrum-half to full-back.  But we agreed on giving the prize to centre Gordan D'Arcy for his wall-like defence and attacking flair that tore the Bok midfield in half.

Moment of the Match:  It has to be Trimble's opening try in the first five minutes of the game that signaled big things to come for the rest of the Test match -- and it certainly did!

Villain of the Match:  The whole Springbok team should earn a nomination for their uninspiring performance through the majority of the match.  But otherwise no red or yellow cards were issued.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Trimble, Wallace, Horan, Horgan
Cons:  O'Gara 3
Pens:  O'Gara 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Steyn, Habana
Con:  Pretorius
Pen:  Pretorius

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordan D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Neil Best, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Frankie Sheahan, 17 Bryan Young, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Simon Easterby, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy.

South Africa:  15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 Jaco Pretorius, 13 Bryan Habana, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Francois Steyn, 10 Andre’ Pretorius, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Danie Rossouw, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Lawrence Sephaka.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Jacques Cronjé, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 JP Pietersen.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match official:  David Changleng (Scotland)

Australia made to sweat by Azzurri

Late try seals Wallaby win

Australia captain Stirling Mortlock scored a late try to seal a narrow 25-18 win fover Italy at Stadio Flaminio in Rome on Saturday.  The Wallabies outscored the home side by three tries to none, but six penalties by fly-half Ramiro Pez kept the Azzurri in the hunt and the heat on the visitors.

The Australians were made to sweat and at times made to look very ordinary by an Italian team that deserved more than they got on the day.

It was a game in which the Wallabies' shortcomings were exposed like never before -- their suspect scrum was destroyed by the powerful Italian pack on a number of occasions and they also struggled to contain the impressive Italian mauls.

But the biggest flaw in the Australian game is that they offered very little other than their predicable phase play, which the Italians found relatively easy to defend against.

If you want to know where the tries came from -- well one was a bad Italian tap in the line-out, the other a great bust up the midfield from Wycliff Palu and only one of the three came from sustained phase play.

But enough about the Wallaby shortcomings -- let's talk about the Italian performance.

They have an awesome pack, which will hold its own in any competition.  Their line-outs may not be so flash, but they will get enough from this phase if they can concentrate for 80 minutes.

And it was those momentary lapses of concentration that probably cost the Azzurri the game.

The early passages were controlled by the Italians, who took the ball up strongly and moved it from side to side.

They were soon rewarded for their efforts, when the Australians were penalised and hooker Brendan Cannon yellow carded for what seemed a harmless push.

Fly-half Ramiro Pez pushed this effort wide, but he slotted the next three -- in the fifth, 11th minutes and 15th minutes -- to give his team a handy 9-0 lead.

The Wallabies had their chances, but they were squandered rather amateurishly -- once Chris Latham dropped the ball over the tryline.  They were prone to handling errors and as the scoreline suggested they were heavily penalised.

Australia finally got onto the scoreboard in the 21st minute, following a rare passage of sustained ball control, and captain Stirling Mortlock wasted no time in slotting the penalty to narrow  the gap to 9-3.

But the Australian scrum, which has been under pressure, crumbled in the 24th minute as the Italians just marched upfield.  The mess of a scrum soon turned into an Italian, penalty, which Pez duly slotted.

The Australians finally got their hands on the ball and put a few phases together, before fly-half Mat Rogers slipped over for a great try in the 27th minute.  The decisive pass came from inside centre Stephen Larkham, who drew the defence as Rogers looped around.

Mortlock added the conversion and kicked a penalty six minutes later -- following another period of sustained pressure and phase play -- for the Wallabies to take the lead for the first time.

But the Italians were not done yet and right on the stroke of half-time, as they marched upfield with another impressive maul, they were awarded a penalty -- which Pez slotted to regain the lead, 15-13 at the break.

The Australians were first to score after the break, but it was a fortuitous score -- with an Italian line-out going badly wrong, the tap finding a charging Guy Shepherdson, who just flopped over for the try.  Mortlock added the conversion to make it 20-15 in favour of the Wallabies after 44 minutes.

Pez had a chance to narrow the gap six minutes later, but he pushed a relatively easy shot at goal wide of the upright.  But he slotted one from a similar distance and angle in the 56th minute, to narrow the gap to 20-18.

But the crucial score came from the Australians in the 70th minute, with captain Stirling Mortlock going over for a great try, following a powerful midfield run by No.8 Wycliff Palu.  But Mortlock couldn't add the conversion, leaving the backdoor open for the Italians at 25-18.

The Italians tried bravely, but the Wallabies hung on to the end for a hard-earned win.

Man of the match:  You can look at Italian fly-half Ramiro Pez for his great goal-kicking, or even the front row of Martin Castrogiovanni, Carlo Festuccia and Andrea Lo Cicero for their powerful scrummaging performance.  No.8 Sergio Parisse also had a strong performance, as did his Australian counterpart Wycliff Palu.  Stephen Larkham and Mat Rogers had their moments, but out award goes to the captain Stirling Mortlock and it is not just for his match-clinching try.  As usual he put his body on the line for his country.

Moment of the match:  It simply has to be Stirling Mortlock's 70th minute try, not only because it sealed the win, but also for Wycliff Palu's great midfield bust.

Villains of the match:  There were two yellow card  -- Brendan Cannon for punching and Lote Tuqiri for a professional foul.  But Lote Tuqiri deserves the award on his own.  He was involved in off the ball stuff far too often.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pens:  Pez 6

For Australia:
Tries:  Rogers, Shepherdson, Mortlock
Cons:  Mortlock 2
Pens:  Mortlock 2

Yellow cards:  Brendan Cannon (Australia, 3 mins -- punching), Lote Tuqiri (Australia, 79 -- professional foul)

Italy:  15 Gert Peens, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Pablo Canavosio, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9  Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Carlos Nieto, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Andrea Scanavacca, 22 Walter Pozzebon.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Steven Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Mat Rogers, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Al Baxter.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Nic Henderson, 18 Alistair Campbell, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Mark Gerrard, 22 Cameron Shepherd.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Scotland uproot stubborn Oaks

Romania undone by energetic Scots

Scotland coach Frank Hadden tasked his men to "smash" their first opponents of the November series, and they duly delivered, notching up a 48-6 victory over Romania at Murrayfield on Saturday.

But the final scoreline flatters the Scots who were outmuscled up front and forced to rely on the superior organisation of their backline and the fine support-running of their loose forwards.

Hadden's tenure began with a 39-19 win over the Oaks in Budapest in June of last year, and this result in Edinburgh tells us a little bit about Scotland's recent development.

There were encouraging signs from Scotland's clutch of debutants and the side's new-found desire to probe the gaps was nothing if not admirable.

Yet there are still plenty of areas that need to be worked on before they meet the Romanians in Pool C of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

But it's hard to expect a group of men to hit the heights when just 12,000 of their compatriots make the effort to come and support.  Is a tenner for a ticket really too much to ask?

It was a game of contrasting style with the visitors determined to draw their hosts into a pitched battle and the Scots keen to avoid contact and spread possession wide.

Scotland were full of confidence from the off, refusing two kickable penalties as they went on search of a try to kick off proceedings.

The Romanians repelled an early attack but the home side eventually broke their opponents' resistance in the 14th minute when Johnnie Beattie crashed over for a debut try after Scotland captain Jason White had attracted the attention of three tacklers.

Phil Godman, handed a first start at fly-half, successfully added the conversion but Romania fullback Florin Vlaicu replied with a penalty to leave the score at 7-3 at the midpoint of the half.

Scotland immediately hit back, Hugo Southwell outpacing centre Catalin Dascalu on the outside before chipping over Vlaicu and collecting the ball to slide over for his sixth international try in the 21st minute.

Romania were penalised at a scrum five minutes later and White invited Godman to kick the straightforward penalty to move Scotland 15-3 ahead.

Southwell extended Scotland's lead to 17 points when he dived over in the same corner for his second try of the match in the 36th minute after a fine break from the base of a ruck from scrum-half Mike Blair.

But the half ended on a sour note for Scotland as White was stretchered off with a leg injury to be replaced by a third debutant, David Callam.

Scotland had fielded almost an all-Edinburgh backline, with Northampton's Sean Lamont the odd man out, and three of the capital side's players combined for the fourth try of the match six minutes into the second period.

Godman darted inside before feeding Simon Webster who in turn spread it to Dewey and he became the second debutant to cross for a try when he fended off two tacklers to skip over and move his side further ahead.

Vlaicu kicked a second penalty to double his side's tally while an event of more significance occurred in the 55th minute when James Hamilton replaced Nathan Hines to become the 1,000th player to be capped by Scotland.

Godman then got in on the try-scoring act when he skipped over for his first in international rugby after good work from Webster and Southwell.

Hooker Dougie Hall followed suit with his first try for Scotland in the 65th minute after the Edinburgh man was sent clear by a clever pass from replacement Chris Cusiter.

Cusiter, having to be satisfied with a role from the bench since Hadden took over and installed Blair as his scrum-half, danced over for Scotland's seventh try of the game following a slick handling move with replacement Chris Paterson to the fore.

Webster almost cut through with seconds left but was ankle-tapped to deny Scotland the chance to finish the game in style by bringing up their half-century.

Romania must take comfort from their strong start and the ability of their big forwards.  But this is not the Romania of old.  Argentina's quest for playmates is currently hogging the headline, but Europe have a needy -- perhaps moribund -- relative on their own doorstep.

Scotland deserved the win, and they deserve plaudits for accepting Romania's request for a game -- it is the only one the Oaks managed to get this November.

Man of the match:  Romanian's big forwards, hewn from the abrasive surrounds of France's Top 14 league, put in a terrific performance.  For Scotland, new boys Johnnie Beattie and Rob Dewey impressed, Phil Godman directed operations well and Simon Webster was his usual industrious self.  Mike Blair's constant sniping took the wind out of Romanian sails and Chris Cusiter enjoyed his returned to Scotland colours when he came off the bench for the final quarter.  But our man of the match is Hugo Southwell who has developed into a world-class performer; it was his penetrating running that uprooted the Oaks.

Moment of the match:  Perhaps Johnnie Beattie's try on debut -- or rather the composure of his father, John, in the BBC's commentary box, allowing himself a brief "good support work from Beattie" before breaking off.  The entry of James Hamilton, who became the 1,000th man to play for Scotland, will also live long in the memory.  But in terms of Scotland's development, perhaps the key moment was when Jason White was stretchered off just before half-time with what looked like a serious knee injury.  We wish him well.

Villain of the match:  Not much aggression in this encounter -- perhaps too little from Scotland's pack.  Romania wing Gabriel Brezoianu took a swing at the giant frame of James Hamilton, but we'll let him off -- Hamilton hardly noticed!

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Beattie, Southwell 2, Dewey, Godman, Hall, Cuister
Cons:  Godman 4
Pen:  Godman

For Romania:
Pens:  Vlaicu 2

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Craig Smith, 19 James Hamilton, 20 David Callam, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Chris Paterson.

Romania:  15 Florin Vlaicu, 14 Gabriel Brezoianu, 13 Catalin Dascalu, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Ioan Teodorescu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Cosmin Ratiu, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Sorin Socol (c), 3 Bogdan Balan, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Petru Balan.
Replacements:  16 Razvan Mavrodin, 17 Ion Paulica, 18 Cezar Popescu, 19 Valentin Ursache, 20 Alexandru Lupu, 21 Ionut Tofan, 22 Csaba Gal.

Referee:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Tim Hayes (Wales)

Wales storm past the Islanders

First-half blitz enough for the Welsh

Four first-half tries were enough to see Wales home to a 38-20 victory over the Pacific Islanders at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, but this error-ridden game never quite lived up to its billing.

Before play started at the Millennium Stadium both captains laid wreaths as a sign of respect for Remembrance Day, but sadly this game fizzled out and will not live long in the memory for either side.

The Pacific Islanders set their stall out from the first minute, opting to run from deep inside their own territory in true island style but rarely made inroads.  Wales in contrast played with composure and showed glimpses of the flair their opponents were looking for.  Four tries in the first half for the Welsh, when the Islanders looked rusty, was enough to secure the win that was expected from them.  The disappointment was their failure to build on a strong position in the second half.

It was evident in the early exchanges that the Pacific Islanders had only been together for a week, but as the game progressed they started to find their rhythm and began to cause Wales problems with their pace and width.  If they are to be taken seriously as a side then they need to be given the time together to prepare for fixtures, for partnerships to gel and for an understanding to develop.

That said they were the architects of their own downfall in the first half when they played in the wrong areas and gave Wales two tries under the posts with easy intercepts.

Sweeney, controversially handed the kicking duties ahead of James Hook, set Wales on their way with a simple fourth minute penalty after the impressive Seru Rabeni hit Hook late and high.

They continued to exploit the Islanders lack of organisation after quick phase ball was moved wide to Mark Jones who finished superbly.  Faced with fifty meters and two defenders between himself and the line he stood up Latu before scorching down the line to score in the corner.  Sweeney added a tricky conversion from the touchline.

Looking to play with too much width from every possible chance, the Islanders increasingly began to turn over possession to Wales, who, marshalled by Mike Phillips and Ceri Sweeney, controlled play astutely.

To play Test rugby at this level you need to play yourself into the game, a concept that escaped the Pacific Islanders, as they coughed up two intercept tries to Hook and Lee Byrne respectively, trying to live up to their reputation of a free-running side.

Sandwiched in between those two gifts Sonny Parker showed Wales what they have been missing of late with a searing break into the Islanders' 22 before sending Kevin Morgan in by the posts.

For all the flair and pace the Islanders boasted it was the power and muscle of their physical forwards that yielded their opening score, Justin Va'a crashing over in the corner after a smart line out move.

Half-time was a welcome relief for a tired looking Islanders side, who for all their endeavour were failing to live up to their billing.  They were hardly helped by the lack of possession from set piece, as Sidoli and Owen pulled their line-out to pieces.

Whether Wales realised they had the game wrapped up, or the Islanders began to find their form, the second half was a different story.  For starters the Islanders outscored Wales, and on top of that they looked to be the more lively side and were rewarded for their persistent adventure with tries from Seilala Mapasua and Kameli Ratuvou.

Wales did find their form briefly in the second half, scoring the try of the game through Ceri Sweeney.  The move started deep inside their own 22 from another turnover.  Alix Popham read the situation well feeding Sonny Parker on the inside to inject pace into the move.  Mark Jones was in support and would have scored himself but for a superb last ditch tackle.  As it was Ceri Sweeney was on hand to cap a fine move, one their opponents would have been proud of.

Both sides will be able to take enough positives from the game to be happy, although neither side found the form they would have been looking for in a game that ultimately was won and lost by half-time.

Man of the Match:  For the Pacific Islanders captain Simon Raiwalui never gave up and was always on hand to lead the way, along with the impressive Nili Latu.  For Wales Kevin Morgan again showed his true class and Mike Phillips was busy at scrum half.  But back in the side for the first time in a year Sonny Parker was often the key in defence and attack.

Moment of the Match:  The two moments that stood out were the intercept tries scored in the first half.  Had it not been for them the Islanders may have been in touch going into half time, as it was they gifted Wales fourteen points and the game.

Villain of the Match:  None -- all good clean family fun.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  M Jones, Hook, Morgan, Byrne, Sweeney
Cons:  Sweeney 5
Pen:  Sweney

For the Pacific Islanders:
Tries:  Va'a, Mapasua, Ratuvou
Con:  Pisi
Pen:  Pisi

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Lee Byrne, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 James Hook, 11 Mark Jones, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Alix Popham, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Alun Wyn Jones, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Michael Owen, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones (c).
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Gethin Jenkins, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Gavin Evans, 22 Shane Williams.

Pacific Islanders:  15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Seilala Mapasua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Moses Rauluni, 8 Hale T-Pole, 7 Semo Sititi, 6 Nili Latu, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Simon Raiwalui (c), 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Census Johnson, 18 Ma'ama Molitika, 19 Epi Taione, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Seremaiai Bai, 22 Kameli Ratuvou.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Rob Debney (England)
Television match official:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assessor:  Dick Byres (Australia)

All square in Cardiff thriller

Disappointing end to exciting match

In an anti-climactic end to a terrific match, Wales and Australia opened the November international season with a 29-all draw at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

After the Welsh had clawed their way back from 17-6 down after 20 minutes to lead 26-17, tries by Chris Latham and Cameron Shepherd took the Wallabies 29-26 ahead, but James Hook -- on for Stephen Jones and delivering a flawless performance -- kicked a nerveless penalty to level the scores.

Hook then had the final play of the match, a superb touch-finder to Australia's corner, but referee Steve Walsh then blew for the end of the match, leaving the Welsh scratching their heads and wondering about the time-keeping once again.

What a great day for rugby football!  A great game on a great field before a great crowd -- a grand occasion.  The sun certainly shone in Cardiff, literally and metaphorically.  And the irony of it was that at the end there were two disappointed sides.  Two.

Perhaps what the great New Zealander Tom Pearce famously said -- "drawing is like kissing your sister" -- applied here.

The Wallabies were disappointed, for they wanted a win and after 30 minutes a Wallaby win seemed the only possibility.  And in the end they scored four tries to two, which suggests a winning effort.  The Wallabies always looked more likely to score tries but as their ill-discipline gave Wales chances so Welsh lapses gave them tries.

The Welsh were disappointed as they came back to take a nine-point lead and then squandered it and yet that last kick of the match took them deep into the Wallaby 22, but there was no further play as the final whistle sounded.

It was a great game of concentrated effort by two skilful sides.  The attacking and defending were of a high quality.

Millennium Stadium is such a wonderful palace of a ground and yet the playing surface remains a problem.  It is unstable and may have had something to do with scrums that were wonky and players who slipped.  For the Wallabies the scrums remain a problem.  One of their collapsed scrums gave the Welsh three points for the penalty and near the end they were destroyed in a scrum within the Welsh 22 and Wales had the put-in to the subsequent scrums.

Line-outs on the other hand were good for the Wallabies as they took four off Wales.

The difference came in the penalties -- 9-4 in Welsh favour.  In the second half Wales were not penalised once.  Four of the penalties were naughty - stamping, punching, late obstruction and collapsing a maul.

But those are all such tawdry things.  There were the glittering jewels of passing and running, and six thrilling tries.  Six?  Yes, even Matt Giteau's was fascinating as he caught the whole of the Wales napping, strolled, jogged, darted, tapped and scored while Wales waited for a kick at goal.

The Wallabies experimented with a backline shuffle.  It certainly worked for Giteau who had a lively match at scrum-half while he was there, judging effectively, passing accurately if off steps, always testing the defence and kicking long.  Mat Rogers was fairly anonymous at flyhalf, which may not have been a great success.  Lote Tuqiri had some good moments at outside centre and Stephen Larkham did some useful things at inside centre.  But it was not an experiment that could be regarded as a great success.

After Wales had won the singing and the weird hairdos, the Wallabies kicked off to get the November Tests going, and for 30 minutes they were in the ascendancy.  Wales got only scraps of possession as the Wallabies went through their familiar phases.  Their very first passing movement had them at the Welsh line on the Wallaby left after an astonishing, left-handed pass by Larkham had found Cameron Shepherd who had come off his left wing to be far out on the right.  The attack yielded three points from a penalty when Tom Shanklin was off-side, but Wales were probably grateful that it was only three.  They were probably astounded that it became 3-all when they went into Wallaby territory for the first time and Rodney Blake was penalised at a tackle.

On 12 minutes the Wallabies got the first try as they went through phases and then came back to their left when big Wycliff Palu surged through a gap and powered on till Kevin Morgan bravely stopped him.  But the Wallabies were bashing at the line till they passed flat to their left.  Mat Rogers flicked a dummy and they got a clever pass to Shepherd who was over.  Giteau converted well.  10-3.

When Blake was penalised at a collapsed scrum, spiky and tanned Gavin Henson kicked a magnificent penalty from a long way out and at an angle.  10-6, a score which flattered Wales.

Three minutes later Giteau got the try.  The referee played advantage on the Wallaby right as play petered out wide on their left.  Giteau saw the chance, tapped, darted, dived and scored far out.  He converted.  17-6 after 20 minutes.

It took the Wallabies 38 minutes to score again.

Shortly after Giteau's try, Welsh captain Stephen Jones went off with a twisted knee to be replaced by young James Hook, who proved that not only an old hand has a cool head.

The Wallabies had some good moments when Latham grubbered and when Vickerman broke.  Giteau missed with two kicks at goal, the second hitting the upright.  But it was Wales who scored.

Suddenly they got possession as they kept the ball in hand, possession begetting possession and their try when it came was a splendid one.

From a scrum Shanklin was a decoy and Henson squeezed a pass to fullback Morgan who switched with shorn Shane Williams who scored far out in the corner.  Hook converted.  It was astounding to look up at the scoreboard and see 17-13 after such Wallaby domination.

But Wales were not done yet.  They came running at the Wallabies again and when Tuqiri was off-side, Hook made it 17-16, the half-time score.

The tackle situation throughout the match was well protected, the Wallabies more firmly, but the first turn-over at the tackle came to Wales in the second half.

They also got the first points when Shane Williams chipped, chased and was impeded by Larkham.  Hook goaled and a miracle seemed imminent as Wales went ahead 19-17 with 29 minutes to play.

Wallaby hands wobbled in this half and when it happened a second time Shanklin kicked on and the Wallabies were forced to scamper in defence.  Stephen Hoiles, on for Palu, got back and fell on the ball, but it squired from him back into the Wallaby in-goal where Martyn Williams delighted himself and whole of Wales by scoring a try.  It was farish out but Hook converted.  26-17 with 23 minutes to go.

That lasted just on a minute.  It may have been that comfort produced relaxation  but suddenly Giteau, now at centre with Larkham off injured, cut clean through and sent Tuqiri racing for the line.  He looked certain to score but Shane Williams felled him.  But the Wallabies were at the line.  They went left and Shepherd forced his way over for his second try.  26-24 with 22 minutes to play.

They nearly scored again when Wales won a defensive line-out and made a regulation maul.  Suddenly Rocky Elsom burst out of the maul and looked about to score but three Welshmen banged at him and he lost the ball forward for a scrum to Wales -- an excellent scrum as they surged forward on their own ball.

The Wallaby try was the result of an aberration.  Morgan received the ball inside his 22.  He had time and space.  The touch-line was not far away on his left.  Instead he chose to kick a long diagonal to his right where one of the world's best counterattackers, Chris Latham was waiting.

Latham got the ball on the half-way line, not far from touch and started running.  He ran for 50 metres, beating four Welshmen who would stop him as part of a threadbare defence and over he went in the left corner.  Giteau missed the conversion but the Wallabies were winning with 15 minutes to play.

With nine minutes left Al Baxter was penalised for collapsing a maul and cool Hook kicked the penalty goal which drew the match.

The last nine minutes were thrilling but scoreless, though it took Matthew Rees's fingertips to grab Stepehen Hoiles from behind and prevent a possible try.

It was astonishing that when the final whistle went on this great encounter, some people booed.  It may have been an anticlimax but not a bad one.  But once again, the Welsh were left confused at the whistle, when they clearly expected another play where the whistle blew.  What is it with the Welsh and stadium clocks ... are we to coin the phrase a Welsh minute?

Man of the Match:  There were Dwayne Peel, the Williamses Martyn and Shane, Ian Gough Jonathan Thomas and James hook -- at least those.  There were Matt Giteau.  Daniel Vickerman and, our man of the match, Chris Latham for Australia.  Latham was everything he could have been on defence and attack.  Australia have a whole lot to thank him for.

Moment of the Match:  All the tries in their different ways but our choice is Chris Latham's 50m burst for a score.  He is always looking for a try.

Villain of the Match:  There was nothing bad enough to be described as villainy, but interestingly in view of the recent instruction on stamping by the IRB was the penalty -- and only that -- against Nathan Sharpe for doing just that early in the match.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  S Williams, M Williams
Con:  Hook w
Pens:  S Jones, Henson, Hook 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Shepherd 2, Giteau, Latham
Cons:  Giteau 3
Pen:  Giteau

Teams:

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Gareth Thomas, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones (captain), 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Ian Gough, 4 Ian Evans, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Gavin Thomas, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 James Hook, 22 Mark Jones.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham (vice-captain), 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Stephen Larkham (vice-captain), 11 Cameron Shepherd, 10 Mat Rogers, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Daniel Vickerman (vice-captain), 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Rodney Blake, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Al Baxter.
Replacements:  16 Brendan Cannon, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Mark Gerrard, 22 Adam Ashley-Cooper

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss, Bryce Lawrence (both New Zealand)
Television match official:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)

Namibia get a leg up

Solid victory in Windhoek

In the first leg of their World Cup qualifier against Morocco, Namibia gave themselves a great chance of going to France next year when they beat Morocco 25-7 in Windhoek.

The victory means that the Lions of the Atlas will have to win by at least 19 points when the two teams meet in Casablanca on 11 November.

The winner of this two-legged qualifier, will go to France.  The loser goes into répechage and plays the loser of the two-legged qualifier between Georgia and Portugal for the right to play Uruguay and qualify that way.

From the start it was a game of contrasting styles.  The Moroccans wanted to play through their forward while the Namibians wanted to get the ball wide to their speedsters.

After the Lions of the Atlas had started in fiery fashion, the Biltongboere got on top and after Emile Wessels had missed with a penalty attempt the Stellenbosch flyhalf goaled to give his side a 3-0 lead after 14 minutes.

The Moroccan forwards continued to dominate the line-outs and the loose where Namibia lost several turn-overs.  It was a physical battle.

Just before the break centre Lu-Wayne Botes grabbed a dropped pass and fed wing Guillaume Nel who raced ahead, drew the defence and gave to fullback Heini Bock who came dashing up on the outside.  Bock scored under the posts.

After the Lions had missed a second penalty attempt, Wessels goaled his second when the visitors were penalised for stamping.

Leading 13-0 the Biltongboere became their worst enemies when Irish referee Simon McDowell sent first scrumhalf Pieter Rossouw to the sin bin for a late tackle and then captain Kees Lensing joined him for stamping.  The latter decision incensed the home crowd.

Against 13 men the Lions drove hard at the Namibian line but the Namibians withstood attack after attack till the referee awarded a penalty try against them.  Thomas Garçia converted this time to make the score 13-7, and the home side was under pressure.  13 brave men withstood the onslaught and the big boot of Wessels drove the attackers back time and again, till at last the errant duo returned to the fray.

Namibia welcomed them back and it was the visitors' turn to defend, possibly dispirited by their failed attacks.

Quick ball from the loose enabled experienced Corné Powell to feed No.8 Jacques Burger who scored a try which Wessels converted.  20-7.

Just before the final whistle Botes chipped.  Replacement Rodger Thompson gathered, sidestepped and scored in the corner.

Scorers:

For Namibia:
Tries:  Bock, Burger, Thompson
Cons:  Wessels 2
Pens:  Wessels 2

For Morocco:
Try:  penalty
Con:  Garçia

Teams:

Namibia:  15 Heini Bock, 14 Guillaume Nel, 13 Lu-Wayne Botes, 12 Corné Powell, 11 Melrick Africa, 10 Emile Wessels, 9 Pieter Rossouw, 8 Jacques Burger, 7 Herman Lintvelt, 6 Tinus du Plessis, 5 Uakazuvaka Kazombiaze, 4 Heino Senekal, 3 Johannes Redelinghuys, 2 Johannes Meyer, 1 Kees Lensing (captain)
Replacements:  16 Morné Louw, 17 Gideon van der Berg, 18 Nico Genis, 19 Schalk van der Merwe, 20 Eugene Jantjies, 21 Rodger Thompson, 22 Adriaan du Plessis
Coaches:  Johannes Venter, Eden Meyer, Michael

Morocco:  15 Aziz Chahid, 14 Mounir Elhajji, 13 Eziyar Jawad, 12 Derraz Younès, 11 Boujouala Boubker, 10 Thomas Garçia, 9 Aissaoui Kamal, 8 Abdellatif Boutaty, 7 Mathias Garcia, 6 Hicham Housni, 5 Arif Hamid, 4 Hicham Laoni, 3 Samir Amechtane, 2 Jalil Narjissi (captain), 1 Mohamed Gouasmia.
Replacements:  Abdelkafi Abachri, Mounir El Hamzaoui, Mounir Jaoui, Karim Benherrou, Mohamed Loukrassi, Eziyar Hicham, Arif Nassim.
Coaches:  Bruno Barrero, Francis Was, Youssef Sridi

Referee:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Important win for Georgia

Lelos defeat Leones

In a vital World Cup qualifier in Tblissi Georgia beat Spain 37-23 on Saturday, thus keeping the Lelos' hopes alive of qualifying for the World Cup in France

The defeat has dashed Spanish hopes of repeating their 1999 success when they went to the World Cup.

There were some 10 000 spectators in the Lokomotivi Stadium, vocal in their support of the home side.

Spain actually scored first.  Two penalty goals by flyhalf Esteban Roqué gave the visitors a 6-0 lead after just ten minutes, but two tries in five minutes, both converted, put Georgia 14-6 ahead after 25 minutes.  For the first the forwards, expected to be the Georgian strong point, mauled over the line for a try by No.8 Besarioni Udesiani and the second was scored by prop David Zirakashvili, both converted by fullback Malkhaz Urjukashvili.

Roqué and Urjukashvili exchanged penalties to make the score 17-9 at half-time.  Two mistakes had cost Spain dearly, but there had been enough in the first half to give Spain hope.

Hopes were dashed early in the second half when Urjukashvili added another penalty when Óscar Astarloa was sent to the sin bin.  In his absence Georgia added a third try, by replacement prop Avtandil Kopaliani, to take the score to 27-9 and two minutes later added a fourth, by fullback Urjukashvili who had a good afternoon.  34-9.  Spain was buried.

Still the Lions fought back with two tries - the first by fullback César Sempere, the second by Juan González, the first converted by Sempere, the second by replacement flyhalf Andrei Kovalenco.  Inside centre Irakli Giorgadze completed the scoring with a dropped goal five minutes before the final whistle.

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Udesiani, Zirakashvili, Kopaliani, Urjukashvili
Cons:  Urjukashvili 4
Pens:  Urjukashvili 2
Drop:  Giorgadze

For Spain:
Tries:  Sempere, González
Cons:  Sempere 2
Pens:  Roque 3

Teams:

Georgia:  15 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 14 Besiki Khamashuridze, 13 Rezo Gigauri, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Giorgi Shkinin, 10 Otar Barkalaia, 9 Bidzina Samkharadze, 8 Besarioni Udesiani, 7 Zviad Maisuradze, 6 Rati Urushadze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Ilia Zedginidze, 3 David Zirakashvili, 2 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 1 Goderdzi Shvelidze.
Replacements:  16 David Khinchagashvili, 17 Avtandil Kopaliani, 18 Giorgi Nemsadze, 19 Shalva Sutiashvili, 20 Irakli Abuseridze, 21 David Kacharava, 22 Giorgi Elizbarashvili

Spain:  15 César Sempere, 14 David Mota, 13 Alvar Enciso, 12 Javier Canosa, 11 Rafael Álvarez, 10 Esteban Roqué, 9 Pablo Feijóo, 8 Oscar Astarloa, 7 ,Alfonso Mata 6 Rafael Camacho, 5 César Bernasconi, 4 Andrew Ebbet, 3 Javier Salazar, 2 Mathieu Cidre, 1 Miguel Burgaleta.
Replacements:  16 José Maria Bohorquez, 17 Ion Insausti, 18 Sergio Souto, 19 Juan González, 20 Facundo Lavino, 21 Andrei Kovalenco, 22 Ignacio Martín

Referee:  Peter Allan (Scotland)
Touch judges:  Graeme Hannah, Jim Yuille (both Scotland)

Portugal sneak in

Last-gasp victory in Lisbon

Portugal's hopes of going to France next year are still alive, thanks to a last-minute try over Russia in Lisbon.

Portugal now face Georgia who beat Spain.  If Portugal win that they will head straight for France.  If they lose that they have to go into répechage.  There they will play the loser of the two-legged qualifier between Namibia and Morocco and then, if they win that, Uruguay.

Russia can no longer qualify.

Russia went 23-16 up with 15 minutes to go but, as time ran out, Portugal scored the try which may yet send them to France next year.  The try came with Portugal trailing 23-19.  Lock Marcelo D'Orey broke brilliantly to send inside cengtre Diogo Mateus in for the try.

Russia started off in splendid fashion when they grabbed a dropped pass and centre Andrey Kuzin scored the try.  5-0 after just two minutes.

Gonçalo Malheiro, whose error had led to the try, then goaled a penalty.  5-3, which Viktor Motorin cancelled out with a penalty goal.

From the kick-off, Portugal got on top and good teamwork brought a try for right wing António Aguilar, converted by Malheiro to give Portugal a 10-8 lead at half-time.

The lead did not last long in the second half for near the beginning No.8 Vyacheslav Grachev burst through to score.  Two penalties by Malheiro and one by Motorin were followed by Grachev's second try and Russia led 23-16 with 15 minutes to play.

Those 15 minutes belonged to Portugal.  First replacement Duarte Pinto reduced the lead to 23-19, to be followed then by all the drama of the finish.

Scorers:

For Portugal:
Tries:  Aguilar, Mateus
Cons:  Malheiro, Pinto
Pens:  Malheiro 3, Pinto

For Russia:
Tries:  Kuzin, Grachev 2
Con:  Motorin
Pens:  Motorin 2

Teams:

Portugal:  15 Pedro Leal, 14 António Aguilar, 13 Miguel Portela, 12 Diogo Mateus, 11 Pedro Carvalho, 10 Gonçalo Malheiro,8 Vasco Uva, 9 José Pinto, 7 Paulo Murinello, 6 Diogo Coutinho, 5 Marcelo D’Orey, 4 Gonçalo Uva, 3 Joaquim Ferreira, 2 João Correia, 1 Cristian Spachuk or Rui Corderio
Replacements:  16 Cristian Spachuk or Rui Cordeiro, 17 Juan Severino, 18 Sebastião Cunha, 19 João Uva, 20 Luís Píssara, 21 Duarte Pinto, 22 João Diogo Mota or Gustavo Duarte

Russia:  15 Dmitriy Zubarev, 14 Mikhail Babaev, 13 Andrey Kuzin, 12 Konstantin Rachkov, 11 Vladimir Ostroushko, 10 Alexey Korobeynikov, 9 Viktor Motorin, 8 Vyacheslav Grachev, 7 Artem Fatahov, 6 Aleksey Sarychev, 5 Kiril Kulemin, 4 Sergey Sergeev, 3 Victor Zdanovich, 2 Roman Romak, 1 Alexander Khrokin,
Replacements (from):  Oleg Shukaylov, Vladimir Marchenko, Valery Fedchenko, Vladislav Korshunov, Aleksandr Shakirov, Yury Kushnarev, Sergey Belousov, Ivan Prishchepenko, Victor Gresev

Referee:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Spain win vital Czech encounter

RWC qualifier

On Saturday afternoon at the Josef Kohout Rugby Stadium in Ricany Spain beat the Czech Republic 33-12, an important win, especially away from home.

The second leg is in Madrid at the end of September.

The winner of this Europe Round 4 qualifier will go into Round 5 with Romania and Georgia.  The winner of that will go to the 2007 World Cup in France.  The runner-up will go into répechage.

On a pleasant if windy afternoon, Spain were always ahead, leading 13-0 at half-time thanks to two penalty goals by Esteban Roqué who also converted the try by Alfonso Mata five minutes before half-time.  Mata's try came from a maul started by prop Javier Salazar.

Early in the second half the Spanish Lions increased their lead to 20-0 with a try by scrumhalf Pablo Feijoo.  No.8 Óscar Astarloa tapped a penalty and sent Feijoo on a 60-metre run for the corner.

After the Czech coach had made several changes a try by Jiri Skall got the Czechs on the scoreboard.  Martin Kafka converted.

Esteban Roqué kicked two more penalties before Vaclav Jursik scored the Czechs' second try.  26-12.

Rafael Álvarez chipped, chased, gathered, beat two defenders and scored Spain's third try.

Scorers:

For Spain:

Tries:  Mata, Feijoo, Álvarez
Cons:  Roqué 3
Pens:  Roqué 4

For Czech Republic:
Tries:  Skall, Jursik
Con:  Kafka

Teams:

Spain:  15 César Sempere, 14 Juan Cano,, 13 Javier Canosa, 12 Alvar Enciso, 11 Rafael Alvarez, 10 Esteban Roque, 9 Pablo Feijoo, 8 Óscar Astarloa, 7 Alfonso Mata, 6 Rafael Camacho, 5 César Bernasconi, 4 Andrew Ebbet, 3 Javier Salazar, 2 Mathieu Cidre, 1 César Caballero.
Replacements:  16 Diego Zarzosa, 17 Ion Insausti, 18 Sergio Souto, 19 Cyril Hijar, 20 Igor Mirones, 21 Andrei Kovalenko, 22 Victor Marlet

Czech Republic:  15 Krejcí Tomáš, 14 Jursík Václav, 13 Rohlík Jan, 12 Kafka Martin, 11 Cí?ek Martin, 10 Snídal Martin, 9 Vítezslav Dosedla, 8 Miroslav Nemecek, 7 Ladislav Vondrášek, 6 Jirí Buryánek, 5 Jan Machácek, 4 Robert Voves, 3 Pavel Indrák, 2 Jan Oswald, 1 Lukáš Rapant
Replacements:  16 Jirí Skall, 17 Patrik Leroch, 18 Karel Kucera, 19 Martin Hudák, 20 Pavel Vokrouhlík, 21 Jaroslav Tomcík, 22 Martin Pachman

Referee:  Andrew Small (England)
Touch judges:  Rowan Kitt, Andrew Pearce (both England)
Match commissioner:  Klaus Blank (Germany)

Springboks finish on a high

Two tries to one seals win

The Springboks ended their 2006 Tri-Nations on a winning note, beating the Wallabies 24-16 on a sunny spring afternoon at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.  The South Africans outscored Australia by two tries to one.

Despite the win, the Boks still finish with the tournament's wooden spoon; Australia finish second.  These placing were a done deal even before the game, as was the competition for the Mandela Challenge Plate that the Wallabies had won with their two victories in Australia earlier in the tournament.

The match had its moments -- moments rather than passages of constructive play, melodious snatches in a pretty ponderous piece of music.

It was not quite the boring kickathon that the two teams produced when they last met in Sydney, although the first half promised to be a repeat as they kicked and kicked and produced a half-time score of 3-all -- a penalty apiece.  Not even the goal-kicking was much cop as the Wallabies missed two -- one by Stirling Mortlock and one by Cameron Shepherd and André Pretorius missed two.

In fact it was a match of many errors.  There were handling errors by both sides, the Wallabies guilty of forward passes when they looked scoring.  The Springboks managed four gross kicks out of hand.  Pretorius failed to kick a penalty into touch but kicked a good ball over the dead-ball line, and Jean de Villiers and Wynand Olivier both cleared poorly to touch.

There was a time in the second half when the Springboks were playing like men either drunk or recklessly playing Russian roulette with their historic invincibility at Ellis Park.  They were sloppy in the tackle and sloppy in their handling.

The Wallabies must have been glad there were not more scrums, because the truth is that they are still not good enough as they buckled.  And yet from two wonky scrums they managed good attacks as the Springbok forwards, intent on scrumming, locked themselves in.

Ellis Park was not full -- 51,174 spectators for the third Highveld Test in successive weeks as "grassroots" found the exercise financially withering.  But John Smit, the Springbok captain, whose Tri-Nations had threatened to be the most miserable of all time, was pleased -- pleased with the victory and with the support at Ellis Park, saying that the momentum a second victory gave his side was paramount, especially with the World Cup final just a year away.

The Wallabies did not leave Johannesburg empty-handed as they were given the Mandela Plate, courtesy of their two home victories over the Springboks.

The Wallabies had the first chance to score when they got a really good maul going and BJ Botha was penalsied for collapsing it, but Mortlock hooked his kick to the left.

There was a bizarre near miss.  Stephen Larkham, 40 or so metres out, chipped and Rocky Elsom chased.  Fourie du Preez was at the ball and went strolling back with it.  At the line it stopped, by which time big Elsom was bearing down on him and Fourie managed to push the ball down on the line for a five-metre scrum.  It was an incident which may well have deserved a conversation with the television match official.

In this early part of the match the Wallabies were much more threatening.  When the Springboks overthrew a line-out George Gregan was on hand to attack.  Pedrie Wannenburg conceded a penalty and Mortlock opened the score after 17 minutes.

After that, more and more, the Springboks got on top,.  They counter-attacked and Pierre Spies had a great break past Rodney Blake.  He gave a perfect past to Jaque Fourie who, Mortlock looming, played inside on a switch to Wynand Olivier who looked certain to score till Clyde Rathbone mowed him down from behind.  Gregan was on hand to get the tackle ball and Olivier was penalised for holding on.

The Wallabies tapped a penalty for obstruction and debutant JP Pietersen was hard pressed on defence.

After missing two penalties, Pretorius, who was not as much in control as he had been against the All Blacks in Rustenburg, goaled the third when Daniel Vickerman was penalsied at a tackle on the half-way line and five metres in from touch.

At half-time Breyton Paulse came on as a substitute for Akona Ndungane -- it turned out to be a significant substitution on vital defence and decisive attack.

From the kick-off for the second half, Rathbone caught the ball.  He evaded AJ Venter but not Os du Randt and conceded a penalty for holding on.  Pretorius made it 6-3 with an easy kick.

But the Wallabies were soon back in front when the Springboks went on a drunken wobble.  De Villiers gave a poor clearance but the Springboks won the line-out.  They then won a turn-over but Victor Matfield eschewed the option of a simple pass and went on a crazy run.  He then lost the ball.  Matt Giteau scooped the ball up and went left where the Wallabies had numbers.  Big Wycliff Palu cut inside with power and at the line gave Larkham an easy try, which Mortlock converted.  10-6 after 45 minutes.

When Vickerman was penalised for an air tackle at a line-out, Pretorius made it 10-9 but the Wallabies attacked.  They were knocked out near the Springbok corner-post.  A quick throw-in saw Paulse hoof the ball miles down the field where Latham had no angle and kicked out just outside the Wallaby 22.  From the line-out Pretorius dropped a perfect goal.  12-10 after 53 minutes.

Spies caught the kick off and raced down the touch-line on his right.  He had just Latham to beat but opted to grubbered and grubbered into touch.

At this stage the Wallabies made changes, bringing on Mark Chisholm and Mark Gerrard.  When the Springboks got a maul going, Chisholm was penalised for collapsing it.  Du Preez tapped and charged at the backpedalling Wallabies.  Through and past Palu, Jeremy Paul, Gerrard, Blake and Nathan Sharpe he went to force his way for a try.  Pretorius converted.  19-10.  Now the Wallabies had to produce something extra to win.  They could not.

Palu had a great break past Du Preez, Venter and Wannenburg from a scrum but Fourie got him in the nick of time, but the Springboks were off-side in the subsequent disarray and Mortlock made it 19-13.  after 59 minutes.

Larkham kicked a high ball on 20-year-old Pietersen who knocked it on many metres where Venter showed disregard for the laws of the game and played it, way off-side, Mortlock made it 19-16.

After Matfield had flung an impossible line-out take at Du Preez's feet Sharpe had a great run till Paulse tackled him.  The move developed but Paulse was back up to intercept and clear.  But it looked as if the Wallaby was in the ascendant.  The ascendant fizzled out.

Paulse was also involved in a great Springbok attack down the right with Pietersen showing wonderful handling skills but inside five metres from the Wallaby line, Spies lost the ball forward and Giteau cleared.

Back the Springboks came down the right with Pietersen and Matfield prominent -- Pietersen twice.  The ball went back to the right where slightly-built Paulse crashed between Gerrard and Larkham, stretched and scored a splendid try.  24-16 with seven minutes to play.

Both sides made changes in that short time but neither looked likely to score though George Smith did find time for a bit of gratuitous stamping.

Man of the Match:  Chris Latham's positional play and boom-boom boot were outstanding, Nathan Sharpe was excellent and Phil Waugh still stole ball, but the stars were probably Springboks -- again Pierre Spies, strong Os du Randt, Breyton Paulse for his cameo appearance and our Man of the Match staunch Fourie du Preez who is such a good footballer and such a good team man.

Moment of the Match:  There was not great sparkle in the match but our Moment of the match is Breyton Paulse's try, build-up and finish.

Villain of the Match:  A few fisty-cuffs and a little bit of tap-dancing, but nothing overly naught.  No award.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Du Preez, Paulse
Con:  Pretorius
Pens:  Pretorius 3
DG:  Pretorius

For Australia:
Try:  Larkham
Con:  Mortlock
Pens:  Mortlock 3

Teams:

South Africa:  15 JP Pietersen, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Wynand Olivier, 10 André Pretorius, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 AJ Venter, 6 Pierre Spies, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Johann Muller, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit, 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jacques Cronjé, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Breyton Paulse.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Cameron Shepherd, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (captain), 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Rodney Blake, 2 Jeremy Paul, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tai McIsaac, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 George Smith, 20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Mark Gerrard, 22 Scott Staniforth.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  Eric Darrière (France)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Pretorius penalty gives Boks a win

Losing streak ended at Royal Bafokeng Stadium

The Springboks ended their long-running losing streak with a nail-biting 21-20 win over the All Blacks at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on Saturday -- South Africa's first win of the 2006 Tri-Nations tournament.

The teams scored two tries each, but Pretorius landed a 78th-minute penalty to put the Boks into the lead, which they clung on for their first win since June.

It not only ended a five-match losing streak for South Africa, it punctuated New Zealand's 15-match winning run.

Wow!  Take common sense and form and reason and throw them all away when 15 men stand up and decide that that other 15 -- the best in the world, they say -- are also just 15 men and can be beaten.  Take a team beleaguered, belittled and befuddled and give them a chance to play rugby football with serious determination and throw predictions in the bin.

This is the glory of sport -- the upset.  This is the glory of sport -- rival against rival in nail-biting contest.

The Springboks had little going for them -- a dilapidated season, playing on a ground they had never played on before to rob them of the advantage of being in their own "country" and with a threadbare crowd that spent much of the match like a sedate crowd of cricket watchers at a five-day test.

Then when the crowd sensed the possibility of a Springbok victory they got right behind the Springboks.  After all just being there proved their loyalty to the cause.

After the match Mils Muliaina said that the Springboks deserved to win, and that would be fair.  There was just a single point in it and obviously the All Blacks could have won but this time the pressure told and they became uncharacteristic -- their handling unsure.  Their captain Richie McCaw said that they had become frantic and lacked the composure which instead the Springboks had.  Perhaps chasing records produces counter-productive pressure of its own.  Perhaps having nothing but pride to lose produces winning determination.

Problems for the All Blacks started at the line-out.  They lost six to the Springboks and threw one in skew.  That was telling, and this time the Springboks used the ball won far better than they had done in their previous four Tri-Nations matches.  When Jason Eaton came on the All Black line-out got onto an even keel but by then a lost line-out had given the Springboks their second try.

For their part the Springboks did what people had been imploring them to do -- play with the ball in hand and play wide, for the All Blacks may be great attackers out wide but they are not great defenders there.

At flyhalf André Pretorius set his men running and they attacked space.  It was his brilliant pass that sent Pedrie Wannenburg plunging for the try.

The much-questioned Springbok loose forwards did well enough.  Jerry Collins was great for New Zealand and Richie McCaw was the boss of the tackle but otherwise the Springboks were well and truly in the game.

It was a day to remember at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace outside the western town of Rustenburg with its platinum mine.  It was a day when the Springboks struck gold.

There was a time when it looked as if it was going to be the chaos of Springs in 1964 but the gates were thrown open to let the people in, just in time.  There were singable anthems, the controversial throat-cutting haka and then a gripping match on an outstanding playing surface.

In the first couple of minutes Wannenburg dashed up and thumped Doug Howlett to ground.  Then the Springboks played wide to their right but Akona Ndungane was penalised for hanging on.  Penalties continue to blight the Springboks game.  In this match the count was 12-10 against them and seven of their dirty dozen are for tackle/ruck offences.

South Africa scored first when Rodney So’oialo was penalsied for going into the side of a maul.  He was also the player penalised last, and that was the one that counted as Pretorius set up his ball on a sand castle, peaked out from under a boxer's eyebrow and goaled the vital, winning kick.

After Fourie du Preez kicked the ball away Aaron Mauger had a frightening break which suggested that Springbok defence was leaky indeed but from then on it was, as John Smit described it "alert".

Having kicked badly and having missed a tackle Du Preez then went into the side of a tackle and was penalised.  Carter goaled to make it 3-3 after nine minutes.

When Ali Williams for a sceond time interfered with a line-out jumper in the air, Pretorius made it 6-3 after 16 minutes.

Then the All Blacks scored one of those tries that they make look so incredulously easy.

From a line-out after a poor clearing kick by Pretorius, they went left with Joe Rokocoko coming in from the right wing and Howlett sprinting down the left to send Sitiveni Sivivatu running.  Back they came right where Chris Jack took Carter's pass, which may have been meant to be a skip pass, and the big lock charged at the posts.  He got a pass to Jerry Collins who would surely have scored if he had not let Carter do so.  Carter converted and the All Blacks led 10-6.

Was this the sign of things to come?  Hindsight answers that.

The Springboks responded almost immediately when So’oialo dithered and then passed to his right.  The pass reached Bryan Habana who did what he did so well last year -- intercepted and jogged off for a try under the posts.  Pretorius converted.  13-10 after 20 minutes.

The score stuck on that for 20 minutes till just before half-time when AJ Venter made an appearance in the match, falling on the tackle area to be penalised and enable Carter to give his side parity at 13-all at half-time.

Not that nothing happened in those 20 minutes:  Os du Randt went off with a cut head, Carter -- astounding to relate -- missed a penalty kick at goal.  Rokocoko set the All Blacks going left and right.  The Springboks won a turn-over and Matfield, in his favourite position of fly-half, grubbered into touch.  The Springboks won an All Black throw into a line-out five metres from their own line but Carter smashed Du Preez back for a five-metre scrum.  The All Blacks bashed and then lost the "use it or lose it" maul.  The Springboks cleared but not out and the All Blacks were counter-attacking with Jerry Collins breaking.  The All Blacks went over.  Andrew Hore grounded the ball under the Springbok posts.  The referee consulted the television match official, Hugh Watkins of Wales, and he advised that So’oialo had obstructed Jean de Villiers.  Instead of a try the All Blacks were penalised.

So’oialo did not have the sport of game he will want prominently in his memory bank.

The second half belonged mainly to South Africa.  Pretorius tried to drop at goal three times.  The first attempt was charged down and he missed the other two by substantial margins.

The Springboks attacked and Chris Jack intercepted but the big man lacked the legs to carry him 70 metres.

Then Collins counter-attacked and Ndungane intercepted well inside his 22, but Rokocoko mowed him down without the possibility of a try.

The Springboks now sent on Breyton Paulse and Ruan Pienaar.  Pienaar was at scrum-half this time and had a great 27 minutes.

The Springboks won an All Black line-out and went far left.  Then they came back right and Pierre Spies straightened for the line.  In straightening he took out three defenders.  The ball came back to the Springboks quickly -- Pienaar to Pretorius going further right.  Under pressure Pretorius got a perfect pass to Wannenburg who scored far out.  The conversion was missed.  Later that seemed a crucial miss.

Going left Muliaina slipped a perfect grubber behind the Springboks backs and into their in-goal area where Rokocoko got to the ball first and got it down for a try far out.  Carter's boot was true and the All Blacks led 20-18 with 14 minutes to play.

Pretorius did much to keep the Springboks in All Black territory as he probed the diagonals.  They also had the ball in hand and De Villiers looked to have got away but a great Carter tackle pulled him down.

The All Blacks were in Springbok territory on the Springbok left.  Howlett was penalsied for diving on Paulse, and Pienaar kicked the penalty down onto the All Black 22.  He kicked because Pretorius was having trouble with cramp and Butch James was off the bench and looking likely to replace him.  This was significant in the unfolding drama.

The Springboks won the subsequent line-out and the All Blacks were penalised.  Cramp forgotten, Pretorius's nerve and body held as he goaled the kick that made the score 21-20 to the Springboks.

There was 1 minute and 17 seconds left on the clock.

It was still not time to rejoice -- not against the All Blacks who can score from anywhere.

The Springboks got the kick-off and kicked the ball out.  The All Blacks got the ball from the line-out and attacked.  Felled in a tackle by BJ Botha, the great McCaw lost the ball forward.  It was a scrum to the Springboks.  Do or die.  The scrum fell down and was reset.  It fell again and the siren went.  The ball had to be fed into the scrum.  It fell again and had to be reset.  The Springboks won the ball.  Kick it out and the game would have been won.  But Wannenburg picked up and dummied Kellher as he drove forward.  A pile of All Blacks fell on him.  The referee decided the situation was unplayable and blew the final whistle.

The unlikely had happened.

There were speeches and the King of the Bafokeng presented the Freedom Cup to South Africa, wrongfully it seems.  They were also, after all, the last team to beat the All Blacks before the mighty New Zealanders went on their winning spree, a spree which has come to an end after fourteen glorious months.

Man of the Match:  Daniel Carter and Jerry Collins were magnificent for New Zealand, such effective players and Aaron Mauger was back again to give direction.  For the Springboks there was a choice between André Pretorius and his steel nerve or the exuberance of young Pierre Spies who was playing just his third Test.  Our Man of the Match is Pierre Spies.

Moment of the Match:  There was Bryan Habana's intercept.  There was the television match official's verdict that Rodney So'oialo had obstructed and so there was no try for Andrew Hore.  But our moment of the match is that last penalty kick at goal by Andre Pretorius that flew, straight and true, between the winning uprights.

Villain of the Match:  Perhaps for his crucial errors Rodney So'oialo would be a candidate.  But by and large people behaved.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Habana, Wannenburg
Con:  Pretorius
Pens:  Pretorius 3

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Carter, Rokocoko
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 2

Teams:

South Africa:  15 Jaque Fourie, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 André Pretorius, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 AJ Venter, 7 Pierre Spies, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Johann Muller, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jacques Cronjé, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Breyton Paulse.

New Zealand:  15 Doug Howlett, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Malili Muliaina, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So’oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Anton Oliver, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Marty Holah, 20 Byron Kelleher, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Rico Gear.

Referee:  Chris White
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Eric Darrière (France)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)