Perth painted green and gold

They came, they saw, they conquered!  South Africa took one step closer to bagging their third Tri-Nations title after beating Australia 32-25 at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Saturday.

The Springboks remain unbeaten in the tournament following their fourth win on the trot, while the Wallabies -- after four consecutive defeats -- have officially been knocked out of the series.

Australia will look back and rue a poor first half performance that saw the South Africans run in three tries that helped the visitors along to a game-breaking 22-6 half-time lead.  The Wallabies came out firing after the break, but the damage had already been done.

It was a balanced outing from the world champions who silenced their critics who labeled them as "boring", by crossing the opposition whitewash four times to end a polished display with a crucial bonus point.  They blitzed the Wallabies with a high tempo, high risk approach in the first quarter, then battered them up front and with a solid tactical kicking game in thereafter.

This Perth triumph was arguably the best from the number one ranked side in the world, since they dismantled the men in gold in Johannesburg last year.  One feels a replication of this performance in Brisbane or Hamilton in the next fortnight will see the trophy return to South Africa and cap a superb year for a brilliant team.

In fact, had Wallabies winger Lachie Turner not found his way over for a consolation try on the stroke of full-time, South Africa could have recorded their highest winning margin on Australian soil since 1971.

South Africa were simply too quick, too strong, too smart and far more precise and clinical than the home team.  By contrast the Wallabies willing game was mistake-ridden, particularly at the key moments.

A solid scrummaging effort -- reaping three penalties -- was well and truly offset by more turmoil in the line-outs.  Three times Australia paid dearly for poor throws to the back within a five minute period early in the second half after a jinking Matt Giteau try had put them back into the contest at 22-13 down.

Turner's converted try at least gave Australia a losing bonus and a hint of respectability to the scoreline, but nothing could hide the fact they were completely outmuscled and outplayed that now puts the Boks nine points clear of New Zealand with two matches each to play.

Giteau, Australia's shining light, finished with a personal haul of 20 points but simply can't be relied upon every time to get his country out of trouble when there are fourteen other players on the field equally able to do the job.

Giteau was getting slow service from Luke Burgess from phase ball and set pieces and struggling for combination with inside center Adam Ashley-Cooper, who was playing his third different position in three Tests to cover for injured midfield regulars Stirling Mortlock and Berrick Barnes.

Australia need a collective team effort, plain and simple -- this is something that was clearly missing on the night where the Wallabies were blown away by some clever plays from John Smit's rampant Boks.

The Wallabies were put on the backfoot from the opening whistle, and the Springboks were 12-0 up within nine minutes.  Scrum-half Fourie du Preez underlined his class and immense value to South Africa when his side were awarded a free kick after some great interplay between the backs.  Du Preez, alert as ever, quick-tapped and smashed through four tacklers to score.

Centre Jaque Fourie then crossed untouched after Giteau was terribly exposed in defence from a midfield scrum.  What seemed like the simplest of conversion attempts, was fluffed by Morne Steyn as the ball came bouncing back off the upright.

Giteau also missed two penalty attempts before finally landing one in the 28th minute for a 15-3 deficit, but the Springboks soon further asserted their dominance.

Du Preez launched a huge up-and-under which Turner couldn't control.  The ball spat loose to Bryan Habana who cracked on the gas to leave a string of Wallabies players in his wake.  Steyn added the extras and even though Giteau banked another three points, their 22-6 half-time lead was an imposing one.

Giteau reduced the margin to nine points with a converted try three minutes after the break, beating four defenders following a quick tap.  Whatever hope home fans had of a Wallabies comeback, were quickly dashed when Habana strolled over for his second touchdown of the match.

Habana would have been the most relieved South African on the pitch after spilling the ball just one minute prior to his bonus-point try with the line at his mercy.  Steyn made no mistake with the conversion and a penalty seven minutes thereafter.  At 32-13 the result was effectively sealed.

Needing three converted tries to win the game and with twenty minutes remaining, Australia -- in panic mode -- brought on their bench and started to look dangerous when Quade Cooper went on at fly-half and allowed Giteau to move one place wider to inside center.

Giteau then earned a second try in the 75th minute when he straightened the angle of attack after Cooper dragged three defenders across field and gave him an inside ball.  Giteau rushed his conversion attempt, and missed as a result.

With time up on the clock and South Africa's replacements on the sideline already giving high-fives for a job well done, Turner managed to sneak in for a try from a standing start to give the hosts some credibility.

The 2009 Tri-Nations trophy is surely now South Africa's to lose.

Man of the match:  To single out individuals in a collective effort as impressive as the Boks would be unfair, but the performance of their loose trio, and the physicality and relentless defence of the tight forwards must be lauded.  As must the flair of Jean de Villiers and Bryan Habana's finishing.  But in his 50th Test it was scrum-half Fourie du Preez who stood tallest.

Moment of the match:  All four of South Africa's tries had their own moments of magic, but perhaps Du Preez's opener signaled that these men in green and gold meant business.

Villain of the match:  A few pushing and shoving here and there, but nothing to write home about.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Giteau 2, Turner
Cons:  Giteau 2
Pens:  Giteau 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Du Preez, Fourie, Habana 2
Cons:  M Steyn 3
Pens:  M Steyn 2

Australia:15 James O'Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Adam Ashley Cooper, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith (c), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Will Genia, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Drew Mitchell.

South Africa:  15 Ruan Pienaar, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Frans Steyn.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Vinny Munro (New Zealand).

Carter kicks All Blacks to victory

A late penalty from Dan Carter -- as a result of a pinpoint territorial kick -- gave New Zealand a win and the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday after a 19-18 win over Australia in Sydney.

For Australia, the defeat ends their competitive aspirations for another year.  They came up just short under the pressure in the end, unable to find the inspiration necessary to close the game out, which has been a theme of their play under Robbie Deans.  It's been an anti-climactic time, full of improvement but without project completion.

Signs are now there of mental fatigue, the sort that comes from losing so many close matches that you end up not believing you can win.  It's yet possible Australia could go the course of this tournament without winning a game, which would not befit a team with its undoubted talents, but until they find a way of controlling the game better they will continue to fall short.  At 15-6 ahead with 25 minutes to go, this game was there for the taking.

New Zealand may have got their blade back.  Australia were not shredded by any means, but the control of the breakdown and contact situation the All Blacks exerted in the second bodes well for the potentially decisive clash against the all-bullying Boks in Waikato on September 12.  It was a step up from the disaster of Durban.

Dan Carter's return helped things as he gave a lesson to Stephen Donald in the art of kicking consistency from the hand.  Sitiveni Sivivatu counter-attacked superbly.  But the real work was done by the forwards, whose support and ferocity were outstanding.  Each and every breakdown was dominated by black shirts, illegally too often in the first half, physically far too well in the second.

In contrast to Carter and co. Australia's kicking was distinctly average.  It did not help to lose Berrick Barnes and James O'Connor, but there were too many loose kicks and too many to silly places.  With Sivivatu running so well, the last place you'd want to kick would be down his throat, but there it went three or four times in the second half.  Small details, but it made a huge difference.

However gripping it ended up being, the first half was a bit of a non-event.  Neither side strung much together, while Jonathan Kaplan's stringency at the rucks would eventually open the game up but ensured that the first half was interrupted by no fewer than 15 penalties.

Australia, publicly instructed to cut down their penalty count, fell foul of Kaplan's whistle twice in the first two minutes.  Rocky Elsom, back playing for the first time in three months, tackled Richie McCaw in the air for the first, Matt Giteau was a little unfortunate to be deemed offside from a knock-on for the second.  Carter stepped up to give New Zealand the lead.

Giteau equalised and then gave the lead back to Australia, with the All Blacks twice penalised for hands in the ruck -- once extremely dubiously -- and once for not rolling away as Australia found some rhythm with the ball in hand.

New Zealand fought back, once again finding weakness in the Australian scrum, for which Al Baxter swiftly paid the price with a first-half substitution.  Fury was etched all over his face as he slumped onto the bench and spewed forth expletives, but he can't have too many complaints, he was fundamentally undone by Tony Woodcock.

The hands began to do the talking for the All Blacks too, not so much with the ball going wide but with keeping the ball alive.  It eventually yielded space for Luke McAlister out on the left, but Giteau covered the attempt at a grubber and pounce finish.

Then the visitors blotted the copybook with ten minutes of bizarre slackness in both mind and body.  A plethora of handling errors ruined rhythm, four penalties were given away, including one for dissent that gave Giteau the chance to make it 9-3.

Right on the half-time whistle came a moment which could well be one that Australians will look at as pivotal.  Berrick Barnes made a break and Nathan Sharpe took the ball on, stopped just short of the line.  With the defence scrambling, Jimmy Cowan killed the ball about as cynically as could be and was penalised.  But there was a clear case for a yellow card, particularly with the ongoing infringements by the All Blacks mounting and the game might have taken a very different course had New Zealand begun the second half both 12-3 down -- Giteau landed the penalty -- and a man down.

As it was, Australia were a man down within moments of the second half starting, when Richard Brown upended Owen Franks.  Carter missed that penalty, but nailed one a minute later for a stray hand in a ruck, then watched on as his forwards committed the same offence and allowed Giteau to make it 15-6.

From then on, the All Blacks took control.  With Brown off, the forwards attacked the fringes and found plenty of change as Australia ran out of tacklers.  Cowan had a try disallowed for a technical obstruction by Jerome Kaino, a marginal call.  Carter found his target from the tee to make it 15-9.  New Zealand's forwards kept up the pressure and as first O'Connor and then Barnes disappeared to injury, Australia's answers to Carter's territorial control dried up.

The game opened up, with Joe Rokocoko making a mess of an overlap after seizing on the confusion in Australia's defence by a wicked kick bounce.  Peter Hynes was sent away on an overlap, but opted to kick ahead rather than look inside to where Adam Ashley-Cooper was in space.

But New Zealand found the breakthrough, with Kieran Read -- highly impressive at eight -- tearing onto loose ball at speed and handing to Sivivatu, whose pace created enough room for Ma'a Nonu to loop outside and score in the corner.  Carter landed a fine touchline conversion to make it 16-15.

Australia have struggled in situations like this in the past, but this time they hit right back, earning a penalty by the posts with some good rucking and enabling Giteau to give them back the lead.

But a terrific kick by Carter into the corner and some fatal hesitancy from Lachie Turner and Drew Mitchell saw the latter hold onto the ball too long in a tackle and Carter stepped up to stroke the winner home.

Robbie Deans quietly summed up the mood around the stadium immediately after the match saying:  "We came up short" and pausing for a good seven seconds before adding:  "again".

Man of the match:  the New Zealand pack takes a multiple award for its work -- it's tough to single one out.  But the contribution of Sitiveni Sivivatu was inestimable to the team's threat.

Moment of the match:  Tries are harder to come by these days (but all the more thrilling because of it), but the key moment in that try was a no-look scoring pass from Sivivatu to Nonu.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Pens:  Giteau 6

For New Zealand:
Try:  Nonu
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 4

Yellow card:  Brown, 43, Australia, dangerous tackle

Australia:  15 James O'Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith (c), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Will Genia, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Peter Hynes.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Josevata Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Rodney So'oialo, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Ma'a Nonu.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)

Boks strike gold at Newlands

South Africa underlined their Tri-Nations intentions with a clinical 29-17 victory over Australia at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.

An upset was on the cards after Wallaby full-back Adam Ashley-Cooper crossed for a try in the opening minute of the game.

But the Springboks bounced back in emphatic style, conjuring up a trademark performance of brain and brawn that bore forth 24 points from the metronomic boot of Morné Steyn and a try for old soldier Victor Matfield.

The result represents more than one South African hand on the Tri-Nations trophy, it extinguishes any lingering doubts about South Africa's standing as the world's best team.

They saw off the best of Britain and Ireland, recorded consecutive wins over the All Blacks and have now handed a frisky Australian side a lesson in structured rugby.

Once again the hosts were outscored in the try department -- Matt Giteau followed Ashley-Cooper over the whitewash -- but what does it matter when you hold such territorial mastery?  Not even Cecil Rhodes was this hungry for land.

It's telling to note that all but one of South Africa's 12 penalties were awarded within reasonable range of the gold posts.  Of the dozen, Morné Steyn converted seven and Francois Steyn missed another.

By way of contrast, Australia were awarded eight penalties, none of which tickled the fancy of Giteau's left peg.

South Africa's game plan is as simple as it is effective:  brutal defence, solid set-pieces, dynamic counter-rucking and, most importantly, field position.  It's not the most attractive way to play rugby, but the beauty is that it's almost impossible to trump.

Australia thought the antidote could lie in shaking South Africa out of their structure by playing it fast and loose.  It worked well enough in fits and starts, but these Boks are far too experienced to be flustered by a team in its early adolescence.

Ashley-Cooper's early try was, in retrospect, the worst possible start for Australia:  it stung like a boot in South Africa's collective backside.

Seething counter-rucking squeezed three quick-fire penalties out of Australia and the locals had nudged ahead by the 13th minute.

Berrick Barnes won back the lead with a smart drop-goal, but a penalty and drop-goal combo from Morné Steyn pulled South Africa clear -- and there they remained, without even the briefest look over their shoulders.

With a cushion of points in place, John Smit saw fit to add a little jazz to the Boks' sheet music by dinking through the daintiest of grubbers for the on-rushing Bryan Habana.  Lachie Turner managed to get a hand to it, but the bobbling ball was snatched by the giant mitts of Matfield who crashed over for the unlikeliest of tries.

Australia's day then went from bad to worse.  Much worse.

In quick succession they lost their captain, Stirling Mortlock, to injury and Giteau and Richard Brown to the sin-bin -- the fly-half earning his time for an ugly, airborne challenge on Fourie du Preez;  the flank for finally breaking the patience of referee Alain Rolland at the breakdown.

The Boks profited from Brown's misdemeanour via Morné Steyn's boot to leave the game all but out of reach of the visitors at 23-10 at the break.

Australia made a better fist of the second period.  The rust that ruined their passing game in the first half fell away (what kind of tournament allows a side to sit around for three weeks after their opening game?) and they began to play their rugby in South Africa's half.

Whilst Australia's line-out was nothing short of abysmal, the gold scrum held up surprisingly well and they were even able to repel a five-metre scrum on their own line.

But they were, again, powerless to prevent Morné Steyn from sending over his sixth penalty as the game ticked towards the hour mark.

A sublime break from young James O'Connor, on for Mortlock, put Australia within striking distance of the green line and Giteau finally knifed through to score his side's second try.

But it was too little too late, and Morné Steyn -- who else? -- drilled home that very point by landing his seventh penalty of the afternoon at the death.  It doesn't get more ruthless than that.

Man of the match:  Schalk who?  Morné Steyn deserves praise for his work, but he is afforded an armchair ride by his forwards, and the man winning him the lion's share of kickable penalties was Heinrich Brüssow.  We have suspected it for a while but it is now official:  the Boks have unearthed a flawless diamond.

Moment of the match:  Surely Victor Matfield's try -- or rather John Smit's outrageous grubber!  The frustrated fly-half deserves to be heavily fined for behaviour that would surely have caused self-respecting props to weep shameful tears on to their meat pies.  Let's hope big Bakkies Botha also answers to the name 'Enforcer' in the bar.

Villian of the match:  No debate here.  Matt Giteau can expect a visit from the citing officer for his reckless, elbow-first 'challenge' on the airborne Fourie du Preez.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try:  Matfield
Pens:  M Steyn 7
Drop:  M Steyn

For Australia:
Tries:  Ashley-Cooper, Giteau
Con:  Giteau 2
Drop:  Barnes

Yellow card(s):  Giteau (Australia) -- body-check, 34;  Brown (Australia) -- off-side, 35;  Smith (Australia) -- hands in the ruck, 78.

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Adi Jacobs.

Australia:  Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Richard Brown, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Will Genia, 21 Peter Hynes, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

All Blacks bustled out of Durban

A crisis is looming in New Zealand rugby after the All Blacks fell to a second consecutive Tri-Nations defeat in South Africa, 31-19 in Durban on Saturday.

Morne Steyn scored every single one of his team's points with a terrific display of place-kicking.

The All Blacks had challenged themselves to respond from last week's defeat in Bloemfontein.  But their comebacks lacked incision and/or punch.  At times they ran at illusory gaps in ridiculous field positions, at other times the passing was so woefully inaccurate you wondered if they had done any linking work at all in training in the week.

Some players ran when they should have kicked, others took contact when they should have run, others kicked when they should have taken contact ... the list of wrong options goes on.  However much laent talent there is in this team, it is simply not gelling.  Whether that is a brains trust matter, a matter of the personalities or mentalities of the players themselves or a lack of leadership is difficult to say, but one thing is clear, if this is the squad trusted to take New Zealand rugby forward, it needs to sit down together and thrash out a number of issues regarding strategy, handling and teamwork, for all three were errant here.

Another thing clear is that Joe Rokocoko badly needs a rest.  His talent is as unrefutable as his current form is atrocious, and Graham Henry cannot afford to hang him out to dry any longer.  A spell scoring tries in the Air New Zealand Cup would be just the tonic the big wing needs.  Another international appearance like this could scar him for life.

He was not the only one to have an off-day on Saturday though, with Stephen Donald going a good way to proving his doubters right, Ma'a Nonu once again subdued and Sitiveni Sivivatu inexplicably error-prone.  Even Richie McCaw fell prone to some extraordinary mistakes during the second half, a disturbing development for All Black fans to witness.

South Africa once again made it as ugly a win as can be, but find a Springbok supporter who cares.  The beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and none of the green-clad present will find a more beautiful vision on Sunday than the Tri-Nations table, nor would they remember one more than the departure of the twice-beaten All Blacks.

We mentioned in our preview that statistics tell so much of rugby's tale.  Here's a few from this game:  New Zealand made twice as many handling errors:  28-14.  New Zealand gave away penalties:  14-8, New Zealand lost line-outs on their own throw:  4-1.  New Zealand lost their own scrums:  2-0.  Did South Africa win this or did New Zealand throw it away?

A bit of both really.  South Africa never once let up the pressure on their opponents, harrying, chivvying, bulldozing and squeezing out all the errors and penalties, with Morne Steyn's boot punishing everything it was given the chance to.

Once Rokocoko and Sivivatu had revealed their fragility under the high balls, the Boks were merciless in their exploitation.  The panic that set in and the pressure the All Blacks put themselves under to pass and run their way out of the holes was fast food to the Bok defence, which was just as merciless in its sacking of any isolated All Black -- there was an inexplicably high number of those too -- as it was in pouncing on the handling errors and punishing the infringements.

The teams exchanged penalties early on as Nigel Owens stamped his authority on the game.  He was consistent, if stringent, and controlled the game with his usual measured schoolmaster approach, challenging the teams to respond.

New Zealand responded first, with Richie McCaw making a break from a line-out on his own 22 before setting Nonu and Muliaina away, but with Sivivatu slipping it seemed the move had died.  But there was Rokocoko to flip the ball out and Isaac Ross once again displayed a flash of his immense promise with the try in the corner.

Donald converted from the touchline to make it 10-3 after ten minutes and briefly, advantage All Blacks.

But back came the Boks with the pressure.  High balls, big tackles, vigorous rucks.  An offside after 14 minutes, 10-6.  Holding on isolated in the tackle, 10-9.

Another breakout from the All Blacks, led by Muliaina was halted by a high tackle on Jimmy Cowan, which saw JP Pietersen sent to the bin and Donald make it 13-9, but Ross followed Pietersen moments later for a silly offside, from which Steyn made it 13-12.

The killer blow was landed by Steyn, typically capitalising on a huge piece of defensive work fom his scrum, which turned New Zealand ball over three metres from the line.  All the Bulls fly-half had to do was step and dive over, a manoeuvre he made look decidedly nonchalant.

His conversion made it 19-13 and there was another penalty just before half-time as well which made it 22-13.

Donald and Steyn shared four penalties early in the second half, which was rendered a stalemate by a combination of the Bok defence and All Black mis-handling, but the pressure from the men in green just did not let up -- even while Bakkies Botha was off the field for ten minutes for hanging about offside.

Steyn landed a late penalty to put the game beyond reach and could have made the score more emphatic in the final minute, but inexplicably pushed a simple late penalty wide.  Not to worry.  He now holds the record for the most points scored in any one Tri-Nations game, beating Andrew Mehrtens' previous best, and with that, plus a Lions-conquering kick to show for his first five caps, it could be that success could follow him everywhere he goes.  In fact, with the Boks in this form, he can't fail.

Man of the match:  We can go on about Steyn, but again, this was a win built on hard work and physicality, with the epitome of the winning style being Juan Smith.  An immense display.

Moment of the match:  Not many to choose from, but for aesthetics, we might go for Isaac Ross' try -- one of very few open bits of play in the game.

Villain of the match:  Nothing on the field, but how about the marketeers who continue to saturate the market with so many fixtues that some 8,000 empty seats could be witnessed at Absa Stadium?  How can a Test match of this prestige not be a sell-out?  Because there's always the next one around the corner, that's why ...

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  M Steyn
Cons:  M Steyn
Pens:  M Steyn 8

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Ross
Cons:  Donald
Pens:  Donald 3, McAlister

Yellow cards:  Pietersen (South Africa, 29, high tackle), Ross (New Zealand, 30, deliberate infringement), Botha (South Africa, 50, deliberate infringement)

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Wynand Olivier.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Cory Jane.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Tim Hayes (Wales)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

ABs fail to break SA resolve

New Zealand came up short against South Africa in the Tri-Nations on Saturday, going down 28-19 after fighting back from 17-3 down.

As with last week, it was the first half that cost the All Blacks.  A dire 47 minutes left them trailing 17-3 and having had barely a sniff of the line.  Only when Conrad Smith wove his way through three tackles to score a scintillating solo try did the belief finally begin to course through the black shirts.  This time it was too late.

Last week's slow All Black start could have been forgiven.  But this is now two weeks in a row.  The first-half statistics -- three line-outs lost out of seven, two scrums out of five, only 20 per cent of the first half-hour possession and eight penalties conceded -- would be gruesome reading for Graham Henry and co. in isolation, but couple that with similar stats from last week and you have a burgeoning problem.  Expect a first half of fire and improved set pieces from the All Blacks in Durban next week in response.

South Africa's gameplan was as limited as we have seen all year -- even more so than against the Lions.  So much for Peter de Villiers' initial ideals of expansive and beautiful rugby.  Debate rages on about whether he coaches the team or they do their own thing with him giving bits of advice, but the unity of purpose here suggests that players and coach are now singing from the same songsheet, regardless of whose it is.

It ain't pretty though.  Bryan Habana had nothing to do bar chasing kicks, a task he set about with gusto -- it probably saved him from frostbite, so cold was the rarified Bloemfontein air.  Fourie du Preez controlled the game peerlessly from the base of the scrum with the boot, teaching Brendon Leonard a masterclass in the measured arts.  It was no coincidence that when Piri Weepu brought his own culture to the game, things evened up immeasurably -- Graham Henry should take careful note there, using Weepu and Leonard with the latter making an impact would have been a far better option.

Leonard was also penalised twice for feeding at the scrum;  a laudable initiative from Alain Rolland but one he failed to sustain.  one scrum feed, from Fourie du Preez in the second half, actually surprised number eight Spies so much that the ball popped out and was stolen by the All Blacks.  Overfeed!

The South African ball rarely made it past the centres;  so blinkered were they to the concept of keeping it near the forwards that even Jean de Villiers at one point eschewed a three-man overlap, not even looking outside, and popped it inside to an onrushing forward.  Stephen Donald's channel was mercilessly targeted, a tactic which only really half-worked.

The driving maul, also frequently employed, worked a good deal better.  Out of all the nations in world rugby to try and react since those abominable ELVs were dropped, South Africa have mastered the driving maul the best.

But the abrasion and pressure created by the green-clad Leviathans bullied out the penalties which ultimately won them the game.  Had Ruan Pienaar had his kicking boots on, it could have been wrapped up by the break.

New Zealand's attempts to move the ball wide foundered under that forward pressure as well, not to mention some abysmal execution at times which occasionally left you wondering if the All Blacks hadn't merely first met each other on the flight over.  Again, Leonard's hesitancy as he felt his way into the game was a drawback, but neither Nonu nor Donald found any change from the defence and Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu were wrapped up tight.  Once throttled, the All Black game went limp.

The visitors took an early lead after De Villiers had conceded a needless penalty for a late tackle and Donald had landed his first, but that was cancelled out by Frans Steyn from over 50m when Brad Thorn was caught not rolling away.

Pienaar hit the post with two more penalties -- one of them a sitter -- as the home side's intensity with the ball up-jumper and accuracy with the boot told.  The ball-carrying from Juan Smith and Pierre Spies in particular was exceptional.

Pienaar made it third time lucky as the All Blacks collapsed a maul, precipitating a nine-minute spell where the Boks did not leave the All Blacks 22 except to take a line-out for a clearance kick.  It culminated in a try for Pienaar, who looped the tackled De Villiers and cantered though the space vacated by Rokocoko into the corner.

Frans Steyn added a penalty on the half-hour to make it 14-3, Pienaar missed another sitter on the stroke of half-time as the Boks took full control.

Pienaar did not emerge from the dressing room after the break as a result of a foot injury, but replacement Morne Steyn fitted the initial bill, landing the first penalty of the half for a marginal offside involving Smith.

Momentum swung dramatically when Smith scored his try, with New Zealand looking more energetic, more effective and more cohesive.  Passes stuck, turnovers were forced, gaps sprung up in the green wall.  Donald narrowed the gap from the tee to 17-13, having converted the try.  It seemed as if those missed kicks might come back to haunt the Boks.

Frans Steyn steadied the boat with a penalty, but Donald once again pegged him back.  New Zealand had it all to do still with 17 minutes to go but the opposition was in sight.

But with eight minutes to go, Weepu dithered at the back of a ruck and Kieran Read over-ran him.  Spies hacked the ball forward, Weepu rescued it then threw a silly no-look past, picked off by Juan Smith who gave Jaque Fourie the run-in for the killer try.

In the final minutes, Donald's penalty gave New Zealand license to dream of a late winner once more before Morne Steyn sealed the deal with two minutes to go.

Man of the match:  Hard work up front was the order of the day, and the hardest and most effective grafter of all was Pierre Spies.  He's not just about the tries he scores in Super 14 ...

Moment of the match:  The killer blow was Jaque Fourie's try

Villain of the match:  A few bits of niggle, but nothing too untoward.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Pienaar, Fourie
Pens:  F Steyn 2, Pienaar, M Steyn 3

For New Zealand:
Try:  Smith
Con:  Donald
Pens:  Donald 4

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Wynand Olivier.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Cory Jane.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
TMO:  Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)

All Blacks take advantage

New Zealand have won the opening match of the 2009 Tri-Nations, struggling past Australia 22-16 in Auckland on Saturday.

Having trailed 13-10 at half-time, the All Blacks utilised the stiff breeze at their backs to full advantage in the second half and played the game firmly in Australia's half.  Three penalties from the boot of Stephen Donald did the trick as Australia failed to find away through the All Black defence and the men in yellow made far too many infringements.

Australia will look at it as one that got away.  Stirling Mortlock was candid in his on-pitch post-match interview that his side's discipline let them down and it was hard to argue with him.  There were 12 penalties conceded in all, far too many at this level, and the turnover count will be gruesome reading for Robbie Deans when it arrives.

Then there were the first half errors that cost the Wallabies precious points.  Berrick Barnes, having scored one wonderful try himself already, utterly ruined what was effectively a five on two overlap through a mixture of indecision and poor execution under pressure.  All he needed to do was draw and pass.  He was not the only guilty party when it came to decision-making though.

In the other camp, New Zealand will need to up their game before travelling to South Africa to face the Boks.  The men in black missed 19 tackles in all, also losing four of their own throws at the line-out.  Excellent work in the rucks was often undone by a lack of cohesion in the half-backs and only when Piri Weepu took a firm hold of the game at scrum-half did the All Blacks find their shape.

Tactically, Australia came with a high-risk policy of committing as few people as possible to the rucks.  It worked to an extent -- certainly they played all the rugby in the opening half-hour -- but the Wallabies have to be prepared for opponents to counter it physically.  The strategy only works if the service from the base of the scrum is crisp and zippy.  Today it was not and the All Blacks were able to pile in the numbers and win those turnovers as a result.

But after 25 minutes you would have been a fool to predict a New Zealand win.  Australia led 13-3, a scoreline which flattered New Zealand.  The Wallabies did all the attacking, moving the ball ably and sweetly with Matt Giteau and Barnes alternating at fly-half to direct the traffic.

After five minutes, Barnes took a ball on the short side at pace and sliced through, beating off two weak covering tackles to get to the line for a super opening score which Giteau converted.

When Giteau landed a penalty four minutes later to make it 10-0, there seemed already to be little way back for the hosts, who just could not keep pace with the Wallaby movement.

Yet the Wallaby scrum provided a point of weakness for the All Blacks to concentrate on, with Al Baxter given a rough ride both by Tony Woodcock and referee Craig Joubert.  It was a little chink of armour the All Blacks used well.  Stephen Donald missed a chance from the tee after Baxter had been penalised once, he made no mistake five minutes later after Mortlock had been caused offside at a high kick.

The match turning point could well have been Barnes' missed opportunity.  Donald had a kick charged down from a line-out, a charge-down with more than a whiff of offside about it.

Giteau did wonderfully to regather and pop a pass out, almost while sliding across the turf on his belly.  Barnes took the ball at pace and had Mortlock and Smith coming close at straight angles, Horwill inside him and Drew Mitchell out wide to pass to.

Too many options?  Maybe, but at this level you have to make a decision.  Barnes dummied a switch with Mortlock which Muliaina read well.  The full-back caught Barnes, whose offload to the onrushing Smith was too late, too hard, too high and knocked on.  Giteau's penalty a minute later for hands in the ruck did nothing to ease the sense that a huge opportunity to take a match-winning lead had been blown;  there's a world of difference between 13-3 and 17-3.

On 25 minutes, the All Blacks finally stitched together a movement off a line-out and it yielded a try for Richie McCaw.  Sitiveni Sivivatu and Rodney So'oialo -- both of whom stood out as workhorses all night -- combined to make ground in midfield, then after a few more phases Conrad Smith broke the line and offloaded inside to McCaw for a score through a gap where a back-row should have been covering.

Australia's attack kept plugging away with some ever more creative formations, not least the move which had five players as a running screen in front of Giteau standing deep, but couldn't find a way through to extend the lead to the extent that it should have been with that wind at their backs.  Indeed, had Mitchell not batted down the pass from Donald's clean break, Australia could have been behind at the break.

The second half began with a flurry of penalties, two to New Zealand and one to the Wallabies, tying the scores at 16-apiece.  But with Weepu on for Cowan, New Zealand found an extra measure of control, crucial to be able to utilise that wind properly and pin Australia back.

It became an arm-wrestle, which suited New Zealand far more.  On the hour, they took the lead again after a dreadful pass from Burgess saw Giteau's kick charged down.  Three phases later, George Smith was fortunate not to be yellow-carded for the hand that took the ball out of Weepu's hands at the ruck, but Donald's penalty was punishment enough.

Australia had another gilt-edged chance to launch a line-threatening attack after Kieran Read dropped a high ball in his own 22, but the ball was turned over at second phase, once again with the Wallabies failing to commit enough people to secure possession.  It was turned over and hoofed a mile downfield.

Donald landed another with eight minutes to go, as Australia upped their desperation levels, to seal the game.

Man of the match:  Hard work was the order of the day in this win and none worked harder than Jerome Kaino.

Moment of the match:  It has to be the missed chance to go two tries ahead from Australia in the first half.  They could have been out of sight if that had been run home.

Villain of the match:  So clean it was almost sanitised!  No award.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  McCaw
Con:  Donald
Pens:  Donald 5

For Australia:
Try:  Barnes
Con:  Giteau
Pens:  Giteau 3

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Josevata Rokocoko.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Richard Brown, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 David Pocock, 21 Will Genia, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Marius Jonker (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO:  Vinny Munro (New Zealand)

US Eagles pip Canada

The US Eagles celebrated Independence Day with a hard-fought 12-6 victory over Canada in Saturday's Rugby World Cup qualifying tie at the Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.

The winner over two legs, the second of which will be played in Edmonton, Canada on 11 July, will claim the Americas 1 spot in Pool A of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand to face the host nation as well as France, Tonga and the top Asian qualifier.

The loser moves on to face Uruguay, the winner of the South American qualification phase, in a two-match series to determine the Americas 2 qualifier in Pool C against Australia, Ireland, Italy and the Europe 2 qualifier.

In Oceania, Papua New Guinea overcame the Cook Islands in Port Moresby 29-21 to win the Oceania Cup and reach the region's qualifying final.

The PNG side now faces a daunting two-match series against relative heavyweights Samoa, who finished outside the top three in their 2007 World Cup pool meaning they had to qualify for the 2011 event.

Veteran USA fly half Mike Hercus kicked all of the USA's as the Eagles ground out a first win against Canada since 2005.

Hercus kicked one drop goal and three penalty goals in the sweltering South Carolina heat in front of a patriotic home crowd.

"The forwards played exceptionally well.  They built the platform for Hercus and he executed.  Canada is always a very tough competitor and this was a hard fought match.  But I thought these boys deserved this victory," said USA coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

"We missed a couple of opportunities, but a win is a win and I'm really happy we could get the job done at home.  Now we just need to repeat it next week."

Hercus was named man of the match, but remained modest about his own performance.

"I just happen to be the kicker, the forwards did all the hard work.  It was a tough game and they played very well.

"We only had five guys on the team, including myself, who had ever beaten Canada before and of course this is our biggest game of the year.  This is about as good as it gets," said Hercus, who was joined by Mike MacDonald, Todd Clever, Salesi Sika and Paul Emerick on the team that dealt Canada a 20-19 defeat in the 2005 Churchill Cup tournament.

Canada coach Kieran Crowley tipped his hat to the USA's effort and knows that his side will have to perform a lot better next weekend to avoid the play-off withUruguay.

"They just out-passioned us and they deserved the win," said Crowley after the match.  "That's what this series is about and today we just weren't good enough.

"They got good go-forward ball and our ball was slow.  In the first half we got sucked into their game a little bit and the pressure just kept on."

The scorers:

For the United States:
Pens:  Hercus 3
Drop:  Hercus

For Canada:
Pens:  Pritchard 2

The teams:

United States:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Roland Suniula, 11 Kevin Swiryn, 10 Mike Hercus, 9 Tim Usasz, 8 Nic Johnson, 7 Todd Clever (c), 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 John Van der Giessen, 3 Shawn Pittman, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mate Moeakiola.
Replacements:  16 Brian McClenahan, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Alec Parker, 19 JJ Gagiano, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Ata Malifa, 22 Alipate Tuilevuka.

Canada:  13 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Dan Pletch, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Mike Pletch,17 Andrew Tiedemann, 18 Frank Walsh, 19 Stu Ault, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Ciaran Hearn.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)

Lions win back their pride

The British and Irish Lions notched their first win in eight Tests on Saturday, beating South Africa convincingly 28-9 in Johannesburg.

The tourists had been widely-tipped to fall flat on their faces in the third match, a dead rubber at the end of a long tour.  Not a bit of it.  All the energy and pride associated with the proud red jersey was on display for the full eighty minutes, while the Boks floundered under the weight of changes and occasional lack of experience at key moments.

But South Africa will not garner any sympathy.  They took to the fields with white armbands emblazoned with "Justice 4", a puerile protest at the two-week ban handed out to the Bakkies Botha.  It was an absolutely ludicrous idea, which smacked of Peter de Villiers' nonsensical thinking and deserves full censure from the IRB, who must surely examine this brazen flouting of their authority and take some form of action.

The stats also tell a little tale.  The Lions have outscored their hosts by seven tries to five, and by 74 points to 63 over the three games.  The key stat is obviously the 2-1 series defeat, but small wonder that the tourists did a lap of honour at the end.  The Lions brand is alive and strong and whatever the result, credit has to be lavished upon the touring party for the way they have gone about their business.

The Lions set their stall out to up the pace of the game early on, eschewing kicks for touch for measured up and unders or the mesmerising counter-attack talents of Rob Kearney.  It worked a charm.  Riki Flutey and Shane Williams got ball in the danger zones as a result and rather than the blunt hammer of the first two Tests, the Lions wielded a honed sword in attack.  Martyn Williams in particular, was pure class, aided by his team-mates' deft handling skills.

They were in fine fettle in the set-pieces too.  At the first scrum both Phil Vickery and Andy Sheridan annihilated their opposite numbers, forcing a penalty.  Stephen Jones missed with his first, but succeeded minutes later after a penalty conceded for not releasing the tackled player -- the Boks' fourth penalty to zero from the Lions.

Those points were donated back at the restart, with Shane Williams slicing the clearance kick and the Boks forcing a penalty from the resulting line-out and subsequent phases.

In defence, the tourists tightened up significantly, not so much in technique but with some indomitable spirit.  Flutey put in a monstrous hit on Wynand Olivier, while Joe Worsley's backtrack to grad Odwa Ndungane by the ankles was near-miraculous.

The Boks looked like a team with ten changes at times, especially in defence.  Heinrich Brüssow, mentioned by Ieuan Evans before the game as a possible player of the series, was nowhere to be seen.  Martyn Williams was everywhere -- at times the gulf in positioning ability and game-reading was that of tutor and tutee.  Brüssow lashed out at Williams after 63 minutes as his frustration boiled over;  he was not the only Bok to have a go as they faced an ignominious defeat in a pugnacious final twenty minutes.

There was not the same accuracy at the rucks and mauls from the men in green, especially with the ball in hand.  As a result, the Lions forced all sorts of turnovers, two of which yielded tries.

The first one was imbued with a whiff of controversy, with South Africa justly complaining that Simon Shaw had run in front of Jamie Heaslip as the Irish number eight broke the line on the blindside.

Neither Stuart Dickinson nor Vinny Munro picked it up though, and Heaslip drew Zane Kirchner masterfully before popping inside to Shane Williams for the opening score under the posts.

A bizarre missed conversion followed, as the ball fell off the tee during Jones' run-up and he was unable to pick it up and drop goal it in time -- and was there just a sniff of a lash-out from Brüssow's boot as he smothered Jones?

8-3 seemed precarious, but the Lions quickly put that to rights with the try of the series.  Flutey's chip bounced kindly, but his catch and flip over his head to Williams was as instinctive as it was scintillating.  Williams again had the simplest of run-ins to the posts and this time there was no intervening gust of wind.

In between the two there could have been a third try had anyone chased up Williams' infield kick but it was perhaps the one criticism of the Lions at times.

The Boks got themselves a toe back in the door at the end of the half, controlling the ball better and tempting Simon Shaw to incur the wrath of the crowd with a knee to the upper back of Fourie du Preez.  Shaw got ten minutes, but Du Preez did not re-appear after half-time -- given the atmosphere around the tams with regard to foul play, a citing will surely follow.

Two more penalties followed the line-out, the second of which Morné Steyn knocked over on half-time to make it 15-6, a deserved lead for the tourists.

The game followed a similar pattern in the second half, although Francois Steyn's introduction sparked a bit of life into the South African attack.

Tommy Bowe made a terrific cover tackle on Ndungane, knocking the ball out of the winger's hands as he neared the corner.

The decisive moment came on 55 minutes.  As the Boks searched for the try out wide that would get them back into it, Ugo Monye came in off his wing.  It's a defensive move that has cost the Lions four or five tries during this series but this time the Harlequins flyer picked off the floated pass and hared away for an 80m try under the posts.

That sealed the game.  The Boks fought briefly and secured three further points from the boot of Steyn, but discipline crumbled under pressure, enabling Jones to put the game out of reach with two quick penalties.

Man of the match:  Another magnificent performance from Martyn Williams in his last showing in a Lions jersey.

Moment of the match:  Ugo Monye's intercept -- with a little juggle and against a three-man overlap to put hearts in mouths -- killed it all off.

Villain of the match:  Quite a few nasty moments.  Simon Shaw will no doubt be censured for his knee to Fourie du Preez's back, while Francois Steyn was fortunate not to catch Mike Phillips with a vicious backhand swing.  One apiece there ... so a joint award.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens:  Steyn 3

For the British & Irish Lions:
Tries:  S.Williams 2, Monye
Cons:  Jones 2
Pens:  Jones 3

Yellow card:  Shaw (Lions, 38, knee)

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Johann Muller, 3 John Smit, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Guthro Steenkamp, 18 Dean Carstens, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Frans Steyn.

British & Irish Lions:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Tommy Bowe, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 John Hayes, 18 Alun-Wyn Jones, 19 David Wallace, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Harry Ellis, 22 James Hook.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referee:  Christophe Berdos (France), Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

Morné Steyn sinks the Lions

A last-minute penalty by Morné Steyn gave South Africa a 28-25 victory and 2-0 series lead over the British & Irish Lions in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Lions will head back to Johannesburg seething.  They will likely fly back to Britain and Ireland still seething.  And it's safe to say, Christophe Berdos will not have any cards with Joyeaux Noël write across it on Lions stationary any time soon.

How the French referee failed to send Schalk Burger off for gouging is beyond belief.  Not only was Burger caught on the giant TV screens picking furiously at Luke Fitzgerald's eyes, but assistant Bryce Lawrence also caught the incident and reported it.  Berdos thought for a minute, and chickened out ingloriously, telling Burger to keep his fingers to himself in future and dispatching him for ten minutes.  It was a like a suspended sentence for a murder.

It had, for the sake of the game which is being increasingly blighted by this most cowardly of crimes, to be a red card.  It was not.

In a match decided with the final kick, it was the ultimate turning point and it was in the opening minute.  The likely subsequent citing and long ban will do nothing to remove the sour taste in the Lions' mouths, but Peter de Villiers' ridiculous and detestable denial of the offence -- "Ach, it's sport, man, this is what it's all about" -- after the game will merely exacerbate it -- both to the British rugby public and, potentially, the world's.

Burger aside, Ronan O'Gara will also have to take a long period of deep introspection.  The blood rushed in the final minute, and instead of settling for a kick to touch which would have secured the draw he launched a huge up and under, following it up with a hot-blooded mid-air shoulder charge on Fourie du Preez.  Steyn had to land a kick from 55 metres, but in his home stadium and at altitude, it was always his to make.  O'Gara should never have given that opportunity, certainly not in that fashion.

There were so many other talking points.  Did the Lions have their game eviscerated by losing both props to injury in the 46th minute?  The South African comeback after that point suggests so.  Should JP Pietersen have been yellow-carded for his atrocious tackle on Rob Kearney shortly after Burger had returned?  Most definitely.  The Lions were no angels in a Test match of shuddering physicality, but the pick of the fouls -- aside from O'Gara's -- came from the men in green.

Enough of all that now though, instead, let's have a sift through the finest Test match all those lucky enough to be in Loftus have seen for some time.

In a rip-roaring first half, the Lions did everything they had to do, not only to take control of the game but to make the strongest statement possible to their hosts that this series would go all the way to the wire.

There was physical intimidation, a magnificent scrum against the head on their own five-metre line, an early try and a domination of possession that will have warmed the hearts of the coaching team who have made that kind of style their priority.  By 25 minutes, the Lions had enjoyed a staggering 71 per cent of the ball in play and were good value for perhaps more than their 13-5 lead.

The Lions had heroes everywhere -- no-one more so than 35-year-old lock Simon Shaw, whose magnificent Test debut gained its deserving reward when he was named man of the match.

South Africa kept themselves in the contest as Bryan Habana, his fellow wing JP Pietersen and substitute centre Jaque Fourie scored tries, the latter just six minutes from time following lengthy deliberation by Australian television official Stuart Dickinson.

Steyn added 10 points from the boot, while his namesake Francois slotted a long-range effort, and the Lions were thwarted.

It was a game that had everything, and is still not over for Springboks flanker Schalk Burger, who must surely be facing a disciplinary hearing on Sunday after he clearly eye-gouged Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald inside the first minute of the match.

Referee Christophe Berdos opted for a yellow card for Burger, who was winning his 50th cap, but television replays suggested it should have been red, with Burger now looking certain to be cited by the match commissioner.

The Lions cashed in on his 10-minute absence, taking the lead through a Jones penalty and then carving South Africa open by creating a quality try for Kearney.

Berdos had been forced to issue a warning just seconds before following a dust-up sparked by Springboks lock Victor Matfield, yet the Lions kept their focus.

Scrum-half Mike Phillips launched a blindside attack, and Jones' exquisite off-load freed Kearney, who finished majestically.

Jones' effortless touchline conversion put the Lions 10-0 ahead after they delivered a start in stark contrast to their efforts in Durban seven days ago.

South Africa needed an immediate response, and it arrived within five minutes when flanker Juan Smith and Du Preez combined from a lineout and Pietersen exploded through an inviting midfield gap.

Ruan Pienaar hit the post with an easy conversion attempt, before a second Jones penalty and a magnificent defensive Lions scrum under pressure underlined their colossal first-half improvement from last weekend.

The Lions were once again confident with ball in hand, and after going through the phases deep inside Springboks territory, Jones dropped a short-range goal.

It was impressively assured rugby from the Lions, and although Steyn booted a long-range penalty as half-time approached, South Africa still had it all to do at 16-8 adrift.

There were big problems for the Lions though within six minutes of the restart as props Jenkins and Jones both went off.

Jenkins clashed heads with Habana, and was forced off nursing a head wound, but worse was to follow when Jones suffered a serious-looking arm injury.

Lock Alun-Wyn Jones took over from his Ospreys colleague, with Andrew Sheridan replacing Jenkins, yet it meant uncontested scrums for the final 30 minutes.

A scoreless third quarter played into the Lions' hands, and the physical intensity of the match was further underlined when a collision between O'Driscoll and Springboks substitute Danie Rossouw ended with Rossouw going off just four minutes after joining the action.

O'Driscoll only lasted another two minutes though, making his exit after South Africa had cut the deficit in ruthless fashion.

Habana sprinted over for his 33rd Test try in 48 games, finishing off a rapier-like move, and substitute Steyn's conversion set up a gripping finish with the Lions leading 19-15.

Steyn then slotted a penalty that cranked up the pressure on the Lions, but the immaculate Jones quickly responded, making it 22-18 with 10 minutes left.

An injury to Roberts meant the Lions had to reorganise their back division, and they entered the closing stages with O'Gara at fly-half, Jones and wing Tommy Bowe in midfield and Fitzgerald and Shane Williams on the wings.

There was a sense of the Lions hanging on, and they relinquished their lead five minutes from time when Fourie squeezed in at the corner and Steyn booted the touchline conversion.

A draw would have been arguably the fair result -- but Steyn had other ideas.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Pietersen, Habana, Fourie
Cons:  Pienaar, M Steyn
Pens:  M Steyn 2, F Steyn

For the Lions:
Try:  Kearney
Con:  Jones
Pens:  Jones 5
Drop goal:  Jones

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (captain), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Heinrich Brüssow, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Morné Steyn.

British and Irish Lions:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Sheridan, 17 Ross Ford, 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Martyn Williams, 20 Harry Ellis, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Shane Williams

Referee:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Assistant referees:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
TMO:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

Giteau kicks life out of France

Australia defeated a wearisome French outfit 22-6 on Saturday, but managed little else in a painfully dull encounter at ANZ Stadium.

Sydney's far from enthralling spectacle handed the Wallabies their fourteenth win from fifteen on home soil over recent seasons, which has to rank them as major contenders for the Tri-Nations.

That assessment is not due to their most recent showing oh no, it comes from the maturity of their squad as on-field combinations continue to grow.

One such pairing has been the Matt Giteau and Berrick Barnes balance at numbers ten and twelve, which set up the game's only five pointer.

But that seventeenth minute effort was the only highlight in an international that failed to match all of its midweek hype, with breakdown offences ultimately hurting Les Bleus as the hosts pulled clear.

Giteau's impressive team score came either side of two Australian penalties that sent the teams in at 10-3 on half time.  It was a much-needed break.

There could have been something to rival the pivot's effort soon after though, as Perpignan centre Maxime Mermoz found himself called back for offside by referee David Pearson, with a 50-metre run to the whitewash going begging.

Giteau added the three points that kept the scoreboard ticking over and so the pattern continued as Englishman Pearson struggled to impact any sort of flow on the 16-3 arrears in Sydney.

And with the looming prospect of a Bledisloe Cup opener against the All Blacks possibly in the back of Australia's minds, the trend continued until the final whistle in what was meant to be the perfect appetiser for South Africa versus the British & Irish Lions.

Man-of-the-match:  It would be easy to hand the award to Matt Giteau after he claimed everything else in Sydney for Australia.  But the hard graft and turnover work of flanker George Smith cannot be played down.  One for the forwards.

Moment of the match:  The simplest of decisions for this gong after Matt Giteau's first-half try proved the game's highlight.  Started by the former Western Force man, his long pass to Stirling Mortlock allowed Lachie Turner to slice inside before Berrick Barnes fed his fly-half.

Villain of the match:  Possibly the prospect of a Tri-Nations opener against New Zealand.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Giteau
Con:  Giteau
Pen:  Giteau 5

For France:
Pen:  Beauxis, Yachvili

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Phil Waugh, 19 David Pocock, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 James O'Connor.

France:  15 Damien Traille, 14 Maxime Medard, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Julien Puricelli, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Romain Millo Chluski, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Remy Martin, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Vincent Clerc, 22 Julien Arias.

Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)

All Blacks stutter in Christchurch

Victory was posted by New Zealand on Saturday, but it was by no means plain sailing at AMI Stadium as Italy bravely fell short of the mark in 27-6 defeat.

Assistant Coach Wayne Smith had this week admitted the selection heat is on ahead of Tri-Nations 2009.  And after an Azzurri-dominated opening quarter of the game, squad roles felt the full glare of the spotlight in Christchurch.

But despite the territory statistic hugely favouring the visitors throughout, the All Blacks held their nerve to eventually pull away thanks to two scores after the hour that struggled to cover their cracks.

Italy had certainly come out fighting on their end-of-season tour finale -- carrying their Melbourne form over the Tasman -- with the play unbelievably reading 93 per cent in their favour a quarter in.

Add to that fact they almost crossed on four minutes but for Mils Muliaina being taken out mid-air by the onrushing Mirco Bergamasco, and this pre-billed formality might have finished even closer.

The Kiwis must now pick themselves up to face Australia and then South Africa slightly injury-hit and not in form -- don't even start fast-tracking one's thoughts to events on home soil in 2011.

Several changes had been made after reversing the negative against France last weekend.  Graham Henry called on a new half-back combination in the shape of Brendon Leonard and Luke McAlister, who certainly took time to bed into proceedings against the fired up Italians.

But the former Sale man's delicate chips over the top were one mini positive for the side under pressure before he got the ABs on the board with a penalty against the run of play.

The Kiwis had finally started to weather the fierce blue waves and when McAlister changed the momentum with a decent touch-finder downfield, the gap was widened to ten points.

Coming from the resulting lineout -- with impressive centre Gonzalo Garcia receiving treatment way downfield for a head knock -- the hosts took full advantage by stealing Leonardo Ghiraldini's lineout before Joe Rokocoko was picked out cross-field.

It was the much-need score for the winger as he powered over the Italian tacklers for his first Test score since the Romania fixture at Rugby World Cup 2007.

Some reward then finally came the way of Sergio Parisse and company after a good set-piece led to Ma'a Nonu infringing at ruck time.  Fly-half Luke McLean duly knocked over the posts to send the teams in with a ten-point margin.

The half-time territorial factor was still up at 69 per cent in favour of the visitors and there would have been plenty of encouraging signs for Mallett to take into the dressing room.  Henry on the other hand ...

The latter had obviously laid down the law during the break and must have warned that replacements would be utilised sooner rather than later if things didn't improve.

And he stuck to his word on 53 minutes as scrum-half Piri Weepu, flanker George Whitelock and prop Tony Woodcock all emerged from their tracksuits in an attempt to lift the intensity.

In the end though, it was a man called in during midweek that put the fixture beyond doubt as second row Isaac Ross galloped over following good work from Isaia Toeava, who had freed up space to allow Ali Williams' replacement to stroll through under the uprights.

The gloom was finally lifted and Ross proved the catalyst for their change of fortunes, as he enjoyed more ball on halfway before Nonu set up flanker Whitelock to seal matters.

But it was no means the margin of the last seven meetings between these two nations, which had seen the southern hemisphere heavyweights break the 50-point barrier.

Man-of-the-match:  Plenty of Italians performed well in Christchurch with mentions going to Craig Gower, Kaine Robertson and Leonardo Ghiraldini.  But the award goes to midweek call-up Isaac Ross, who is quickly establishing himself as a worthy understudy to Ali Williams.  The lock fully deserved his try and was very busy with ball in-hand.

Moment of the match:  Ross was involved in this too by breaking the line on halfway before Ma'a Nonu fed George Whitelock to score on debut.  How rugby should be played.

Villain of the match:  Played in good spirits so it goes unclaimed.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Rokocoko, Ross, G Whitelock
Con:  McAlister 3
Pen:  McAlister 2

For Italy:
Pen:  McLean 2

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina (capt), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Josevata Rokocoko, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Owen Franks, 19 Bryn Evans, 20 George Whitelock, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Cory Jane.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Ignacio Rouyet, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Fabio Staibano, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Giulio Toniolatti, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Matteo Pratichetti.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  James Leckie (Australia), Ian Smith (Australia)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor:  Wayne Erickson (Australia)

Wallabies hold off the Italians

Australia wrapped up their two-Test series against Italy on Saturday with very little to shout about in a fragmented 34-12 win in Melbourne.

Once again the Wallabies struggled to recapture the same rhythm that did for the Barbarians only a fortnight ago, which was partly down to Italy's ability to suffocate their opposition to a point that almost snatched the spoils.

But victory was eventually confirmed by the home side and they will now move towards a fixture against France with their all-star bench freshened and ready for action.  Let us hope it will be a humdinger across the Tasman.

Atmosphere there was not in Melbourne and the 22-point margin failed to reflect how the 80 minutes actually panned out, with the physical Azzurri impressing until Lachie Turner's 70th minute try opened the floodgates.

Full-back James O'Connor was slightly flat following last week's hat-trick and endured a nightmare opening to the game by dropping a simple high ball moments into the game that led to Luke McLean's opening match points.

He did atone for his error later on but it was our Player to Watch, Tatafu Polota-Nau, who picked up the first of Australia's five tries after good running work from Luke Burgess and Quade Cooper allowed wing Turner to eventually feed his front-rower wide out.

Robbie Deans had opted to rest regular playmaker Matt Giteau this week in favour of shifting Berrick Barnes in one position and that option be key in giving them options ahead of their 2011 Rugby World Cup charge.

The kicking duties were in fact handed to a much more inexperienced team-mate though, in the shape of O'Connor to add a little bit more pressure on his young shoulders.  But unlike last weekend, the Wallabies were struggling for a territorial game as Italy held the upper hand around the hour mark.

That was until Turner's opportunistic score added to the 20-12 lead and from then on Australia made sure of victory, with Adam Ashley-Cooper adding to his first-half score to seal matters.

Man of the match:  It will become even tougher for Lote Tuqiri to reclaim his number fourteen jersey after Lachie Turner impressed again with an error-free performance.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Polota-Nau, Cross, Ashley-Cooper 2, Turner
Con:  O'Connor 2, Barnes
Pen:  O'Connor

For Italy:
Pen:  McLean 4

Australia:  15 James O'Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 George Smith (c), 7 David Pocock, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Dean Mumm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Pekahou Cowan.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Matt Giteau, 22 Adam Ashley-Cooper.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Giulio Rubini, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Alberto Sgarbi, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Jean Francois Montauriol, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Tommaso Reato, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Quintin Geldenhuys, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Giulio Toniolatti, 21 Kris Burton, 22 Roberto Quartaroli.

Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees:  Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), TBC (New Zealand)

All Blacks struggle past France

New Zealand enacted a vague revenge for their shock defeat at the hands of France last week, beating the tourists 14-10 in a rain-soaked Wellington.

New Zealand came into the game desperate to atone for last week's uncharacteristic errors.  They had as passionate a crowd backing them as could be and two key players back in the mix to help them on their way.

But a south-wester blew up before kick-off, bringing a fine curtain of rain and bringing to an end any ambition either team had of being able to play cohesive running rugby.

The opening twenty minutes was poor enough to even dull the fervour of the crowd.  By the end of it we had had two missed penalty attempts at goal by Stephen Donald, a missed drop goal from Damien Traille and an awful lot of knock-ons.

We had also had as fine a piece of play-acting as will be found this side of the equator from Cedric Heymans, who milked a late hit from Ma'a Nonu for all it was worth and turning what should have been an All Black line-out 5m from the line into a French penalty.

But he who laughs last, laughs longest.  With New Zealand dominating territory and the French attempts to break out getting rarer and rarer, a home try looked inevitable.

It came after 23 minutes.  Following a good bust up the middle by Keven Mealamu, some quick possession had the French defence streaming over to the left-hand side and Joe Rokocoko headed off to the right.  Bizarrely, hooker William Servat managed to close him down, but Rokocoko's offload to Nonu inside saw the centre canter home in front of his home fans.

Stephen Donald missed his third of the night with the conversion, but that seemed not to matter as Mealamu once again inspired a move that culminated with Cory Jane going in at the corner among French bodies.

There then followed one of those ridiculous TMO conversations where neither referee nor TMO can make his mind up what should happen.  Replays showed Jane sliding over the line with enough of a glimpse of ball to suggest he had got it down, but with enough of Maxime Medard's arm underneath it to cast doubt on that.  The pair then slid into touch.  It could have been a try.  It could have been a 5m scrum to New Zealand.  What it absolutely was not was a 22m drop out to France.  The All Blacks were furious.

France fought their way back into it and carved out a pair of kicks for Julien Dupuy to have a go at goal, but one hit the post and the other flew well wide as time ticked on, then Donald landed a late penalty to make it 8-0 at the break.

The French started the second half with an ambush, when Jane left Heymans a little too much space on the right and the Toulouse flyer was away.  He tore down the left, stepping inside Joe Rokocoko before steaming the final 20 metres home for a scintillating 50m try.  Julien Dupuy's conversion brought his side to within a point.

But the half continued as the first had left off, with New Zealand dominating the territory and failing abjectly to convert their superiority into points.  Donald landed a penalty after 57 minutes but it was scant reward for their superior play.

As the benches emptied, New Zealand found that whatever they gained in individual skill they lost in team cohesion and the French began to spy a chance for another ambush.  Dimitri Yachvili screwed a kick horribly to the right and Brad Thorn got back to make a miracle ball-dislodging tackle on Vincent Clerc within diving distance of the line.

McAlister and Yachvili swapped penalties, the former's ground out of the French by heavy pressure, the latter's as a result of a silly offside at the restart.  New Zealand just could not get enough between themselves and the visitors.

Still the All Blacks hammered away and still nothing came.  The threat of a counter-attack or sucker-punch by France lurked, yet nothing came there either.  Piri Weepu booted the ball out triumphantly from the back of a scrum for the win, but New Zealand will have to be better than this in the Tri-Nations.

Man of the match:  Keven Mealamu delivered a storming performance from hooker, also helping in no small way with New Zealand's line-out dominance through some pinpoint throwing.

Villain of the match:  Cedric Heymans and Ma'a Nonu, the latter for the stupidity of following through with his shoulder even half-heartedly, the latter for his ludicrous parody of someone who had been late-tackled.  This is not football, gentlemen ...

Moment of the match:  Heymans' try.  A moment of individual magic that lit up a game floundering in the weather.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  Nonu
Pens:  Donald 2, McAlister

For France:
Try:  Heymans
Con:  Dupuy
Pen:  Yachvili

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina (c), 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Josevata Rokocoko, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 John Afoa, 18 Bryn Evans, 19 George Whitelock, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Isaia Toeava.

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Romain Millo-Chluski, 4 Sebastien Chabal, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Remy Martin, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Florian Fritz, 22 Mathieu Bastareaud.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Nathan Pearce (Australia)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor:  Andrew Cole (Australia)

Lions go down in Durban

In the end, it was all a little bit tame.  The Lions came to Durban, on the back of six victories and with confidence abounding, and were beaten 26-21 by the Boks.

There was fight at the death, and high drama as the tourists produced a super final quarter to narrow the gap to within a score.  But the game had long been lost in a dreadful first half -- in reality, it was the multiple changes that stumped the Boks' rhythm and nearly cost them their win, rather than any inherent superiority.

What on earth happened early on though?  The scrums, so talked up as the focal point of the Lions efforts, so derided in southern hemisphere teams as being devoid of the necessary technique and strength, were annihilated.  Phil Vickery alone on five occasions crumpled like a milk carton under an elephant's foot against Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira.  The Boks got six points from that alone.

The line-outs were always going to be difficult, but after losing two of the first four the Lions simply gave up kicking for touch and kicked down the sidelines instead, playing right into the hands of the big-booted Bok full-back Frans Steyn, who returned the kicks with interest.

The Boks were a yard faster to the breakdown every time, with the Lions often caught looking on and willing the carrier to break the line rather than heading off in support.  It was a classic team freeze.  A choke straight from the Greg Norman school of choking.  It was ruthlessly punished by a clinical home side that looked fresh, hungry and together.  Underdone?  Not a bit of it.  This was a champion team of near-limitless experience performing to its absolute prime.

The Lions may point with frustration at the officiating, which absolutely did not go their way until a frantic final quarter in which everything seemed to go the Lions' way.  They can point to two well-taken tries, two more TMO calls and Ugo Monye's drop of the ball in a tackle with the tryline begging.  There are bright spots for a team that needs to grow together still further.  They will point with fury too, at the farce that allowed John Smit back on after he had previously been substituted -- that has to warrant an investigation.

But they must also reflect that for the first hour the Boks made their own luck with the officials and however well the Lions fought back, there was far too much to do.  There are deficiencies all over the park that the Lions will have to address next week in Pretoria, in rucks, at scrums, with the boot and in attack with the ball in hand.

The faint hope for the Lions fans might have been that half-time could precipitate one of those miracle turnarounds.  Fat chance.  Within five minutes of the second half starting, the Boks pack had driven two mauls a combined total of 35 metres and scored their second try through Heinrich Brüssow.  If Lions heads had not dropped before, they did then.  It could have been a massacre.

In the end, there was enough fight in the tourists to avoid that.  The Boks sat back and defended patiently against an attack as imaginative as the latest Obama biography, concentrating on their numbers at the breakdown and waiting for the frustration and penalties to come, playing the percentages with their own possession.

The first try came so easily.  The Boks stole a line-out, and after an initial thrust by Jean de Villiers Ruan Pienaar floated a super kick across for JP Pietersen to chase.  The Boks won a 5m scrum at the breakdown, took the ball through three simple, quick phases, and John Smit crashed over near the posts on the third.

Worse came.  Vickery took the first two of his Beast-ings, and on the second Pienaar made it 10-0 from the tee.  Stephen Jones, who had already missed one long-range shot, missed a sitter from 30 metres, while Pienaar made no mistake after a no-arm tackle by Tom Croft, a hugely contestable decision.

David Wallace took a simple pop pass to break the line, but found himself running away from his support, which was scant anyway.  Then came another of those officiating moments, when Bryce Lawrence allowed a Lions advantage to go only one phase further before calling it over, raising the ire of the Lions players and fans alike.

Moments later came the first of the TMO calls, with Monye haring for the corner after a simple miss-move, and brilliantly double-tackled by Steyn and De Villiers, whose grab of the ball and flip of it free just as Monye was sliding over the line was genius.

On 22 minutes, Tom Croft scored a cracking try, started by Jamie Roberts' bust of a gap and offload to Brian O'Driscoll, and finished off when O'Driscoll showed the presence of mind to cut inside for Croft on the offload.

It was a brief flicker for first half momentum, which stayed with the hosts.  Beast conquered Vickery again:  16-7 -- courtesy of Steyn.  Tommy Bowe was left isolated by another raking Pienaar kick:  19-7.  That was it at the break.

The second half started with a shower of penalties against the Lions, including some lengthy advantage at a driving maul so palpably absent from the officiating of the Lions' efforts.

This time, the Boks eschewed the posts for the touchline and more driving.  Ultimately, they drove 55m down the pitch for Brussow to score the try that made it 26-7.

Phillips nearly struck right back, but he lost the ball in the tackle from Bakkies Botha as he lunged for the line -- the tightest of calls from the TMO, but once again, an act of desperation born out of a ludicrously short advantage allowance from referee Lawrence.

From then, Pienaar controlled the game with some raking kicks, with Steyn mopping up the return and the chasers tight as the nun's proverbial with their pattern, forcing the Lions to kick back and run down the clock.

The game was changed by the weird and wonderful changes of Peter de Villiers, who decided that Brussow should come off despite his magnificence at getting to the breakdown and that Smit and Beast no longer needed to boss the scrums.  Suddenly, the Lions clicked, kept their ball and forced penalty after penalty out of the Boks.

One went to the corner, and two rucks later, Tom Croft took an inside pass from Roberts to score the Lions' second.  With five minutes to go, Phillips made a trademark dummy and dart off the back of a ruck for a third, with Jones converting both to make it 26-21.

The stadium held its breath, while the Bok coaching team panicked and sent Smit back on to shore things up.  It worked to a degree, with the Boks also grateful to a tackle by Pierre Spies in the final minute that knocked the ball loose on the Lions' final attack.  But the Lions now know:  it can be done.  Next week, maybe it will be done in the first half as well.

Man of the match:  The Beast.  He was magnificent.

Moment of the match:  The 40m driving maul that led to the Boks' second try.  Awesome.

Villain of the match:  Why does Ricky Januarie have to start a fight every time he comes on the pitch?  He really is an unpleasant and unwelcome little man.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Smit, Brussow
Cons:  Pienaar 2
Pens:  Pienaar 3, Steyn

For the Lions:
Tries:  Croft 2, Phillips
Cons:  S. Jones 3

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Morné Steyn.

British & Irish Lions:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Martyn Williams, 20 Harry Ellis, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Rob Kearney.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Stuart Dickinson, Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

O'Connor treble deflates Azzurri

Teenage full-back James O'Connor continued his meteoric rugby rise on Saturday as his hat-trick saw the Wallabies beat Italy 31-8 in Canberra.

Still at the tender age of only eighteen and with a hefty international future sure to follow, O'Connor supported well for his first two scores but saved the best until last by bumping off the mighty Sergio Parisse in the first of this two-Test series.

It's difficult to gauge the Wallabies at this early stage -- particularly as they have only played a jet-lagged Barbarians outfit and a nation who have not won for a year -- but what they do possess is a host of attacking weapons and solid defence that will serve them well in the 2009 Tri-Nations.

But while Robbie Deans will of course be pleased with how O'Connor took his chance, Italy's usual strangling tactics did make life difficult for the hosts to find any fluidity in the cold conditions.

Their first score did take just four minutes to arrive when an unmarked Lachie Turner was utilised well from his blindside wing to feed the young debutant.  So everything seemed to be going to the pre-match script with more five-pointers on their way, surely?

But that wasn't the case as the steely resolve of the Azzurri became prominent, with Mauro Bergamasco and captain Parisse made their presence felt -- the former's accidental knee collision with Lachie Turner's head leaving the back motionless for a period.

Unfortunately for the touring side though, who play the Wallabies again in Melbourne next week, their attacking arsenal did not match their tackling.  And with George Smith at his breakdown best throughout alongside the tactical kicking of you know who, Italy's efforts were few and far between as the scoreline remained at 5-0 on 25 minutes.

But from that moment up until the break the Wallabies finally clicked into some sort of rhythm to demonstrate the kind of form that did for the Barbarians last weekend.

First it was the in-form Giteau's late change of direction from behind the ruck that saw him pierce a gap before freeing his arms to send O'Connor over for his second.  Then his partner in crime, Berrick Barnes, was then on hand to set up the fly-half for a slightly fortuatest try under the posts on 33 minutes.

But from that moment up until the break the Wallabies finally clicked into gear and showed the kind of form that did for the Barbarians last weekend.

First it was the in-form Giteau's late change of direction from behind the ruck that saw him pierce a gap before freeing his arms to send O'Connor over for his second.  They weren't done there though as his partner in crime, Berrick Barnes, was then on hand to set up the fly-half for a slightly fortuitous try under the posts on 33 minutes.

Italy did respond before the interval with three points from the boot of Luke McLean, who had been pushed into the full-back role due to Australian-born Craig Gower's inclusion at ten, and they were also starting to look much more impressive on the turnaround.

And it was in fact Bayonne's 31-year-old that set up the Azzurri's first and only try on 43 minutes when his drop-goal dummy saw took him down the touchline before a switch with Kaine Robertson closed the gap to just nine points.

But the winger's score served only as false hope for Nick Mallett's side as Australia regrouped to dominate the second period with two more tries putting the game beyond doubt.  Stirling Mortlock's now typical surge against the grain got them going before O'Connor's crafty footwork left Parisse and Italy slightly embarrassed.

Man of the match:  We're not going to fall into the trap of building up a youngster to the point of stupidity but credit where credit is due, James O'Connor was impressive on debut.  However, the game award goes to Berrick Barnes after he once again went about his business alongside Matt Giteau.  His tactical kicking was faultless and the centre's calmness in possession was a big factor in the result.

Moment of the match:  It has to be when James O'Connor bumped off an unbalanced Sergio Parisse to claim his third score of the evening.  One feels the youngster should run and hide when they meet again in Melbourne.

Villain of the match:  Nothing huge to report but at a push Mauro Bergamasco's knee might appear in Lachie Turner's clouded thoughts later tonight.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  O'Connor 3, Giteau, Mortlock
Con:  Giteau 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Robertson
Pen:  McLean

Australia:  15 James O'Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (capt), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 David Pocock, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Adam Ashley-Cooper.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Alberto Sgarbi, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Ignacio Rouyet, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Tito Tebaldi, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Gonzalo Garcia.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Marius Jonker (South Africa), Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)