All Blacks storm past Springboks

Updated October 07, 2012 07:28:04

New Zealand scored 20 unanswered second-half points to complete a perfect Rugby Championship campaign with a 32-16 triumph over South Africa in Soweto.

Down by 10 points early on and trailing 16-12 at half-time, the All Blacks reclaimed the lead 22 seconds into the second half through a try from veteran inside centre Ma'a Nonu and never looked back.

Lock Sam Whitelock, scrum-half Aaron Smith and outside centre Conrad Smith also scored tries and fly half Dan Carter kicked three conversions, a penalty and a drop goal.

"We could not get our hands on the ball in the first half and you can put the fact that we were still in the match down to a wonderful bunch of guys who have been together for some time," said All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.

"It was much better for us during the second half and the boys were able to build pressure. What we worked so hard on during the week paid off," added the bruised and cut flanker.

Springboks captain and inside centre Jean de Villiers said: "We had to play catch-up rugby for too much of the game and that is pretty difficult against a quality team like the All Blacks.

"This is a young team and let us hope that we all learn from our mistakes. The team panicked at times in the closing stages and conceded some stupid penalties."

Bryan Habana claimed his seventh try this season in the competition early on to raise South African hopes, but that was the only time the Boks crossed the line.

Fly half Johan Goosen kicked the conversion and a penalty before retiring injured late in the first half and replacement Elton Jantjies landed two penalties.

Coach Heyneke Meyer warned the Springboks before the battle of the highest ranked teams in the world that nothing less than an 80 per cent place-kicking success rate would give his team a chance, and his words proved prophetic.

Youngsters Goosen and Jantjies missed two kicks each to leave South Africa with only a 50 per cent success rate and so the poor record continued when aiming at the posts during the Championship.

While the South African pack held its own, there was a yawning gap in class between the back lines with New Zealand managing to score two first-half tries despite being virtually starved of possession.

New Zealand defeated South Africa, Australia and Argentina home and away and also picked up two bonus points for a total of 26 - 14 more than South Africa, which could surrender second place if Australia beats Argentina.

The All Blacks can now adjust their sights to creating two world records - the most consecutive victories by a top-tier rugby nation (18) and by a rugby nation (19) - with a Test in Australia and an end-of-season tour to Europe looming.

New Zealand: 32 (S Whitelock, A Smith, M Nonu, C Smith tries; D Carter 3 cons; penalty; drop goal)

South Africa: 16 (B Habana try; J Goosen con; penalty; E Jantjies 2 pens)

AFP

Tags: super-rugby, rugby-union, sport, south-africa, new-zealand

First posted October 07, 2012 07:15:44

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Gutsy Wallabies hold off Pumas

Updated October 07, 2012 12:38:49

Australia has ended the Rugby Championships with a third victory after hanging on for a gutsy 25-19 win over Argentina in Rosario this morning (AEDT).

The injury-stricken Wallabies lead from the outset after Mike Harris' radar-like boot gave the visitors a 15-9 half-time lead before a 65th minute try to winger Digby Ioane looked to the put the contest to bed.

The determined Pumas crossed the try line through Juan Imhoff with three minutes left, but shocking handling errors cost the hosts a chance of a memorable comeback victory.

Full-back Harris shrugged the distraction of a laser pointer from the crowd to kick 7/8, including six penalties and finished with 20 points.

The triumph means Australia ended the inaugural Rugby Championships in second place on 12 points, 14 points behind New Zealand and eases the pressure on beseiged coach Robbie Deans.

The Wallabies now have a fortnight before facing the All Blacks, undefeated in their last 17 Tests after a 32-16 mauling of South Africa, in the final Bledisloe Cup clash in Brisbane.

In front of a vocal crowd, both sides struggled to build momentum in a stop-start affair disrupted by 10 handling errors apiece and a 17-12 penalty count in favour of Australia.

The Wallabies struck their telling blow with Ioane's try right after surviving Argentina's most dangerous onslaught that almost delivered the Pumas a try.

From a scrum on Argentina's 22-metre line, a lovely set piece move saw the Queensland winger cut through a gap in the languishing Pumas defence to score under the posts with Harris converting.

Replacement winger Imhoff scored a late try for the Pumas which was converted by centre Marcelo Bosch. Fly half Juan Martin Hernandez slotted over three penalties and Bosch one.

Harris's steady kicking from penalties gave the Wallabies a 15-9 half-time lead.

He put three over early as Australia went 9-3 up and converted his fourth from under the posts in the 23rd minute after an infringement by Argentina when the Wallabies threatened to drive over and score.

Argentina lost lock Patricio Albacete to the sin bin two minutes later but the only advantage Australia was able to take was Harris's fifth penalty.

Hernandez then failed with two attempted penalties in the dying minutes of the half.
Australian replacement scrum-half Brett Sheehan was sin binned with less than six minutes remaining for an apparent high tackle.

Australia: 25 (D Ioane try; M Harris 1/1 con; 6/7 pens; K Beale 0/2 pens)

Argentina: 19 (JJ Imhoff try; M Bosch 1/1 con; 1/1 pen; JM Hernandez 3/5 pens)

ABC/Reuters

Tags: rugby-union, sport, argentina, australia

First posted October 07, 2012 11:53:50

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Ref erred in not allowing Wallaby sub: IRB

Updated October 04, 2012 10:48:15

Irish referee Alain Rolland erred in not allowing Australia to make a late substitution against South Africa in a Rugby Championship match last Saturday, the International Rugby Board has said.

The Wallabies were forced to play the closing stages at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria a man short, although it did not effect the result as the Springboks had all but sewn up a 31-8 victory.

A Board statement said that according to Law 3.12 (exception 2) Australia reserve hooker Saia Fainga'a should have been permitted to replace injured hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau.

Loftus touchline microphones picked up Rolland - an experienced referee who refereed the 2007 World Cup final - telling the Australians that they could not make any more substitutions as they had already used the usual maximum of seven.

IRB match official selection committee chairman John Jeffrey said: "The area of substitution management is a team effort. This was an unfortunate case of human error by the match officials who accept that they made a mistake."

Rolland, who will also referee the match between South Africa and New Zealand in Soweto this Saturday, was assisted in Pretoria by Greg Garner of England and Romain Poite of France with South African Shaun Veldsman the TMO.

Rolland provoked a fierce debate at last year's World Cup when he sent Wales captain Sam Warburton off early in the game for a spear tackle on Vincent Clerc - some criticised him for destroying the game as a spectacle while others said he was right to do so under the strict rules governing such tackles.

AFP

Tags: sport, rugby-union, australia

First posted October 04, 2012 09:34:58

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Wallabies have learned their lessons

Updated October 03, 2012 08:18:07

Wallabies forwards coach Andrew Blades says Australia will not fall into the same trap of probing wide too early against a Pumas side which almost skinned them on the Gold Coast.

The Wallabies got out of jail in their first Rugby Championship meeting against Argentina last month, scoring 17 points in the final 20 minutes after trailing 19-6, but know they are true underdogs for the rematch in Rosario.

Argentina is eyeing its maiden win in the tournament and Blades said it was crucial the injury-ravaged Wallabies take the battle to the Pumas' powerful forward pack and build an attacking platform before employing their backs.

On the Gold Coast, Australia passed the ball wide immediately and looked capable of cutting the world number eight-ranked side apart but was often caught and isolated.

The Wallabies were outmuscled in the collisions in their last-start 31-8 drubbing by South Africa and know they must toughen up.

They also aim to take a leaf out of the All Blacks' book after New Zealand ran in seven tries in their 54-15 win over Argentina on Saturday, but only after being patient in setting a platform.

"To play against the Pumas well you first do the hard work and that's where we suffered on the weekend - around the tackle," said Blades, who played prop in the drawn two-match series in Argentina in 1997.

"We need to improve well there to get momentum to play good rugby.

"We had a good look at the All Blacks and saw how the Pumas were able to frustrate them early in the game with their strong defence.

"The All Blacks adjusted well. They made sure they weren't caught short going wide before going forward and that was a lesson for us."

Centre Pat McCabe underlined Argentina's breakdown nous by rating them the most physical team he's played, and rated them "deserved favourites".

On the plus side for the tourists, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and Radike Samo are confident they will overcome shoulder problems to play on Saturday night (Sunday morning AEST).

Of the five players carrying injuries from the Pretoria thumping, it appears winger Digby Ioane (knee) and Scott Higginbotham (back) are in most doubt of playing after missing training on Tuesday.

Centre Anthony Fainga'a has been cleared of a head knock and is expected to replace Adam Ashley-Cooper and combine with McCabe in the midfield.

McCabe had been seen as a leading contender for the vacant full-back position but he is not expecting a shift, meaning Mike Harris is set to become the fourth different starting number 15 in five games.

AAP

Tags: sport, rugby-union, argentina, australia

First posted October 03, 2012 08:18:07

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Springboks run Wallabies ragged

Updated September 30, 2012 11:42:25

South Africa changed the emphasis from kicking to running with the ball and scored five tries to crush Australia 31-8 in the Rugby Championship on Sunday morning (AEST).

Veteran right wing Bryan Habana ran in three and there was one each for full-back Zane Kirchner and flanker Francois Louw as the Springboks ended a run of five losses against the Wallabies after leading 14-3 at the break.

The bonus-point triumph before a near-capacity crowd at the 50,000-seat Loftus Versfeld stadium lifted South Africa to 12 points, four behind New Zealand and four ahead of Australia in the southern hemisphere competition.

Scrum half Ruan Pienaar, who took over the placing kicking duties after new fly half Johan Goosen narrowly missed two early shots at goal, completed the scoring with three conversions.

But usually deadly place kicker Goosen shrugged off the disappointments to justify his selection ahead of long-time pivot Morne Steyn and centre Jaco Taute had a satisfactory first start in the green and gold colours.

"It is much nicer to win than to lose and today it all came together this evening," said Springbok centre and skipper Jean de Villiers, referring to a lucky draw in Argentina and losses in Australia and New Zealand.

"The difference in this match was that we executed our game plan much better than in Mendoza, Perth and Dunedin. Gaps opened up and we took full advantage to score those tries.

"But it was not just the backs who deserved credit - the forwards were all outstanding, especially our loose forwards Duane (Vermuelen), Willem (Alberts), Francois (Louw) and Marcell (Coetzee)."

Wallabies lock and skipper Nathan Sharpe admitted the injuries - the catalogue of misery began on six minutes when centre Pat McCabe went off - took its toll on a side that won their last two Championship Tests.

"It is difficult to rejig a side on the run and a good Springbok team fully exploited our problems. We must now bounce back against Argentina and finish the campaign strongly," Sharpe said.

Continuing poor place kicking was the one disappointment as the Springboks got back on the winning trail after a three-match winless run with Pienaar failing to convert four penalty attempts.

South Africa succeeded with only two of nine kicks at goal against New Zealand in Dunedin two weeks ago and chief culprit Steyn was axed by coach Heyneke Meyer after a public and media outcry.

Australia has been plagued by injuries throughout the Championship and it only got worse at Loftus with numerous casualties, including centre Adam Ashley-Cooper, who was taken to hospital with concussion before the break.

The visitors had to play the last eight minutes a man short after making all seven substitutions and were also reduced to 14 men early in the second half when replacement prop James Slipper was sin-binned.

Kurtley Beale, making his first start at fly-half for the Wallabies, kicked a first half penalty and replacement back Mike Harris went over in the corner for a try after the Springboks had built a 23-point advantage.

But razor-sharp Habana had the final say, rounding off another good handling movement in the final minute to raise his career total to 46 tries, against demoralised opponents.

Kirchner and Habana scored first-half tries and Goosen and Kirchner also touched down over the line only to have their efforts disallowed for a double movement and a foot in touch respectively.

South Africa: 31 (B Habana 3, Z Kirchner, F Louw tries; R Pienaar 3/5 cons, 0/2 pens; J Goosen 0/2 cons)

Australia: 8 (M Harris try; K Beale 1/1 pen)

AFP

Tags: sport, rugby-union, south-africa, australia

First posted September 30, 2012 07:51:46

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Wallabies beef up for Argentina

Updated October 05, 2012 07:20:59

Injury-ravaged Australia has gone for greater bulk with five changes for its final Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Rosario on Sunday morning (AEST) while the Pumas are unchanged.

Both sides want to finish on a winning note with Argentina, crushed 54-15 by title winners New Zealand last weekend, looking for its first victory in its debut season in the tournament and fancying its chances after a narrow 23-19 loss to the Wallabies on the Gold Coast three weeks ago.

Winger Nick Cummins will win his first cap for the Wallabies, who went down 31-8 to South Africa in Johannesburg last Saturday, on the right in place of Dominic Shipperley who is on the bench.

Injuries have put Berrick Barnes and centre Adam Ashley-Cooper out of contention to face the Pumas with Mike Harris stepping in for Barnes as full-back and main goal kicker in the side named by coach Robbie Deans.

Ben Tapuai replaces Ashley-Cooper at outside centre for his second cap, completing the three changes made by Deans in the backs.

"We know that the Pumas will be coming straight at us, and will be looking to profit in the collision in the same way that the Springboks did last week," Deans said.

"We've addressed that, both internally in our discussions, but also with our selection, where we have gone for the players we feel are best suited to that approach."

There are two changes in the forwards with Sitaleki Timani coming in for Dave Dennis for his first Test as blindside flanker after winning six caps in the second row and James Slipper in the front row in favour of loosehead Benn Robinson.

"As with the backs, we've looked to increase our physicality to counter the direct force that will undoubtedly be coming the other way," said Deans, who dropped Dennis and Robinson to the bench.

Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has kept faith with the 15 players who started against the All Blacks and scored two tries but paid heavily conceding seven as their effort to attack more had a detrimental effect on their usually tight defence.

However, there are changes on the bench with Nicolas Sanchez, fly half when Argentina held South Africa to a draw in its first home match, coming in for Martin Rodriguez, who has had surgery in a dislocated shoulder, and back row Leonardo Senatore displacing Tomas Vallejos.

Mike Harris; Nick Cummins, Ben Tapuai, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane; Kurtley Beale, Nick Phipps; Radike Samo, Michael Hooper, Sitaleki Timani; Nathan Sharpe (capt), Kane Douglas; Ben Alexander, Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper

Replacements: Saia Fainga'a, Benn Robinson, Dave Dennis, Scott Higginbotham, Liam Gill, Brett Sheehan, Dominic Shipperley

Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino; Gonzalo Camacho, Marcelo Bosch, Santiago Fernandez, Horacio Agulla; Juan Martin Hernandez, Martin Landajo; Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (capt), Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Julio Farias Cabello; Patricio Albacete, Manuel Carizza; Juan Figallo, Eusebio Guinazu, Rodrigo Roncero

Replacements: Agustin Creevy, Juan Pablo Orlandi, Leonardo Senatore, Tomas Leonardi, Nicolas Vergallo, Nicolas Sanchez, Juan Imhoff

Reuters

Tags: rugby-union, sport, argentina, australia

First posted October 05, 2012 07:14:19

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All Blacks down Pumas to win Rugby Championship

Updated September 30, 2012 11:51:49

Winger Cory Jane scored three of New Zealand's seven tries as the world champion All Blacks beat Argentina 54-15 to lift the inaugural Rugby Championship title on Sunday morning (AEST).

The other New Zealand winger, Julian Savea, also scored two tries in an open match in which the Pumas also crossed the All Blacks line twice, most notably with scrum half Martin Landajo's opening try of the match.

A noisy 45,000 full house at the Etadio Unico were treated to some exciting, if often error-riddled, running from both back lines with the All Blacks enjoying a clear edge when it came to finishing.

New Zealand took its winning run to 15 since last year's World Cup and travel to Johannesburg for its final match of the tournament next weekend against South Africa, which beat Australia 31-8 earlier on Sunday.

It was a return to regional dominance for the All Blacks, who won 10 of the 16 Tri-Nations titles but lost out to the Wallabies in last year's final version of the competition before it was replaced to allow the addition of the Pumas.

"We wanted to win the championship from day one and to do it so early is a reflection of how hard the boys have worked and how well they've played," New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said in a pitchside interview.

Argentina, whose former prop Omar Hasan - now an opera singer - sung both anthems, showed their intent to run the ball at every opportunity and went ahead within nine minutes.

The Pumas won a lineout on the left inside their own half, the ball was passed inside to full-back Lucas Gonzalez Amorisino, who rode two tackles and set off on a diagonal run towards the right.

He was tackled inside the New Zealand 22 but laid off to Landajo, who darted between two players to touch down. Fly half Juan Martin Hernandez missed the conversion.

New Zealand hit back eight minutes later with the first try conceded by the Pumas in the first half of their championship matches.

Centre Ma'a Nonu broke through the defence at a ruck in the middle and raced for the posts before passing out of the tackle to scrum half Aaron Smith, who touched down.

Carter converted to put the All Blacks ahead and then put over a penalty for a 10-5 lead at the halfway point of the first half.

The All Blacks then scored a second try through Jane in the left corner after a break by number eight Kieran Read, with Carter again converting.

Fly half Hernandez and Carter exchanged penalties before a brief tale of two interceptions.

First the Pumas snapped up a loose ball and moved play out right where wing Gonzalo Camacho dropped the ball to allow Savea to kick ahead, chase and touched down.

Savea scored his second try in the corner as the half was winding down after several phases of All Blacks attacks and, with Carter's conversion, New Zealand went in at half-time 32-8 ahead.

Argentina pinned New Zealand back into their half from the restart and after several phases of attack won a penalty. They chose to run and were rewarded when Camacho picked up from a ruck and scurried over to score their second try.

Again, New Zealand hit right back with Jane's second try at the end of a move that began on the far side after a lineout.

A lot more running of the ball by both teams, amid a myriad of replacements in the final quarter, failed to deliver another try for the home side but Nonu crossed and Jane secured his hat-trick for New Zealand.

New Zealand: 54 (C Jane 3, J Savea 2, A Smith, M Nonu tries; D Carter 3/5 cons, A Cruden 2/2 cons; D Carter 2/3 pens, A Cruden 1/1 pen)

Argentina: 15 (M Landajo, G Camacho tries; J Martin Hernandez 1/2 cons, 1/1 pen)

Reuters

Tags: sport, rugby-union, argentina

First posted September 30, 2012 11:28:28

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