Tri Nations 2010: All Blacks make it 10 Bledisloe wins in a row SATURDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2010 11:43 0 COMMENTS The All Blacks have beaten the Wallabies in a scrappy encounter at ANZ Stadium, Sydney. the All Blacks have come back from 22-9 down to win 23-22 and make it 10 successive wins over the Wallabies

Billed as the third Bledisloe, this was effectively a dead rubber, but, can there ever be a dead a rubber in a Bledisloe? No according to Graham Henry before game.

The Wallaby fans responded to the Haka with a “fearsome” rendition of Waltzing Matilda….. RUBBISH.

Piri Weepu slotted a second minute penalty to settle the Kiwi’s nerves.

Australia responded in the finest fashion, they were denied a try by a fine tackle by Corey Jane on Lachie Turner, they had won a penalty though and Giteau levelled the scores.

From he kick off Beale bundled Ma’a Nonu into touch on the goal-line preventing the All Blacks getting the opening try. Another desperate tackle by Turner on Muliaina prevented a try, but the All Blacks won a penalty and Weepu converted for a 6-3 lead.

The All Blacks lost hooker Mealamu in the 12th minute. The Kiwi’s were though having plenty of joy at the breakdown where they were easily winning the contest.

Australia though are deadly when given a sniff of the try line. McCalman picked up of the back of a scrum on the halfway line he skipped past Vito fed O’Connor and the wing sprinted home for the first try of the game. Giteau missed the touchline conversion.

Australia were making the All Blacks look ragged in their play, something that we have not seen for a while.

As the game approached the 30 minute mark the Wallabies were making half breaks but were not able to convert them into points.

Giteau extended the Wallaby lead with a second penalty in the 33rd minute. 11-6. Another Giteau penalty miss made it 3 misses for the number 12. Giteau was handed a further chance after the bell to extend the lead which he did and the Wallabies went into the break 14-6 to the good.

The second half started with the All Blacks making uncharacteristic errors at the lineout, handing easy ball to the Wallabies. But the All Blacks were still controlling the breakdown and were able to nullify any good Wallaby ball.

The Wallabies were full value for the first try of the second half, quick ruck ball saw Cooper use the ref to deflect the ball to Genia, who fed Ashley-Cooper he dummied Turner and crossed out wide, Giteau missed the conversion and the score stayed at 19-6.

Weepu reduced the gap with a 53rd minute penalty goal.

The Wallabies were starting to move through the subs, but they were looking assured with the ball in hand and with 25 minutes to play the likely winners.

Quade Cooper, revelling in the absence of Dan Carter was giving a masterclass in tactical kicking.

Kurtley Beale with another long range [penalty extended the lead to 22-9. The All Blacks responded by pulling off Cruden, a fair reflection of his night.

With 15 minutes to play the All Blacks were finally starting to play their game, but the Wallabies were up for the contest. It came as no surprise when from a 5 mere scrum Read fed McCaw who crossed untouched after a bad read in defence from O’Connor. Weepu made it 4 from 4 for night with a successful conversion. 22-16.

The Wallabies brought on Barnes for .Giteau

With 10 minutes to play the All Blacks were moving deep into the Wallaby 22 and sniffing the go ahead try.

I came as no surprise when after 7 phases close to the Wallaby line Kieran Read barged over, Weepu converted and the All Blacks led 23-22 with 6 minutes to play.

The All Blacks had scored 17 unanswered points. The Wallabies were starting to look heavy in the legs after their trip to South Africa, the All Blacks were looking anything but tired.

The All Blacks won a crucial penalty with 2 minutes to play, taking them deep into the Wallaby 22 and with it the game.

Tri Nations 2010: Wallabies punish the Springboks

Saturday, 24 July 2010 11:41

The Wallabies have beaten the Springboks at Suncorp stadium, Brisbane in an entertaining encounter by 30-13.

In perfect rugby conditions the Wallabies started the stronger and did no look back for the next 80 minutes.

Read over match preview here

For the third test in a row the Springboks lost a man to a yellow card within the opening moments of the game. This week Jaque Fourie was the man punished for a dangerous tackle… Was it dangerous? No. Poor decision, technically correct, but from a feel for the game perspective – RUBBISH.

The Wallabies immediately went on the attack shifting the ball at any opportunity. The Springboks were not afraid to move the ball either despite being a man down.

Australia took the lead through a 45metre Matt Giteau penalty goal in the 15th minute. Morne Steyn levelled a couple of minutes later after the Wallabies spurned a fine Genia line break.

It was not long before Giteau had his second penalty and the Wallabies had the lead again. The Wallabies were warming up nicely building through the phases winning another penalty for Giteau to convert.

With the half hour mark having been passed, the Wallabies were producing some great rugby, only the final pass was hurting them.

Matt Giteau gratefully accepted another penalty goal for a 12-3 lead in he 32nd minute.

Smack on halftime Elsom stole a lineout, the Wallabies built pressure, Giteau skipped across field before feeding Drew Mitchell who juggled the ball over the line before touching down for the score.

Giteau could not convert but the Wallabies led 17-3 at the half.

Giteau extended the lead just after the break with his 5th penalty goal, after Kankowski was penalised at the ruck.

Mitchell was denied a second try by a forward pass, but referee Clancy brought the play back for a Springbok offside, he yellow carded BJ Botha for a blatant professional foul.

Giteau punished the Boks further with his 6th penalty. Cooper was carded for an identical tackle to Fourie’s in the opening moments, but it did not seem to affec the Wallabies.

The Springboks started to attack more loosely but the Wallabies and in particular their captain Rocky Elsom (pictured) were defending superbly.

As the game approached he hour mark, the Wallabies held a comfortable 23-3 lead.

Jacque Fourie brought the Boks back in the game as he burrowed over for the try from a tap penalty. Pienaar could not convert, 23-8 to the Wallabies.

The 72nd minute saw the Boks cross for heir second try afer a well worked lineout move. Pienaar missed the conversion 23-13.

Genia finished the game as a contest when he crossed from short range in the 75th minute. O’Connor converted 30-13. The Springboks tried to get the final score but could not manage it.

This was a well deserved win for the Wallabies.

Australia Tries: Mitchell, Genia, Cons: O’Connor, Pens: Giteau 6, DG:

South Africa Tries: Fourie, Steenkamp Cons: Pens: Steyn, DG:

Australia:

Adam Ashley-Cooper; James O’Connor, Rob Horne, Matt Giteau,Drew Mitchell; Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Richard Brown, David Pocock, Rocky Elsom (captain); Nathan Sharpe, Dean Mumm; Salesi Ma’afu, Saia Fainga’a, Benn Robinson.

Reserves: Stephen Moore, James Slipper, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes, Kurtley Beale.

South Africa:

Zane Kirchner; Gio Aplon, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Bryan Habana; Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar; Pierre Spies, Ryan Kankowski, Schalk Burger; Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw; BJ Botha, John Smit (captain), Gurthro Steenkamp.

Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, Flip van der Merwe, Dewald Potgieter, Francois Hougaard, Butch James, Juan de Jongh.

23rd July 2010 13:27

South Africa captain John Smit insists the players remain fully focused on registering their first win of the Tri-Nations, despite frequent headlines made by his coach this week.

In one of his most backward ploys to date, Peter de Villiers overshadowed the Springboks’ build-up to Saturday’s meeting with Australia by claiming his team are unfairly targeted by referees. “I think it’s probably helpful that we don’t have too much time to get involved in the papers and websites when we’re losing,” said Smit. “I’m not too sure what’s going on and the only task we can really give ourselves is fixing what goes on the field. “As players there’s always going to be side-shows, but our job is pretty simple to get it right on the field.” Adding to the scrutiny on the underperforming Springboks has been the significant media focus on their aggressive game-plan. But despite the visitors missing two of their first-choice players to suspension, Smit says labelling his side as dirty is unfair and does no justice to their world-class calibre. “I think if bashing was the only strength we had we wouldn’t have achieved all the things we have over the last three or four years,” he said. “Sometimes you have to bash it, but not all the time. We’ve got to make sure we play the way we can and then we’ll have a fair chance of winning tomorrow. “They’ve got a huge amount of talent and certainly they’ll be wanting to tick the home-win box as well, which is important. “There’s two teams pretty desperate for a result for different reasons, my hope is that we get it right and they get it wrong, but they’re a team with a huge amount of potential and a number of threats on attack.” According to the Wallabies camp, openside flanker David Pocock could be the key to their chances of victory as he is the only genuine ball-gatherer on the field. Pocock established himself as a genuine world-class forward against the Springboks during the corresponding Tri-Nations match in Brisbane last year, and against the physical South Africans his influence will be vital. Australia skipper Rocky Elsom was another predicting a dominant showing from Pocock at the breakdown. “He’s performed really well so far this year,” he said. “He’s the only genuine on-baller out there and he’ll do a really good job of that.” However the humble Zimbabwe-born Pocock was playing down his importance, and remained wary of the danger in facing a Springboks line-up desperate for redemption. “In the modern game everyone’s got that (ball-fetching) ability,” he said. “A lot of it depends on the way the ref interprets the breakdown on the night. “South Africa is such a proud rugby nation, and having lived there for a bit you know how much it means to the public and how much it must mean to be a Springbok. “To lose three games in a row for them is unheard of - it just doesn’t happen - so we’re expecting a very fired up Springbok team to come out of that dressing room.”

Ryan Kankowski says the Boks will be “dangerous”

Back-row bolter Ryan Kankowski has stressed the Springboks’ dreadful Bundaberg Red Tri-Nations start has made them more dangerous, and certainly not left them vulnerable.

In a warning to the Qantas Wallabies, Kankowski said South Africa were primed to show why they are the reigning Tri-Nations champions on Saturday night in Brisbane.

The aura of the 2007 Rugby World Cup winners and last year’s No.1-ranked outfit has diminished with consecutive 32-12 and 31-17 losses to the All Blacks in New Zealand.

It means the Springboks have to immediately turn their form around to stay in the tournament by ending a terrible hoodoo at Suncorp Stadium where they have lost their past six and haven’t scored a try in 13 years.

Durban-based Sharks No.8 Kankowski was unveiled as coach Peter de Villiers’ shock selection on Tuesday in a bid to quicken up the tourists to handle Australia’s running game on what they see as the fastest venue in the southern hemisphere.

Kankowski will line-up at flanker, replacing Francois Louw, with the ultra-quick Pierre Spies staying at No.8, while creative utility back Ruan Pienaar has been picked to start at halfback for the first time in three years.

Skipper John Smit was confident his Sharks teammates Pienaar and Kankowski would inject an X-factor into the Springboks game.

Both made immediate impressions off the bench in the four-tries-to-two loss to the All Blacks in Wellington and believe South Africa are determined to make amends for their horror start on the road.

“Any team coming off a loss will be more dangerous,” Kankowski said.

“You’ve got a point to prove and they way I look at it you are only as good as your last game and we didn’t play to our potential the last two games.

“We want to pick each other up from the last two weeks and hopefully get it right.”

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is certainly expecting the best from the Boks.

“We know they will be grumpy and we know they will be wanting a result and they have communicated themselves the importance of away wins,” Deans said.

“They hold the trophy and they won’t want to be letting that go so we expect the best of them.”

The Sharks duo are two of four changes to the Boks starting 15 with France-based prop BJ Botha replacing CJ van der Linde, who will sit on the bench after being cleared of a shoulder injury, and 70kg winger Gio Aplon taking over from the suspended Jean de Villiers.

To get your tickets for the Bundaberg Red Tri-Nations click here

rugby.com.au | Fear the wounded Boks, warns Kankowski

Brilliant play by the backs and hard work by the forwards in the first half led to a 22 point lead at half time

To be honest, I am pleased at the level of play the Quins achieved on Sunday in their game against one the NZ Navy rugby teams.  It was disappointing to lose.  And while still fresh in my mind, I would say that it has to do with our overall fitness.

Our first half was brilliantly executed by both backs and forwards.  But, once we moved into the second half our confidence and effectiveness dropped to the level of our fitness.  Speaking for myself, I had taken a 4 week hiatus from working out at all due to work commitments.  I worked hard in the first half, but felt like I was doing as well in the second.

Having said all that, it was a great match.  It is nice to be back on the pitch once again.  Thanks to the Navy team for coming out.  Thanks to the local players that filled in to make the Navy team a full 15.  Thanks to the HHRFC for organizing the match.  Thanks to the Hawaii Rugby Football Union for supporting the match.  Finally, thanks to my teammates for all of the time we’ve spent together out on the field working to improve our individual and collect skills.  Go Quins!

Australia has a knack for pulling out the wins when you least expect it.  However, It is looking a little bleak the year.  What do you think?

I’m in Hawaii.  I follow most of the rugby fixtures.  The All Blacks are my team, however, if the USA was to compete against NZ, I would be cheering for the Eagles.

How about you?

I’m stepping back out on the pitch after a 4 week hiatus from any form of playing rugby. My local team is playing against a NZ Navy rugby team. It should be an interesting match.

For the uninitiated, rugby is like a religion in NZ. Like football in America, children grow up watching and playing the sport. Of course, it helps that they have a legendary national team to look up to.

Historically, teams coming off of international navy ships are not that great. Teams that should have steamrolled the Harlequins, they handled easily (especially from England—sorry pop, but it’s true).

So, this match is up for grabs. Will the lack of practice time on board the navy ship leave the Kiwi Navy vulnerable or will it be a blow-for-blow match? I’ll let you know later.