OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Saturday 2.45pm.
AUSTRALIA put their World Cup hopes firmly back on track with a no-nonsense 28-7 win over the dreaded New Zealand All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday.
A Wallaby pack, revamped after their 10-9 defeat to South Africa, secured victory made possible by full-back Matthew Burke’s seven penalties.
Burke also converted lock Mark Connors’ try right on half-time for a win which left the All Blacks asking themselves a lot of questions.
New Zealand had already secured the Tri Nations tournament with two wins over South Africa and a 34-15 defeat of the Wallabies at Auckland earlier in the month.
New Zealand fly-half Andrew Mehrtens scored a sensational try he converted for the All Blacks who failed to win back the Bledisloe Cup they lost to the Wallabies last year.
The next time these two sides meet could be in the World Cup final in Cardiff in November.
“The boys showed a lot of courage, a lot of determination,” Wallaby captain David Wilson said afterwards. “We’ll now have a bit of a break and really enjoy tonight.”
Desperate defending by Australia stopped three almost certain All Black tries in the first-half but even the introduction of Jonah Lomu at half-time could not ignite a strangely error-prone New Zealand side as the rain crashed down after the interval.
A world record rugby crowd of 107042 saw Australia put an end to five successive All Black wins and end their own run of two defeats. –AFP