Australia stunned New Zealand with two second-half tries to storm home for a 20-15 win in the Tri-Nations rugby tournament in Melbourne on Saturday. The Wallabies looked second-best to the World Cup favourites for more than an hour before unleashing two converted tries to keep their hopes alive.
A year ago, Australia was awash in wine. But thanks to the worst drought in a century, the 2007 vintage will be one of the leanest in years and the grape glut is drying up fast. For winemakers like Terry Dolle, who has a small vineyard near the cool-climate town of Orange west of Sydney, the past year has been a ”series of disasters”.
Under-fire Springbok coach Jake White believes Australian attacks on his under-strength team will harden the resolve of his players in next week’s Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies. Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O’Neill has reportedly said the union will quantify the financial damage caused by White’s decision.
Australia will discuss the possibility of compensation with South African officials over the selection of a second-string side for next week’s Tri-Nations Test in Sydney, reports said on Friday. The Australian Rugby Union will quantify the financial damage caused by South Africa’s decision to rest its top players.
Springboks coach Jake White on Thursday defended his controversial selection policy of bringing an under-strength squad to play the Wallabies and All Blacks in next month’s Tri-Nations Tests. The South Africans arrived in Sydney Thursday minus 24 leading players, who White said were either injured or being rested ahead of September’s World Cup in France.
The All Blacks may have won their past five matches against the Wallabies but they have a healthy respect for the improving side ahead of their Bledisloe Cup/Tri-Nations clash on Saturday. The All Blacks won on their past two visits to Australia, winning 13-9 in Brisbane last year and 30-13 in Sydney in 2005.
Australian rugby authorities are resigned to hosting a below-strength Springbok line-up next month despite complaining of a betrayal on the part of their South African counterparts. Australian Rugby Union chairperson Peter McGrath sent a letter of complaint to the South African Rugby Union.
Australia and New Zealand may consider scrapping their remaining Tri-Nations matches against South Africa if the Springboks insist on leaving their best players at home to keep them fresh for the World Cup. Australian and New Zealand officials are furious that the South Africans have picked a weakened squad for their two away matches.
Aborigines on Tuesday said the government was trying to steal their land under the guise of responding to a crisis that Prime Minister John Howard has labelled Australia’s own Hurricane Katrina. Canberra began deploying police and soldiers to the Northern Territory outback this week under a controversial plan to combat widespread child sex abuse in Aboriginal communities.
The Australian Rugby Union said on Monday it is outraged and betrayed by South African Rugby’s decision to send an under-strength squad to Australia and New Zealand for their remaining Tri-Nations Tests. Springbok coach Jake White has opted to rest his big guns for the Australasian leg.
Young Australian men who drive too fast have had the size of their manhood questioned in the latest drive by anti-speeding campaigners to cut road deaths. The below-the-belt television ads show women noticing a young man roaring past and then turning scornfully to their friends and wiggling their little fingers.
New Zealand’s players have accused their South African opponents of dirty tactics in Saturday’s Tri-Nations clash in Durban. New Zealand scored two late tries to win the match 26-21, but later claimed the Springboks had tried to unsettle them by foul means.
Australia coach John Connolly wants the value of drop goals reduced from three points to one to prevent the game being dominated by kicking. Connolly said the whole purpose of rugby was for teams to try and score tries but the three points available for drop goals was persuading teams to take the easier option.
The Wallabies have yet to find a replacement kicking coach with time running out before September’s Rugby World Cup in France. Coach John Connolly has been forced to operate this season without a kicking coach after Ben Perkins resigned in protest at a contract offered to him by the Australian Rugby Union.
Former Australian Test rugby star David Campese wasn’t able to ”goose step” this obstacle. Campese, who scored 64 Test tries and played in 101 Tests for Australia, has been an outspoken critic of his national team since he retired in 1996. Now it appears as if Campese has been shunned by the current Wallabies.
Disgraced former Wallaby Wendell Sailor will sign for Australian rugby league side St George Illawarra when his ban for drug use expires, it was reported Wednesday. The 32-year-old tested positive for cocaine after playing for the NSW Waratahs in a Super 14 match against the ACT Brumbies in April last year.
Australia lock Nathan Sharpe threw down the gauntlet to the in-form Springboks on Tuesday, saying South Africa were over-confident and the Wallabies would relish playing them on home turf. Sharpe said he was pleased with Australia’s performance during a 22-19 loss to South Africa in the Tri-Nations series opener in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Wallabies are right in the hunt for October’s World Cup after their inspirational defensive effort fell just short against tournament fancies South Africa in the Tri-Nations opener, reports said on Monday. Replacement winger Francois Steyn won the Cape Town Test match for the Springboks 22-19 with two late drop goals.
New Zealand’s mounting injury toll claimed another victim on Thursday when All Blacks centre Conrad Smith was ruled out this weekend’s Test against Canada in Hamilton. Smith had been hoping to make his international comeback on Saturday but was forced to delay his return because of lingering problems with his troublesome hamstring.
The Wallabies have accused South African strongman BJ Botha of cheating in scrums ahead of Saturday’s Tri-Nations rugby Test in Cape Town, reports said. ”I can’t believe that he gets away with it,” Australian team forwards coach Michael Foley told Thursday’s edition of the Australian newspaper.
An Australian man was attacked with a sawfish snout during a burglary in the northern state of Queensland, police said. Police said two thieves broke into a caravan at Bundaberg in south-east Queensland on Tuesday night and attacked the 40-year-old occupant with the fish snout, a length of cartilage with a row of serrated teeth around its outside edge.
The Dalai Lama warned nations on Tuesday not to try to contain China’s economic and military emergence, but urged countries like Australia to use their trading clout to pressure Beijing on human rights. ”It is absolutely wrong to isolate China and also contain China. It’s wrong, morally also wrong,” said the Dalai Lama.
Assistant coach Wayne Smith insisted New Zealand would not field a weakened team against Canada on Saturday just a week before the All Blacks begin their Tri-Nations campaign in South Africa. New Zealand completed a 2-0 series win over France at the weekend with a 61-10 rout in Wellington.
The Wallabies are rating their against-the-odds Tri-Nations Test against South Africa next weekend as the pivotal moment in Australia’s campaign to win the World Cup for a third time. Australia have won just twice in 14 attempts in South Africa since 1992.
Australia coach John Connolly laughed off suggestions he could be sacked before the World Cup if the Wallabies struggle during the Tri-Nations series. Australia, fresh from a 49-0 rout of Fiji in Perth on Saturday and a 2-0 series win over Wales, open the Tri-Nations when they face South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday.
Australia selectors have dumped six players for next week’s opening Tri-Nations match against South Africa as their build-up to the World Cup starts to intensify. Digby Ioane, Hugh McMeniman, Rod Blake, James Horwill, Sam Norton-Knight and David Lyons were all left out of a reduced 25-man squad to play the Springboks in Cape Town next week.
Australia thrashed Fiji 49-0 in Perth on Saturday to chalk up their biggest Test victory in nearly 11 months and earn a timely confidence boost ahead of the World Cup in France. The Wallabies followed back-to-back wins over Wales by overwhelming their Pacific island neighbours with eight tries, five in the first half.
The return of brilliant winger Lote Tuqiri heads a comprehensive list of changes for Australia ahead of their rugby Test against Fiji on Saturday. As he searches for his best World Cup and Tri-Nations combination, Wallabies coach Jon Connolly retained just five of his starting 15 from their 31-0 win over Wales last Saturday.
England’s ”Barmy Army” of travelling cricket fans helped boost the Australian economy by -million during the Ashes and one-day series, Cricket Australia said on Tuesday. An Economic Impact Study released by CA and the Australian government found that the Ashes and subsequent one-day series helped attract 37 000 international visitors to Australia.
Australian protesters held a ”picnic rally” against the logging of native forests while hundreds of Indian policemen swapped guns for spades on Tuesday to highlight World Environment Day. Across Asia, people learned about worm farming and listened to lectures about renewable energy.
New Zealand flanker Jerry Collins has recovered from a heel injury and will take his place in the pack for the second Test against France in Wellington on Saturday. All Blacks coach Graham Henry made six changes to the side that routed the inexperienced French party 42-11 at Auckland’s Eden Park last weekend.
Australia coach John Connolly is set to rest players for Saturday’s test against Fiji in Perth, keeping his powder dry before the opening Tri-Nations clash with the Springboks. Connolly sees the game against in-form South Africa in Cape Town on June 16 as the first genuine test of the year for the Wallabies.