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/ 13 October 2009
Stirling Mortlock and Matt Giteau have pledged their support for new captain Rocky Elsom and said there was no rift within the Wallabies squad.
Star Wallabies playmaker Matt Giteau says he will shoulder the responsibility of returning the Tri-Nations trophy to Australia.
The controversial fuel technology company Firepower, appears on the verge of collapse, with its offices abandoned in Perth and other parts of the world, and the company owing millions of dollars to rugby union players, the Western Force club, basketballers and other creditors.
The Western Force rose from the dead to beat the ACT Brumbies 29-22 in an entertaining Super 14 clash on Friday. The match had no bearing on the finals, but the Force’s seventh win ensured they finished as the second-best Australian side this season, behind the Waratahs.
The New South Wales Waratahs face the toughest task of the nine teams remaining in semifinal contention when the penultimate round of rugby’s Super 14 begins on Friday. The second-placed Waratahs face the fourth-placed Stormers in Cape Town in a match that bears heavily on their semifinal chances.
Wallaby flyhalf Matt Giteau kicked a penalty just before the whistle to give the Perth-based Western Force a thrilling 22-21 win over the Waikato Chiefs in their Super 14 rugby clash in Perth on Saturday. The Chiefs appeared to have clinched victory when centre Callum Bruce kicked a drop goal with only three minutes left but the Force threw everything at the visitors in the dying stages.
The New South Wales Waratahs climbed into the top four with a hard-fought 17-12 win over plucky Western Force in a thrilling Super 14 clash in Perth on Saturday. In a bruising encounter that claimed key players from both sides, the Waratahs scored the only two tries, one in each half.
The Canterbury Crusaders will field a largely second-string line-up against bottom team the Lions as they look to extend their six-point lead at the top of rugby’s Super 14 series this weekend. The six-time champions and the team to beat for this year’s southern hemisphere provincial crown are coming off a bye last weekend.
The Western Force came from a long way behind to snatch a thrilling 15-14 win over the Bulls in Perth on Friday night. Down 14-3 at half-time and staring down the barrel when still trailing by four points and with the Bulls in possession with just two minutes to go, the Force scored the winning try through rugby league convert Ryan Cross in the 79th minute.
The Stormers scored one of the fastest tries in the Super 14 as they romped to a 32-16 win over Australia’s Western Force in Perth on Friday. Wing Tonderai Chavhanga caught the Force napping to touch down after just 48 seconds as the Stormers ended their month-long visit to Australia and New Zealand with three wins from four matches.
Australia’s Western Force piled on 16 unanswered points in the last quarter to beat New Zealand’s Otago Highlanders 36-28 in a Super 14 match at Queenstown on Saturday. The Force trailed 28-20 with just 14 minutes to go but scored a late converted try and booted three penalties to cement their place in the top four.
After a flying start to the season, the powerful Canterbury Crusaders are giving key players a breather for their Super 14 match against tail enders the Cheetahs on Saturday. Despite making six changes, the match remains crucial for the Crusaders with pressure on the regular bench-warmers to maintain the team’s unbeaten record.
The Canterbury Crusaders showed their championship qualities to climb off the canvas and beat the Western Force 29-24 in a pulsating Super 14 clash at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Sunday. The Crusaders trailed 24-12 midway through the second half, but scored the last 17 points of the match to remain unbeaten in 2008 and claim top spot on the table.
Super 14 frontrunners the Auckland Blues are looking to complete their triumphant South African leg with maximum points against the unbeaten Sharks in Durban on Saturday. New Zealand powerhouses Auckland and the Canterbury Crusaders have shredded South African opposition to state their claims for the southern hemisphere provincial crown.
A glaring error by referee Kelvin Deaker cost the Lions seven points in the Super 14 match which they eventually lost 18-16 to the Western Force at Ellis Park on Friday night. The call forced the Lions to play catch-up after a Cameron Shepherd penalty had put the visitors ahead with a long-range penalty.
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/ 23 February 2008
Matt Giteau scored all his team’s points — including a penalty goal in the fourth minute after the final whistle — to lead the Western Force over the Cheetahs 16-15 on Friday. The Cheetahs could have won with a penalty in the 80th minute, but a miss by replacement flyhalf Conrad Barnard led to a final series of attacks by the Force.
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/ 4 February 2008
Crusaders and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says players from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa should be free to play in any of the three countries’ Super 14 rugby franchises. He is also supporting Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O’Neill’s view that the competition should be increased to two rounds.
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/ 4 December 2007
Rugby Sevens, the abbreviated form of rugby union, is seeking to ride the wave of popularity in the sport generated by the highly successful World Cup in France. The three-day season-opening Dubai leg of the World Series Sevens circuit attracted 32 000 spectators a day, but importantly offered a showcase for many future international stars.
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/ 1 December 2007
Jake White’s last match as coach of world champions South Africa ended with a defeat as the invitational Barbarians beat the Springboks 22-5 in a non-cap international at Twickenham on Saturday. The Barbarians outscored South Africa three tries to one with Australia’s Matt Giteau, Wales flanker Martyn Williams and Wallaby forward Rocky Elsom all crossing the line.
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/ 29 November 2007
England hooker Mark Regan was on Wednesday confirmed as captain of the Barbarians team to play South Africa on Saturday despite being warned by his club not to play. Bristol had given Regan the week off as they are involved in a dead rubber EDF Energy Cup match but say they want him to rest ahead of the Heineken Cup fixture.
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/ 27 November 2007
Johan Ackermann joined South Africa on Monday as cover in case injured lock Bakkies Botha was unavailable for the Springboks’ season finale against the Barbarians this weekend. Botha hurt his ankle in the Boks’ 34-12 win over Wales at Cardiff on Saturday.
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Defending champions England again proved Australia’s nemesis, dumping the match favourites out of the Rugby World Cup with a high-pressured 12-10 quarterfinal victory at Stade Velodrome in Marseilles on Saturday. England, who downed the Wallabies in the 2003 final in extra-time and in the 1995 quarterfinal, both with drop goals, handled the high stakes better.
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/ 23 September 2007
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The Wallabies claimed top spot in group B with a fitful 55-12 win over Fiji to lock up a quarterfinal place at the Rugby World Cup at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier on Sunday. The Australians always had the game under control, but it was an unsatisfying, error-strewn performance against the second-string Fijians.
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/ 15 September 2007
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Two-time champions Australia beat Wales 32-20 in a bruising World Cup clash at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday to virtually make sure of avoiding South Africa in the last eight. The Wallabies, who had two players sin-binned late in the game, scored four tries but were pushed all the way by a spirited home side who had been on the ropes at 25-3 down at the break.
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/ 3 September 2007
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The great debate: Is this the Wallabies’ A team? Or merely the Wallabies’ A-frame team? That’s the question controversial Australian rugby columnist Greg Growden ask in his Monday Maul. It is impossible to avoid the fact that the Australian World Cup campaign revolves around those on their last Test legs, rather than those at the peak of their careers.