Australia’s second Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand in Brisbane later this month sold out on Monday, with officials hoping for a record crowd at Lang Park. The last 1 500 tickets for the July 29 Tri-Nations clash were snapped up less than an hour after they went on sale on Monday morning.
Declining oil reserves and soaring prices could see desperate nations overturning a ban on drilling in the last untouched frontier — Antarctica, an oil expert told a scientific conference on Thursday. Pressure to exploit the pristine, icy continent could become irresistible, said Ali Bakhtiari, a former senior adviser for the National Iranian Oil Company.
Australia flanker George Smith has reacted angrily to suggestions South African players are offering each other rewards for pulling out his dreadlocks during their Tri-Nations clash this weekend. The Sydney Morning Herald asked Smith about Joe van Niekerk’s comments that a colleague offered ” to the man who came off the field with one of Smith’s dreadlocks” during a 2004 Test.
South Africa are determined to prove their scrummaging dominance this weekend against an Australian side desperate to erase the memories of last week’s Tri-Nations drubbing by the All Blacks. The Springboks’ touring party has been weakened by injuries but still boasts a monster pack.
Cool bottled water in three delicious flavours — beef, chicken and bacon. Not tempted? Your dog will be. An Australian man has taken pooch-pampering to the next level with the launch of Aqua Dog. With one canine for every five Australians, the country has one of the world’s highest dog ownership rates and a pet food industry worth Aus$1,2-billion a year.
South Africa coach Jake White compared the pressure on his team to that faced by soccer superpower Brazil on Wednesday as he named two debutants for the Tri-Nations clash against Australia this weekend. Uncertainty over White’s future overshadowed the team announcement for Saturday’s match.
Wallabies coach John Connolly’s hopes of beefing-up the Australian front row to face South Africa’s monster pack this weekend were dashed on Wednesday when prop Rodney Blake lost a fitness race. Connolly made four changes to the team that played the All Blacks after suffering his first loss since taking over as coach earlier this year, dropping Mat Rogers to allow Matt Giteau to return from injury.
Australia’s much-maligned front row is determined to prove itself against the Springboks in this week’s Tri-Nations clash after being humbled in New Zealand, prop Greg Holmes said on Tuesday. South Africa coach Jake White has already revealed he will be targeting the inexperienced Australian scrum in Brisbane on the weekend.
Springbok coach Jake White said on Monday his side would target the Australian scrum in this week’s Tri-Nations clash, after the Wallabies’ front five was humbled by the mighty All Blacks. New Zealand pummelled the Australian scrum in Christchurch, helping the Kiwis secure a crushing 32-12 victory against the visitors on Saturday.
The Socceroos may have been eliminated from the World Cup by Italy but an Adelaide brewer says fans can console themselves with the fact that an Aussie ale has won a "beer world cup". Coopers Brewery said it won a drink-off organised by British industry magazine <i>Off Licence News</i> involving, where possible, a representative beer from each of the 32 World Cup nations.
At 22, Sam Brett is one of Australia’s most widely read writers. But it’s not her insights into politics, the economy or even sport that have her readers hooked. The pithy columns on Brett’s blog are far more personal, delving instead into the intricacies of sex and relationships in the cyber-age. One day’s talking point will be why men cheat; another’s whether office relationships always end badly.
A local council in Sydney, Australia, will find out on Friday whether playing a tape loop of Barry Manilow’s hits in a car park will get rid of the drag racers who congregate there at the weekend. ”We’re giving the Barry Manilow music a go because it’s been tried elsewhere and been a success,” said a local councillor.
The subject matter was untested, the actors almost naked and the whole movie was to be made in a language spoken by only a tiny group of people — but to film executive Brian Rosen, funding Australia’s latest international film success, Ten Canoes, was a ”no-brainer”.
Passengers running about in the nude and having sex outdoors were common on a cruise-liner where an Australian woman died of an overdose of a date-rape drug. The night manager of the cruise on the Pacific Sky in September 2002, Kathleen Taylor, told the Glebe Coroner’s Court in Sydney that she would often have to separate couples caught engaging in sex acts in public.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch was heckled on Monday after being named the most influential Australian of all time by a weekly current affairs magazine. The 75-year-old chairperson and chief executive of News Corporation — one of the world’s biggest media conglomerates — topped a list of 100 notable Australians released by The Bulletin magazine on Monday.
A former worker at the Royal Australian Mint who stole thousands of dollars from his employer by hiding Aus$2 coins in his boots was on Wednesday jailed for three years. William Bosia Grzeskowiak (48) admitted to stealing Aus$135 852 (about R719 000) in coins and notes between April last year and February this year.
An accident at Australia’s only nuclear reactor forced Prime Minister John Howard’s government onto the defensive on Thursday, with political opponents saying the incident highlighted the dangers of nuclear power. Small amounts of radioactive gases escaped from a ruptured pipe at the Lucas Heights facility on the outskirts of Sydney last Thursday.
Cricket Australia overhauled on Tuesday the way it sells tickets for the much-anticipated Ashes series against England after criticism from fans that the existing system played into the hands of scalpers. Thousands of angry fans missed out when the first batch of tickets went on sale this month and were left fuming as tickets immediately appeared on internet auction sites at vastly inflated prices.
Two young brothers aged 10 and six drove for more than 100km along one of Australia’s busiest roads to visit their grandfather, police said on Monday. The pair reached speeds of up to 90kph as they raced along the Newell highway in their grandmother’s station wagon, shocking fellow motorists who alerted the police.
The Rugby World Cup rematch at Olympic stadium on Sunday between Australia and England turned out to be a one-sided affair. Fullback Chris Latham scored his 31st Test try 15 minutes into the second half to clinch Australia’s 34-3 win in Wallaby captain George Gregan’s record-equalling 119th Test.
A strong earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6,1 struck on Friday near the Pacific island of Fiji, Australian officials said. Geoscience Australia said the quake hit about 300km north-east of the Fijian capital Suva. The United States Geological Survey earlier described the epicentre of the quake, which occurred at 5.58am GMT, as 563km north-west of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa.
Australian researchers have launched a search for the country’s ugliest sheep — no matter how wrinkled, lumpy, bald or just plain funny looking — to try to identify genes that produce high quality wool. ”When something goes really wrong with the genes, it is the most powerful indicator about where to look to identify the genes that can — paradoxically — make things go really right,” said Paul Hynd.
Australian coach John Connolly on Thursday named an untried front row combination to face England’s formidable pack this weekend in a bold gamble for his first Test leading the mis-firing Wallabies. Connolly will start Test debutants Tai McIsaac and Rodney Blake alongside three-cap prop Greg Holmes in the front row.
Australian researchers have grown beating heart tissue in the laboratory in a world-first breakthrough that could lead to the creation of entire human organs, scientists said on Wednesday. The team of scientists and surgeons said their work aimed to grow organs, including parts of the heart, using patients’ own stem cells to avoid the problems of immune system rejection of transplanted organs.
A local Sydney council has decided on a new weapon in its bid to remove groups of youths from gathering in carparks and disrupting residents — the music of 1970s crooner Barry Manilow. Officials said that the youths were not causing property damage but were annoying residents by revving their engines and doing wheelies up and down the carpark.
Mystery surrounding the disappearance of Australian entertainer Olivia Newton-John’s longtime boyfriend Patrick McDermott deepened on Monday following a report he was alive and living in Mexico. McDermott, who had been Grease star Newton-John’s partner for nine years, disappeared off a boat while on an overnight fishing trip off the California coast a year ago.
England’s forwards may have humiliated the Australian scrum at their last meeting, but they have a healthy respect for the Wallabies’ revamped pack under new coach John Connolly. England’s control at the scrum at Twickenham last November was so complete that Australia tighthead Al Baxter was sin-binned by French referee Joel Jutge for repeat offences.
Tickets for this year’s Australia-England Ashes Test cricket series were snapped up at a rate of ten per second when sales opened in Sydney on Thursday, Cricket Australia (CA) said. CA said tickets for the five Ashes Tests had sold faster than for any other cricket series held here, with 182 000 bought on the first day.
Townsville Golf Club president Terry Walsh thought golfers reporting crocodiles on the course were hallucinating — until he saw them himself. "For the last two years, the people I play golf with have been saying there were crocs on the course and I thought they were on drugs," Walsh told the Australian Associated Press in the tropical northern city.
George Gregan, just two appearances away from becoming rugby’s most capped international player, on Monday restated his commitment to lead the Wallabies at next year’s World Cup in France. The 33-year-old scrum-half general goes into the domestic international season next month on 118 Test caps — just one behind England prop forward Jason Leonard’s record of 119 Tests.
The Wallabies under new coach John Connolly are working on expunging the bitter memories of the demolition of the Australian scrum by England at Twickenham last November. England’s domination at the scrum, where loosehead prop Andrew Sheridan was particularly impressive, was so complete that Australia tighthead Al Baxter was eventually sin-binned for repeat offences.
Brothels should be exempt from Australia’s tough anti-smoking laws because its a tradition for prostitutes and their customers to enjoy a cigarette together after having sex, an industry lobby group said on Sunday. The Australian Adult Entertainment Industry (AAEI) argues that working girls and their clients shouldn’t have to leave the brothel to light up.