”You are about to step into Africa” promises the sign outside a white tent in downtown Sydney, just a walk away from designer boutiques. World Vision last week launched One Life Experience, an interactive exhibition that gives visitors the chance to experience life through the eyes of impoverished African children who have been affected by HIV/Aids.
South African coach Jake White says his controversial decision to protect top players ahead of the World Cup has been vindicated after an injury sidelined stand-in Springbok skipper Bob Skinstad. The player suffered a broken rib in Saturday night’s 25-17 Tri-Nations loss to Australia, ruling him out for at least six weeks and threatening his World Cup chances.
Australia trailed 14-0 after eight minutes but rallied on either side of halftime for a 25-17 win over South Africa in a Tri-Nations rugby match on Saturday. A Matt Giteau try, his 17th in Test rugby, helped the Wallabies celebrate the final home appearances of two Australian veterans.
The first of nine concerts across the globe aimed at persuading millions of fans to go green for the environment swung into life in Sydney on Saturday with fiery vocals and a distinctive Australian beat. Following in the footsteps of the Live Aid and Live 8 mega-gigs, Live Earth hopes to reach up to two billion people through radio, television and the internet.
The tense relations between South Africa and Tri-Nations partners Australia and New Zealand will be raised at a meeting among the three unions next week. The Sanzar body that runs the Tri-Nations and Super 14 will meet in Christchurch for a strategic review addressing the future of both competitions, reported the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday.
Australia’s iconic Victoria Bitter beer is about to become less boozy after Foster’s brewery announced it will cut the drink’s alcohol content to lower its tax bill. Foster’s said while the alcohol content was on the hop — to be cut from 4,9% to 4,8% — the taste would remain the same.
South Africa will take only two players from the side that defeated Australia last month into Saturday’s Tri-Nations clash in Sydney against a Wallabies outfit missing suspended winger Lote Tuqiri. Backs Ruan Pienaar and JP Pietersen were the only survivors from the Springboks’ starting line-up that won 22-19 in Cape Town.
The South African Rugby Union is ”an absolute disgrace” and the Springboks should be kicked out of the Tri-Nations, says David Moffett, one of the chief architects of Sanzar. Moffett said that Australia and New Zealand had to cut South Africa from the next television deal, and instead play more trans-Tasman matches.
Wallaby winger Lote Tuqiri was banned for two matches and fined Aus 000 (about US 000) on Tuesday after an alcohol breath test showed he had breached team discipline, the Australian Rugby Union said. The punishment rules Tuqiri out of Australia’s final Tri-Nations matches against South Africa and New Zealand.
South Africa coach Jake White says the Wallabies still have problems with their scrum and he wants a fair contest in Saturday’s Tri-Nations rugby Test in Sydney. White says he plans to speak with New Zealand referee Paul Honiss before the Test to ensure what he calls a ”fair” scrum contest against the Australians.
Flooding in south-eastern Australia could leave hundreds of people stranded inside their homes for the next three days until the water recedes, officials said on Sunday. Victoria state’s Gippsland region, which earlier this month was suffering drought and the after-affects of summer bushfires, has been inundated by days of heavy rain.
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.
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 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 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.