Matt Cooper scored a try in each half and Australia beat Britain 20-6 at the JJB Stadium on Saturday in Tri-Nations rugby action.
Australia forward Craig Fitzgibbon opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he kicked a penalty goal for a 2-0 lead after the Lions were adjudged to be offside.
Kangaroos center Cooper then ran 85m to score after intercepting a wayward pass from Britain hooker Keiron Cunningham in the 18th minute. Fitzgibbon converted and Australia led 8-0 at halftime.
PHOTO: AP
The wet conditions made the greasy football difficult to control with both teams making several handling errors.
Lions forward Adrian Morley forced his way over the tryline in the 48th minute after opposing prop Jason Ryles had spilled the ball. Lock Kevin Sinfield converted for Australia to lead 8-6.
Britain then applied plenty of pressure on Australia's tryline with both teams fatigued from the physical defense and heavy conditions.
PHOTO: AP
Fullback Anthony Minichiello scored in the 75th minute, which Fitzgibbon converted, after clever build-up work from captain Darren Lockyer to put the game out of reach for Britain.
Cooper then scored in the final minute when he took an inside pass from center partner Mark Gasnier.
"The crowd got behind them and they rolled through some good possession and had a good kicking game but it was good defense by us to hang in there," Fitzgibbon said.
The result leaves Britain needing to beat New Zealand and Australia in the series' final two games over the next two weeks by a combined 36-plus points differential to play the Kiwis in the final.
New Zealand 41, Wales 3
A hat trick of tries to wing Rico Gear led New Zealand to a 41-3 victory over Wales in their opening autumn international rugby union test on Saturday.
The victory kept the All Blacks' 52-year unbeaten streak over their Welsh opponents intact and had New Zealand on track to complete a grand slam of victories over Wales, Ireland, England and Scotland for the first time since 1978.
New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter was outstanding at the Millennium Stadium, kicking cleanly and scoring two tries of his own.
Meanwhile, Australia captain George Gregan's world record 115th test appearance in Marseilles was an unhappy one with France scoring two tries to one in its 26-16 victory over the Wallabies.
"It's a great achievement but the loss takes a bit away from that. We lost the match at the start of the second half," said Gregan, after the Wallabies' sixth straight test loss -- its worst streak since losing seven in a row from 1968-1969.
Carter opened the scoring with a penalty kick after a tight opening 10 minutes when Wales lock Brent Cockbain was penalized for illegally holding onto the ball.
Byron Kelleher then spilled an easy pass which would surely have sent captain Tana Umaga over for a try. But Wales gave away another penalty and Carter kicked accurately to give the visitors a 6-0 lead after 16 minutes.
Wales soon scored through a penalty kick by Stephen Jones, however, when Conrad Smith gave away a penalty by pulling back Ceri Sweeney.
The first try came in the 29th minute when Carter passed beautifully to Mils Muliaina, who found Gear and he crossed in the right corner. Carter converted for the All Blacks to lead 13-3 at the break.
New Zealand blew the game wide open after the break with two more tries in quick succession -- both from Gear.
In the 44th minute, Carter passed sharply to Gear, who beat three Welsh opponents in an impressive run to score his second try in the corner. Carter converted.
Four minutes later, the New Zealanders worked the ball well off a line-out, Muliaina passed to Gear, who crossed in the same area as his previous try. Carter made it three from three conversion attempts.
Wales found the New Zealand defense impenetrable and when a gap did look like opening, sloppy handling let the home side down.
Not content with his accurate kicking and key playmaking role, Carter crossed for a try in the 68th with a solo run down the left wing. He again converted.
Carter scored his second try in the closing minutes of the match, when he was on hand to gather a loose ball near the line and go over, successfully converting yet again.
France 26, Australia 16
In Marseilles, France, a try to winger Cedric Heymans in the 27th minute took France to a 10-3 lead after Tricolores flyhalf Frederic Michalak and Wallabies winger Mat Rogers had kicked penalties.
Rogers kicked two more and France scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, but a try to flanker Remy Martin after he charged down a kick from flyhalf Matt Giteau put France ahead 20-9 in the second half.
Elissalde kicked two more penalties before Australian substitute winger Drew Mitchell scored an injury-time try that was converted for a final score of 26-16.
"We played with a lot of flair and could have scored even more if we had held the ball better," Elissalde said. "We've got two years to progress before the World Cup."
South Africa 34, Argentina 23
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, fullback Percy Montgomery had 21 points and South Africa beat Argentina 34-23 in a match to celebrate the 40th anniversary of tests between the two countries.
Pumas fullback Juan Martin Hernandes scored an early try, but a penalty goal each to Andre Pretorius and Montgomery put the Springboks in front.
But flanker Martin Durand scored a try from a driving maul after a line-out and winger Francisco Leonelli touched down following a grubber kick for Argentina to lead 13-6.
Montgomery then kicked a penalty and scored a try, which he converted, for the Springboks to lead 16-13, only for Manuel Contepomi to score on a pass from his twin brother, Felipe, for the Pumas to lead 20-16 at halftime.
Springbok center Jaque Fourie scored a try in the 41st for his team to lead 23-20 and it was never headed. Backrow forward Juan Smith scored a late try.
Japan 44, Spain 29
In Tokyo, Hirotoki Onozawa scored the last of Japan's five tries to clinch a 44-29 victory over Spain.
Keiji Hirose slotted five conversions, two penalties and one drop goal for Japan, while Goshi Tachikawa, Takashi Kikutani, Takashi Akatsuka and Nataniera Oto also scored tries.
Ignacio Martin, Pablo Feijoo and David Mota crossed the tryline for Spain. Esteban Roque kicked two penalties and Cesar Sempere had two drop goals.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was