Australia’s first Test outing under Michael Cheika showed they have not completely lost the art of closing out a tight match in the last few minutes.
In all three of their Test defeats this year ahead of Saturday’s 33-28 victory over Wales in Cardiff, the Wallabies, under previous coach Ewen McKenzie, had blown winning positions in the final quarter of the match.
Against New Zealand in Brisbane last month in Mckenzie’s last match in charge, they were in front five minutes from the end before going down 29-28 to a late try.
Photo: Reuters
In Mendoza a couple of weeks earlier, they blew an early 14-0 lead to hand Argentina their maiden Rugby Championship win. That followed a 28-10 loss to South Africa in Cape Town after they conceded three tries in the last 10 minutes.
The New South Wales Waratahs developed the knack of just getting over the finish line under Cheika this season, most notably when Bernard Foley slotted a decisive late penalty to give them a first Super Rugby title in May.
Flyhalf Foley was also Australia’s match-winner at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, a drop-goal and penalty in the last eight minutes handing the Wallabies a 10th straight win over the Welsh and a first victory away from home this year.
“There’s plenty to improve on, we’re not claiming that we had a cracker,” Cheika told reporters in Cardiff. “It’s been two weeks of getting our heads together and playing a new system. The guys getting into that, defensively as well, not just attack.”
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
RSS