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.”
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS