Australia 21-17 New Zealand
Australia 21-17 New Zealand
17 JUNE 2006
By Rachida El Azzouzi
Australia beat their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand 21-17 in Vichy on day three of the IRB World Championship to proceed unbeaten to the Cup semi finals, where they will play France.
New Zealand also qualify for the semi finals, having finished fourth of the 12 teams after the pool stages and play top seeds South Africa.
New Zealand will certainly rue missed chances here today but Australia's defence, desire and organization was ultimately worth the win.
The Australians led 7-3 early on, Holmes' converted try to Brett's penalty. But Brett pulled another back and then a try for Jeremy Thrush took the New Zealanders ahead 11-7.
Two crisply struck penalties for Australia's Bibo, however, to add to his earlier conversion, put Australia 13-11 in the lead at half time.
Ioane's yellow card just before the break meant that for the first five minutes of second half the Australians played with 14 men but their defence held firm.
With Ioane back on, Bibo added a further penalty, which was cancelled out by Brett before a New Zealand lapse let in Holmes for a second try and a 21-14 Australian lead.
Final attacks from Patterson, Somerset et Pisi brought a penalty for Brett and confirmation of the defensive bonus point for New Zealand that takes them through to the semis.
Australia and South Africa remain unbeaten and on course, but will no doubt await the respective backlash from France and New Zealand on Wednesday.
Quotes:
Greg Cooper, NZ coach: We didn't take our chances today. We dot a difficult draw and the most important thing was to qualify for the semi finals. Now we're there, we'll prepare for our next match.
Jamie Mackintosch, NZ captain: Australia played very well. We didn't get enough ball to the backs and we're disappointed but will now prepare for a tough match against South Africa.
Chris Hickey, Australia coach: I like the result, but not the performance. We won because of our kicker and because of the determination of the group.
Julian Salvi, Australia captain: New Zealand play a very physical game and it wasn't easy but we wanted to make the semi finals and now it's France.
Australian U21s beat New Zealand to make semis
June 18, 2006 - 6:05am
Story by: ARU
Australia is through to the Semi Finals of the IRB Under 21 World Championship after beating arch rivals New Zealand by 21-17 overnight in front of a full house in Vichy, France.
Two tries to scrumhalf Josh Holmes helped secure the victory - the first try coming after ten minutes, the second with just ten minutes left on the clock.
The match was sold out two weeks ago and Australia didn’t disappoint the ex-pats in the stands. They started strongly, dominating the set piece and the breakdown and showing a major improvement in building phases.
The Australian front row of Pek Cowan, Tatafu Polota-Nau and John Ulugia was outstanding, laying the platform for clean ball in the scrums and also making a big contribution in open play.
Holmes’ first try came after the team drove its way into the New Zealand quarter, with the strong scrumhalf darting from the base of a ruck and muscling his way through the defence and over the line.
New Zealand centre Stephen Brett kicked two penalties, and when their lock Jeremy Thrush scored mid way through the first half, New Zealand took an 11-7 lead and were looking dangerous.
However Australia remained composed, with the boot of winger Liam Bibo pegging the margin back to 11-10.
Fellow winger Digby Ioane was unlucky to be yellow carded just before half time when he took a player out under a high ball. However Australia’s defence was outstanding and denied New Zealand any points during the crucial ten-minute period.
Bibo added two more second-half penalties and when Holmes crashed over for his second try, Australia was out to a 21-14 lead with ten minutes to play.
New Zealand had several chances on attack in the last part of the game, but Australia’s backline showed plenty of starch and a lot of maturity, especially considering they have four 19-year olds in the line.
Australian coach Chris Hickey said he was pleased with the effort but said there was plenty of room for improvement.
“We didn’t execute as well as we should have, but great determination and effort, along with a very solid scrum and some good goal kicking by Liam Bibo was enough to get us over the line,” Hickey said.
“Our second try gave us a 21-14 lead, but good teams like New Zealand are capable of coming back and scoring. But we remained composed and were able to force turnovers when they were attacking in our quarter.”
“However we will need to improve if we are to be a realistic chance to make the Final.”
Australia will play host nation France in the Semi Finals. France demolished Ireland (26-8 ) and Wales (32-3) in their first two pool matches, but could not overcome South Africa overnight.
South Africa won that match 14-10 to top the table and put them into the Semi Finals against New Zealand who edged England out of fourth place with a superior for-and-against record.
Australia 21 [Josh Holmes 2 tries, Liam Bibo 1 con, 3 pens]
New Zealand 17 [Jeremy Thrush try, Stephen Brett 4 pens]
Other results:
Fiji 43 Italy 17
Argentina 13 Wales 10
England 31 Scotland 12
Ireland 47, Georgia 0
Final standings (Top four qualify for semi-finals):
1. South Africa 13 points
2. Australia 13
3. France 11
4. New Zealand 10
5. England 10
6. Argentina 10
7. Ireland 6
8. Wales, 6
9. Scotland 6
10. Fiji 5
11. Italy 0
12. Georgia 0.
Australian Results to date:
9 June Australia 18 defeated Scotland 14
13 June Australia 45 defeated Fiji 24
17 June Australia 21 defeated Zealand 17
21 June Semi Finals – Australia v France & South Africa v New Zealand
25 June Finals
