Irish stun Australia, Springboks impress
AUCKLAND, Sept 17, (AFP) - The World Cup had its first big upset on
Saturday when Ireland squeezed and harried the life out of Australia to
record an historic 15-6 win at Eden Park here.
Brian O'Driscoll's team battled like banshees to stifle the
Australian pack and when the ball did go wide they were more than a
match for the much-vaunted running skills of Quade Cooper, Will Genia
and Kurtley Beale.
Frustrated and confused, the Australians gave away a rash of
penalties four of which were kicked by Jonathan Sexton and Ronan O'Gara
with the impressive Sexton adding a drop goal.
The Ausrtralians were level 6-6 at half-time with two James O'Connor
penalties, but that is where their scoring stopped and coach Robbie
Deans has a huge task on his hand to lift his demoralised squad who will
now likely have to face up to defending champions South Africa in the
quarter-finals.
"We were mentally in a place where we felt we owed ourselves a big
performance as much as we owed the Irish public one," skipper Brian
O'Driscoll said. "That's half the job done and we have a game (Russia)
next week that we have to win and then deal with the one after that."
The victory takes Ireland to eight points in their pool, three ahead
of the Wallabies with two matches to play, but it was also a huge
psychological blow for one of the fancied tournament teams.
Wallabies' coach Robbie Deans said: "The Irish played more
intelligently, they put us under a lot of pressure and profited from
that, particularly in our end of the ground," Wallabies' coach Robbie
Deans said.
The Springboks were magnificent in their 49-3 dismantling of Fiji,
who had been expected to give them a good run for their money after
coming close to pulling off an upset against them four years ago in
France.
The Pacific Islanders started strongly in Wellington with a
succession of charging runs, but the Springboks defence held firm and
when their backs in turn went on the attack the floodgates soon opened
up.
"That first 15-20 minutes was pretty brutal," Smit said of a period
of the game with the score tied at three points apiece.
"Fiji basically came out there on a mission, but the boys stuck to it
and it was good to see how the guys matched fire with fire, and were
accurate numbers wise and the decision making was good.
It was all in sharp contrast to the Springboks' edgy opener when they
were fortunate to edge Wales 17-16, but now they have a clear road into
the last eight with Samoa and Namibia to come.
In the day's opener Argentina got their World Cup campaign back on
track with a convincing 43-8 win over Romania in Invercargill, setting
up a showdown with Scotland in Wellington next Sunday with the winner in
pole position to ensure a slot in the quarter-finals
Tournament favourites New Zealand meanwhile travelled down to the
earthquake-stricken city of Christchurch the day after hammering Japan
83-7 in Hamilton, joining Scotland who travelled there on a goodwill
trip from Wellington.
England completed their preparations for the game against Georgia on
Sunday in Dunedin, with Wales taking on Samoa in Hamilton and France up
against Canada in Napier as the other matches on the schedule.
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