HAMILTON, New Zealand, 27 June 2004 — Winger Joe Rokocoko continued his remarkable scoring rate with his 22nd try in his 15th Test in New Zealand’s bumbling 41-7 victory over Argentina yesterday.
Argentina were missing several first-choice players who still have club commitments in France, while New Zealand had made 10 changes from the side that beat England last week and the error rate from both sides bordered on the embarrassing.
Debutant number eight Mose Tuiali’i, captain Tana Umaga, center Sam Tuitupou and winger Mils Muliaina also scored tries for the All Blacks, while flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens added the conversions and kicked two penalties.
New Zealand opened the scoring when Tuiali’i scored in the fifth minute after Chris Jack rampaged down field for 30 meters.
Pumas winger Lucas Borges then intercepted a long Mehrtens pass and despite being tackled the loose ball was hacked ahead by center Federico Aramburu to score the first try against the All Blacks in 2004.
Umaga then broke through in the 22nd minute and rather than going for the corner, stepped off his right foot to round Argentine fullback Hernan Senillosa and dot down near the posts. Rokocoko then scored his 22nd try in his 15th Test when he received a long Mehrtens pass that had a suspicion of being forward, to dot down in the 24th minute. Mehrtens converted to give them a 24-7 half-time lead.
Springboks Crush Wales to Complete Test Hat Trick
In Pretoria, South Africa completed a hat trick of early season wins when they walloped Wales 53-18 in a scrappy one-off Test at sunny Loftus Stadium yesterday.
The Springboks beat Ireland twice in other home matches this month as they prepare under new coach Jake White for Tri-Nations clashes in New Zealand and Australia.
“We can take heart from our victories. The tight five performed the basics well which put us on the front foot and set the platform for victory,” Springbok captain and hooker John Smit said.
Wales captain and flanker Colin Charvis said: “We have a lot of soul searching to do after this performance. I’m offering no excuses. We were beaten by a much better team.”
Although fullback Gavin Henson gave weakened Wales a seventh-minute lead with a penalty from the halfway line, the result was never in doubt as a vastly superior South African pack ruled the roost throughout.
Smit and wings Brent Russell and Breyton Paulse crossed the line in a first half that ended with South Africa 27-6 ahead. The other points came from the boot of fullback Percy Montgomery via three conversions and two penalties.
Henson kicked a second penalty for the not-so-fiery Welsh Dragons on a mid-winter afternoon before a near-capacity 48,000 crowd including former South African President Nelson Mandela. Wales lost number eight Alix Popham, a late pre-match replacement for Michael Owen, to injury early in the second half with hooker Huw Bennett coming into a pack 47 kilograms lighter than their rivals.
Rathbone Hat Trick Helps Australia Thrash England
In Brisbane, Australia, Clyde Rathbone scored a hat trick of tries as Australia thrashed England 51-15 yesterday to regain the Cook Cup and a small token of revenge for last year’s World Cup final defeat.
The South African-born winger was only called up at the last minute when Wendell Sailor strained his hamstring in the warm-up.
Replacement hooker Jeremy Paul crossed for two tries and winger Lote Tuqiri grabbed one while fullback Joe Roff kicked five penalties and three conversions.
It was their third heaviest defeat in their 133 years of Test rugby. Australia beat them 76-0 in Brisbane and New Zealand beat them 64-22 in Dunedin, both in 1998 on “The Tour of Hell”.
After being held tryless in their two heavy defeats against New Zealand they had the consolation of breaking their drought with Richard Hill and Lawrence Dallaglio notching tries but there was little else to celebrate.
With only five survivors from the team that started the World Cup final, England were almost unrecognizable from the side that triumphed in Sydney seven months ago.
They abandoned their traditional forward-based game for a more expansive style but the tactics backfired. While they were able to punch some holes in the Australian defense, they lacked their normal composure and squandered too much possession through sloppy handling before fading badly in the second half.
The tactics were all the more surprising as the Australians struggled in the set pieces but were far more comfortable with the ball in hand, threatening to run riot whenever they unleashed their backs. Roff landed two early penalties to put Australia 6-0 ahead after 10 minutes and although England fly-half Charlie Hodgson reduced the deficit with a goal from in front, the Wallabies were never headed.
Rathbone scored the opening try in the 18th minute when he finished off a spectacular move that began in the Australian half before Hill crossed in the left corner after a sustained build up.
