LONDON, 28 November 2004 — Australia retained the Cook Cup with a 21-19 win against England here yesterday, their first victory at Twickenham since 1998.
But they had to survive an England fight back to do it. The world champions, 15-0 down early in the second half, hit back with 19 unanswered points thanks to tries from Lewis Moody, Josh Lewsey and Mark Cueto, third choice goalkicker Mike Tindall successful with both his two conversions. But penalties from Matt Giteau edged Australia ahead again in the final minutes.
Australia, who beat England 51-15 in Brisbane in June in the teams first meeting after England defeated the Wallabies 20-17 after extra time in last year’s World Cup final in Sydney, were 12-0 up at the break. Their points came through tries from Jeremy Paul and Chris Latham, an Elton Flatley conversion, with Giteau landing three penalties in all.
South Africa Sign Off With Crushing Victory Over Scots
In Edinburgh, a try and three drop goals from Jaco van der Westhuyzen helped South Africa crush a willing but error-prone Scotland side 45-10 at Murrayfield yesterday.
An additional try from winger Jaque Fourie, a debut score for flanker Solly Tyibilika, two intercept tries from Brian Habana as well as 11 points from the boot of Percy Montgomery gave the Tri-nations champions a convincing victory.
Scotland, who lost twice to Australia and humbled Japan in their other Tests this month, grabbed a converted penalty try after the Springboks lost both locks to the sinbin, while Chris Paterson chipped in with a first-half penalty. After a narrow win over Wales and defeats by Ireland and England, South Africa had been looking for a boost to end a tour which started with hopes of a grand slam sweep of wins over British Isles teams.
