Twickenham, London, England (GenevaLunch) - The Barbarians rugby club, the self styled “United Nations of Rugby”, pulled off an already-famous victory with the help of three tries by South African winger Bryan Habana. It was the first win over the All Blacks by the Baa-Baas since the historic match in 1973 which featured perhaps the greatest try in rugby history (see video below). The Barbarians, selected on the basis of the ability to play exciting rugby, scored with a series of break-away tries finished off by Habana, one of the fastest sprinters in the sport.
Links to other sites: Telegraph, Reuters
Video, greatest try in rugby history
Twickenham, London, England (GenevaLunch) - England played better than in recent matches, holding the All Blacks to 6-6 at half time but could not match the New Zealanders in the second half and lost 6-19. At least the England women beat the New Zealand Ferns.
Scotland pulled off a surprise 9-8 victory over Australia where their heart was just enough to hold out against the technically better Wallabies. It was their first win against the Aussies for 27 years. Wales beat Argentina 33-16 with two tries by Shane Williams.
Links to other sites: The Guardian, The Times
Croke park, Dublin,Ireland (GenevaLunch) - Irish captain Brian O’ Driscoll celebrated his 100th cap for Ireland with a last minute try that allowed the home team to draw their match with Australia 20-20. In other matches a dull England side plodded their way to a 16-9 win over Argentina. The New Zealand All Blacks struggled against a tough Italian side before winning 6-20 in front of 80,000 fans in the San Siro stadium in Milan.
Links to other sites: Irish Times, The Times
Wellington, New Zealand (GenevaLunch) – The New Zealand All Blacks crushed the Australian Wallabies 33-6 in the final match of the Tri-Nations season. South Africa’s Springboks had already won the series. The Australian coach Robbie Deans criticized the lack of commitment of his players, especially in the final 10 minutes.
Capetown, South Africa (GenevaLunch) – South African fly-half Morne Steyn scored 24 points as the Springboks won their third successive Tri-Nations match of the season 29-17. The Wallabies were overpowered but contributed to their loss by poor discipline and careless mistakes. At one stage there were only 13 Aussies on the field as Matt Giteau and Richard Brown were given yellow cards.
Durban, South Africa (GenevaLunch) – South African fly-half Morne Steyn scored a record 31 points: a converted try and eight penalties, as the New Zealand All Blacks lost again. The All Blacks error-strewn performance meant that the South Africans could control the game and simply wait for the mistakes to come. Steyn smashed the previous record for an individual against the All Blacks.
Details: New Zealand Herald
Auckland, New Zealand (GenevaLunch) - The Wallabies lost again at Eden Park, Auckland, as they made too many errors against the New Zealand All Blacks. The kiwis were not that impressive but managed to maintain their composure and eliminate mistakes to take the game 22-16. Details, RugbyHeaven
(GenevaLunch) – France scored a rare but entirely justified victory over the All Blacks, their first in New Zealand since 1994. The win was built around a solid defence that took advantage of their younger opponents, combined with rapid couter-attacking in traditional French style. France soon moved into a 17-3 lead but the New Zealanders fought back to 17-17 before conceding a try from an interception by Maxine Médard that allowed the French to win 22-27.
