49 mins: New Zealand 17-6 Australia
O'Connor embarks on a fine run, stepping past Dagg with ease, but an accidental off-side halts the Aussie attack.
O'Connor embarks on a fine run, stepping past Dagg with ease, but an accidental off-side halts the Aussie attack.
47 mins: New Zealand 17-6 Australia
Australia mount their first attack of the half but Ashley-Cooper loses the ball in the tackle. They come again, scrum-half Genia prompting. Ashley-Cooper again threatens down the right, but New Zealand flood the brekadown and win a penalty.
44 mins: New Zealand 17-6 Australia
Weepu makes no mistake, his third successful kick from six attempts during the game.
Weepu makes no mistake, his third successful kick from six attempts during the game.
43 mins: PENALTY (WEEPU) NEW ZEALAND 17-6 AUSTRALIA
43 mins: New Zealand 14-6 Australia
Australia try to run from deep but when McCabe is tackled by Franks, Weepu is immediately on the scene and wins the penalty as Wallaby centre McCabe holds on.
41 mins: New Zealand 14-6 Australia Cruden restarts for New Zealand, with Cooper clearing deep for Australia.
SoccerLimey on Twitter: "#bbcrwc Wallabies being made to pay a heavy price for every yard of progress they make. This is rugby not played in the Northern Hemisphere.Stuart Smith on Twitter: "Australians are the worst losers in the entire World, Which is why I want New Zealand to win #BBCRWC Come On The Kiwis."
Half-time: New Zealand 14-6 Australia
It has been New Zealand's half. Australia finish it on the attack but they are turned over and when referee Joubert finally persuades the two sides to disengage at the breakdown, it is the All Blacks who trot off much the happier side after an excellent first-half display, full of pace, power and crisp execution.
It has been New Zealand's half. Australia finish it on the attack but they are turned over and when referee Joubert finally persuades the two sides to disengage at the breakdown, it is the All Blacks who trot off much the happier side after an excellent first-half display, full of pace, power and crisp execution.
38 mins: New Zealand 14-6 Australia
Ashley-Cooper is penalised for off-side and Weepu bangs over a long-range penalty.
37 mins: PENALTY (WEEPU) NEW ZEALAND 14-6 AUSTRALIA
36 mins: New Zealand 11-6 Australia
Gah, Cooper genius with ball in hand causes me to hit the wrong key - refresh for the correct score in previous entry. In my defence it was dazzling from the Wallaby 10, speed of foot and sleight of hand somehow enabling him to make yards despite being surrounded by the entire All Black pack. Australia growing into the game here.
33 mins: New Zealand 11-6 Australia
Australia win a line-out through Vickerman and hammer into midfield well inside the All Black 22. The home defence holds firm but Genia fires the ball back to Cooper and he slots his first Test drop-goal.
32 mins: DROP-GOAL (COOPER) NEW ZEALAND 11-6 AUSTRALIA
28 mins: New Zealand 11-3 Australia
New Zealand have enjoyed 80% of territory, but they are penalised as Woodcock goes to ground in the scrum.
26 mins: New Zealand 11-3 Australia
Australia have lost loose-head prop Kepu, replaced by Slipper. All Black full-back Dagg makes another threatening run but prop Woodcock spills the ball in midfield.
22 mins:New Zealand 11-3 Australia
A Mealamu drive carries the ABs deep into the Aussie 22. The hosts spin the ball back to Cruden and he pops over a neat drop-goal. NZ well worth their lead after a hectic start.
DROP-GOAL (CRUDEN) NEW ZEALAND 11-3 AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND 8-3 AUSTRALIA
Weepu pushes his kick just to the right of the posts. Will missed kicks cost the hosts in the way they cost Wales on Saturday?
Weepu pushes his kick just to the right of the posts. Will missed kicks cost the hosts in the way they cost Wales on Saturday?
MISSED PENALTY (WEEPU) NEW ZEALAND 8-3 AUSTRALIA
16 mins: O'Connor gets the Wallabies on the board after their first foray into All Black territory. But when Cooper drops a Dagg bomb, the Wallabies are penalised as Kepu folds in the following scrum. Weepu has a shot at goal.
PENALTY (O'CONNOR) NEW ZEALAND 8-3 AUSTRALIA
13 mins: Scrum-half Weepu drills the ball between the sticks but Australia hit back as O'Connor and Ioane combine to get within a yard of the line, Kaino's superb tackle halts the Wallaby rampage but McCaw is penalised and O'Connor lines up the kick.
PENALTY (WEEPU) NEW ZEALAND 8-0 AUSTRALIA
11 mins: Cruden makes a fine break into the Aussie 22. Pocock infringes once again.
9 mins: MISSED PENALTY NEW ZEALAND 5-0 AUSTRALI
"font-size: 11pt;">
8 mins: NZ go back on the attack, with Read in the vanguard, and win a penalty when Pocock is penalised for going off his feet. The All Blacks are rampant at the moment.
5 mins: Ferocious defence in midfield sees Cruden lose control and Australia clear. But NZ win the line-out and after sweeping the ball to the left they fizz it back right. Dagg hits the gas, dummies and then hands off Elsom. He eases round O'Connor but as he falls to the ground he fires the ball into the arms of Nonu, who dives over for a super score. Dagg's foot was perilously close to the line but replays are inconclusive, Weepu misses the conversion.
TRY NEW ZEALAND 5-0 AUSTRALIA
4 mins: Jane threatens down the right and chips ahead. O'Connor scrambles back and carries the ball over his own line, he tries to get back into the field of play but is collared by three AB tacklers. Attacking scrum NZ.
2 mins: A Dagg counter-attack carries the All Blacks deep into Wallaby territory. Cruden tries to float a pass to Jane, who is free on the outside, but the ball just eludes the grasp of the AB winger. Great start by the hosts.
1 min: We're under way in Auckland. Cooper sends the kick-off wobbling straight out on the full. The Eden Park crowd - they're not fans of the Wallaby 10 - love it. Scrum New Zealand.
0900: Haka time. Piri Weepu leads proceedings, it's the Kapa o Pango today. Maybe they're hoping to bust out a Ka Mate in the final?
0858: Let's be honest, Saturday won the battle of the anthems hands down. Kiwis and Aussies - perhaps with good reason - will insist their teams are better though. Let's hope they back it up, kick-off's in a couple of minutes.
0854: With the sadly absent Carter at the helm New Zealand played a machine-tooled game of fluid precision. Cruden, who recovered from cancer to captain New Zealand to victory in the Under-20 World Cup in 2009, is a more instinctive player than the Crusaders star. Australia are not considered to be as rounded a side as New Zealand, but they have the most dangerous backline in the tournament, and in Cooper they have a matador of a number 10 who loves to get flat and taunt the defence before sliding the blade home, using dazzling footwork or a conjuror's sleight of hand to open up the opposition. He has not been at his best in New Zealand, maybe this is the day he explodes into life?
0849: Battles abound across the park. Injury has robbed the tournament of the shimmering talents of Dan Carter, so at fly-half Quade Cooper lines up against Aaron Cruden instead. That means the most enticing mano a mano contest is the one between open-sides Richie McCaw, effectively the head boy of the entire New Zealand nation, and David Pocock, who gives the impression of being built by JCB for the specific purpose of dominating the breakdown. Both men have downplayed their battle, insisting it's a team game, but whoever gets control of the ruck will go a long way to deciding which team goes through to face France in the final in a week's time.
0846: New Zealand bring in Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg and Richard Kahui, while Australia call up Anthony Fainga'a. Australia have lost full-back Kurtley Beale to a hamstring injury, so Adam Ashley-Cooper moves to that position and Fainga'a comes into the centres. Dagg returns at full-back for the All Blacks after missing the quarter-final victory over Argentina, while third-choice fly-half Cruden takes over from the injured Colin Slade, who had in turn replaced star number 10 Dan Carter, who is out of the tournament with a leg injury. Kahui displaces Sonny Bill Williams, with the high-profile convert from rugby league starting on the bench.
0843: Let's have a look at the teams:
Replacements: Polota-Nau, Slipper, Simmons, McCalman, Burgess, Barnes, Horne.
New Zealand: Dagg; Jane, Smith, Nonu, Kahui; Cruden, Weepu; Woodcock, Mealamu, O Franks, Whitelock, Thorn, Kaino, McCaw, Read.
Replacements: Hore, B Franks, A Williams, Vito, Ellis, Donald, SB Williams.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
0840: History - both ancient and modern - is firmly against the Wallabies, who have lost 11 of the last 13 games between the two and trail 114-47 overall, with five draws, against their Antipodean cousins. However, they won the last time they met, producing a fine first-half performance on their way to securing a 25-20 victory in Brisbane in the 2011 Tri-Nations decider.
0835: Got something to say? Get involved! You can either text on 81111 or Tweet using #bbcrwc. A special mention to the person who gets in touch from furthest away from the BBC text bunker in Salford, so if you're at the game you're in with a good chance.
0830: World Cup heartbreak is not something Wales have a monopoly on, and New Zealand have suffered more than most over the years. Despite their status as perennially the best team in the world, the All Blacks have taken to approaching the final stages of World Cups with all the conviction of a blushing teenager approaching the prettiest girl at the party. Twice the Wallabies have ended their hopes in the last four, in 1991 and 2003, and they'd love to make it a hat-trick. Remember former Wallaby scrum-half George Gregan's taunting "four more years boys, four more years" in the final stages of the 2003 semi-final? Turns out he was being too generous.
0825: The IRB said Warburton's offence was "mid-range on the scale of seriousness", which has an entry point of six weeks. The rugby judge hearing the case "found that there were no aggravating features, and there were compelling on-field and/or off-field mitigating features including the player's admission, outstanding character and disciplinary record and remorse. Therefore, the suspension was reduced to a period of three weeks".
0822: Wales captain Sam Warburton will miss Wales' World Cup third-place play-off match after receiving a three-week ban for his "dangerous tip tackle" in the semi-final defeat by France.
0820: +++ BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS +++ Warburton banned for three weeks.
0818: In case you missed it, the first semi-final was not without controversy, and the debate still rages as to whether or not referee Alain Rolland should have sent off Wales captain Sam Warburton. Former Wales scrum-half Robert Jones has told the BBC that as the laws stand Rolland was correct, but added that the IRB needs to review the ruling. You can also read our man on the scene's take on the game and join in the discussion. He was right, no he wasn't, grr!!
0815: Calmed down yet after Saturday's heartbreaker between Wales and France. Nope? Me neither. You'd have to be a hard-hearted individual not to feel for the 14-man Welsh after their heroic efforts on Saturday, but down in Auckland they've now got more important matters on their mind. Namely, can their beloved all Blacks see off their old rivals from across The Ditch and reach a first World Cup final since 1995?
No comments:
Post a Comment