Australia overcome Barbarians at Wembley
Barbarians winger Bryan Habana takes on Australia number eight Richard Brown
Also In The News
|
Burnley have progressed to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup with a comprehensive win over Arsenal's young guns at Turf Moor. |  |
Wednesday, 03, Dec 2008 10:06
An experimental Australia side narrowly saw off a stiff Barbarian challenge in the first ever rugby union match at the new Wembley Stadium, writes inthenews.co.uk's Tim Lesnik.
In a game organised to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wallabies' win at the 1908 London Olympics, Australia eventually triumphed 18-11 over the invitational side coached by South Africa's World Cup-winning coach Jake White.
Two penalties and a conversion from James O'Connor and a try each from Lote Tuqiri and Lachie Turner proved enough for an Australian victory, with two Percy Montgomery penalties and a try from Jerry Collins the Barbarian response.
Australia coach Robbie Deans had put out an inexperienced side featuring 18-year-old O'Conner at full-back and Brett Sheehan at scrum-half while White was able to call on - amongst significant others - the combined talents of six of his fellow World Cup winners and New Zealanders Richie McCaw, Jerry Collins, Rico Gear and Joe Rokocoko.
The Barbarians were keen to display their attacking verve from the off, with the South African trio of Bryan Habana, Percy Montgomery and Schalk Burger in particular catching the eye.
Indeed, the team in black and white thought they had scored through McCaw early on only for the video referee to rightly rule it out as the ball had been held up by a resolute Australia defence.
This left the Wallabies to break the deadlock in the 12th minute with a superb try which matched, in terms of flair, anything the Barbarians had tried before it.
Winger Lote Tuqiri finished off a fine flowing move after collecting a chip forward from centre Ryan Cross, and James O'Connor added the conversion to see Australia move seven points ahead.
Two penalties from the impressive O'Connor then moved the Wallabies 13 points in front, and the Barbarians had to wait until 34 minutes before getting on the scoreboard as the men in gold's defence refused to buckle.
A Percy Montgomery penalty finally broke the Barbarians' duck, with another added moments before half-time to make the score at the break 13-6.
It had been a fiercely competitive half with both sides showing an admirable determination to win the match given its friendly status, and this pattern was re-established on the game's resumption.
Again the Barbarians thought they had scored in the opening exchanges of the half only to be denied by the video referee, this time after a break down the right wing by Joe Rokocoko had eventually led to a chance on the left touchline.
They finally got the try their efforts deserved mid-way through the second half when a hopeful punt forward by George Gregan lead to a hurried Australia clearance.
This allowed Shane Williams, the Welsh wing introduced at half-time to popular acclaim from a highly-partisan Wembley crowd of 43,600, to take the ball at pace in front of a dispersed Australian rear-guard and offload to Jerry Collins to bundle over.
However, Francois Steyn's missed conversion ensured the Barbarians were still in arrears at 11-13, and despite having two penalty kicks from favourable positions they were unable to take the lead.
Forcing the issue late on, the Barbarians then allowed substitute Lachie Turner to round off the evening by scoring in the corner after a break from Drew Mitchell.
Tim Lesnik