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 Southern stars Tri Nations' teams head into World Cup semis
Posted: Monday October 25, 1999 04:39 PM
By Leora Blumberg, CNN/SI ATLANTA -- And then there were four. The quarterfinals are over, and as expected, the brightest stars to shine at the Rugby World Cup have been those from the Southern Hemisphere. The difference in quality between the two hemispheres was highlighted over the weekend when all the Tri Nations teams and only one Five Nations team managed to qualify for the semifinals. It must also be reiterated that France defeated Argentina, a largely amateur team. The first to qualify was Australia, which beat host Wales 24-9 on Saturday at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The Red Dragons had not beaten the Wallabies since Paul Thorburn kicked a drop goal to win the playoff for third place 22-21 in the 1987 World Cup. Although the Australian offense had its moments of glory, which it was able to convert into points, especially in the second half their defense was superb constantly halting Wales in their tracks, often just shy of the line. The Welsh team can take heart that even though it lost, the crowd that rose as one to cheer a game performance was aware of how far the team had come in a relatively short time. In many respects South Africa's road to a possible World Cup final is regarded as the most difficult, having played England and still to face Australia and quite possibly New Zealand in the elimination rounds of the tournament. The punters give the Wallabies the edge over the defending champions, who hampered by both injuries and an apparent division in the team with regards to the captaincy, have overall failed to impress thus far in the competition. However, the Springboks silenced many of critics Sunday, when they comprehensively defeated England 44-21, to set up an all-Southern Hemisphere semifinal with Australia on Saturday. South African flyhalf Jannie de Beer's boot was instrumental in the victory, but the Springboks' defense also stripped England of its attacking abilities. De Beer was the star of the show and with his five drop goals, two conversions and five penalties - a total of 34 points -- has to be awarded the man of the weekend title. De Beer's five drop goals after the interval was two more than the previous record. De Beer's name resulted in a deluge of puns, both good and bad by rugby writers from around the world. In possibly friendliest quarterfinal, the all-Latin game that pitted France against Argentina, the Pumas went down fighting 47-26 at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. France has over the past year struggled on the playing field. Sunday's performance surprised many, when it reverted to the type of running and attacking style of rugby that made it so famous. The French will not be looking forward to their semifinal matchup with New Zealand at Twickenham on Sunday. With Jonah Lomu once more at his strongest, on Sunday it took four to five Scottish players to tackle him every time he got moving, and with such top-class players as Tana Umaga, Andrew Mehrtens and Taine Randell, to name but a few. The All Blacks dashed ahead to take a 17-0 lead within the first 20 minutes, and although Scotland battled back, the 1999 Five Nations champs went down 30-18 at Murrayfield on Sunday. Although the statistics for possession at the end of the first half were not all that different, the scoreboard presented a different picture, with the All Blacks dominated play, holding a 20-3 lead. Shortly after the interval, Mehrtens left the field with a knee injury. It was the Scots' battle to the final whistle that remains the lasting impression. They succeeded in scoring two tries toward the end of the game. The quote of the weekend goes to Australian center, Tim Horan, who said: "It's like having a Ferrari in the drive and catching a bus to work," when asked to comment on why the organizers had failed to close the roof at the Millennium Stadium when it started raining Saturday. The Rugby World Cup's showpiece stadium is the only rugby stadium in the world with a sliding roof.
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