Australia U21s get out of jail against Scots
June 10, 2006
Australia needed a try deep into injury time from prop John Ulugia to secure an 18-14 win over Scotland in their first match of the IRB U21 World Championship in France overnight. Scotland played a tight game and clearly benefited from having played an entire U21 Six Nations together, whereas Australia looked a little rusty and had trouble holding onto the ball for multiple phases. Scotland kept turning Australia around with some clever tactical kicking and led 14-0 at the break thanks to a try from flanker Ross Rennie and three penalties from their captain and flyhalf David Blair. However Australia refused to bow and fought back in the second period, bringing the score back to 14-13 down with a penalty to flyhalf Christian Lealiifano and tries to winger Caleb Brown and replacement centre Anthony Faingaa. Four minutes from fulltime, Faingaa nearly scored again but was brought down half a metre from the line and was penalised for not releasing. Scotland was eyeing an upset victory as the game moved into injury time, but Australia stayed composed and started stringing the phases together. When Ulugia picked and drove from three metres out, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau was right on his tail and together they drove over the line. Australia survived another two minutes of extra time to hang on for the win. Australia's best on field was winger Digby Ioane who had an outstanding game. He made line breaks at will and punished Scotland with some electrifying kick returns which brought the big crowd to their feet. In the forwards, prop Pek Cowan had a solid game while captain and flanker Julian Salvi was tireless at the breakdown. Chris Hickey, Australia coach: "I'm very happy with this win, which took a lot of sweat and tears to achieve. We had to improvise against a stubborn Scottish defence." Julian Salvi Australia captain: "This first match was very difficult and a real eye-opener. We got some luck and had to call on all of our mental strength. There's plenty for us to work on going forward now." Australia will play their second pool match against Fiji on Tuesday. Australia 18 [Anthony Faingaa, Caleb Brown, John Ulugia tries; Christian Lealiifano pen] defeated Scotland 14 13 June Match 2 - Australia v Fiji 17 June Match 3 - Australia v New Zealand 21 June Semi Finals 25 June Finals Australian Under 21s v Scotland IRB Under 21 World Championship
Pek Cowan |
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