New South Wales Waratahs consolidated their place in the Super 14 top four with four second-half tries to claim a bonus point in their 26-3 win over South Africa’s Golden Lions yesterday.
The Waratahs rebounded from a dire scoreless first half in the rain to put the Johannesburg Lions away with live wire scrum-half Luke Burgess sparking the home team to their fourth straight win.
The Sydney team moved to joint second place and boosted their confidence for a crucial home game against the Coastal Sharks next Saturday.
But it was turgid going in an opening half stalemate, with both teams unable to post a point in gloomy conditions.
Skipper Phil Waugh finally got the Waratahs on the scoreboard in the 46th minute with a try in the corner after a snappy pass from fly-half Kurtley Beale off a goal-line maul.
Scrum-half Jano Vermaak kicked the Lions’ only points with a penalty goal seven minutes later, but Burgess swiftly changed the complexion of the match with two pieces of quick thinking.
Burgess, a potential Wallaby scrum-half following the retirement of George Gregan, took a quick tap penalty to catch the Lions’ defense off guard.
He passed to lock Dean Mumm who plunged over under the crossbar for a 12-3 lead after 57 minutes.
Burgess struck again a minute later, kicking down field and charging down replacement back Jannie Boshoff’s clearing kick for hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau to score the Waratahs’ third try, converted by Beale.
The Waratahs seized their scoring bonus point when replacement hooker Adam Freier scored off the back of a driving maul nine minutes from time.
The Waratahs have a tough finish to the season with next weekend’s final home match against the Sharks followed by matches in South Africa against the Northern Bulls and Western Stormers before returning home for a derby with the Reds.
The Lions, who remain stranded at the bottom of the standings, stay in Australia for their game against the ACT Brumbies on Friday.
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Japan’s narrow defeat by Australia showed they can compete with the best teams in the world, coach Eddie Jones said after his side fell to a 19-15 loss yesterday. Australia coach Joe Schmidt led the Wallabies for the first time against Eddie Jones, his predecessor and now Japan coach. During Jones’ second tenure as Australia coach, the Wallabies lost seven of nine tests and were eliminated in group play at the 2023 World Cup. “What I’m super pleased about is that now we [Japan] are a team that stays in the fight,” Jones told reporters. “We kept going, we could have won
RSS