From Stockholm to Vancouver, calls flooded in suggesting names for the silent enigma that was Piano Man. Now, four months later, the mute blond virtuoso remains in a psychiatric hospital in Dartford. The story of the man found wandering near a remote beach in Kent with the labels cut off his dripping wet evening [...]
From Stockholm to Vancouver, calls flooded in suggesting names for the silent enigma that was Piano Man. Now, four months later, the mute blond virtuoso remains in a psychiatric hospital in Dartford. The story of the man found wandering near a remote beach in Kent with the labels cut off his dripping wet evening suit excited imaginations the world over. New Zealand: Try Gear; Conversion Carter; Penalties Carter 3.South Africa: P Montgomery; B Paulse, J Fourie, J de Villiers, B Habana; A Pretorius, E Januarie (F du Preez, 60); O du Randt (G Steenkamp, 50), J Smit (capt), C J van der Linde, B Botha, V Matfield, J Smith, S Burger, J van Niekerk (J Cronje, 75).New Zealand: L MacDonald (J Rokocoko, 68); R Gear, T Umaga (capt; L McAlister, 76), A Mauger, M Muliaina; D Carter, B Kelleher (P Weepu, 9); A Woodcock, K Mealamu, C Hayman (G Somerville, 68), C Jack, A Williams, J Collins, R McCaw, R So’oialo.Referee: A Cole (Australia)..
But a measured, confident New Zealand side gradually worked their way back to parity before conceding a 16-13 interval deficit to a second penalty from the full-back Percy Montgomery.South Africa’s defence was even better in the second half, and that was the critical factor. The New Zealand coach, Graham Henry, said simply: “We are happy to acknowledge that today we just lost to a team that was better than us.”South Africa: Try De Villiers; Conversion Montgomery; Penalties Montgomery 4; Drop goal Pretorius. But they defended as a team, and got their collective reward.De Villiers’ interception try from 75 metres helped to give them a 13-0 advantage within the first nine minutes. But we know it could have gone either way and we’re not fooled.
We must improve further.”Certain elements within the All Black game, such as their line-out throwing and timing and their composure under pressure, were too often below par. “It always feels good to beat New Zealand, especially in such an intense Test match as this one. The Springboks’ first victory over New Zealand in Cape Town since 1976 resulted from swarming defence and courageous tackling, though New Zealand were the more creative side in attack. In the last 10 minutes, when Rico Gear and Daniel Carter both broke into the South African 22, the All Blacks seemed capable of snatching a victory. But both were hauled down by desperate tackles, the type that had been seen all afternoon from the home side.
South Africa have now beaten Australia, twice, and New Zealand on consecutive weekends, justification for their elevation to No 2 in the world rankings.”We had to be good, very good to get past these guys,” said Jake White, the Springboks coach.
A match of pounding, relentless intensity, like the waves on the Cape shoreline, was won through South Africa’s rock solid defence at Newlands on Saturday. Leigh were relegated from Super League after their 74-0 home defeat by Leeds, for whom Ashley Gibson scored a hat-trick of tries and kicked five goals on his debut.. Substitutes used: Purdham, Williams, Tookey, Mateo.Referee: K Kirkpatrick (Warrington).* The Great Britain squad member Chris Thorman gave a masterclass with a 20-point haul as Huddersfield maintained their faint play-off hopes with a 44-12 win over Wakefield yesterday. Substitutes used: King, Kearney, Thackray, Saxton.London: Luisi; Wells, Smith, Sykes, Bradley-Qalilawa; McLinden, Dorn; Stephenson, Highton, Trindall, Haumono, Hopkins, Mbu.
“There have been some great players in the Broncos shirt and this group are aware that they are a part of that.”Hull: Briscoe; Tony, Whiting, Yeaman, Raynor; R Horne, Brough; Dowes, Swain, Carvell, McMenemy, G Horne, Cooke. “We feel a real responsibility to do that,” said their coach, Tony Rea. Danny Williams seemed to have taken the wrong option, passing to a well-guarded blind side, but Sykes showed great strength to force his way over.Hull led again early in the second half when Cooke kicked, London fumbled and Shayne McMenemy got to the loose ball, but London came back when Dorn sidestepped past Paul King with embarrassing ease for the converted try that put them in front once more.Both sides had tries disallowed by the video referee before Cooke’s penalty tied it up, but the Broncos, who are to be rebranded as Harlequins next season, were not to be denied.Retiring their old name and identity with pride is a major incentive for the cluband, in this mood, they are capable of doing so. Ewan Dowes scored when the Broncos could not tidy up Richard Swain’s kick and Paul Cooke sold a little dummy for their second try, also kicking the penalty but missing the two conversion attempts.London have plenty to play for, with a place in the play-offs to be consolidated. They began their fightback when Luke Dorn kicked for the wing and Tyrone Smith leapt to catch cleanly and score. Sykes converted and brought his side level by half-time when he scored their second try.

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