The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Maple Leafs stun Tonga with late Mackenzie try
- All Blacks on guard
- Djokovic eyes acting career as he targets more Grand Slam titles
| Maple Leafs stun Tonga with late Mackenzie try Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:03 PM PDT PHIL Mackenzie scored a try seven minutes from time to give Canada a thrilling 25-20 World Cup victory over Tonga at the Northland Events Centre yesterday. The bleach-blond winger picked up the ball at the foot of a ruck to wriggle between two tacklers and over the line to give Canada only their fifth ever World Cup win and keep alive their modest hopes of progressing from Pool A. Tonga, who had gambled on a radical overhaul of the team that impressed but lost the tournament opener 41-10 to the All Blacks last weekend, were left stunned after looking set for victory with the stiff breeze behind them in the second half. Lock Jebb Sinclair and number eight Aaron Carpenter also scored tries for Canada, who led 10-0 just before half-time but had seen the Tongans overhaul them in front of a passionate full house of 20,000. "That was awesome," Canada captain Pat Riordan told reporters. "I'm so proud of the boys and the way they played and guts they showed. "We knew it was a pretty strong wind there in the second half. "At half-time, we knew we had achieved a couple of things and knew we had to change a couple of things but also knew that it was in our control and up to us to change it and we did. "I hope it just shows what the Canadian boys can do." Tongan centre Siale Piutau will count himself unlucky not to end up on the winning side after scoring two tries, but the Pacific islanders will rue any number of sloppy errors. "I thought Canada came out and used the wind nicely but I thought in the second half we didn't play the way we wanted to play," said Tonga skipper Finau Maka, whose hopes of qualifying from a pool which also includes hosts New Zealand, France and Japan are all but gone. "For us, we didn't quite play the way we wanted to play and at the end of the day they deserved the win. They played better." Tonga, playing against the breeze, dominated the early exchanges with some powerful running and going through plenty of phases without get much penetration. It was Canada who opened the scoring in the 14th minute, however, when livewire South African-born centre DTH Van Der Merwe cut through the defensive line and lock Jebb Sinclair went trundling over the line. Canada's fullback James Pritchard added the extra points and, after Kurt Morath had missed two reasonably easy penalty chances, made the score 10-0 with his second kick at goal. The mistakes from the Tongans continued with Taniela Moa, so impressive at scrum half against the All Blacks but moved to flyhalf for this match, at one stage punching the ball away in frustration. With the seconds ticking away before half-time, the Tongans did finally get some cohesion in attack and moved through 19 phases on the Canadian line before a Moa miss-pass found centre Piutau and he cut inside his tackler to touch down. Morath added the conversion to make it 10-7 at the half, and the Tongan fullback added his first penalty two minutes after the break to tie the match up. Pritchard replied immediately with his second penalty to put the Canadians back in front but Tonga were now hitting their stride and 10 minutes later Piutau grabbed his second try, taking an inside ball from Moa and crossing the line untouched. Morath again added the conversion to give his side a 17-13 lead and, with the Canadians very much on the back foot, added his second penalty after 64 minutes to extend the advantage. But the Canadians were not done yet, and three minutes later they capitalised on a Tongan turnover to grab their second try, number eight Aaron Carpenter crashing between tacklers and reaching over the line to touch down. Pritchard was unable to convert but Mackenzie made his miss academic six minutes later when his late score ignited jubilant celebrations among the Canadians in the crowd. Tonga and Canada, ranked at 12 and 14 respectively, have a long World Cup rivalry dating back to their first match at the tournament in 1987, which the Maple Leafs won 37-4. Canada's next game is against France on Sunday, while Tonga play Japan next Wednesday in Whangarei. — Reuters |
| Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:03 PM PDT THE All Blacks will field close to their top side against Japan in their World Cup clash here tomorrow, saying they were under no illusion about how dangerous the Asian champions could be. After Canada's stunning 25-20 win over Tonga in a Group A match yesterday, New Zealand's coach Graham Henry is leaving nothing to chance against the Japanese. After watching Japan go close to tipping over France in their opening match, Henry has made seven changes to the experimental-looking line up that played their tournament opener against Tonga. It will be an emotionally-charged atmosphere surrounding the game dedicated to the victims of the devastating earthquakes to hit both countries this year and which is also the 100th Test for All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw. But McCaw said it was important the All Blacks were not distracted from the task of winning their second game and progressing towards ending 24 years of World Cup failures. "The key thing is to keep remembering about doing your job for the team and that's the most important part. "Personal stuff aside, it's about doing it for the team," he said. Long-serving Mils Muliana has been reinstalled at fullback over the rising Israel Dagg as coach Graham Henry looks to solve one of the last remaining pieces of his First XV puzzle. Richard Kahui remains on the wing where he is joined by Cory Jane, and the established midfield of Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu are back together. A fit again Adam Thomson replaces Victor Vito in the back row and up-and-coming lock Sam Whitelock comes in for Ali Williams. The scrum-half slot has gone to Andy Ellis in what Henry says is a case of picking the right person to start a particular game. Henry said he now had a fair idea of who would be in his top side apart from fullback. "You've got a gentleman whose played 98 Test matches, who has played some fabulous rugby for the All Blacks over a long period of time, playing against a young guy who could be a very, very, good player so it's a contest and that's great," he said. Henry said the All Blacks "were under no illusions about how much of a challenge Japan would be after watching their effort against France. "They are physical at the breakdown, play the game at speed and will be a real threat if we let them play like that so we will have to be on top of our game." The Japan team of 2011 is well removed from the class who played in the 1995 World Cup and were thrashed by the All Blacks by a record 145-17. They came into this tournament as Asian champions and holders of the Pacific Nations Cup, and pushed France to the limit before running out of steam 10 minutes early allowing Les Bleus to run away with the game at the end. "As soon as we found out that we were playing New Zealand in New Zealand, that defeat crossed everyone's minds," said Japan lock Toshizumi Kitagawa. "But we're determined to show how much we've improved since then." — AFP |
| Djokovic eyes acting career as he targets more Grand Slam titles Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:03 PM PDT NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic is ranked No. 1 and is 64-2 in 2011, and sees room for improvement. He won three of the four Grand Slam titles this year - at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open – and is talking about adding to his collection. "There is a lot more to prove, a lot more tournaments to win," Djokovic told reporters at the Empire State Building on Tuesday, a day after he beat Rafael Nadal in the final at Flushing Meadows. And that's not all: Djokovic gained plenty of attention for his spot-on impersonations of other players (Nadal, Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova, among others), and now he wants to pursue acting. "Yeah. Why not? I might do something if I have time soon. And I would like to. I just think show business is something that attracts me, that I really like watching, that I like being a part of. It's part of my personality," Djokovic said after making the rounds to various morning talk shows with a couple of days' worth of stubble on his face and the benefit of about three hours' worth of sleep. The 24-year-old from Serbia didn't provide details or indicate whether he'd like to wind up on TV or in a movie; he did say he already has a couple of offers to consider. "This the way I see things off the court. ... If I embrace them, if I accept them as something that can give me energy, that can make me happy, then it all goes in a positive direction," Djokovic said. "Or vice versa: You can say, 'Oh, look this is taking my attention off tennis. This is negative.' It just depends on the way you look at it, and I try always to look at it in a positive way." Just in case anyone might wonder how focused Djokovic is on his future as a thespian, he was sure to note: "I will not interfere that with my professional life." Djokovic is doing pretty well at his day job, putting together what seven-time major champion John McEnroe called "the greatest year in the history of our sport, there's no doubt about it." McEnroe, by the way, went 82-3 in 1984. As impressive as Djokovic's overall record is, what's even more indicative of exactly how well he's playing is that he is 10-1 against Nadal and Roger Federer this season. He overcame a two-set deficit, then two match points at 5-3, 40-15 in the fifth, to eliminate Federer in the US Open semi-finals on Saturday, before dominating Nadal for most of the four hours and 10 minutes it took to complete their riveting 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 final. It's only the second time someone beat Federer and Nadal at the same Grand Slam tournament. — AP |
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