Ireland stun Australia; Boks win

The World Cup had its first big upset on Saturday when Ireland squeezed and harried the life out of Australia to record an historic 15-6 win at the Eden Park on Saturday. Brian O’Driscoll’s team battled like banshees to stifle the Australian pack and when the ball did go wide they were more than a match for the much-vaunted running skills of Quade Cooper, Will Genia and Kurtley Beale. The Australians gave away a rash of penalties four of which were kicked by Jonathan Sexton and Ronan O’Gara with the impressive Sexton adding a drop goal. The Ausrtralians were level 6-6 at half-time with two James O’Connor penalties, but that is where their scoring stopped and coach Robbie Deans has a huge task on his hand to lift his demoralised squad who will now likely have to face up to defending champions South Africa in the quarter-finals. The victory takes Ireland to eight points in their pool, three ahead of the Wallabies with two matches to play, but it was also a huge psychological blow for one of the fancied tournament teams. The Springboks were magnificent in their 49-3 dismantling of Fiji, who had been expected to give them a good run for their money after coming close to pulling off an upset against them four years ago in France. The Pacific Islanders started strongly in Wellington with a succession of charging runs, but the Springboks defence held firm and when their backs in turn went on the attack the floodgates soon opened up. In the day’s opener Argentina got their World Cup campaign back on track with a convincing 43-8 win over Romania in Invercargill, setting up a showdown with Scotland in Wellington next Sunday.