Current IRB World number 1 ranked Zealand will battle it out against the former title-holder Australia more popularly known as the Wallabies for the 2011 Tri-nations series between the three mos prominent Rugby Teams in the world. The sixtenth annual edition was one of the highly anticipated matches as a preliminary tests for each team before meeting again for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Australian Wallabies were confident that they can defeat the New Zealand All Blacks for a winning streak after they have defeated the South African Springboks. The ball-in-hand approach by the Wallabies was instrumental on their victory against All Blacks with the final score at 39-20 in favor of the Australian National Rugby Team.
Top scorers for the Wallabies were also expected to show the kind of intensity they have already unleashed during their first game against the South African Springboks.
James Horwell had played an instrumental ball game for the Wallabies earning him the respect he had been enjoying during his tenure as the team captain. Scorers for Australia were: Tries – Alexander, Ioane, O’Connor, Moore, Ashley-Cooper. Cons – O’Connor 4 and Pens: O’Connor 2.
The same line-up the Australian Wallabies while playing against South Africa will be used also in the second game against New Zealand.
Australian team were composed of : 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Australian Substitutes or replacement: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Pekahou Cowan, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Anthony Fainga’a.
Meanwhile New Zealand were expected to give their best and retain their reputation as the top rugby team in the world. The line-up of New Zealand was a championship caliber and their match will be an exciting one.
Here is the line-up of New Zealand All Blacks:
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jarrad Hoeata, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.
The schedules of the 2011 Tri-Nations were posted below and time of kick-off will be determine a day prior to the game:
Here is the schedule of games.
Saturday, July 23 – Australia v South Africa, Sydney
Saturday, July 30 – New Zealand v South Africa, Wellington
Saturday, August 6 – New Zealand v Australia, Auckland
Saturday, August 13 – South Africa v Australia, Durban
Saturday, August 20 – South Africa v New Zealand, Port Elizabeth
Saturday, August 27 – Australia v New Zealand, Brisbane