Archive For 2019年9月26日
On the back of a starring effort from Sam Burgess and a cameo role from Luke Keary, South Sydney have recalibrated their NRL finals push with a 32-12 win over Parramatta.
A game after one of their worst performances during coach Michael Maguire’s three-season reign – a 14-10 round-17 loss to Gold Coast – the Rabbitohs controlled the game better in the back end for the six-tries-to-two win at Pirtek Stadium on Friday before 16,125 fans.
Burgess bustled his way over just before halftime and again minutes before the final whistle, constantly surging forward all night and tackling stoutly on the edges.
With the game in the balance and Souths leading 16-12, on his first touch of the ball, a Keary high ball found Kyle Turner for a four-pointer to put the Rabbitohs further ahead in the 65th minute.
Winger Alex Johnston burned Vai Toutai on the outside in the 74th minute with the match-sealing try, before Burgess claimed his double from dummy half four minutes from time.
Parramatta toiled away conscientiously all night and responded well to their 48-0 thrashing to the Warriors but fell apart somewhat towards the end of the game.
The home side failed to make the most of their chances with Toutai dropping the ball over the line in the 45th minute and a Dylan Walker intercept after a Chris Sandow 40/20 just before halftime costing them dearly.
Underdogs Parramatta struck first in the 10th minute when Tepai Moeroa – the man dubbed “the next Nathan Hindmarsh” – crashed over off a Corey Norman short ball and Chris Sandow converted for the early 6-0 lead despite Souths enjoying the better of field position.
Weight of possession told when Souths scored their first try in the 27th minute. After repeated sets on the Eels’ line, winger Lote Tuqiri strolled over untouched after Souths created numbers on their left side to leave winger Semi Radradra stranded.
Burgess then scored his first try just before halftime for the visitors to lead 10-6.
Weight of possession also told late in the contest when Souths scored 16 points in the last 15 minutes.
Tuqiri was put on report by referee Jared Maxwell for a 22nd-minute ‘crusher’ tackle on Willie Tonga.
Eels halfback Chris Sandow was put on report for striking Souths centre Dylan Walker and Joseph Paulo for a 62nd-minute high shot on Tom Burgess.
Fullback Greg Inglis, who had a relatively quiet game, wore No.16 for Souths as a tribute to Alex McKinnon as part of the Rise for Alex Round.
Parramatta rival fullback Jarryd Hayne, who tried hard but failed to break the game open, also wore jumper No.16.
Souths coach Michael Maguire was pleased with his side’s strong effort in finishing off the match.
“That is something we have been talking about for quite some time,” he said.
“We probably set that game up in the first half the way we built a lot of pressure and, in the second half, we pulled them apart with our big men and our men on the edges.
“I have a big belief in this team and how they are applying themselves and we just have to stick to it.
“That’s not how we hold our standards, that last game, and we looked pretty deep into what we are doing.”
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur bemoaned the Eels’ lack of polish.
“I thought we tried really hard tonight; we were beaten by a better team,” he said.
“They probably just controlled the game a bit better than us in the second half.
“We lacked a bit of polish and some finishing touches.
“I was really happy with their effort but that’s what we have to learn is that, while we tried hard, it is not good enough. We have to find a way to execute better and make the most of our opportunities.”
England captain Alastair Cook suffered another failure with the bat as India seized control of the second Test at Lord’s on Friday.
England were 2-51 in their first innings, in reply to India’s 295, at lunch on day two – still facing a deficit of 244 runs with eight wickets in hand.
Cook’s miserable trot continued, caught by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni for 10 off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling to leave England at 1-22.
Fellow opener Sam Robson fell to Kumar in identical fashion for 17, putting England in an uncomfortable position at 2-31.
Robson had been dropped by Ajinkya Rahane two balls before Cook’s dismissal.
Gary Ballance, seven not out, and Ian Bell (11no) managed to get through safely to the lunch break.
Cook has gone 26 innings since scoring the last of his England record 25 Test hundreds, with his tally for the calendar year standing at a meagre 107 runs in eight Test innings.
The 29-year-old left-hander’s poor form has coincided with an England slump in which the team have not won in nine Tests – their worst streak for more than 20 years.
As if conscious he had often been caught in the slips while struggling for runs, Cook met Kumar’s first ball of the innings with an exaggerated straight forward defensive shot.
But having looked assured for 40 minutes, Cook’s 29-ball knock including two fours, came to an end.
Not moving his feet, Cook nicked a good-length ball just outside off stump that swung away from Kumar through to Dhoni.
Early on day two, it took England just 10 balls to wrap up India’s innings after they resumed at 9-290, with Cook holding a juggled catch at first slip to dismiss Mohammed Shami (19) off Ben Stokes.
India had been in dire straits at 7-145 after being sent in to bat on a green, seaming pitch that was the opposite of the bare, lifeless track in last week’s drawn first Test at Trent Bridge.
But England let India off the hook, the tourists doubling their total before stumps, with Rahane making a superb 103 in his maiden Test innings at Lord’s.
James Anderson led England’s attack with 4-60 in 23 overs in his first match since both he and Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja were charged with disciplinary offences under the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct for an alleged clash at Trent Bridge.
Both players must wait on the verdict of ICC judicial commissioner Gordon Lewis, a retired Australian judge, to discover if they will be banned from any matches in the rest of the five-Test series.
Adam Scott’s British Open prospects have taken a hit during a blustery second round at Royal Liverpool.
The Australian world No.1 started on Friday two shots adrift of Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who opened with a six-under-par 66 on Thursday.
But Scott steadily dropped back through the field as many of the morning starters on day two struggled with increasingly tricky conditions.
Late in his second round, Scott had dropped three shots to be five behind McIlroy, who was due to resume his campaign in the afternoon.
Scott started his second round solidly enough with a par on the first hole, however his broomstick putter then went cold.
He missed two short putts to make back-to-back bogeys on the second and third holes.
Scott steadied to pick up a birdie on the par-5 fifth and claw back to within three shots of the lead but, as the wind picked up, he again made back-to-back bogeys at holes 12 and 13.
Scott said after his opening-round 68 he was determined to keep world No.8 McIlroy in his sights.
“You’ve got to keep pace with a guy like Rory,” he said.
“He has the potential to really put his foot down. I’ve seen him shoot lots of low rounds and there’s nothing stopping him from doing that tomorrow either.
“I don’t want him running away. We’ve seen that happen.
“He wins majors by eight.”
Meanwhile, Jason Day was fighting just to extend his campaign into the weekend.
The Australian, who is still being plagued by a left thumb injury, was three-over-par with one hole to play, right on the early projected cut line.
Young Australian Bryden Macpherson completed one of the tournament’s worst performances after carding a second-round 80 on Friday to be a distant last – 26-over-par for the tournament.
It came after the former British Amateur champion shot an 18-over-par 90 on Thursday – the highest single-round score at the British Open in 15 years.
“I think it’s just character-building,” a philosophical Macpherson said afterwards.
Marc Leishman (-3), Matt Jones (-1), John Senden (-1) and Rhein Gibson (even) were among those teeing off in the afternoon, along with the returning Tiger Woods (-3).
South African George Coetzee was the best of the morning starters, carding a two-under 69 to move into tied second, a shot behind McIlroy.
Speed bowler Dale Steyn took five wickets as South Africa seized control on the third day of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Steyn, 31, unleashed some fiery bowling without much help from a dry and flat Galle track to finish with figures of 5-50, his 23rd five-wicket haul in Tests.
At stumps, Sri Lanka were 9-283, still trailing the visitors by 172 runs with just one wicket in hand.
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews fought back valiantly with 89 before being bowled by leg-spinner Imran Tahir.
Mathews, who missed scoring his third Test ton on the trot, also shared 71 runs with Rangana Herath for the eighth wicket, the highest partnership of the innings.
His effort was especially commendable since Sri Lanka’s two big hitters – Mahela Jayawardene (three) and Kumar Sangakkara (24) – failed with the bat.
Steyn struck early in the final session, removing Lahiru Thirimanne (38) with an away-moving delivery which the batsman edged behind to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
The lanky fast bowler struck again soon to dismiss Dinesh Chandimal and Dilruwan Perera off his consecutive overs to cap a fiery three-wicket burst.
Chandimal (six) was caught at midwicket while Perera snicked to de Kock without opening his account.
Mathews tried to hit back, smacking Morne Morkel (2-45) for five fours in one over to race to his fifties but that was a rare show of dominance on an otherwise disappointing day for the home team.
Earlier, Tharanga, making a Test comeback after more than six years, stood out with his doughty 83 that contained 14 fours and a six.
Tharanga defied the hostile fast bowling for some three hours but he was finally undone by part-time spinner Jean-Paul Duminy who had him stumped by de Kock.
Cronulla captain Wade Graham branded NRL referees as poor as the hapless Sharks after his bottom-placed side handed North Queensland their first away win of the season on Friday night.
A 20-point haul from champion playmaker Johnathan Thurston lifted the Cowboys to a 36-18 victory and into the top eight in arctic conditions at Remondis Stadium.
But Graham reluctantly stole the spotlight from the Golden Boot winner with his post-match attack on the league’s standard of refereeing in 2014.
After a stop-start affair blighted by 19 penalties – including 11 to the Sharks – Graham was left bewildered by some of the decisions.
“I hate to say it. Like, there’s no shying away from the fact that we’re struggling as a team – we’ve had not the best season – but, mate, the men in the middle are on par with us,” he said.
“The ruck was all over the shop. It was very frustrating.
“We can’t use that as an excuse. At the end of the day, we weren’t good enough. We didn’t win, but I tell you what, we’re struggling and so are they (the referees).”
Deputising for injured captain Paul Gallen, Graham was most frustrated by Thurston being awarded his second try of the night after he stripped Cronulla fullback Michael Gordon in an apparent two-man tackle.
“We see that decision tonight and we’ll probably see it maybe in another game over the weekend when the same thing will come up and it will be a different decision come up,” he said.
“There’s no use harping on it because, at the end of the day, what’s happened has happened.
“But we review ourselves every week and for it to be round 20 and (the referees are) still struggling … it happens in every game. Every game, you hear a captain talking about it.
“It’s just frustrating and the game deserves better than talking about this.
“We should be talking about JT playing well, or something else about the game.”
Cowboys fans will be talking about their team climbing back into the eight and about Thurston’s latest masterful display.
After swapping his No.7 jumper for No.16, in honour of injured Newcastle star Alex McKinnon in the opening game of Rise For Alex Round, Thurston’s signed jersey will no doubt fetch top price after he put the Sharks to the sword with two tries, six goals and endless torment.
Winless in Sydney since their last visit to Cronulla in round 25 last season – and anywhere outside of Townsville all year – the Cowboys were up 16-0 after just 22 minutes.
Aided by a glut of penalties, Cronulla briefly threatened another fightback win after going to halftime only trailing by four points thanks to quickfire tries to Jonathan Wright and Luke Lewis.
But it was one-way traffic after the break.
“It’s good to get the monkey off the back,” said Cowboys coach Paul Green.
“Really pleased with the result.”
The only concerns for the Cowboys were forward Ashton Sims and five-eighth Robert Lui being placed on report for first-half high tackles on Sharks pair Jacob Gagan and Andrew Fifita.