Winning weekend for Kiwi teams (9 August 1999)

9 August 1999

Winning weekend for Kiwi teams

Daryl Holden

You should have woken up with a smile on your face, thanks to some marvellous Kiwi sporting efforts at the weekend.

The All Blacks led the way with a 34-18 Tri-Nations win over the Springboks in Pretoria yesterday morning.

The win maintained the All Blacks' unbeaten run this season, but it was not without a fright or two. They had to overcome a Springbok side which played with much more commitment under the leadership of new captain, halfback Joost van der Westhuizen.

They also had to overcome pedantic, whistle-happy referee, Englishman Ed Morrison, who did his best to destroy the game as a spectacle.

In England, the Black Caps continued to grind the Poms into the Old Trafford turf in the third cricket test.

They had England in all sorts of trouble overnight, starting the fourth day's play at 399-6 in reply to the home side's first innings score of 199.

Canterbury batsman Nathan Astle was one of New Zealand's stars, scoring 101. It was his fifth test hundred.

The Tall Blacks played their part when they ended their William Jones Cup basketball tournament in Taipei on the right note on Saturday night, beating Costa Rica, 62-60, to finish third.

Source :: The Christchurch Press (http://www.press.co.nz/)