of their decision to leave 20 of their best players in South Africa. O'Neill was incensed by comments by Springboks coach Jake White, who said the injury to stand-in Springboks captain Bobby Skinstad justified his decision to rest leading players such as Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger and Bryan Habana. "Now you know why I didn't bring those other guys here," White said. "I could be sitting here with my front-line players out for six months." O'Neill retorted: "Some of the stuff Jake White has said are the most extraordinary of contradictions. He is basically saying that because Bobby Skinstad has a broken rib, that supports his decision to leave all the players behind. He is basically saying that his only objective this year is the World Cup. He has made it clear that whatever he has to do in between – so be it. That said, the makeshift Springbok side made a mockery of their critics as they led a full strength Australian side 17–0 after 40 minutes. Wikus van Heerden powering over and Breyton Paulse latching onto a wide pass by Nathan Sharpe. Hougaard missed two kickable penalties however. This was Stephen Larkham and George Gregan's final game in Australia; an emotional occasion. Thus they were not to be beaten without a fight. Australia had an attacking line-out inside South Africa's 22, they employed a deceptive play which appeared to be a forward drive with Gregan standing afar but was instead a rouse which had Larkham cut the Boks and send Mark Gerrard over for their opening points. From here the Australians showed just how dangerous their back division could be and scored two further tries to escape an embarrassing defeat and send off their legendary heroes with a victory. The Boks went into the final game of the tournament seemingly without a hope of winning. The All Blacks were deemed far too powerful for this makeshift team. That said they decided to take the fight to their hosts front the first second as JP Pietersen fielded a kick-off and ran right through several would-be tacklers. They played with greater endeavour than what was to be expected. The half-time interval saw New Zealand on fractionally ahead 6–3. New Zealand would not see their first try until eleven minutes from time when Rokocoko's flick pass found Leonard. This broke the Boks and two further tries were scored to add gloss