1998 Tri Nations Series

The 1998 Tri Nations Series was contested from 11 July to 22 August between the Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. The Springboks won the tournament.

1998 Tri Nations Series

Final positions
Champions	South Africa (1st title)
Bledisloe Cup	Australia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Tries scored	22 (3.67 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Matt Burke (50)
Most tries	Matt Burke (3)
← 1997 1999 →

Australia won the Bledisloe Cup, which New Zealand had won for the 3 previous years. The two Tri-Nations tests gave it a winning 2–0 lead. (It went on to make it 3–0 in the third test which came after the Tri-Nations.)

Table

Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
South Africa	4	4	0	0	80	54	+26	1	17
Australia	4	2	0	2	79	82	−3	2	10
New Zealand	4	0	0	4	65	88	−23	2	2

Results

Game 1: Australia v New Zealand

11 July 1998 20:00 AEST (UTC+10)

Australia	24–16	New Zealand
Try: Burke 29' c, 33' m Con: Burke (1/2) 29' Pen: Burke (4/6) 25'	Report[1][2]	Try: Kronfeld 22' m I. Jones m Pen: Mehrtens 20' Spencer (1)

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 75,127 Referee: Clayton Thomas (Wales)

FB 15 Matthew Burke WG 14 Ben Tune OC 13 Daniel Herbert IC 12 Tim Horan WG 11 Joe Roff FH 10 Stephen Larkham SH 9 George Gregan N8 8 Toutai Kefu  45' FL 7 David Wilson FL 6 Matt Cockbain LK 5 John Eales (c) LK 4 Tom Bowman TP 3 Andrew Blades HK 2 Phil Kearns LP 1 Richard Harry  15' Replacements: PR 16 Dan Crowley  15' FL 17 Willie Ofahengaue  45'  76' HK 18 Jeremy Paul FL 19 Owen Finegan  76' SH 20 Chris Whitaker CT 21 Nathan Grey CE 22 Jason Little Coach: Rod Macqueen

FB 15 Christian Cullen WG 14 Jeff Wilson OC 13 Scott McLeod  72' IC 12 Walter Little WG 11 Joeli Vidiri  62' FH 10 Andrew Mehrtens  45'  72' SH 9 Justin Marshall N8 8 Taine Randell (c) FL 7 Josh Kronfeld FL 6 Michael Jones  62' LK 5 Robin Brooke LK 4 Ian Jones TP 3 Olo Brown HK 2 Anton Oliver LP 1 Craig Dowd Replacements: HK 16 Mark Hammett PR 17 Carl Hoeft LK 18 Royce Willis FL 19 Isitolo Maka  62' SH 20 Ofisa Tonu'u FH 21 Carlos Spencer  45' WG 22 Jonah Lomu  62' Coach: John Hart

Man of the Match: Matthew Burke (Australia) Touch judges: Ed Morrison (England) Andre Watson (South Africa)

Game 2: Australia v South Africa

18 July 1998 20:05 AEST (UTC+10)

Australia	13–14	South Africa
Try: Tune 5' m Gregan 52' m Pen: Burke 40'	Report[3]	Try: van der Westhuizen m Pen: Montgomery 8', 43', 61'

Subiaco Oval, Perth Attendance: 38,079 Referee: Colin Hawke (New Zealand)

FB 15 Matthew Burke WG 14 Ben Tune OC 13 Daniel Herbert IC 12 Tim Horan WG 11 Joe Roff FH 10 Stephen Larkham SH 9 George Gregan N8 8 Toutai Kefu FL 7 David Wilson FL 6 Matt Cockbain LK 5 John Eales (c) LK 4 Tom Bowman TP 3 Andrew Blades HK 2 Phil Kearns LP 1 Dan Crowley Replacements: HK 16 Jeremy Paul FL 17 Willie Ofahengaue WG 18 Damian Smith FL 19 Owen Finegan SH 20 Chris Whitaker CT 21 Nathan Grey CE 22 Glen Panoho Coach: Rod Macqueen

FB 15 Percy Montgomery WG 14 Stefan Terblanche OC 13 Andre Snyman IC 12 Pieter Muller WG 11 Pieter Rossouw FH 10 Henry Honiball SH 9 Joost van der Westhuizen N8 8 Gary Teichmann (c) FL 7 Andre Venter FL 6 Rassie Erasmus LK 5 Mark Andrews LK 4 Krynauw Otto TP 3 Adrian Garvey HK 2 James Dalton LP 1 Robbie Kempson Replacements: WG 16 Chester Williams PR 17 Ollie le Roux FH 18 Franco Smith SH 19 Werner Swanepoel FL 20 Andrew Aitken FL 21 Bobby Skinstad HK 22 Naka Drotske Coach: Nick Mallett

Notes:

• This was the first rugby test match staged at Subiaco Oval.

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Game 3: New Zealand v South Africa

25 July 1998 19:35 NZST (UTC+12)

New Zealand	3 – 13	South Africa
Pen: Mehrtens		Try: Rossouw Con: Montgomery Pen: Montgomery (2)

Athletic Park Wellington

Game 4: New Zealand v Australia

1 August 1998 19:35 NZST (UTC+12)

New Zealand	23 – 27	Australia
Try: Cullen Lomu Con: Mehrtens (2) Pen: Mehrtens (3)		Try: Bowman Burke Larkham Little Con: Eales (2) Pen: Burke

Lancaster Park Christchurch

Game 5: South Africa v New Zealand

15 August 1998 15:00 SAST (UTC+02)

South Africa	24 – 23	New Zealand
Try: Dalton Skinstad Terblanche van der Westhuizen Con: Montgomery (2)		Try: Marshall Randell Con: Mehrtens (2) Pen: Mehrtens (3)

Kings Park Stadium Durban Referee: Peter Marshall

Game 6: South Africa v Australia

22 August 1998 15:00 SAST (UTC+02)

South Africa	29 – 15	Australia
Try: Garvey Skinstad Con: Montgomery (2) Pen: Montgomery (5)		Pen: Burke (5)

Ellis Park Stadium Johannesburg Referee: Jim Fleming

Tri Nations 1998 Winners
South Africa First Title

References

1. Jenkins, Peter (13 July 1998). "Wallabies savour moment, for starters". The Australian. p. 24.
2. "Match Report: New Zealand vs Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, 11 July 1998". allblacks.com. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
3. Crowden, Greg (20 July 1998). "Boks coach praises 'true test' of teams". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 31. ProQuest 363427481.

External links

• Tri Nations at Rugby.com.au