They had nothing to feed off perplexed as much by the Springboks' pace and commitment to the tackle

They had nothing to feed off, perplexed as much by the Springboks' pace and commitment to the tackle as they were by finding themselves so frequently in retreat from seemingly secure possession.It was the Australians' fallibility with the ball in their hands which took us so completely by surprise. No country in the world, not even the French, look so composed in possession as do the Australians. No side is more ferociously committed to safeguarding that possession. But so unerringly did they lock on to their opponents' possession that young George Gregan at scrum-half, expecting to find himself in armchair comfort, was fortunate not to end up in a bath chair.Not only were Gregan's guns spiked to the extent that it wasn't until the final five minutes that he attempted his first break, but the Australians' heavy back-row artillery was also silenced. It was a masterly demonstration in the art of channelling limited resources. The Springboks didn't have much of a line-out and, on the day, not even Mark Andrews, their champion jumper, could make an impression.

In that tumultuous opening match, however, time seemed to have caught up with him. The fact that he was not alone in his misery is of little consolation to him. But before we herald a new reign and a new ruler, it should be remembered that the kings are not yet dead and for all the smug satisfaction in the England camp at Campese's discomfort I suspect that they would much rather be facing the Springboks than the Australians in the quarter-final.It is highly improbable that the defending champions will play as badly again, while it is hard to imagine that South Africa can find a peak higher than the one they scaled in Cape Town. The Australian wing has perpetrated some crass acts of extreme folly before, yet, until last Thursday, he has almost invariably ended up in credit. Then, it was the instinctive grace and sparkling invention of the Ella brothers, Slack, Hawker and the precocious prodigy David Campese.

But at Newlands, Campese looked weary and confused, a forlorn stranger standing at the gates of rugby's new and dynamic age. But in Cape Town last Thursday, in the fresh green-and-gold finery of the new South Africa, a force emerged as formidable as anything seen in the world game since the Australians themselves broke through more than a decade ago. WHEN they re-entered the rarefied atmosphere of international competition three years ago, the Springboks had their in-bred arrogance so savagely punctured by the reigning world champions, Australia, that rugby, the very symbol of Afrikaner superiority, was seriously threatened. Golf Hall retains title Julie Hall timed a late charge to perfection to retain the English women's amateur title at Ipswich yesterday. Hall had to call on all her expertise and local knowledge of the course to overcome Stirling University's Elaine Ratcliffe 2 and 1. There was some good news for Ratcliffe after the match, though: she learnt of her selection for England's team for the European Championship in Italy next month..