British bully Aussie rugby team at Maccabiah

DAVID WEINER IN NETANYA

AUSTRALIA’S Jewish Wallabies went down 16-6 to a tough Great Britain outfit on Sunday night in their opening clash at the 18th Maccabiah Games in Israel. The Green and Gold battled bravely to go to the break with a 3-0 lead, but field position and a run of penalties early in the second period saw the Brits batter their way to a vital first-up victory.

A cagey and grinding first half set the tone for the match, but after overcoming an early British barrage, the Green and Gold were the first side able to string together a run of phases.

It earned the side three penalties on the bounce — Lance Friedman couldn’t convert the first two, but Cohen, returning to the field after suffering a bloodied nose earlier, slotted the opener.¬† There were only a few brief flashes of flair amongst the grind, with a late flurry of strong charges from Keith Friedlander, Dan Munitz and Yoni Sonnabend offering glimpses of the side’s attack.

But it was all the Poms to open the second; a high tackle earned them a give-away in front of the sticks to tie the ledger at 3-3, before another pen gave them a 6-3 buffer.

When a 50-metre penalty-attempt was spilled by the Aussies under the sticks, the Brits took the scrum and bulldozed their way to a penalty try. There was a brief glimmer of hope when the referee sent a Brit to the sin bin in the 70th minute.

Cohen got the side within a converted-try, but when Australia needed to be the next to score, Great Britain sealed it with yet another penalty.

Australia now faces South Africa in a do-or-die blockbuster on Thursday.