Rugby Union: Sad Slattery falls foul of battery

Australia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Tonga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

NICK FARR-JONES may be asked to come out of retirement should Peter Slattery, the Australian scrum-half injured by the Tongan hooker Rudy Kapeli in Brisbane yesterday, fail to recover for the one-off Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin on 17 July.

Slattery, who fell foul of Kapeli's knee, is suspected to have a fractured back and could be sidelined for the remainder of the year. This leaves the Australian selectors with a dilemma that Farr-Jones, who led the Wallabies to victory in the 1991 World Cup, may be requested to solve. 'You aren't allowed to dive on a player on the ground if he's got the ball,' Australia's coach, Bob Dwyer, said, 'let alone dive on him knees first.'

Strictly legal play saw David Campese, smarting after being dropped by his club, touch down twice as the world champions ran in seven tries. Along with Michael Lynagh's satisfactory comeback from a hernia operation, Campese's 53rd and 54th Test tries, however, were among the few plusses for the hosts in their first international of the year.

Australia: Tries Campese 2, Morgan, Little, Carozza, Johnstone, Gavin; Conversions Roebuck 3, Lynagh; Penalties Roebuck 3. Tonga: Tries Fenukitau, penalty try; Conversions Vave 2.

AUSTRALIA: M Roebuck; P Carozza, J Little, T Horan, D Campese; M Lynagh (capt), P Slattery (B Johnstone, 20); T Daly, P Kearns, E McKenzie, R McCall, G Morgan, T Coker, D Wilson, T Gavin.

TONGA: T Vave; A Taufa, T Tu'ineau, M Lavaka, T Va'enuku; E Vunipola (T Kolo, 75), M Vunipola; S Latu, R Kapeli, F Masila, F Mafi, I Fatani, I Fenukitau, F Mahoni, M Manukia (capt).

Referee: B Leask (Australia).