Rugby: 'Nobody' Eales is somebody extra special

By WYNNE GRAY

With their sharpened sense of mischief, the Wallabies nicknamed John Eales "Nobody," because nobody is perfect.

Eales plays golf off a low handicap, is a quality cricketer, leaps skyscraper-high in lineouts, runs like a sprinter, kicks goals and is invariably obligingly courteous.

Almost annoyingly so, even to his mates, so that some years back they coined the mocking moniker.

As sharp as the nickname is, the greater joke is that nobody actually calls Eales "Nobody" but they might call him perfect after the Wellington test, where he proved what a talent he is.

With regular kicker Stirling Mortlock off the park with cramp, Eales converted a 23m penalty, 15m in from touch, to give the Wallabies a dramatic victory and level the race for the Tri-Nations trophy.

The results of the two countries' tests with the Springboks in the Republic will now decide who claims the Tri-Nations title in the first year of this millennium.

A week ago, Eales had a couple of ordinary penalty attempts against the Springboks.

He then put in some special practice in case he was needed at Wellington.

Deep in injury time, his moment came.

The All Blacks conceded a penalty in the breakdown and Eales went looking for his No 1 kicker.

"I did not realise Stirling was not on the field. I assumed he would take it," Eales said.

"Then I think it was Jeremy Paul who said Stirling was off and it was up to me."

Asked whether he was confident, Eales admitted to a few nerves.

"I have been practising well. If I had been hitting them like a dog I would not have been so confident."

Immediately behind Eales, with a perfect view, was new All Black points record-holder Andrew Mehrtens, subbed off after taking a couple of blows to a foot.

"It was not a great kick but it went through," Mehrtens said after watching the match taken away from the All Blacks, just as they had done to the Wallabies in Sydney last month.

"I felt in about as much control as anybody here at the stadium in the last five minutes - none," Mehrtens added. "It was hard to watch. Those last few minutes seemed like an hour.

"It was doom and gloom. It was a game we had and did not close off."

Eales coped, though, with the composure which explains why the Wallabies hold the World Cup and the Bledisloe Cup.

But the Tri-Nations?

That will not be decided until the Wallabies play the Springboks in the final game at Durban on August 27.