By MARC HINTON in Sydney

Another week, another stride towards All Black immortality for New Zealand's captain fantastic Richie McCaw.

McCaw on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium in Sydney celebrated a milestone night with another important and influential performance for his beloved All Blacks as they pipped the Wallabies 24-23 in a thriller.

Not only did the 29-year-old Cantab surpass Sean Fitzpatrick's All Black record with his 52nd appearance as captain of New Zealand's iconic team (for just six losses, would you believe), but he also added another couple of marks for good measure.

With his third try of the Tri-Nations - a match-turner to boot, as he worked a clever move with Kieran Read off the back of a scrum - McCaw not only entered uncharted territory as the greatest scorer among All Black forwards but also the most successful against Australia with his eighth touchdown.

But more than the numbers game, it was the rugby one that he most excelled at. After a somewhat ragged first 50 minutes or so, McCaw led the Kiwi fightback with a splendid display, alongside his fellow Cantab Kieran Read. When they were joined in the loose trio by Jermome Kaino off the bench early in the second spell the game effectively changed.

That, more than another few marks to his name, pleased McCaw at the end of a night when the All Blacks broke a file cabinet's worth of records.

Not only do they now have the most consecutive wins over the Wallabies (10) and have become the first team to go 6-0 through the Tri-Nations, they have also smashed the record for most points in the competition (184) and tries (22).

"I don't get too carried away with those sort of things," shrugged McCaw at the end of a torrid encounter. "You've got to go out and do your job, and I guess when you reflect on those sort of milestones having a win under your belt certainly makes it nice.

"It's something I'm proud of but you can't do it without a good bunch around you. I just love playing for this team, being captain of this team, and it's a thrill every time I run out with the All Black jersey on."

McCaw admitted the All Blacks were badly out of sorts in the first half (trailing 6-14) and said the comeback had been about getting field position and starting to build pressure.

"Once we started that the confidence grew and the things we practised started to work. For the last 20 minutes it felt like we had a bit of momentum, and started to feel like we were getting on top."

McCaw said he felt momentum shift around the three-quarter mark. He wasn't sure that was because of his team's composure and better application or Wallaby tiredness. Probably a bit of both, he figured.

In terms of his try which was complained about by a bitter Robbie Deans after the match, McCaw adopted a fatalistic view.

"It's in the book now, isn't it," he said. "It was probably touch and go."

The skipper was not only an influential performer, but his decisions were on the money.. Down the stretch he turned down penalties and elected to go for tries, and those calls paid dividends for the New Zealanders.

"We needed two tries to get ahead, and it felt like we were starting to get on top. That's why I elected to have a drive and also a scrum. It worked out the right thing to do," he said.

After yet another win from a tight spot, backing up on the two tries in the last three minutes that saw them sneak home in Soweto, McCaw felt his team's newfound mental strength had been about habit and partly experience.

"A lot of guys have played a lot of tests and been through a lot of experiences, both good and bad. So when you get into situations like that out there the key is be composed and keep believing in what you're doing.

"It's being able to keep everyone on task and do the things we believe are going to work. When it came down to having too get things right the guys you expect to do that are the ones putting their hand up. That's pleasing.

"It's not rocket science. It's everyone being on the same page and doing it well."

McCaw didn't say so, but probably the biggest reason these All Blacks are so cool under pressure has to do with the man leading the fightbacks.

A record breaker, and a game shaker.. That's the man who must now be considered one of the greatest All Black captains of all time.

Tim Horan wants more consistent suspensions

Qantas Wallabies great Tim Horan has called for tournament-specific Rugby suspensions after Test playmaker Quade Cooper lost his appeal against a two-match ban that robs him of a eagerly-anticipated Bledisloe Cup debut.

Cooper copped a second blow in four days when a three-man appeals committee dismissed Australia's objection to his punishment for Saturday night's dangerous tackle on South African Morne Steyn.

The red-hot five-eighth will miss both Saturday night's clash against the All Blacks at Etihad Stadium and the return encounter in Christchurch the following weekend.

Cooper's punishment is effectively the most severe of three similar lifting tackles in consecutive Bundaberg Red Tri-Nations matches even though his offence was arguably the most tame.

His Australian Rugby Union legal counsel and coach Robbie Deans argued Springboks Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie were given more lenient bans as they could serve their time through missing provincial Currie Cup matches in South Africa.

While de Villiers' tackle on All Black Rene Ranger was viewed as the most dangerous and Fourie had a prior conviction, they both only have to miss one Tri-Nations Test.

Horan, who acts as a Rugby mentor for Cooper, also felt back-to-back Bledisloe Cup Tests was an overly harsh punishment for a lifting tackle that went wrong.

But the inconsistency of the sentence was the biggest issue for the 80-Test centre.

"It's just a shame that the two Test matches are week after week (against NZ)," Horan said.

"In a competition any bans handed out should be served within that competition.

"If you commit an offence playing Currie Cup you miss Currie Cup matches and if you commit it in the Tri-Nations you miss Tri-Nations matches."

Deans felt the same way after the appeal, which aimed as much for a reduction to a one match ban as a complete exoneration.

Asked if suspensions should served within the same competition, he said: "Yeah, ideally.

"That's obviously one manifestation if you like that hasn't been consistent, but it depends where you sit," Deans said.

"The critical message out of this for Quade and any subsequent players who find themselves in this circumstance and you're in this predicament you lose control of your own destiny, so you're much better to avert being in this predicament in the first place."

Horan agreed.

"It (damage to Steyn) wasn't serious but it could have been and you can't have young kids seeing that and trying to imitate it,' Horan said.

"It's a shame but the Wallabies have a quality replacement in Berrick Barnes."

Born in New Zealand's Waikato province, Cooper must now hope he can break back into Australia's team to make his first-ever appearance against his homeland in Sydney in September.

"I'm obviously pretty disappointed but at the same time we had a fair appeal," he said.

"All I can do from here is work hard and concentrate on getting back out there at the due date.

"You have to learn from it. Hopefully I don't get into this position again so I have to work on my technique."

His loss remains a massive blow for the Wallabies as he has been their most dangerous player in their opening five Tests this year, winning two Man-of-the-Match awards.

It certainly reduces Australia's unpredictability against an All Black outfit looking to inflict an eighth straight win over their trans-Tasman rivals for their worst Bledisloe streak in 63 years.

To get your tickets for the Bledisloe Cup and Bundaberg Red Tri-Nationsclick here

The Australian Rugby Union have confirmed that they will appeal against the two-week ban handed out to Quade Cooper for a dangerous tackle against South Africa.

Cooper received the suspension after he was adjudged to have lifted and dropped Morne Steyn in a tackle during the second half of the Wallabies' 30-13 victory over South Africa on Saturday.

As things stand, the fly-half will not be available for next weekend's Tri-Nations clash against great rivals New Zealand nor the clash the week after.

However, Australia are hoping to now see the ban reduced to allow Cooper to play in Christchurch.

The appeal, lodged on Monday, is likely to be heard via a phone link-up in Sydney on Wednesday by three judicial officers - one from each Tri-Nations country.

The Australians will appeal on the grounds that the other two players to be banned for the offence, Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie, have only missed one Tri-Nations match as a result of their bans, while Cooper misses two.

New Zealand currently lead the Tri-Nations tournament with 10 points after two bonus-point wins over South Africa and will be playing their first away match of the campaign when they travel to Melbourne on Saturday.

Australia stand second in the competition with four points, while defending champions South Africa are pointless after three defeats in their first three outings.

Wallabies fly-half Quade Cooper and Springbok centre Jaque Fourie have been cited for dangerous tackles in Brisbane on Saturday.

Australia went on to win 30-13 in their opening Tri-Nations Test.

Citing Commissioner Steve Hinds of New Zealand charged Cooper and Fourie under Law 10.4(e), over separate incidents which led to sin bin stints for the pair during the clash at Suncorp Stadium, the Australian Rugby Union said in a statement soon after the game.

Springbok Fourie was yellow-carded in the third minute of the Test and Australian playmaker Cooper suffered the same fate in the 54th minute.

Both cases will be heard by Judicial Officer Bruce Squire of New Zealand on Sunday in Brisbane.

Australia left South Africa's Tri-Nations title defence in tatters with a 30-13 win over the ill-disciplined Springboks this morning.

Flyhalf Will Genia celebrated his return from a thumb injury with a 75th-minute try to seal victory after South Africa scored two second-half tries to claw to within 10 points.

Winger Drew Mitchell scored on the stroke of halftime and Matt Giteau slotted five penalties to maintain the Springboks' winless record at Lang Park and leave their Tri-Nations campaign on the brink of collapse after three straight losses.

The Springboks did themselves few favours, having a man sin-binned at the start of each half and conceding a raft of first-half penalties to allow the Wallabies to open a 17-3 lead at the break.

The loss takes South Africa's Tri-Nations title hopes out of their hands, and they will need favourable results from Australia and New Zealand to have a chance of retaining their crown.

'Gotta be happy with the performance. There was a lot of stuff to be proud of, particularly the defence,' Australia coach Robbie Deans told reporters.

Jacque Fourie and Gurthro Steenkamp scored South Africa's first tries in 13 years at Lang Park after an undisciplined first half in which they managed only three points from a Morne Steyn penalty.

Steenkamp's try put South Africa within 10 points eight minutes before time and sparked hopes of an unlikely comeback, but the Wallabies absorbed fierce pressure in their 22 in a performance Deans rated their best defensive effort in his tenure as Australia coach.

As with their two previous away defeats to New Zealand, the Springboks started miserably when outside centre Fourie was sinbinned in the third minute for lifting number eight Richard Brown in a tackle.

Fourie was the third South African player sinbinned early in three consecutive matches.

'I just couldn't believe it could happen again for the third week in a row. This can't keep happening, surely,' lamented Springboks captain John Smit.

The Wallabies appeared determined to squander the 10-minute advantage, however, with flyhalf Quade Cooper's laser passes proving too slick for team mates on occasions.

A number of promising attacks were botched with fumbles and passes missing their targets before a ruck infringement handed Giteau the first of his four penalty goals for the half.

Mitchell finally swooped on a messy pass flung out by a prostrate Giteau five metres from the goal-line, then juggled the ball three times while pirouetting over the line to give the Wallabies their first try on the stroke of halftime.

Giteau's fifth penalty two minutes after the break put the Wallabies up 20-3, shortly before BJ Botha was sin-binned for slowing the ball down at a ruck.

South Africa mounted a belated fightback when Cooper lifted Steyn in a tackle to be sent off, and the Springboks capitalised with a try to Fourie in the 62nd minute.

The Springboks pushed hard but were repelled with some fierce tackling in the 22, but were too sapped from playing with 14 men for 20 minutes of the match to prevent Genia from crossing for the winner.

Although deflated, under-pressure coach Peter de Villiers remained defiant about the Springboks' flagging campaign.

'The competition isn't over yet ... It doesn't mean we're not part of the competition any more,' he said. 'The result doesn't matter to me as such.'

Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom is all too aware that his side will have to raise their game if they are to challenge for this year's Tri-Nations crown.

The flanker admitted his side had plenty of work to do in the wake of their unconvincing 22-15 victory over Ireland at the Suncorp Stadium that ensured a return to winning ways following their defeat to England in Sydney a week ago.

''We've got a lot of work to do,'' Elsom told Fox Sports. ''The Tri-Nations is the most difficult tournament in world rugby so we have a lot of work to do. 'We just weren't sharp enough and not on the same page. I think when we played Ireland last year we played a hell of a lot better and came away with a draw.''

Coach Robbie Deans wad delighted to see his side close a big game out having failed to do so in the past - most recently against England in Sydney. "That's something we're trying to master, and didn't last week, so the boys worked their way through an awkward contest," he said."We played a lot of rugby and deserved to win, clearly we're frustrated we couldn't produce a little bit more."

The most pleasing aspect for Deans was the performance of his inexperienced front row who more than held their own to silence their critics. "It was a dominant scrum," said Deans. "Obviously it was an improvement and these blokes (rookie front-rowers) continue to grow."

Ireland coach Declan Kidney admitted that the better side had won the game and that his side only had themselves to blame after an error-laden performance. "We made too many errors, especially when we were attacking, and that was frustrating," said Kidney. "We defended stoutly but that left us short of energy at the end when we were trying to claw something back - in the end the result probably flattered us. There is now more competition for places and whoever plays well next season will get to wear the shirt.

"A lot of the possession they enjoyed was under our control as we gave them back the ball and, as a result, we were on the defensive a lot of the time," added Kidney.

Skipper Brian O'Driscoll also accepted the tour - that also included defeats to the All Blacks and the New Zealand Maori - had been a steep learning curve for some of the squad. "We had a number of players earning their first caps and it was all good experience - they will take a lot out of it.

"We haven't managed any victories on this tour and of course that is what you are judged on. We wanted to put a bit of pride back into our defensive game as we let ourselves down against New Zealand. Although we had a couple of lapses against Australia, we were fairly solid.

"The lads will now enjoy four or five weeks of holidays and try to freshen up for next year," he added.

More to follow.