Rugby Union: Golden Old sinks Otley - Round-up

MICHAEL OLD displayed the coolness under pressure which used to be the hallmark of his father's game as he engineered the main upset of the Pilkington Cup second round yesterday.

The 23-year-old son of the former England fly-half Alan Old kicked a last-minute penalty from an awkward angle some 30 yards out to secure a 29-28 home victory for lowly Tynedale over Otley, currently the leaders of Courage League Three. The Northumberland side's success made a mockery of the three divisions which separate the two clubs, especially after trailing 19-6 at the interval.

Old's nerveless coup de grace capped a spectacular individual performance in which he supplied 21 of the North First Division club's points.

Tynedale were also awarded a penalty try and their fly- half Chris Leslie landed a drop goal. Otley, whose director of rugby is the former England scrum-half Nigel Melville, had a second half to forget with their flanker Michael Winterbottom, the brother of the former England forward Peter Winterbottom, needing several stitches in a head wound.

Three other notable upsets, each involving underdogs straddling a three-division gap, saw Launceston win easily at Henley, Scunthorpe scrape through at home to Hereford and Camp Hill embarrass visitors Liverpool St Helens, who are captained by the former England centre, Kevin Simms. For Launceston, the outside centre Danny Sloman contributed five penalties and a conversion.

In other Cup contests , Blackheath enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable win at Rosslyn Park, Richmond recorded their first competitive victory of the season at home to Camborne and Rugby ended London Welsh interest in tomorrow's third-round draw.

Saracens and Waterloo remain the pacesetters at the top of Courage League Two following away wins over Nottingham and Fylde respectively.

Joel Stransky celebrated his recall at fly-half with a record- equalling 22 points in South Africa's 42-22 win over Argentina in the first Test at Port Elizabeth yesterday. The Pumas' tour ends with the second Test next Saturday in Johannesburg.