The weekend in 5 minutes

The Wallabies had something to smile about this weekend, with Kurtley Beale landing a 56-metre penalty goal to hand Australia a 41-39 win over the Springboks in a last-minute thriller.

The AFL finals opened with a Friday-night classic and ended on a thrilling note in the harbour city.

Geelong and St Kilda did battle at the MCG in the first match of the 2010 finals series and the two grand finalists of last season delivered another game for the ages.

The four-point result came down to a Cameron Mooney tackle, judged to be in James Gwilt’s back, and a Cameron Ling goal that was subsequently disallowed.

Mooney was left spelling out to umpire Matt Stevic that he’d just cost Geelong the game, but Tom Hawkins said the Cats had only themselves to blame.

Geelong’s semi-final opponent will be Fremantle on Friday night, after the men in purple stunned a wounded Hawthorn at Subiaco Oval, winning by 30 points.

The young Fremantle is a much more inviting prospect for Geelong, but the AFL’s surprise packet will travel to the MCG for the first time this season with no fear.

Collingwood’s 62-point win over the Western Bulldogs was the one blowout of the weekend, with the Pies sending shivers down their looming opponents’ spines with an ominous qualifying final performance.

The forlorn Bulldogs will meet the Sydney in a cutthroat semi-final, after Paul Roos and Brett Kirk lived to fight another day. The Swans withstood a Chris-Judd inspired Carlton to win a thriller at ANZ Stadium by five points.

There was so much to play for across the first week of the finals, a sentiment possibly lost on the Melbourne Storm, whose pointless NRL season finally drew to a close.

The Warriors, Roosters, Panthers and Warrior were all winners in the final round of NRL action, while the Bulldogs stunned Manly on Sunday afternoon as the finals took shape.

But the Rabbitohs won't be playing finals football, after blowing their golden chance with a 38-24 loss to the Dragons.

The fallout continued from Pakistan’s match-fixing scandal, and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said any players found guilty should face life bans.

While the heat was turned up on the Pakistani cricketers, the mercury soared in New York as the US Open moved towards the business end.

Sam Stosur kept Aussie dreams alive, while big names Federer, Murray Clijsters and Sharapova all won through.

Life under Holger Osieck started for the Socceroos with an entertaining 0-0 draw with Switzerland, and Tim Cahill said the national side was playing a more attacking brand.