It could not disguise the extent to which Wales had been outclassed by a New Zealand team far from its best, but for whom Nigel Vagana went over and Vainikolo completed his hat-trick in injury time.The Welsh also go into the quarter-finals to play the winners of the France-based Group Three, to be determined by tonight's match between Papua New Guinea and Tonga, but they do not go there with any great grounds for confidence.At least Cunningham should be fit for next weekend, while Bridgend have given permission for John Devereux to join the squad. With the resources available, Wales have done well to get this far, but reinforcements are badly needed.WALES: Davies (Wigan); Sterling (Leeds), O'Hare (Huddersfield), Critchley (Leicester Tigers), Sullivan (St Helens), Harris (Leeds, capt); Briers (Warrington), Farrell (Leeds); Watson (Widnes), Whittle (Leigh), Jenkins (Hull), Morgan (Canberra), Morley (Sheffield). NEW ZEALAND: Barnett (London Broncos, capt); N Vagana (Auckland), Carroll (Leeds), Talau (Canterbury), Vainikolo (Canberra); H Paul (Bradford), Jones (Auckland); Smith (St George-Illawara), Swain (Melbourne), Cayless (Parramatta), Rua, Kearney (both Melbourne), Wiki (Canberra).Referee: R Smith (England).. Jason Robinson came, he saw, though not until the final minute of a fractured game, did he look as if he would conquer. Then, latching on to Vaughan Going's swift pass, Robinson's electrifying pace took him clear of what remained of the faltering Coventry cover to raise the loudest cheer of a largely disappointing tie, which takes Sale into the fifth round of the Tetley's Bitter Cup, at home to Rotherham next Sunday. Jason Robinson came, he saw, though not until the final minute of a fractured game, did he look as if he would conquer.

Then, latching on to Vaughan Going's swift pass, Robinson's electrifying pace took him clear of what remained of the faltering Coventry cover to raise the loudest cheer of a largely disappointing tie, which takes Sale into the fifth round of the Tetley's Bitter Cup, at home to Rotherham next Sunday. This is Robinson's second stab at union. Four years ago he had a spell with Bath which was far from an unqualified success. Though as Robinson said on the day he quit league with Wigan: "Union is a lot faster and more open than when I last played it."Robinson didn't say as much, though he could have added that union is now so similar to league in many aspects that the two codes are indistinguishable from each other. Not yesterday, however, when Robinson was only infrequently allowed the space to reveal the twinkling running which makes him so elusive. While Robinson was pleased to get his much-hyped Sale debut out of the way, his new coach, Glenn Ross, was not so pleased: "We planned to get the ball into Jason's hands as often as we could, and I'm extremely disappointed that we didn't do so."In theory, Coventry were there to make up the numbers.

They have won only twice this season and are rock bottom in National One, being more concerned with relegation than celebrity; and they are light years away from the club who twice won the Cup in the early Seventies.Nevertheless, they fronted up well in a bright first half and even had the effrontery to score the opening try. Vunipola made the hard yards for the lock, Robbie Hurrell, to burrow across in the left corner.Martyn Davies failed with the conversion and a penalty, before adding two penalties, which was sufficient to take Coventry to the interval one point ahead, Sale having disappointed those who expected this to be little more than an exhibition, with Nicky Little converting Matt Moore's try and slotting one penalty from two attempts.At half-time, Ross blasted his forwards for their laxity, though he presumably did not include the other league debutant, Apollo Perelini, in his criticisms. It was the big Samoan's pass which put Moore across for Sale's opening try.Coventry were still going strong at the end when Andy Smallwood got their second try. By then they had lost both locks, and this eventually undermined a marvellously committed forward effort which deserved better. They were not helped either when Mel Deane's try was allowed to stand even though Nicky Little's pass to him was yards forward. Steve Davidson got Sale's third touchdown and Little chipped in by converting all three and adding two more penalties.Sale: Tries Moore, Robinson, Deane, Davidson; Conversions Little 4; Penalties Little 3. Coventry: Tries Hurrell, Smallwood; Penalties Martyn Davies 3.Sale: S Davidson (V Going, 66); M Moore, J Baxendell (M Shaw, 66), M Deane, J Robinson; N Little, S Hatley; D Bell, B Jackman, A Black, G Manson-Bishop (P Anglesea, 53), A Whittle, S Lines, A Perelini, R Appleyard (capt).Coventry: Martyn Davies; K Johnstson, Mike Davies, M Curtis, A Smallwood; E Vunipola, A Dawson; M Mika, J Hayter, T Payne, M Tinnock (M Aston, 24); R Hurrell (D Gallagher, 49), M Ellis, R Callaway, L Crofts (capt).Referee: S Leyshon (Bristol)..

Lindsay Davenport's year might be getting better. Lindsay Davenport's year might be getting better. Fresh off winning her 29th career singles title with a hard-fought victory over Venus Williams two weeks ago, Davenport returns to the Philadelphia area Monday to defend her Advanta Championships title."It has been definitely the roughest year of my whole career and something I can look back on and be proud of," said Davenport, who has been plagued by back and shoulder pain and a foot injury that caused her to withdraw from the Olympics."It is hard to always like harp on the injuries and make the excuses, but it has just been the most trying year with a number of injuries and a number of setbacks. But I have proven to myself that I can come back from them all and still compete at an extremely high level."After going through the summer without a tournament title, Davenport avenged losses to Williams in the Wimbledon and U.S Open finals by snapping Williams' 35-match winning streak in Linz, Austria."I hadn't actually won a tournament since March, so that was kind of wearing on my mind and definitely caused me to get a bit annoyed," Davenport said. "I didn't feel like, oh, I have lost so many times, I have got to win this one, but I just knew that I had to play well, and I thought it was an advantage for me. It was indoors, and I'm just glad I could come away with a tournament victory."Davenport enters the Advanta as the world's No 2 player and the second seed behind Martina Hingis. She beat Hingis 6-3, 6-4 to capture the Advanta title last year after losing in the final the previous two years."Philadelphia has been one of my favorite stops the last few years," Davenport said.