Parkes double helps Wales beat South Africa

A brace from new cap Hadleigh Parkes helped Wales beat South Africa 24-22 in their end-of-year Test at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

Wales dominated the first half and led 21-10 at the break.  A spirited fightback from the Springboks in the second put them ahead, but a late penalty gave Warren Gatland's team the win.

A Dan Biggar masterclass in the opening stages left the Springboks reeling.

First, his cross-kick found Hallam Amos, who set Scott Williams up for the opening try in the fifth minute, which Leigh Halfpenny converted.

Then, three minutes later, Biggar chipped the ball through for Parkes to gather and score.  Once again, Halfpenny added the extras.

Malcolm Marx thought he had powered his way over at the other end in the 19th minute, but TMO Rowan Kitt was less convinced and awarded the Springboks nothing more than a five-metre scrum.

With 10 minutes left of the first 40, Josh Navidi was penalised for a high tackle on Handré Pollard.  The fly-half then stepped up to the tee and put South Africa on the board.

However, it seemed that every silver lining preceded another cloud for the visitors.  In the 33rd minute, Wales scored their third try.  Andries Coetzee's charged-down kick was chased by Taulupe Faletau, who passed inside to Parkes for yet another finish.

On the stroke of half-time, Warrick Gelant pulled a try back on his first start.  Dillyn Leyds initiated a counter-attack for the Springboks and Jesse Kriel put a clever kick through for the Blue Bulls youngster to chase and dot down.  Pollard nailed a well-executed conversion kick.

The Springboks picked up where they left off at the start of the second half, and after a sustained spell of pressure, Pollard went over for their second try six minutes in.  However, he failed to convert this time.

In the 55th minute, South Africa struck again.  They worked the ball out left, with Malcolm Marx getting the final pass away to Jesse Kriel, who crashed through Halfpenny's poor tackle and scored.  Pollard put the Springboks in front with a fantastic conversion.

Wales went back in front in the 68th minute with a Halfpenny penalty after Pieter-Steph du Toit was blown up for not rolling away.

Unfortunately for Allister Coetzee's side, they were unable to fight back again and the hosts held on for a much-needed victory, ending a difficult year on a high note.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Williams, Parkes 2
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pen:  Halfpenny

For South Africa:
Tries:  Gelant, Pollard, Kriel
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pen:  Pollard

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Hallam Amos, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Owen Watkin

South Africa:  15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Warrick Gelant, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Oupa Mohoje, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Lukhanyo Am

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

France and Japan end all square

France and Japan could not be separated as they played out a hard-fought 23-23 draw in an entertaining end-of-year Test in Nanterre on Saturday.

Japan can hold their heads high as they were competitive throughout and eventually outscored their hosts three tries to two although it was the goal-kicking of Francois Trinh-Duc that kept France in this match and he eventually finished with a 13-point haul courtesy of three penalties and two conversions.

The result finishes a nightmare run of results for les Bleus in 2017 and they are still winless since the Six Nations after losing four games to South Africa and one to New Zealand in their five previous fixtures.

The Brave Blossoms held the upper hand for large periods during the opening half and took the lead in the fifth minute courtesy of a Yu Tamura penalty.

France drew level in the 14th minute when Trinh-Duc slotted a penalty from 48 metres out after Michael Leitch was blown up for a ruck infringement.

The visitors' enterprising style of play saw them crossing the advantage line at will and in the 23rd minute they were rewarded when Shota Horie crossed for the opening try after Kotaro Matsushima did well with a superb line break in the build-up.

France tried to strike back by showing some urgency on attack and in the 28th minute, debutant Gabriel Lacroix crossed the whitewash but his try was disallowed after televison replays revealed that he had a foot in touch after a brilliant tackle from Harumichi Tatekawa.

Two minutes later, the home side reduced the deficit to two points courtesy of another Trinh-Duc penalty.  And on the stroke of half-time, they took the ball through several phases inside Japan's half before Baptiste Serin offloaded to Rabah Slimani, who barged over from close quarters for a deserved try.

Trinh-Duc added the extras which meant les Bleus went into the break holding a 13-8 lead.

The Brave Blossoms were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and three minutes after the restart, Timothy Lafaele dotted down after a fine break from Keita Inagaki in the build up.

France fought back bravely and after stringing together several phases in Japan's half, Trinh-Duc launched an inch-perfect cross-field kick which Lacroix gathered before crossing for his first Test try.

The host were dealt a setback on the hour-mark though when Lacroix was yellow carded for playing Tamura in the air.

Shortly afterwards, Tamura narrowed the gap to two points when he landed a three-pointer from the kicking tee but Trinh-Duc made it 23-18 to France when he slotted his third penalty in the 68th minute.

That set up an exciting finish and the Brave Blossoms were soon camped inside les Bleus' 22.

And after spending an extended period close to the home side's tryline, Shintaro Ishihara caught the defence by surprise in the 74th minute when he barged through the middle of a ruck before diving over.

That drew the sides level but Tamura pushed his conversion attempt wide which meant the teams had to settle for the draw.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Slimani, Lacroix
Cons:  Trinh-Duc 2
Pens:  Trinh-Duc 3

For Japan:
Tries:  Horie, Lafaele, Ishihara
Con:  Tamura
Pens:  Tamura 2

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Judicaël Cancoriet, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Romain Taofifenua, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Daniel Kotze, 18 Sebastien Taofifenua, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Fabien Sanconnie, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Mathieu Bastareaud, 23 Hugo Bonneval

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lemeki, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Michael Leitch (c), 6 Kazuki Himeno, 5 Shinya Makabe, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Shintaro Ishihara, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 20 Fetuani Lautami, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Sione Teaupa, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO:  Sean Davey (England)

Ireland make it three from three

Ireland claimed their third win in three November Tests with a clinical 28-19 victory over Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts dominated the first-half and went into the break 13-0 ahead.  The Pumas were on the attack for much of the second-half, but Joe Schmidt's side survived the onslaught and took their chances at the other end to secure the win.

Ireland went on the front foot straight from the kick-off and won an early penalty right under the posts following a spell of pressure.  Johnny Sexton slotted it over for the opening three points in the fourth minute.

10 minutes later, Sexton nailed another simple shot at poles after Argentina were penalised for collapsing the scrum.

The first try of the game came 20 minutes in.  Chris Farrell sent Sexton through a gap in the Argentine defence and the fly-half gave the inside pass to Jacob Stockdale for the finish before adding the extra two points.

Argentina grew into the game as the first-half progressed, but Ireland struck again in the second minute after half-time.  Stockdale broke through the visitors' defence and sprinted to the corner to score.  Sexton converted from the touchline with an inch-perfect kick.

However, the visitors finally scored in the 55th minute as Joaquin Tuculet ran onto Nicolas Sanchez's kick to finish the move.  Sanchez made no mistake in converting.

Ireland struck back in the 63rd minute following an attacking lineout as CJ Stander broke away from the maul and powered over.  Sexton failed to convert as his kick hit the post.

However, Argentina piled on the pressure and their persistence payed off in the 71st minute.  Tuculet passed the ball to Juan Manuel Leguizamon on the left and he managed to ground the ball before Rob Kearney could push him into touch.  Sanchez did not convert this time.

Four minutes afterwards, Ireland won a penalty and Sexton stretched their lead back beyond two converted tries.

Argentina finished off with another consolation try as Gonzalo Bertranou put a kick through for Ramiro Moyano to finish on the left.  Sanchez converted with the last kick of the game — but it was too, little, too late and Ireland had the last laugh.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stockdale 2, Stander
Cons:  Sexton 2
Pens:  Sexton 3

For Argentina:
Tries:  Tuculet, Leguizamon, Moyano
Cons:  Sanchez 2

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 James Tracy, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Andrew Conway

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tomas Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  Marius Mitrea (Italy), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Five-try All Blacks too good for Wales

New Zealand were made to work hard but eventually got the job done as they beat Wales 33-18 in their end-of-year Test in Cardiff on Saturday.

In a tough and uncompromising encounter, both sides deserve credit for making this the entertaining spectacle that it was and the All Blacks eventually outscored their hosts five tries to two with Waisake Naholo and Rieko Ioane scoring a brace apiece.

The match started at a frenetic pace and the opening exchanges were characterised by several brutal collisions.  This resulted in Wales' Rhys Webb and Jake Ball as well as New Zealand's Ryan Crotty having to leave the field inside the opening quarter due to injuries.

Wales dominated the possession and territorial stakes during the opening half and after several All Blacks strayed offside on defence, Leigh Halfpenny made them pay by slotting the resulting penalty which gave Wales a 3-0 lead after nine minutes.

New Zealand were soaking up the early pressure and their patience was rewarded in the 14th minute when, after a superb line break from Ioane, the ball was shifted wide to Naholo who rounded off in acrobatic fashion in the right-hand corner.

Beauden Barrett added the extras and although Wales continued to dominate as the half progressed, they had little to show for their efforts.

Another Halfpenny penalty in the 32nd minute narrowed the gap to a point but the All Blacks extended their lead five minutes later when Naholo crossed for his second try after Sonny Bill Williams was stopped just short of the try-line in the build-up.

Despite that setback, Wales did not panic and on the stroke of half-time, they struck back in superb fashion with a superb try from Scott Williams.  This, after Hallom Amos made a superb line break from close to the halfway line before offloading to Dan Biggar.  He did well to get a pass out to the onrushing Williams who crossed in the left-hand corner to the delight of the home fans.

Halfpenny failed to convert which meant the All Blacks held a slender 12-11 lead as teams changed sides at half-time.

Wales continued to dominate after the restart but just like the opening exchanges in the first half, they could not round off their attacking efforts.  And once again it was the All Blacks who would score the first try of the half albeit in fortunate circumstances.

Ioane, who was brilliant throughout, set up the score with a powerful run inside Wales' 22 and when he was eventually brought to ground by three defenders, the ball bounced into the hands of Anton Lienert-Brown, who cantered in for an easy try.

Barrett converted which meant the All Blacks were now leading 19-11.  This meant Wales had to take risks on attack which they did but they were dealt a blow in the 62nd minute when Ioane intercepted a Biggar pass, just inside the home side's half, before sprinting away to score his side's fourth try.

That knocked the wind out of Wales' sails but they continued to fight and soon found themselves camped inside New Zealand's 22.  And they were handed a lifeline when All Blacks skipper Sam Whitelock was sent to the sin bin after a cynical foul on defence close to his try-line.

Shortly afterwards, Wales made full use of their numerical advantage when Gareth Davies made a break off the back of a scrum — on New Zealand's five-metre line — and stepped past TJ Perenara before crossing for his side's second try.

Halfpenny slotted the conversion which meant Wales were still in this game with the All Blacks leading 26-18 with 10 minutes left on the clock.

But five minutes before the end, the world champions sealed the win when Ioane glided through a gaping hole in Wales' defence before diving over for his second try despite the attentions of two defenders.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  S Williams, Davies
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Naholo 2, Lienert-Brown, Ioane 2
Cons:  Barrett 4
Yellow Card:  S Whitelock

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Hallam Amos, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Jamie Roberts

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Samuel Whitelock (c), 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Kane Hames
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Seven-try England see off Samoa

England made it three wins out of three in their November internationals as they overcame Samoa 48-14 at Twickenham on Saturday.

Tries from Mike Brown, Alex Lozowski, Elliot Daly (2), Henry Slade and Semesa Rokoduguni saw them past Samoa in a scrappy showing.

Piula Faasalele and Chris Vui crossed for Samoa, who bounced back admirably from last week's loss to Romania with a spirited display.

England raced out of the blocks and were looking in red hot form when full-back Brown crossed after just two minutes, following flanker Maro Itoje's smart pick and go from 15 metres out.  Ford added the extras off the tee as Samoa looked rocked with a big scoreline in the offing.

The hosts continued to dominate and on 10 minutes went over for their second try, this time Lozowski finished off good work from wing Daly and Jamie George after Tim Nanai-Williams spilled a high kick.  Ford was wayward with a relatively simple conversion, which kept it at 12-0.

Samoa then admirably quelled the attacks and launched one of their own three minutes later, crossing through Faasalele with a carry.

But England hit back with the only further try before the break as lock Ewels barged over on 29 minutes, adding to Ford's earlier penalty.

Coming out for the second-half at 22-7 in front, it was expected that England would ease away of Samoa.  However, they were frustrated until the hour mark as Samoa were strong at the breakdown, regularly getting over the ball to win relieving penalties that halted the hosts.

But cometh the hour cometh Daly who finished well, stepping inside off his wing with the pressure finally telling as England went 29-7 up.

That seemed to release the shackles for Jones' men and they had their fifth try when replacement scrum-half Ben Youngs fed outside centre Slade brilliantly with a flat pass to make it 36-7 with the conversion on 70 minutes.

And there was still time for both sides to add to their tally as first Samoa captain Vui finished superbly on the left for a consolation try before Daly showed his pace to go in under the posts, with Rokoduguni adding the late gloss.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Brown, Lozowski, Ewels, Daly 2, Slade, Rokoduguni
Cons:  Ford 5
Pen:  Ford

For Samoa:
Tries:  Faasalele, Vui
Cons:  Nanai-Williams 2
Yellow Card:  Faasalele

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford (cc), 9 Danny Care, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Chris Robshaw (cc), 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni

Samoa:  15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 David Lemi, 10 Tim Nanai-Williams, 9 Dwayne Polataivao, 8 Jack Lam, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Piula Faasalele, 5 Chris Vui (c), 4 Josh Tyrell, 3 Donald Brighouse, 2 Motu Matu’u, 1 Jordan Lay
Replacements:  16 Manu Leiataua, 17 James Lay, 18 Hisa Sasagi, 19 Faatiga Lemalu, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Melani Matavao, 22 Rey Lee-Lo, 23 JJ Taulagi

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Scotland wallop Wallabies

Scotland scored eight tries in a thrilling 53-24 win over Australia at Murrayfield on Saturday — their record-highest win over the Wallabies.

The first half was a relatively even contest, but the match turned after Sekope Kepu was sent off right before half-time.  From there, Scotland dominated.

Stuart Hogg was forced to withdraw from the Scotland starting XV before kick-off.  Sean Maitland moved to full-back to cover for him, while Byron McGuigan started on the left wing.

Finn Russell opened the scoring for Scotland after 14 minutes, slotting his kick over after Sean McMahon was penalised for offside.

The first try of the game came a minute later.  McGuigan started the move by pouncing on a poor pass and finished it by running onto his own kick and crossing the line.  Russell converted.

The Wallabies finally struck back 33 minutes in.  Bernard Foley put a clever kick through for Tevita Kuridrani to score and then converted the try.

Three minutes later, Kuridrani scored another try to put Australia ahead.  Once again, Foley initiated the move with a kick-and-chase and got the final pass away to the centre.  However, this time, the fly-half missed the conversion.

Just as Australia seemed to be finding their feet, Sekope Kepu was red carded on the stroke of half-time for diving dangerously with his shoulder into the head of Hamish Watson.

Scotland capitalised on their numerical advantage 39 minutes in as Ali Price peeled off the driving maul to score their second try.  Russell converted once more.

Australia hit back two minutes into the second half with an unconverted try as Kurtley Beale powered over following some patient build-up.

However, from there, it was all one way traffic.  First, Maitland went on a brilliant run down the left, scoring an unconverted try to put Scotland back ahead four minutes after conceding.  Then, after another three minutes, Jamie Bhatti's run set Jonny Gray up for Scotland's fourth try.  This time, Russell converted.

Huw Jones then added another try 55 minutes into the game after Russell set him up following a quickly-taken penalty.  Despite his good work in the build-up, the fly-half failed to convert.

McGuigan scored his second try after 61 minutes after some quick hands from the hosts in the build-up.  Once again, Russell missed his conversion attempt.

Australia scored a consolation try with 11 minutes left on the clock, with Lopeti Timani getting down low and powering through for the finish after the visitors were awarded a penalty for offside.  Foley added the extras.

However, John Barclay crashed through three tackles at the other end five minutes later to score after a lengthy build-up.  This time, Russell popped a simple conversion over.

Kurtley Beale was yellow carded in the 79th minute for foul play and Stuart McInally crashed over from the driving maul.  Russell converted with the last kick of the game.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  McGuigan 2, Price, Maitland, Gray, Jones, Barclay, McInally
Cons:  Russell 5
Pen:  Russell

For Australia:
Tries:  Kuridrani 2, Beale, Timani
Cons:  Foley 2
Yellow Card:  Beale
Red Card:  Kepu

Scotland:  15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Darryl Marfo
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Phil Burleigh, 23 Ruaridh Jackson

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Marika Koroibete, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Blake Enever, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Lukhan Tui, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Karmichael Hunt, 23 Henry Speight

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), David Wilkinson (Ireland)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Boks get Azzurri revenge

The Springboks enacted their revenge on the Italians for last year's defeat with a convincing 35-6 victory in Padova on Saturday.

The conditions were wet and slippery with the Boks resorting to their driving maul as a result to good effect.

Tries from Francois Louw, Bongi Mbonambi, Francois Venter, Stephen Kitshoff and Franco Mostert proved too much for Italy who were kept tryless.

A Carlo Canna penalty gave Italy a 3-0 lead with ten minutes gone after Bok captain Eben Etzebeth had been penalised for an infringement at the lineout.

The Boks, however, began to exert their pressure taking the ball through the phases before Louw reached over from close range after a series of powerful carries from the forwards.  Handre Pollard added the extras to make it 7-3 to the Boks after 14 minutes.

Soon after, Canna reduced the deficit to one point with another penalty after Bok lock Lood de Jager was found guilty for not rolling away.

Mbonambi then scored on his starting debut going over at the back of a lineout driving maul after the Boks won a scrum penalty when the Italians were culpable of illegal wheeling.  Pollard slotted the resulting penalty between the sticks to give the Boks a 14-6 lead after 25 minutes.

The Boks extended their lead to 21-6 when Venter joined Mbonambi in grabbing his first Test try after a Pollard crossfield kick bounced kindly for the Cheetahs captain to dot down.  Pollard converted.

Canna missed a penalty on the half-time whistle after Bok skipper Eben Etzebeth was penalised for a high tackle on Italian counterpart Sergio Parisse which ensured the score remained 21-6 to the Boks as the sides went in to the interval.

Shortly after the resumption of the second half, Kitshoff burst over at the back of a lineout driving maul with Pollard slotting the resulting conversion to give the Boks a 28-6 buffer.

Mostert then got himself on the try column with a late score bursting over after a series of powerful carries from the Bok forwards.  It was Elton Jantjies who made the initial break down the left.  Jantjies converted as the Boks claimed a 35-6 victory.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pens:  Canna 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Louw, Mbonambi, Venter, Kitshoff, Mostert
Cons:  Pollard 4, Jantjies

The teams:

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Giovanni Licata, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Francesco Minto, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian Mckinley, 23 Matteo Minozzi

South Africa:  15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Warrick Gelant

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  JP Doyle (England), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Boks bounce back to squeeze past France

South Africa responded to last week's loss to Ireland by claiming an 18-17 victory over France in their end-of-year Test in Paris on Saturday.

The visitors were made to graft for this result and although both sides scored two tries apiece, South Africa will breathe a huge sigh of relief as poor goalkicking from Handré Pollard nearly cost them this match after he missed three penalties and a conversion.

Both sides showed a willingness to run the ball from the outset and the Springboks were the first to benefit from this tactic when Dillyn Leyds crossed for his first Test try in the seventh minute.

This, after the Boks took the ball through numerous phases — with Siya Kolisi, Malcolm Marx and Courtnall Skosan prominent — before Pollard offloaded to Leyds, who shrugged off an Antoine Dupont challenge before stretching over the whitewash.

Pollard failed with the conversion attempt but 10 minutes later, he extended the Springboks' lead courtesy of a penalty after Geoffrey Doumayrou was blown up for a high tackle on Jesse Kriel.

The Boks took the attack to their hosts but despite having most of the possession, they failed to score any points during the rest of the half.  That proved costly as France opened their account in the 27th minute when the Boks failed to deal with a high ball from Anthony Belleau.

The ball was gathered just inside the visitors' half by Paul Jedrasiak and taken wide to Teddy Thomas.  He set off on a surging run before being brought to ground inside South Africa's 22.  From the ensuing ruck, the ball came out to Belleau, who shrugged off a tackle from Jesse Kriel before scoring under the posts.

Belleau added the extras and there would be no further points during the half although both he and Pollard failed with further penalty attempts in the latter stages.

First, Belleau was off target in the 32nd minute before Pollard missed shots at goal in the closing minutes of the half which meant the match was evenly poised at half-time with South Africa holding a slender 8-7 lead.

The hosts were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and took the lead in the 48th minute when Belleau added a penalty after Skosan was blown up for a high tackle on Thomas.

Five minutes later, Pollard lined another penalty attempt after Nans Ducuing infringed by throwing the ball away in touch, when the Boks were trying to take a quick throw-in at the set-piece but like his two previous kicks, this one was also wide of the mark.

Shortly afterwards, the Boks were handed a lifeline when Baptiste Serin was sent to the sin bin for an early tackle on Marx inside France's 22.  Pollard was successful with the ensuing penalty which meant the Boks now led 11-10 after 58 minutes.

The visitors soon extended that lead when, after an extended period camped inside France's 22, Eben Etzebeth offloaded to Kriel who crossed for his side's second try.

The final 15 minutes was a tense affair as France tried to narrow the gap.  They were eventually rewarded in the 77th minute when Serin crossed from close quarters after Judicael Cancoriet and Yoann Huget did well in the build-up.

Belleau slotted the conversion which meant there was just one point separating the sides but the Boks held on for the win thanks to a solid defensive effort in the game's closing stages.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Belleau, Serin
Cons:  Belleau 2
Pen:  Belleau
Yellow Card:  Serin

For South Africa:
Tries:  Leyds, Kriel
Con:  Pollard
Pens:  Pollard 2

France:  15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Clement Maynadier, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Anthony Jelonch, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Damian Penaud

South Africa:  15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian de Allende

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Tom Foley (England)
Television match official:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Ireland sneak past Fiji in Dublin

Ireland were made to work hard for their 23-20 victory over a quality Fiji outfit, but got the job done at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Ian Keatley's penalty was key with tries coming from Darren Sweetnam, Dave Kearney and Jack Conan, with Joey Carbery adding a conversion.

Fiji's tries came from Henry Senioli and Timoci Nagusa, with Ben Volavola kicking the remaining 10 points in an impressive display from them.

A much-changed Ireland started brightly in Dublin with a try set up by Carbery seeing him slice through before finding Sweetnam wide out.  The young fly-half was off-target with his conversion attempt but it was an early example of how deadly a player he is with ball in hand.

Volavola did pull Fiji back to within two points on 21 minutes after an offside from Ireland but the hosts hit back almost immediately when Andrew Conway held two defenders to create space on the left for Kearney to dive over.  This time Carbery hit the post with his conversion.

Kearney was denied a second try on the half-hour due to a knock-on from Conway in the attempt of claiming a ball, but Ireland didn't have to wait long for their third crossing as Conan showed decent pace to collect a spillage and get over on the right, making it a 17-3 lead.

Fiji recovered admirably though and a try just before the break from Senioli, set up by Nemani Nadolo, and one four minutes into the second-half from Nagusa, suddenly pulled them level at 17-17.  Nagusa's score came as he intercepted Kearney's loose pass on halfway.

Suddenly it was anyone's game in Dublin and Joe Schmidt went to his bench in an attempt to respond.  Fiji though were growing in confidence.

Keatley and Volavola traded penalties in the 66th and 69th minute respectively, with the prospect of a thrilling finish becoming a reality.

But a tip tackle on Cian Healy from Kini Murimurivalu gifted Keatley his second three-pointer on 73 minutes which proved the match-winner.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Sweetnam, Kearney, Conan
Con:  Carbery
Pens:  Keatley 2

For Fiji:
Tries:  Senioli, Nagusa
Cons:  Volavola 2
Pens:  Volavola 2

Ireland:  15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 James Tracy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Robbie Henshaw

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Jale Vatabua, 12 Levani Botia, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Henry Senioli, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Dominiko Waqaniboruto, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Talemaitoga Tuapati, 1 Campese Ma’afu
Replacements:  16 Sunia Koto, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Kalivati Tawake, 19 Sikeli Nabou, 20 Peceli Yato/Semi Kunatani, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 23 Vereniki Goneva

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Alex Ruiz (France)
Television match official:  David Grashoff (England)

All Blacks grind past plucky Scotland

New Zealand were made to work hard before claiming a 22-17 victory over a spirited Scotland side in their end-of-year Test at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The All Blacks did not always have things their way, especially during the opening half which was dominated by Scotland, and the teams went into the sheds at the interval with the score level at 3-3.

The world champions eventually outscored their hosts three tries to two and the result means Scotland are still winless against New Zealand after 112 years of Test rugby between the two countries.

Scotland made a fine start and after dominating early on, Finn Russell opened the scoring with a penalty in the seventh minute after Waisake Naholo went off his feet at a ruck.

The home side continued to hold the upper-hand and five minutes later Russell had another shot at goal — after Vaea Fifita was penalised at a ruck — but his effort was off target.

They continued to have the bulk of the possession and were camped inside the All Blacks' half for large periods but had nothing to show for their efforts.

There were some worried looks in the New Zealand camp when referee Matthew Carley consulted his television match official, Graham Hughes, after Naholo took Stuart Hogg out in the air.

Hogg came down heavily under Naholo's challenge but Hughes ruled that contact was unavoidable and Scotland were only awarded a penalty.

The All Blacks had several opportunities to open their account during the opening half but instead of opting for a shot at goal, their captain Kieran Read instructed Beauden Barrett to put the ball into touch.

Invariably, they reaped no reward from this tactic but when Scotland's backs strayed offside on defence in the 39th minute, Barrett decided to take a shot at goal, which he converted.

Despite that poor opening half, the All Blacks made a bright start to the second period and five minutes after the restart, Rieko Ioane threw an inch-perfect long pass to Codie Taylor, who crossed in the left-hand corner.

Five minutes later, New Zealand were camped inside Scotland's 22 again and Sonny Bill Williams delivered a perfectly-weighted grubber kick which Damian McKenzie gathered before dotting down.

Barrett added the extras but the All Blacks were dealt a blow 10 minutes later when Sam Cane was sent to the sin bin for a cynical foul on defence close to his try-line.

Shortly afterwards, Scotland made their numerical advantage count when Jonny Gray showed great determination to power his way over the try-line despite the attentions of three defenders.

The world champions struck back in the 67th minute when Williams shrugged off a tackle before offloading to McKenzie.  He did well to draw in the final defender before passing to Barrett, who crossed for his side's third try.

Three minutes later, New Zealand suffered another setback when Wyatt Crockett was also yellow carded after he took Ali Price out at a ruck close to the world champions' try-line.

Scotland would finish stronger and three minutes before full-time Hogg stabbed a grubber kick through which Tommy Seymour gathered inside New Zealand's 22, before throwing an inside pass to Huw Jones, who crossed for a deserved try.

Russell slotted the conversion from close to the touchline which meant the score was 22-17 to the visitors.  Scotland launched some attacks during the game's closing stages but the All Blacks' defence did well to keep them at bay.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Gray, Jones
Cons:  Russell 2
Pen:  Russell

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Taylor, McKenzie, Barrett
Cons:  Barrett 2
Pen:  Barrett
Yellow Cards:  Cane, Crockett

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Darryl Marfo
Replacements:  16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Byron McGuigan

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Kane Hames
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Liam Squire, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

England power past Wallabies

England ran out emphatic 30-6 victors over Australia in a November Test series clash in poor conditions at Twickenham on Saturday.

England showed great resilience on defence and an ability to counter-attack, forcing the opposition in to errors which they are good at capitalising on.

England's substitutes came to the fore late in the game with Danny Care in particular having a major impact.

Tries from Elliot Daly, Jonathan Joseph and Jonny May proved too much for Australia who were kept scoreless except for a penalty apiece from Reece Hodge and Bernard Foley.

Owen Farrell gave England an early 3-0 lead with a penalty.

The Wallabies looked the more threatening of the two sides on attack and were unlucky not to get themselves a try for their efforts when just as it looked if Michael Hooper had scored, it was ruled out by the TMO for offside.

Heavy rain persisted throughout and the wet conditions made handling difficult and halted both sides' momentum on attack resulting in a stop-start encounter.

Skipper Hooper was then yellow-carded with 32 minutes gone on the clock for repeated infringements.  England extended the lead to 6-0 from the resulting penalty courtesy of Farrell's right boot.

The Wallabies were then reduced to 13 men when Kurtley Beale saw yellow for his deliberate knockdown on the stroke of half-time.

Hodge's well-struck penalty from forty metres out eight minutes in to the second half saw the Wallabies cut the deficit to three at 6-3.

Daly was the first to get to George Ford's kick ahead after Tevita Kuridrani had spilt the ball on a Wallabies' attack.  Daly controlled the ball well keeping it in field and diving on top of it.  Farrell added the extras as England took a 13-3 lead on the 55-minute mark much to the delight of the home support.

Joseph got himself on the try column when he ran on to an expertly weighted box-kick from substitute scrum-half Care to slide over in the wet.  Farrell added the extras to give the hosts a 20-6 lead.

And May put the game beyond doubt when he chased down Care's deft grubber kick and cut inside to finish emphatically.

Having assisted two tries, Care got in on the act by getting himself on the try column in the closing stages after another kick through, this time from May to close out the match at 30-6.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Daly, Joseph, May, Care
Cons:  Farrell 2
Pens:  Farrell 2

For Australia:
Pens:  Hodge, Foley

England:  15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Danny Care, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Marika Koroibete, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Blake Enever, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Lopeti Timani, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Karmichael Hunt

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), George Clancy (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Wales edge Georgia in dour clash

Wales bounced back from last week's loss to Australia by claiming a 13-6, if under-whelming, victory over Georgia at the Principality Stadium.

It wasn't pretty and the Welsh were never out of sight as the Lelos stayed in the match throughout, with Hallam Amos the only try scorer.

Rhys Priestland kicked eight points while in reply Soso Matiashvili slotted Georgia's six in a game they can leave with their heads high.

Wales were frustrated in the first half in Cardiff and were limited to just one try, coming through Amos in the 19th minute to lead 10-3.

Before that they'd set out their stall with quick taps from Rhys Webb showing they wanted to play at pace and not get dragged into a scrap.

Priestland nudged them in front on seven minutes when Georgia were penalised at a ruck and they thought they'd crossed the whitewash soon after, but wing Alex Cuthbert was held up over the line by scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze's brilliant try saving tackle.  It remained at 3-0.

Wales weren't to be denied though 10 minutes later when a lineout drive was moved wide by Webb before Priestland's wrap around created the space on the left wing for Amos, who finished easily.  Priestland slotted the difficult extras too to move Wales into a deserved 10-0 lead.

There was then a spell that arguably changed the game as Amos thought he had his second from long range but play was brought back for a rip in contact that saw the ball go forward.  That resulted in a scrum penalty for Georgia and Matiashvili kicked it for a fillip for the Lelos.

After the break the visitors further reduced the margin on 48 minutes when a scrum penalty saw Matiashvili make it 10-6 from 42 metres out.

But Priestland cancelled that out just after the hour mark as the Bath fly-half was informed by his captain to take the points, which was a clear shift in mindset from the early-game attacking.  Wales were now wary that they were struggling to put the rugged Georgians to bed.

In fact Georgia were sniffing a levelling seven-pointer on the 70 minute mark but thankfully for Wales their pack stood up at scrum time to repel the onslaught.  That and more spirited defence that led to replacement prop Tomas Francis being yellow carded on 79 minutes for side entry, ultimately ended with the hosts fending off the visitors' late short carries as Wales held on to avoid a shock defeat.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Amos
Con:  Priestland
Pens:  Priestland 2
Yellow Card:  Francis

For Georgia:
Pens:  Matiashvili 2

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Seb Davies, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Dan Lydiate (c), 5 Cory Hill, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Josh Navidi, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Williams

Georgia:  15 Soso Matiashvili, 14 Giorgi Koshadze, 13 Davit Katcharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze (c), 11 Mirian Modebadze, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Bitsadze, 7 Vito Kolelishvili, 6 Lasha Lomidze, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Kote Mikautadze, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Kakha Asieshvili, 18 Soso Bekoshvili, 19 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 20 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Revaz Jintchvelashvili, 23 Merab Kvirikashvili

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  Shuhei Kubo (Japan), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
TMO:  Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Argentina too good for Italy

Argentina got their end-of-year Test campaign back on track when they secured a deserved 31-15 victory against Italy in Florence on Saturday.

In a topsy-turvy match, in which the lead changed hands eight times, the Pumas took control of proceedings during the latter part of the second half and eventually outscored their hosts three tries to none.

The victory is only Argentina's second one of the year, from 11 matches played, but the result is also significant as it means they have now won their seventh successive match against the Azzurri.

Argentina were dealt a blow after five minutes when Nicolas Sanchez was forced off the field for a Head Injury Assessment.  His absence was not too disruptive as his replacement, Juan Martin Hernandez, got the game's opening points courtesy of a penalty in the 12th minute before Sanchez returned three minutes later.

Shortly after Hernandez's penalty, Italy drew level when Carlo Canna added a three-pointer from the kicking tee after Juan Manuel Leguizamon held onto the ball on the ground.

Midway through the half, Santiago Garcia Botta was blown up for illegal scrummaging and Canna succeeded with the resulting penalty which gave the home side a 6-3 lead.

Argentina did not take that lying down and regained the lead in the 27th minute when Sebastian Cancelliere stepped past three defenders inside Italy's 22 before crossing for the game's opening try.

Sanchez's conversion attempt was off target and six minutes later, Canna slotted his third penalty after another Botta indiscretion at a scrum which meant the Azzurri held a slender 9-8 lead at the break.

Five minutes into the second half, the Pumas were back in front courtesy of a Sanchez penalty before Canna restored his side's one-point lead with his only penalty of the second half.

Another Sanchez penalty, five minutes later, meant the Pumas had their noses in front again but Marcello Violi made it 15-14 to Italy when he landed a drop-goal in the 57th minute.

That would be the last time the Azzurri would score points, however, as the Pumas upped the ante on attack in the game's final quarter.

On the hour-mark, Sanchez added his third penalty before Marcos Kremer barged over from close quarters for his first Test try, in the 69th minute.

Sanchez added the extras, which gave the visitors a nine-point lead.  They continued to attack and were rewarded in the 77th minute when Joaquin Tuculet gathered a pass from Emiliano Boffelli before dotting down in the right-hand corner and Sanchez's conversion sealed the win for Argentina.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pens:  Canna 4
Drop-goal:  Violi

For Argentina:
Tries:  Cancelliere, Kremer, Tuculet
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pens:  Hernandez, Sanchez 3

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tomasso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Giovanni Licara, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Matteo Minozzi

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Banjamin Macome, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Juan Martin Hernandez, 23 Matias Moroni

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO:  Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

All Blacks get the better of France

The All Blacks claimed a 38-18 victory over France in their opening November international fixture at Stade de France on Saturday.

Tries from Dane Coles, Ryan Crotty, Sam Cane and a Waisake Naholo brace proved too much for France who scored through Teddy Thomas and a penalty try.

It was a scrappy affair with plenty of knock-ons and a lot of time was consumed with scrum resets.

The All Blacks blew the French out of the water in the first-half.  Les Bleus had a golden spell during the opening thirteen minutes of the second half in which they made the scoreline slightly more respectable.

The All Blacks drew first blood courtesy of Coles who ran the perfect line to latch on to Beauden Barrett's pass to scythe through the French line of defence to dot down.  Barrett added the extras.

Barrett added a penalty on the 16-minute mark after les Bleus were penalised for holding on to extend the visitors' lead to 10-0.

The All Blacks showed good ball retention keeping the ball through the phases in a move that flowed from left to right before the French defence was finally breached when Barrett's long pass found Naholo out on the right wing for an easy run-in.  Barrett slotted the conversion as the All Blacks took a 17-0 lead after 23 minutes.

Soon after, les Bleus scored a wonderful try with textbook expansive rugby as the ball went through the hands of the French backline seamlessly for Thomas to dive over in the right-hand corner.

The first-half was plagued by stoppages due to the scrum collapsing and Rabah Slimani paid the price when he received a yellow-card for repeatedly infringing in this regard.

The All Blacks duly capitalised on their numerical advantage when Crotty ran through to collect an expertly weighted grubber kick through from Sonny Bill Williams.

Soon after, the visitors further asserted their dominance after superb handling and interplay between forwards and backs saw Cane break the line to go over as the All Blacks took a 31-5 lead in to the interval.

The first action of the second half was a Belleau penalty to make the scoreline look slightly more respectable.  Soon afterwards, a Belleau cross-kick after Dupont had brilliantly made the initial break was punched away by Sonny Bill Williams over the dead ball line;  an action for which the All Black centre was yellow-carded and a penalty try awarded.

Belleau added a penalty to make it 31-18.  The All Blacks put the game beyond doubt when Naholo grabbed his brace after good patient build-up once again.  Barrett converted on the final whistle to give the All Blacks a 38-18 victory.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Thomas, Penalty Try
Pens:  Belleau 2
Yellow Card:  Slimani

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Coles, Naholo 2, Crotty, Cane
Cons:  Barrett 4
Pen:  Barrett
Yellow Card:  Williams

The teams:

France:  15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Mathieu Bastareaud, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Clement Maynadier, 17 Raphael Chaume, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Anthony Jelonch, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Damian Penaud

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Kane Hames
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Tom Foley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Ireland whip woeful Springboks

Ireland were in fine form in their opening end-of-year Test as they claimed a deserved 38-3 win over South Africa in Dublin on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, the home side delivered a dominant display as they controlled proceedings from start to finish and they eventually outscored their visitors four tries to none.

This was always going to be a difficult encounter for the Springboks but they have only themselves to blame for this defeat as they were outplayed in all facets of play.

They battled from the outset and their performance was littered with errors.  The Boks' game-plan was difficult to understand as it lacked creativity and there was no spark in their attack with the half-back duo of Ross Cronje and Elton Jntjies battling throughout.

By contrast, their counterparts, Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton delivered a tactical masterclass and they were accurate in implementing their side's game-plan.

The Springboks suffered an early setback when Coenie Oosthuizen was forced off the field in the second minute with a leg injury after going down under a challenge from Bundee Aki.

Two minutes later, Beast Mtawarira was blown up for illegal scrummaging and Sexton opened the scoring when he slotted the resulting penalty.

Ireland had the better of the early exchanges and it showed on the scoreboard as they were 9-0 up midway through the half thanks to two further penalties from Sexton.

First, after Lood de Jager was penalised for slowing the ball down illegally in the 15th minute and five minutes later, after Pieter-Steph du Toit infringed at a ruck.

The hosts were slowly taking control of proceedings as they dominated the possession and territorial stakes and, crucially, also winning the bulk of the collisions — best illustrated when Iain Henderson bumped off Eben Etzebeth in an earth-hattering second row confrontation in the 22nd minute.

Ireland's dominance reaped further reward in the 25th minute when Murray launched a teasing box kick which Courtnall Skosan failed to deal with on the edge of the Boks' 22.  Andrew Conway gathered the bouncing ball and outsprinted the cover defence before crossing in the right-hand corner for the game's opening try and the first of his Test career.

Sexton was off target with the conversion but Ireland continued to dominate as the half continued, although they would score no further points during this period and the teams changed sides with the hosts leading 14-0 at half-time.

The visitors dominated the second half's opening exchanges, however, and eventually opened their account in the 44th minute when Jantjies landed a penalty after CJ Stander was blown up for a high tackle on Mtawarira.

Ireland replied with a Sexton penalty in the 57th minute, after Du Toit was penalised at a breakdown again, and although the next 15 minutes was an arm-wrestle, Ireland would seal the win with three late tries from Rhys Ruddock, Rob Herring and Jacob Stockdale.

Ruddock's try was a special one as he beat Franco Mostert with a great side-step before crashing over in the 71st minute.  This after an inside pass from Sexton to Stockdale in the build-up, tore the Bok defence to shreds.  Stockdale offloaded to Conway, who was stopped close to the Boks' tryline, and after another phase was set up, Ruddock rounded off with his superb finish.

That score knocked the wind out of the visitors' sails but Ireland were far from finished.  Five minutes later, South African-born hooker Herring powered his way over the whitewash off the back off a driving maul before Stockdale rounded off a superb backline move in the game's dying moments to add the final nail to the Boks' coffin.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Conway, Ruddock, Herring, Stockdale
Cons:  Sexton, Carbery 2
Pens:  Sexton 4

For South Africa:
Pen:  Jantjies

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 James Ryan, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Darren Sweetnam

South Africa:  15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Francois Venter

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Wallabies overpower Wales

The Wallabies secured a 29-21 victory over Wales at the Principality Stadium, outscoring their opponents by four tries to two.

Tries from Tatafu Polota-Nau, Adam Coleman, Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale proved too much for Wales who scored through Steff Evans and Hallam Amos late on.

Leigh Halfpenny gave Wales an eighth-minute lead as his penalty sailed through the posts.

The Wallabies took the lead with Polota-Nau going over at the back of a lineout driving maul.  Bernard Foley added the extras to make it 7-3 after 13 minutes.

Soon after, Wales retook the lead after good work by Gareth Davies initially to make the break down the right wing.  The ball was recycled to the left where Evans produced a clinical finish.  Halfpenny was, as usual, accurate from the tee and gave the hosts a 10-7 lead.

But the Wallabies hit back immediately with Coleman going over after Foley's grubber bamboozled the Welsh defence.  Marika Koroibete was halted inches from the line and Will Genia's flat, spin-pass was gobbled up by Coleman.  Foley converted as Australia led 14-10 after 23 minutes.

Reece Hodge extended the Wallabies lead with a long-range penalty after Josh Navidi was penalised for holding on after good work by Sean McMahon at the breakdown to get his body over the ball and secure the turnover penalty.

A Halfpenny penalty reduced the deficit to four after 37 minutes but there was still time before the interval for the Wallabies to score another try and it was skipper Hooper who showed good pace to fend off Davies and dot down as the Wallabies took a 22-13 lead into the interval.

Against the run of play, Beale extended the visitors' lead when he pounced on Evans' spill to race through all the way to the line.  Foley converted to make it 29-16 after 64 minutes.

Hooper was then yellow-carded for an offence at the breakdown after repeated infringements from the Wallabies.

And Wales capitalised on their numerical advantage when Amos gathered Davies' kick and managed to dot down within the field of play despite the best efforts of Koroibete.

But the Wallabies had still done too much and ran out 29-21 winners.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Evans, Amos
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Polota-Nau, Coleman, Hooper, Beale
Cons:  Foley 3
Pen:  Hodge

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Owen Watkin, 23 Hallam Amos

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Marika Koroibete, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Karmichael Hunt, 23 Henry Speight

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Ian Tempest (England)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

England win arm-wrestle with Argentina

England got their end-of-year international campaign off to a winning start as they battled past Argentina 21-8 at Twickenham on Saturday.

Nathan Hughes and Semesa Rokoduguni's tries saw them to victory in a scrappy display that needs to improve next week against Australia.

The tries came either side of the break with George Ford kicking 11 points, while Nicolas Sanchez crossed for Argentina late on in the contest.

It was hardly a first-half to write home about and with Sam Underhill's tackling the highlight, that told a story of the lack of attacking.  Underhill was a rock in the contact area and alongside Hughes, impressed during the opening stanza, putting his name forward for the shirt.

Missed kicks from both outfits were evident too as Ford was off-target with two of his five first-half attempts, although they both struck the post.  Meanwhile, Juan Martin Hernandez missed two out of two off the tee for Argentina, who still managed to stay in touch with their hosts.

Ford hit the upright on two minutes before knocking over a penalty soon after, with Emiliano Boffelli levelling from range a minute later.

The England number 10 then made it 6-3 before Pumas full-back Joaquin Tuculet was yellow carded for making contact with Mike Brown in the air.  That was the injured Brown's last act as England then went in search of making their numerical advantage count which pleased the Twickenham fans.

It took them no time at all to cross as Ford's brilliant flat pass saw Hughes collect and get over wide out, making it an 11-3 advantage.

Then came the misses from the kickers as first Ford's conversion attempt hit the upright before Hernandez was wayward with two penalties.  However, Ford made no mistake seven minutes before the interval to give his side an 11-point buffer which they deserved at the turnaround.

Things didn't improve in terms of quality early in the second period and just when England seemed to be turning the screw at an attacking line-out, a spillage from Dylan Hartley at the base foiled the set-piece.  It seemed like Eddie Jones would soon be turning to his bench.

Argentina too were racking up the errors, their latest seeing Boffelli miss a penalty.  That meant there was still no points in the half, with replacement fly-half Sanchez also missing his first shot, a relative sitter, on 65 minutes as their kicking woes continued.

That was compounded when England broke from nowhere a minute later and crossed through Rokoduguni, who collected Henry Slade's flat pass and dived over on the right wing.  Ford slotted the extras and suddenly the result was beyond doubt at 21-3.  England rolled on their bench.

But it was a Pumas replacement who had the final say as Sanchez crossed in the 78th minute for a consolation score in a forgetful game at Twickenham.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Hughes, Rokoduguni
Con:  Ford
Pens:  Ford 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Sanchez
Pen:  Boffelli
Yellow Card:  Tuculet

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Danny Care, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tomas Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Benjamin Macome, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Sebastian Cancellere

Referee:Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Scotland edge past Samoa

Scotland scored six tries to claim a hard-fought 44-38 win over Samoa in a high-scoring game at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Tries from Stuart Hogg, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Pete Horne and a Stuart McInally brace proved too much for Samoa who scored through Josh Tyrell, Piula Faasalele, Tim Nanai-Williams, Kieran Fonotia and Ofisa Treviranus.

It was a game in which Scotland would extend their lead only to be pegged back by Samoa who almost always came up with a response.

Nanai-Williams was a revelation at fly-half for Samoa showcasing his versatility and that tried and trusted right boot.  Finn Russell was excellent too for Scotland.

Russell's defence-splitting grubber kicks was arguably the Scots' main attacking weapon.  Stuart Hogg was a very willing chaser, profiting once and almost on another occasion but just couldn't keep the ball in play.

Scotland opened the scoring in the third minute.  After winning an early penalty, the home side passed the ball out wide to the right.  Russell's kick resulted in Hogg getting his chance and grabbing his opportunity with both hands to dot down.  Russell made no mistake with the conversion.

Nanai-Williams responded with a penalty after a Scotland tackler was penalised for not rolling away in the 12th minute but Russell restored his side's seven-point buffer with a penalty of his own after this time Samoa were penalised for not rolling away.

Soon after, Russell extended the lead to a 10-point margin at 13-3 with another penalty before Samoa hit back with an excellent try.  Showing great ball retention as they took the ball through the phases among the forwards before Josh Tyrell manouevred his way over from close range.  Nanai-Willliams made it a three-point game at 13-10 with the Samoans breathing down the Scots' necks as he made no mistake in slotting the conversion.

The Scots scored their second try five minutes before half-time.  Taking a quick lineout, Russell did well to keep the ball alive and it was shifted out toward the left touchline courtesy of an long, flat Ali Price spin pass to Huw Jones who ran a great line with the Samoa defence guilty of being slightly stand-offish.  Jones slipped his tackler and had too much momentum for the covering defender as he bashed over.

And the hosts still had time to extend their lead when McInally went over at the back of a well co-ordinated Scottish driving maul.  Russell added the extras with Scotland taking a 25-10 lead in to the interval.

The second half started just as the first ended with McInally going over in the exact same fashion, the hooker emerging from the melee of bodies after another rolling lineout driving maul.

Soon after, Fa'asalele hit back for the visitors as he burst over after a series of powerful carries from the Samoan forwards.  Nanai-Williams added the extras to make the score 32-17 to Scotland with 51 minutes gone.

And then 10 minutes later, Nanai-Williams further reduced the deficit as he cut through the Scotland defence like a hot knife through butter to cap an impressive performance in the unfamiliar 10 position.

Just when it was starting to look dangerous for Scotland, Dunbar got himself in the try column when he bashed between two tacklers to dot down after substitute fly-half Pete Horne produced a delicate kick over the top which Lee Jones collected and offloaded for Dunbar who ran on to the ball with great momentum and was not going to be stopped.

Soon after, Samoa restored their deficit to six when a really quick pick and go from Fonotia saw the former Crusaders man going over for his score.

But Scotland put the game beyond doubt when Horne turned try-scorer, this time after a beautiful pass from Cornell du Preez meant Horne had a gaping hole to cross the whitewash from 20 metres out.

Samoa, as they proved the whole game, managed to find a response when Treviranus showed great speed and ingenuity as he exploited the empty space behing the ruck with his opportunistic pick-and-go to dot down as it ended 44-38 to Scotland.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, H Jones, McInally 2, Dunbar, Horne
Cons:  Russell 3, Horne
Pens:  Russell 2

For Samoa:
Tries:  Tyrell, Fa'asalele, Nanai-Williams, Fonotia, Treviranus
Cons:  Nanai-Williams 5
Pen:  Nanai-Williams

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Darryl Marfo
Replacements:  16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Chris Harris

Samoa:  15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Reynold Lee-Lo, 11 David Lemi, 10 Tim Nanai Williams, 9 Pele Cowley, 8 Jack Lam, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Piula Fa'asalele, 5 Chris Vui (c), 4 Josh Tyrell, 3 Donald Brighouse, 2 Manu Leiataua, 1 Jordan Lay
Replacements:  16 Motu Matu'u, 17 James Lay, 18 Hisa Sasagi, 19 Fa'Atiga Lemalu, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Mealani Matavao, 22 Aj Alatimu, 23 Alapati Leiua

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), George Clancy (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Italy see off Fiji to end losing streak

Italy got their end-of-year campaign off to an impressive start when they claimed a hard-fought 19-10 win over Fiji in Catania on Saturday.

The result is a significant one for the Azzurri as it is their first victory of 2017 and ends a nine-match losing streak which stretches back to their 19-17 loss to Tonga in Padova last November.

There was plenty of hype about this match in its build-up as both teams went into the fixture employing expansive game-plans, but although there was plenty of enterprising play during the first half, the Azzurri played more with their forwards after half-time and this helped them to secure the result.

Both sides scored a try apiece although Fiji conceded too many penalties in the second half which paved the way to victory for their hosts.

Italy took an early lead courtesy of a Carlo Canna penalty in the fifth minute after Fiji's backs were blown up for offside play close to their try-line.

The Azzurri held the upper-hand for the next 15 minutes but although they set up several attacks inside Fiji's half, they had no reward as they were met by a solid defensive effort from the Pacific isladers.

And in the 21st minute, the visitors drew level via a Ben Volavola penalty after Canna infringed at a ruck.  The Azzurri continued to attack and five minutes later, Simone Ferrari ran onto a Marcello Violi pass and barged over for the opening try.

Fiji thought they had their first try in the 35th minute when Josua Tuisova went over the try-line after he charged down an attempted clearance kick from Jayden Hayward deep inside Italy's 22.  The try was not awarded, however, as television replays showed that Tuisova lost control of the ball while crossing the whitewash.

That setback did not prove too costly though as on the stroke of half-time, Leone Nakarawa burst through a tackle from Sergio Parisse, just outside Italy's 22, and the Fijian lock showed a superb turn of speed to outpace the cover defence before dotting down next to the uprights.

Volavola added the extras which meant the sides were deadlocked at 10-10 at the interval.

The Azzurri were fastest out of the blocks after the break when, from a Fijian lineout on their five-mete line, Canna, who was standing in the scrum-half position, came around at the set-piece and ripped the ball from Apisalome Ratuniyarawa's grasp before dotting down.

Like Tuisova's effort earlier, referee John Lacey checked with his TMO, Neil Paterson, who ruled correctly that Canna came from an offside position.

But despite that ruling, Italy got stronger as the match progressed while Fiji faded badly.  Two Canna penalties in the 52nd and 58th minutes, gave the hosts a six-point cushion which meant the visitors had to take more risks in the final quarter.

But things went from bad to worse when Volavola was sent to the sin bin for a cynical foul at a ruck in the 65th minute.  That meant the visitors were under the cosh for the rest of the match and Italy sealed their win courtesy of a penalty from debutant Ian McKinley, two minutes before full-time.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Ferrari
Con:  Canna
Pens:  Canna 3, McKinley

For Fiji:
Try:  Nakarawa
Con:  Volavola
Pen:  Volavola
Yellow Card:  Volavola

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tomasso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Giovanni Licara, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Matteo Minozzi

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Timoci Nagusa, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 Akapusi Qera (c), 6 Semi Kunatani, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 1 Campese Ma’afu
Replacements:  16 Sunia Koto, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Ropate Rinakama, 19 Sikeli Nabou, 20 Mosese Voka, 21 Henry Seniloli, 22 Levani Botia, 23 Vereniki Goneva

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO:  Neil Paterson (Scotland)

All Blacks fight back to sink Barbarians

The All Blacks claimed a 31-22 come-from-behind win over a gutsy Barbarians outfit in a thrilling match at Twickenham on Saturday.

Tries from TJ Perenara, Vaea Fifita, Ngani Laumape, Sam Cane and Nathan Harris proved too much for the Barbarians who scored through Richie Mo'unga, Sam Carter and a George Bridge brace.

The Barbarians dominated the first-half much to everyone's surprise, but the All Blacks had a ruthless ten-minute second-half patch to storm back.

The Barbarians came flying out of the blocks and stunned the world champions with the game's first try after an eight minute spell in which they were camped in All Blacks' territory.  It was Mo'unga who exploited the overlap on the right wing to dot down after Andy Ellis's good blindside pass from the ruck.

The Baa-baas continued to tear up the script when Steven Luatua made a thrilling intercept and just when it looked as if he was running out of steam, the dynamic flanker did well to offload to Bridge who dotted down for a 10-0 lead.

The All Blacks responded when TJ Perenara's sniping blindside break off the back of an attacking scrum saw the nippy scrum-half feed Waisake Naholo on the overlap, who did exceptionally well to stay in touch and get the pass away back to Perenara who finished off a wonderful team move.

However, the Barbarians were not to be outshone and scored their third try when Sam Carter burst over after a series of powerful carries from the Baa-baas' forwards to give the rogue outfit a shock 17-5 lead.

But Naholo once again came to the fore, turning creator for the second time when once again he produced a wonderful offload with his body falling to the floor for Fifita to dot down after the All Blacks had taken the ball through numerous phases spanning the length of the field.  That would prove to be the last action of an exciting first half which saw the Baa-baas take a shock 17-10 lead in to the interval.

The All Blacks levelled matters at 17-17 after 53 minutes when Laumape took a wonderful crash ball from Tawera Kerr-Barlow to smash through Mo'unga and go over.

Soon after, the world champions took the lead for the first time in the game.  It was Naholo who made the initial break and put the Baa-baas' defence on the back foot.  The ball was recycled and the All Blacks forwards took the ball through close quarters well before Cane burst over from close-range.

The All Blacks pulled away further as they got the luck of the bounce when Kerr-Barlow's box-kick landed perfectly for Harris who gleefully gobbled up the opportunity.  Barrett added the extras to give the All Blacks a 31-17 lead with 60 minutes gone.

There was still time for the Barbarians to score a consolation try when Bridge pounced on a Julian Savea grubber kick to grab his brace, much to the delight of their players and coaching staff as they signed off with a try.

The scorers:

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Mo'unga, Bridge 2, Carter
Con:  Mo'unga

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Perenara, Fifita, Laumape, Cane, Harris
Cons:  B Barrett 3

The teams:

Barbarians:  15 George Bridge, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Richard Buckman, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Vince Aso, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Andy Ellis (c), 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Sam Carter, 3 Atu Moli, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Replacements:  16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Willie Britz, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Dillon Hunt

New Zealand:  15 David Havili, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Seta Tamanivalu, 10 Beauden Barrett (c), 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Kane Hames
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Matt Duffie

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Nine-try Wallabies put Japan to the sword

Australia continued with their superb recent form when they secured an impressive 63-30 victory over Japan in Yokohama on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a one-sided affair with the Wallabies dominating for large periods and they eventually outscored the Brave Blossoms nine tries to three with Tevita Kuridrani leading the way with a deserved hat-trick.

The Wallabies controlled proceedings from the outset and held a 35-3 lead at half-time courtesy of a brace of tries from Kuridrani and further five-pointers from Samu Kerevi, Henry Speight and Tatafu Polota-Nau.

They continued to dominate in the second half and were rewarded with further tries from Kuridrani, Kerevi, Nick Phipps and Rob Simmons.

Head coach Michael Cheika deserves credit for his decision to play Reece Hodge at fly-half as the 23-year-old impressed as his team's chief playmaker and finished with an 18-point haul after converting all his side's tries.

Japan improved as the game progressed and although they scored three tries in the second half, most of their points came during the game's latter stages when the Wallabies had the game in the bag.

Australia were fastest out of the blocks and Kerevi cantered over for the opening try after Adam Coleman and Polota-Nau laid the groundwork with strong carries in the build-up.

Five minutes later, Speight crossed for his side's second try before Rikiya Matsuda opened the home side's account via an 18th minute penalty after Polota-Nau strayed offside on defence.

The burly hooker made up for that indiscretion in the 24th minute, however, when he dotted down off the back of a driving maul and the visitors undrlined their dominance when Kuridrani scored two of his tries towards the end of the half.

Japan made a fine start to the second half when Wimpie van der Walt barged over from close quarters after Amanaki Mafi set him up with a strong run.  Matsuda converted and kicked a penalty which meant the Wallabies led 35-13 by the 50th minute.

Kerevi soon crossed for his second try though after impressive work from Hodge, Speight and Kurtley Beale before Matsuda slotted his third penalty in the 55th minute.

Australia continued to attack and Kuridrani crossed for his third try on the hour-mark after gathering an offload from Kerevi.  Phipps and Simmons' tries followed in quick succession and with the result secured, the visitors took their foot off the pedal as the clock wound down.

To their credit, the Brave Blossoms did not surrender and they were rewarded wwhen Mafi and Kazuki Himeno scored tries which added respectabilty to the scoreline.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Van der Walt, Mafi, Himeno
Cons:  Matsuda, Tamura 2
Pens:  Matsuda 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Kerevi 2, Speight, Polota-Nau, Kuridrani 3, Phipps, Simmons
Cons:  Hodge 9

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lava Lemeki, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Ryuji Noguchi, 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Kazuki Himeno, 3 Takuma Asahara, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Fetuani Lautaimi, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Sione Teaupa

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Reece Hodge, 9 Nic Phipps, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Lopeti Timani, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Curtis Rona

Referee:  Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Tim Baker (Hong Kong)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Maori All Blacks put 50 past Canada

The Maori All Blacks made a superb start to their end-of-year campaign when they claimed a 51-9 victory over Canada in Vancouver on Friday.

The visitors were full value for their win and outscored their hosts seven tries to none with Ihaia West contributing 14 points courtesy of four conversions and two penalties.

West put the Maori All Blacks in front when he landed a penalty in the third minute but Canada drew level when Brock Staller added a three-pointer off the kicking tee two minutes later.

Canada took a 6-3 lead in the 15th minute courtesy of another Staller penalty, after Dan Pryor was blown up for a dangerous tackle which also resulted in him spending the next 10 minutes in the sin bin.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Maori All Blacks took the lead shortly afterwards — Ambrose Curtis crossing for the opening try after Charlie Ngatai, Brad Weber and Rob Thompson did well in the build-up.

West added the extras but midway through the half Staller slotted another penalty which meant the Maori All Blacks held a slender 10-9 lead after 20 minutes.

The rest of the half saw Akira Ioane and Tom Franklin scoring converted tries and West also kicked a penalty in the 34th minute which meant the visitors led 27-9 at half-time.

The Maori All Blacks continued to dominate in the second half although they were dealt a blow shortly after the restart when Tim Bateman also received a yellow card for a high tackle.

Despite that setback, Ngatai crossed for their fourth try in the 52nd minute before Canada lock Josh Larsen was also sin-binned for a dangerous challenge on Weber on the hour-mark.

The rest of the match was a one-sided affair and the Maori All Blacks sealed their win in the game's latter stages thanks to well-taken tries from Shaun Stevenson, Jackson Garden-Bachop and Sean Wainui.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Pens:  Staller 3
Yellow Card:  Larsen

For Maori All Blacks:
Tries:  Curtis, Ioane, Franklin, Ngatai, Stevenson, Garden-Bachop, Wainui
Cons:  West 4, Garden-Bachop
Pens:  West 2
Yellow Cards:  Pryor, Bateman

Canada:  15 Andrew Coe, 14 Brock Staller, 13 Ben LeSage, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 11 Dan Moor, 10 Patrick Parfrey, 9 Phil Mack (c), 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Matt Heaton, 6 Dustin Dobravsky, 5 Josh Larsen, 4 Kyle Baillie, 3 Matt Tierney, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens
Replacements:  16 Eric Howard, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Ryan Kotlewski, 19 Lucas Rumball, 20 Evan Olmstead, 21 Andrew Ferguson, 22 Robbie Povey, 23 Kainoa Lloyd

Maori All Blacks:  15 Charlie Ngatai, 14 Sean Wainui, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Rob Thompson, 11 Ambrose Curtis, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Dan Pryor, 6 Tom Franklin, 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Marcel Renata, 2 Ash Dixon (c), 1 Chris Eves
Replacements:  16 Liam Polwart, 17 Ross Wright, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Jordan Manihere, 20 Sam Henwood, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23 Shaun Stevenson

Referee:  Kurt Weaver (USA)

Georgia upset Samoa in Tbilisi

Georgia caused a big upset at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium as they battled past Samoa 16-15 on Saturday, a team sat 11 places above them in the rankings.

The result was some turnaround from last week's 25-23 loss at home to the USA, as the Georgians left nothing in the tank against the islanders.

While they were outscored two to one on the try chart after Alapati Leiua and Jack Lam's first-half efforts, Merab Sharikadze's crossing four minutes after the turnaround put them into a 13-12 lead.

And despite Samoa landing a 70th minute penalty from Tusi Pisi to add to his one from the touchline on the half-hour mark, Georgia full-back Merab Kvirikashbili would be the hero as time ticked on.

Kvirikashbili fired over the final three of his eleven points on the day in added time before the hosts fought off a late barrage until the final whistle.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Try:  Sharikadze
Con:  Kvirikashbili
Pen:  Kvirikashbili 3

For Samoa:
Tries:  Leiua, Lam
Con:  Pisi
Pen:  Pisi

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashbili, 14 Tamaz Mtchedlidze, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Giorgi Shkinin, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Giorgi Begadze, 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze (c), 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Levan Datunashvili, 4 Konstantine Mikautadze, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements:  16 Simon Maisuradze, 17 Zurab Zhvania, 18 Davit Kubriashvili, 19 Girogi Nemsadze, 20 Shalva Sutiashvili, 21 Vazha Khutsishvili, 22 Tedore Zibzibadze, 23 Beka Tsiklauri.

Samoa:  15 Faatoina Autagavaia, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Isaia Tuifua, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Brando Vaaulu, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotualii (c), 8 Faifili Levave, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 4 Piula Faasalele, 3 James Johnston, 2 Tii Paulo, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Wayne Ole Avei, 17 Viliamu Afatia, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Joe Tekori, 20 Taisina Tuifua, 21 Jeremy Sua, 22 Sinoti Sinoti, 23 Ken Pisi.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Andrew McMenemy (Scotland), Vlad Jordachescu (Romania)