Pumas make history

As if beating the hosts in their own back yard and topping the Pool of death wasn't enough, Argentina booked their place in the World Cup semi-finals for the first time on Sunday, with a clinical 19-13 win over Scotland.

Argentina's forward presence was too much for the Scots, and the steady stream of penalties eked out by the Pumas was enough for Felipe Contepomi to give his team a commanding lead, which they never once looked like relinquishing, even when Scotland rallied late on.

Yet despite that fleeting spectre of another upset, the reality was that after three courses of gourmet nosh this weekend, we were served up suet pud in Paris.

Argentina have spoken at length about their role as leaders of rugby's "non-aligned movement", but at Stade de France they were the exact mirror image of haughty new tournament favourites, South Africa.

Like the Boks earlier in the day, the Pumas seemed to take the challenge of their unfancied opponents rather lightly.  The energy they heaped all over France and Ireland was replaced by lethargy.  Felipe Contepomi and Juan Martín Hernández, great players though they are, acted a wee bit too cool at times.  They allowed a very average performance from Scotland to rattle them, and they failed to bolt the door they had closed as early as half-time.  Has the hype gone to their heads?

Indeed, had it not been from a snail-like start from Scotland, coupled with their litany of unforced errors, the Pumas might have gone the way of Australia and New Zealand.  Fiji would have made the Pumas pay for such nonchalance.

But a win is a win -- and at this stage of proceedings it is all that is needed.  Next up is the Boks, and one would wager that both sides will now pull up their socks and pay the opposition the proper heed.

Yet it could have been so different.  It seemed that the Pumas would bare their claws at every opportunity after Hernández pulled the trigger on a drop-goal as early as the tenth second of the game.

But the game soon meandered into a wilderness of ponderous Argentine bombs and poor Scottish handling.

The Scots actually drew first blood after Mike Blair was taken out in the air whilst fielding one of Hernández's many garryowens.  Dan Parks -- Scotland's long-range marksman -- stepped up to slot the penalty.

Felipe Contepomi then brought his side level after a rare run from Hernández ended with a high tackle from big Nathan Hines.

Rory Lamont then got in a muddle whilst fielding yet another long ball.  He made no attempt to escape the onrushing Pumas and it could well be that his call for "mark" was not heard by referee Joël Jutge, who ruled that Scotland had infringed at the ensuing breakdown.  Contepomi stepped up to add injury to insult.

So, with the game approaching middle age and the crowd growing nostalgic for "Super Saturday", the Pumas had finally secured the lead.  A slender one, yes, but it was soon too grow fat.

This time the Scottish blunder came from Parks who dithered as he shaped to clear his lines.  The little pivot was soon eclipsed by the giant frame of Gonzalo Longo who not only charged down the kick but beat Sean Lamont to touch down for Argentina's only try of the game.  Contepomi added the extras and the South Americans were suddenly sitting on a 13-3 lead.

Scotland's travelling contingent of fans desperately needed a lift, and it duly appeared in the shape of Chris Paterson placing his trusty tee in the grass.  The sinister salute with the left arm, the languid sweep of the right leg, and Scotland had narrowed the gap.

With the Bank of Paterson now open for business, Scotland looked a little more confident and punctuated the first half by bullying the Argentinians off a scrum.  It's an event normally only illuminated by the light of a blue moon, and it gave a hint of what was to come later in the game.

Scotland made a change at the break by introducing Andrew Henderson, but the old errors continued and Contepomi soon added another three points to his account after the Scottish forwards conceded a penalty in the shadow of their own posts.

With the game ebbing from their grip, Scotland changed tack.  They were now pushing their big forwards at Argentina's half-backs and soon began to winkle out penalties and scrums from the increasingly scrappy South Americans.

Scotland's big backs had also recovered from a listless first-half and began to make inroads with some boisterous running.

But Hernández was also growing in stature and he kept the Scots honest by pinning them back at every opportunity, following up on one such territorial snatch by slotting a drop-goal.

The repetitive sucker-punches were taking a toll on the Scots and the dark blue bench was duly emptied onto the field in an attempt to revive fortunes.

And what an impact the cavalry made!

Suddenly Scotland were alive.  A fantastic break down the middle of the pitch by Craig Smith put the Pumas in reverse.  The support arrived and the same men who seemed unable to catch a cold in the preceding hour put together a string of dare-devil passes.  Big Kelly Brown got on to the end of one and tip-toed down the left touchline before finding Chris Cusiter on his inside, and the scrum-half was over for the try.

Paterson stepped up to slot his 17th consecutive shot at goal -- he hasn't missed in this tournament -- and out of nowhere we were heading to heart-attack territory for the fourth time in two days.

Argentina looked to up their game but they were shaken -- Contepomi and Hernández both now looked capable of dross.

Scotland sensed the swing of the pendulum and grabbed on with both hands.  France hasn't witnessed such blatant disregard for the good and the great since the storming of the Bastille, and it looked like more rugby royalty would soon be swinging from the scaffold.

But the Scots could not rid themselves of their unforced errors, and the opportunity to sneak into the last four went up in smoke with a lost line-out on Argentina's line.

Man of the match:  Mike Blair, Andrew Henderson and Chris Cusiter all added impetus to Scotland's quest, but all trailed in the wake carved by Craig Smith.  Juan Martín Hernández had another fine game, but blew hot and cold.  Gonzalo Longo impressed once again (there's surely now no way back for Juan Manuel Leguizamón) but our man of the match is the evergreen Mario Ledesma -- a cross between an energetic puppy and an old carthorse.

Moment of the match:  Very few moments stand out, but we'll go for Scotland's try -- out of nowhere it delivered the prospect of an upset.

Villain of the match:  Some niggle here and there but nothing too nasty.  No award.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Cusiter
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Parks, Paterson

For Argentina:
Try:  Longo
Con:  Contempomi
Pens:  Contempomi 3
Drop goal:  Hernandez

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Simon Webster, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Argentina:  15 Ignacio Corleto, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Manuel Contepomi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Agustín Pichot (c), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Lucas Ostiglia, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Carlos Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Juan Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Omar Hasan, 18 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 19 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 20 Nicolás Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Hernán Senillosa.

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Television match official:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

France send ABs packing

France will play England in an all-northern semi-final in Paris next Saturday, after dumping the favourites New Zealand out of the tournament 20-18 in Cardiff on Saturday.

Fantastic!  Sheer fantasy!  Amazing Saturday went spirally upwards into fantasy!  There has never been a day like it in World Cup rugby.

Whether France deserved to win or not, doesn't matter one iota.  The fact is that they did win.  If the brave deserve the fair, they deserved this victory.  The French made 178 tackles to New Zealand's 36.  That was bravery as they stood shoulder to shoulder and repelled the Pacific wave that threatened to overwhelm them.  They kept a tsunami at bay.

They tackled and tackled and then New Zealand lost the ball, and Elissalde went scampering off like a little boy who has pinched one of his mother's cookies and then kicked the cookie into the crowd for an outburst of ecstasy.

It was, as Dickens once wrote, the best of times and it was the worst of times.  It was a time of ecstasy for France.  It was a time of utter, shuddering despair for New Zealand.

History had repeated itself.  The favourites were not going to make the final.  New Zealand who seemed to be winning well at half-time were beaten 17-5 in the dramatic second half as if 1999 had returned to life.

Fantastic Saturday will go down in rugby history.

It is tough for New Zealand.  For France it is a wonderful boost and reward for a country which has done so much to make this World Cup a joyous success.

The match had started with a dramatic haka, with France on the half-way line and the All Blacks doing their "ka mate" haka within touching distance, which produced a cheeky grin and wink from David Marty to Keith Robinson and dismissive amusement on the face of Sébastien Chabal, the icon of the World Cup with posters of him all over France.

Lionel Beauxis kicked off and he did a lot of kicking after that, but so did Damien Traille and Jean-Batiste Elissalde.  There was no secret that this was going to be French tactics.  Their selection broadcast this to the world.  It was not great kicking -- just long kicking, not kicking with great chase or and attempt to win back the ball.

It seemed that France's tactic of kicking long over and over had backfired in the first half.  But then, just before half-time, they threw a switch and changed lines.  They started running.  But their initial tactic and their changed of tactic both seemed to suck the All Blacks into an unusual and, for them, unsuitable game.  Gone were the smooth runners, the clever interpassing, the switches and changes of angles that split defences apart with effortless ease and created chances for great wings.  Instead they also kicked in the first half, so much so that France had 19 line-outs in the match to New Zealand's five.  Then when France started running the All Blacks went on a pick-'n-drive splurge which produced just one try in many goes.  True, that try with 18 minutes to go gave them a lead which could have been a winning one.  But it wasn't.  Stuck in a pick-'drive rut, which was largely sterile, the All Blacks it seems could not get out of it and nobody could help them out of it -- not their experienced captain and not the trio of grim visages behind the technology in the stands.  They abandoned their playing principles and paid the price.

The New Zealand pack was better at scrumming and, surprisingly, in the line-out.  At line-out time the French were surprisingly naive.  They had four line-out jumpers -- five when Imañol Harinordoquy replaced Serge Betsen -- but they seemed determined to throw to where New Zealand's lone jumper was, and Ali Williams won four of their line-outs.  The first one came within a boot's edge of scoring the first try of the match.

The loss of Betsen after four minutes was a blow to France.  He tackled Joe Rokocoko and was trying to get up when a French knee struck his head and down he went.  The match stopped for some time while he was attended to, eventually leaving the field on wobbly legs.  His direct hardness was a great loss to France.

Half way through the second half the All Blacks lost Daniel Carter who limped off but after a match in which he had been far less dominant than usual.  Byron Kelleher went with him and their replacements, Nick Evans and Brendon Leonard, brought sharpness to the New Zealand attack -- until Evans also left, apparently, with a hamstring problem.

France had a chance to score early on but Traille missed a drop attempt from in front.

When Fabien Pelous tackled Rokocoko and stayed lying on him, he was penalised and Carter opened the scoring with a straightforward penalty.  3-0 after 13 minutes.

Then came the first Williams steal at a line-out when he beat Harinordoquy in the air and suddenly Luke McAlister, who was hero and villain in this match, burst through Beauxis on a long run.  The ball went left to Williams who was over in the corner but his right boot had touched the touch-line in the tackle by Vincent Clerc.  France survived, but not for long.

The All Blacks took a quick throw-in from touch and again McAlister broke powerfully.  He fed Jerry Collins and stayed with the rugged flank to take a pass and score in Traille's tackle.  Carter converted.  10-0 after 18 minutes.

Thierry Dusautoir, bravest of the brave, went offside -- a short offside when a tackle was judged to have become a ruck -- and Carter made it 13-0 after 30 minutes.

The All Blacks were cruising into the semis, or so it seemed.  It was an illusion for they did not score again for another 32 minutes -- just as in 1999.

Then France threw the switch.  They stopped their unchallenging kicking and started running.  Suddenly they were challenging the All Blacks, shaking their composure and on the stroke of half-time, when Williams was penalised at a maul, Beauxis made it 13-3 with France's third penalty kick at goal.  Earlier Beauxis and Elissalde had missed one each.

After a great break by Kelleher early in the second half, France had a golden chance to score when Cédric Heymans fly-kicked a loose ball downfield but was slowed in the gathering.  France went right and had an overlap but a poor pass by Traille spoilt the chance of a score.  Then France had a great maul on and took it to within six metres of the New Zealand line where the All Blacks collapsed the maul.  On advantage France went left and Beauxis chipped.  McAlister went out of his way to block Jauzion's path.  This led to a penalty to France and a yellow card for McAlister.  That incident may well have sown the seeds of an All Black defeat;.

Beauxis kicked the penalty and it may have seemed that the All Blacks had got off lightly as twice in that move there was the strong possibility of a French try.

Stung, the All Blacks flung themselves into the attack, no longer with the fluent phases of the first half but with staccato pick-'n-drive.  They were at the line but So'oialo knocked on a wild pass and France survived.

Suddenly France broke out and seemed about to score as Harinordoquy had an big overlap on the right, but his speed and nerve let him down and he was felled five metres from the New Zealand line.  France went left and then right again and Dusautoir burst through Leon MacDonald's tackle to score.  Beauxis' conversion went in off the upright and the score was 13-13.

At this stage McAlister returned from his purgatory.  Carter limped off and other changes were made.

New Zealand went into their pick-'n-drive routine until Chabal, brave and strong, wrenched the ball free.  Then Williams won another line-out and France were subjected to more pick-'n-drive pummeling until eventually So'oialo just managed to squeeze over with the ball under a tattooed arm.  The conversion was not all that difficult but McAlister missed it.

Soon afterwards Evans had a sharp break but Elissalde managed to stop him with fingernails clinging to a jersey and then France made a telling change.  Heavy Beauxis went off and on came Frédéric Michalak.  He had an immediate effect.

Traille burst beyond McAlister and gave to Michalak who went racing down the left.  When it seemed that he was being hemmed in he stopped, turned his back on the approaching goal-line and picked out Yannick Jauzion for a pass and the big centre strode over for a try.  Elissalde made no mistake with the conversion and France led 20-18 with 11 minutes to play -- 11 minutes of high tension as New Zealand attacked again and again, flinging themselves with increasing desperation at the determined French.

At one stage Michalak seemed to have blown it.  France won a turn-over in the midst of all this battering and from deep inside his in-goal Michalak kicked across the field to his left to Chris Jack but the big lock was unable to get quick control and make the opportunity count.

McAlister tried a long drop but was short and wide, and there were just 15 seconds left when Michalak dropped out.  France survived and ecstacy broke out in Cardiff.

Man of the Match:  There were certainly candidates in such a brave match, such as Leon MacDonald and Ali Williams of New Zealand.  For France there were candidates, too, especially Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and all those men who made so many tackles.  We are going to choose the tackler-in-chief Thierry Dusautoir as our Man of the Match.

Moment of the Match:  The sight of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde scurrying across the field with the ball in wild elation, knowing that France had won.

Villain of the Match:  There were two candidates -- Luke McAlister and the interviewer who, moments after the final whistle, thrust a mike at Richie McCaw and asked him his reaction and how big a blow the defeat was for New Zealand rugby, insensitive to the great player's suffering.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Dusautoir, Jauzion
Cons:  Beauxis, Elissalde
Pens:  Beauxis 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  McAlister, So'oialo
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 2

Yellow card:  McAlister (45, New Zealand, off-the-ball tackle)

France:  15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (captain), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Sébastien Chabal, 19 Imañol Harinordoquy, 20 Frédéric Michalak, 21 Christophe Dominici, 22 Clément Poitrenaud.

New Zealand:  15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Mils Muliaina, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Keith Robinson, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Chris Masoe, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Nick Evans, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Tony Spreadbury (England)
Television match official:  Chris White (England)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

England forge ahead

England have become the first of the four World Cup semi-finalists after beating Australia 12-10 in Marseille on Saturday with a barnstorming forward performance.

Australia scored the only try of the game on a rare visit to England's 22 in the first half, but over the eighty minutes the England forward eight simply shoved, pushed and heaved their opponents out of the game.

Jonny Wilkinson once again was the deepest thorn in Australia's side, notching four penalties as a result of the pressure the English pack exerted, and England may reflect in the aftermath that the win ought to have been more convincing had the backs been even vaguely disposed to try a few offloads.

Australia star Chris Latham was in tears after the game, and one might surmise that he was simply longing for England's pack.  Just imagine what Australia's gifted backline could do with the likes of Simon Shaw and Andrew Sheridan, and what England could do with the likes of Latham and Stirling Mortlock.  In the spirit of ABAB (anyone but the All Blacks), can't we allow England and Australia to now join forces?

Admittedly, this game will not win any beauty contests.  But beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder, and this dog of a game will go down in English history as a prize-winning pooch -- a thoroughbred bulldog.

What character!  What resolve!  What an upset!  England's players had insisted that there was a good performance in them, but who really believed it?

Yet they delivered -- and what a delivery it was.  This was unquestionably England's best performance since that day way back when, and it is no exaggeration to say that this famous victory exorcises some of the more painful memories of the past four years.

As for the Wallabies -- well, what happened? That famous Australian grit, that mental strength that has served them so well so often, was simply absent from proceedings.

They were shocked into submission by England's physicality in contact and their limpet-like defence.  They seemed as confused by England's confidence and ability as most of the watching world.  Who would have guess that the English had a rabid rabbit stashed under their hat?  Have they been having us all on?

How Australia missed the calming influence of Steven Larkham.  The fly-half's young replacement, Berrick Barnes, endured a nasty and prolonged attack of stage fright, but who can blame him? His forwards failed to offer him even the vaguest semblance of a stage on which to perform.

England set out their stall from the off, firing their big men at the fringes to good effect.

The decent start emboldened the English and they soon felt confident enough to try to run out a drop-out.  Needless to say, it backfired and they duly coughed up a penalty.

Mortlock missed the chance to open the scoring as his kick at the sticks drifted wide in the swirling breeze, but he made amends moments later as England were found fingering the ball at a bottom of a ruck.

The English won possession from the ensuing re-start but conceded another penalty as Paul Sackey held on in isolation -- a recurring theme for England, brought on, in part, by their penchant for picking size over snipe in the back row.

Australia won another penalty at the first scrum of the game, and what a massive fillip to the gold pack it was.  England were adjudged to have gone to ground, but the men in white clearly felt that their opponents had simply released their own handbrake.  Mortlock failed to add injury to insult by, again, missing the sticks.

Jason Robinson then punctuated the penalty-fest by cutting a fine angle off Shaw's deft inside-past and England were finally in the gold 22, but the raid died as Mike Catt allowed the ball to dribble into Australian hands.

England's error-strewn opening gave no hint of what was to come, and England captain Phil Vickery deserves praise for gathering his side together to demand calm and precision -- "keep it simple, stupid" was surely the call, and it proved to be the kiss of death.

So England went back on the attack, surprising the Wallabies with their will to spread the ball wide.  Stephen Moore got himself into a hopeless muddle as he attempted to clear a grubber and England had their first penalty of the game.  Wilkinson stepped up and opened his account.

He was soon lining up another kick at goal as the Wallaby scrum collapsed under immense pressure from the giants in white, and he duly claimed the lead for his side, ousting Gavin Hastings from the top of the all-time World Cup points-scoring table in the process.

The World Cup holders, finally playing like World Cup holders, now sensed that the game was there for the taking and began to crash into breakdowns with muscular conviction.  Meanwhile, Barnes's nerves were continuing to get the better of him and his fowards found themselves backing towards the ropes.

But Wilkinson missed his third attempt at goal and Australia suddenly realised that they could not survive on the odd let-off.

As so often before, it was the majestic Latham who shook his companions from their slumber by cutting a savage angle through the white midfield.  With England in reverse, the Wallabies moved the ball wide to their left.  A divine show-and-go from Barnes then opened a gap and Lote Tuqiri was across in the corner for his first and final try of the tournament.  Mortlock slotted the conversion and Australia had won back the lead against the run of play.

Wilkinson soon had a chance to narrow the gap after Australia conceded a penalty in defence, but the breeze took his kick off target and the Wallabies took a largely undeserved 10-6 lead into the break.

England began the concluding stanza of Australia's World Cup campaign as they had the one before it, asserting forward dominance all over the pitch.

A massive scrum on the Australian line gave Wycliff Palu all sorts of problems, and but for a knock-on from Mike Catt, England would have had a converted try.

But the English plugged on, knowing that something would have to give.  In the end they had to settle for three points after Australia killed the raid illegally.

Now the pressure even began to tell on Latham who forwent an acre of space for a long-range drop at goal -- it missed.

The Wallabies then grew wobblier still by conceding another scrum on their line.  What looked like the genesis of a push-over try was, again, somewhat cynically annulled by George Smith and Wilkinson stepped up to steal back the lead.

Daniel Vickerman then took his frustrations out on Andy Gomarsall and England took the opportunity to hammer their tent pegs into the gold half -- and there they remained.

Wilkinson then summoned up the ghosts by dropping at goal.  His attempt sailed wide but its significance would have registered in Australian minds.

Yet far from being spooked, the Wallabies seem to draw strength from the moment.

Danger was ever present behind the creaking gold scrum, and some poor English kicking late in the game threatened to undo so much good work.

But George Gregan, not normally a flapper, was the next to buckle under England's relentless defensive onslaught, getting himself into a tizzy after being harassed off the ball at the breakdown.  His insolence allowed Wilkinson a chance to make the game safe, but he missed the posts and Australia were still alive.

With just moments to go, England fans shielded their eyes as Mortlock lined up a kick of his own after Joe Worsley was pinged for hands in the ruck.

This was surely destiny -- another example of Australia's mastery of mind over matter would surely follow.  But today the boot was on the other foot, and the ball veered just wide.

All England had to do was secure the drop-out and clear they lines, and with "Swing Low" finally drowning out chants of "Allez les Jaunes!" from the "neutrals", they did just that.  England are off to Paris, the Wallabies are on their way home.

Australian Rugby Union chief John O'Neill must really hate the English now!

Man of the match:  Wallaby wing Lote Tuqiri had remarked that England had only one world-class player.  That man, Jason Robinson, did have a fine game, but he was thoroughly outshone by his forwards.  Egged on by a commanding performance form Andy Gomarsall, heroes to a man they were.  Andy Sheridan, Nick Easter and Lewis Moody deserve special mention, but our man of the match is the omnipresent colossus that is Simon Shaw -- built like a grand piano and gifted with the hands to play one.

Moment of the match:  Surely the final whistle, it has been four years since we've seen such a happy group of Englishmen.

Villain of the match:  A little niggle in the front row, but nothing too untowards.  We'll slip this hideous gong under the door of Daniel Vickerman.  He let the pressure get to him, and his judo move on Andy Gomarsall exemplified Australia's lost plot.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Tuqiri
Con:  Mortlock
Pen:  Mortlock

For England:
Pens:  Wilkinson 4

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 George Gregan, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Phil Waugh, 21 Julian Huxley, 22 Drew Mitchell.

England:  15 Jason Robinson, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 George Chuter, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Lawrence Dallaglio, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Dan Hipkiss.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Pumas conquer Ireland

Argentina have made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup as the top finishers in Pool D after recording a clinical 30-15 victory over Ireland in Paris on Sunday.

The result at Parc des Princes sends Ireland crashing out of the tournament and consigns hosts France to a quarter-final on foreign soil in Cardiff against New Zealand next weekend.

Argentina face Scotland in the Stade de France next Sunday, and must surely now be favourites to take a semi-final spot, most likely against South Africa.

Ireland fought gamely but Argentina's aggressive defence proved too much for the stuttering green attack.

The Pumas also managed two fine first-half tries, one from each wing, as the team proved its competence in all areas of the pitch.

Ireland went into the group eliminator needing a bonus-point victory, but only managed two tries through Brian O'Driscoll and Geordan Murphy.

Unbeaten Argentina never looked like losing, with wings Lucas Borges and Horacio Agulla claiming touchdowns, while masterly fly-half Juan Martín Hernández dropped three goals and cucumber-like centre Felipe Contepomi kicked 11 points.

And so Ireland follow Wales home, but not exactly following in red footsteps.  The Welsh were equal to Fiji in all areas of play;  Ireland came off a distinct second in all facets of play.

"It's hard to play against a side that refuses to play in their own half," lamented O'Driscoll in the wake of battle, and it's hard to argue with the man.

Argentina forced Ireland to build from deep, but never allowed them time to play the ball, let alone time to think about what to do with the thing.

The Pumas' ravenous defence gobbled up just about everything Ireland had to offer -- it would take the local gendarmerie a week just to log the number of stolen green balls.

But the remarkable truth is that Ireland didn't play that badly.  They showed good composure in the early stages of the game and glimpses of brilliance in first-phase play.

With Argentina looking slightly nervous from the off, Ireland set out their stall by sending their first penalty -- from a highly kickable spot -- into the corner.

It was a move intended to shake the hitherto unshakable Latinos.  It backfired.  Argentina managed to steal the line-out ball and clear their lines.  And with that, Ireland's main weapon was spiked.

Buoyed by their defensive efforts, the Pumas strode into Irish territory -- and there they remained for much of the match.

It was Argentina who had the first shot at goal as a moment of mindless Irish hot-potato combined with ruthless Argentine tackling to cough up an opportunity for Contepomi, but his kick at the sticks sailed wide.

The Leinster star then almost made amends by scoring after hacking on a loose ball, but his old friend Denis Hickie showed great pace to beat him to the touch-down.

Suddenly the tables had turned and the Pumas were in complete control.

Argentina plugged on, sparking up a rolling maul that almost had them over the whitewash.

That attack earned them a five-metre scrum from which Agustín Pichot picked up and went blind.  He dragged in three would-be tacklers before feeding wing Lucas Borges who scooted over to score.

Contepomi missed the conversion, but first blood had been drawn -- and Ireland's confident start added extra weight to the try.

The Irish managed to put the score to one side and responded well, with Brian O'Driscoll showing a trademark flash of brilliance that has been in short supply in France.  His raid won a penalty which O'Gara duly converted into three points, and Ireland's crusade was up and running.

But the Argentinians were in no mood to allow Irish dreams to take root.  Hernández stamped out the green seed of hope by dropping a goal in the very next phase of play.

And from there they pushed and they pushed, keeping O'Gara teetering on his dead-ball line.  Only heroic defence kept Ireland honest, but heroic defence was not on at the top of Ireland's agenda:  they still needed four tries and, with 30 minutes played, there was neither hide nor hair of a single one.

Every vague Irish skirmish across the half-way line was repelled by the ferocious Pumas, with Eoin Reddan having particular trouble with the offensive defence of the South Americans.

With patient phase-play patently not paying dividends for the Irish, it was time to turn to magic, and O'Driscoll took a peek up his sleeve.

O'Gara sent out a flat miss-pass from the back of an innocuous line-out outside Argentina's 22 and the Ireland captain meet the ball at full speed.  Argentina's flat-footed defence could not stop the runaway centre and Ireland had their first try.

"It has started!" O'Driscoll informed the Pumas as they assembled under the sticks for O'Gara's successful conversion, but the Argentinians begged to differ.

Hernández, surely an Inuit in a previous life, dropped a nonchalant long-range goal before setting up his side's second try.

After collecting his own bomb he set the Pumas loose with a wonderful backhand flip that left the Irish clawing at air.  The move was punctuated by Horacio Agulla in the right-hand corner, but not before the ball had passed through at least a dozen pairs of Argentine hands, with the impressive Gonzalo Longo delivering the final pass.

And so, at the break, Ireland were just a quarter of the way to only partial safety.  Argentina, meanwhile, were coasting to the summit of the World Cup's toughest pool.  Just two more tries would put the Irish out of their misery instantly -- perhaps it would have been a better way to go.

Ireland needed early points in the second half -- instead they coughed up a penalty that Contepomi converted into three more coffin nails.

A good-looking Irish attack had the crowd's green contingent on their feet and Murphy soon had them dancing as he slid over the whitewash for Ireland's second.

Again, it was a deft miss-pass from O'Gara to O'Driscoll that did the damage.  The Irish skipper then found David Wallace on his shoulder and the flank supplied the final pass.

O'Gara missed the conversion, but Ireland's dream began to flicker once again.  They had kippered the Pumas with two first-phase tries that came straight off the blackboard.  Could they learn from this?  Could they build on this?

Straws loom like logs to drowning men, and O'Driscoll was soon thrashing around like he was on his last lungful.  His troops duly followed suit and Argentina began to look fallible.

But only for a moment.  A long punt downfield from Hernández was met by more Argentinians than Irish, and Contepomi soon had another kick at goal which he duly dispatched.

More Argentine pressure spawned another penalty opportunity for Contepomi which he cashed in as Eddie O'Sullivan played his last card by emptying his bench onto the pitch.

When up 27-15 and with 15 minutes to play, most sides would err on the side of caution.  Not Argentina.  They fought on as if they were chasing the game, hounding the Irish off the ball at every junction.

Their lust for contact finally rubbed off on the Irish and, with ten minutes to go, they began to look menacing at the breakdown.

A green penalty was soon dispatched into the corner but Argentina's impeccable defence nipped the raid in the bud.  The Irish faithful at Parc des Princes began to murmur a mournful rendition of the Fields of Athenry.

Ireland's fans knew the game was up, but no one had bothered to inform the Pumas.  They continued to boss and bully and cajole before Hernández delivered the coup de grace in the shape of his third drop-goal.

The message couldn't have cleared.  Coming out of the 'pool of death' without a scratch was no less than the mighty Argentinians had expected -- they are after world domination.  With Scotland up next, who would bet against them going all the way?

Man of the match:  Brian O'Driscoll finally showed his class and his absence from the play-offs is blow for rugby-lovers the world over.  Paul O'Connell also finally proved his worth, and Ronan O'Gara punctuated a difficult campaign with some merit.  Meanwhile, the Argentinians were heroes to a man.  Their great strength is their collective will, but -- as always -- a few individuals stood out.  Gonzalo Longo and Rodrigo Roncero got through a heap of work, whilst Felipe Contepomi added structure and the points.  Meanwhile, Agustín Pichot, once again, proved himself to be a leader of rare ability.  But our award goes to the ice-cool Juan Martín Hernández.  The Scots will need to pin some great jailable crime on the immaculate pivot if they wish to return to Paris for a semi-final.

Moment of the match:  Ireland's two tries were beautifully executed, but we'll opt for the build-up to Horacio Agulla's try.  It was 'total rugby' at it's very best.

Villain of the match:  Perhaps a little too much shirt-pulling from the Argentinians, but we'll reserve judgement until we've studied the videos.  No award.  Yet.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Borges, Agulla
Con:  Contempomi
Pens:  Contempomi 3
Drop goals:  Hernandez 3

For Ireland:
Tries:  O'Driscoll, Murphy
Con:  O'Gara
Pen:  O'Gara

Argentina:  15 Ignacio Corleto, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Manuel Contepomi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Agustín Pichot (c), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Lucas Ostiglia, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Carlos Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Juan Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Omar Hasan, 18 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 19 Martín Durand, 20 Nicolás Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Hernán Senillosa.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan,
Replacement:  16 Rory Best, 17 Bryan Young, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Neil Best, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Gavin Duffy.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch

Boks perform in patches

South Africa rounded off their World Cup Pool A campaign with a hard-fought 64-15 win over the USA in Montpellier on Sunday.

The curate's egg was good in parts, and so was this performance.  The good parts were, in fact magnificent -- none more so than a try scored by the USA in the first half.  It may just have been the golden moment of the all the pool matches.

South Africa were well in the saddle and looked about to score another try as Fourie du Preez fired a long pass to his right.  Up stepped big, long-haired Dan Clever and intercepted the ball.  He headed downfield, veering infield, obviously lacking the lags to outstrip the scrambling Springboks but he got a pass in to rangy Alec Parker, who passed to general Mike Hercus.  Hercus then floated the best pass of the match, a long pass to his right, perfectly timed for speedster Takudzwa Ngwenya, on the right wing -- a pass that allowed him to run at speed onto the ball and the radiologist from Harare set off at speed, leaving speedster Bryan Habana for dead as he raced 52 metres to score at the posts.

It was a golden moment when the American star certainly spangled.

That was just before half-time and the Springboks led 24-10 at half-time -- not a perfect half as captain John Smit noted afterwards.  The pool leaders were sloppy, knowing that winning would be an easy thing and so expecting that scoring a try would be an easy thing.  That led to lots of individuality and lots of careless handling, perhaps exacerbated by a certain dampness on the ball.  But eventually they settled and the second half was more structured.

While the second half was more structured they also became, oddly, more prodigal.  Where in the first half they had conceded only three penalties, in the second they conceded seven -- most of them at the tackle.

The USA battled to get first-phase possession,.  Their line-outs were a mess and the scrums under great pressure but they were positive throughout and competed at the tackle and, made sure the South Africans got slow ball at the tackle/ruck, which is just as well for when they got the ball back quickly their speed and sense of purpose was too much and they scored some splendid tries.

The first try came from quick ball as they charged at the line and Du Preez sent a wicked, low bass at Schalk Burger who scooped it up and powered over.  It was a moment of great skill for the loose forward playing No.8, an unaccustomed position but approached with his usual zest.  In the first half he tended to try his through-a-brickwall tactics but was at his best when he got quick and clever passes away.

The try was, as is usual at French grounds, greeted with a trumpet blast and a cheer.

Burger was penalised at a tackle/ruck as the Eagles went on a pick-'n-go and Hercus made the score 10-3 but then Cleever, later a hero, was sent to the sin bin as he lapsed into being an habitual offender at the breakdown.

Wikus van Heerden won a turn-over and prop CJ van der Linde sent Frans Steyn running.  Over the 22 he went, beating four Eagles as he swerved to the line.  17-3 after 27 minutes.

The Springboks should have scored when they counterattacked but Burger ran too far and then passed poorly.  But when Burger peeled off from a line-out the Springboks gave Habana a small overlap which was invitation enough for a try in the corner, which Montgomery converted.  24-3 after 35 minutes.

It was after this that Ngwenya got his brilliant try.

from a scrum Jaque Fourie burst ahead, Burger and Ndungane carried it on and Habana was again over in the corner after just one minute of a more structured half for the Springboks.

When Henry Bloomfield was penalised at a tackle/ruck on the Springbok right, Du Preez tapped and the ball went wide left and then back inside where Juan Smith gave an underarm flip to CJ van der Linde and the massive prop raced over for a try.  Montgomery converted.  36-10 after 48 minutes.

The Eagles still had zest for the contest.  The Springboks took a quick throw-in not far from their line and Steyn knocked on.  The Eagles swooped and they attacked sharply till they went left and fullback Chris Wyles forced his way over through feeble tackles by Ndungane and Matfield.  38-15 after 51 minutes.

Habana chased the deep kick-off which was caught by Ngwenya and the two collided.  Their heads banged and both bled from head wounds.  Ngwenya had his strapped up like an Alamo wounded and Habana retired for the evening to be replaced by JP Pietersen who had an excellent match.

The next try came from a tighthead at a scrum.  John Smit drove well and suddenly Du Preez was darting over.  43-15.

Hooker Owen Lentz had a great run for the Eagles but Pietersen made the break that led to the next score.  The Springboks went right from a line-out.  Burger drove and then Butch James switched inside to Pietersen who raced ahead.  He gave to Steyn who popped a pressured pass to Fourie who scored.  50-15.

Hercus had a great break past Burger to set up an Eagle attack but Cleever lost the ball behind a scrum and Burger, low happier at flank, picked up and passed immediately to his left deep in Springbok territory.  Off went Pietersen and eventually Fourie got his second try, which James converted.  57-15.

The last try also came of an Eagle attack.  They grubbered and the Springboks countered.  Burger started it, Ruan Pienaar was prominent and Smith finished it off with a swerve.

Man of the Match:  Hard.  Mike Hercus was outstanding in a beaten side and so was sturdy hooker Owen Lentz.  The South African loose trio was brilliant.  Despite some lapses in judgement the Man of the Match is Schalk Burger.  Is there a more zestful player in the world?

Moment of the Match:  There were good moments but none as rich and bright and breath-taking as the try by Takudzwa Ngwenya.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.  It was well-mannered and honourable.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Burger, Steyn, Habana 2, Van der Linde, Du Preez, Fourie 2, Smith
Cons:  Montgomery 6, James 2
Pen:  Montgomery

For USA:
Tries:  Ngwenya, Wyles
Con:  Hercus
Pen:  Hercus

Yellow card:  Clever (24, USA, killing the ball)

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 François Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Wikus van Heerden, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit, 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Bobby Skinstad, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 JP Pietersen

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Philip Eloff, 12 Vahafolau Esikia, 11 Salesi Sika, 10 Mike Hercus (c), 9 Chad Erskine, 8 Dan Payne, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Owen Lentz, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 Mark Aylor, 19 Henry Bloomfield, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Valenese Malifa, 22 Thretton Palamo.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Paul Marks (Australia), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor:  Ian Scotney/Stuart Beissel

France do the job

France await the result of the Ireland v Argentina match with interest after they secured the expected bonus-point 64-7 win over Georgia in Marseille on Sunday.

Should Argentinians lose by more than seven and not score four tries against Ireland, the French will top the group, leaving the Pumas or the Irish facing New Zealand in a Cardiff quarter-final next Saturday, while France will face Scotland in the Stade de France.

From the first whistle, Les Bleus promptly established a balance of rhythm and flair with Beauxis calmly stroking over a fourth minute penalty.

And there was more early joy for the Marseille masses as Jauzion skipped through the Georgian midfield defence and duly handed the ball on to Poitrenaud to coast over, converted by Beauxis.

The star man for the hosts in the opening ten minutes was undoubtedly their fly-half, who oozed confidence and fluidity in a controlling manner.

In fact, the entire French XV adopted a disciplined attitude in the first quarter, as the Stade Francias man sent over another three more points, taking the score to 13-0.

However, the Georgians, in their tournament farewell, deserved the respect being shown after their 2007 heroics.

Beauxis extended the lead to sixteen on 24 minutes with a mammoth kick, albeit wind-assisted, and an extra seven points promptly followed when Nyanga sneaked over against the fourteen-men of The Lelos.

And with the interval fast approaching, the number ten increased his individual tally by adding his name to the try-list, capping beautiful running rugby from several of the three-quarters.

The party atmosphere continued soon after the interval when Dominici reopened the French account, claiming a pinpoint Beauxis cross-kick to score on 45 minutes.

And when Bruno crashed over on the touchline, which was beautifully converted by Beauxis, the lead was 42 with half an hour of rugby remaining.

The French formalities continued to wow the Stade Vélodrome as a deft dink over the tiring Georgian defence from Elissalde bounced kindly for Dominici's second.

The procession continued and the half century was comfortably achieved when Nallet crossed from close-range, quickly followed by Martin.

The Lelos did get their moment to savour eight minutes from time though, when substitute Maisuradze barged over from a quick-tap, bringing the scores to 59-7.

However, the match and tournament ended on a sour note for the Georgians as flank Martin found himself picked up and seemingly thrown dangerously to the floor by Machkhaneli.

But Les Bleus confidently put the icing on the cake when the impressive Bonnaire dived over late on to cap a pleasing performance for Laporte, as they claimed the maximum.

Man of the match:  A complete performance from fly-half Lionel Beauxis!  The Stade understudy for David Skrela controlled from the outset, and his territorial boot put France in all the right areas to attack.  Surely his 24-point haul now puts him in Laporte's thoughts for the quarters.

Moment of the match:  It has to be Jean-Baptiste Elissalde's delicate cross-field kick for Dominici in broken play.  The replacement scrum-half, who entered proceedings earlier than expected after a hamstring injury to Pierre Mignoni, weighed up what was in front of him and found his winger.

Villain of the match:  It was a contest played in good spirit until the tackle on Martin by Machkhaneli.  The substitute escaped a sin-binning however, as team-mate Gigauri found himself on the sidelines.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Poitrenaud, Nyanga, Beauxis, Dominici 2, Bruno, Nallet, Martin, Bonnaire
Cons:  Beauxis 5
Pens:  Beauxis 3

For Georgia:
Try:  Maisuradze
Con:  Kvirikashvili

Yellow cards:  Makgravelidze (28, Georgia, tripping), Gigauri (75, Georgia, spear tackle)

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Serge Betsen (c), 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Fabien Pelous, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 21 David Skréla.

Georgia:  15 Otar Barkalaia, 14 Besiki Khamashuridze, 13 Revaz Gigauri, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Otar Eloshvili, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze (c), 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Grigol Labadze, 6 Ilia Maisuradze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Zurab Mtchedlishvili, 3 David Zirakashvili, 2 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 1 Mamuka Magrakvelidze.
Replacements:  16 Avtandil Kopaliani, 17 Goderdzi Shvelidze, 18 Victor Didebulidze, 19 Zviad Maisuradze, 20 Giorgi Elizbarashvili, 21 Irakli Machkhaneli, 22 Malkhaz Urjukashvili.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Dave Pearson (England)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

Fiji stun Wales

Fiji have made it through to the World Cup quarter-finals after an extraordinary 38-34 win over Wales in Nantes on Saturday.

Forget Argentina's win over France earlier this month.  Forget, too, Samoa's victory over Wales in the 1991 edition of this tournament -- and the repeat performance in 1999.  Forget even France's comeback in the semi-final of 1999.  This game will go down as the greatest World Cup upset ever.  It was a classic -- sporting theatre at its very best.

As the Fijians whooped and wailed and prayed and sang at the final whistle sounded, the Welsh -- to a man -- stood motionless as the terrible truth sank in.  The side that claimed the Grand Slam in 2005 has taken the earliest exit possible from the World Cup.

Wales captain Gareth Thomas finally managed to muster a few words in the wake of defeat, likening the whole Welsh campaign to "a roller-coaster ride".  He's not wrong.

Indeed, this game was a helter-skelter in itself.  The South Sea islanders found themselves 25-3 in front before the break.  Fine work from Wales saw them steal back a 34-31 lead late in the game, and it looked as if Fijian fires had been doused.

But they summoned up the strength from the very depths of their souls and launched one final do-or-die raid that bore a try -- confirmed by video replay -- for prop Graham Dewes.

But the game showed no signs of greatness in its early youth.  Indeed, it looked like it would be another case of ruthless efficiency and professionalism subduing heart and passion.

But this time there was just too much heart -- and too much passion!

The "minnows" -- can we now please dispense with that term? -- have finally sunk their teeth into something substantial.

It was Stephen Jones who opened the scoring with a penalty for Wales in the early exchanges.

The reds then pushed on, carrying out their gameplan methodically and carefully -- territory, set-piece, territory, set-piece -- like well-drilled boy scouts.

Another penalty was soon directed at the uprights, but Jones's kick rebound off the post.

The miss seemed to trigger something in Fijian heads.  It was like an alarm clock going off -- a sudden realisation that there was a match to play -- and they bounced out of bed eager to devour the Welsh for breakfast.

Suddenly the big hits started to rain in, each heavier and more ruthless than the last.

The slight frame of James Hook was never going to hold up to the barrage and he duly turned over possession whilst under pressure from the outstanding Seru Rabeni.

Isoa Neivua took the ball up to the Welsh lines where it was recycled for the on-rushing Akapusi Qera, who crashed through two weak challenges before sliding in for the first try of the game.

The try added a couple of inches to each of the islanders, and Wales were soon stung again by an attack born in the depths of their own half.

Rabeni was again at the heart of it as he broke down the right before offloading to Vilimoni Delasau.

The Clermont wing, short on space down the right, chipped in-field and then beat both Mark Jones and Gareth Thomas with a leap fit for a salmon to regather in the in-goal area and touch down for Fiji's second try.

What had happened to the script?  Fiji were insatiable and unstoppable and Wales's fragile confidence looked shattered.

Nicky Little then landed a second long-range penalty as Wales were once again penalised for not rolling away.

Qera, already a sporting icon back home, enhanced his growing reputation further by then breaking through midfield to once again leave Wales on the rack.

The Gloucester man twice linked with Seremai Bai, and Wales could not halt the Fijian charge as lock Kele Leawere crashed over for their third try and Little's conversion opened up a 25-3 lead for Fiji.

Wales trailed by the same scoreline at half-time against Australia a fortnight ago -- they went on to loss that game soundly.  What was going through their heads?

Credit to them, then, that they steadied the ship by sucking the ball in tight.  Wales's scrum was vastly superior to Fiji's rough construction, and a push-over try to Alix Popham soon had the Welsh fans peeking out from behind their seats.

Fiji then lost Qera to the sin-bin at the stoke of half-time.  The flank was adjudged to have raised his knee as Stephen Jones closed in on a ruck, but it could be that he paid the price for several earlier incidences of somewhat rambunctious defence from the islanders.

But Hook failed to find the sticks with the ensuing penalty and the Welsh slunk into the bowels of Stade de la Beaujoire to chew on their predicament -- 25-10 down to one of the "lesser" nations and staring an early return home in the face.

Quite what happened under the stands is still unclear, but an untrained eye would have assumed that the teams simply exchanged kit during the break.

Wales, for reasons that may escape even them, eschewed their clear set-piece advantage and decided to take Fiji on at their own game.

The ploy clearly foxed the islanders.  How could their own skills be used against them -- and to such great effect?

Beautiful hands and vision lead to tries for Shane Williams, Gareth Thomas and Mark Jones.

And so for twenty glorious minutes Wales fans were allowed to dream, to mention the 1970s and their gods of the beautiful game.

And then they simply sat back.

Why?  Who knows?  The Fijians were flagging with their tongues hanging out, but Wales refused to run away over the horizon, preferring to jog slowly and let Fiji regain their breath.

Even the arrival of a fresh Welsh battalion of professional brutes from off the bench failed to stamp their authority on the shattered islanders.

In fact, Wales conspired to actually cough up the lead by conceding three kickable -- and duly kicked -- penalties.

Like so often before -- and perhaps now never again -- it was left to Martyn Williams to save Welsh bacon, and the irrepressible flank picked off Little's pass to score an intercept-try and steal back the lead.

But the final act of an engrossing drama was still to come as Dewes burrowed over in the corner.

And with that Fiji picked up their first win in nine games against Wales and advance to their first quarter-final since 1987.

Wales head home to face the music -- and it will be deafening.

Man of match:  Martyn Williams saved Welsh blushes on occasions to numerous to mention, whilst Shane Williams, Mark Jones and Alix Popham showed flashes of brilliance.  Each and every Fijian deserves credit for this performance, but we'll single out Vilimoni Delasau, Nicky Little and Akapusi Qera.  But out on his own in his personal bubble of brilliance is Seru Rabeni -- so strong in defence, so dangerous in attack.  This was the game of his life.

Moment of match:  Just too many to pick from!  We'll opt for Vilimoni Delasau's try.  One try could be considered lucky, but a second -- and one of such high quality -- allowed the Fijians to begin to believe.

Villain of the match:  Nicky Little was warned over two high tackles in quick succession, and Akapusi Qera was sin-binned for cocking a leg.  But it was Kele Leawere's late tackle on Alix Popham that made us wince the most.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Popham, Shane Williams, Gareth Thomas, Mark Jones, Martyn Williams
Cons:  Hook 2, Stephen Jones
Pen:  Stephen Jones

For Fiji:
Tries:  Qera, Delasau, Leawere, Dewes
Cons:  Little 3
Pens:  Little 4

Yellow card:  Qera (40, Fiji, raised knee in the tackle)

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 James Hook, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Alix Popham, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Thomas Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Michael Owen, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Jamie Robinson, 22 Dafydd James.

Fiji:  15 Kameli Ratuvou, 14 Vilimoni Delasau, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Isoa Neivua, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Mosese Rauluni(c), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Semisi Naevo, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Kele Leawere, 3 Jone Railomo, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Graham Dewes.
Replacements:  16 Vereniki Sauturaga, 17 Henry Qiodravu, 18 Wame Lewaravu, 19 Aca Ratuva, 20 Jone Daunivucu, 21 Norman Ligairi, 22 Sireli Bobo.

Referee:  Chris White
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh, Bryce Lawrence
Television match official:  Lyndon Bray
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie

Scotland scrap through

Scotland have made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup after a nerve-racking 18-16 win over Italy in Saint Etienne.

The bare-faced facts are there for all to see, Scotland advance as runners-up in the group and Italy are out of the World Cup by the narrowest of margins.  A losing bonus point will be of scant consolation for the Azzurri.

For a game that offered such a lucrative reward it came as little surprise that neither side were prepared to chance their arm too much.  The cascading rain did little to encourage entertaining rugby, and so it was that the game developed into trench warfare.

Italy did little to help themselves in the opening forays, gifting Chris Paterson two simple penalties in the first five minutes.  Needless to say Paterson, coming into the game with a perfect kicking record at the World Cup, eased his side into a six-point lead.

It came as something of a surprise when after eight minutes Jason White turned down a third eminently kickable penalty.  Mauro Bergamasco was sin-binned for a cynical early tackle on Simon Taylor, and it appeared that Scotland would stretch their lead further.  White sensed the chance of a more telling score It was not forthcoming, at least not for Scotland.

Despite being at a numerical disadvantage Italy were able to score the game's only try, showing acute tactical awareness.  Ramiro Pez hung a tantalising kick high into the Scottish 22 causing chaos, resulting in a spilt catch from Rory Lamont, a snaffled take from Josh Sole and a sniping try from Alessandro Troncon.

Scotland, woken from a temporary slumber by Troncon's try, began to assert a degree of control on proceedings, a David Bortolussi penalty aside.  The tactical kicking of Dan Parks was often of the highest order and coaxed his hulking forward pack into areas where they could flourish.

Maintaining possession and demonstrating controlled patience, Scotland were able to force Italy into committing needless infringements, born out of frustration rather than a lack of discipline.  Paterson continued to make a mockery of all the fuss over the quality of balls in the week by slotting two more penalties, to send Scotland in at the break with a slender 12-10 lead.

The tension was there for all to see after the break.  The kicking battle intensified as both teams reverted to ten-man rugby, eleven at best when the centres were used to forge a few extra yards.  And so a game of patience developed, neither side wanting to lose ground on the other.

Marginally better equipped to play such a game, Scotland seemed to be pulling away with yet another two Paterson penalties, but back came Italy again, through the boot of Bortolussi with two of his own three-pointers.  The first was a result of Nathan Hines' yellow card for a high tackle, the second a huge kick to put his side within one score.

That is where they would stay for the remainder of the game, as ultimately they proved they did not have what it took to break Scotland down.  In the forward exchanges they were outmuscled by Jason White and co.  And in the kicking stakes they missed touch far too often, allowing Parks the time and space to punish them for their deficiencies.

The Scottish performance was not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, but they have more than at any other stage in the tournament to build upon.  Their line out was slick, especially given the treacherous conditions and their scrum was solid enough.  In that they opted to ignore their back line it is hard to say what it was like, apart from very good at jogging up and down the field watching the forwards do battle.

Frank Hadden watched on nervously, the meaning of this game clear for all to see on his face.  His nerves will have jangled towards the end of a titanic forward battle when Bortolussi's long range penalty drifted agonisingly wide.

The hooter had sounded and Italy were in possession, knowing any score would suffice for a win.  Why then Troncon saw fit to chip the ball away is a mystery.  You would expect a player of his experience to appreciate the magnitude of the situation and opt rather to keep the ball in hand.  As it was Andrew Henderson took the pointless kick with ease and rather hurriedly made his way over the touchline to signal the end of Troncon's career and Italy's World Cup.  The scrum-half promptly burst into tears.

Scotland will now await their quarter-final fate, knowing that depending on the results of Sunday's games they may, just may, have a sniff at making the World Cup semi-finals, although one feels they lack the firepower to make any further impression in France.

Man of the Match:  A hard award to dish out after such a basic game, but some honourable nominees nonetheless.  Sergio Parisse fought tooth and nail for the Italian cause, a shame he lacked support from others.  David Bortolussi did everything in his powers but was unable to guide his team home.  Dan Parks provided his pack with favourable field position time and again.  Nathan Hines got through a bucketload of work, despite a yellow card.  But the star performer was Jason White, ever reliable in the tight and a tremendous worker around the field he was instrumental in this win.  He led with aplomb and ensured his side maintained their game plan.

Moment of the Match:  It didn't come until time was up but Troncon's kick behind the Scottish defence summed up their night.  It showed they had run out of ideas and were relying on Scottish mistakes, that were few and far between for once, to win them the game.

Villain of the Match:  It was always going to be an emotionally-fuelled affair, as several players demonstrated as they let their emotions get the better of them.  Most notable however was Alessandro Troncon's dangerously late and high tackle on Dan Parks.  In his last ever game it was an act that he will want to forget it what has otherwise been an illustrious career for club and country.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 6

For Italy:
Try:  Troncon
Con:  Bortolussi
Pens:  Bortolussi 2

Yellow cards:  Mauro Bergamasco (8, Italy, professional foul), Hines (55, Scotland, high tackle)

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Simon Webster, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Andrea Masi, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Carlo Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Valerio Bernabò, 19 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 20 Paul Griffen, 21 Roland de Marigny, 22 Ezio Galon.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes, Hugh Watkins
Television match official:  Dave Pearson
Assessor:  Bob Francis

ABs ready for Cardiff

New Zealand recorded a resounding 85-8 win over Romania on Saturday, with a welter of ominously well-finished tries showing that they are ready for whoever they may face in the Cardiff quarter-final next weekend.

Joe Rokocoko was once again in prolific form, crossing the Romanian try-line three times.  Sitiveni Sivivatu and outside centre Isaia Toeava each scored a brace.

While Graham Henry's charges weren't always clinical -- there were once again too many unforced errors from the Tri-Nations champions -- they also displayed some of their best rugby in the entire World Cup thus far.

There were areas of concern though and coach Henry would have to be foolish to deny it.  The All Blacks struggled at the restarts, regularly not collecting the ball cleanly and often squandering valuable try-scoring opportunities.  Fortunately there was an abundance of opportunities on the day.

The Oaks were very competent opponents at times and made the All Blacks work hard to retain possession, especially in the tackle situation.

Scrum-half Andy Ellis, who made the most of his rare opportunity to wear the All Black number nine jersey in this World Cup campaign, often struggled to get clean supply from his forwards.

The Romanians certainly stood their ground in the set pieces and can be proud of their solid forward play which led to their opening try in the 30th minute of the game, courtesy of hooker Marius Tincu.

However, it was once again the Romanian defensive patterns that proved costly.

Sivivatu opened the All Black account after just 37 seconds, when pivot Luke McAlister, running in his own 22, found a gaping hole in the Oaks' defence before setting up a long-distance effort for the big wing.

The signs were immediately ominous for the European minnows.  Just seven minutes later Ellis single-handedly created what was an early candidate for moment of the game, when his crisp pass found Chris Masoe, who merely need to cross the line in the 9th minute.

Rokocoko scored another just six minutes later, but it was the 17th minute Nick Evans try that really caught our attention.  The build-up to the Evans try included some enthralling interplay from loose-forwards Sione Lauaki and Jerry Collins -- some of the handling from the All Black forwards was sublime.

Sivivatu's second try, six minutes later, was just as impressive.  But following that the All Blacks seemed to lose some of their intensity.

For the first time in the match the All Black defence was tested and it failed dismally when Tincu scored for the minnows.

Periods of the second-half were very quiet for the All Blacks.  While Aaron Mauger and Toeava added their names to the score sheet early on, the team went through two ten-minute spells without even looking close to scoring.

The Romanians, who had been expected to fade by half-time were still playing with great heart and determination -- they certainly weren't going to hand the game to the All Blacks on a silver platter.

From the 57th minute to the end of the game, it was the quality All Black bench that made an impact.  Chris Jack, who came on for Keith Robinson, made a mid-field break before setting up Rokocoko's second try of the afternoon.

In between, Richie McCaw again proved to most why he was regarded as the best player in the world when he came onto the field, taking full control at the break-down.

Doug Howlett was as busy as a bee, always in the thick of things and in the last fifteen minutes the All Blacks looked very impressive -- hopefully for Henry they can carry that form into the knock-out rounds.

A further four sterling All Black tries were added in the last 14 minutes, capping another easy day at the office for Henry's men.  The tough work is only about to begin though, with the October 7 quarter-final in Cardiff -- probably against France -- looming.

Man of the match:  Andy Ellis made the most of his World Cup start, playing a significant role in at least two of the more impressive All Black tries.  His distribution was sound and he made a number of good clearances from the base of the scrum.  He is our man-of-the-match for the day.

Moment of the match:  Most of the All Black tries were absolutely superb, the best of which was the world-class 78th minute Doug Howlett score.  The All Blacks showed once again how sensational their handling can be with Brendon Leonard, Nick Evans, Conrad Smith and Aaron Mauger running great angles before setting Howlett free.  But if we were to be sentimental, the first and only Romanian try courtesy of Marius Tincu in the 30th minute was a classic display of good, solid forward play and was perhaps equally deserving of moment-of-the-match.

Villain of the match:  Sione Lauaki made a ghastly swinging-arm tackle on an opposition player in the 50th minute, and there was another one shortly before from Keven Mealamu.  Do you really need to tackle like that when leading by 40 points?

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Sivivatu 2, Masoe, Rokocoko 3, Evans, Mauger, Toeava 2, Hore, Smith, Howlett,
Cons:  McAlister 7, Evans 3

For Romania:
Try:  Tincu
Pen:  Vlaicu

New Zealand:  15 Nick Evans, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Jerry Collins (c), 5 Keith Robinson, 4 Reuben Thorne, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Doug Howlett, 22 Conrad Smith.

Romania:  15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Stefan Ciuntu, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Sorin Socol (c), 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Bogdan Balan.
Replacements:  16 Razvan Mavrodin, 17 Paulica Ion, 18 Valentin Ursache, 19 Cosmin Ratiu, 20 Valentin Calafeteanu, 21 Florin Vlaicu, 22 Catalin Robert Dascalu.

Referee:  Joël Jutge
Touch judges:  Federico Cuesta, Malcolm Changleng
Television match official:  Paul Marks
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

Wallabies hot and cold

Australia delivered a patchy performance ahead of their quarter-final with England, beating Canada 37-6 in Bordeaux on Saturday.

It took the Wallabies over an hour to stretch their lead beyond 12 points, and it was only a late brace of tries from Drew Mitchell that gave the score the dominant look.

For the large part, and in atrocious weather, the Wallabies were error-prone and disjointed, and there were several additional injuries to furrow the brow of John Connolly.

Once again a capacity crowd weathered the weather and crammed into the rain-soaked Stade Chaban-Delmas, only to take entertainment from a tide of Mexican waves.

With Australia having already sealed their place at the top of Pool B, someone forgot to tell the two-time world champions that they still had another game to play.

Connolly had fielded a second-string outfit to finish off the job, but the fringe players would have done little -- if not nothing -- to convince the coach of their worth in the knock-out stages.

England will certainly be thinking they just might be in with a chance if the men in green and gold put in another ordinary performance when the 2003 finalists meet in Marseilles on October 6.

Hats off to Canada though, who hardly gave Australia an inch with some courageous defence that contributed in slowing the ball down in contact, preventing any real flow for the Wallabies.

The Canucks inspirational work-rate around the pitch made the Australians look sloppy in all facets of the game -- it was as if they didn't want to be there.

Defeat for Canada, meanwhile, makes them the first Canadian side to return home without at least one victory in the competition.  It would have been a miracle if they had won this game and they knew it.

The Canucks were playing for pride and respect, with captain and scrum-half Morgan Williams, along with Rod Snow and Mike James, playing their last game in a Canada jersey.

It was never likely to be a match of huge intensity and there was a carnival and fun atmosphere as a brass band played, and supporters under cover of the stand threw down ponchos to those in the seats open to the rain which came down heavily.

On the field, Australia had the scoreboard ticking with the game barely a minute old, fly-half Julian Huxley kicking the penalty after Canada had infringed at a maul.

The Canadian pack, however, prides itself on their physicality and was holding its own with James and Dave Biddle, in particular, putting in big hits on the lacklustre Wallabies.

Flanker Hugh McMeniman appeared to have burrowed over for the first try after 19 minutes.  But he was adjudged by TMO Lyndon Bray to have been held up by Williams, thanks to a knee getting in the way of the ball.

When the Canadian defence was finally breached in the 24th minute it came unusually from the ball being moved swiftly from a ruck to the left wing where prop Al Baxter was on hand to take the pass and bulldoze his way over.

The play for the main part was as dull as the Bordeaux weather and Australia's second try summed up the half with the Wallabies pack grinding forward, gradually inching their way to the Canadian line before hooker Adam Freier dropped on the ball.

It was not exactly flair-filled rugby but effective, even if Huxley did miss the most routine of conversions.

The best moment of the half came on the stroke of half-time when Lote Tuqiri went darting through but his floated pass was fumbled by wing Cameron Shepherd, leaving the half-time score at 13-0.

Canada finally managed to get some points on the board soon after the restart when winger James Pritchard slotted over a penalty.

However the Canucks were guilty of handing over Australia's third try on a silver platter after a botched line-out resulted in captain George Smith scoring his simplest try of his career.

Replacement hooker Aaron Carpenter threw the ball over the head of his jumper into the hands of Smith who set up a tricky conversion for Huxley that was duly missed.

The score took the Australians 18-3 clear and gave them a measure of comfort, although Canada's riposte was swift with Pritchard's second penalty.

Connolly would have been slightly concerned when number eight David Lyons was helped off the field and later seen leaving the grounds in a wheel chair.  It was later confirmed that the Waratahs star had suffered a nasty ankle injury.

As the match wore on, the Canucks began to tire, resulting in a number of gaps opening up for the Australians;  Lote Tuqiri was guilty on a couple of occasions for going for glory instead of passing.

However, Drew Mitchell made sure of the Wallabies' next two tries that confirmed him as the sole leading try-scorer at the Rugby World Cup, with seven tries to his name.

The Force winger cashed in with his brace in as many minutes.

The first came when Mitchell collected a lofted kick by Huxley, leaving a juggle with the unkind bounce of the ball before controlling well enough to power over.

With Huxley having an awful day with the boot, Shepherd was called to take over the kicking duties and slotted the first conversion of the match.

The second Mitchell touchdown was the best try of the match with Tuqiri slicing through the Canada defence once more.

The centre finally passed the ball to a charging Chris Latham who then allowed Mitchell to twist and turn his way over for a fine five-pointer.

Tuqiri's quality was also in evidence when he again turned provider to put full-back Chris Latham in for Australia's sixth try to wrap up the game and send the winless Canadians home.

But at least the Canucks can leave with their heads held high.

Man of the match:  Morgan Williams and Mike James capped off their illustrious careers with another fine display in a Canada jersey.  Williams was responsible for two try-saving tackles in the first and second half that could have resulted in a much bigger scoreline at the final whistle.  Whoever steps in for these two players, have mighty boots to fill indeed.  Not many Australians put their hands up.  Centre Lote Tuqiri made some superb breaks but acted more like a winger and failed to put in that final pass.  Drew Mitchell was always looking for work and was rewarded with two tries for his efforts.  But our vote goes to full-back Chris Latham whose precise kicking led to three tries from a line-out.  When he wasn't kicking he was running, and this led to Mitchell's second try as well as the Wallabies' sixth and final touchdown.

Moment of the match:  Tricky this one.  One could point out either of Mitchell's tries, purely based on the fact that something was finally clicking in the Wallabies camp.  But we decided to go for Morgan Williams' try-saving tackle on Hugh McMeniman in the first half.  Williams wasn't shy expressing his issues with the match officials' calls against his team at the World Cup, and the Canucks' skipper would have been happy that one of them finally went his team's way.

Villain of the match:  The Wallabies escape this reward for their lackadaisical-seeming approach only because of a concerted effort in the final 30 minutes of the match -- just.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Baxter, Freier, Smith, Mitchell 2, Latham
Cons:  Shepherd 2
Pen:  Huxley

For Canada:
Pens:  Pritchard 2

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Cameron Shepherd, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Julian Huxley, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 David Lyons, 7 George Smith (c), 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Greg Holmes
Replacements:  16 Sean Hardman, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Rocky Elsom, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Stephen Hoiles, 21 George Gregan, 22 Matt Giteau

Canada:  15 DTH van der Merwe, 14 Justin Mensah-Coker, 13 Mike Pyke, 12 Derek Daypuck, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Morgan Williams (c), 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Dave Biddle, 6 Colin Yukes, 5 Mike James, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Rod Snow
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Mike Burak, 20 Mike Webb, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Dave Spicer

Referee:  Chris White
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh, Bryce Lawrence
Television match official:  Lyndon Bray
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie

England begin to rumble

England secured a quarter-final date against Australia on Friday with a comfortable 36-20 win over Tonga in Paris, marked by a second-half points blitz after they had trailed early on.

While Martin Corry and the rest of England will celebrate a vital win, which keeps alive their hopes of becoming the first team to successfully defending a World Cup crown, many questions remain unanswered.

To borrow a few words from a colleague:  "This wasn't winning ugly, this was winning in a Quasimodo costume".

England dominated the set pieces and they had the majority of territory and possession.

Yet it took them 60 minutes to subdue a Tongan team that until a week ago was regarded as cannon fodder.

However, the big positive -- a very big positive -- is that England have advanced to the play-offs.

The England captain, Corry, was on the button with his post-match remarks:  "We are going to Marseille".  That, indeed, was the goal.

But as he admitted, there is a lot to work on and it did take England an awful long time to break down the islanders' resistance, but they stuck to their structures -- as ugly as it may have a looked -- and came away with four tries.

Fortuitous as some of those England scores were, England showed they can grind out victories in crunch matches.

Tongan captain Nili Latu also was on the mark when he said that you can't give England an inch, because they will make you pay.

Tonga enjoyed some early territorial advantage and looked the better of the two sides, with England decidedly nervous in their execution of plays.

It was deserved when Tonga took the lead in the ninth minute through a Pierre Hola penalty.

England managed to level the scores four minutes later -- an easy Jonny Wilkinson penalty -- after the Tongans were penalised for hands in the ruck.

The first try came in the 17th minute, with powerful centre Sukanaivalu Hufanga slid over from five metres out.  The initial break came from fellow midfielder Epeli Taione, whose strong runs had been causing the England defence plenty of problems.  Hola's conversion put the Tongans back in the lead at 10-3.

However, England hit back almost immediately -- a try going to wing Paul Sackey.  But the real creativity was in the sharpness of mind from fly-half Jonny Wilkinson who -- while the Tongans expected him to take a penalty kick at goal -- suddenly put in a cross-kick where Sackey was unchallenged.  The call still went to the TMO, but he ruled a good try.  Wilkinson's conversion drifted wide and Tonga held on to a narrow lead -- 10-8.

Barkley tried to put his team back in the lead with a drop-goal in the 28th minute, but he was wide of the mark at a time when England piled on the pressure and had huge amounts of territorial advantage.

England did get returns for their period of pressure when Wilkinson slotted a drop-goal, and the England fly-half began to stamp his authority on the game.

Wilkinson stretched that lead to four points with a 36th minute penalty, as the 50/50 calls continued to go in favour of England.

And Sackey piled further misery on the Sea Eagles as a loose Tongan pass left the ball on the ground and saw the speedy Wasps wing sprint 80 metres for a soft try.  Again Wilkinson's conversion attempt drifted wide.

Tonga had one last flurry in a half in which all the good fortune and calls went England's way and Tonga looked the more creative of the two sides.  However, with no further scoring England took a nine-point lead into the break -- 19-10.

Wilkinson had a chance to score the first points after the break and put his team almost out of touch, but for the third time (almost unheard of) the England fly-half's kick drifted wide.

The penalty was the result of a very ugly-looking high-tackle by Tongan captain Nili Latu on Lewis Moody and he was certainly lucky not to have had a yellow or red card flashed at him.

In fact it was Tonga who produced the half's first points, a penalty by Hola in the 55th minute, after England were caught with hands in a ruck.

However, England again hit back almost immediately and centre Mathew Tait slid over for the third try, with the initial break by Mark Cueto causing confusion and holes in the Tongan defence -- even though the wing almost butchered the move by ignoring an overlap.

It was some quick clean-out work and neat stepping by Tait that made sure the half-chance was turned into a score.  This time Wilkinson added the conversion and at 26-13 in favour of England the Tongans looked in trouble.

England now looked to have more bounce in their step and they started to dominate both territory and possession as the Tongan defenders got back slower and slower with every phase.

And this was no more evident than when Andy Farrell, on for Olly Barkley, strolled through a hole as big as a barn door in the 66th minute to score under the uprights.  Wilkinson's conversion made it 33-13 and the game was over as a contest.

Even though England were in complete control on the scoreboard -- not to mention the 50/50 calls still going their way -- they still looked bereft of ideas on attack and it required a Wilkinson drop-goal (his second) to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

There was a late flurry by Tonga, with flank Hale T Pole sliding over in the corner in the 79th minute.  The call went to the TMO, who awarded the try.

Hola added the conversion to make it 36-20 to England, but it was obviously much too little and far too late for the Pacific players.

Man of the match:  Many will give it to England wing Paul Sackey for his two tries, centre Mathew Tait had his moments in the late stages of the second half and fly-half Jonny Wilkinson -- his three missed kicks apart -- also left his mark on the game.  However, our award goes to Tonga flank Hale T Pole -- the man who scored the match's last try, which was just reward for his tireless work on defence and attack all night.

Moment of the match:  It was without doubt Mathew Tait's try, which finally broke the Tongan resistance and sent England on their way to a very important win.

Villain of the match:  It is sad, because the Tongan captain did so much good, but Nili Latu gets this award for what was a very ugly high-tackle on Lewis Moody.  He was lucky it was only a penalty.  It is no good to keep on saying they don't intend to harm people, these tackles happen far too often and they remain illegal.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Sackey 2, Tait, Farrell
Pens:  Wilkinson 2
Cons:  Wilkinson 2
Drop goals:  Wilkinson 2

For Tonga:
Tries:  Hufanga, T Pole
Cons:  Hola 2
Pens:  Hola 2

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry (c), 5 Ben Kay, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 George Chuter, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Phil Vickery, 18 Lawrence Dallaglio, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Andy Farrell, 22 Dan Hipkiss.

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Tevita Tu'ifua, 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Epeli Taione, 11 Joseph Vaka, 10 Pierre Hola, 9 Sione Tu'ipulotu, 8 Finau Maka, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Hale T Pole, 5 Lisiate Fa'aoso, 4 Viliami Vaki, 3 Kisi Pulu, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements:  16 Ephraim Taukafa, 17 Taufa'ao Filise, 18 Maama Molitika, 19 Inoke Afeaki, 20 Soane Havea, 21 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 22 Aisea Havili.

Referee:  Alain Rolland
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert, Christophe Berdos
Television match official:  Mark Lawrence
Assessor:  Bob Francis

Georgia ice the cake

Georgia nabbed their first-ever World Cup victory on Wednesday, beating Namibia 30-0 in a sub-standard game played in pouring rain in Lens.

The Georgians played to type, wearing down the Namibians in the heavy conditions, driving hooker Akvsenti Giorgadze over in the first half before finishing the deal with ten minutes to go by sending over wing Irakli Machkhaneli.

As expected, the battle between the basement boys of the Pool began in a full-blooded manner as the two packs sized each other up.

Late alterations to the Namibian XV saw coach Hakkies Husselman include Morne Shreuder and Jurie van Tonder ahead of Tertius Losper and Eugene Jantjies at half-back.

But it was the Georgians who struck first with centre Irakli Giorgadze piercing the Namibian midfield on seven minutes -- leading to a penalty -- that Merab Kvirikashvili slotted superbly in the pouring rain.

Because of the unfortunate weather, the Lens crowd immediately realised that tries were not going to be the flavour of the evening, as handling errors tainted the early stages.

But Georgia set about making sure that wasn't the case as the impressive Malkhaz Urjukashvili sparked the first of several attacks from full-back with a mazy run.

However, the Europeans were limited to shots at the minimum three points, which Kvirikashvili managed to land at the second time of asking.

With the lead now doubled to 6-0, Georgia continued to work the simple phases as they slowly acclimatised to the dreadful conditions.

And with half-an-hour on the clock, Namibia were finally handed their first opportunity of the game thanks to a Giorgi Shkinin mistake, but the penalty drifted wide of the uprights.

Georgia made their opponents pay and, as expected, the opening try came through the forward dominance.  Aksventi Giorgadze was the final man to his feet as the lead stretched to 13-0 on 38 minutes.

After the interval the first penalty opportunity came the way of Kvirikashvili, but the number ten missed by the smallest of margins.

However, Georgia continued to flex their physical dominance as the Africans desperately defended their line for an extended period of time.

Then the possession stakes began to even out as Namibia got a foothold just after the hour.

But it was short-lived as Georgia closed out the game with another Kvirikashvili penalty and intercept tries from Machkhaneli and Kacharava to record their debut win in the World Cup.

Man of the match:  The weather had no effect on full-back Malkhaz Urjukashvili, who was a constant thorn in the Namibian side.  In a match that could probably be described as an arm-wrestle, Urjukashvili combined solidity under the high ball with some exciting, enterprising rugby.

Moment of the match:  Not many moments to savour in a dour match at the Stade Félix Bollaert!  But the bruising tackle and steal from Irakli Machkhaneli before racing away to cement the win brightened up the sodden Lens crowd.

Villain of the match:  A game played in good spirit -- no villain.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Giorgadze, Machkhaneli, Kacharava
Cons:  Kvirikashvili 3
Pens:  Kvirikashvili 3

Georgia:  15 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 14 Irakli Machkhaneli, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Giorgi Shkinin, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze (c), 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Rati Urushadze, 6 Grigol Labadze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Levan Datunashvili, 3 David Zirakashvili, 2 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 1 Goderdzi Shvelidze.
Replacements:  16 David Khinchagashvili, 17 Avtandil Kopaliani, 18 Victor Didebulidze, 19 Besso Udesiani, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 Revaz Gigauri, 22 Besiki Khamashuridze.

Namibia:  15 Eugene Jantjies, 14 Ryan Witbooi, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Corne Powell, 11 Bradley Langenhoven, 10 Morne Schreuder, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Tinus du Plessis, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 5 Heino Senekal, 4 Wacca Kazombiaze, 3 Marius Visser, 2 Hugo Horn, 1 Kees Lensing (c).
Replacements:  16 Johannes Meyer, 17 Johnny Redelinghuys, 18 Jane du Toit, 19 Nico Esterhuize, 20 Jurie van Tonder, 21 Melrick Africa, 22 Morne Schreuder.

Referee:  Steve Walsh
Touch judges:  Malcolm Changleng, Paul Marks
Television match official:  Federico Cuesta
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie