Four-try Australia dominate Wales

Australia answered so many questions at the Millennium Stadium as they outplayed Wales 33-12 on Saturday.

Say what you will about the Wallabies but they do possess a class and zest that can dominate anyone on their day.  This was one of those unfortunately for the shell-shocked Welsh, who were left chasing gold shadows and falling off tackles for large parts of the Cardiff contest.

Pre-tour injuries to the tourists' starting centre duo were finally put behind them while the lateral hosts were hampered by losing Leigh Halfpenny, Shane Williams and Matthew Rees to go with the absent Mike Phillips, Ryan Jones and Tom Shanklin.

But one suspects that not even a full-strength Welsh under the roof would have stopped this rampant Australian outfit in this kind of form, as they were simply in another league on their final 2009 outing.  And yes, it went a long way to banishing any lingering memories of Murrayfield.

It was also to be a much-improved performance from fly-half Matt Giteau as his combination with Quade Cooper looked a cut above opposite numbers Stephen Jones and Jonathan Davies.

Quickly into his stride, the Brumby knocked over the opening three points from 50 metres after Ospreys tighthead Paul James was penalised at scrum-time.  And that proved to be the catalyst for the visitors, with centre Cooper spotting some lazy inside defence to put a racing Peter Hynes up to the home 22-metre.

What followed was a script that Wales' worst nightmare could not even match.

The departure of last week's double try-scorer Williams -- due to what looked like an innocuous injury -- was then followed up by fellow Lions Halfpenny and Rees leaving the field.  Now it really looked like being Australia's day.

More and more pressure was consequently being applied on the fragile-looking Welsh line and with Giteau intent to put things right, one sensed there was plenty more defending to do with 70 minutes remaining on the matchday clock.

Giteau was of course the orchestrator when the hosts were caught flat-footed soon after while the then-present Halfpenny left his job of watching the space in-behind.

The fly-half spotted this blunder and slid through a perfectly-weighted grubber that sat up nicely for man-of-the-match Digby Ioane.  But moments later the playmaker's vision was penalised by Barnes, who adjudged Hynes to be in front of a second cross-field kick that came across to the right.  Halfpenny slotted over the points with aplomb from 50 metres.

Then came an Australian double score, seconds later I might add.  Benn Robinson was able to stretch his legs down the left before feeding Drew Mitchell in support, who in turn sent James Horwill over for the visitors' second five-pointer.

Gold pressure continued to come in front of a quiet Cardiff support and following sustained pressure, it was then the turn of David Pocock to reach over and cross after a smart ball from hooker Stephen Moore.

An sign that mission was firmly accomplished had to be the sight of the impressive Pocock being held back on the bench for the whole second period, a second period that had a depressing air of inevitability about it from a home perspective.

Wales were predictably finished off in a clinical manner in the end when Giteau carved them open and Polota-Nau touched down on 61 minutes.  The on-song number ten added the extras, putting a seal on a high-class display packed with flair and deadly attacking execution while Wales must now regroup ahead of their Six Nations opener against England on February 6.

Man of the match:  So many Australian names come to mind.  The impressive first-half effort from David Pocock, the constant threat of Peter Hynes coming off his wing, Matt Giteau, both Benn Robinson and Ben Alexander.  But for his all-round showing in Stirling Mortlock's shoes, Digby Ioane picks up the award for his dynamism that had Wales struggling for answers.

Moment of the match:  Wales had a gilt-edged chance to get themselves back in the contest when Jamie Roberts was put through a hole.  All he had to do was back himself or offload possession to the supporting Tom James, but the winger slid from the pass and the chance to close matters had gone.

Villain of the match:  A game played in good spirits.  No award.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pens:  Halfpenny, Jones 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Ioane, Horwill, Pocock, Polota-Nau
Con:  Giteau
Pen:  Giteau

Wales:  15 James Hook, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Paul James, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Sam Warburton, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Tom James.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Dean Mumm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 George Smith, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 James O'Connor, 22 Kurtley Beale.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television match officials:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Patrick Robin (France)

Losing run finally over for Italy

Italy ended a painful thirteen-game losing streak on Saturday with a morale-boosting 24-6 victory over Samoa at the Stadio Del Duca.

Despite being without inspirational captain Sergio Parisse due to long-term injury, the Azzurri were a cut above their opponents with Luke McLean's score and a penalty try adding to Craig Gower, Mirco Bergamasco and Tito Tebaldi's kicks.

Nick Mallett's Italy side went into the game at Ascoli Piceno looking to pick up their first win since June 2008.

Mallett made six changes to the team which lost 32-10 to South Africa last weekend and the new line-up responded with a determined display, building a 14-6 lead by half-time

Bergamasco kicked two penalties and Gower one for the home side, while Tebaldi sent over a drop.  Bergamasco also converted the penalty try.

Samoa were unable to register a score after in the second 40 minutes and to make matters worse had Henry Fa'afili sent off for a high tackle on McLean.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  McLean, Penalty
Con:  Mi Bergamasco
Pen:  Mi Bergamasco 2, Gower
Drop:  Tebaldi

For Samoa:
Pen:  Esau 2

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Ignacio Rouyet, 18 Antonio Pavanelli, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Simon Piccone, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Alberto Sgarbi.

Samoa:  15 Titi Esau, 14 Henry Fa'fili, 13 Gavin Williams, 12 Seilala Mapasua, 11 David Lemi, 10 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 9 Junior Polu, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Ofisa Treviranus, 6 George Stowers (c), 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Justin Va'a, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Census Johnson.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Williams, 17 Sakaria Taulafo, 18 Jonny Fa'amatuainu, 19 Misioka Tomoteo, 20 Semiperive Semeane, 21 Uale Mai, 22 Lucky Munipola.

Referee:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Assistant referees:  James Jones (Wales), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Japan do the double over Canucks

Japan completed a November Test match double over Canada on Saturday, beating the Canucks 27-6 in Tokyo.

Canada were much improved in comparison to last week's 46-8 loss and will hope to take that improvement into the match against Russia in Vancouver next weekend.

Alisi Tupuailei broke through the Canadian defensive line before passing onto Go Aruga, who sprinted over for the opening try early in the match.

Hitoshi Ono almost increased the lead in the 14th minute.  Phil O'Reilly ripped the ball away from a Canadian player in a maul and Ryan Nicholas bounced off a number of would-be tacklers to set up field position only for the Japan lock to be tackled just short of the line.

Six minutes later Japan did increase their lead, when Hirotoki Onozawa followed up a good chip from Shaun Webb and forced a scrum five.

Two phases later Kensuke Hatakeyama dived through a pile of bodies and was adjudged to have grounded the ball.  Nicholas added the extras as Japan went 12-0 up.

James Pritchard reduced the lead with a penalty in the 23rd minute after Japan were caught offside from a clearance kick by Webb and there was no further score in the half.

Having lost Kosuke Endo halfway through the first half, Japan were forced to make another change in the backs at half-time with James Arlidge coming on for an injured Aruga, but there was no perceptible change in the match momentum.

Michael Leitch crossed in the 48th minute after a good break from Takashi Kikutani, the Japan captain timing his run and pass to perfection.  Webb added the conversion to make it 19-3.

Ander Monro slotted over a penalty for Canada in the 56th minute to reduce the deficit to 19-6, only for Webb to reply with a penalty of his own five minutes later.

The Canadians then spent several minutes camped in the Japan 22 only to see their pressure turn into points at the other end when Webb intercepted a wayward Canada pass and raced 80 metres before being tackled.

Onozawa was in support and the ball was recycled before Arlidge and Nicholas put Ayumu Goromaru away for Japan's fourth try.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Go Aruga, Kensuke Hatakeyama, Michael Leitch, Ayumu Goromaru
Cons:  Ryan Nicholas, Shaun Webb
Pen:  Ryan Nicholas

For Canada:
Pens:  James Pritchard, Ander Monro

Ireland put Fiji to the sword

Ireland eased their way past Fiji 41-6 at the Royal Dublin Showground on Saturday, running in five tries with Jonathan Sexton converting all of them in what was a sublime kicking display from the Irish debutant.

Centre Keith Earls bagged a double as the Six Nations warmed up for next weekend's big Test against South Africa in style.

The hosts only led 13-3 at the break but a try from Brian O'Driscoll five minutes into the second period sparked a glut of points for Declan Kidney's side.

Earls, full-back Rob Kearney and Shane Horgan added further scores after the break while Sexton's 100 per cent record with the boot earned him a personal 16-point haul.

Fiji fly-half Nicky Little scored his side's only points with a penalty either side of the break.

Sexton, making his debut at fly-half, put Ireland 3-0 ahead with a penalty after eight minutes as both sides took time to get to grips with the conditions.

A perfectly judged cross-kick from Sexton then almost brought about the first try.  Earls gathered the loose ball and fed Kearney but he was stopped just short of the line.

Ireland did not have to wait long for a try however, Earls going over beside the posts after taking Eoin Reddan's pass following a scrum.  Sexton's conversion put Ireland 10-0 clear.

Eventually Fiji began to secure some better possession, allowing Little to reduce the deficit to 10-3 with a well-struck penalty.

The visitors did well to hang in as Ireland were giving them increasing problems in the scrums, but the home team failed to take advantage and were then forced to defend close to their own line.

Fortunately, another big scrum which saw them push Fiji off their own ball relieved the pressure.  It was only then that Ireland really began to open up.

Once again Sexton was involved, breaking out from his own half, but the move finished with Gordon D'Arcy's pass being intercepted by Fiji full-back Norman Ligairi.

But the pressure told just before half-time with Sexton landing his second penalty to leave Ireland 13-3 clear at the interval.

To add to Ireland's problems, flanker Denis Leamy had to be stretchered off with an injury to his right leg.  Leinster tyro Sean O'Brien came on to make his debut at this level.

Fiji then conceded a frustrating try as Little saw O'Driscoll intercept his pass and run 40 metres to score with Sexton's conversion giving Ireland a 20-6 advantage and some breathing space.

With Tomas O'Leary on as a replacement at scrum-half for Reddan and Tony Buckley taking over from John Hayes in the front row, Ireland looked for more scores as the game went into the final quarter and the crowd was soon rewarded with a third try.

A well-worked move -- the ball travelled smoothly along from O'Leary, O'Driscoll and D'Arcy -- was finished off in the left corner by Earls.

Sexton kicked the difficult conversion, leaving Ireland 27-6 clear and in complete control.

Kearney, who did well to get the ball down under pressure from Mosese Rauluni, and Horgan, whose workmanlike performance deserved a try, added further touchdowns with the accurate Sexton landing both conversions from the touchline.

The second half against Fiji certainly saw Ireland find an extra gear or two in attack and Kidney and company will have some welcome selection headaches to work through before announcing the team to face the Springboks.

Man of the match:  Keith Earls crossed for two tries but fly-half Jonny Sexton claims this man of the match honour with an accomplished display on his way to a personal tally of 16 points.

Moment of the match:  Without taking anything away from Ireland's four try-scorers, it was the conversions that really caught the eye.  Sexton's three goals from the touchline were pure class, and really brought some sunshine to the rain-soaked crowd.

Villain of the match:  The rain.  Had it been clear skies, we're pretty sure both sides could have contributed a few more tries.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls 2, Horgan, Kearney, O'Driscoll
Cons:  Sexton 5
Pens:  Sexton 2

For Fiji:
Pens:  Little 2

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Denis Leamy, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Sean O'Brien, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Fiji:  15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 12 Seremaia Bai (c), 11 Nasoni Roko, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Mosese Rauluni, 8 Asaeli Boko, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Apolosi Satala, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Wame Lewaravu, 3 Viliame Seuseu, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Asaike Tarogi.
Replacements:  16 Isireli Ledua, 17 Graham Dewes, 18 Leone Nakarawa, 19 Samu Bola, 20 Waisale Vatuvoka, 21 Josh Matavesi, 22 Timoci Nagusa

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South

Scotland shock the Wallabies

Scotland caused a major upset at Murrayfield on Saturday as -- after some late drama -- they won a largely dour encounter 9-8 against Australia.

There was very little to write home about in a Test fixture predicted to act as the Wallabies' ideal tonic after suffering a painful draw in Dublin.

But that was not the case as the gritty Scots managed to pounce on an off night for the tourists, who will also be concerned over Wycliff Palu after the vital number eight was stretchered from the action due to a neck injury.

The loss of Palu looks highly likely to see coach Robbie Deans bring in either George Smith or Richard Brown at the base when they tackle Wales next week.

Australia will also be slightly concerned regarding Matt Giteau's form from the kicking tee after the usually reliable fly-half converted just one attempt from a whole host of opportunities.  The one that hurt the most was his wayward conversion shot of Ryan Cross' late try that would have spared the tourists' blushes.

It was the improving Scots' first win over Australia following a tough 27 years, with the filthy weather somewhat reminiscent of their last victory back in 1981.

Giteau was on hand to open the scoring on five minutes however, after home hooker Ross Ford struggled to find his man at lineout time early on.

Then it was the turn of a succession of injury issues for both coaches.  Australia were deprived of loosehead Benn Robinson on eighteen minutes for Sekope Kepu, who was also off form in fumbling two simple passes.

Then Scotland captain Chris Cusiter hurt his shoulder with an excellent cover tackle on full-back Adam Ashley-Cooper and Rory Lawson was called into the fray, but not before the Glasgow man saved his side by holding up Stephen Moore.

But the driving maul was one area of dominance for Scotland and it won them a 27th-minute penalty which Godman arrowed between the posts to level matters, completely against the run of play.

Normal service soon resumed, Giteau pulling the strings wonderfully both with the boot and out of hand.

But with four minutes of the half remaining, he was left red-faced after missing a point-blank penalty when Scotland had infringed at a scrum.

Australia ran their next penalty but Giteau was again off-target with a simple drop goal.

Robinson withdrew the under-performing Morrison for Nick De Luca at half-time.

However, a returning Giteau's place-kicking woes continued two minutes after the restart, though his 40-metre miss was more forgivable.

Australia were picking up where they left off and captain Rocky Elsom bulldozed his way over five minutes in.  Referee Romain Poite went to the video and, after a succession of replays, the try was not given.

Under all sorts of pressure, Scotland suddenly turned defence into attack when De Luca brilliantly kicked into the space behind, forcing Will Genia to concede a penalty.  It was the start of a massive swing in territory.

The remarkable drama continued when Mitchell celebrated a 65th-minute try after more Australia pressure only to be hauled back for a horrible forward pass from Quade Cooper, much to the delight of the Scotland fans before Palu was carried off.

Scotland continued to make crucial tackles inside their own 22 to preserve their lead before replacement Chris Paterson dropped a goal from 25 metres with just four minutes to go.

That sparked the Wallabies to set up camp five metres from the home whitewash and, despite yet more heroic defending, Cross eventually went over in the first minute of stoppage-time to leave Giteau to win the game from wide out.  He missed and Scotland claimed a famous victory.

Man of the match:  Apologies to the winning team but Australia's utter dominance in terms of possession and territory means Wycliff Palu picks up the accolade for a destructive performance from number eight.  Unfortunately, the Waratah left the field under an oxygen mask but he busted so many holes in the Scotland defence that his effort needed recognition.

Moment of the match:  An out-of-sorts Matt Giteau missing penalties and a simple drop-goal proved to be the difference at Murrayfield.

Villain of the match:  Maybe this is slightly harsh but so as not to let the gong go unassigned, Quade Cooper, after he blew a simple three on two with a long, forward pass out to Drew Mitchell when a simpler option was required.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pen:  Godman 2
Drop:  Paterson

For Australia:
Tries:  Cross
Pen:  Giteau

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jason White, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Nick De Luca.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Jérôme Garces (France)
Television match officials:  Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

France demolish Samoa

France ran seven tries past Samoa on Saturday as they cruised to an impressive 43-5 victory at the Stade de France.

After crashing and bashing South Africa into oblivion last week, a virtually all-new XV de France showed they can turn on the flair when needed, giving Marc Lièvremont a couple of selection headaches leading up to next week's clash with the All Blacks.

Not that France's coach will be complaining as his 'second team' proved his squad has the variety of resources needed to adapt their game as they wish.

Most importantly play-maker François Trinh-Duc showed that he can launch his back-line as well as he can keep his pack moving forward -- and did it all without getting injured thus ensuring France will take some sort of continuity into the showdown with New Zealand.

All and any intrigue as to the result in Paris evaporated by the quarter-hour mark, by which time France has scored three tries to lead 21-0.

The hosts got off to a perfect start when hooker Dimitri Szarzewski was able to stroll over untouched from five metres out when he exploited a gap left by the Samoan defence around the fringes of a ruck after just three minutes.

France doubled the lead four minutes later when wing Vincent Clerc ran onto a neat grubber from full-back Maxime Médard.  Try number three was soon to follow as Trinh-Duc chipped over the top for centre Yannick Jauzion, who plucked the ball out of the air one-handed in a fabulous display of skill.

Samoa fought back bravely but full-back Lolo Lui and fly-half Fa'atonu Fili proceeded to miss three kickable penalties between them to leave their side scoreless.

France continued their merciless show of dominance with a textbook maul off the back of a line-out to score an essai collectif.  The TMO reckoned the ball had touched the grass somewhere at the bottom of the pile of bodies and awarded the try.  Morgan Parra added his fourth conversion to extend the lead to 28 points.

Debutant wing Benjamin Fall scored France's fifth try just before half-time when Julien Bonnaire provided a carbon copy of Médard's earlier grubber for Clerc and the Bayonne wing pounced to send Les Bleus into the changing rooms ahead 33-0.

It was much of the same after the break.  Trinh-Duc was on hand to brilliantly finish off France's sixth try with a neat step and an outstretched arm.

The fly-half also scored the number seven for the hosts, after bursting down the blindside and showing his pace down the touchline with a 30m sprint to finish untouched.

At 43-0 France understandably went into their shells a bit and Samoa dominated the final quarter.

The Islanders were rewarded with late consolation try when Castres lock Iosefa Tekori charged over to cap a period of sustained pressure.

Man of the match:  France will be able to draw a number of positives from this game:  scrum-half Morgan Parra showed he has the form to back up Julien Dupuy as a place picker, Sebastien Chabal showed he still has plenty to offer in the engine room while Yannick Jauzion showed he still has all the class that made him one of the world's most feared centres.  But we'll go with Francois Trinh-Duc who repaid the faith put in him by his coach with two tries.

Moment of the match:  If Dimitri Szarzewski's try after three minutes had punctured Samoa's bubble before it had a chance to fill up, Yannick Jauzion's one-handed catch to score after fourteen minutes truly ended the visitors' hopes.

Villain of the match:  As if it wasn't enough for Misioka Timoteo to nearly decapitate Vincent Clerc with a high tackle, he followed it up with some foul language as Clerc lay there counting stars.  Not cool.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Szarzewski, Clerc, Jauzion, Dusautoir, Fall, Trinh-Duc 2
Cons:  Parra 5

For Samoa:
Tries:  Tekori

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Alexandre Lapandry, 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Sebastien Chabal, 3 Sylvain Marconnet (c), 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Romain Millo-Chluski, 19 Julien Puricelli, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Yann David, 23 Fabien Barcella.

Samoa:  15 Lolo Lui, 14 David Lemi, 13 Henry Fa'afili, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Fa'atonu Fili, 9 Junior Polu, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Ofisa Treviranus, 6 Jonathan Fa'amatuainu, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger (c), 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Williams, 17 Jeremiah Fatialofa, 18 Iosefa Tekori, 19 Misioka Timoteo, 20 Uale Mai, 21 Fuimaolo-Sapolu, 22 Titi Esau.

Venue:  Stade de France, St. Denis (Paris)
Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees:  Rob Debney (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match officials:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  David Herbert (Wales)

All Blacks conquer Twickenham

New Zealand added to their unbeaten tour trail by snatching a 19-6 victory over a spirited England on Saturday.

Martin Johnson had made a couple of tweaks for their final November fixture of 2009, with a more comfortable Mark Cueto preferred to Ugo Monye in the full-back jersey and the size of Simon Shaw taking over from Louis Deacon.

And what an impact the duo made for their under pressure Team Manager, particularly the Sale man whose combination of returning and high takes were evident for large parts of an enjoyable 80 minutes at HQ.  Twickenham even swapped its boos for echoes of "Swing Low".

But New Zealand are not the IRB world top-ranked side for nothing and demonstrated their ability to strike in short spells when Jimmy Cowan's well-taken score close to the hour pretty much sealed where this match was heading.

England knew they had to improve dramatically after words such as "dismal" -- and other less printable qualifiers -- were openly associated with that 16-9 victory over Argentina.

And that they certainly did as a new hunger and gusto carried their charge -- something that was not on show seven days ago.

Saturday's opening 40 was arguably dominated by them, despite their higher tackle count (71-45).  But England were forced into an early change on just two minutes that could have knocked their physical gameplan, with an injured Joe Worsley hobbling from the field.

Lewis Moody, Paul Hodgson and Matt Banahan stood up and were counted, throwing their differing weights around while Daniel Carter struggled to find his range and general direction -- he did become New Zealand's highest Test scorer on 24 minutes, however.

The Canterbury fly-half seemed strangely out of sorts and was the architect of many of his side's mistakes in the contest.  That didn't matter in the end thanks to his captain's dogged display being aided by Sitiveni Sivivatu and Mils Muliaina.

Steve Borthwick's outfit were unfortunate not to be further ahead than their two-time three-point advantage early on, as Jonny Wilkinson and the hit-and-miss Carter exchanged penalty goals.  The moment that comes to mind was when Monye managed to catch New Zealand cold as they tried to attack from deep -- Conrad Smith having his pass charged down but for the wing being called back by Jonathan Kaplan for that knock-on.

New Zealand had their own moment of "what if" on 20 minutes when a rare moment of class from Carter saw him stand up a defender to allow Conrad Smith to set up Muliaina for the corner.  He was just ushered into touch by early replacement Croft and centre Ayoola Erinle.  Had he carried the ball in the right hand ...

And so it came down to the All Blacks' smash and grab in the second period.  Cowan may take the plaudits but it was all about Sivivatu and McCaw on Saturday as they head to Marseille with their tour objective still on track.

Man of the match:  Plenty of players put their hand up for the accolade but his general nuisance around the park coupled with setting up Jimmy Cowan's score, Richie McCaw edges out Paul Hodgson, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lewis Moody.

Moment of the match:  We have just covered it.  New Zealand's powerful winger stood up two tacklers deep in English territory before feeding McCaw, who shipped the ball onto Cowan in the corner.  Game over.

Villain of the match:  Nothing to report.

The scorers:

For England:
Pen:  Wilkinson 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Cowan
Con:  Carter
Pen:  Carter 4

England:  15 Mark Cueto, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Ayoola Erinle, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 James Haskell, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Steve Borthwick (c), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Danny Care, 21 Shane Geraghty, 22 Mathew Tait.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan , 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson , 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Tamati Ellison.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match officials:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Patrick Robin (France)

Shane shines in Welsh win

Two tries from Shane Williams, including one magnificent solo effort, helped Wales to a healthy-looking 33-16 win over Argentina in Cardiff on Saturday.

An error-strewn match was lit up by Williams' try after 65 minutes, which quashed any thoughts Argentina had harboured of a comeback after Martin Rodriguez had brought them back to within a score at 23-16 on the hour.

Williams aside, the match was played as though both teams had been chloroformed at times.  Perhaps there was something in those water bottles that underling coaches take it upon themselves to bring onto the field at any and every opportunity.  The number of handling errors shot off the scale, which meant long periods of kicks, return kicks and punctuating scrums.

Both sides did show glimpses of wanting to do something constructive, with James Hook and Shane Williams forever a threat out wide for the Welsh and both Argentinean half-backs looking lively on their toes when they did get some quick ball.

But the supporting runners were either lacking imagination or just plain lacking.  The game built up a rhythm.  Bash went the runners.  Bosh went the tacklers.  Boom went the boots.  "B..." went the crowd.  As rhythms go, it was about as entertaining as one of those emanating from some city wide boy's bass bin.  It was every bit as irritating for the casual onlooker as well.

Aside from the brilliance of Williams, Wales certainly won by being more clinical.  They did not concede a penalty for the first half-hour and they forced a huge number in the final half-hour.  In the final reckoning, Rodrigo Roncero conceded almost as many penalties as the entire Welsh team.  He's a great loosehead, but he really can be a liability at times.

In between those, Argentina's Rodriguez landed three goals to keep his team just about in touch -- he hit the post with another as well -- before he scored his try, but Wales were never really in danger.  The Welsh line-out was flawless and while the scrum was uneasy, much of that was down to Argentinean niggle rather than superior scrummaging prowess, enough of it picked up by the referee.

Welsh handling was better as well, if just a little too laterally exploratory at times.  It was a step up, but it was curiously unsatisfying, as though it was an advertisement of Wales' potential rather than their true playing ability.  Whether they realise that potential or not ... we'll see against Australia next week, but Warren Gatland might be frustrated.

The highlight of the first half was undoubtedly its lone try.  Wales won a penalty, and Stephen Jones took the ball up to the mark but everything stopped for Roncero to receive a magic sponge to his leg.  When time was called back on again, the entire Puma team turned back and trudged to wards the posts, while Jones tapped and raced away to the corner, ruining his moment of glory somewhat by landing on the ball in the touchdown and winding himself quite badly.  But he did recover in time to land the conversion.

Otherwise, the first half was all about the errors from both teams and some truly dire kicking.  Jones landed two penalties, Rodriguez one just before the break, where the teams went in with Wales 13-3 ahead.

It took Wales 21 seconds to extend their lead in the second half when the big paw of Luke Charteris got in the way of Gus Figuerola's clearing box-kick and Williams ducked and weaved his way to the line.  He could actually have made it just through sheer pace, but the way he cut inside, stepped, ducked and evaded Patricio Albacete's arms was almost mocking.  No wonder Martyn Williams shoved him over the line at the end -- "stop messing about!"

Jones made it 20-3 with the extras, and then followed another laboured passage of play in which Rodriguez notched two penalties to one from Leigh Halfpenny.  Then Rodriguez charged down a clearance kick so lackadaisical it verged on the negligent and raced away for a try, which he converted himself and had Argentina somehow within a score at 23-16.

The response was a moment of beauty.  Williams picked up a loose ball, stepped and burst through the lumbering bodies like a bullet.  The acceleration took him all the way home and under the posts, the game-breaking moment.  And that, with the exception of a long penalty from Halfpenny, was that.

Man of the match:  It should not come as a surprise to those who have made their way this far that this award goes to Shane Williams.

Moment of the match:  As with man of the match, except to Shane Williams' second try.

Villain of the match:  No real villainy, but Rodrigo Roncero still needs to learn the lesson about quelling Latin temperament and getting on with it at times.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  S Jones, S Williams 2
Cons:  S Jones 3
Pens:  S Jones 2, Halfpenny 2

For Argentina:
Try:  Rodriguez
Con:  Rodriguez
Pens:  Rodriguez 3

Wales:  15 James Hook, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Ryan Jones (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Andy Powell, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Paul James, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Dan Lydiate, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Tom James.

Argentina:  15 Horacio Agulla, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Mauro Comuzzi, 10 Santiago Fernandez, 9 Agustin Figuerola, 8 Juan Fernandez Lobbe (c), 7 Alfredo Abadie, 6 Tomas Leonardi, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Mariano Sambucetti, 3 Martin Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 22 H San Martin.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Christophe Berdos (France), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match officials:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Springboks off the mark in Europe

South Africa finally got their end-of-year tour off the mark as they stuttered along to a 32-10 win over a determined Italy outfit at the Stadio Friuli in Udine on Saturday.

The Springboks will take the win, but this victory will do nothing to their self-esteem or credentials on this somewhat unrewarding trip of Europe that has only dented their title as world champions.

A comedy of errors from the visitors -- most of them in the scrum against the Azzurri -- didn't help the South Africans' cause to stamp their authority on a game that was touted as a warm-up for next week's finale against Ireland.

In front of another passionate home crowd, the Italians were their own worst enemies as the goal-kickers -- in a repeat of last week's defeat to New Zealand -- missed a number of penalties that would have given the scoreline a bit more respectability.

However, be that as it may, Italy were still able to stay in the contest at half-time after trailing 12-7 but failed to keep the pressure on as the men in green and gold ran in a further two tries to seal the deal.

It was South Africa's first win in their fourth match on tour, but while the final scoreline was emphatic enough in the Springboks' favour it was not the rousing performance that might have been hoped for to erase the memory of the past two weeks.

The Springboks scored four tries, all of them to the backs, and it was a day where the South Africans should have been exceedingly thankful that they had a massive advantage behind the scrum.

For the umpteenth time on this tour, the Boks were pummelled in the set-scrums and if the truth be told, Italy's comfort in most aspects of the forward battle should be taken as a loud warning ahead of next week's big match in Dublin.

When playing the world champions as heavy underdogs the last thing you want to do is pay for some early indiscipline.  But in his first start for Italy, flanker Simone Favaro charged upfield and hit scrum-half Fourie du Preez with a stupid late tackle that earned him a yellow card and resulted in a simple penalty in front of the posts.

Morne Steyn produced a most uncharacteristic mistake by missing, however the South Africans quickly struck with a great try which was fashioned by a break from Ryan Kankowski for Bryan Habana to capitalise on the quick ball that was spread out wide in the sixth minute.

Steyn missed the conversion but just after Favaro was allowed back on, Habana beat Matteo Pratichetti on the outside and slipped the ball inside for Jaque Fourie to score under the posts.

Steyn finally landed a kick and with 14 minutes gone the hosts were already 12-0 down.  It looked as though it might be one-way traffic, but up to that point there had yet to be a set scrum.  When the teams did finally scrum down, the Italians were as solid as a house, and completely destroyed the Boks with the second scrum of the match.

Italy continued to improve and should have scored as Alessandro Zanni broke to within a metre of the line but his support was slow in reaching him and the Springboks cleared their lines thanks to a trademark Heinrich Brussow steal.

Italy's first shot at goal had to be taken upstairs to decide whether the ball had in fact managed to squeeze in between the uprights.  Gower was convinced, but the TMO was not and with 30 minutes up on the clock, South Africa held on to their 12-point lead.

But the former Australian-born rugby league international finally came good a few minutes later as he gave a subtle inside pass to centre Gonzalo Garcia with Alberto Sgarbi acting as a decoy.

Completely flummoxing the Springbok backline, Garcia ran in untouched for a splendid touchdown that was clearly scripted to aim at one of the Bok weaknesses.  Steyn held his line, but Adi Jacobs didn't hold his, and the try was all too easy.  At 12-7, and with the scrum flying backwards, the Boks were in big trouble.

There was still time, though, for both Italy full-back Luke McLean and Steyn to miss penalties before the break.

Six minutes into the second period Steyn landed a penalty before McLean missed his second of the afternoon after Italy's scrum caused the kind of problems that had the All Blacks struggling a week ago.

But on 53 minutes, the Springboks scored after more calamitous Italian defending as Danie Rossouw broke a tackle on the left-hand touchline.  The Bok flanker slipped the ball inside to Habana who cut inside and popped the ball to Du Preez, who held off Zanni and Mirco Bergamasco to score.

Gower soon pulled back three points from a penalty after his own midfield break but Steyn replied on 64 minutes to make it 10-25.

As Italian legs started to tire, gaps appeared and Du Preez scythed through following a line-out and fed replacement Wyand Olivier to score by the posts -- his first in 26 Tests -- with another replacement in the form of Ruan Pienaar converting.

With Jacobs struggling so much with his defensive game, and Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll licking his lips about his rematch with the Bok team that beat the British and Irish Lions in mid-year, the smart money should be on Olivier wearing the number twelve jersey at Croke Park.

But the area that should come under most scrutiny in the build-up to the final game of the tour is undeniably the front row.  And against the Italians, this may be a timely pointer to the Springbok management as they consider their options.

Man of the match:  Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie were prominent in the Bok backline along with Heinrich Brussow in the forwards, but our vote goes with number nine Fourie du Preez who once again showed his running ability, kicking ability and try-scoring ability.

Moment of the match:  All the tries scored in this match were gems, but we think Du Preez's touchdown after the break was what the Boks needed to shut the Italians out.

Villain of the match:  Assistant referee James Jones appears to not like the colour green and gold.  He was the man in charge during the Wembley defeat, penalizing the Boks unjustly at the breakdown, and was at it again -- albeit from the touchline -- today.  As Bryan Habana attempted to save a touch-finder, the Welshman ruled the winger to have put a foot in touch when Habana was in fact ... in the air!  Oh, and the Italians scored a great try from the ensuing line-out.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Garcia
Pens:  Gower
Cons:  Gower

For South Africa:
Tries:  Habana, Fourie, Du Preez, Olivier
Cons:  Steyn 2, Pienaar
Pens:  Steyn 2

Yellow card:  Favaro (Italy, 4mins)

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Matteo Pratichetti, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Simon Picone;  8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Ignacio Rouyet, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Gonzalo Canale.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Adi Jacobs, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements:  16 Tendai Mtawarira, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Victor Matfield, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Wynand Olivier.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)

USA edge out Uruguay

Depsite a late comeback form the home side, the USA managed to beat Uruguay 27-22 in a World Cup qualifying match in Montevideo on Saturday.

Thirteen points in the last six minutes have boosted Uruguay's chances of claiming the Americas 2 spot at Rugby World Cup 2011 after the first leg of their play-off.

Uruguay had won only one of their 10 previous meetings with the Eagles, their most recent loss being a 43-9 defeat in Salt Lake City last year, and at 27-9 they would have been left with a mountain to climb in Florida next weekend

However, Uruguay full back Jeronimo Etcheverry -- a member of their IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy winning side of 2008 -- stepped forward to kick two penalties and convert his last minute try to cut the deficit to five points at the final whistle to the delight of the 2,000 strong crowd

The 21-year-old's fourth penalty of the night and his converted try came when Uruguay enjoyed a one-man advantage after Eagles replacement Mike Petri was sent to the sin-bin by Argentinean referee Javier Mancuso

"We are happy to win, but honestly a bit disappointed that we gave up so many points in the last quarter" admitted Eagles coach Eddie O'Sullivan

"We would have liked to walk away with a larger point spread, but in the end are happy to take away the victory"

The Eagles had taken the lead in the 15th minute at the Charrua Stadium with scrum half Tim Usasz's try, before fly half Nicolas Morales got the home side on the board with a penalty five minutes later Another try for Kevin Swiryn and a Mike Hercus penalty, though, gave the visitors a 13-3 advantage at half time

Centre Junior Sifa touched down eight minutes after the break and this time Hercus was able to add the conversion Once more though Los Teros came back at their visitors with Etcheverry kicking his first penalty in the 55th minute to make it 20-6

Uruguay's cause was not helped by the loss of prop Mario Sagario to the sin-bin just past the hour mark, and while Etcheverry kicked another penalty, the Eagles pulled further away with replacement Alipate Tuilevuka's try

However with Uruguay's scrum and maul remaining strong, Etcheverry brought them back into the match and strengthened their chances of taking the Americas 2 place alongside two-time winners Australia, Italy, Ireland and Europe 2 in Pool C at Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand

The teams:

Uruguay:  15 Jeronimo Etcheverry, 14 Martin Crosa, 13 Juan Llovet, 12 Joaquin Pastore, 11 Leandro Leivas, 10 Nicolas Morales, 9 Juan Campomar, 8 Rodrigo Capo (c), 7 Alfredo Giuria, 6 Nicolas Brignoni, 5 Matias Fonseca, 4 Carlos Protasi, 3 Mario Sagario, 2 Martin Espiga, 1 Rodrigo Sànchez,
Replacements:  16 Carlos Arboleya 17 Alejo Corral 18 Juan Rombys 19 Juan Alzueta 20 Manuel Martinez 21 Alejandro Silveira 22 Tomas Jolivet

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Junior Sifa, 11 Kevin Swiryn, 10 Mike Hercus, 9 Tim Usasz, 8 Nic Johnson, 7 Todd Clever (captain), 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 John Van der Giessen, 3 Will Johnson, 2 Phil Thiel, 1 Mate Moeakiola.
Replacements:  16 Brian McClenahan 17 Jacob Sprague 18 Alec Parker 19 Jonathan Gagiano 20 Mike Petri 21 Nese Malifa 22 Pate Tuilevuka

Japan thrash Canada

Asian champions Japan scored six tries as they thrashed Canada 46-8 in the opener of their two-match Test series in Sendai on Sunday.

Left flanker Michael Leitch opened the scoring in the ninth minute with stand-off Shaun Webb missing the conversion but later adding two penalties to take an 11-3 lead, which appeared enough to beat the visitors.

Number eight Takashi Kikutani and full back Go Aruga added two more converted tries to end the first half 25-3, with Canada's points coming from a James Pritchard penalty.

Substitute Alisi Tupuailei, left winger Hirotoki Onozawa, and hooker Shota Horie added three more tries with conversions to make it 46-3 before Nathan Hirayama touched down a consolation try for Canada in the dying minutes.

The second match will be played in Tokyo next Saturday.

The Scorers: 

For Japan: 
Tries:  Michael Leitch, Takashi Kikutani, Go Aruga, Alisi

Tupuailei, Hirotoki Onozawa, Shota Horie.
Cons:  Shaun Webb(4), James Arlidge.
Pens:  Shaun Webb (2).

For Canada: 
Try:  Nathan Hirayama.
Pens:  James Pritchard.

BOD delivers Ireland rescue

Australia's Grand Slam aspirations were foiled by a last-minute Brian O'Driscoll try to seal a 20-20 draw in Dublin on Sunday.

The Wallabies stepped up a gear from their defeat of England last week and delivered by some distance their most polished performance of the year, capped by a fine second-half try from Rocky Elsom, returning to Dublin where he was so revered earlier this year.

He could have been the villain of the piece, but as he has done so often, Brian O'Driscoll accelerated through a glaring gap in the final minute and steamed under the posts to cap his 100th Test with another crucial try for Ireland.

The stage had been set for such a finale before the game, but Australia threatened to ruin the party for long periods.

The Wallabies showed many aspects of lessons having been learned from their difficult Tri-Nations series.  Disturbingly for Ireland, they looked a yard faster for much of the match, even though Ireland produced the stirring fightback in the final ten minutes.

Most disturbing of all for the Irish was the manner in which Australia's scrum dismantled the Irish eight.  John Hayes had a horrible day.  Three times in the second half, the Wallaby eight first got the shove on, then splintered the Irish eight.  Once on Ireland's own ball.  Both Scotland and Wales should have made a note of that in bold.

Both sides kept the game tight, but Australia managed that much better.  There were fewer errors with hand and especially boot.  Quade Cooper, inconsistent for the Reds but undoubtedly talented, looked like he'd been playing Test rugby for years, so intelligent was his positioning and kicking.

Ireland did not fare so well.  Too many kicks were too long, or too central, or too high ... there was always a margin of error, rarely a perfect delivery.  On the rare occasions they did make a clean break or a player ran a threatening angle, the support was conspicuous by its absence and Ireland gave away too many penalties on attack.

But then Ireland were under pressure right from the 128th second, when Drew Mitchell opened the scoring.  Ronan O'Gara took the ball too flat and zipped a pass out to O'Driscoll, whose attempt to drift onto the ball meant he was not forward enough to catch it.  Mitchell scooped it up and made the 30m to the line with something to spare.  After three minutes, his day could only get better.  It did.

Thereafter, things got cagey.  Jonathan Kaplan set out his stall to be tight at the breakdowns, challenging the teams to respond imaginatively and let momentum build, but both sides continued to fret over opening the ball and opted to kick rather than let possession fall foul of Kaplan's shrill whistle.  A shame -- had the teams bought into it, we could have had a cracker.

As it was, it came in fits and starts.  Both Matt Giteau and Elsom made individual line-breaks, Giteau's nearly to the line, but neither one was capitalised on properly -- in Giteau's case, a glaring lack of support.

O'Gara opted for an unorthodox chip penalty for Tommy Bowe to run onto in the corner, but the Ospreys winger couldn't get onto the end of it under pressure from Digby Ioane.  Luke Fitzgerald was released down the left, but the Australian cover smothered any chance of an offload and the move petered out.

By half-time, Australia thus led 10-6, with Giteau landing one penalty to O'Gara's two as the scoring additions to Mitchell's try.

The second half was better as a spectacle, much better for Australia.  The forwards cured their line-out woes of the first half -- where they had lost four out of eight -- and found a real collective head of steam, playing both the referee and the fringes far far better than Ireland.  Giteau missed one penalty, but landed his second after 55 minutes, by which point Australia had had nearly 70 per cent of the second-half territory and possession.

Then Ireland pulled a try back.  Cian Healy, who had not had the best of debuts in the tight, was at least rampant in the loose.  He won the restart and bullocked into the Australian 22.  Eight close phases followed, culminating in a simple two pass move for Bowe who scored by the posts.

Tied at thirteen, Australia simply carried on without a blip.  Healy once again bustled forward, but the ball was turned over and the Wallabies gloriously moved the ball from side to side before Elsom powered into the corner.  Giteau's touchline conversion looked to be a hammer blow.

But Ireland responded.  Australia's huge effort left the reserve tanks empty and the siege Ireland laid to Australia's half in the final ten had an air of inevitability about it.  Two penalties in the corner forced Kaplan to issue a team warning to the men in gold, and from the next phase, Tommy Bowe was held up in the corner.  A five-metre scrum, solid this time, and then Tomas O'Leary crabbed while delaying his pass to find the right one of the three runners.  Australia's two centres parted like curtains and through the gap steamed O'Drsicoll, Ireland's hero once again.

Man of the match:  Big kudos must go to the Wallaby front row of Alexander, Moore and Robinson for their scrumming, while Rocky Elsom delivered a fine captain's display.  Quade Cooper started very well, but faded a little.  BOD was as good as ever and Tommy Bowe and Luke Fitzgerald -- before the latter went off injured -- were both constant threats.  But running those few yards further than anyone was David Pocock, who may well have usurped George Smith for keeps with his display.

Moment of the match:  In his hundredth Test, a last gasp-try to save his team's bacon from BOD.  A Hollywood finale.

Villain of the match:  Wycliff Palu was yellow-carded for an alleged dangerous tackle, but replays bore out Palu's version of events.  No award.

The scorers:

For Ireland:Tries:  Bowe, O'Driscoll
Cons:  O'Gara 2
Pens:  O'Gara 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Mitchell, Elsom
Cons:  Giteau 2
Pens:  Giteau 2

Yellow card:  Palu, 30, dangerous tackle

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Keith Earls.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 George Smith, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Christophe Berdos (France), Andrew Small (England)
TMO:  Geoff Warren (England)

England limp past the Pumas

It was the win they needed, but it will sting like a loss.  The performance that led to England's dismal 16-9 win over Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday made the rabble that succumbed to Australia look like world beaters.

A litany of handling errors, poor decisions and wonky white set-pieces was punctuated by a late try from Matt Banahan and four swings of Jonny Wilkinson's left leg.  And that was just enough for the purple turtles.

Despite the new strip there was no disguising the curious inadequacies that have dogged England for far too long.

Worrying, there were also a few new ones to add to Martin Johnson's creaking in-tray:  clueless in the face of the counter-attack, absenteeism in defence and lack of wet-weather skills -- to name but three.

And, as referee Nigel Owens told England captain Steve Borthwick in no uncertain terms in one break in play, ''all the problems are coming from your scrum''.

Johnson coined a word this week -- ''tempo-ing'' -- but it looks like he didn't get around to teaching his charges how to actually effect it.  Only at the very end did they choose to up the gears.

Hell, even Wilkinson's kicking went to pot!

In hindsight, purple was actually the perfect pick for this excuse for a game:  Twickenham felt like a funeral parlour.

Such a rubbishing of England's performance might seem like a slight on the team that they beat.  It is not.  This vitriol is rooted in the injustice of the situation:  the best side did not win today.

The Pumas were everything their hosts were not:  confident, daring, canny and organised.

Although the weather was quintessentially English, it was the South Americans who made a better fist of the conditions.  The ball -- a virtual soap in the hands of the locals -- swept through the Pumas' paws with aplomb.

Let us not forget that, like England, Argentina have been hit hard by injuries.  Yet unlike England, they are unable to fill the breaches with seasoned pros.

The bare bones of the matter is that amateurs almost pipped England at Twickenham after less than a week of prep.  It doesn't get much worse than that.

Johnson made three changes to the spine of the England team in the hope of injecting some urgency and dynamism into the performance, with Paul Hodgson given a first Test start at scrum-half while James Haskell returned at number eight and Dylan Hartley at hooker.

Whilst Wilkinson's tactical kicking was disappointing, he did stroke England into the lead with a sublime drop-goal after setting up the chance with a huge tackle on the visiting captain, the immense Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

As the barrage of kicking continued, England earned their first real opening when Lobbe fumbled a steepling kick under pressure from tireless Lewis Moody, and Mark Cueto broke clear -- but his top gear wasn't enough to shake off Horacio Agulla.

Despite missing so many key creative players it was Argentina who showed the most inclination to attack.

Martin Rodriguez shaved the post with a drop-goal attempt but drew Argentina level with a penalty after Tim Payne was penalised for not binding at the scrum.

And Rodriguez then drilled a second effort wide after Haskell was penalised for being offside, but Wilkinson responded with a successful long-range strike to nudge England back into the lead.

Monye, a stand-in full-back for England, was struggling badly as Fernandez continued to pepper him with high balls.

The Pumas had clocked it, but it took until half-time before England had the sense to switch him to his preferred position of wing and drop Cueto back to fifteen.

When Monye's third attempted catch went to ground, Haskell compounded the problem by diving on the ball and conceding another penalty which Rodriguez accepted gratefully.

The Twickenham crowd of nearly 78,000 was growing restless.  Paper planes rained down on the pitch in a palpable demonstration of boredom.  When Monye successfully claimed a wayward drop-goal effort from Fernandez he was greeted by ironic jeers from the stands.

Shane Geraghty was then booed for kicking the ball straight into touch instead of launching an attack.

When England were again penalised at the scrum, Rodriguez edged Argentina ahead with a third penalty, but the Pumas conceded almost immediately.

Wilkinson drew the scores level at half-time, but England departed for the break to more booing.

Despite what must have surely been a 'hairdryer' session under the stands, England didn't fare much better after the break.

The locals' kick-chase was almost non-existent -- with Moody the only player haring around and he managed to get half a block on Agulla's clearance.

Wilkinson did well to spot Argentina offside and exploited it with a grubber kick to earn the penalty, but he drilled it wide from 40 metres out.

England received another let-off when Rodriguez missed from a similar range and Cueto took it on his shoulders to inject some pace into the game with a confident take and counter-attack.

Cueto's angled kick forward was chased again by Moody and the pressure forced Argentina to gift England a lineout ten metres from the line.

But there was little invention on England's attack and Cueto was chopped down by a ruthless tackle from Lucas Borges and the attack was snuffed out.

Finally, with ten minutes remaining, England managed to create one ounce of the dynamic rugby they had promised from the outset.

Haskell sparked the move with a midfield break, Steve Borthwick off-loaded and the ball was spread wide via Cueto and Moody for Banahan to score in the corner.

The giant Bath winger -- otherwise anonymous -- touched down under the posts for his third try in four Tests (and all scored against the Pumas) to allow the unusually wayward Wilkinson to slot a simple conversion.

Argentina piled on the pressure at the death in search of the draw, but England managed to hold on.

Next up for England:  the All Blacks.  Look away now.

Man of the match:  The industrious Lewis Moody is the only Englishman who deserves a mention in dispatches.  Were the likes of Danny Hipkiss, Louis Deacon and Tom Croft even on the pitch?  The South Americans were impressive to a man, with Santiago Fernandez, Alfredo Lalanne and Horacio Agulla indicating that the Four Nations might not be a three-horse race that many expect it to be.  Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe was his usual brilliant self, but we'll thrust the honours towards the old warhorse who goes by the name of Patricio Albacete.  Immense in the tight and dynamic in the loose.  He was all the things that England promised to be.

Moment of the match:  This match will not live long in the memory.  At least we hope not.  But perhaps the booing at half-time might come to be remembered as a turning point in Martin Johnson's tenure as England boss.  His new priority is to simply win back the fans.

Villian of the match:  Dylan Hartley and Mario Ledesma had a couple of tiny tussles, but the skullduggery ended there.  In fact, a little more niggle might have helped proceedings.  No award.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Banahan
Con:  Wilkinson
Pens:  Wilkinson 2
Drop:  Wilkinson

For Argentina:
Pens:  Rodriguez 3

The teams:

England:  15 Ugo Monye, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Danny Hipkiss, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 James Haskell, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Steve Borthwick (c), 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Danny Care, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Ayoola Erinle.

Argentina:  15 Horacio Agulla, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Mauro Comuzzi, 10 Santiago Fernandez, 9 Alfredo Lalanne, 8 Juan Fernandez Lobbe (c), 7 Alfredo Abadie, 6 Tomas Leonardi, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Martin Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Agustin Figuerola, 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 22 Federico Martin Aramburu.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Peter Allan (Scotland)
TMO:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)

All Blacks survive at San Siro

New Zealand avoided a potential European banana skin on Saturday in an historic 20-6 victory over Italy.

Despite holding a two-score cushion with just eight minutes remaining, the second-string visitors were under serious pressure which arguably should have translated into a penalty try after several scrum resets close to the line.

The passionate crowd were baying for official Stuart Dickinson to make the short jog under the poles.  He did not and the All Blacks escaped.

In the end the 80 minutes did not match the occasion though.  Welcome banners for New Zealand added to the warm reception during pre-game, which they had also received all week in the fashion capital.  However, they seemed to find the atmosphere and expectation a little overwhelming in a disjointed overall effort.

Players who were handed chances to impress such as Mike Delany, Tanerau Latimer and Ben Smith struggled in their quest to impress ahead of facing England next week, with the latter fumbling his first touch in the full Test jumper.

Bledisloe Cup holders New Zealand were also comprehensively beaten up front and in the aforementioned scrums by Leicester's destroyer Martin Castrogiovanni alongside experienced loosehead Salvatore Perugini.

In the middle of that grizzly duo was an in-form hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini, who proved a constant livewire for Italy and was slighly more deserving than opposite number Corey Flynn in claiming the only try of the first period..scratch that, the game.

It took the visitors a full 26 minutes to cross for that five-pointer, which was slightly against the run of play after Sitiveni Sivivatu delicately shipped the ball out to his hooker wide out.

That was the only attacking highlight of the first 40 but the overall moment came when, on two occasions, Italy demolished the All Black scrum.  It was quite a sight that pleased captain Sergio Parisse no end.

Many had predicted a strong opening from the home side, who were being cheered on by such names as soccer veterans Clarence Seedorf and Alessandro Del Piero.

A single penalty goal from Craig Gower on four minutes due to Wyatt Crockett being penalised at the set-piece got the crowd upright.  However, for all their spirit and the leadership of Parisse, Italy were unfortunate to find themselves 3-14 down at the break.

The neutral was predicting a closely-fought opening to this one before the opening of the floodgates when Graham Henry rolled on the likes of Richie McCaw, Andrew Hore, Jimmy Cowan and Mils Muliaina.  But that proved not to be the case as it was in fact the hosts who grew as the game wore on - the territorial statistics over the final 40 minutes act as proof, Italy had 60 per cent.

But for all their field position they lacked any threatening ideas under the playmaking nous of Gower, who had an off-day in general play.  One would imagine the New Zealand of old to have subsequently made them pay.

Not so, as Luke McAlister missed more than he made from the tee in Milan, with the width of a post summing up the former Sale man's own luck with the boot.

But the centre finally found his range on 44 minutes before Parisse lifted his troops for the final ten minutes.  How they responded from being 6-20 behind.

Italy set up camp five metres from the black whitewash and were gunning for a score that would reward the 77,000 spectators who had come out to pack the San Siro.

Wave after wave of attacks from their imperious scrum had Dickinson pressured to award them seven points in what was a fitting finish in this special Test fixture.  But Dickinson pooped the party.

Man of the match:  Leonardo Ghiraldini was strong during the first period but the overall performance of Sergio Parisse was once again unparalleled.  The Paris number eight got the better of opposite number Rodney So'oialo and proved his ever-growing global reputation with an excellent 80 minutes as leader.

Moment of the match:  The final eight minutes in Milan summed up the spirit of the Azzurri.  Close to ten scrum resets almost gave them a much-needed seven points but it wasn't to be.  80,000 stood to applaud the effort and Nick Mallett will be oh so proud of his pack.

Villain of the match:  No one really stands out in either camp.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pens:  Gower 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Flynn
Pens:  McAlister 5

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Ignacio Rouyet, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Alberto Sgarbi

New Zealand:  15 Cory Jane, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Anthony Boric, 4 Tom Donnelly, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Mils Muliaina.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Scotland ease past Fiji

Scotland began their November Test series -- and Andy Robinson's tenure -- with a comfortable 23-10 win over Fiji on Saturday.

An early second-half try -- tinged with controversy -- by Graeme Morrison put the Scots in a winning position, but despite the promise shown in the first half there might be a mild concern that the team failed to kick on and close out the win their set-piece superiority deserved.

They might see it as progress -- Scotland had lost six of the last nine coming into this after all -- but there's still a lot to do.  Having worked themselves in good fashion to a 16-0 lead, Scotland conceded a soft try and went thoroughly into their shells, briefly peeking out to score a second try and then retreating as though caught in the glare of headlights.

Some of the first half was top notch from the Scots.  There were some clever well-worked moves coming off the back of an utterly dominant set piece, not least the opening try.  But the number of balls turned over and the comparatively high penalty count negated the momentum.

In the second half, the backs just couldn't seem to find the right angles to run and ran out of ideas far too fast, while the forwards seemed unable to tidy up the rucks.  The defence held firm well enough, but also allowed the Fijians to build up momentum too quickly.  Fiji were unable to punish, but a better opponent would have cleaned up.

Fiji will also not be entirely satisfied.  All too rarely did their fabled hands begin to work and put players into space, the balance the team likes to strike between sevens and the full game tilted too far towards the latter;  not their forte.  Runners took the ball into contact but the support was slow -- understandable given only three days of chaotic preparation but they'll have to analyse and reflect that a little more adventure could have reaped rewards.

One move in particular which took them to 2m away from the Scots' line, was begging for a glory finish.  Instead the forwards took the ball on around the fringes a couple of phases too many and had it wrapped up.  That won the Fijians a scrum, frequently a good source of Scottish possession.

After finding their feet during the first ten minutes and taking the lead with a Phil Godman penalty, Scotland struck first with a super try.  Johnnie Beattie popped the ball down to Chris Cusiter off a line-out and the scrum-half scampered through, offloading to Beattie who took two players over the line with him.  Those two players included Josefa Domolailai who subsequently left the field with an oxygen mask after sustaining a horrible leg injury.

Further penalties followed from Godman, as well as one that struck the post, as Scotland exploited their scrumming superiority mercilessly, but Fiji built up a couple of good heads of steam as well, and scored a sucker-punch try just before half time.  A series of rucks near the Scottish line built the momentum before the pass went out to an unopposed Vereneki Goneva for a simple finish, but questions will be asked as to why Simon Danielli chose that moment to cut inside on defence and leave Goneva free.

Half-time at 16-7 was comfortable enough and within five minutes of the second half, Graeme Morrison -- benefitting from a monstrous knock-on right in the blind spot of the officials -- crashed over under the posts, with Godman making it 23-7.

That should have been a catalyst, no matter how hard the Fijians fought.  The blue scrum was shoving the white eight from loosehead to tight and the line-out was solid, while poor Josh Matavesi at full-back for Fiji was having a nervous game.  All the requisite weak spots were there, but Scotland got sloppy, falling over rucks, resorting to illegal scrummaging to hammer home their advantage and looking a little lackadaisical in support and on the hoof.

Nicky Little banged over a penalty for Fiji on the hour to bring them to within two scores, but the Fijians got tired as the game petered out a little.  Only Napolioni Nalaga looked capable of breaking a line and causing danger, but he was not given enough time running with the ball.

With six minutes to go, Fiji had worked their way to the line and an overlap -- with Nalaga on the end of it -- was begging.  It could have been a very uncomfortable final few minutes for Scotland, but the Fiji forwards took the wrong option, winning only a scrum, from which they lost the ball.  A win for Scotland, but lots to do.

Man of the match:  Not a whole great deal of contenders, but while he was on the pitch, Chris Cusiter showed plenty of flashes and led the side ably in terms of both personnel and game play.

Moment of the match:  Without a doubt Scotland's opening try, which should have inspired Scotland to bigger and better.

Villain of the match:  Not a jot.  No flying Fijian tackles -- indeed the highest tackle of the day was by Alasdair Strokosch!

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Beattie, Morrison
Cons:  Godman 2
Pens:  Godman 3

For Fiji:
Try:  Goneva
Con:  Little
Pen:  Little

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jason White, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Nick De Luca.

Fiji:  15 Josh Matavesi, 14 Vereneki Goneva, 13 Gabirieli Lovobalavu, 12 Seremaia Bai (c), 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Moses Rauluni, 8 Asaeli Boko, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Josefa Domolailai, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Wame Lewaravu, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Vili Veikoso, 1 Alefoso Yalayalatabua.
Replacements:  16 Graham Dewes, 17 Sereli Ledua, 18 Leone Nakarawa, 19 Samu Bola, 20 Waisale Vatuvoka, 21 Jonetani Ratu, 22 Nasoni Roko.

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Assistants:  Carlo Damasco (Italy), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO:  Guillio De Santis (Italy)

Wales cling on for victory

Wales' Pacific Island jinx nearly struck again on Friday as they laboured to a scrappy 17-13 win over Samoa in Cardiff.

They rode their luck though, ending up holding on desperately to a four-point lead after Seilala Mapusua's intercept try had brought the Samoans back into the game on the hour mark.

It looked so good after five minutes.  Wales had stretched the Samoans this way and that, winning an early penalty and scoring a gem of a try when Leigh Halfpenny collected Dan Biggar's kick on the wing.  But that was about it.  For the rest of the match, the Welsh simply struggled to match the physicality of the men in blue and their own organisation faltered as a result.

Offloads didn't stick, the decision-making went awry.  Dan Biggar eschewed three big overlaps in the run up to Mapusua's intercept before then hanging on to the ball too long and chucking out a sitter for the experienced centre to pick off and score.  This was a young team which needed to learn, but any team has to do better than that with 65 per cent of the possession.

Samoa did not offer anything unexpected, indeed the sophistication of their own play was at a lesser level than usual.  Rarely in the first hour did they pose a major attacking threat.  Lolo Lui was sin-binned for a murderous charge on Dwayne Peel which left the scrum-half stunned for a good three minutes.  Only later in the game did the Samoans break free, but it was too late.  Welsh fans will not like to consider what might have been had they tried it a bit earlier.

The Tuilagi brothers were also flinging their weight around with barely legal abandon and the rest of the blue shirts marauded around the fringes of rucks, exploiting well the leeway given to them by referee Peter Fitzgibbon.  It was disruptive and effective, but Wales had to rise above it.  They didn't, and nearly paid the price.

There were good things too.  Some of the handling, particularly from the forwards, was almost dainty.  There was an encouraging number of line-breaks -- eleven to Samoa's two in the end -- which at least shows that the team is heading in a good direction.

The first of those was by Alun-Wyn Jones, who tock an inside pass from Biggar and offloaded to Peel.  Peel accelerated before offloading to Warburton and then being flattened by Lui.  Warburton was brought down a metre short and his tackler was penalised for not releasing too.  Lui went to the bin as Biggar clipped over the points.

Right from the restart Samoa equalised, with Welsh chasers in front of Peel's box-kick, but with the Welsh already creating problems out wide, Biggar spied David Lemi off his wing and hoisted a fabulous cross-kick into Halfpenny's arms for the winger to do the rest.

Biggar extended the lead on sixteen minutes after George Stowers was caught holding on in a tackle, and with Wales' kicking game vastly superior, Samoa could not get out of their half.

As the game approached the half-hour and Warburton -- excellent on the night -- once again found a hole to get through, before James Hook -- another standout performer -- was denied by a crunching tackle from Alesana Tuilagi, you sensed Wales were turning the screw.  A try before the break might have killed things off.

Instead Samoa found their way into Wales' half with some good kicking themselves, and Fa'atonu Fili missed one sitter of a penalty before landing a second and sending the teams into the changing rooms at 11-6 to Wales.

The second half began as the first had ended, Wales in the ascendancy, finding small holes but not opening them up enough.  James Hook had the best opportunity, tearing away down the left where he could have passed inside or chipped.  Instead he dummied and held on and was cleaned up by Lui having isolated himself in the process.

Still, Halfpenny and Biggar had both notched kicks to put the Welsh a comfortable 17-6 ahead, but then Biggar made his howler just as the Samoans were looking ripe for the picking and within a minute, it was 17-13.

From then, it only got worse.  Samoa found a second wind of hurricane-strength and had Wales desperately clutching on in defence.  Mapusua and Uale Mai almost combined to scoring effect down the right.  David Lemi's chip and chase was wonderfully rescued by Halfpenny at the last gasp.  Welsh attacks continued to lack the fluency or cohesion of the first half and shades of 1991 hung in the air.

Alas for Samoa it was not to be.  But with only three days' preparation, this was an impressive display of guts and nous.  For three weeks of preparation, Wales came up distinctly short.

Man of the match:  A tough one to call.  While the Welsh were not on song as a team, there were many individual moments of brilliance:  James Hook, Ryan Jones, Andy Powell, Dwayne Peel and Sam Warburton can all hold heads high.  But sticking it all together and putting his all into it when it often mattered most was the energetic Gethin Jenkins, who also produced a sterling scrummaging effort.  For Samoa, mention should be made to Cencus Johnston and Junior Polu.

Moment of the match:  Halfpenny's try and Mapusua's reply both featured, but Leigh Halfpenny's save of David Lemi's chip and chase was the moment when the sighs of relief began to pour forth from the Millennium Stadium stands.

Villain of the match:  It makes for good viewing, but Lolo Lui should study tapes of his hit on Dwayne Peel and Alesana Tuilagi's on James Hook and spot the difference in the freeze frames:  namely the lack of a ball in Peel's hand.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Biggar 3, Halfpenny

For Samoa:
Try:  Mapusua
Con:  Fili
Pens:  Fili 2

Yellow cards:  Lui (2, Samoa, dangerous tackle), H Tuilagi (52, Samoa, repeated infringement)

Wales:  15 James Hook, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones (c), 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Andy Powell, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Paul James, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Craig Mitchell, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Jonathan Davies, 22 Morgan Stoddart.

Samoa:  15 Lolo Lui, 14 David Lemi, 13 Gavin Williams, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Fa'atonu Fili, 9 Junior Polu, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Ofisa Treviranus, 6 George Stowers (c), 5 Iosefa Tekori, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Williams, 17 Sakaria Taulafo, 18 Kane Thompson, 19 Jonny Faamatuianu, 20 Uale Mai, 21 Henry Fa'afili, 22 Titi Esau.

Referee:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Dave Pearson (England), Rob Debney (England)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Ferocious French stop Boks

France lived up to their reputation as the giant-killers of world rugby with a deserved 20-13 win over South Africa in Toulouse on Friday.

Beaten at scrum-time and at the breakdown, matched in the line-outs and in the battle of the boot, the Springboks were a step behind their hosts from the word go.

Before the game, the French promised that they would match the Boks for physicality and they did just that.  A pumped-up French pack put on an absolutely ferocious display -- constantly denying the world champions any opportunity to gain any sort of momentum.

The French would have been bitterly disappointed when they trailed 13-11 at the break after having enjoyed the better of the first half.  South Africa's luck would change in the second half however as two yellow cards and blustery wind contributed to a scoreless second period for the tourists.

A number of eyebrows were raised in France when the Boks arrived just 48 hours prior to kick-off.  Whether their late arrival played a part in their error-riddled performance is a matter of debate, but what is clear is that, on a slippery surface, South Africa made far more errors they we had become used to during the Tri-Nations.

But let's take nothing away from the Tricolors, who stepped up to the plate and produced and near faultless display.  Despite the Springboks' credentials, this was no fluke as Marc Lièvremont's side lived up to the expectations created by their victory in New Zealand in June.

Julien Dupuy's early penalty gave France the lead as the hosts kept the world champions under constant pressure.  Three times in the first fifteen minutes South Africa were robbed of the ball at the ruck and the team in blue were doing a good job of keeping possession.

But you only need to give John Smit's team half a chance and they will put points on the board.  First Morné Steyn levelled the scores with a yet another fabulous kick before he put his side ahead with a neat drop.

When Smit latched onto a wayward line-out throw from local hooker William Servat to barge over from short range, South Africa took an ten-point lead with the conversion from Steyn.

Two mistakes had cost France dearly, but it took less than a minute for Les Bleus to reply.

When the Boks fluffed the restart the French midfield turned on the gas.  With the Bok defence stretched to the limit, Yann David found a gap, a brilliant tap-on from Francois Trinh-Duc gave Vincent Clerc the half-second he needed to sneak into the corner.

Things started to come apart at the seems for South Africa when Steyn was shown yellow on the stroke of half time and Dupuy narrowed the gap to two points.

Soon after the teams swapped sides Dupuy put France ahead when the Bok scrum was destroyed under their own posts.  The wind was at France's back, both literally and figuratively.

South African never realistically looked like scoring in the second period and when Ryan Kankowski, who had a disappointing game in general, was shown a yellow for killing the ball near his own try line, the writing was on the wall.

Replacement scrum-half Morgan Parra missed the penalty but was on target a few minutes later to secure to win for the hosts.

Man of the match:  France skipper Thierry Dusautoir was awesome.  A terror at the breakdown, the Toulouse flank led his team with all the gusto that one could ask for.

Moment of the match:  With France trailing on the half-hour mark, one might have had the feeling it wasn't going to be Les Blues' night, but Vincent Clerc's try seemed to give the hosts the belief that they could win.

Villain of the match:  Whoever that rasta was who murdered the South African anthem.  Please, please never let him get close to a microphone ever again.

The Scorers

For France:
Try:  Clerc
Pens:  Dupuy 4, Parra

For South Africa:
Try:  Smit
Con:  Steyn
Pen:  Steyn
Drop:  Steyn

Yellow cards:  Steyn (SA -- 40th min -- foul play);  Kankowski (SA -- 68th min -- professional foul)

France:  15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Romain Millo-Chluski, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Sébastien Chabal, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 David Marty, 22 Maxime Médard.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Adi Jacobs, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Andries Bekker, 20 Danie Rossouw, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Wynand Olivier.

Venue:  Stadium de Toulouse
Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), James Jones (Wales)
Television match officials:  Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Australia display new-found resolve

More accustomed to throwing leads away, Australia bounced back from a 9-5 half-time deficit to beat England 18-9 at Twickenham on Saturday.

The win is just the tonic Australia need at the end of a year in which they have so often flattered to deceive.  England were limited, but the manner in which Australia came out in the second half and took the game by the cobblers will have had Robbie Deans glowing inside.

It's England's limitations that will be the prime subject of focus after this game, not so much in terms of personnel but certainly in tactical thinking.  At the end of an opening quarter which England utterly dominated, they should have held far more than a 6-0 lead.  A minute later, after Australia's first meaningful spell of pressure, it was only 6-5.  Will Genia, and later in the game, Adam Ashley-Cooper, found something that England never did.

More meaningful than the scoreline ought to be a sober reflection on the number of scoring opportunities Australia butchered as well.  Matt Giteau was twice denied by thumping tackles from Jonny Wilkinson and Rocky Elsom suffered an untimely case of tunnel vision, while a wrong option to chip by Drew Mitchell and a butter-fingered moment from Digby Ioane by the line also meant points went a-begging.

But it is the first twenty minutes that England must focus on, perhaps even the entire first half.  They had nine penalties to Australia's two.  Steve Borthwick and Tom Croft were creating all sorts of problems for Australia's line-out -- they stole three out of seven.  It took Australia 16 minutes to have, and claim, a phase of set-piece possession.  Stats like that should mean a lead of at least ten points.

England did lead 6-0 at the end of the first twenty, courtesy of a majestic drop goal from Wilkinson and a penalty but they had to kick on and press the advantage home.  Instead, outside of an effervescent Wilkinson whose absorption of French rugby culture appears to have stretched to his becoming almost maverick with his steps and chips, there was little beyond the crash, bash and thunder of archetypal English club rugby.  Straight running, lots of contact, lots of rucking, lots of basics ... in the end, quite a lot of nothing at all.  More imagination is needed.

Instead it was Genia who showed the way, sparking a wave of attacks and then slipping through a gap at the base of a ruck to put the Wallabies on the scoreboard.

England continued to dominate, but the question had been posed.  'We can do that,' said Australia.  'What can you do?'

Well, Wilkinson kicked another penalty.  England's defence stood resolute late on -- again, Wilkinson showed his importance -- as Australia came again.  England's pack continued to rumble.  But it was Giteau who looked the most likely to score as half-time neared, with Wilkinson putting in a terrific tackle on him.

At 9-5, England sat pretty at the break.  This is Australia, after all, the team that always fades.  Except this time, Australia's forwards came out and got into English faces.  Giteau nailed a penalty for an offside, after a movement where both he and Elsom could have released the ball for tries.  A dubious scrum penalty on the hour mark meant Giteau gave his side the lead.  Now England had to respond.  Wilkinson tried his hardest with a sublime chip, regather and offload, but nobody else had the fluency or imagination to carry the move on.  Eventually, the men in white resorted to type, trying to grind it out.  It won't cut the mustard against the more sophisticated teams.

But the killer blow will have had Martin Johnson's forehead dropping deep with rage.  Out the ball came left to Adam Ashley-Cooper, who was taken too high and too upright by both Mark Cueto and Ugo Monye.  The Wallaby full-back renowned for his strength on his feet, powered forward and dragged the two Englishmen over the line with him from 15m out.  Giteau converted to send Australia two scores ahead with ten to go -- two scores England were never going to get.

Man of the match:  Will Genia takes this one, with Quade Cooper and Jonny Wilkinson a close second.  Cooper in particular looked as close to coming of age as he ever has, while Wilkinson looked as fresh as a spring day.  But Genia's pace, intelligence and threatening running posed continual questions that England found too much to cope with.

Moment of the match:  Adam Ashley-Cooper's try killed the game off -- and what a score it was!

Villain of the match:  We're almost tempted to castigate the players for being too clean!  Where's the edge?  No award.

The scorers:

For England:
Pens:  Wilkinson 2
Drop goal:  Wilkinson

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, Ashley-Cooper
Con:  Giteau
Pens:  Giteau 2

England:  15 Ugo Monye, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Steve Borthwick (Captain), 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dave Wilson, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Duncan Bell, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 James Haskell, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Ayoola Erinle.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, (captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match officials:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)