All Blacks up and running in Auckland

A fine first-half performance helped New Zealand to a 41-10 victory over Tonga in the first game of the 2011 World Cup at Eden Park on Friday.

It was hardly a vintage 80 minutes but with the job done and dusted before the break, it is difficult to blame the hosts for taking their foot off the gas.

They carded six tries in all while the Tongans, who were unlucky not to take the second-half spoils after topping both the possession and territory statistics, responded thanks to a late try from replacement loosehead prop Alisona Taumalolo.

We had a sneaking feeling that a strong game here for Israel Dagg could make life very difficult for veteran Mils Muliaina to reclaim his number fifteen jersey.  And so it happened as Crusader Dagg was a constant threat from full-back, scoring twice and claiming the opening score of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in the process.

New Zealand were sublime for many chunks of the fixture and the experiment of Sonny Bill Williams and Ma'a Nonu at centre gave more than a feeling that head coach Graham Henry had known about this combination for some time but kept it under wraps until the tournament kick-off.  Rivals must now do their homework.

Japan are next on their schedule so expect plenty of changes in personnel for that, with Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and the entire back-three expected to be kept in cotton wool ahead of the France game.  On this form and creating so many opportunities, one expects les bleus may struggle.  As the aforementioned stats show, NZ don't need much to score.

It did take them ten minutes to cross the whitewash though as, following a Carter penalty five minutes before, Kahui busted two tacklers before recycled ball found Nonu who handed to Dagg for the simplest of scores.  Carter missed the extras from wide on the left touchline.

Maybe there were still a few nerves at Eden Park as it took another nine minutes before the scorers were troubled again.  This time it was the impressive Sonny Bill Williams who turned provider with a lovely inside offload to Isaia Toeava which led to Kahui getting over.

New Zealand were starting to turn the screw.

And so it proved as another Williams pass in the tackle to Toeava produced Dagg's second try before the full-back fed Kahui for try number four.  The All Blacks had 29 points on their tally before a Kurt Morath penalty put the Tongans on the board on 40 minutes.

But it was a different Tonga after the break and in the first fifteen minutes Williams, Nonu, Toeava and Brad Thorn were all dropped in crunching tackles in reach of the try-line.

Kahui managed to break the second-half deadlock though, regathering his own chip kick and passing to the supporting blindside flanker Jerome Kaino who extended the lead.

But then came one of the biggest cheers of the night as Tonga, who had 6,000 supporters welcoming them at the airport upon arrival, crossed the line thanks to Taumalolo.  The All Blacks had the final say though as Nonu scored late on to cap a professional showing.

Man of the match:  It was a toss-up betwen Sonny Bill Williams for his assists and Richard Kahui for grabbing his opportunity on the wing with both hands.  Kahui was just too good with two tries picked up -- one of which was a well-finished score down the right touchline.

Moment of the match:  The offload from Sonny Bill Williams back inside to Isaia Toeava was sublime.  Without looking, SBW sent the ball behind his back and inside to the wing, who then handed the pill to a scoring Richard Kahui.  Quality stuff that thrilled Eden Park.

Villain of the match:  No bad-boy in what was a clean 80 minutes.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg 2, Kahui 2, Kaino, Nonu
Con:  Carter 3, Slade
Pen:  Carter

For Tonga:
Try:  Taumalolo
Con:  Morath
Pen:  Morath

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Isaia Toeava, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Cory Jane.

Tonga:  15 Vunga Lilo, 14 Viliame Iongi, 13 Suka Hufanga, 12 Andrew Ma'ilei, 11 Siale Piutau, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Finau Maka (c), 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Joe Tu'ineau, 4 Paino Hehea, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements:  16 Ephraim Taukafa, 17 Alisona Taumalolo, 18 Kisi Pulu, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Samiu Vahafolau, 21 Samisoni Fisilau, 22 Alipate Fatafehi.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Wallabies crowned Tri-Nations champs

Australia have won the Tri-Nations after a ten-year wait thanks to a 25-20 win over New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

This is what Test rugby is all about!

The Wallabies outscored their visitors by three tries to two in what was a delicious hors d'oeuvre before the start of the Rugby World Cup.

A first-half blitz from the hosts saw Robbie Deans' troops send the shell-shocked All Blacks into the half-time sheds 17 points behind (20-3).

However, just like clockwork, New Zealand bounced back after the break to level the scores and set up a thrilling finish to a pulsating Tri-Nations decider.

But just as it seemed the visitors were going to seize the game by the scruff of the neck, a piece of brilliance by Australia's scrum-half Will Genia created the decisive try for Kurtley Beale.

It was a fast and furious start to the match that saw the Wallabies in fifth gear straight from the kick-off, only for the hosts to slam on the brakes after two mistimed passes from halfback partners Genia and Quade Cooper denied wing Digby Ioane ten points in the bank.

Instead, the hosts had to settle for a three-point lead following a straight-forward penalty from Cooper that put his team in front after four minutes played.

The Wallabies' lead was nearly stretched soon afterwards when centre Adam Ashley-Cooper weaved his way over the All Blacks' tryline, but was held up thanks to some sterling defensive work from scrum-half Piri Weepu and full-back Mils Muliaina.

The pace and physicallity of the game took its toll on the All Blacks' loose trio, who all required some attention before number eight Kieran Read called it a day and limped off the pitch as Adam Thomson recieved some heavy strapping to his left elbow.

The Wallabies then rubbed salt into the visitors' early wounds with the game's opening try after Genia sliced his way through a gap and dived over beside the posts.  Cooper added the extras and Australia had a handy 10-0 lead after 15 minutes played.

All Blacks pivot Dan Carter finally got the visitors on the board with his trusty boot mid-way through the half after the Wallabies defence was caught offside, but the Australians were still in control and Cooper replied with his second successful penalty of the match.

From the restart, two of Australia's veterans in the form of Dan Vickerman and number eight Radike Samo worked together to lift the capacity crowd off their feet.

Vickerman took his big frame into contact before putting Samo through a gap that the 35-year-old exploited to perfection -- first handing off Thomson, then racing 50 metres to the tryline for a sensational try with two All Blacks hanging on his back.

Cooper slammed over the conversion from bang in front and Australia went into half-time with their tails up, leading 20-3.  But any happy thoughts that Wallaby fans had of a runaway win by their team, were cast into doubt by this year's World Cup hosts in the second half.

Dominating possession from the restart, Ii was clear that New Zealand had set out their stall during the interval to extinguish the Wallaby flare that had burned so brightly in the opening 40 minutes.

First Carter added three more points with a penalty on 47 minutes, before the All Black magician drew the home side's defence and unleashed centre Conrad Smith for their opening try.

Carter's conversion took the scores to 20-11, but they weren't done there and seven minutes later the All Blacks went in for their second after Ma'a Nonu ran in to put his team right back in the frame.

With Carter's second conversion added to the mix, it was game on at 20-20!

However, Australia hit back in the best way possible.

Just like he did for the Reds in this year's Super Rugby final against the Crusaders at the same ground, Genia wrong-footed the opposition again and made good ground before delivering the offload to Ioane.

The Wallaby wing drew in the defence and then unselfishly fed Beale who ran in unopposed for the try to put the hosts back in front, but Cooper missed the conversion, leaving the scores on 25-20.

Six minutes from full-time Cooper missed what looked like a simple chance to give his side an eight-point advantage when he sent a penalty wide of the uprights.

But Australia held on through a nail-biting finish to claim the Tri-Nations crown for the first time in a decade.

Man of the match:  Tough one! We could go for a Wallabies team award, but it was decided that Radike Samo, the oldest Wallaby player at 35, deserves it the most after showing everyone who witnessed his try that there's still plenty of life left in those old legs.

Moment of the match:  Beale's match-winning try in the left corner to retrieve Australia's lead.  It had class written all over it.

Villain of the match:  Hmmm ... maybe see our comments section below.  We're pretty sure you'll find a few candidates in there somewhere!

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, Samo, Beale
Cons:  Cooper 2
Pens:  Cooper 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Smith, Nonu
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 2

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Anthony Fainga'a, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Dan Vickerman, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Rob Horne.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 John Afoa, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)

Two-try return for Drew Mitchell

Drew Mitchell scored two tries on his international return from an ankle injury to lead Australian Barbarians to an easy 38-14 victory over Canada.

The lethal finisher, who was playing his third match since suffering that horrific Super Rugby injury, was one of four on the comeback trail.

Berrick Barnes, Rob Horne, James Slipper and Tatafu Polota-Nau all came through unscathed in a selection that saw veteran Nathan Sharpe lead.

Centre Ben Tapuai, who was not selected for the World Cup, had a hand in the first three Barbarian tries and scored one of his own late in the day.

Horne, who also scored a try, was later named as a reserve for the Wallabies in Saturday's match after he was rested for the second half.

Canada will play in Pool A with France, Japan, New Zealand and Tonga at the World Cup.

The scorers:

For Australian Barbarians:
Tries:  Horne, Barnes, Mitchell 2, Hodgson, Tapuai
Con:  Barnes 4

For Canada:
Tries:  Van der Merwe, McKenzie
Con:  Pritchard 2

Australian Barbarians:  15 Lachie Turner, 14 Rod Davies, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Pat McCutcheon, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (capt), 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 James Slipper, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements:  16 James Hanson, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Beau Robinson, 20 Ben Tapuai, 21 Luke Morahan, 22 Mark Gerrard.

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Phil Mackenzie, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Adam Kleeberger, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Pat Riordan (c), 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Scott Franklin, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Sean White, 21Conor Trainor, 22 Nathan Hirayama.

Scotland make it two from two

Scotland beat Italy 23-12 at Murrayfield on Saturday to complete their World Cup preparations with a second consecutive win.

Both teams scored two tries but three penalties from the boot of home fly-half Dan Parks proved the difference after 80 minutes.

The result sees the Scots build on the 10-6 win over Ireland a fortnight ago although the success was marred somewhat by the sight of Nikki Walker leaving the field on a stretcher in the closing stages with a knee injury.

Coach Andy Robinson will name his World Cup squad on Monday.

The crowd in sun-kissed Edinburgh found immediate cause for excitement as the Scots surged straight into attack.  The hosts got off to a cracking start as Alasdair Dickinson scored his first Test try on the ten minute mark following a slaloming run by wing Max Evans.

Italy replied through a try from wing Tommaso Benvenuti which Mirco Bergamasco converted but Parks' second penalty gave Scotland a 13-7 half-time lead.

Scotland continued to earn the bulk of possession and territory, but the good early work was spoiled when they gave away a series of turnovers.

The action continued to be scrappy and disjointed after the restart with the Scots looking increasingly nervy.

And it was the Italians who were producing the more attractive and constructive rugby -- much to the frustration of the vast majority among the 20,245-strong crowd.

The visitors' pluck and endeavour was rewarded in the 48th minute as Treviso scrum-half Fabio Semenzato scored the second try.

The Scots' fringe defence was markedly absent as the smallest man on the pitch darted through a gap to score from close quarters after a well-controlled pick and drive sequence.

Scotland needed a stroke of good fortune and the vision of vice-captain Mike Blair to ease the jitters.

Andrea Masi fatally delayed his clearance kick, giving Edinburgh scrum-half Blair the chance to charge it down and win the race for the critical try.

The conversion was a formality for Parks, who stretched the gap to eight points, and two minutes later he thumped over a 40-metre penalty to give the hosts even more breathing space.

For Scotland:
Tries:  Dickinson, Blair
Cons:  Parks 2
Pens:  Parks 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Benvenuti, Semenzato
Cons:  Bergamasco

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Max Evans, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Richie Vernon, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Ross Rennie, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Nikki Walker.

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 5 Cornelius Van Zyl, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Edoardo Gori, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Joshua Furno.

Venue:  Murrayfield
Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Robin Goodliffe (England)
TMO:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

France see off Ireland in Dublin

Ireland are facing up to the prospect of going into the World Cup without a warm-up win to their name after they lost out 26-22 to France on Saturday.

Les Bleus -- who beat the Irish 19-12 in Bordeaux last Saturday -- will name their RWC squad on Sunday while Ireland name theirs on Monday.

The Irish wrap up their preparations with a home match against 2003 champions England next Saturday and will be desperate for a victory.

It is worth mentioning that France only won the game by four and Ireland gifted their visitors seven second-half points when Tomas O'Leary threw a wild pass to pivot Francois Trinh-Duc.

There were ten changes to the Irish side that lost in Bordeaux last weekend, with skipper Brian O'Driscoll and midfield partner Gordon D'Arcy starting in midfield, while Paul O'Connell and Jamie Heaslip made their first warm-up starts.

Shane Jennings filled in for the injured David Wallace in the back-row, while Munster's Felix Jones made his first start for Ireland at full back.

There were plenty of changes in the visiting side too, with Lievremont retaining just Alexis Palisson and Dimitri Szarzewski from last weekend, with the majority of the French players making their first appearance of the season.

Ireland, therefore, should have had the edge physically, and the tempo with which they began the game was testament to that.

It took just two minutes for them to open the scoring through a Jonathan Sexton penalty.  They attacked relentlessly and it was only a matter of time before the breakthrough came.

Having stretched the French across the field, Healy was left in a one-on-one with France scrum-half Parra who was simply blown away by the Leinster prop, who crossed to score his first international try in 20 appearances.

Sexton pushed the extras wide, but Ireland deservedly led 8-0 with just 11 minutes gone.

France turned the match on its head in the space of five minutes, with Parra opening his account with a straightforward penalty from just outside the 22-yard line on 26 minutes.

Trinh-Duc punished a poor clearance by O'Leary to strike home a drop goal from just inside the Irish half.  Then came the French try as Aurelien Rougerie cut through the midfield with ease.  Heymans ran a great line to run home in style and take the lead for the first time.

Parra added another penalty just before the break and then added a third just after the restart.  The points kept coming for the visitors as they added a second try moments later.

Unfortunately for the hosts, the score was self inflicted, with O'Leary the culprit as his suicidal attempted pass to Sexton was intercepted by Trinh-Duc, who touched down unopposed.  Sexton and O'Brien then put a little gloss on the scoreline late on.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Healy, Sexton, O'Brien
Con:  O'Gara 2
Pen:  Sexton

For France:
Tries:  Heymans, Trinh-Duc
Con:  Parra 2
Pen:  Parra 3
Drop:  Trinh-Duc

Ireland:  15 Felix Jones, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Stephen Ferris, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Luke Fitzgerald.

France:  15 Cedric Heymans, 14 Maxime Médard, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louise Picamoles, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascale Papé, Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.

Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Thierry Dusautoir, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 David Marty, 22 Vincent Clerc, 23 Luc Ducalcon.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Second warm-up win for Wales

Wales scored their second Test victory in as many weeks on Saturday with a 28-13 victory over 2007 World Cup semi-finalists Argentina at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Wales led 14-3 at half-time thanks to try from number eight Andy Powell and a handful of penalties from James Hook.

The Pumas pack dominated in opening stages but their kickers -- Felipe Contepomi and Marcelo Bosch -- failed to reflect the visitors' ascendancy on the scoreboard.

Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones provided the spark the hosts need just before the break, setting up Powell to score before touching down himself shortly after the break.

The home side raised their game in the second period, taking charge to seal victory via a late try from wing George North.

Replacement front-row Martin Scelzo scored a consolation try for Argentina in the dying moments which Felipe converted but the result was already beyond doubt.

Wales were determined to build on the triumph over England last weekend and enter their World Cup opener against world champions South Africa on September, 11, on the back of two victories.

One worry, though, for Wales was they lost veteran fly-half Stephen Jones before kick-off, with a recurrence of a calf injury, with Scott Williams stepping up to the bench.

But Wales led by Martyn Williams, who won his 99th cap, comfortably completed their mission.

The Pumas gave the hosts a real scare early on after Contepomi threaded a grubber along the touchline.

Leicester Tigers' Horacio Agulla scorched-up the wing and beat Jonathan Davies to the ball but it had brushed the touchline on the bounce.

Wales had their first chance eighteen minutes into the scrappy encounter but Davies was unable to hold-on to Hook's pass following a Tavis Knoyle quick tap.

Contepomi opened the scoring on 29 minutes with a well-taken penalty.  Moments later the Argentine fly-half had the chance to extend the visitors lead but was once again off target with the boot.

And Wales took full advantage moments later when they surged into the lead thanks to Powell's first ever try for his country.

Knoyle broke off the back of a scrappy scrum and linked with second-row Jones who then released Powell to race into the corner.  Hook expertly slotted the touchline conversion and they grabbed a second quick-fire try within moments of the restart.

Jamie Roberts offloaded out of contact to release North and the Scarlets flyer beat his opposite number and Contepomi before drawing Martin Rodriguez to put Jones over for a try of his own.

Hook was again on target to hand Wales a 14-3 half-time lead.  Wales started the second-half with much better effect than the first and they got their reward with a Hook penalty on 44 minutes.

He added a second on 53 minutes to extend Wales' lead to 20-3.  Argentina were dealt a blow when Juan Fernandez Lobbe was sent to the sin-bin after taking Jones out at the restart.

But Contepomi struck-back with a penalty on 62 minutes to reduce the deficit to 20-6.  Wales made a raft of replacements in the final quarter and it was no surprise that the game lost its shape and rhythm.

And they were dealt a World Cup scare when Roberts limped off with what appeared to be a dead leg.  But the hosts finished in style with North crashing over for his seventh try in nine matches for Wales.

It was a well-worked move by Wales, they sucked in the Pumas' defence and spread the ball wide to centre Davies who flicked a pass inside to North.

Argentina grabbed a late consolation try with a trademark drive over maul which Contepomi converted but it was not enough and Hook added a final penalty at the death.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Powell, AW Jones, North
Con:  Hook 2
Pen:  Hook 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Scelzo
Cons:  Contepomi
Pens:  Contepomi 2

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 George North, 10 James Hook, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams (capt), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Scott Williams, 22 Aled Brew.

Argentina:  15 Martin Rodriguez, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Gonzalo Camacho, 10 Felipe Contepomi (c), 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16Agustin Creevy, 17 Martin Scelzo, 18 Mariano Galarza, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Nicolas Sanchez, 22 Juan Imhoff.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)

Boks bag first win of the year

Morné Steyn kicked all of South Africa's points as they beat New Zealand 18-5 in Saturday's Tri-Nations clash in Port Elizabeth.

The All Blacks scored the only try of the game, but were outmuscled up front by their hosts.  The whole Bok team tackled their hearts out and Steyn's strong tactical kicking, especially in the second half, allowed them to keep the visitors pinned back.

As has become the norm in clashes between these sides, the All Blacks looked the more dangerous side with ball in hand, but the Springboks can count themselves deserved winners and will take encouragement from their improvement in defence and at scrum time in their final game before the World Cup.

It was South Africa's best performance of the year -- by some margin -- but the Springbok management will continue to be concerned by their team's inability to cross the try line.  (Peter de Villiers' team have scored just three tries this year -- all by hookers John Smit and Chiliboy Ralepelle.)

By contrast, Graham Henry's task of picking his backs for the World Cup was made no easier by strong performances by Israel Dagg, Isaia Toeava and Hosea Gear.  However Adam Thomson's hopes of making the starting XV on September 9 took a step backwards as his overeagerness cost his side a number of penalties.

Just how much can be read into this result is debatable as it would be overly harsh to judge New Zealand on the performance of a make-shift side.

New Zealand did most of the playing in the first quarter but it was the hosts who held a 12-0 lead after half-an-hour as their charged-up pack forced the All Blacks to infringe at the rucks and at scrum time.

Steyn moved the Boks further ahead with a neat drop-goal but it was the men in black who would cross the whitewash for the game's only try, courtesy of Richard Kahui, who muscled his way past three defenders after Gear had cut through the Boks' defensive curtain with a searing run.

South Africa led 15-5 at half time with Steyn's fifth penalty the only points of the second period.

Man of the match:  The home side's cover defence saved their bacon on a number of occasions with Jaque Fourie coming to the rescue two or three times.  But we'll go for Morné Steyn who not only scored all the hosts' points, but generally controlled the game.

Moment of the match:  With the All Blacks trailing by ten points, Jimmy Cowan's disallowed try will be subject of debate for a long time to come.  Dagg's final pass was certainly forward ... and television match official Johann Meuwesen made sure referee George Clancy knew about it.

Villain of the match:  It wasn't tiddlywinks but no one deserves a mention.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens:  Steyn 5
Drop:  Steyn

For New Zealand:
Try:  Kahui

South Africa:  15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 John Smit, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Butch James.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Isaia Toeava, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Adam Thomson, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (capt) 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Jarrad Hoeata, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Cory Jane.

Venue:  Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)

Canada clip Eagles' wings

The USA Eagles lost their World Cup warm-up match 27-7 against Canada in front of a sold-out crowd at Infinity Park on Saturday.

Despite plenty of possession and territory for the home side, it was USA errors that allowed Canada to run in three tries during the match.

The opening points of the match came from Canadian center DTH van der Merwe who picked up a loose ball and raced 50 meters to score.

Full-back James Pritchard kicked the conversion, putting Canada 7-0 up after five minutes.  The USA replied by putting some excellent phases together, getting over the advantage line with every carry.

This pressure eventually resulted in two yellow cards, one for lock Jamie Cudmore and later flanker Chauncey O'Toole.  Both players were penalised for not coming through the gate during a ruck.

Despite a lack of possession Pritchard added a penalty for Canada.

Down 10-0, the USA began another build-up using multiple attacking phases.  This time Malifa put a deft kick through with full-back Blaine Scully sliding over to score for the home side.

The capacity crowd enjoyed Malifa's sideline conversion, leaving the half-time score at 10-7.

Winger Taku Ngwenya sparked the second half into action with an amazing run, beating three defenders, sending Louis Stanfill over in the corner.  The television match official (TMO) adjudged that Stanfill was held up over the tryline.

The Eagles then lost Chris Biller to a yellow card for not rolling away at the ruck, with the hooker being sent to the sin bin for ten minutes.  From the resulting penalty Pritchard put Canada ahead 13-7.

Paul Emerick made his second massive break of the match, slicing through the Canadian mid field.  But a turnover led to Canada's van der Merwe setting up a try for Aaron Carpenter.

The Eagles had their chances later in the match, but another long range try saw winger Phil Mackenzie dot down, sealing the match 27-7.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:Van der Merwe, Carpenter, Mackenzie;
Cons:  Pritchard 3
Pens:  Pritchard 2

For USA:
Try:  Scully
Con:  Malifa

Japan give Italy a scare

Italy were forced to come from behind at half-time to beat Japan 31-24 in a thrilling World Cup warm up Test at the Stadio Manuzzi in Cesena on Saturday.

The Azzurri trailed 17-14 at half time before two second half tries courtesy of their experienced front row saved the day.

Italy scored tries through Matteo Pratichetti, Edoardo Gori, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Andrea Lo Cicero while young fly-half Riccardo Bocchino kicked three conversions.

Substitute Luciano Orquera kicked the rest of Italy's points.

Japan's tries came from backs Takeysa Usuzuki and Koji Taira as well as a penalty try while fly-half James Arlidge didn't miss a kick all night.

Italy coach Nick Mallett's choice to pick an experienced pack and youthful backs seemed to have paid dividends early in the game as the hosts carved the Brave Blossoms apart at will.

The first try on four minutes was all too easy as Italy probed left then went right with Bocchino, making his first start, playing a dummy pass and then slipping the ball inside to Pratichetti to go under the posts.

Bocchino kicked the extras and then on 12 minutes scrum-half Edoardo Gori picked and went from the back of a ruck, ducked under two tackles and dived over line.

Again Bocchino converted but Japan settled and started to work they way back into the game.

They scored a well-worked try on 23 minutes as Arlidge's grubber kick on the left wing was kicked on by Usuzuki who then touched down.

Arlidge converted and following an Italian mistake, Japan scored again.

Gori kicked straight into touch from just outside the Italy 22, Japan won good line-out ball and spread it wide right before Taira found a gap to burrow over.

After another successful kick Japan edged their noses in front as Bocchino hit the post with a penalty from 25 yards before Arlidge landed one from wide left for a 17-14 lead at the break.

Having let slip a commanding lead, Italy turned to their pack at the start of the second half and a driving maul resulted in a try for Ghiraldini, with Bocchino converting.

Japan simply couldn't cope with Italy's maul and from a line-out five yards out, the Azzurri drove diagonally towards the posts before Lo Cicero drove through a pile of collapsing bodies to score.

However, moments later Lo Cicero was yellow-carded with Japan five yards out and the visitors went for their own driving maul, resulting in a penalty try as Italy were punished for coming in from the side to break the momentum.

But just as Lo Cicero came back on, Japan prop Hisateru Hirashima was himself sin-binned and Luciano Orquera kicked a penalty, rounding off the night's scoring.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Pratichetti, Gori, Ghiraldini, Lo Cicero
Cons:  Bocchino 3, Orquera
Pens:  Orquera

For Japan:
Tries:  Usuzuki, Taira, penalty try
Cons:  Arlidge 3
Pens:  Arlidge

Yellow card:  Lo Cicero (Italy -- 62nd min);  Horie (Japan -73rd min)

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Cornelius Van Zyl, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Gonzalo Canale.

Japan:  15 Shaun Webb, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Koji Taira, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Takeisa Usuzuki, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Ryukoliniasi Holani, 7 Michael Leitch, 6 Takashi Kikutani (c), 5 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 4 Justin Ives, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Hisateru Hirashima.
Replacements:  16 Hiroki Yuhara, 17 Nozomu Fujita, 18 Luke Thompson, 19 Tadasuke Nishihara, 20 Atsushi Hiwasa, 21 Alisi Tupuailai, 22 Murray Williams.

Venue:  Stadio Dino Manuzzi, Cesena, Italy
Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garces (France), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO:  Tony Redmond (Ireland)

France resist Irish comeback

France got their World Cup warm up schedule off to a winning start on Saturday, beating Ireland 19-12 at Stade Chaban Delmas in Bordeaux.

France raced to a deserved 13-0 lead by the half-hour mark as they dominated every facet of play.

But the home side's indiscipline allowed the Irish to claw their way back into contention as four Ronan O'Gara penalties narrowed the gap to a single point at the start of the final quarter.

Wing Vincent Clerc scored the only try of the night for Les Bleus -- his ninth in nine games against Ireland -- while Dimitri Yachvili was flawless from the kicking tee, landing all five of his attempts at goal.

Anyone who stopped watching at half time would have been amazed by the final scoreline, such was the French dominance in the first period.

Fluid on attack and accurate up front, Marc Lièvremont's team looked like World Cup contenders for 35 minutes but were unable to maintain that momentum after the break.

Two Yachvili penalties in the final quarter steadied the ship but the French coach will be somewhat worried by yet another inconsistent display.

O'Gara's kicking both out of hand and from the tee was one of the few highlights of the Irish performance, though they did improve as the game progressed, gaining confidence as they chipped away at the French lead.

It was one-way traffic early on.  Yachvili opened the scoring with his first three pointer after just three minutes.  Les Bleus had the visiting defence scrambling frantically as they failed to prevent winger Alexis Palisson brilliantly slipping the ball out of a tackle to Clerc -- who raced over.

Number eight Imanol Harinordoquy was charging around the park and Ireland looked set for a long night when Yachvili landed his second penalty to put France 13-0 ahead.

O'Gara slotted a penalty to end a torrid half for the visitors, turning the tide somewhat in the process.

The replacements benches came into play relatively early, resulting in France becoming increasingly ragged.

Two more O'Gara penalties followed and once more it was one-way traffic but this time Ireland were in the driving seat.

Yachvili gave France some breathing space with a pair of penalties as they sparked back into life after an unconvincing 30 minutes.

The hosts almost threw victory away though when Julien Bonnaire's suicide pass behind his own tryline was knocked on by David Skrela.  But the big French pack came to the rescue, winning the penalty at the ensuing 5m scrum.

France will travel to Ireland next weekend for the rematch in Dublin.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Clerc
Con:  Yachvili
Pens:  Yachvili 4

For Ireland:
Pens:  O'Gara 4

France:  15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Raphaël Lakafia, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Romian Millo-Chluski, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Sylvain Marconnet
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 David Skrela, 22 Maxime Médard, 23 Fabien Barcella.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Donncha Ryan, 5 Leo Cullen (c), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Paul O'Connell, 19 Jamie Heaslip, 20 Conor Murray, 20 Fergus McFadden, 22 Felix Jones.

Venue:  Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux
Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)

Wales snatch victory in Cardiff

Wales took revenge for last week's loss to England with a 19-9 victory at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

It was less a case of Wales winning than England losing as the visitors failed to capitalise on their complete dominance in terms of both territory and possession.

Was this one step forward, two steps back?  Martin Johnson will be wondering just how his team managed to lose a game they totally controlled for an hour.

Wales full-back James Hook scored the only try of the encounter but it was the home side's defence that will have Warren Gatland smiling more than anything else.

Three Toby Flood penalties underpinned a bash-and-smash England display that saw them waste numerous attacking opportunities, exposing their chronic lack of flair and imagination.

Both sides will be concerned with the pedestrian pace with which the ball was being recycled at the breakdown.

Much of England's problems lay with a backline that failed to make the most of the swathes of possession that came their way, with the centre pairing of Mike Tindall and Shontayne Hape proving particularly ineffectual.

Wales started well but would have been happy with the 6-all scoreline at half-time having soaked up huge pressure.  Indeed the Welsh defensive display was the highlight of the first 40 minutes.

The World Cup hopes of Wales centre Gavin Henson and England scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth were done no good when they were forced off through injury around the half-hour mark.

Rhys Priestland and Toby Flood traded first-quarter penalties but Matt Banahan should have had his name on the scoreboard after being given a golden opportunity in the corner, only for Shane Williams to deny his much bigger opponent with a brave tackle.

Priestland was also forced off and Hook took over at fly-half.

The second half started in the worst possible fashion for the hosts as Jamie Roberts saw yellow (as a result of his team's numerous indiscretions at the breakdown).

Flood put England ahead for the first time at 9-6 but those would be the only points scored in Roberts' absence.

It took Wales almost an hour to put a decent period of possession together, but they made their first real opportunity to attack count when Hook jinked into a gap and stretched out an arm to score.  Even with the little possession they enjoyed, the home side looked the more dangerous team on attack in the last half-hour.

The hosts had finally found their feet and Hook extended the lead to seven points from long range (after another poor display at the breakdown by England).

England continued to bang away with their one-dimensional approach but without success against fourteen men as Mike Phillips was also sent to the sin bin.  Hook rubbed salt into the wounds with one more three-pointer late on.

Man of the match:  Wales were thrashed up front but the men in Red must be given credit for their tireless tackling, especially Sam Warburton.  But you need points to win a game, so we'll go for James Hook for his contribution to the scoreboard.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Hook
Con:  Hook
Pens:  Priestland 2, Hook 2

For England:
Pens:  Flood 3

Yellow card:  Roberts (Wales -- 41st min -- not releasing);  Phillips (Wales -- 70th min -- over the top at ruck)

Wales:  15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Lloyd Burns, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Josh Turnbull, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Scott Williams, 22 Aled Brew.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Mike Tindall (c), 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Hendre Fourie, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 James Haskell, 20 Danny Care, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Delon Armitage.

Venue:  Millennium Stadium
Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Wallabies rule in Durban

South Africa slumped to their third consecutive Tri-Nations defeat in 2011, going down 14-9 to Australia at Kings Park in Durban.

The Wallabies scored all their points in the second half as they came back from being 6-0 down at half-time, scoring the only try of the game through centre Pat McCabe.

For many South African fans the ''real'' Tri-Nations kicked off in Durban as the defending world champions brought back the bulk of the first-choice players and lined up the most experienced Springbok team in history.

But after a solid start, the hosts' big guns failed to fire in the second half and were outdone by an Australian side that coped better with the changing conditions.

The result means that South Africa can no longer win the Tri-Nations -- the 2011 crown will be decided when the All Blacks visit Brisbane at the end of the month.

The Springboks were worth their six-point lead at the break and looked to have the upper hand but failed to carry that momentum into the second period as they struggled to maintain possession as the drizzle at half time turned to steady rain.

The Wallabies will be pleased with how their set piece responded after the break, especially at scrum time.

As the scoreline suggests, it was far from Australia's prettiest victory but Robbie Deans will be happy with the grit his side showed as they fronted up to the typically physical Boks playing typically direct rugby.

Full-back Francois Steyn opened the scoring with a trademark long-range penalty in the second minute after Australia skipper Rocky Elsom was penalised for a dangerous tackle.

Butch James doubled the Boks' lead with a 16th-minute penalty in what started off as a fast-paced encounter.

South Africa centre Jacques Fourie was denied a try by the TMO, who judged he had knocked on as he battled with Quade Cooper to bring a high kick under control and the scorers would not be troubled again until half time as both James O'Connor and Steyn were also off-target with with further penalty and drop-goal attempts respectively.

Australia got on the scoreboard soon after the break when O'Connor landed his first penalty.

And the Kings Park crowd were silenced completely when McCabe rounded off a slick passing move to score the first and only try of the match and put Australia 8-6 in front.

A James penalty gave the lead back to the Springboks but an infringement by Tendai Mtawarira at a ruck allowed O'Connor to strike again after 65 minutes.

O'Connor stretched the lead to five points with a 74th-minute penalty and, despite desperate attempts by South Africa to find a match-levelling try, the Wallabies held on.

South Africa host New Zealand in Port Elizabeth next Saturday.

Man of the match:  The Wallaby pack stepped the intensity up a notch in the second half and hooker Stephen Moore was a tireless grafter all around the park.

Moment of the match:  There could only be one choice here.  With all the hard work done by the Wallaby forwards, the hosts were in trouble when Quade Cooper sent the ball out wide where there was a huge overlap.  There was little Heinrich Brüssow or the injured Frans Steyn could do to prevent Pat McCabe's try

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens:  F. Steyn, James 2

For Australia:
Try:  McCabe
Pens:  O'Connor 3

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Gio Aplon.

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 James Horwill, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements:  16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Anthony Faingaa.

Venue:  Kings Park, Durban
Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Canada get one over the States

Canada recorded a morale-boosting 28-22 win over the United States in a World Cup warm-up clash in Toronto.

The hosting Canucks opened the scoring in the sixth minute with turnover ball seeing new London Irish signing, Jebb Sinclair, going over the line.

Eddie O'Sullivan's side hit back immediately though and scored fifteen points in a good spell.  Takudzwa Ngwenya was continually a threat.

Canadian winger James Pritchard made the game 15-10 with a penalty and more followed.

Second-half scores by Phil Mackenzie and Ed Fairhurst, along with Pritchard's boot ensured victory on home soil for Canada.

Todd Clever scored two tries for the States and will get the chance to exact revenge over Canada when these two nations meet again next week.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Sinclair, Mackenzie, Fairhurst
Con:  Pritchard 2
Pen:  Pritchard 3

For USA:
Tries:  Ngwenya, Clever 2
Con:  Malifa, Enosa
Pen:  Mififa

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 13 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Mike Scholz, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Brian Erichsen, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Scott Franklin, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Adam Kleeberger, 20 Sean White, 21 Ryan Smith, 22 Ciaran Hearn.

USA:  15 Blaine Scully, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Kevin Swiryn, 10 Nese Malifa, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Nic Johnson, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 John van der Giessen, 3 Shawn Pittman, 2 Phillip Thiel, 1 Mate Moeakiola.
Replacements:  16 Chris Biller, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Inaki Basauri, 19 Jonathan 'JJ' Gagiano, 20 Tim Usasz, 21 Roland Suniula, 22 Tai Enosa.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

Win on the board for England

England got their Rugby World Cup warm-up schedule off to a steady start on Saturday, with a 23-19 win picked up against Wales at Twickenham.

Wales did outscore their hosts by three tries to two but a couple of drops from Jonny Wilkinson saw England win the first of this two-legged affair.

England's tries came via number eight James Haskell and debut centre Manu Tuilagi while visiting wing duo George North (2) and Shane Williams crossed for Warren Gatland's outfit.

These two will meet again in a week's time at the Millennium Stadium and Wales will want to start that game how they finished this one in London.  Trailing by 20 points to 7 on 45 minutes, Wales then finally clicked into gear, with captain Sam Warburton leading by example on the openside.

However, England and Wales will be sweating over the fitness of Lewis Moody and Morgan Stoddart respectively, who were both helped off.

Wales were also forced to make a late change to their line-up after fly-half Stephen Jones, who was set to become his country's most-capped player, withdrew due to a calf injury.  Rhys Priestland moved to 10 as Stoddart was given a promotion from bench duty.

England showed they wanted a victory first and then the performance early on as Wilkinson was told by captain Moody to knock over a long-range penalty, which he successfully did.

But despite being under pressure early on, Wales managed to claw their way back and in fact scored when North was on hand to finish.  Priestland added the extras from wide out.

Then came a long period of English pressure at Twickenham as full-back Delon Armitage enjoyed a good run before a strong scrummage allowed Haskell to power his way over.

Wilkinson's conversion moved England into a 10-7 lead before he was wise enough to take points when on offer, with a smart drop-goal on 38 minutes extending the lead to six points.

It looked as though the Welsh were the ones needing the ten-minute rest to gather their thoughts.  Yet that didn't help their cause upon the turnaround as Tigers centre Tuilagi hit a good line to power over on 44 minutes.  England were 20-7 in the lead and looked clinical.

Wales number nine Mike Phillips almost caught England napping with a burst towards the line that saw him held up short but the ball was worked out to Williams who scored.  Priestland missed the extras to leave England two scores in front at 20-12.

Wilkinson then landed his second drop-goal before Wales captain Warburton was denied a try by the video referee.  North was not to be denied soon after but it was all too little too late.

Man-of-the-match:  Simon Shaw was impressive early on and seems to have booked his spot on the plane (hopefully with extra leg room), but Sam Warburton was too good to overlook despite being on the losing team.  He was a rock for Wales and is still only 22.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Haskell, Tuilagi
Con:  Wilkinson 2
Pen:  Wilkinson
Drop:  Wilkinson 2

For Wales:
Tries:  North 2, Williams
Con:  Priestland 2

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Haskell, 7 Lewis Moody (capt), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mouritz Botha, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Charlie Sharples.

Wales:  15 Rhys Priestland, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (capt), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Brad Davies, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Scott Williams, 22 Morgan Stoddart.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  tbc, Dave Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Irish pipped by Scotland

A late try from Joe Ansbro sealed a 10-6 victory for Scotland over Ireland in what was a drab World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Ireland looked to be heading to a 6-3 win until London Irish centre Ansbro scorched over the whitewash with four minutes remaining following good running from replacement Nick de Luca.

However, that score was arguably the only moment of real entertainment for the 28,288 supporters who paid their money for tickets.

Declan Kidney will be happy to see Rob Kearney, Tomas O'Leary and Jerry Flannery getting action under their belts in their comebacks from injury.

Ireland held a slender 3-0 half-time lead as both sides were rather disjointed during the first 40.

Scotland suffered an early blow when Nikki Walker went off with a head knock, with Jack Cuthbert making his debut after 21 minutes.

Sexton's penalty in the 33rd minute was all that separated the sides at the break after veteran Scotland second-row forward Jim Hamilton was penalised for killing the ball.

Little improved in the second period although Scotland managed to level the scores after Denis Leamy was caught offside, allowing Paterson to kick the subsequent penalty.

Ireland went back in front with 15 minutes remaining as Sexton kicked well from 45 metres.

Paterson, usually unerringly accurate with the boot, sliced a straightforward penalty attempt wide before going off, as De Luca came on as one of three substitutes made by the Scots.

An indiscretion from prop Al Dickinson, who earlier came on for Allan Jacobsen, at the scrum granted Sexton another shot at goal, but the Ireland fly-half's effort fell short.

Scotland then burst into life four minutes from the end when De Luca rushed through before a long pass to Ansbro, who cut in off the wing for his first Test try.  Jackson added the extras.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Ansbro
Con:  Jackson
Pen:  Paterson

For Ireland:
Pen:  Sexton 2

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Rory Lawson (capt), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 David Denton, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Jack Cuthbert.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Mike McCarthy, 5 Leo Cullen (capt), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 John Hayes, 19 Mick O'Driscoll, 20 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Isaac Boss, 22 Felix Jones.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees:  Dave Pearson and Stuart Terheege
TMO:  Geoff Warren

All Blacks too good for Wallabies

The All Blacks shut out the Wallabies in a first-half blitz to win their opening Bledisloe Cup encounter 30-14 at Eden Park on Saturday.

Any hopes Australia had of ending their 25-year Auckland drought were ripped to pieces by their dominant hosts, who charged to a 17-0 lead at the break and never looked like losing.

Due to a shortened version of the Tri-Nations (because of the World Cup), New Zealand's three-tries-to-two victory also sees them secure the Bledisloe Cup for another year.

It was a clinical display all round by the rampant All Blacks, who are now in pole position to claim yet another Tri-Nations title.

The Wallabies started and ended the match with plenty of promise, but it was the space in between that saw Robbie Deans' men capitulate to some ferocious defence from the home side.

The All Blacks knocked the stuffing out of their trans-Tasman rivals, often reversing the Wallabies' key strike runners and kept playmaker Quade Cooper quiet all night -- New Zealand's steady pressure and suffocating defence denied the Aussie pivot the chance to regularly set his backline in motion.

Australia's cause was further undermined by poor goal-kicking, with James O'Connor' missing three successive penalties.  But the same couldn't be said of Dan Carter, who was immaculate with the boot as the Wallabies were put to the sword.

Digby Ioane and Rocky Elsom did get on the board for the Wallabies in the second period, however they mere consolation tries and Australia never looked like threatening New Zealand's 23-match unbeaten streak at the Auckland venue.

The opening passage was played at a fast and furious pace, with both sides going at each other hammer and tongs.  However, All Blacks centre Conrad Smith then affected a turnover in midfield which led to the opening score of the match.

Instrumental scrum-half Piri Weepu raced down the touchline, before linking with wing Sitiveni Sivivatu who got the attacking team close to the line.  Flanker Jerome Kaino kept the ball alive and it was centre Ma'a Nonu who picked up the ball to drive through the legs to score.

Weepu's excellent work in keeping the ball in play was crucial in the All Blacks next try as loose forwards Kieran Read and Richie McCaw powered their way towards Australia's tryline.  Held inches short, hooker Keven Mealamu got low and had the strength to place the pigskin on the chalk dust for the try.

The home side took a seventeen-point lead into the break, and Carter extended the All Blacks lead just after the restart with a drop-goal which was only the third of his 82-Test career.

The Wallabies gave a vivid reminder of their threat from broken field when they turned over possession in their 22m and shifted the ball to Digby Ioane, who stood up full-back Mils Muliaina en route to goal.

With O'Connor relieved of the kicking duties, Cooper landed a touchline conversion which would have galavanised his side.

However, it would be shortlived as the All Blacks struck back with their third try straight from the restart after Australia failed to control the ball.

Read put the pressure on the Wallaby jumpers, and the ball -- which seemed to have been knocked on by the number eight -- bounced and landed in Conrad Smith's hands.  The centre set off down the sideline before passing inside to Sivivatu, who couldn't believe his luck.

Carter's conversion took New Zealand out to a 27-7 lead, which was soon stretched with another penalty goal before captain Elsom claimed a late consolation try for his beaten team.

Man of the match:  Take a bow Piri Weepu.  The nuggety number nine, who started a Test for the first time this season, did his World Cup chances little harm by making an emphatic statement to the All Blacks' selectors.  He cleared possession quickly and with accuracy from breakdowns, creating the initial space that was exploited by Carter and Nonu in midfield.

Moment of the match:  The 50th and 52nd minutes of the match.  Just when you thought the Wallabies were launching a late comeback with Ioane's try (50th minute), the All Blacks put them back in their place with Sivivatu's reply (52nd minute).

Villain of the match:  n/a

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Nonu, Mealamu, Sivivatu
Cons:  Carter 3
Pens:  Carter 2
Drop:  Carter

For Australia:
Tries:  Ioane, Elsom
Cons:  Cooper 2

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett.Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Samuel Whitelock, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Dan Vickerman, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Anthony Fainga'a, 22 Lachie Turner.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Six-try All Blacks hammer Springboks

As expected, the All Blacks were convincing winners in Wellington on Saturday, running six tries past the Springboks in a 40-7 Tri-Nations victory.

No surprises then.  Few pundits gave the make-shift South African side much of a chance and they were comprehensively beaten.

Wingers Cory Jane and Zac Guildford both scored twice as the New Zealand led from start to finish, dominating every aspect of play to retain the Freedom Cup.

Over 20 missed tackled from the visitors didn't help their cause much, neither did their erratic line-out, usually their strongest weapon.  The South African's only reply came through a try from skipper John Smit.

Just how much can be read into this result is debatable but what is clear is that no more that two or three of these Boks can expect to make the first-choice side.

By contrast, they'll be no complaints from the Kiwi fans about their side's performance as the men in Black (with a new white collar) put on a master-class of clinical finishing to lead 18-7 at half-time before keeping a clean sheet in the second period.

With the game won, Graham Henry could even afford the luxury giving fly-half understudy Colin Slade some game time alongside maestro Dan Carter.

Carter's score-opening penalty in the third minute took him back to the top of Test rugby's all-time points-scorers list, moving ahead of Jonny Wilkinson.

Things didn't start well for South Africa as Morne Steyn missed his first attempt at goal soon afterwards -- his first miss in 39 Tri-Nations kicks.  It was omen for a very long night facing the tourists.

It wasn't long before the All Blacks took the game by the scruff of the neck as two tries in quick succession put the visitors behind the eight ball.  The result never realistically looked in doubt from then on.

With numbers on the outside and the Bok defence disorganised, Wyatt Crockett's first Test try wasn't difficult to score as he crossed in the corner after twelve minutes.

Just three minutes later the hosts struck again as they broke out from their own 22.  Guildford's pace finished it off -- it was also his first international try -- but all the credit must go to Carter, who got his side going forward with a clever chip and then split the Bok defence a phase later with a jink and a dummy.

South Africa hadn't looked like scoring in the first half-hour so it was brave call from Smit to opt for a line-out rather than take the points from rare a penalty.  The gamble paid off though as Smit himself received the ball as he wrapped around the line-out to barge over under the sticks.

That brief glimmer of hope was quickly extinguished however as two long passes set up a mismatch between Jane and Smit.  The Hurricane flyer easily stepped past the hooker before turning on the afterburners to give New Zealand an 11-point lead at the break.

It was much the same story in the second half.  Juan de Jongh did well to hold up Ma'a Nonu but from the ensuing scrum the hosts had another overlap out wide and Jane cruised in for his second try.

The home back line could do no wrong as Mils Muliaina stepped one way and popped a pass the other to Guilford, who could score untouched.

Guilford also had a hand in the final nail in the coffin as his inside pass found Slade, who cruised home.

Having each bagged a bonus point, next week's clash between New Zealand and Australia should be a thriller.

Man of the match:  Tough to pick out a single figure is such one-sided display but a mention must go to the entire All Black pack, who went forward at every scrum.  Jane and Guildford advanced their arguments for a berth in the World Cup 30 but we'll go for Dan Carter.  Despite missing a few conversion in difficult kicking conditions, The world-record holder made all the right decisions and played a significant role in two tries.

Moment of the match:  Not only was Guildford's first try was a gem, but it gave the hosts a 13-point lead.  The Boks were never going to back from there.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Crockett, Guildford 2, Jane 2, Slade
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 2

For South Africa:
Try:  Smit
Con:  Steyn

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Richie McCaw (C), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jarrad Hoeata, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.

South Africa:  15 Morne Steyn, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Gerhard Mostert, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Ryan Kankowski, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Odwa Ndungane.

Venue:  Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Referee:Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match officials:Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

Boks butchered in Sydney

Australia opened their 2011 Tri-Nations account with a comprehensive 39-20 victory over South Africa in Sydney on Saturday.

The clinical Wallabies completely destroyed the bumbling Boks with a five-tries-to-two victory that will leave the world champions plenty to ponder ahead of next week's clash with New Zealand.

Wet weather was the forecast but the weatherman got it wrong, which meant an expected tight forward tussle was cancelled out by open rugby that quite literally played into the Wallabies hands as the hosts ran the Springboks ragged.

South Africa struggled to match their opponents on attack -- they looked flat and devoid of ideas when in possession, and just lacked the same skill-set as the Wallabies with their ball-in-hand approach.

The woeful Springboks didn't fare any better on defence either as Australia penetrated the visitors' green and gold brick wall with ease in dry conditions that the South Africans simply failed to adapt to.

On the other end of the scale, the Wallabies were in a class of their own -- showcasing some brilliant running rugby that left the home crowd begging for more.  Everything they touched turned to gold, and if there was any way to respond to last week's shock loss to Samoa -- this was certainly it.

The writing was on the wall for South Africa straight from the kick-off at ANZ Stadium, where Australia wasted little time showing their intentions with ball in hand.  And after five minutes, one sensed it was going to be a long day at the office for the Springboks.

This was confirmed after the Wallabies struck with two quick-fire tries to Ben Alexander and Digby Ioane in the space of two minutes that left John Smit's troops rattled and forced to play catch-up for the remainder of the match.

It was Reds magician Quade Cooper -- fully recovered from Friday's fight with 'flu -- who launched the Wallabies' attack for their first score from inside his own 22, stepping inside a host of tacklers to break clear.

Australia's pivot found Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor in support on the right, before the ball was worked to the other end of the pitch where captain Rocky Elsom offloaded to Alexander on his outside for the opening try.

O'Connor, who had a near-flawless night with the boot, added the extras from out wide.

Immediately from the restart, the Boks were at sixes and sevens after scrum-half Will Genia burst clear before releasing Ioane who staved off a poor tackle from Gio Aplon to cross for an unconverted try.

South Africa fly-half Morne Steyn reduced the deficit with a 30th-minute penalty but O'Connor restored the 12-point advantage with a penalty of his own.

Australia's impressive handling was proving too much for the visitors to handle, and only a spilled pass by lock James Horwill prevented another try for Robbie Deans' side.

After the half-time hooter has sounded, Steyn added another penalty to leave the Springboks trailing 15-6 at the break.

With plenty of work to do in the second half, South Africa were back in a huddle under the posts as O'Connor converted his own try set up by Cooper three minutes after the resumption.

South Africa's midfielders Wynand Olivier and Juan de Jongh held off Cooper allowing the unpredictable Wallaby playmaker to spear through a gap and send out a low pass that O'Connor stooped to gather and score.

The game was then effectively killed off as a contest as Australia wrapped up their four-try bonus point after hooker Stephen Moore crossed over besides the posts.  The grounding was confirmed by the TMO and converted by O'Connor to make it 29-6.

O'Connor added his second penalty shortly before more skilful offloading from Cooper created the fifth try as his flip pass sent centre Adam Ashley-Cooper into space, with Steyn missing a tackle to let the centre flop over the line.

O'Connor was once again on target with the extras.

The visitors briefly rallied with replacement hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle being bundled over from an effective maul, and then captain Smit burrowed over in the final minute for another consolation score.  Both tries were converted by replacement back Patrick Lambie.

The result means Australia keep the Mandela Plate they won last year with their fourth win in five Tests against the Springboks.

Man of the match:  To single out just one individual following this dazzling performance by the Wallabies isjust too hard.  So we're opting for a team award instead.

Moment of the match:  Phew, out of the five Wallabies' tries ... take your pick!

Villain of the match:  No punch-ups or any cards to speak of.  But maybe another team award should go to South Africa, who were their own worst enemy on attack and defence.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Alexander, Ioane, O'Connor, Moore, Ashley-Cooper
Cons:  O'Connor 4
Pens:  O'Connor 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Ralepelle, Smit
Cons:  Lambie 2
Pens:  Steyn 2

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Pekahou Cowan, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Anthony Fainga'a.

South Africa:  15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Dean Greyling
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Ryan Kankowski, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Patrick Lambie.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)

All Blacks cruise past Fiji

New Zealand got their Test season off to a winning start on Friday with a comfortable 60-14 win over Fiji at Carisbrook in Dunedin.

As expected, the world's top-ranked team outclassed their visitors in almost every aspect, running in seven tries to two.

Despite the final scoreline, the Tri-Nations champions will not be overly happy with their performance as it sometimes lacked the accuracy that will be needed against the Springboks and Wallabies over the coming weeks.

Credit however must be given to Fiji, who claimed their best ever result against New Zealand, scoring both their tries in the second half.

A 'work in progress' would probably be the fairest assessment of the All Blacks after Friday as Graham Henry and co.  implement their new offensive structure.

After a somewhat rusty start from the All Blacks -- and some solid defending by the visitors -- New Zealand held an 18-0 lead after the opening half-hour.

The hosts gathered some momentum before the sides swapped ends though and took a 32-0 lead into the half-time break.

Deprived of any decent possession, Fiji never seriously threatened the try-line in the first half but matched the home side for half-an-hour after the break.

Colin Slade got the scoreboard ticking as the hosts took a cautious approach and opted for points from an early penalty.

Fijian-born Sitiveni Sivivatu was the first to cross the whitewash for New Zealand, finishing off in the corner just inside the ten-minute mark.

Slade showed great vision in scoring New Zealand's second try with a clever chip over the top which he chased down to score under the sticks after the ball ricocheted off the goal-post's padding.

The men in black continued to dominate possession and grabbed try number three when the ball was quickly spread wide to Andrew Hore, who had an easy run-in on the overlap.

Adam Thomson extended his try-scoring streak from Super Rugby as he burrowed his way over just before the break to give the hosts a 32-point head start going into the second forty.

Fiji made a much stronger start to the second half, enjoying an extended period of possession in the All Blacks' territory and were rewarded with a try when number eight Sakiusa Matadigo showed great pace in tearing down the touchline before offloading to scrum-half Nemia Serelevu who scampered over.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry was quick to call on his bench as he sent on Ben Smith, Sam Whitelock and Piri Weepu for Sivivatu, Jarrad Hoeata and Jimmy Cowan respectively.  The scrum-half would soon have an impact as his grubber set up Hurricanes team-mate Conrad Smith on the hour-mark.

Slade's conversion was his last contribution of the match as he was soon replaced by Dan Carter, who was accompanied by the remainder of the Kiwi bench.

The hosts' sixth try came largely thanks to the replacements as Weepu's chip over the top created space for Mils Muliaina and Ben Smith, who offloaded to the supporting Weepu.

Fiji replied via a try from replacement Vereniki Goneva, who showed great skills to chip ahead and then volley again before touching down.

The visitors' scrum suffered for most of the match and conceded a penalty try in the closing stages.  Muliaina added try number eight at the death with a break-away score after collecting a long, floating inside pass from Zac Guildford.

Man of the match:  A mention for skipper Richie McCaw but we'll go with Colin Slade who responded to huge pressure with a cool-headed performance.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Sivivatu, Slade, Hore, Thomson, C. Smith, Weepu, Penalty try, Muliaina
Cons:  Slade 4, Carter 3
Pens:  Slade 2

For Fiji:
Tries:  Serelevu, Goneva
Cons:  Bai 2

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Dan Carter, 22 Ben Smith.

Fiji:  15 Iliesa Keresoni, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Albert Vulivuli, 12 Ravai Fatiaki, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Seremaia Baikeinuku, 9 Nemia Serelevu, 8 Sakiusa Matadigo, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Rupeni Nasiga, 4 Sekonaia Kalou, 3 Deacon Manu (c), 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements:  16 Viliame Veikoso, 17 Setefano Somoca, 18 Josefa Domolailai, 19 Malakai Ravulo, 20 Vitori Buatava, 21 Taniela Rawaqa, 22 Vereniki Goneva.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

Samoa knock stuffing out of Wallabies

Samoa sent a warning shot to their World Cup Pool rivals with a gutsy performance doing for the Wallabies 32-23 at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

World rugby's second-ranked team were well beaten by the islanders just a week away from their Tri-Nations opener against South Africa.

The impressive Samoans outscored the two-time world champions four tries to two for their first win over Australia in five meetings.

Alesana Tuilagi, Paul Williams, Kane Thompson and George Pisi crossed for the visitors, with fly-half Tusi Pisi adding 12 points with the boot.

The Wallabies scored a try in each half through Digby Ioane and Matt Giteau, but were always struggling after the visitors had raced 17-0 ahead.

Samoa had never before beaten a top-five ranked country -- although they have beaten Wales three times, most notably at the 1991 World Cup.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ioane, Giteau
Con:  Giteau 2
Pen:  Giteau 3

For Samoa:
Tries:  Tuilagi, Williams, Thompson, G Pisi
Con:  T Pisi 3
Pen:  T Pisi 2

Australia:  15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Rod Davies, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements:  16 James Hanson, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Dan Vickerman, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Will Genia, 22 Kurtley Beale.

Samoa:  15 Paul Williams, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 George Pisi, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 George Stowers, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Taisina Tuifu'a, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Mahonri Schwalger (c), 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Census Johnston, 18 Filipo Lavea Levi, 19 Manaia Salavea, 20 Brenton Helleur, 21 Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu, 22 James So'oialo.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Keith Brown (New Zealand), Vinny Munro (New Zealand)

Fiji stun Samoa in Suva

Fiji responded to their loss to Tonga by throwing the IRB Pacific Nations Cup wide open on Saturday, beating Samoa 36-18 in Suva.

The talking point in Suva was the turnaround by the Fijians.  With pressure on boss Sam Domoni, his side stepped up from the first whistle.

Both teams mixed it up in the middle but it was against the run of play that former Fiji sevens skipper Vereniki Goneva intercepted the ball from deep inside his 22 to sprint away for the opening try.  Nicky Little's conversion made it 7-0.

However, two penalties by Tasesa Lavea and James So'oialo got the Samoans back into the match but Little added another penalty after Samoa infringed at scrum time to make it 10-6.

However, from a nothing kick Samoan wing Sailosi Tagicakibau gathered and broke away to score a try for his side and the visitors took a 11-10 lead.

Unforced errors were the downfall for both sides and there was further blow for Samoa as they lost Filipo Levi to the sin bin for stamping on a Fijian player.

This gave Fiji an added edge and the side managed to get a try just before half time through Campese Ma'afu after several phases of play.  Little converted to make it 17-11 at half-time.

After the restart, Fiji cranked up another gear and outplayed Samoa in all facets, Goneva setting up inside centre Ravai Fatiaki for his first ever international try.

Little missed the conversion but Fiji led 22-11.  Samoa threw on the replacements but to no avail as indecisive play was their main enemy.

The little chance Samoa had to come back was shattered when Fiji full back Taniela Rawaqa intercepted deep in his 22 to sprint away under the posts and replacement fly half Waisea Luveniyali added the extras to make it 29-11.

Samoa did score through Timoteo Iosa but Fijian lock and former Otago player Sekonaia Kalou pounced on a loose ball and beat the cover defenders for the final try, which was converted by Luveniyali for the final 36-18 score.

''We had an action plan that we had to follow through the week after the Tonga game to rectify all our mistakes,'' said Fiji coach Sam Domoni.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Goneva, Ma'afu, Fatiaki, Rawaqa, Kalou
Con:  Little 2, Luveniyali 2
Pen:  Little

For Samoa:
Tries:  Tagicakibau, Iosa
Con:  Lavea
Pens:  Lavea, So'oialo

Fiji:  15 Taniela Rawaqa, 14 Ilikena Bolakoro, 13 Albert Vulivuli, 12 Ravai Fatiaki, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Nemia Serelevu, 8 Sakiusa Matadigo, 7 Malakai Ravulo, 6 Rupeni Nasiga, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Sekonaia Kalou, 3 Deacon Manu (c), 2 Talemaitoga Tuapati, 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements:  16 Viliame Veikoso, 17 Penijamini Makutu, 18 Josefa Domolailai, 19 Malakai Volau, 20 Vitori Buatava, 21 Waisea Luveniyali, 22 Adriu Delai.

Samoa:  15 James So'oialo, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 George Pisi, 12 Seilala Mapusua (c), 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Lualua Vailoaloa, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Manaia Salavea, 6 Ezra Taylor, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Joe Tekori, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ole Avei, 17 Logovii Mulipola, 18 Filipo Levi, 19 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 20 Uale Mai, 21 Tasesa Lavea, 22 Timoteo Iosua.

Japan hit back against Tonga

Japan responded to their opening defeat to Samoa by edging Tonga 28-27 in the Pacific Nations Cup.

Japan crossed for three tries in 17 minutes either side of the break to seal a come-from-behind win.

Kurt Morath had put Tonga 17-7 up before the half-hour after recording a converted try, a penalty and two points from Viliame Ma'afu's effort.

But then Japan got into their stride thanks to tries from wing Kosuke Endo, Takashi Kikutani and Koji Taira going over and James Arlidge kicking the conversions, opening up an eleven-point lead.

Tonga then launched a comeback charge of their own but despite a try from replacement Hudson Tongauiha, they fell short of the mark.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Holani, Endo, Kikutani, Taira
Con:  Arlidge 4

For Tonga:
Tries:  Ma'afu, Morath, Tongauiha
Con:  Morath 3
Pen:  Morath 2

Japan:  15 Sean Webb, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Koji Taira, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Hirotoki Onozaw, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Koliniasi Ryu Holani, 7 Michael Leitch, 6 Takashi Kikutani (c), 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Justin Ives, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Yusuke Aoki, 1 Hisateru Hirashima.
Replacements:  16 Shota Horie, 17 Naoki Kawamata, 18 Histoshi Ono, 19 Itaru Taniguchi, 20 Atsushi Hiwasa, 21 Go Aruga, 22 Takehisa Usuzuki.

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Viliami Helu, 13 Alaska Taufa, 12 Andrew Mailei, 11 Viliame Longi, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Samisoni Fisilau, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Viliami Ma'afu (c), 6 Lisiate Faaoso, 5 Joe Tuneau, 4 Paino Hehea, 3 Semisi Telefoni, 2 Ifalemi Taukafa, 1 Alisona Taumalolo.
Replacements:  16 Ilaisa Ma'asi, 17 Maleko Latu, 18 Tukulua Lokotui, 19 Sione Vaiomounga, 20 Soane Havea, 21 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 22 Mateo Malupo.

Samoa win in Tokyo

Alesana Tuilagi scored two tries as Samoa beat Japan 34-15 in their Pacific Nations Cup opener at Tokyo's Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground on Saturday

Tuilagi scored his first try in the third minute and gave Samoa a commanding 15-0 lead midway through the first half with his second after some poor one-on-one tackling from the hosts.

Full-back James So'oialo's conversion widened the lead to 17-0 lead.  Japan weren't helped by some poor goal-kicking as they missed two early penalties and it wasn't until the 20th minute that they finally got on the scoreboard with a try by Koliniasi Ryu Holani who crashed over from five metres out.

Manaia Salavea ran in Samoa's third try in the 34th minute and So'oialo's third conversion gave the visitors a solid 24-8 lead at half time.

A far better performance in the second half saw Japan close to 24-15 thanks to a good try by Takehisa Usuzuki as the Japanese backs finally stretched the Samoan defence to give the crowd of 9,700 something to cheer about.

With Japan camped on the Samoan line for an extended period it seemed Kirwan's team were about to get within a score of the Samoans.  But they were unable to turn all that pressure into points, with at least three tries missed when the final pass failed to go to hand.

George Pisi scored rubbed salt into the wound by scoring against the run of play in the 59th minute as Samoa ensured there was no way back for Japan.

All but Saturday's match in this year's tournament were moved from Japan to Fiji because of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Earlier on Saturday, Tonga upset Fiji 45-21 in the opening match in Lautoka.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Ryu Holani, Usuzuki
Con:  Webb
Pen:  Webb

For Samoa:
Tries:  Tuilagi 2, Salavea, Pisi
Cons:  So'oialo 4
Pens:  So'oialo 2

Japan:  15 Goshi Tachikawa, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Takehisa Usuzuki, 10 Shaun Webb, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Koliniasi Ryu Holani, 7 Michael Leitch, 6 Takashi Kikutani (c), 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Yusuke Aoki, 1 Hisateru Hirashima.
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Naoki Kawamata, 18 Justin Ives, 19 Itaru Taniguchi, 20 Atsushi Hiwasa, 21 Murray Williams and 22 Hirotoki Onozawa.

Samoa:  15 James So'oialo, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 George Pisi, 12 Seilala Mapusua (c), 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Lualua Vailoaloa, 8 George Stowers, 7 Manaia Salavea, 6 Ezra Taylor, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Joe Tekori, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ole Avei, 17 Logovii Mulipola, 18 Filipo Levi, 19 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 20 Uale Mai, 21 Tasesa Lavea and 22 Timoteo Iosua.

Head Coach:  Fuimaono Titimaea Tafua.

Tonga down Fiji in Nations Cup opener

Tonga pulled off a shock 45-21 victory over hosts Fijii in the opening match of the Pacific Nations Cup in Lautoka.

The visitors' hero was their fly-half Kurt Morath, who contributed 20 points, via four penalties and four conversions.

The Fijians, who started the tournament as favourites, opened the scoring through a penalty in the third minute by veteran fly-half Nicky Little.

But Tonga struck back soon after, with a try by lock Samiu Vahafolau, which Morath converted.

Little succeeded with another penalty, and at 7-6, the Fijians were still in with a shout.

However, after that, Tonga took control of proceedings.  Morath slotted three more penalties and he also converted a try by Alaska Taufa.

Fiji's only other points came through another penalty by Little, and at half-time Tonga held a commanding 23-9 lead.

Three minutes into the second half, Tonga extended their lead with a penalty try before Morath kicked another penalty, and with the score at 33-9 it looked like they had the match in the bag.

However, Fiji fought back with tries by Sekonai Kalou and Malukai Ravulo, to narrow the gap to 33-21.

Ravulo's try came when Tonga had 14 players on the field after their prop Alisona Taumalolo was yellow carded.

Taumalolo made up for that indiscretion with a try when he returned to the field, and Tonga sealed their win with another touchdown by Viliame Iongi.

Tonga's next match is against Japan and Fiji face Samoa in the second round of the competition next weekend.

The scorers:

For Tonga:
Tries:  Vahafolau, Taufa, Iongi, Taumalolo, Penalty
Con:  Morath 4
Pen:  Morath 4

For Fiji:
Tries:  Kalou, Ravulo
Con:  Little
Pen:  Little 3

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Viliami Helu, 13 Alaska Taufa, 12 Andrew Mailei, 11 Viliame Longi, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Samisoni Fisilau, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Samiu Vahafolau (c), 6 Lisiate Faaoso, 5 Tukulua Lokotui, 3 Kisi Palu, 4 Paino Hehea, 2 Ifalemi Taukafa, 1 Alisona Taumalolo.
Replacements:  16 Semisi Telefoni, 17 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 18 Joe Tuneau, 19 Sione Vaiomounga, 20 Soane Havea, 21 Hudson Tonga'uiha and 22 Mateo Malupo.

Head Coach:  Isitolo Maka.

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Albert James Vulivuli, 12 Gabiriele Vododuadua Lovobalavu, 11 Timoci Nagusa, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Nemia Serelevu Ranuku, 8 Dominiko Maiwiriwiri Waqaniburotu, 7 Ratu Malakai Mana Ravulo, 6 Josefa Ulago Domolailai, 5 Tevita Gucake Naqaqa Cavubati, 4 Sekonaia Kalou, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Graham Dewes.
Replacements:  16 Talemaitoga Dautu Tuapatu, 17 Ratu Penijamini N Makutu, 18 Leone Nakarawa, 19 Malakai Volau, 20 Vitori Tomu Buatava, 21 Waisea Sedre Luveniyali and 22 Adriu Delai.

Head Coach: Samu Domoni.

Azzurri hold on

In Sunday's second match, Italy 'A' survived a second-half Russian fightback to book their place in the Churchill Cup Plate final with a 24-19 win.

The Azzurri led 18-6 at the break but they held on by their fingertips in the last 20 minutes to set up a showdown with Tonga at Sixways on Saturday.

''It was a tough game and in the second half they put some width of the game.  But our scrummage was good and gave us a foundation,'' said former Gloucester lock Marco Bortolami.

Senior Italian assistant coach Alessandra Troncon added: ''It was a very important to win because last week we lost to Canada.  Russia arein our pool during the World Cup so to win is a good.  The scrum saved us a few times so I think it as key for us today.''

Russia face a Bowl final against their World Cup opponents USA and Bears' boss Kingsley Jones said: ''It's a game we should have won.  These lads can really play rugby but there was some naivety and not being street wise.  But there are a lot of positives.  A lot of the players showed what they can do in open space.  The line-out improved but the scrum was an issue for us.''

Italy led by nine at halftime thanks to tries from Matteo Pratichetti and Giulio Toniolatti, who went into the corner after a drive and deft offload from loosehead prop Alberto de Marchi.

Russia had to rely on the boot of Yury Kushnarev, who kicked two penalties and then added a third early in the second half to close the gap to nine points.

Tito Tebaldi landed a third penalty but then the tide turned as Russia scored the try of the match, a breakaway from their own 22 when Andrey Bykanov scooped up a loose ball, fed Kushnarev and when Rushan Yagudin took the ball on halfway he stepped out of the tackle and raced away.

With Tebaldi in the sinbin for killing the ball after Vasily Artemyev's break, Riccardo Bocchino stretched the lead.

Kushnarev failed with two attempts that could have put Russia right back into the game and was soon replaced by Anton Ryabov.

Tebaldi missed a penalty and Russia almost hit the killer button when Alexander Shakirov made the break and only a last ditch tackle from Matteo Pratichetti stopped him delivering the final pass to Yagudin.

Russia had a final crack with a freekick which they ran close to the Italian line but they could not capitalise and the chance was lost.

The scorers

For Italy A:
Tries:  Pratichetti, Toniolatti
Con:  Tebaldi
Pens:  Tebaldi 3, Bocchino

For Russia:
Try:  Yagudin
Con:  Kushnarev
Pens:  Kushnarev 4

Italy A:  R. Trevisan, G. Toniolatti, A. Pratichetti, A. Pratichetti, M. Sepe;  R. Bocchino, T.Tebaldi;  A. De Marchi, T. D'Aspice, F. Staibano, J. Furno, V. Bernabo (C), F.Minto, M. Bergamasco, M. Vosawai Reps: A. Manici, M. Aguero, D. Chistolini, M. Bortolami, D. Gerber, G. Venditti, N. Belardo

Russia:  I. Klyuchnikov;  V. Artemyev, M. Babaev, S. Trishin, R. Yagudin;  Y. Kushnarev, A. Bykanov;  G. Tsnobiladze, V. Tsnobiladze, A. Chernyshev, A. Panasenko, D. Antonov, V. Gresev, M. Sidorov, V. Grachev (C) Reps: V. Korshunov, A. Travkin, I.Prishchepenko, A. Garbuzov, A. Shakirov, A. Ryabov, I. Galinovsky