Canada cruise past Georgia

Full-back James Pritchard scored 21 points as Canada defeated Georgia 31-12 in a one-off Test in Burnaby, British Columbia on Saturday.

Pritchard registered one try, two conversions and four penalties in front of a crowd of 3,661 at Swangard Stadium.

Canada led 23-7 at half time thanks to 16 points from Australian- born Pritchard.

The game wrapped up a three-game Test series for Canada that also included a 28-25 win over the United States and a 26-15 loss to Italy.

Canada's other trys came from winger DTH van der Merwe at the five minute mark and winger Sean Duke five minutes from full time.

Georgia got on the scoreboard around the half-hour mark after their scrum continually dominated Canada near the goal line and hooker Mikheil Nariashvili pushed the ball over from one yard out.

Georgia got their second try 27 minutes into the second half when Shalva Sutiashvili pushed the ball over from five yards out off another big scrum.

Pritchard, not taking credit for his offensive effort, said this was a team effort, especially from the team's younger players.

"We needed them to step up and that's what they did.  They put their hand up and that's what you want.  You want the entire team to be competitive."

"Our defense was great, especially in the first half.  If (Georgia) were able to get a try in the early going it might have been a different game but full credit to the guys, especially that one goal line stand which saved the game for us."

Canada are currently ranked 13th in IRB standings while Georgia are 15th.

The two teams met just twice previously, with Canada overpowering Georgia 42-10 in 2009 and Georgia defeating Canada 22-15 in 2010.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Vandermerwe, Pritchard, Duke
Cons:  Pritchard 2
Pens:  Pritchard 4

For Georgia:
Tries:  Nariashvili, Sutiashvili
Con:  Kvirikashvili

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Sean Duke, 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Phil Mackenzie, 11 DTH Van der Merwe, 10 Matt Evans , 9 Edward Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Nanyak Dala, 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Andrew Tiedeman, 1 Tom Dolezel.
replacements:  16 Mike Pletch, 17 Doug Woolridge, 18 Brett Beukeboom, 19 Jon Phelan, 20 Sean White, 21 Jeff Hassler, 22 Ciaran Hearn.

Georgia:  15 Irakli Kiasashvili, 14 Irakli Machkhaneli, 13 David Kacharava, 12 Tedo Zibzibadze, 11 Lekso Gugava, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze, 8 Beka Bitsadze, 7 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 6 Gia Labadze, 5 Vakhtang Maisuradze, 4 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 3 David

Zirakashvili, 2 Revaz Belkania, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Levan Chilachava, 18 Shalva Sutiashvili, 19 Givi Berishvili, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 Lasha Malaguradze, 22 Alexander Todua

Italy dominate 13-man Eagles

Italy racked up their second win on their tour of the Americas with a 30-10 victory over the USA in Houston, Texas.

Carlo Festuccia, Edoardo Gori and Kristopher Burton scored tries as Italy took advantage of two American red cards in the second half.

Paul Emerick scored the lone try for the Eagles before he was sent off in the second half for an illegal tackle.  Andrew Suniula also earned a red card for the hosts who played with 13 men for the final 23 minutes in front of a 17,214 crowd — a record for an international rugby match on American soil.

The teams were meeting for the first time since September 2011, when Italy beat the USA 27-10 in pool play of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Riccardo Bocchino kicked three penalties and three conversions for the Italians.

Azzurri captain Martin Castrogiovanni said both teams felt the effects of sweltering heat and humidity that lingered even after the sun went down

"It was really hard for both teams," said Castrogiovanni.

"After 10 minutes, we were both breathing heavy.  We tried to play quickly, but it wasn't easy."

Italy opened the scoring after just three minutes when Festuccia snatched a wayward line-out throw by the American hooker Chris Biller and outpaced the US defenders to the line.

"It was tough to get out of the gate like that," said US coach Mike Tolkin.

The USA attack started to gather momentum, putting together some solid phases highlighted by probing runs from the forward pack.  The Italians were pinged for not rolling away, and Chris Wyles got the Eagles on the board with a penalty kick from 22 meters out to close the Italian lead to 7-3.

From the ensuing kick-off though, the USA were penalised for obstruction while collecting the restart, and Bocchino slotted the penalty to put the Italians lead back to seven.

The Americans drove deep into Italy's half and Emerick found the tryline after a good USA line-out for the first try for the hosts.  Wyles made the conversion to tie it at 10-all.

Bocchino converted another penalty kick from the right with eight minutes left in the half, before Gori found a gap in the US defence and sprinted 40 metres for another Italian try.

Emotions were clearly running high early in the second half when Andrew Suniula was shown a red card for a late hit on Bocchino.  The US defence held its own with only 14 players, but then Emerick was whistled for not using his arms in a tackle and was also shown a red card.

"I thought the first one was a little harsh," said Tolkin.

"The second one, I still haven't seen clearly, so I'll look at that again."

Bocchino booted another penalty for a 23-10 lead.

In the end, the two-man advantage was an obstacle the Eagles couldn't overcome, and Burton put the final nail in the coffin for the US, diving over for a try in the 77th minute.

The scorers:

For USA:
Try:  Emerick
Con:  Wyles
Pen:  Wyles

For Italy:
Tries:  Festuccia, Gori, Burton
Cons:Bocchino 3
Pens:  Bocchino 3

Red cards:  A. Suniula (USA — 44th min);  Emerick (USA — 65th min )

The teams:

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 James Paterson, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Roland Suniula, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever, 7 Scott Lavalla, 6 Taylor Mokate, 5 Brian Doyle, 4 Louis Stanfill, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Derek Asbun, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Tolifili (Andre) Liufau, 19 Andrew Durutalo, 20 Mose Timoteo, 21 Will Holder, 22 Colin Hawley.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni (capt), 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Simone Favaro, 19 Tommaso D'Apice, 20 Tito Tebaldi, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Alberto Sgarbi.

Venue:  BBVA Compass Stadium
Referee:  Jerome Graces (France)
Assistant Referees:  Derek Stoltz (Canada), Marc Nelson (USA)
TMO:  Davey Ardrey (USA)

France strike back in Argentina

France exacted revenge for last week and recorded a comprehensive 49-10 victory over Argentina in their Test at Estadio José Fierro on Saturday.

In contrast to their clash in Cordoba, les Bleus looked a different side as their six changes paid off as Benjamin Fall and Maxime Mermoz shone.

First-half tries in Tucumán came from Fall, Yoann Huget and also Maxime Machenaud as it seemed Philippe Saint-Andre's rallying call had worked.

A slip into their infuriating style of looking for the drop-goal was looking like taking the gloss off what was a decent showing from the French.  But they thankfully reverted back to what had worked earlier as Mermoz swapped from being provider to scorer with a long-range breakout from his own 22 before Huget grabbed his brace.  Clermont's Alexandre Lapandry barged over for their last try.

The third-string Pumas, who are resting over 20 first-team players ahead of their big 2012 Rugby Championship debut, did get over the whitewash in the closing stages when Tomas De la Vega capitalised on weak fringe defence to allow Felipe Contepomi the final scoring act before he heads back to club duty.

France's victory ended a run of four straight internationals without a win.

Argentina coach Santiago Phelan meanwhile will now look ahead to the Pumas' Rugby Championship opener against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town on August 18.

Man-of-the-match:  Yoann Huget and Benjamin Fall impressed on the wings but for his creativity, Maxime Mermoz take this.  A classy showing and he was deserving of his try.

Moment-of-the-match:  As soon as Maxime Mermoz broke the line on twelve minutes before drawing the last man to set up Benjamin Fall, one just got the feeling Argentina were not going to be as sturdy as last week.  So it proved as the half-time scoreline of 30-3 said it all.

Villain-of-the-match:  Few handbags here and there but nothing major.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Try:  De la Vega
Con:  Contepomi
Pen:  Contepomi

For France:
Tries:  Fall, Huget 2, Machenaud, Mermoz, Lapandry
Con:  Michalak 5
Pen:  Michalak 3

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Facundo Barrea, 13 Agustin Gosio, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomas Leonardi, 6 Tomas De la Vega, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Julio Farias Cabello, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Andres Bordoy, 1 Eusebio Guinazu.
Replacements:  16 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 17 Bruno Postiglioni, 18 Santiago Guzman, 19 Benjamin Macome, 20 Rodrigo Baez, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Gabriel Ascarate.

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Alexandre Lapandry, 5 Yoan Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape (c), 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Christopher Samson, 19 Wenceslas Lauret, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Francois Trinh Duc, 22 Wesley Fofana.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)

Tied game in Port Elizabeth

England put in a spirited performance to deny the Boks a series whitewash as the two sides played out a 14-14 draw in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

Owen Farrell did have a chance to snatch victory for the visitors but missed terribly to the left with a drop-goal from 35 metres out as the June series ended 2-0 to the side wearing green and gold.

But there were plenty of positives for England to take home as this was a much-improved effort against a team that went backwards from Jo'burg.  One being Thomas Waldrom, Tom Johnson and Danny Care's performances on the tour finale.

It was evident that England were fired up for this final Test as they looked to salvage something from what has been a tough and physical June.  They managed to transfer that fire into points too early on as good phase play led to Toby Flood opening the scoring from the tee on two minutes.

Morne Steyn did respond five minutes later when England infringed at a ruck before the visitors illustrated their intent at the other end soon after.  Care was the main man making the noise in his comeback game on the Test stage as he chose to tap a penalty quickly and burrowed over from close range.  Care's decision was a bold statement but one that paid off as England continued to keep the passionate supporters at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium quiet.

Flood missed the extras and that proved to be his last act of the game on twelve minutes as he struggled to shake off a niggling issue.  England's loss of their fly-half was cushioned by the fact the tourists had started much better than last week, assuming an 8-3 advantage.

However, they would not score again in the first-half as when lock Tom Palmer slowed down possession at a ruck, Steyn stepped up to bring the Boks back to within one point.  He would strike again on 28 minutes when Stuart Lancaster's outfit was caught offside to begin a long spell of home attacks.  England stood firm though and it was clear their steeliness was causing frustration to their hosts, who were missing Willem Alberts and Frans Steyn.

Lancaster would have been pleased with the pride being shown by his players in their last game of the season, but maybe not with Dylan Hartley six minutes after Owen Farrell had pushed England back in front from the tee.  Hartley was carded for slowing down the play.

Those ten minutes approaching the hour mark were always going to be critical in the game but it was to be once Hartley returned that South Africa had their moment.  Following a series of runners testing the English defensive line five metres out, Ruan Pienaar moved the ball out where JP Pietersen was waiting to dive over for back-to-back tries in this series.  Steyn missed the conversion which meant the scoreline was 14-11 with fifteen minutes to go.

Farrell did tie things up to set up a nail-biting finish which saw South Africa knock at the door before England survived and launched their own final throw of the dice for victory.  However, Farrell's attempted match-winning drop-goal with the last kick of the game failed miserably.

Man-of-the-match:  Mentions for the work that Gio Aplon, Marcell Coetzee and Tom Johnson got through, but England's Danny Care announced his return to the Test scene with a fine 80-minute effort.  He was busy and most definitely got the better of Francois Hougaard.

Moment-of-the-match:  It may seem harsh to single out a player but England lost something when Toby Flood was forced off with an injury.  Owen Farrell kicked too much and thus cut down the threat the visitors had posed early on, which saw them score eight points.

Villain-of-the-match:  The disappointing result for South Africa.  How dare they take down the mood on absent Springbok centre Francois Steyn's big wedding day.  A toast to 2-0?

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try:  Pietersen
Pen:  Steyn 3

For England:
Tries:  Care
Pen:  Flood, Farrell 2

South Africa:  15 Gio Aplon, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Bjorn Basson.

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Paul Doran Jones, 18 Mouritz Botha, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 Brad Barritt.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), John Lacey (Ireland)

All Blacks demolish Ireland

New Zealand bounced back from last week's close call in style with an impressive 60-0 hammering of Ireland in Hamilton on Saturday.

After the heartbreakingly narrow defeat of last week, Ireland were no match for the effervescent All Blacks, who scored four tries in the first 25 minutes and looked dangerous at every turn.  Dominated at the tackle - most unlike the Irish - and shredded out wide, the Irish just could not muster the spirit or precision of last week and were plain annihilated.

Perhaps the most satisfying aspect for the ABs was the nilling, however.  Tries have never been a problem for this generation, but the fact that Ireland not only didn't score, they had only one kick at goal and barely once got close to crossing the whitewash will be a source of immense pride to Richie McCaw and his men.  Ireland's most promising-looking first-half attack ended in a mistake and an All Black try.  The overall penalty count against the hosts was ridiculously low.

Within seven minutes New Zealand had the advantage, Sam Cane finishing off a sweeping move out right.  On a quarter of an hour Aaron Cruden produced a dart and a brilliant offload to put Sonny Bill Williams through the gap for the second.  On 20 minutes it was the Cruden-Williams axis again, this time on a well-timed switch.  And on 24 minutes it was an Irish error - Brian O'Driscoll spilling an ill-directed switch pass from Paddy Wallace - that gifted the ball to Cruden.  Cruden scorched away and the two Smiths, Conrad and Ben, combined on straight lines and soft hands to send Ben away in the corner.  It was all that simple, all that devastating.

The loss of Cruden to injury - a possible worry for both the Chiefs and the All Blacks - stymied the attacking rhythm for a while but did little to change the domination.  Beauden Barrett landed a penalty with the final act of the first half, with the penultimate act being a harsh yellow dished out to Rob Kearney for what looked to be a legitimate interception attempt.

Ireland thus spent the first ten minutes of the second half a man down and paid for it with two more tries, one a series of three inside offloads finished off by Cane under the posts, the other a magnificent 50m finish from Hosea Gear.  Barrett could only convert one, but that left Ireland trailing 41-0 after 50 minutes;  New Zealand were good value for their near point-a-minute ratio and the Irish body count was rising.

Kearney's return changed nothing.  Cane slipped a super ball to Messam on an super line for what was New Zealand's 100th-ever try against Ireland.  Barrett's indifferent form with the boot continued as a comparatively easy kick bounced off the uprights.

Williams showed a rare glimpse of his complete skill set with a well-judged opportunistic grubber deep for Israel Dagg to run in the eighth try on the hour mark, this time Barrett converting.

New Zealand kept attacking, although some handling errors began to creep in.  Ireland looked to move from deeper and deeper, presumably playing right into the hosts' hands.  A handling error ten minutes from time and super delay of the pass from Barrett saw Adam Thomson run a direct line home for try number nine.

Ireland rallied hard, determined to get something out of the game, but there was no change to be had.  In minutes 79, Keven Mealamu's well-timed charge on Eoin Reddan saw the half-back spill the ball and that was that.  Firmly that.

Man of the match:  Aaron Cruden was putting in a good claim for this until he went off after 25 minutes, Sonny Bill Williams dominated the centres, but it was Sam Cane whose domination in the loose created the space for his team-mates outside, and brace of tries gave his side a commanding lead.

Moment of the match:  The fourth try.  As exciting as it was clinical, it was curtains for Ireland after that.

Villain of the match:  He reffed well, but for a really poor moment of judgement, referee Romain Poite gets this for the yellow card he dished out to Rob Kearney.  Brian O'Driscoll called it 'ridiculous'.  He was right.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Cane 2, Williams 2, B.Smith, Gear, Messam, Dagg, Thomson
Cons:  Cruden 3, Barrett 3
Pens:  Barrett

Yellow cards:  Kearney,40, Ireland - deliberate knock-on

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Richie McCaw (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Beauden Barrett, 22 Tamati Ellison.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Declan Fitzpatrick, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Chris Henry, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Venue:  Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gauzere (France), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official:  Matt Goddard (Australia)

Scotland complete clean sweep

Scotland needed a late try from replacement Rob Harley to claim a dramatic 17-16 win over Samoa at Apia Park on Saturday.

Victory for the visitors means that Andy Robinson's side finish their tour of the southern hemisphere unbeaten following previous wins over Australia and Fiji.

Centre Joe Ansbro made the most of his late addition to the starting line-up after Nick De Luca failed a fitness test on a thigh strain, crossing over for a try late to give his side a 7-6 lead at the break.

However, Samoa seemed headed for their first-ever win over Scotland when fly-half Tusi Pisi, who provided all of his team's points, started to take control of the game to give his side a 16-10 lead.

The pivot followed up two penalties in the opening 40 minutes with a drop-goal, a conversion and a try.  Wing Paul Williams found a gap between lock Richie Gray and left wing Tim Visser on the blind side of a ruck and put Pisi through for the five-pointer.

Scotland provided unrelenting pressure in the closing quarter, but they were nearly caught out when Samoa wing Paul Perez picked up a loose ball to cross over.  However, the try was not awarded as the touch judge found that a foot went into touch in the build-up.

The pressure from the visitors finally told on the Samoan defence as Mike Blair sent Harley, who was making his debut, through a huge gap by the left-hand post late in the game.

Greig Laidlaw slotted the simple conversion to secure an historic win.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Try:Pisi
Cons:  Pisi
Pens:Pisi 2
Drop:  Pisi

For Scotland:
Tries:  Ansbro, Harley
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pen:  Laidlaw

Samoa:  15 Fa'atoina Autagavai, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Fautua Otto, 12 Paul Williams, 11 David Lemi (c), 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Kane Thompson, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Ben Masoe, 5 Daniel Crichton, 4 Fa'atiga Lemalu, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Wayne Ole Avei, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Afa Aioni, 20 Jeremy Sua, 21 Ki Anufe, 22 Lolo Lui.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Richie Vernon, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Robert Harley, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Max Evans.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Ian Smith, Andrew Lees (both Australia)

Wallabies deny Wales ... again

For the second time in as many weeks Australia needed a late penalty to edge past Wales, winning 20-19 in an engrossing clash in Sydney.

Berrick Barnes landed a penalty five minutes from full-time to break Welsh hearts after yet another spirited display from the visitors.

The result leaves Wales winless against the Wallabies on Australia soil since 1969.

When the dust settles, the Welsh will have some long analysis to do, both on themselves and on Craig Joubert, who had a big influence on the game.  He attempted to lay down the law as strictly as possible, but ended up breaking the rhythm and causing frustration a little too much, while also failing to deal with a lot of unwillingness to scrum properly from both sides.  Australia responded slightly better overall but both teams looked scared to attempt things at times, too desperate at others.

They'll also reflect on the bounce of the ball which took James Hook's long hack downfield into touch milliseconds before the chasing Hook, 10 metres ahead of his nearest opponent arrived to gather it.  Sometimes you just can't buy a break.

But there's little point in the Welsh screaming at Joubert or Lady Luck.  They could also look to the number of restarts they failed to deal with and the two clear penalties in the 73rd and 74th minutes, of which first cost them good attacking position and the second the winning three points.

There was nothing to choose between the teams at half time in rugby terms but Barnes' fourth penalty just before the interval gave Australia a 12-9 lead — the four penalty to three scoreline an indication both of the broken rhythm of the game and the incessant stream of penalties.  The second half was better as the teams tired and the game broke up naturally.

It took 61 minutes for the first try to be scored, but when Ryan Jones crashed over under the posts on a pick-and-go after Alex Cuthbert's run Wales took the lead for the first time and were good value for it.  More precise on attack and threatening with ball in hand, the scrum was beginning to turn the screw as well.

The try drew an immediate response though — again from one of those spilled restarts — and the defence, panicked, folded in and left Rob Horne oodles of space outside.  Even then, Horne almost butchered it, ending up controlling the ball between forearm and leg as he touched down.  the TMO deemed that enough downward pressure and Australia had the lead back.

Leigh Halfpenny's fourth penalty — his second from 50 metres — with ten minutes left on the clock put the Six Nations champions back in front to set up a grandstand finish.

Barnes held his nerve, however, to split the uprights in the 75th minute to give Australia a one-point win and a 3-0 series clean sweep.

Man of the match:  Try-scorer Ryan Jones and Jonathan Davies had strong games for the Welsh.  A mention too for Barnes, who was near faultless from the kicking tee and landed the winning points with a cool swing of the leg.  But we'll go for Wallaby skipper David Pocock who was a constant thorn in the side of the Welshman at the breakdown.

Moment of the match:  The TMO made big call when he awarded Rob Horne's try.  At first glance it looked like the centre lost control in act of going over.  It would have ben extremely harsh to deny the try and, in the end, it turned out be a game-changing decision...

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report...

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Horne
Pens:  Barnes 5

For Wales:
Try:  R. Jones
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 4

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Nic White, 22 Anthony Fainga'a.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Jonathon White (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Vinny Munro (New Zealand)

England dirt-trackers prevail

England notched up a second victory on their tour of South Africa thanks to a 57-31 win over the SA Barbarians North in Potchefstroom.

The visitors crossed the whitewash on seven occassions with full-back Nick Abendanon bagging a hat-trick, whilst Jonny May touched down twice.

England number eight Ben Morgan and centre Anthony Allen also got their names on the scoresheet, while they also benefited from a penalty try and Charlie Hodgson scored 17 points.

However, the winning result for the tourists was marred by a serious injury to winger Ugo Monye who appeared to knock himself out in a tackle and had to be stretchered from the field.

England may have won by a convincing margin at Profert Olen Park but were given a tough workout by a South African scratch side who scored four tries themselves.

It was a bruising encounter for a side starting with two of the players involved in the second Test loss in Johannesburg last weekend in Morgan and Lee Dickson.

The Northern Barbarians started at a high pace and were first on the board courtesy of a penalty by full-back JC Roos in the sixth minute.  However it was not long before veteran fly-half Hodgson leveled the scores.

The hosts kept putting England under immense pressure but good defence from the visitors denied the Baa-Baas, until centre Joubert Engelbrecht scored a try in the corner set up by captain JW Jonker.

England were jolted awake and it was not long before Abendanon went over for the visitors' opening try of the match after some good attacking play.  Hodgson converted to again level the scores (10-10).

England took the lead for the first time in the 23rd minute after Morgan powered his way over for a converted try, before play was interrupted for about six minutes with Monye being carried of the field with a neck injury.

The lapse in play resulted in a break in concentration and some sloppy handling followed.

Winger Christian Wade — who scored a hat-trick against the Southern Barbarians in Kimberley last week — almost dotted down on the half-hour mark, only to be bumped out on the corner flag.

Abendanon then scored his second five-pointer of the evening after showcasing some fancy footwork, and was at it again just before half-time.  Hodgson converted to give his side a 31-10 at the break.

The break halted England's momentum and the Barbarians finally scored in the 53rd minute when scrum-half Shaun Venter dummied and dived over for a converted try.

After England flank Jamie Gibson was yellow-carded for a late tackle, it left the visitors one man short and Venter went over for his second try.

England regained the upper hand when replacement Johnny May went over in the corner.  May then bagged his brace which Hodgson duly converted, before Allen also found his way to the tryline as the wheels came off for the home side in the last ten minutes.

Winger Deon Scholtz scored a consolation try for the South African side near the end, but England had the last laugh when referee Mark Lawrence awarded a penalty try to the visitors on the final whistle.

The scorers:

For SA Barbarians North:
Tries:  Engelbrecht, Scholtz, Venter 2
Cons:  Roos 4
Pens:  Roos

For England:
Tries:  Abendanon 3, Allen, May 2, Morgan, Penalty try
Cons:  Hodgson 7
Pens:  Hodgson

SA Barbarians (North):  15 JC Roos, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 JW Jonker (c), 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 Deon Scholtz, 10 Coenie van Wyk ,9 Shaun Venter, 8 Nicky Steyn, 7 MB Lusaseni, 6 Jaco Bouwer, 5 Rudi Mathee, 4 Eduan van der Walt, 3 Ashley Buys ,2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements:  16 Pellow van der Westhuizen, 17 Zane Kilian, 18 Boela Serfontein, 19 Martin Sithole, 20 Andries Mahoney, 21 Hoffman Maritz, 22 Tertius Maarman.

England:  15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Anthony Allen, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 George Robson (c) 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements:  16 Joe Gray, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Mouritz Botha, 19 James Haskell, 20 Karl Dickson, 21 David Strettle, 22 Jonny May.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

Eagles swoop past Georgia

Roland Suniula and Taylor Mokate both scored tries to help the USA Eagles beat Georgia 36-20 on Saturday.

Mike Petri and James Paterson also scored tries for the United States, coming off a 28-25 loss to Canada.

The Americans dominated at the high-altitude venue in the hotbed of US rugby after inserting Mokate at number six and Suniula at fly-half, where he played for the Eagles at the 2011 World Cup.

Suniula, born in Samoa and raised in New Zealand, gave the Americans an 8-0 lead with his try and produced a line break to set up Petri's try on the way to a 28-8 half-time lead.

Mokate scored his try in the first half and Paterson added his to produce the final points of the game after two Georgia tries pulled the visitors, who never led, back to 31-20.

The Americans will entertain Italy next Saturday at Houston, Texas, while Georgia play Canada next weekend.

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Luke Hume, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 James Paterson, 10 Roland Suniula, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (c), 7 Scott Lavalla, 6 Taylor Mokate, 5 Brian Doyle, 4 Louis Stanfill, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Derek Asbun, 17 Tolifili (Andre) Liufau, 18 Mike MacDonald, 19 Andrew Durutalo, 20 Shaun Davies, 21 Will Holder, 22 Colin Hawley.

Georgia:  15 Lasha Khmaladze, 14 Irakli Machkhaneli, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze (c), 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Givi Berishvili, 6 Gregori Labadze, 5 Vakhtang Maisuradze, 4 Beka Bitsadze, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Revaz Belkania, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Irakli Mirtskhulava, 18 Zviad Maisuradze, 19 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 20 Giorgi Begadze, 21 Lasha Malaguradze, 22 Irakli Kiasashvili.

France fail again in Argentina

Argentina came from behind to snatch a dramatic 23-20 win over France in the first game of their two-Test series at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in C�rdoba on Saturday.

The visitors looked to have their first victory on Argentine soil since 1998 wrapped up until Pumas wing Manuel Montero burst clear in the 77th minute to score the winning try.

France led 14-13 at the end of a scrappy first half thanks to a try from Louis Picamoles but their advantage should have been a lot larger after the visitors left eleven points by wayside with some below-par kicking.

Indeed, les Bleus will harbour a number of regrets as they produced far more on attack than their hosts and were never seriously threatened on defence.  But the tourists were their own worst enemies, committing a plethora of unforced errors and failing to close out a game that was well within their reach.

In typical fashion, Argentina used their tried-and-tested spoiling tactics to frustrate the French while Felipe Contepomi kept the scoreboard ticking with his trusty boot.

It wasn't pretty and penalties were in abundance.  It took just three minutes for the first three points to be scored via France scrum-half Morgan Parra.

Los Pumas struck back immediately when wing Belisario Agulla intercepted a careless pass from Francois Trinh-Duc to race home untouched.

Contepomi added the extras but another Parra penalty left the scores at 7-6.  The French were happy to keep kicking at goal — despite the jeers from the raucous crowd — but Parra's third shot from the tee drifted wide, as did a drop from Florian Fritz.

The French were looking dangerous with ball in hand.  The current trend in French rugby to continually look for sucker-punch three-pointers instead to pushing for tries is a source of immense frustration.

Contepomi missed from inside his own half but Parra had no such problems when the Pumas failed to roll away (again) and the scrum-half gave France a two-point lead in the 22nd minute.

The stop-start nature of the clash saw the hosts move straight back in front though as Contepomi found the mark two minutes later.

Les Bleus replied with a fantastic try.  Full-back Brice Dulin bust clear only to be stopped two metres short.  Trinh-Duc's cross-field kick found Yoann Huget, who flipped it back to Picamoles volleyball-style and no one was going to stop the charging number eight from scoring.

Parra missed the conversion and another relatively easy penalty, meaning Contepomi was able to cut the gap to just a single point on the stroke of half time.

The French opened a seven-point gap as Parra found the mark soon after the restart before adding another three pointer when Pumas flank Tomas Leonardi was sent to the sin bin for a blatant offside when France were in full flight.

Les Bleus were unable to make their numerical advantage count however and Contepomi was again on target to leave the scores at 20-16 going into the final quarter.

Frederic Michalak had came on for Trinh-Duc as the French went in search of the killer blow.  Indeed the winning score would come from a move initiated by Michalak, but for the wrong team.

The Toulon-bound playmaker made a darting run into the Pumas 22 but Fulgence Ouedraogo was unable to hang onto the offload.  The ball was snapped up by the men in white and quickly sent out to Montero, who turned on the afterburners and sprinted 70m to score.

France had a late tilt at the Pumas defence but the game ended — appropriately — with yet another French knock-on.

The rematch is next Saturday in Tucaman.

Man of the match:  What would Argentina do without Felipe Contepomi?

Moment of the match:  Huget's pass inside to set up Picamoles was classic but it was outdone by Montero's try which sent the C�rdoba crowd wild.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Agulla, Montero
Cons:  Contepomi 2
Pens:  Contepomi 3

For France:
Try:  Picamoles
Pens:  Parra 5

Yellow cards:  Leonardi (Argentina — 53rd min — cynical offside)

Argentina:  15 Roman Miralles, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Joaquin Tuculet, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tomas Leonardi, 7 Tomas De la Vega, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Benjamin Macome, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Bruno Postiglioni, 1 Eusebio Guinazu.
Replacements:  16 Andres Bordoy, 17 Pablo Henn, 18 Rodrigo Bruno, 19 Rodrigo Baez, 20 Tomas Cubelli, 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 22 Facundo Barrea.

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Jean Marcellin Buttin, 13 Wesley Fofana, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Yoann Huget , 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra , 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoan Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape (c), 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yvan Watremez.
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Romain Taofifenua, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Maxime Machenaud, 21 Frederic Michalak, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

Venue:  Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, C�rdoba
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Boks seal series in Johannesburg

South Africa became the third nation from the south to prematurely wrap up their series after they edged England 36-27 in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Victory means that the third and final international between these two sides — at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium next week — is now a dead rubber.

It was a deserved win for the Boks as a first-half onslaught had journalists scrolling through the record books.  It looked that worrying for England.

But credit to England as they rallied in the second 40 minutes, with scrum-half Ben Youngs' brace of tries acting as the catalyst to the visitors' cause.

From the kick-off it seemed it was the season for giving on Youth Day in South Africa as England gave their hosts five points on a silver platter when a ball went straight through the scrum on the visitors' five-metre.  Spotting the vacant ball on the blindside was Willem Alberts, who backed up last week's man-of-the-match effort by opening matters on four minutes.  But they could not make it 7-0 as Morne Steyn's kicking misery continued.

England had touched the ball only twice — and one of those times was from the kick-off — when the Springboks crossed again to cap a nightmare start for Stuart Lancaster's men.  This time it was the brute force of hooker Bismarck du Plessis that did the damage, as he carried three tacklers with him towards the uprights.  After confirmation from Television Match Official Iain Ramage, the try was easily converted by Steyn to make it 12-0 on nine minutes.

Promoted fly-half Toby Flood did put England on the board after Youngs was held back getting to a breakdown by flank Marcell Coetzee.  But it only papered over the cracks in the leaky defence, which didn't take too long to be breached for a third time.  On this occasion it was from a remarkable 17 phases from the hosts that saw the bruising Alberts and Eben Etzebeth getting the go-forward ball before Francois Hougaard capitalised from five out.

Steyn's conversion made it 22-3 with 20 minutes on the clock and with the altitude factor expected to come into play in the second 40, the prospect of an English comeback seemed unlikely.  That was until a quick tap from Youngs on halfway led to right wing Chris Ashton breaking the line before he fed Flood in support.  The ten's extras to his score had pulled Lancaster's men back to within twelve points before Steyn smartly sent over a drop-goal.

And that was how it stayed going into the break as the Springboks' 4/1 price to win the Rugby Championship suddenly looked rather generous.  It was a half of physicality and intelligence that in truth left England shell-shocked and needing the ten minutes to think.

Steyn got things ticking again on 47 minutes to make it 28-10 before the so-called altitude factor was set to kick in.  However, England quashed such predictions as they sparked a spell that silenced Coca-Cola Park, with two tries from Youngs bringing them within seven.

Flood continued the surge with a further three points on 65 minutes as — like earlier in the day in Christchurch and Melbourne — it seemed there would be another June Test that was going down to the wire.  But this time would it finally be a northern nation smiling at full-time?

It would not.  South Africa dug deep and a virtuoso try from JP Pietersen ended England's hopes as he first broke clear from his own ten-metre up to England's 22 — beating several attempted tacklers — before finding himself unmarked on the right wing following a couple of ensuing phases.  That critical score pushed the Boks up to a 36-27 advantage with seven minutes remaining in Johannesburg and South Africa ultimately prevailed to make it 2-0.

Man-of-the-match:  The official award went to JP Pietersen following his critical try and general workrate.  However, we take our hat off to young lock Eben Etzebeth as he showed what quality and promise he has in the Springbok jumper.  In just his second Test, he carried superbly and proved he has a bright future in the green and gold.  Bismarck du Plessis was also his menacing self while England's stand-out was Ben Youngs.

Moment-of-the-match:  It came on 73 minutes just when England looked like they might be on their way to a remarkable come-from-behind win.  Step forward JP Pietersen, who went from his own half up to the English 22 before popping up on the right wing for the clincher.

Villain-of-the-match:  Nothing much from what we could see.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Alberts, B du Plessis, Hougaard, Pietersen
Con:  M Steyn 2
Pen:  M Steyn 3
Drop:  M Steyn

For England:
Tries:  Flood, Youngs 2
Con:  Flood 3
Pen:  Flood 2

South Africa:  15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morn� Steyn, 9 Fran�ois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandr� Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Bjorn Basson.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 11 David Strettle, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 Alex Goode.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Steve Walsh (Australia), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Harris wins it for Wallabies

Australia's replacement pivot Mike Harris killed off Wales' hopes of keeping their Test series alive after slotting a last-gasp penalty kick to steal a 25-23 win in Melbourne.

It was a sad case of close but no cigar for the Welsh who came within seconds of winning Down Under for the first time in 43 years and set up a series decider.

However, Harris — on for Berrick Barnes — was called upon to provide the killer blow for the Wallabies after a maul was ruled to have been dragged down and Australia's New Zealand-born super sub didn't disappoint.

The defeat left a devasted Wales outfit once again reflecting on a golden chance gone begging in a thrilling encounter that saw the lead change hands nine times as the match went down to the wire.

The visitors showed their trademark fighting spirit at Etihad Stadium but the loss meant a series victory for Australia, who took out the first Test in Brisbane last week.

Wales got off to a the perfect start, launching a sustained attack after just three minutes which ended when wing George North side-stepped past Wycliff Palu and Rob Simmons to touch down.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked the easy conversion but the hosts went on to have the better of the half and Barnes kicked a pair of penalties to reduce their deficit to 7-6.

The diminuitive fly-half then made a crucial break on the stroke of half-time after slicing through a large gap between Sam Warburton and Ashley Beck, before coolly finding Rob Horne on his shoulder and the centre cruised over the line.

Barnes added the extras to make it a seven-pointer and the Welsh trailed 13-7 at the break.

However, the tourists once again started the better of the two sides after Ashley Beck and Jonathan Davies combined to show off their soccer skills by hacking the ball downfield when Will Genia's pass went astray.

Beck hit the deck, but Davies got a favourable bounce and calmly collected the ball near the line to score.  Halfpenny once again added the extras and Wales were back in front (13-14).

Barnes booted a pair of three-pointers either side of a Halfpenny penalty and Australia were clinging to a 19-17 lead, but they then lost wing Cooper Vuna to the sin-bin for tackling Halfpenny in the air.

The Welsh full-back kicked the resulting penalty to put his side up 20-19 but the Wallabies went straight onto the attack and Barnes made it 22-20 when Wales infringed at a ruck.

The see-saw battle continied when the reliable Halfpenny was on target once again when Ben Alexander was penalised at a scrum 13 minutes from time before Barnes — who had been struggling with a leg injury — then put a kick wide of the posts with six minutes left.

But the Wallabies got another chance when, with the 80 minutes having elapsed, Richard Hibbard infringed at a driving maul, and Harris calmly stepped up to drill a tricky penalty straight through the uprights.

Man of the match:  For Wales, Leigh Halfpenny kept his side in the hunt thanks to a flawless kicking display and perhaps would've been awarded this gong had Wales won.  However, the official man of the match award went to new dad Berrick Barnes and it's hard to argue against it.  Australia's number ten set up the Wallabies' only try of the match and contributed 17 points before being replaced.

Moment of the match:  We're pretty sure every pub in Wales now have a picture of Mike Harris on the bullseye of their dartboards following the replacement's match-winning kick in extra time.

Villain of the match:  Mike Harris — we were looking forward to seeing the series head into a decider next weekend!  But we won't hold it against you ... too much.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Horne
Con:  Barnes
Pens:  Barnes 5, Harris

For Wales:
Tries:  North, Davies
Cons:  Halfpenny 2
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Cooper Vuna, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dave Dennis, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Nic White, 21 Anthony Fainga'a, 22 Mike Harris.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)

Carter drop breaks Irish hearts

Ireland turned up the heat in freezing conditions to push New Zealand all the way, before eventually succumbing to a 22-19 defeat in Christchurch on Saturday.

With the scores level at 19-19 and one minute remaining in the match, All Blacks pivot Dan Carter broke Irish hearts with a last-gasp drop goal to win the game and the series.

It was a valiant effort from the visitors, who led the world champions by one point (9-10) at half-time, but were left playing catch-up following an early try to Aaron Smith two minutes after the break.

But the men in green managed to claw their way back and when All Blacks full-back Israel Dagg was yellow-carded in the 72nd minute, Ireland were presented with a golden opportunity to retake the lead from 49m out.

However, Jonathan Sexton's attempt had the direction but not the distance as the ball fell agonisingly short.  From there the hosts put themselves into a position to set up Carter for the match-winning drop.

His first attempt off his right boot, however, clipped an Irish hand and sailed wide.  But Carter wouldn't miss the second attempt, and this time - off his left foot - sent the ball between the sticks.

Jubilation for the All Blacks, heartbreak for the brave Irish.

Declan Kidney's troops had promised they would up the intensity after being run off the park a week ago and they were certainly true to their word as the visitors - roared on by dozens of Irish fans - threatened to snaffle their first-ever Test win over the All Blacks in their 26th attempt.

Ireland supporters would have been choking on their Guinness after looking at the scoreboard to see the visitors 10-0 ahead in the opening quarter of the match thanks to an early try from Conor Murray and the boot of Sexton.

Ireland made the most of an early line-out close to New Zealand's line with brilliant effect, mauling the ball superbly before Murray - despite having no blindside support - made a dart to get the ball over for the try.  Sexton added the conversion and nine minutes later he added his first penalty.

The All Blacks were able to put their first points on the board through a Carter penalty in the 21st minute.  As in the first Test, Ireland went off the boil when the game headed into the second quarter and as New Zealand's intensity grew, the home side forced errors at the breakdown.  This allowed Carter to add two more three-pointers that closed the gap even further.

The number ten had a chance to put his team in front on the stroke of half-time, but his fourth penalty attempt didn't have the legs and allowed Ireland to head into the half-time sheds 10-9 ahead.

That lead lasted just two minutes after the resumption before Smith grabbed his first Test try after a burst from Sonny Bill Williams.  Williams crashed into the Ireland pack and as the All Blacks piled in, their livewire scrum-half was driven over the line for the try that Carter duly converted.

Any thoughts that the floodgates might open as they did in Auckland seven days ago, were dispelled as Ireland rallied with Sexton adding his second penalty in another strong attacking period that had the All Blacks scrambling to make try-saving tackles.

But with that storm weathered, the momentum again swung the other way and Carter's fourth penalty extended New Zealand's lead to 19-13.

Ireland then came back with two more Sexton penalties levelling the scores to set up a dramatic finale.

Pressure mounted on New Zealand as Adam Thomson joined Kieran Read on the injured list, leaving them only two specialist loose forwards.  Dagg's sin-binning for a late charge on Rob Kearney didn't help matters either for the hosts.

But at 19-all and a man down, the All Blacks rallied one last time and fittingly, Carter - a Canterbury local - was there to hold his nerve and seal the outcome.

Man of the match:  For New Zealand, Dan Carter was obviously the man of the moment thanks to his match-winning drop-goal.  But it's hard to look past the gallant Irish who silenced their critics with a superb effort that came within fractions of the most famous Irish win in history against the world champions.  And it's for that reason why we've opted for a collective award to the entire Ireland team.

Moment of the match:  With 40 seconds of the match remaining, it has to be Carter's winning drop goal.

Villain of the match:  Israel Dagg's brain implosion that so nearly cost his team defeat.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  A Smith
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 4
Drop:  Carter

For Ireland:
Try:  Murray
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 4

Yellow card:  Dagg, 72 mins (New Zealand, foul play)

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Declan Fitzpatrick, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Simon Zebo.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

Visser double sinks Fiji

Scotland's Dutch-born winger Tim Visser scored two tries on debut as the tourists beat Fiji 37-25 on Saturday.

Visser's second try in the 77th minute clinched Scotland's win after Fiji had come from 27-11 down in the 45th minute to trail by only two points, 27-25, with 15 minutes remaining.

Fly-half Greig Laidlaw scored a try, kicked four conversions and three penalties to keep Scotland in front, ensuring they avoided a repeat of their 51-26 loss to Fiji in Suva in 1998.

Scotland overcame hot and humid conditions at Lautoka's Churchill Park and a display of typical backline brilliance from Fiji to post a second win on their southern hemisphere tour after beating Australia 9-6.

In six meetings between the teams, Scotland has won on five occasions and Fiji only once.

Scotland was able to control the match through strong set-piece play and an accurate kicking game guided by Laidlaw.  Fiji showed vulnerability under the high ball and was pressured at scrums, conceding a penalty try from a scrum collapse in the 23rd minute.

The penalty try and tries to Visser and Laidlaw allowed Scotland to take a 24-11 lead to half-time and the tourists expanded that to 27-11 with a Laidlaw penalty in the 45th minute.

Fiji rushed back into the match through the middle of the second half with tries to Waisea Nayacalevu in the 48th minute and Metuisela Talebula in the 65th.  Fly-half Jonetani Raululu converted Talebua's try on debut to cut the lead to 27-25 as the hosts looked like overwhelming the Scots.

Laidlaw eked out the lead to 30-25 by kicking his fourth penalty, then the fast and powerful Visser touched down for the second time to ensure Scotland escaped with a win.

Scotland next plays Samoa in Apia while Fiji faces Tonga next Saturday in the final match of the Pacific Nations Cup.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Domolailai, Nayacalevu, Talebula
Cons:  Ralulu 2
Pens:  Ralulu 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Laidlaw, Visser 2, Penalty try
Cons:  Laidlaw 4
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

Fiji:  15 Isimeli Koniferedi, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Wereniki Goneva, 12 Aloisio Buto, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Jonetai Ralulu, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Malakai Ravulo, 6 Iliese Ratuva, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisai Naikatini, 3 Setefano Somoca, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Jeremaia Yanuyanutawa.
Replacements:  16 Tuatpati Talemaitoga, 17 Waisea Daveta/Graham Dewes, 18 Josefa Domolailai, 19 Kelepi Ketedromo, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Kameli Ratuvou, 22 Metuisela Talebula.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Max Evans, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 John Barclay, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (c), 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Sean Lamont.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Burton gives Canucks the boot

Italy fly-half Kris Burton kicked 20 points to help guide his team to a 25-16 win over Canada in Toronto on Friday.

In a bruising encounter, the Australian-born pivot slotted six penalties and a conversion to overturn a 13-9 half-time deficit and hand the visitors victory.

Canada, who edged the United States 28-25 last week, have now lost four consecutive times to the Italians.

The hosts looked solid for much of the match against an underwhelming Italian team that had an advantage in the scrum but failed to make it pay until the final quarter of the game.  Outmanned in the scrum, the Canadians ultimately paid the price for a high penalty count and an accurate kicker.

Canada full-back James Pritchard kicked three penalty goals and converted Conor Trainor's first-half try after the winger scooped up a loose ball lost by Italian scrum-half Tito Tebaldi and scored the lone touchdown of the first half under the posts to put Canada ahead 13-6 on the way to a 13-9 half-time edge.

A Burton penalty pulled Italy within a point (13-12), before the Six Nations outfit took the lead for good thanks to Tommaso D'Apice's try in the 50th minute off a driving maul.  Burton added the conversion for a 19-13 advantage.

Pritchard pulled Canada closer with a penalty kick, but Burton added two more three-pointers, the last with less than eight minutes remaining.

Pritchard then missed his first kick in the 75th minute that allowed the visitors to hang on for their first win on tour, after losing to Argentina last week.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Try:  Trainor
Con:  Pritchard
Pens:  Pritchard 3

For Italy:
Try:  D'Apice
Con:  Burton
Pens:  Burton 6

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Conor Trainor, 13 DTH Van der Merwe, 12 Mike Scholz, 11 Phil Mackenzie, 10 Matt Evans, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Mike Pletch, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Tiedemann, 17 Tom Dolezel, 18 Jon Phelan, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Edward Fairhurst, 21 Liam Underwood, 22 Ciaran Hearn.

Italy:  15 Alberto Benettin, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Andrea Pratichetti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Antonio Pavanello, 4 Joshua Furno, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Tommaso D'Apice, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Lorenzo Romano, 18 Marco Fuser, 19 Mauro Bergamasco, 20 Edoardo Gori, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Referee:  David Pearson (England)

England put 50 on SA Barbarians

England's midweek team were made to work hard for their 54-26 win over the SA Barbarians South selection at GWK Park in Kimberley on Wednesday.

Wing Christian Wade scored a hat-trick while number eight Thomas Waldrom got a brace in what was a hot-and-cold effort from the tourists.

What may have upset Stuart Lancaster about the performance against their lower tier opponents were the lapses in concentration that allowed the hosts to cross the whitewash on four occasions.

The tourists' flakiness in defence saw them exposed in only the third minute when number eight Jacques Engelbrecht barged his way over.

Waldrom then did well to cross before Wade also got over as the midweek team looked to make a statement ahead of the second Test in Jo'burg.

George Lowe — named as a late replacement for David Strettle — then popped up on the shoulder of team-mate Jordan Turner-Hall to put England into a commanding 27-5 lead, but the Baa-Baas replied before half-time when Hannes Franklin scored while James Haskell was in the bin.

The second-half half saw scores traded when Leicester's Waldrom went over from the base before the pace of EP Kings wing Norman Nelson pulled the home side back into matters.

But when Graham Kitchener replied soon after and Wade went over for his second on the hour mark in the midst of a scoring frenzy that led to Ntabeni Dukisa and Danny Care getting in on the act, the final say was left to Wade, who slipped the tackle on his wing for a treble.

The scorers:

For SA Barbarians South:
Tries:  Engelbrecht, Franklin, Nelson, Dukisa
Con:  Watts 3

For England:
Tries:  Waldrom 2, Wade 3, Lowe, Kitchener, Care
Con:  Hodgson 4
Pen:  Hodgson 2

SA Barbarians South:  15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Kempie Rautenbach, 12 Wayne Stevens, 11 Norman Nelson, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Boela Abrahams, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Shaun Raubenheimer, 6 Mpho Mbiyozo, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Nolan Clark, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Hannes Franklin, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements:  16 Clemen Lewis, 17 Dean Hopp, 18 Ben Venter, 19 Zandre Jordaan, 20 Ntando Kebe, 21 Ricardo Croy, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa.

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 George Lowe, 13 Anthony Allen, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 James Haskell, 5 George Robson (capt), 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements:  16 Tom Youngs, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Nick Abendanon.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (RSA)

Wales hang on in Canberra

Six Nations champions Wales were made to work for an unconvincing 25-15 win over the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium on Tuesday.

In the only mid-week match of Wales' tour Down Under, the visitors held off a spirited Brumbies side that threatened a second-half comeback after trailing the Welsh 19-6 at half-time.

The Jake White-coached Brumbies managed to reduce the deficit to 19-15, but James Hook — who contributed 15 points for his team — struck two late penalties to give Wales their first victory of the tour.

The tourists made 14 changes from the side that lost to the Wallabies 27-19 in Saturday's first Test, and Hook was quickly to work in his favoured position as he crossed for an early try.

The Perpignan star then combined with Ashley Beck to send Justin Tipuric for another, and Wales looked comfortable in a 19-6 half-time lead once Alun Wyn Jones had barged over for a third.

The second half belonged to the Brumbies, and skipper Zac Holmes booted a trio of penalties that hauled the hosts to within four points.

But a pair of late Hook replies steadied the ship and ultimately secured Wales their second win over the Brumbies in four outings since 1978.

The scorers:

For Brumbies:
Pens:  Holmes 5

For Wales:
Tries:  Hook, Tipuric, A.Jones
Cons:  Hook 2
Pens:  Hook 2

Brumbies:  15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Cam Crawford, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Andrew Smith, 11 Kimami Sitauti, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Colby Faingaa, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Ben Hand (c), 4 Leon Power, 3 Scott Sio, 2 Anthony Hegarty, 1 Ruaidhri Murphy.
Replacements:  16 Siliva Siliva, 17 JP Pradaud, 18 Dylan Sigg, 19 Fotu Auelua, 20 Beau Mokoputo, 21 Tom Cox, 22 Jesse Mogg.

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Aled Brew, 10 James Hook, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Aaron Shingler, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 3 Rhodri Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Alex Cuthbert.

Referee:  Ian Smith

Canada edge past USA

Canada got their June Test campaign off to a winning start with a 28-25 victory over the USA Eagles at Queen's University's Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday.

New Canada skipper Aaron Carpenter scored the winning try in front of 7,521 fans in an end-to-end clash that saw both sides touch down three times.

The goal-kicking of Canada full-back James Pritchard proved the difference between the North American rivals as he slotted five from six for 13 points while Carpenter was named man-of-the-match for his inspiring performance.

It could have gone either way in a match riddled with errors on both sides.  However, poor tackling and handling errors would mark the Eagles' demise in an otherwise hard-fought encounter.

Canada scored first in the fourth minute when Matt Evans was able to dummy and run straight through the U.S. defence from 22 metres out, scoring near the posts.  James Pritchard converted to make it 7-0 Canada.

The U.S. replied four minutes later from a scrum 45 metres out when Chris Wyles received a nifty pass from Paul Emerick, pinned his man, and put debutant Luke Hume into space for a try in the corner.  Will Holder's kick missed the conversion from out wide and it was 7-5 Canada.

Canada struck right back with a try from Ciaran Hearn, who exposed an overlap in numbers out on the wing.  Pritchard made the touchline conversion to increase the lead to 14-5.

Two penalties kicked by the Americans and one by the home side meant the gap closed to 17-11.

In the 30th minute James Paterson then inserted himself in the 9-10 channel, and Holder offloaded inside to Paterson who hit the gap at full pace.  With the successful conversion, the U.S took the lead from the first time, 18-17.

Canada had the last say in the half when the U.S. conceded a penalty in the 34th minute.  Pritchard kicked three more points to return the lead to Canada, 20-18 at the break.

The second period would be much slower with both teams trying to sort out the issues of the first half, but it was Canada who enjoyed most of the possession for the opening 20 minutes.

Pritchard extended the lead to 23-18 shortly after the restart

Canada dealt the killer blow when Luke Hume attempted to find touch from deep in his own territory.  D.T.H. van der Merwe countered with a swerving run before finding Carpenter, who scored in the corner after outrunning the cover defence.

The U.S. came back hard in the dying minutes and the Canadian defence held until the 78th, when flanker Scott Lavalla barged over near the posts.

"It was a tough game and a real nail-biter at the end, but we were happy to take the win," stated Canada head coach Kieran Crowley after the game.

"We gave up silly penalties and gave them free yardage," Crowley added.

"That had us playing frantically and the U.S. made us pay for it.  But it was a win in a test match and we're happy for that."

"We played in peaks and valleys and had some rusty moments," commented U.S. coach Mike Tolkin.

"Like Canada, we are just getting back together for the first time.

"We will be looking for improvements over the next few games."

Canada face Italy in a rare night game at Toronto's BMO field on Friday while the Eagles now move to Glendale, Colorado where they will take on Georgia at Infinity Park on June 16.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Evans, Hearn, Carpenter
Cons:  Pritchard 2
Pens:  Pritchard 3

For USA:
Tries:  Hume, Paterson, Lavalla
Cons:  Holder 2
Pens:  Holder 2

Yellow card:  O'Toole (Canada — trip)

Canada:  15 James Pritchard , 14 Sean Duke, 13 D.T.H. van der Merwe, 12 Mike Scholz, 11 Ciaran Hearn, 10 Matt Evans, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter (C), 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Jason Marshall, 17 Tom Dolezel, 18 Jebb Sinclair, 19 Tyler Ardron, 20 Kyle Armstrong, 21 Phil Mackenzie, 22 Jeff Hassler.

U.S.A:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 James Paterson, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Will Holder, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (C), 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Scott Lavalla, 5 Brian Doyle, 4 Louis Stanfill, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Derek Asbun 17 Shawn Pittman 18 Tom Katzfey 19 Taylor Mokate 20 Shaun Davies 21 Roland Suniula 22 Colin Hawley

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Pumas humble Italy

Argentine rugby took a significant step forwards on Saturday as a second-string Pumas side handed Italy a 37-22 drubbing in San Juan.

The tourists were expected to run out easy winners but Argentina — without most of their best players — put on an impressive display of depth to run four tries past the near full-strength Azzurri.

The result will come as massive boost to Argentine confidence ahead of their two-Test series against France starting next week and, perhaps more importantly, their debut in the Rugby Championship in August.

Argentina led 13-10 at the end of a largely uneventful first half but stepped up the tempo in the second period to leave the visiting Italians shell-shocked.

Veteran playmaker Felipe Contepomi finished the game with personal tally of 22 points — including a try — to send a reminder to coach Santiago Phelan that there is still life left in his old legs.

The only other Puma to start the game with more than 15 caps to his name, prop Rodrigo Roncero, also chipped in with a try in his last Test series.

A slow start to game saw Contepomi cancel out an early penalty from Italy pivot Kristopher Burton, but the 21st-minute sin-binning of Julio Farias-Cabello paved the way for the Azzurri to go 10-3 in front with a converted penalty try.

Los Pumas responded however with Tomas Leonardi crashing over to put the hosts ahead at the break.

Contepomi continued to be accurate with his boot as he added another penalty at the start of the second half, but Italy hit back with a try from Edoardo Gori after 53 minutes to close the deficit to three points.

The Pumas soon pulled away though, with Roncero, Leonardo Senatore and Contepomi all touching down.

Mauro Bergamasco grabbed a late consolation score for Italy, which Riccardo Bocchino converted, but it was too little too late.

Italy must now regroup before facing Canada next Saturday.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Leonardi, Roncero, Senatore, Contepomi
Cons:  Contepomi 4
Pens:  Contepomi 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Penalty try, Gori, Bergamasco
Cons:  Burton, Bocchino
Pen:  Burton

Yellow card:  Farias-Cabello (Argentina — 20th min — cynical offside)

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Gabriel Ascarate, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Agustin Gosio, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore 7 Tomas Leonardi, 6 Genaro Fessia, 5 Julio Farias-Cabello, 4 Benjam�n Macome, 3 Francisco Gomez-Kodela, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Nahuel Tetaz-Chaparro, 18 Santiago Guzm�n, 19 Tomas De La Vega, 20 Tomas Cubelli, 21 Manuel Montero, 22 Roman Miralles

Italy:  15 Luke Mclean, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Alberto de Marchi.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Lorenzo Romano, 18 Joshua Furno, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Tito Tebaldi, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Venue:  Estadio del Bicentenario, San Juan
Referee:  Jerome Garces

First blood to South Africa

South Africa landed the first blow in their three-Test series with England as a strong second-half showing saw them win 22-17 in Durban on Saturday.

Tries from Morne Steyn and Jean de Villiers did the damage after the turnaround as the visitors struggled to repeat their impressive opening.

It was a deserved win for the Springboks however as they recovered well from a disappointing half that saw the sides go in with six points apiece.

England began in a cool fashion and looked comfortable in possession, taking all the correct options in the opening ten minutes.  Ben Youngs was assured at the base while Dan Cole was hungry and Tom Johnson got through a great deal of carrying work as the Boks played second fiddle.

The visitors were rewarded for their efforts too as South Africa debutant Eben Etzebeth failed to roll away after a Cole carry.  Consequently, Owen Farrell was able to send over the first points of the series from 40 metres out in the seventh minute.

But that sparked the Boks into life and it was their battering ram, Willem Alberts, who was creating the go-forward, resulting in Morne Steyn drawing his side level with fourteen minutes gone.

There was definitely a chess match feel to the action.

At 3-all the game began to pick up in pace as the likes of Ben Morgan and Chris Ashton made inroads through the heart of the Springbok defence.  And Morgan's powerful surge — after a lovely late pass from Johnson — led to Marcell Coetzee offending.  Farrell slotted it.

Pictures of the home coaching box illustrated the pressure on new coach Heyneke Meyer, who seemed worried about how his charges were fronting up in his first game at the helm.  He wouldn't have to wait long for a reply though as England went offside and Steyn levelled.

That was how the scores stayed until the interval but that could and probably should have been different after Johnson used his hand on the blindside flank of a scrum just outside his own 22.  Steyn called for the tee in the last kick of the half but the effort strayed wide.

Stuart Lancaster must have been delighted with how his team had fronted up in the first 40 minutes as they looked confident in their ability in both attack and defence, particularly at the breakdown as on three occasions they had turned over the Boks.  That trend had to continue.

Meyer had different ideas though and seemingly rallied his team in the dressing room as England struggled to cope with the lift in intensity upon the resumption.  Finally the host were able to enjoy a sustained period of ball as Bismarck du Plessis became prominent.

Cue 20 minutes of South Africa being largely in possession in England's half in a spell that led to Steyn having a mismatch against Johnson five metres out.  He crossed for a try on 48 minutes before space opened up on the same wing 12 minutes later for De Villiers.

England were trailing 16-6 at that moment and desperately needed the next score, which they got in two-fold as Farrell sent over a couple of penalties, in the 63rd and 66th minute.

With ten minutes remaining in Durban the game was up for grabs but it was Steyn given the opportunities to see out the game and the Bulls number ten didn't misfire with his penalties, making it 22-12 before a late finish from Northampton's Ben Foden came as consolation.

South Africa meet England in the second Test match in Johannesburg next Saturday.

Man-of-the-match:  Alongside hooker Bismarck du Plessis, flanker Willem Alberts carried like a warrior for South Africa.  A mention for England debutant Tom Johnson for his first-half.

Moment-of-the-match:  The try from Jean de Villiers was a sucker punch to England on the hour mark and put the Boks two scores up at 16-6.  From that point on England were playing catch-up and in a second-half where they rarely threatened, the result was arguably settled.

Villain-of-the-match:  Barring a bit of push and shove between Owen Farrell and Frans Steyn after the latter had kicked the ball at England's fly-half, it wasn't too feisty at all.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  M Steyn, De Villiers
Pen:  M Steyn 4

For England:
Try:  Foden
Pen:  Farrell 4

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morn� Steyn, 9 Fran�ois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandr� Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 Wynand Olivier.

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Jonathan Joseph.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant refeerees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Scotland)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Australia bounce back in Brisbane

Australia bounced back from their shock loss to Scotland with a morale-boosting 27-19 win over Wales at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

What a difference four days makes, as the hosts dug deep to prove their doubters wrong and take a 1-0 lead in the series against this year's Six Nations Grand Slam champions.

Wales, who at one stage trailed by fourteen points (20-6), managed to claw their way back into the match and cut the deficit to one (20-19) in an absorbing encounter.

But a try by centre Pat McCabe in the 67th minute proved to be the killer blow as the Welsh slumped to their fifth straight defeat to Australia.

The Wallabies' win takes the heat off under-pressure coach Robbie Deans, whose side rebounded impressively from Tuesday's Scottish disaster with an enterprising ball-in-hand game plan at their Brisbane fortress.

Wales — desperate to end a 43-year drought Down Under — were forced to play catch-up rugby throughout, and it all started when Berrick Barnes opened the scoring with a straightforward penalty kick in the ninth minute.

Australia looked to have created a certain try when Rob Horne darted to the left, but Alex Cuthbert — outstanding for the visitors — prevented the scoring pass with a crucial tackle.

However, just moments later the Wallabies crossed following a series of drives from their forwards that ended with number eight Scott Higginbotham crashing over for his first Test try.

Barnes added the extras and Australia led 10-0 after 16 minutes.

Wales finally got themselves on the scoreboard courtesy of a Leigh Halfpenny, but the men in red were struggling to find any momentum against a Wallabies outfit playing with their tails up.

The tourists then suffered a major blow on the half-hour mark when destructive winger George North was replaced with a quad injury to put him in doubt for next week's second Test in Melbourne.

Trailing 10-3 at half-time, any thoughts of a second-half respite by Australia was extinguished immediately by Will Genia who needed less than a minute after the break to grab his team's second try.

The Wallaby scrum-half exploited space expertly and then effected an outrageous side-step to negotiate the last line of defence.  The finish was a moment of individual brilliance and highlighted Genia's running threat as he dived over for the converted try to extend Australia's lead even further (17-3).

Another Halfpenny penalty was then cancelled out by a Barnes drop-goal, but Halfpenny again nudged Wales closer with a third penalty (20-9).

As the game went on, it was evident that the hosts began to tire in the second half and were not as effective at controlling the ball at close quarters.  And as the game grew looser, Wales came into their own.

Ashley Beck replaced centre Scott Williams and with his first touch of the ball, put Cuthbert over for his fourth Test try.  Halfpenny converted and added an excellent penalty from out wide to cut the deficit to 20-19 on 63 minutes.

Wales were eying a remarkable turnaround, but Australia showed their clinical edge when they needed it most.  Genia was again the creator, picking his pass to McCabe who crashed over with thirteen minutes remaining.

Barnes converted and Australia were once again eight points ahead.

Twice Cuthbert threatened to break clear for a second try that Wales desperately needed, but was denied as Australia recovered to hold out for victory.

Man of the match:  Alex Cuthbert was Wales' standout player,, while David Pocock, Scott Higginbotham, Berrick Barnes and Adam Ashley-Cooper all made significant contributions for Australia.  But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who gets our vote — Will Genia take a bow.  Apart from his try, Genia looked every bit the general in the number nine position.

Moment of the match:  Genia's try ... pure magic.

Villain of the match:  No malice to report!

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Higginbotham, Genia, McCabe
Cons:  Barnes 3
Pens:  Barnes
Drop:  Barnes

For Wales:
Try:  Cuthbert
Con:  Halfpenny
Pen:  Halfpenny 4

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Cooper Vuna, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu , 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons , 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, Dave Dennis, 18 Michael Hooper, 19 Nic White, 20 Anthony Fainga'a, 21 Mike Harris.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Paul James, 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Ashley Beck.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Easy does it for All Blacks

All Blacks wing Julian Savea scored a hat-trick on debut to help the world champions to a comprehensive 42-10 win over Ireland at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

The talented speedster crossed twice in the first half and again after the break to cap a memorable night in his first Test outing for New Zealand, as the home side opened their 2012 account with a bang.

The win also saw the All Blacks extend their winning run at Eden Park to 28 Tests, dating back to 1994.

The visitors were outscored five tries to one, and based on this quality performance from the hosts, it looks like Ireland will have to wait a little longer for that elusive victory over the men in black.

Whilst the scoreline resembles one-way traffic, it took a while for New Zealand to click into a gear as the Irish threatened to give the home side a run for their money early on - Rob Kearney in particular impressing with ball in hand.

But with the scores level 3-3 after fly-halves Dan Carter and Jonathan Sexton traded penalties between them, the All Blacks started to find some rhythm.

Carter, who produced a near flawless display from the tee, added two more penalties from 50m out to stretch his side's lead to 9-3 before Savea struck with his first try in the 25th minute and New Zealand never looked back.

Ireland kicked away possession, not for the first time, and Zac Guildford got away with a fumble that saw the ball roll sideways.  From there, the All Blacks were able to send it wide to Conrad Smith, who switched with Sonny Bill Williams.  The inside centre made one of his trademark one-hand offloads to Carter and he sent Savea away for his first Test try.

Carter converted from bang in front, and the writing was on the wall for Ireland as Savea was once again the man of the moment after crossing over out wide for try number two just before half-time.

Carter was on target once again with the touchline conversion to give the All Blacks a deserved 23-3 lead at half-time, leaving Ireland with a hill to climb after the break.

The hill became a mountain after Savea was celebrating his hat-trick three minutes into the second half.  The Hurricanes flyer had Israel Dagg to thank after the full-back drew in the cover defence - following some good interplay between Conrad Smith and Kieran Read in midfield - to put Savea over in the corner.

Carter raised the flags to make it 30-3 and the result was all but sealed.  That was until the Irish finally hit back through a try by Fergus McFadden who, after a turnover, chased a kick ahead from Sexton and beat Richie McCaw to the ball for a seven-pointer.

With Ireland now in double figures, the green army of supporters were given a glimmer of hope.  However, it wouldn't last long as normal activity resumed shortly after when Read broke away from the back of a 5m scrum and gave the try-scoring pass to replacement Adam Thomson.

Both teams rang the changes with 20 minutes remaining and Ireland weathered another spell of pressure from the home team and looked to have clawed themselves back into a respectable position when McFadden outsprinted Dagg 80 metres to score under the posts.  But referee Nigel Owens had already called back play for an Irish offside.

There was further reason for Irish hearts to flutter in the final minutes as loosehead prop Cian Healy was injured and replaced by hooker Sean Cronin.

Conrad Smith was then rewarded for a fantastic performance when he dived over to the right of the posts after a slick pass from replacement Aaron Cruden.  Carter added the extras to make it a 32-point buffer and give the Irish plenty to ponder ahead of next week's second Test in Christchurch.

Man of the match:  For Ireland, Sean O'Brien and Rory Best were the pick of the forwards while Rob Kearney was a pillar of strength at the back.  New Zealand number eight Kieran Read proved why he's rated the best in his position, while Carter was his influential self at 10 - finishing with a match haul of 17 points.  Scrum-half Aaron Smith produced an outstanding debut with his rapid service keeping the backline moving, but wing Julian Savea gets our vote.  A constant threat out wide, the 21-year-old made history by becoming the first All Black to get a hat-trick against Ireland in only his first Test appearance.

Moment of the match:  Even though there were six tries scored in all, we've opted for Savea's bone-crunching hit on Kearney that proved New Zealand's hat-trick hero is no slouch on defence either.

Villain of the match:  No cards, but the Irish got out of jail a few times when holding back All Black players on the attack.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Savea 3, Thomson, C Smith
Cons:  Carter 4
Pens:  Carter 3

For Ireland:
Try:  McFadden
Pen:  Sexton

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Victor Vito, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Keith Earls, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Touhy, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Darren Cave.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

Laidlaw kick floors Wallabies

Scotland retained the Hopetoun Cup on Tuesday after recording a last-minute 9-6 triumph over Australia in terrible weather at Hunter Stadium.

An 80th minute Greig Laidlaw penalty sparked mass celebrations from the touring side, who made it back-to-back wins over the Wallabies.

But it wasn't pretty in Newcastle, a host venue that became the tenth Australian city to host a rugby international.  This was shocking weather for it.

Scotland entered the game in the knowledge they had claimed the spoils the last time these two met.  And because of the inclement weather it seemed a similar scoreline to either side was likely in their June opener, with Australia readying themselves ahead of this weekend's three-Test opener with Wales while Scotland were set to go on to Fiji on June 16 and Samoa on June 23.

The rain wasn't the only hampering issue in Newcastle as a strong wind — favouring the visitors in the first-half — meant territory was going to be in one country's corner either side of the break.  Subsequently the Scots were in the ascendancy for most of the first 25 minutes.

A couple of Laidlaw penalties from his three attempts in the first 40 saw Andy Robinson's side take a 0-6 lead after half-an-hour, with the Wallabies struggling to get out of their half.  But when they did enjoy a rare piece of possession and looked to kick out through the sheets of rain, the wind then promptly pulled them backwards.  It was tough work.

But they did get on the board from a rare foray into opposition territory when New Zealand-born debutant Mike Harris sent over his first Test points seven minutes before the break.

That was how the score remained going into the break as Scotland took a slim advantage into the sanctuary of a dry changing room.  They knew Australia would come hard though in the second-half as it would be now be the hosts enjoying the gale force wind at their backs.

And so it was as the Wallabies returned in much better form and promptly set up camp in the opposition half, picking and going on numerous occasions as Scotland did well to hold them out.  They did get some reward for their efforts however when Harris levelled swiftly.

When replacement lock Rob Simmons was ruled not to have grounded the ball after several drives to the line from Australia, it seemed the Scots had weathered the storm.  Indeed they had as, with only the dying embers of the game left, they set about having one last assault.

It paid off too as referee Jaco Peyper blew for an offence at the breakdown and Laidlaw stepped up to seal a workmanlike and much-needed win after what was a poor Six Nations.

Man-of-the-match:  It was going to be Scotland openside Ross Rennie for 24 tackles made and zero being missed, but that was before the 80th minute.  Well done Greig Laidlaw.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Pen:  Harris 2

For Scotland:
Pen:  Laidlaw 3

Australia:  15 Luke Morahan, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Anthony Fainga'a, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Nick Phipps, 21 Pat McCabe, 22 Adam Ashley Cooper.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Joe Ansbro, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 John Barclay, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (c), 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Tom Brown.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Keith Brown (New Zealand)