France survive Samoan scare

France completed a clean sweep of their November Tests at the Stade de France on Saturday with a 22-14 win over Samoa.

Unlike their convincing successes over Australia and Argentina this month, victory didn't come easily for the French, who were trailing the Islanders going into the final quarter.

The result means France will end the month as Europe's highest-ranked side and will be one of the four top seeds at the 2015 World Cup Draw on December 3.

France led 10-7 at half time thanks to a charge-down try from Fred Michalak, whose score cancelled out David Lemi's opening try for Samoa.

Samoa moved in front early in the second period however when Joe Tekori scored as France struggled to contain the visitors' power game.

But Four Michalak penalties in the final 25 minutes were enough to see les Bleus home to a hard-fought win.

Samoa were first strike approaching the end of the first quarter.  From turnover ball, prop Census Johnston chipped ahead (!) for wing Robert Lilomaiava to collect.  Lemi was up in support to score the game's first try in spectacular fashion.

The French reply wasn't long in coming however as Michalak charged down his opposite number, Tusi Pisi, to bolt clear and score under the posts.

The home fly-half's conversion levelled the scores but France were having a hard time matching their visitors both in terms of physicality and accuracy on attack.

Scrum-half Morgan Parra was however able to give the French a half-time lead thanks to a 45 metre penalty shortly before the break.

Samoa started the second half breathing fire and a break from scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'i had them camped on the French 22.  Tekori took his chance on the fringe of a ruck, stretching out an arm to place the ball on the whitewash.  It was a close call, but the TMO confirmed the try.

Pisi's conversion gave Samoa a 14-10 lead but Michalak soon pulled three back when the visitors infringed on the deck.

France turned to their scrum to earn the next penalty and a narrow lead and the hosts were lucky to see Pisi miss a second shot a goal.

Unable to unlock the Samoan defence with their backs, the French forwards put in the hard yards, earning another long range penalty for Michalak to secure victory in the dying minutes.

Man of the match:  We usually pick someone from the winning side but a few Samoans really impressed.  Kahn Fotuali'i was excellent and Census Johnston was awesome in both the scrums and the tight-loose.  But we'll go for Taiasina Tuifua who made huge yards with ball in hand.

Moment of the match:  Samoa's first try was a wake up call for France.  Census Johnston's chip ahead to create the try will was straight out of front-row fantasy land!

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Michalak
Con:  Michalak
Pens:  Parra, Michalak 4

For Samoa:
Tries:  Lemi, Tekori
Cons:  Pisi 2

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Yannick Forestier, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Jocelino Suta, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget.

Samoa:  15 David Lemi (c), 14 Paul Perez, 13 George Pisi, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Robert Lilomaiava, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Filo Paulo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ole Avei, 17 Villiamu Afatia, 18 James Johnston, 19 Faatiga Lemalu, 20 Tivaini Fomai, 21 Jeremy Su'a, 22 Ki Anufe, 23 Reupena Levasa.

Venue:  Stade de France, Paris
Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)

All Blacks compound Wales' woes

Wales slumped to a sixth consecutive defeat after going down 33-10 to New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

Predictions the All Blacks' attack would incinerate Wales' defence came to fruition in the first half especially.  However even though the scoreline may read otherwise, it was a much better effort from the Welsh - the second half especially.

Be that as it may, coach Warren Gatland must have been shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he contemplated another difficult week following the home side's previous November defeats.

The hosts never threatened to end a 59-year drought at the hands of their southern hemisphere rivals, and their hopes were all but dashed by half-time when the clinical All Blacks put the result beyond doubt thanks to a 23-0 lead.

It proved too big a mountain for Wales to climb in the second half, though - bouyed by their parochial crowd in full voice - showed plenty of character and determination to fight back and outscore the world champions two tries to nill.  There were no fist-pumps, high fives or backslaps from New Zealand after the final whistle as they knew that were some way from their best after being held 10-10 after the break.

The game couldn't have started any worse for Wales after losing two players two minutes into the contest.  First, Bradley Davies was taken out from behind by All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore and the lock was forced off looking extremely light-headed.

Then tighthead prop Aaron Jarvis followed suit after injuring his knee.

To make matters even worse, All Blacks pivot Aaron Cruden was in fine touch with the boot and racked up a 9-0 lead for his team in the opening quarter before Israel Dagg broke from inside his 22 to link up with Julian Savea who raced into Wales' dangerzone.  And just moments later, Conrad Smith was putting flank Liam Messam over for the opening try.

Wales came close to scoring after a trademark Jonathan Davies break brought the crowd on their feet, only for prop Paul James to return them to their seats after knocking the ball on.  The Welsh didn't do themselves any favours later on as on two occasions Rhys Priestland missed the corner with penalties.

There was to be more pain for the Welsh to endure when Tony Woodcock went over for New Zealand's second try off the back of the same line-out move that saw the prop score in the World Cup final.

The deficit became 26 points just after the break as Cruden added another penalty, before a superb passing movement and a fine finish in the corner from Luke Romano gave New Zealand their third try.  Cruden's conversion was his seventh successful kick from seven.

Wales finally got on the scoresheet just before the hour when full-back Leigh Halfpenny did find the corner with a penalty, Wales committed almost their entire team to the line-out drive and inside centre Scott Williams went over.

Wales had more of the game in the final quarter, particularly after Cory Jane was sin-binned for a deliberate knock on, and did cross again through Alex Cuthbert in the closing moments - but long before then the result was no longer in doubt.

Man of the match:  Aaron Cruden and Conrad Smith were the pick of the New Zealand backs, but it was difficult to overlook loose forward Richie McCaw - who was his usual industrious self - as our man of the match.  He was immense, smashing bodies in defence and proving to be the Kiwis everywhere man.

Moment of the match:  Wales' first try only served to spark the hosts into action, and from there on in the Welsh raised their game.

Villain of the match:  Andrew Hore's cheap shot from behind will surely interest citing commissioner Mike Rafter.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  S Williams, Cuthbert

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Messam, Woodcock, Romano
Cons:  Cruden 3
Pens:  Cruden 4
Yellow card:  Jane (59th minute)

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ben Smith.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Tonga shock Scotland

Tonga caused a massive upset in Aberdeen on Saturday, outscoring Scotland two tries to none to win 21-15 at Pittodrie.

Scotland led 6-3 at half-time but second-period tries from Tukulua Lokotui and Fetu Vainikolo saw the Pacific Islanders earn their first ever Test triumph on the European stage

Another miserable loss for Scotland means they are winless in November, leaving coach Andy Robinson's job hanging in the balance.  They also finish the month outside the top eight seeds for the 2015 World Cup draw.

Greig Laidlaw kicked five penalties for Scotland, but the hosts were uninspired and ineffective on attack on the narrow pitch and were ultimately overpowered in an attritional affair.

Despite seeing three player sent to the sin bin, Tonga ran out deserved winners, claiming another big scalp after beating France at last year's World Cup.

The Tongans came out with all guns blazing and their rousing early endeavours forced the Scots into giving away a penalty as Al Strokosch illegally entered a ruck.

There was a reprieve for the hosts, however, when fly-half Fangatapu 'Apikotoa sent his 40-metre strike narrowly wide.

But they kept up the pressure and 'Apikotoa was handed an immediate chance to make amends from closer range.

And this time his aim was true to give his side the lead.

Scotland hit back positively and quickly with a promising raid, but there was more frustration as Laidlaw's angled penalty rebounded from the upright, allowing Tonga to clear the danger.

They maintained the momentum and a fine Laidlaw cross kick spread panic among the Tongan back ranks.

And the fly-half followed in the footsteps of his opposite number by banging over his second pot at goal in the 11th minute.

Tonga were posing plenty of problems when they were on the front foot, but Scotland looked sharp with the ball in the hands of the backs.

Their confidence was underlined as they opted to go for try points rather than another penalty.

Hooker Scott Lawson was driven over the line in the wake of a well-executed rolling maul, but the video referee ruled he had failed to ground the ball.

Only desperate defence kept out the Scots as they laid siege to the line during a series of scrums and further penalties.

Eight minutes of constant pressure yielded nothing for the home men and a tame turnover allowed the visitors to escape from their danger zone.

It was then Scotland's turn to show off their defensive strengths as Tonga mounted a spate of raids.

But soon the Scots were back on the offensive thanks to a lightning break through the middle by Laidlaw.

He was involved again in the next phase, but yet again Tonga backtracked to mop up.

Scotland were given further incentive seven minutes before half time when lock Lokotui was sinbinned for dangerous tactics in the line out.

Prop Halani 'Aulika was perhaps fortunate to dodge the same punishment for a no-arms body check on Matt Scott.

Having failed to breach the visiting markers, Scotland resorted to the boot — Laidlaw's penalty giving them the edge.

The action continued to be disjointed and untidy after the restart.

But the crowd volume rose when Sean Lamont bashed his way down the middle to create a clear-cut chance.

They couldn't turn the good work into a touchdown, but collected another three points from Laidlaw's accuracy.

And there was more breathing space for Scotland when 'Apikotoa was short with his next attempt at the sticks.

The contest burst into life in the 51st minute as Tonga snatched a surprise lead.  Lokotui more than made up for his yellow card by burrowing over for a try from point-blank range, giving 'Apikotoa a simple conversion.

Laidlaw instantly eased the Scots' anxiety by adding penalty number four — and repeated the dose midway through the half.

But still Tonga looked more clinical in attack and 'Apikotoa narrowed the gap with his next strike.

Even better was to come for the tourists as winger Vainikolo left his cover for dead with two dazzling dummies and galloped in for a superb solo try from his own half.

The tension level soared when debut substitute Tom Heathcote watched in agony as his first shot at goal dipped under the crossbar.

And Scotland's task became a lost cause as 'Apikotoa found the target again.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 5

For Tonga:
Tries:  Lokotui, Vainikolo
Con:  'Apikotoa
Pens:  'Apikotoa 3
Yellow cards:  Lokotui;  Latu;  Mafi

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Max Evans, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 David Denton, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Barclay, 21 Rory Lawson, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Nick De Luca.

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Sione Piukala, 11 Will Helu, 10 Fangatapu 'Apikotoa, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Hale T Pole, 5 Tukulua Lokotui, 4 Joe Tu'ineau, 3 Halani 'Aulika, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Alisona Taumalolo.
Replacements:  16 Ilaisa Ma'asi, 17 Tevita Mailau, 18 Kamaliele Sakalia, 19 Sitiveni Mafi, 20 Sione Timani, 21 Viliame 'longi, 22 Eddie Paea, 23 Alipate Fatafehi.

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland) and Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Gareth Simmonds (Wales)

Wallabies edge out Azzurri

Australia put in a below par performance before claiming an unconvincing 22-19 victory over Italy in Florence on Saturday.

A superb second half fightback almost saw the home side pulling off a draw but a penalty from their fly-half Luciano Orquera, in the 79th minute, sailed just wide of the posts.

Italy came agonisingly close to taking the lead in the 67th minute when Orquera put through a perfectly-timed chip kick which bounced just in front of the Wallabies' try-line.

Captain Sergio Parisse was the player who gave chase but a wicked bounce denied him of what would have been a certain try.

It was a game of two halves for the Wallabies who dominated during the first 40 and held a deserved 22-6 lead at the break.

Their highlight of the game came in the 18th minute when Michael Hooper recovered a loose ball whichl went out to the backs and Kurtley Beale offloaded to Nick Cummins who got in for his second Test try in as many weeks.

Earlier Orquera and Berrick Barnes traded penalties but after Cummins' try, which Barnes converted, Australia added nine further points through a brace of penalties from Beale and another three-pointer from Barnes.

Orquera landed another place-kick on the half hour mark and when the players headed into the sheds, at the interval, Australia were well-set for a huge victory.

The Azzurri had other plans, however, and struck back with a try by Robert Barbieri shortly after the restart.

This came thanks to a dropped pass from Australia which resulted In Italy hoofing the ball downfield before Barbieri dived onto it behind the try-line.

After Australia's early dominance, the roles were completely reversed in the second half with Italy dominating in most facets.

They put the visitors under huge pressure in the set-pieces and were camped inside the Wallabies' 22 for long periods.  To their credit the Wallabies' defence held firm and they kept several Italian surges towards their try-line at bay with courageous first-time tackles.

After converting his side's five-pointer, Orquera added two more penalties and although he had a chance to get the well deserved draw for the hosts it wasn't to be and the visitors held on to their narrow lead until the end.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Barbieri
Con:  Orquera
Pens:  Orquera 4
Yellow card:  Barbieri

For Australia:
Try:  Cummins
Con:  Barnes
Pens:  Barnes 3, Beale 2
Yellow card:  Ioane

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Manoa Vosawai, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 Luke McLean.

Australia:  15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 James Hanson, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Digby Ioane

Referee:  Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)

Maori ABs see off Canada

The Maori All Blacks overcame a sin-binned player in each half to power past Canada 32-19 in Friday's fixture at Oxford University Rugby Club.

In a lacklustre but testy match, the Maori scored two tries to one plus 22 points from Willie Ripia.

The match closed the British tours of both teams.  The Maori began with a loss, their first in five years, to English club Leicester then beat an English Championship XV.  Canada rebounded from a 42-12 loss to Samoa by dismantling Russia 35-3.  But the Canadians couldn't stop their fourth straight loss to the Maori.

The Maori practically began the match with 14, with lock Romana Graham yellow-carded for a high tackle.  They still led 9-0 within 15 minutes from Ripia penalties.  The referee had to be replaced after hurting his leg, and by half-time Andre Taylor dotted down and the Maori led 19-9.

Another high tackle cost midfielder Tim Bateman time in the sin-bin and again Canada failed to capitalise.  Ripia extended the Maori lead to 25-9 before Canada finally crossed through replacement prop Ray Barkwill to close within six.  But in the last minute the Maori gave centre Charlie Ngatai an overlap for a converted try.

The scorers:

For Maori All Blacks:
Tries:  Taylor, Ngatai
Con:  Ripia 2
Pen:  Ripia 6

For Canada:
Try:  Barkwill
Con:  Braid
Pen:  Pritchard 4

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Phil Mackenzie, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Jason Marshall, 17 Ray Barkwill, 18 Doug Wooldridge, 19 Brett Beukeboom, 20 John Moonlight, 21 Eric Wilson, 22 Nathan Hirayama, 23 Sean Duke.

Maori ABs:  15 Trent Renata, 14 Kurt Baker, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Andre Taylor, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Frae Wilson, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 Tanerau Latimer (captain), 6 Shane Christie, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Jason Eaton, 3 Ben May, 2 Quentin Macdonald, 1 Bronson Murray.
Replacements:  16 Hika Elliot, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18 Ben Afeaki, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Nick Crosswell, 21 Jamieson Gibson-Park, 22 Jackson Willison, 23 Declan O'Donnell.

Referee:  Martin Fox (England)
Assistant referees:  Ross Campbell (England), Roger Baileff (England)

Maori ABs see off Canada

The Maori All Blacks overcame a sin-binned player in each half to power past Canada 32-19 in Friday's fixture at Oxford University Rugby Club.

In a lacklustre but testy match, the Maori scored two tries to one plus 22 points from Willie Ripia.

The match closed the British tours of both teams.  The Maori began with a loss, their first in five years, to English club Leicester then beat an English Championship XV.  Canada rebounded from a 42-12 loss to Samoa by dismantling Russia 35-3.  But the Canadians couldn't stop their fourth straight loss to the Maori.

The Maori practically began the match with 14, with lock Romana Graham yellow-carded for a high tackle.  They still led 9-0 within 15 minutes from Ripia penalties.  The referee had to be replaced after hurting his leg, and by half-time Andre Taylor dotted down and the Maori led 19-9.

Another high tackle cost midfielder Tim Bateman time in the sin-bin and again Canada failed to capitalise.  Ripia extended the Maori lead to 25-9 before Canada finally crossed through replacement prop Ray Barkwill to close within six.  But in the last minute the Maori gave centre Charlie Ngatai an overlap for a converted try.

The scorers:

For Maori All Blacks:
Tries:  Taylor, Ngatai
Con:  Ripia 2
Pen:  Ripia 6

For Canada:
Try:  Barkwill
Con:  Braid
Pen:  Pritchard 4

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Phil Mackenzie, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Jason Marshall, 17 Ray Barkwill, 18 Doug Wooldridge, 19 Brett Beukeboom, 20 John Moonlight, 21 Eric Wilson, 22 Nathan Hirayama, 23 Sean Duke.

Maori ABs:  15 Trent Renata, 14 Kurt Baker, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Andre Taylor, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Frae Wilson, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 Tanerau Latimer (captain), 6 Shane Christie, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Jason Eaton, 3 Ben May, 2 Quentin Macdonald, 1 Bronson Murray.
Replacements:  16 Hika Elliot, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18 Ben Afeaki, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Nick Crosswell, 21 Jamieson Gibson-Park, 22 Jackson Willison, 23 Declan O'Donnell.

Referee:  Martin Fox (England)
Assistant referees:  Ross Campbell (England), Roger Baileff (England)

Tonga triumph over USA

Tonga recovered from defeat against Italy last weekend to defeat USA 22-13 at Parc Eirias in Wales.

Winger Fetu'u Vainakolo grabbed the opening score for the Islanders with a try after ten minutes, before the USA's Luke Hume looked to have levelled the scores only for this try to be ruled out for a forward pass.

USA fly-half Zachary Pangelinan then added a penalty after half an hour to put the Eagles on the board, before scrum-half Robbie Shaw put them ahead with a try right on the stroke of half-time to leave the score at 5-10.

Tonga were down to 14 men at the start of the second half after fly-half Fangutapu 'Apikotoa was penalised for a deliberate knock on, Pangelinan stretching the lead to 5-13.

Full-back Vungakoto Lilo responded with a penalty for Tonga to close the gap before a try from Joe Tu'ineau sent the Islanders ahead with only 15 minutes remaining.

Perpignan centre Sione Piukala then added another try for Tonga to put the match out of sight.

The scorers:

For Tonga:
Tries:  Vainakolo, Lilo, Piukala
Cons:  Lilo 2
Pens:  Lilo

For USA:
Try:  Shaw
Con:  Pangelinan
Pens:  Pangelinan 2

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Fetu'u Vainakolo , 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Sione Piukala, 11 Viliami Helu, 10 Fangatapu Apikotoa, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Nili Latu (capt), 6 Steve Mafi, 5 Lua Lokotui, 4 Joseph Tuineau, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Alisona Taumalolo.
Replacements:  16 Ilaisia Ma'asi, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Tevita Mailau, 19 Hale T Pole, 20 Joshua Afu, 21 Viliame Iongi, 22 Edmond Paea, 23 Alipate Fatafehi.

USA:  15 Zachary Pangelinan, 14 Cornelius Dirksen, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Robbie Shaw, 8 Todd Clever (capt), 7 John Quill, 6 Scott LaValla, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Brian Doyle, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Derek Asbun, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Zachary Fenoglio, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Peter Dahl, 21 Mike Petri, 22 Rolan Suniula, 23 Gearoid McDonald.

Springboks survive Scottish fightback

Two tries from Adriaan Strauss helped South Africa to a 21-10 victory over a brave but inefficient Scottish side at Murrayfield on Saturday.

A dominant first-half performance saw the visitors take a 14-3 lead into the interval thanks to Strauss's first try — off a rolling maul that Scotland failed to deal with — and three penalties from Pat Lambie.

The Bok vice-captain extended the visitors' lead early in the second period with an intercept try from long range but Scotland ruled the last 30 minutes.

A try from replacement scrum-half Henry Pyrgos got the hosts back into contention and only long periods of committed defence from the Springboks kept the free-running hosts at bay.

For 45 minutes the Scots were simply unable to match the Springboks' power in the contact areas and Francois Louw made life miserable for the men in blue with his pilfering work at the breakdown.

But in a dramatic change of roles, the hosts upped their game significantly as the game progressed and Heyneke Meyer would have been a worried man as he watched his side struggle to get out of their own half in the last quarter.

Indeed, Andy Robinson would have been mighty frustrated at the full-time whistle after seeing his team waste a handful of opportunities with some terrible decision making.

Lambie and his opposite number Greig Laidlaw exchanged early penalties before the Boks rumbled over the whitewash for the first try of the game at the end of the first quarter.

Scotland had hoped to negate the threat of the Springbok maul by not allowing it to form but failed dismally in executing their plan and were left red-faced as they scrambled to stop the green machine from advancing forward for what turned out to be an easy first Test try for Strauss.

The Bok defence looked impenetrable and Lambie could add his third penalty to give the visitors an 11-point lead at the break.

The game looked done and dusted when Strauss intercepted Mike Blair to race 40 metres and score under the sticks but the Scottish reply was impressive although not always effective.

Blair was replaced by Pyrgos, who had a massive impact on the home side's attack.

Scotland opted to kick for touch from a penalty and Pyrgos ran in untouched as he collected Kelly Brown's pass and went straight through a hole in the line-out.

Scotland had the Boks under cosh for most of the remainder of the game, but were unable to break down the well-organised South African defence, even when Flip van der Merwe saw yellow in the dying stages.

Man of the match:  Francois Louw was fantastic once again and Henry Pyrgos deserves a mention but you can't overlook the man who scored two tries, Adriaan Strauss.

Moment of the match:  Scotland were always going to struggle to get back into the game once they had conceded the first try.  The Bok rolling maul strikes again!

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Pyrgos
Con:  Laidlaw
Pen:  Laidlaw

For South Africa:
Tries:  Strauss 2
Cons:  Lambie
Pens:  Lambie 3
Yellow card:  Van der Merwe

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown (c), 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 Stuart McInally , 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Peter Murchie.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.

Venue:  Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Another big win for France

France followed up last weekend's drubbing of Australia with another convincing display as they beat Argentina 39-22 in Lille on Saturday.

With England, Wales, Scotland and Italy losing to southern opposition this weekend — Ireland were playing in a non-cap international — the French confirmed their status as the top European team in the world rankings.

France led 24-13 at the end of an action-packed first-half that saw the momentum and the lead swing back and forth.

Argentina were 13-3 head after 15 minutes but two Vincent Clerc tries in the space of two minutes handed the initiative back to the hosts, who went into the interval with their tails up after Yannick Nyanga added a third try just before the break.

The second period proved much tighter with Fred Michalak's boot securing the win.

France showed their intentions to get the ball wide at pace early on and Michalak could have opened the scoring from the kicking tee when the Pumas were caught offside.

But the visitors were first to cross the whitewash after a brilliant break in midfield that saw Nicolas Sanchez and Gonzalo Tiesi switch the angle of attack twice before putting Marcelo Bosch away to score under the posts.

Sanchez added two more penalties to stretch the lead to ten points and the Pumas were looking dangerous as they regularly broke up the centre of the field, just like they did against Wales a week ago.

Les Bleus would have the better of the second quarter though with Louis Picamoles once again at the heart of their forward momentum.  The big number eight and Pascal Papé combined to send Maxime Machenaud down the touchline, the scrum-half threw a wild pass inside but Clerc could pick it up to score.

Moments later Florian Fritz's neat chip ahead sat up perfectly for the racing Clerc and the wing could sprint home.

Off the back of a French maul, Nyanga handed off two defenders before using his pace to bolt home for a brilliant solo try and give the hosts an 11-point lead at half time.

The second half was more of a dog fight as Sanchez and Michalak traded penalties and drop-goals to leave the status quo with 15 minutes left.

The French fly-half broke the pattern in the dying minutes however as the Pumas ran out of steam, adding two more penalties to secure the win.

Man of the match:  Plenty of candidates with the French back-row looking particularly good.  We'll go for Yannick Nyanga whose blistering pace earned him a try, but he put in plenty of hard graft too.

Moment of the match:  France never looked back after Clerc's second try.

Villain of the match:  A few handbags emerged, but nothing too rough.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Clerc 2, Nyanga
Cons:  Michalak 3
Pens:  Michalak 5
Drop:  Michalak

For Argentina:
Try:  Bosch
Con:  Sanchez
Pens:  Sanchez 4
Drop:  Sanchez

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz , 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Jocelino Suta, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget.

Argentina:  15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Marcelo Bosch, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Julio Farias Cabello, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Tomas De la Vega, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Gonzalo Camacho, 23 Joaquin Tuculet.

Venue:  Stade Lille Metropole
Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

Canada tame Russian Bears

Canada bounced back from last week's heavy defeat to Samoa to claim a convincing 35-3 victory over Russia in Wales on Saturday.

The result is Canada's third consecutive win over the Bears.

Canada led 16-3 at half time and 35-3 on the hour mark before some solid defending held the desperate Russians at bay in the final quarter.

Man of the Match Jeff Hassler, showed off blistering speed in scoring two of Canada's four tries — including one from 80 metres out — and setting up a third.

Hassler, who made his debut in June, claimed his maiden Test try in the 18th minute, counterattacking from his own 22.  James Pritchard, who kicked six from seven attempts on the night, converted for 13-3.

Soon after halftime, Hassler took an up-and-under over his shoulder running back in defence, turned, and broke past five defenders before before offloading to fellow wing Taylor Paris, who finished.

Three minutes later, insider centre Nick Blevins scored from his own chargedown.

The final score of the night came as Hassler scored his second on 59.  A run from halfway to beat three men, saw him go over in the corner, and put the finishing touch to a night of magic for the Canadians.

The Canadians were satisfied after being thumped by Samoa 42-12 at the same Parc Eirias last week.

"We felt we had to bring a little more physicality," said captain Aaron Carpenter.

"We ran some hard lines and broke them and scored some nice tries."

Head coach Kieran Crowley was also pleased to bounce back from the disappointment of last week:

"The defensive side of our game in the final period was outstanding," he said.

"We're very pleased with the win, and we scored some good tries, and to keep the other team tryless was a good performance" he said.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Hassler 2, Paris, Blevins
Cons:  Pritchard 3
Pens:  Pritchard 3

For Russia:
Pen:  Klyuchnikov

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Harry Jones, 9 Eric Wilson, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tyler Ardon, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Andrew Tiedemann.
Replacements:  16 Hubert Buydens, 17 Ray Barkwill, 18 Doug Wooldridge, 19 Jon Phelan, 20 John Moonlight, 21 Nanyak Dala, 22 Phil Mack.

Russia:  15 Igor Klyuchnikov, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 13 Vasily Artemyev, 12 Dmitry Gerasimov, 11 Vladimir Ostroushko, 10 Sergey Sugrobov, 9 Alexey Shcherban, 8 Victor Gresev, 7 Pavel Butenko, 6 Andrey Temnov, 5 Kirill Kulemin, 4 Alexander Voytov (capt), 3 Evgeny Pronenko, 2 Valery Tsnobiladze, 1 Grigory Tsnobiladze.
Replacements:  16 Vladislav Korshunov, 17 Alexey Volkov, 18 Innokentiy Zykov, 19 Andrey Garbuzov, 20 Ramil Gaysin, 21 Gleb Babkin, 22 Yuri Vengerov, 23 Sergey Trishin.

Venue:  Parc Eirias, Colwyn Bay, Wales
Referee:  Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Tim Hayes (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)

Gilroy stars for rampant Ireland XV

Ulster wing Craig Gilroy scored three tries as an Ireland XV romped to a 53-0 win over Fiji in Limerick on Saturday.

Gilroy was the star of the show while Fergus McFadden grabbed two tries and Sean Cronin, Darren Cave and Luke Marshall added the gloss.

Fiji were looking to bounce back from losing to England but could not cope with their hosts, who nilled the islanders in a strong performance.

But it will be Gilroy's showing that may cause Ireland coach Declan Kidney to have a rethink about his selection for next week's clash with Argentina as the Ulster finisher was superb.

Fiji will face Georgia next week in Tbilisi.

The scorers:

For Ireland XV:
Tries:  Gilroy 3, McFadden 2, Cronin, Cave, L Marshall
Con:  Jackson 5
Pen:  Jackson

Ireland XV:  15 Denis Hurley, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (capt), 7 John Muldoon, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 David Kilcoyne.
Replacements:  16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Jonathan Sexton, 23 Simon Zebo.

Fiji:  15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Simeli Koniferedi, 13 Vereniki Govena, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Jonetani Ralulu, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 Malakai Ravulo, 6 Iliesa Ratuva, 5 Api Naikatini, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Jerry Yanuyanutawa.
Replacements:  16 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 17 Manasa Saulo, 18 Setefano Somoca, 19 Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 20 Jovili Domolailai, 21 Kelemedi Bola, 22 Saula Radidi, 23 Timoci Matanavou.

Referee:  Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Neil Hennessy (Wales), Sean Brickell (Wales)
Television match official:  Gareth Simmonds (Wales)

Australia bounce back at Twickenham

A powerful performance from Australia led to a 20-14 victory over England at Twickenham, with Berrick Barnes kicking 15 points.

In front of a packed crowd at Twickenham, England opened the scoring with a penalty from Toby Flood with two minutes gone, but it was Australia who held the edge early on in terms of territory and possession.

The Wallabies were on top in the opening scrums and it proved to be the foundation for Australia's first score of the afternoon as Michael Hooper burst through on the left hand side, Berrick Barnes eventually sending through a drop-goal from straight in front.

Australia continued to play with width, Nick Cummins giving the English defence cause for concern as he continued to find space down the right wing.

Flood put England back in front with a long-range penalty but Australia responded by putting the home side under pressure deep on their own try line, the TMO ruling out a score after looking at numerous replays.

A penalty at the resulting scrum however led to Barnes levelling the scores from straight in front, but Flood responded to take the score to 9-6.

Cummins then grabbed the first try of the afternoon after a poor box kick from Danny Care led to a break from Australian scrum-half Pat Phipps, who slipped through a gap in England's defence and fed an unmarked Cummins for the score.

It was England however who had grabbed the final points of the first half, a tapped penalty by Care putting Australia on the back foot before the ball went wide to Manu Tuilagi.

The Leicester centre dived and allegedly did enough to ground the ball on the line, putting England back in front and leaving the score at 14-11 at half-time.

Barnes drew both teams level at the start of the second half and then put the Wallabies in front after a perfectly weighted chip behind the defence from Beale was gathered by Hooper, leading to another penalty kick to give Australia a 14-17 lead.

The Wallabies regained possession from the restart and a break from Tapuai almost released Cummins on the outside again only for Sharples to intervene.  Australia's dominance at the breakdown resulted in England being penalised, with Barnes stretching the visitors lead to six points.

An English response was needed and it came with a powerful surge towards the Australian try-line, the hosts launching a series of driving mauls towards the Wallaby line, Thomas Waldrom going close but knocking on as he dived for the score.

The home crowd did their best to lift England's performance but the error count continued to rise as Australia controlled the breakdown and the scrum, winning yet another penalty which Barnes failed to convert from long-range.

A tapped penalty from replacement Ben Youngs brought the crowd to their feet as England persisted to go for the try rather than taking the points on offer, but Australia again turned over possession, stifling England's momentum.

It was a similar story for the rest of the second half as Australia dominated the breakdown, repelling a series of attacks from the home side deep into their own 22 but emerging on top on every occasion, to clinch an important victory for coach Robbie Deans.

Man of the match:  Who needs David Pocock?  Openside Michael Hooper had a fine afternoon.

Moment of the match:  After sustained pressure, Thomas Waldrom just couldn't get the ball down.

Villain of the match:  Not a memorable afternoon for Joe Marler at the scrum, the Harlequin struggling against Ben Alexander.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Tuilagi
Pens:  Flood 3

For Australia:
Try:  Cummins
Pens:  Barnes 4
Drop Goal:  Barnes

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Mike Brown.

Australia:  15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Digby Ioane, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Drew Mitchell.

All Blacks rule in Rome

New Zealand extended their unbeaten run to 19 games with a 42-10 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The world champions led from start to finish to maintain their perfect record against Italy, who put up a solid challenge in the first half but ultimately couldn't match the visitors' attacking firepower.

New Zealand led 13-7 at half time.

An early score from skipper Kieran Read and two penalties from Aaron Cruden gave the All Blacks their 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But the Azzurri were still in contention at the interval thanks to a try from centre Alberto Sgarbi.

Ma'a Nonu touched down early in the second period however to give the tourists a healthy lead before Cory Jane put the result beyond doubt.

Julian Savea added two late tries in the space of two minutes as the All Blacks finished strongly.

The visitors scored 29 points to Italy's three after the break but they had to wait 13 minutes for their first points in Rome, which came courtesy of Chiefs playmaker Cruden's close-range penalty goal.

Outside centre Conrad Smith then scooped up a loose ball and sent number eight Read over before fly-half Cruden converted and soon added his second penalty of the match.

Sgarbi crossed in reply with Orquera converting as Italy went into the break only six down.

But the world champion All Blacks turned it on after the break with tries from centre Nonu and wing duo Jane and Savea saw them claim a comfortable victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Sgarbi
Con:  Orquera
Drop:  Orquera

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Read, Nonu, Jane, Savea 2
Cons:  Cruden 4
Pens:  Cruden 3

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Robert Barbieri, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 Luke McLean.

New Zealand:  15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Dan Carter, 23 Cory Jane.

Venue:  Stadio Olimpico
Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Samoa stun Wales in Cardiff

Samoa condemned Wales to their fifth straight defeat of the year after taking the spoils 26-19 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Friday.

Samoa sent Six Nations holders Wales crashing to their fifth consecutive loss after the visitors secured a 26-19 win at the Millennium Stadium on Friday.

It was the hosts' fourth negative to the islanders and followed Rob Howley's charges' defeat to Argentina at the same venue only one week ago.

Suddenly a November whitewash seems likely, with Wales now preparing to face New Zealand and Australia in their final Test series fixtures.

The visitors came out of the blocks firing as they looked to kick on from their impressive win over Canada in Colwyn Bay a week ago.  And they managed to cross the whitewash within two minutes against the sterner opposition when number eight Taiasina Tuifua broke through a somewhat non-existent defence before recycled ball was moved wide to Paul Williams and then George Pisi, with the Northampton Saints centre sending over Faatoina Autagavaia on the right.

The impressive Tusi Pisi's conversion made it 0-7 with the match still very much in its infancy.  For Welsh supporters, it was a moment of realisation, realisation that their Grand Slam champions were in for a big test of their credentials.

Leigh Halfpenny, who was on-form with the boot in Cardiff, pulled the hosts back to 3-7 with 16 minutes played after a ruck infringement and then cut matters down to a point on the half-hour.  By this point Wales had been forced to make a change, as Richard Hibbard was hurt.

Despite their six points, Wales were not having things their own way but were the recipients of a gift from Pisi, with the fly-half throwing a suicide pass that Ashley Beck gobbled up and then set off for a 70 metre sprint to the whitewash.  Halfpenny made it 13-7 with the extras.

The assured Pisi did reduce the arrears off the kicking tee with the last play of the first-half, which made the contest beautifully balanced at 13-10 with 40 minutes remaining in Cardiff.

After the turnaround the match continued to excite and when Kahn Fotuali'i scooted down the blindside at a ruck close to halfway to set up centre Pisi for a superb finish in the corner, the Samoans were ahead again.  Fly-half Tusi could not add the extras however, and one wondered whether that missed conversion on 47 minutes would come back to hurt them.

An exchange of penalties from Halfpenny and Pisi then troubled the scorers as the lead changed hands five times during the second-half.  Up 21-19, Samoa repelled a rare attack by Wales soon after, with the hosts struggling to make any real headway with ball in hand.

Instead it was Samoa who had the final say when David Lemi kicked ahead, Halfpenny and Autagavaia both missed the bouncing ball to hand replacement Johnny Leota a try late on.

Man of the match:  A toss-up between the half-backs in blue.  Let's go for Tusi Pisi's effort.

Moment of the match:  The finish from George Pisi was something special.  It had to be him.

Villain of the match:  Maybe of a couple of let's say 'choice' tackles could make it in there but there was nothing major to write home about.  Next up for the Welsh will be New Zealand.

The scorers:

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

For Samoa:
Tries:  Autagavaia, G Pisi, Leota
Con:  T Pisi
Pen:  T Pisi 3

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (capt), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Scott Williams.

Samoa:  15 Faatoina Autagavaia, 14 Paul Perez, 13 George Pisi, 12 Paul Williams, 11 David Lemi (capt), 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Villiamu Afatia, 18 James Johnston, 19 tbc, 20 Tivaini Fomai, 21 Jeremy Su'a, 22 Johnny Leota, 23 Robert Lilomaiava.

Referee:  Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Jérôme Garces (France)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

All Blacks a class apart at Murrayfield

New Zealand got their November Test series off to a great start as they beat Scotland in a 51-22 victory on Sunday.

In spells it was a performance that showed once again why the All Blacks are considered the finest exponents of attacking rugby in the game.  It also backed up the importance of all players - from 1 to 15 - being comfortable in any position as forward duo Luke Romano and Wyatt Crockett proved.

New Zealand's ability to shift the point of attack with consummate ease was a constant issue for the Scots who, despite scoring the most points against the All Blacks since their defeat against Australia back in August 2011, came off second best to an effort that looks ominous to other rivals.

Tries were scored by Israel Dagg, Julian Savea (2), Cory Jane, Andrew Hore and Ben Smith but it was Dan Carter who claimed the man-of-the-match gong after directing the traffic in another showing that further rose his lofty standards.

Scotland will no doubt take some positives out of the fixture though, one being wing Tim Visser's brace that keeps his fine try-scoring rate at an impressive level.  They will need him to carry that on to next week's clash with South Africa.

New Zealand started the game strongly until Scotland inside centre Matt Scott intercepted a Carter pass before handing over to speedster Visser, who was supporting well on his shoulder.  The conversion from Greig Laidlaw made it 3-7 with 12 minutes on the clock.

Carter then made up for his embarrassing error as he slipped through the Scottish net to put full-back Israel Dagg in for a score.  Carter's solid extras made it 10-7 at Murrayfield.

The kickers traded shots at goal soon after before the All Blacks found their rhythm as quick-fire tries from Savea, who went in at one corner and Jane's exceptional team effort - that saw the aforementioned prop Crockett and lock Romano involved - was a delight to watch.

Veteran hooker Hore then powered his way over from close range and almost in the blink of an eye, New Zealand led 34-10, with things looking bleak for the hosts.  They did perk up before the break as after Scott was held up over the line, prop Geoff Cross burrowed over.

A moment that New Zealand flank Adam Thomson may live to regret then saw him shown yellow on 44 minutes for standing on the head of a Scottish player at a ruck and when Visser crossed for his second score, the hosts looked to be finding some confidence.

But the All Blacks showed why they are world champions in the closing stages as Carter set up two more scores, with Savea collecting a cross-field kick and then with five minutes to go the fly-half shrugged off a tackle, stepped and set up Ben Smith for a deserved score.

Man of the match:  The phrase Perfect 10 seems to get thrown around a little too much in rugby, but with Dan Carter it consistently is attached.  He created, broke the line, fended back-row forwards and kicked strongly all game.  To be honest, no one else came close.

Moment of the match:  Cory Jane's try was one to rewind over and over again.  Piri Weepu started it before Wyatt Crockett was calm in possession and then Luke Romano's quick hands created the space outside.  If there was an advert for All Black rugby, it would be on it.

Villain of the match:  It was going to go to the Scottish fans who were booing while Dan Carter was lining up his kicks.  However, Adam Thomson then went and did something he may regret as video footage showed him trampling on the head of a home player at a ruck.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Visser 2, Cross
Con:  Laidlaw 2
Pen:  Laidlaw

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg, Savea 2, Jane, Hore, Smith
Con:  Carter 6
Pen:  Carter 3

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Kyle Traynor, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Max Evans.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Ben Smith, 12 Tamati Ellison, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Ali Williams, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ma'a Nonu.

Referee:  Jerome Garces (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gauzere (France) and Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

Japan sneak past Romania

Hirotoki Onozawa's try four minutes from the end secured Japan a 34-23 victory over Romania on Saturday in the opener of their four-match tour.

Both sides conceded penalty tries in a three-minute span, Romania deliberately collapsing a maul, and Japan collapsing a scrum, to leave Japan leading by one with eight minutes to go.

But then Fumiaki Tanaka set up Onozawa for a converted try, and there was enough time left for Ayumu Goromaru to bang over his fifth penalty in a personal 19-point haul at the match in Bucharest.

Japan struggled to handle Romania's strength in the scrums and breakdowns, but enjoyed the edge in ball and territory.

The visitors led 17-9 at the break, with a late try by Takashi Kikutani, who capped a flowing move.

On the hour, Romania closed to within a point when pressure on a Japan scrum put-in ended with Romania winger Madalin Lemnaru racing from halfway for a converted try.

France hammer Wallabies

France exacted revenge for the humiliation at the hands of the Wallabies two years ago with a dominant 33-6 victory at the Stade de France on Saturday.

The result brings an end to Australia's five-game winning streak against les Bleus and puts France in pole position in the chase for the all-important fourth place in the world rankings ahead of the World Cup pool draw next month.

France led 13-6 at the end of a scrappy first half highlighted by the home side's hard work on defence and their dominance at scrum time.

Indeed, Sekope Kepu was being worked over by Test debutant Yannick Forestier and it was off the back of an attacking scrum that French number eight Louis Picamoles could break to score the only try of the opening 40 minutes.

Fred Michalak set up Wesley Fofana for France's second try midway through the second half before the French scrum earned a penalty try — despite having changed their entire front row — as the Wallabies were held scoreless in the second half.

Michalak and Mike Harris traded early penalties as both sides look to move the ball around but failed to execute with any precision.

There were ominous signs for Australia as referee Nigel Owens awarded a series of penalties against the retreating Wallaby scrum five metres from their own line.  Picamoles made sure the pressure told as he jogged over untouched.

Michalak landed the conversion to cap a solid start for les Bleus but Harris could cut the deficit at 10-6 after the French were caught offside to close the opening quarter.

With half time looming large, Michalak punished Kepu for not rolling away with a penalty and then landed a sucker-punch drop to give the hosts a 10-point lead at the interval.

Michalak was at the origin of France's second try as he stepped past Kurtley Beale to burst clear up the centre of the field before finding Wesley Fofana up in support for an easy finish.

Philippe Saint-André sent on the Clermont front row around the hour mark and it only served to augment to French ascendency at scrum time and the penalty try on 64 minutes came as no surprise.

Rob Simmons was extremely lucky not to get his marching orders for a tip tackle on Yannick Nyanga because none of the three officials could see the number on his back.

Australia came literally within inches of getting a try back but Morgan Parra did sterling work to get under the ball and hold it up.

Parra landed a final penalty to rub salt into the Wallabies' wounds, sending them to Twickenham with plenty to think about.

Man of the match:  Michalak deserves a mention for his 15-point haul and try-creating break but we'll go with Louis Picamoles who was simply phenomenal with ball in hand.  He went forward in every contact situation.

Moment of the match:  The result had probably already been sealed for France by Fofana's try but the penalty try told a story itself and summed up a woeful night for the Wallaby front row.

Villain of the match:  Rob Simmons for his (unpunished) spear tackle and the match officials for failing to take note of his number.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Picamoles, Fofana, Penalty try
Cons:  Michalak 3
Pens:  Michalak 2, Parra
Drop:  Michalak

For Australia:
Pens:  Harris 2

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz , 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jocelino Suta, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget.

Australia:  15 Mike Harris, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Radike Samo, 21 Liam Gill, 22 Brett Sheehan, 23 Berrick Barnes.

Venue:  Stade de France, Paris
Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Boks fight back to down Irish

South Africa clawed their way back from nine points down to beat Ireland 16-12 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

In a tale of two halves, Ireland looked on course for a famous win after leading their visitors 12-3 at half-time.

The pressure was on for South Africa, but when it mattered, they delivered.

The Boks clicked into a higher gear after the break, scoring thirteen unanswered points to deny the Irish and open their end-of-year tour with a hard-fought win.

The result doesn't make pretty reading for Ireland coach Declan Kidney and his troops — since the World Cup, they've played nine games and have won just two of them.  It also condemned Ireland to a fifth successive Test defeat, which is their worst losing run for 14 years as they failed to claim redemption for a painful 60-0 drubbing by New Zealand in June.

This was a Test match for the taking though for the Irish, who simply fell off the pace in the second half.  There were opportunities for the hosts to shut South Africa out in the first forty, but those were squandered … leaving Ireland fans thinking what could have been.

Ultimately, South Africa hung on for a well deserved win grinded out with a solid forwards display.

Missing a whole host of players through injury, the Irish were expected to struggle against the Boks.  It was anything but the case as for large parts Ireland dominated, whilst South Africa paid for their frequent ill-discipline.

Ireland took advantage of every entry into South Africa's half as fly-half Jonathan Sexton punished the visitors from the tee — nailing three penalties in the opening quarter to give his side a handy lead.

Sexton's opposite number Pat Lambie managed to put the Boks on the board with a penalty of his own from bang in front but missed another attempt from further out — proving just how much South Africa are missing the injured Frans Steyn's boot.

And when Sexton wasn't raising the flags with his sucessful kicks at goal, Ireland were full of running and passing the ball as if it were a hot potato — giving their visitors plenty of tackle practice.

Sexton's fourth penalty on the half-hour mark opened up a nine-point (12-3) lead for the Irish, and the Boks looked rattled.  It then went from bad to worse for South Africa from the restart after wing JP Pietersen was sin-binned for an early hit on flank Chris Henry — leaving the visitors down to 14 men.

It certainly wasn't what the Boks needed, but breathed a sigh of relief a few minutes later when Sexton pushed his fifth penalty shot wide.  The visitors, who did well not to concede any points with a man short, had a rare chance to close the gap on the stroke of half-time only for Ruan Pienaar to fail from far out with his first attempt.

The visitors made a better start to the second half though and when number eight Jamie Heaslip was given his marching orders, South Africa hit back with a try to Pienaar when the scrum-half went over from close range.

Lambie added the extras, and all of a sudden the tourists were right back in it (12-10).

The Springboks then hit the front for the first time in the match when Lambie slotted over his second penalty that silenced the crowd yet again (12-13).  South Africa's one-point lead then turned into four after that man Lambie once again found his target which proved to be the final nail in Ireland's coffin.

Man of the match:  Ireland's back-row made their presence felt but lock Mike McCarthy was the pick of the forwards while in the backs, Jonathan Sexton was near-flawless from the tee.  For South Africa, Pat Lambie had a mixed performance but one that certainly won't cost him his place and Ruan Pienaar proved to be a thorn in Ireland's side all night.  But we've gone for hooker Adriaan Strauss, who bulldozed his way through one Irish defender after another and threw his darts well at line-out time.

Moment of the match:  Whilst JP Pietersen was also sin-binned, Jamie Heaslip's yellow card certainly changed the course of the match as South Africa claimed seven points in the Ireland skipper's absence.

Villain of the match:  Pietersen's brain implosion that saw the Bok speedster smash into Chris Henry without the ball sparked a massive brawl, with plenty of pushing and shoving to get the blood boiling.  But the Boks ended second best, after JP was given his marching orders.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton 4

For South Africa:
Try:  Pienaar
Con:  Lambie
Pens:  Lambie 3

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Chris Henry, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Fergus McFadden.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 CJ van der Linde.
Replacements:  16 Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Juan de Jongh, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)

England put 50 on Fiji

England opened their November Test series account with a decisive 54-12 victory over Fiji, which sets them up nicely for tackling Australia next week.

Following an early blip whereby the islanders held the upper hand, England clicked into gear to claim a seven-try win that will please Stuart Lancaster.

Test debuts were taken by Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola and Joe Launchbury but it was full-back Alex Goode who stole the show on Saturday as he put in an accomplished performance at fifteen.

Much sterner tests are yet to come however.

Fiji had opened the game in impressive style and despite conceding a penalty at the first scrum of the match, they soon settled into a period of huge dominance of both territory and possession.  Late call-up from Gloucester, Akapusi Qera was prominent early on alongside Api Naikatani.

Their hopes further improved on nine minutes when England scrum-half Danny Care was shown a yellow by referee Glen Jackson — who was advised by fourth official Craig Joubert — for an alleged tip tackle.  It was a tough call from the officials and one that offered the visitors an extra boost, particularly with their 81 per cent possession statistic at that point in the game.

However, England weathered the storm and in fact scored three points while Care was in the bin, Toby Flood knocking over a penalty with 20 minutes played.  It proved to be the start of a turnaround in the statistics as confidence started flowing into England's gameplan.

Goode was England's main strike weapon as he vindicated coach Lancaster's decision to move him ahead of Mike Brown.  He was popping up in the first line of attack on countless occasions and his one-two combination with Care always kept Fiji's defence guessing.

Two minutes later and the home side had their reward when Care's smart line off the shoulder of Thomas Waldrom led to Manu Tuilagi and Goode combining before wing Charlie Sharples cut back against the grain to beat three defenders.  Flood made it 10-0.

England were beginning to turn the screw in front of 82,000 supporters at HQ, and when a Flood penalty on 26 minutes was compounded for the islanders with Deacon Manu yellow carded for repeated infringements, it looked like being the perfect chance to kill the game.

They did just that when a penalty try was awarded before a break then Care almost set up Sharples for his second try only for the TMO to rule "no try" after the ball had hit the flag.

England were over soon after though when Goode's quick thinking on the stroke of half-time saw him tap before setting up Ugo Monye for a simple try that sent them in 25-0 ahead.

Following the turnaround, England came out firing and should have scored to back up Flood's 43rd-minute penalty but Dan Cole chose to run instead of pass.  But when a flowing move saw Goode combine with fly-half Flood, England were over with Johnson on the right.

Fiji hit back with a superb solo effort from Glasgow's Nicola Matawalu, who picked off Ugo Monye's pass, stepped past centre Tuilagi and then won the race to his own chip ahead.

England, though, soon had another try on the board when Flood's looping pass sent in Sharples for his second as he gave Lancaster food for thought in Chris Ashton's absence.

Amidst changes, Ben Youngs came on for Care to make the Youngs family the 10th set of brothers to play in the same England side and the first since Steffon and Delon Armitage.

Then, inside the final ten minutes of the match at Twickenham, Tuilagi bolstered England's victory margin with two tries before Fiji replacement Sekonaia Kalou had the final word by crashing over to cap a match that was entertaining from start to finish.

Man of the match:  Faultless at the back.  Alex Goode wins this one hands down after he slotted into the English line-up with ease.  Many had questioned the move to pick him over Mike Brown at number fifteen but Goode silenced all those doubters on Saturday.

Moment of the match:  Although it didn't result in a try, Charlie Sharples' grubber down the line which hit the corner flag and bounced back into play could have been brilliant.  A close second has to be the try from Nicola Matawalu, a move he had started 60 metres downfield.

Villain of the match:  Few incidents to speak of.  Danny Care's yellow card was harsh.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Sharples 2, Penalty, Monye, Johnson, Tuilagi 2
Con:  Flood 4, Farrell
Pen:  Flood 3

For Fiji:
Tries:  Matawalu, Kalou Qaraniqio
Con:  Matavesi

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 David Paice, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Joe Launchbury, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 Mike Brown.

Fiji:  15 Simeli Koniferedi, 14 Samu Wara, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Sireli Naqelevuki, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Metuisela Talebula, 9 Nicola Matawalu, 8 Akapusi Qera 7 Malaki Ravulo, 6 Api Naikatani, 5 Apisolame Ratuniyarawa, 4 Leone Nakawara, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Ratu Makutu.
Replacements:  16 Seremaia Naureure, 17 Setafano Samoca, 18 Manasa Saulo, 19 Sekonaia Kalou, 20 Iliesa Ratuva, 21 Kelemedi Bola, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Ravai Fatiaki.

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa),Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television match official:  Gareth Simmonds (Wales)

Pumas power past Wales

Argentina caused the first upset of the November internationals after beating Wales 26-12 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

When Wales had possession they were guilty of forcing passes, and their high error-count merely played into Argentina's hands.  The only positive note for a disjointed home team was that they were in front approaching the last quarter of the match.

But that's as good as it got for the hosts, before the Pumas scored two quickfire tries through wingers Juan Imhoff and Gonzalo Camacho to open up a sizeable lead which they never relinquished.

It was only the second win for Argentina in Cardiff and their first since 2001, whilst Wales were dealt a woeful fourth defeat on the trot.

Argentina dominated the opening exchanges and were on the scoreboard first through the boot of their evergreen centre Felipe Contepomi, but Wales were quick to level proceedings thanks to a Leigh Halfpenny penalty.

A drop-goal from Pumas pivot Nicolas Sanchez a few minutes later put his team back in front, however disaster then struck for the South Americans when Contepomi was stretchered off the field after taking a knock to the knee.

As soon as the 35-year-old was off the pitch, Halfpenny rubbed further salt into the Pumas' wounds with his second penalty of the match to draw the scores level (6-6) once again in the thirteenth minute.

The Pumas continued to dominate for long periods in the first half and should have had more than six points for their efforts.  They came close to scoring the first try, only for Gonzalo Tiesi to spill a cross-field grubber from Gonzalo Camacho forward with the tryline begging.

In what was an unspectacular first half thus far, Wales suffered a setback of their own when Jamie Roberts was forced off the pitch in the 24th minute after clashing heads with Tiesi — both sides now without their first-choice inside centres.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom for Wales as the hosts took the lead three minutes later for the first time in the match courtesy of another Halfpenny penalty (9-6).  However on the stroke of half-time, Alun Wyn Jones was the next Wales casuality after the lock left the field clutching his wrist.

The second half proved more eventful, as Argentina once again got out of their starting blocks first only for Sanchez to miss two early shots at goal — six points down the toilet.  Halfpenny then showed the Pumas goal-kicker how it was done after nailing his fourth successive penalty to extend Wales' lead (12-6).

But while Sanchez failed from the tee, he was on target with another drop-goal to close the gap to three points and keep the pressure on the Grand Slam winners.

For 55 minutes, Wales were still in the game.  But that was all about to change when Argentina produced two well-timed scores.

Their forwards initially made the hard yards, with number eight Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe delivering a scoring pass to Imhoff,, who galloped over from 20 metres out.

And before Wales could recover, Camacho found himself on the end of a Juan Martin Hernandez pass as the Pumas posted a second try in the space of four minutes — both were converted by Sanchez, who would go on to seal the deal with a late penalty.

Man of the match:  For Wales, their front row deserves a pat on the back for matching the Pumas at scrum-time.  And of course, Leigh Halfpenny did well from the tee.  For Argentina — take your pick!  From 1-15, everyone put their body on the line from start to finish.  But if we have to single out one player, it has to be captain and number eight Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe who once again led from the front superbly — surely a front-runner for an IRB Player of the Year nomination.

Moment of the match:  Juan Imhoff's try gave the Pumas a shout at victory, but Gonzalo Camacho's effort simply confirmed it.

Villain of the match:  No malice to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pens:  Halfpenny 4

For Argentina:
Tries:  Imhoff, Camacho
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pens:  Contepomi, Sanchez
Drops:  Sanchez 2

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (capt), 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Paul James, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 James Hook, 23 Liam Williams.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Leonardo Senatore, 5 Julio Farias Cabello, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Bruno Postiglioni, 18 Juan Gomez, 19 Tomas Vallejos Cinalli, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Nicolas Vergallo, 22 Horacio Agulla, 23 Joaquin Tuculet.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)

Italy scrape past Tonga

Italy needed three tries courtesy of their front row to scrape past Tonga in a hard-fought Test in Brescia on Saturday.

Italy warmed up for the visit of two heavyweights in the coming weeks with an unconvincing win over a feisty Tongan side.

With the All Blacks up next for Italy in Rome next week and Australia a week later, Azzurri coach Jacques Brunel came into the first of three November internationals claiming the pressure was off the Azzurri.

Having won the last two of their three fixtures against Tonga, Italy's starting 15 contained a mix of youth and experience with Tomasso Iannone making his full debut and a number of Italy regulars not making their appearance until the second half.

Tonga, meanwhile, came to perform and did so in a dominant first half which saw the hosts pull back in front only thanks to a late Leonardo Ghiraldini try that was converted by Kris Burton.

Tonga started strongly and took a third-minute lead when Fangatapu 'Apikotoa sent a penalty between the posts, however Italy replied almost immediately when Lorenzo Cittadini pushed over for their opening try in the sixth minute.

Tonga dominated an Italian line-out just outside their own 22 but from an attempted clearance the visitors gave up possession and Cittadini bundled the ball over the line.

Looking comfortable and more confident in their passing game, Tonga forced their way into Italy's 22 several times, and were rewarded for their efforts.

'Apikotoa kicked a penalty 10 minutes into the game but Burton restored the hosts' lead when he landed a penalty three minutes later.

Tonga's big break came when Italy captain Sergio Parisse was shown a yellow card in the 23rd minute for holding up play.

'Apikotoa kicked the penalty to give them a one-point lead and although Burton restored Italy's advantage with a penalty in the 27th minute Tonga were soon back in front with their opening try.

Italy had dominated the scrum but gave up possession, allowing Sione Piukala to carry the ball deep into territory where Italy's defence had to be at their best to repel the red tide.

As Tonga pushed forward they won a penalty, but kicked out for a line-out.  Eventually, the ball found its way to Alisona Taumalolo deep on the left and he burst towards the corner flag to squeeze the ball in at the corner to put Tonga 11-14 ahead.

'Apikotoa converted from a tight angle near the 22 line to add two points, but Tonga's lead did not last long.

As half-time approached the Azzurri moved up a gear and were rewarded after a determined push which saw Leonardo Ghiraldini cross over to level the scores.  Burton handed Italy a two-point lead with the boot to stop the clock at 18-16.

Italy looked more organised and enjoyed better possession in the second half, but failed to finish several promising moves and Tonga proved a menace throughout.

A Burton penalty goal took the hosts' lead to 21-16 in the 52nd minute, and on the hour mark both sides made a series of substitutions.

Martin Castrogiovanni's arrival made an almost immediate impact for Italy and the hosts extended their lead with a penalty try on 63 minutes.

Burton converted to take Italy to 28 points, but a defiant Tonga scored a try through Vainikolo after a good run on the left brought the scores to 28-23 after 'Akipotoa had converted with the boot.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Taumalolo, Vainikolo
Cons:  'Apikotoa 2
Pens:  'Apikotoa 3
Yellow cards:  Parisse

For Tonga:
Tries:  Cittadini, Ghiraldini, Penalty try
Cons:  Burton 2
Pens:  Burton 3
Yellow cards:  Lokotui, Lilo

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchie, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Giovambattista Venditti.

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Sione Piukala, 11 Viliami Helu, 10 Fangatapu 'Apikotoa, 9 Taniela Moa (capt), 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Sione Vaiomo'unga, 6 Sitiveni Mafi, 5 Tukulua Lokotui, 4 Joe Tu'ineau, 3 Halani 'Aulika, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Alisona Taumalolo.
Replacements:  16 Ilaisa Ma'asi, 17 Tevita Mailau, 18 Hale T-Pole, 19 Paula Kaho, 20 Samisoni Fisilau, 21 Alipate Fatafehi, 22 Viliame Iongi, 23 Soane Tonga'uiha.

Venue:  Stadio Mario Rigamonti, Brescia
Referee:  Greg Garner (England)
Assistant referees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Mathieu Raynal (France)
Television match official:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Eagles outclass Russia

The November Test window kicked off with an exciting fixture on Friday as the USA Eagles easily beat Russia 40-26 at Parc Eirias in Wales.

The Americans ran in six tries to build a commanding lead by the hour mark but let their intensity drop in the final quarter to allow the Russians to bring a semblance of respectability to the scoreline.

Eagles scrum-half Robbie Shaw put in a stellar performance, scoring two tries and marshalling the American attack excellently.

The USA were a step ahead of their opposition in just about every aspect of the game.  Indeed, the scoreboard was a little flattering to the Russians, who nevertheless should be given credit for fighting to the end and scoring three tries in the last half-hour.

The USA paid the price for taking the foot of the gas as they missed out on a IRB Rankings bonus which would have come with a 15-point victory.

The American forwards dominated the Russian pack, winning the battle at the breakdown and in the set pieces.

The USA led 21-9 at the interval thanks to an early try from Eric Fry (his first in Test rugby), another from debutant fly-half Toby L'Estrange and one for lock Brian Doyle.

Shaw claimed his first early in the second half to give the USA a 33-9 lead but the Russians replied as wing Vladimir Ostroushko touched down.

Flanker Andrey Temnov grabbed two more for Russia in the final quarter but Shaw's second try — under the posts — had already put the result beyond doubt.

The scorers:

For Russia:
Tries:  Ostroushko, Temnov 2
Con:  Klyuchnikov
Pens:  Klyuchnikov 3
Yellow cards:  Gresev, Shcherban

For USA:
Tries:  Fry, L'Estrange, Doyle, Wyles, Shaw 2
Cons:  Wyles 5
Yellow card:Biller

Russia:  15 Igor Klyuchnikov, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 13 Vasily Artemyev, 12 Alexey Makovetskiy, 11 Vladimir Ostroushko, 10 Sergey Sugrobov, 9 Alexey Shcherban, 8 Victor Gresev, 7 Pavel Butenko, 6 Andrey Temnov, 5 Kirill Kulemin, 4 Alexander Voytov (capt), 3 Evgeny Pronenko, 2 Valery Tsnobiladze, 1 Grigory Tsnobiladze.
Replacements:  16 Vladislav Korshunov, 17 Alexey Volkov, 18 Innokentiy Zykov, 19 Andrey Garbuzov, 20 Ramil Gaysin, 21 Gleb Babkin, 22 Vladimir Boltenkov, 23 Dmitry Gerasimov.

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Cornelius Dirksen, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Robbie Shaw, 8 Todd Clever (capt), 7 John Quill, 6 Scott LaValla, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Brian Doyle, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Zachary Fenoglio, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Tony Purpura, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Peter Dahl, 21 Mike Petri, 22 Rolan Suniula, 23 Gearoid McDonald.

Referee:  Leighton Hodges (Wales)

Samoa crush Canada

Samoa sent a warning to Wales ahead of next week's Test by destroying Canada 42-12 at Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay on Friday.

The Pacific Islanders dominated from the start, scoring five tries — including four for debutant wing Robert Lilomaiava — to cruise into a 42-0 lead.

Cananda saved some face with two late consolation tries in the dying minutes

The writing was on the wall early on as the Samoa pack rumbled forward.  Number eight Taiasina Tui'fua grabbed the first try after taking a quick-tap penalty and barging through three defenders to score.

Samoan fly-half Tusi Pisi was pulling the strings on attack masterfully and found Lilomaiava out wide with an pin-point cross-field kick for the young Sevens flyer's first try.

Lilomaiava bagged his second thanks to the TMO before the break to give Samoa a 22-0 lead at the interval.

Lilomaiava had an easy run in for number three and was at the end of neat chip ahead from Pisi for number four.

Moonlight wriggled his way over in the dying minutes to get Canada on the scoreboard before Connor Braid's rounded off a string finish for the Canucks.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Moonlight, Braid
Con:  Pritchard

For Samoa:
Tries:  Tui'fua, Lilomaiava 4
Cons:  So'oialo 4
Pens:  So'oialo 3

Samoa:  15 James So'oialo, 14 Paul Perez, 13 George Pisi, 12 Setaimata Sa, 11 Robert Lilomaiava, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Jeremy Su'a, 8 Taiasina Tui'fua, 7 Fomai Tivaini, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Fa'atiga Lemalu, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Sakaria Taulafo (c).
Replacements:  16 Ropeti Lafo, 17 James Johnston, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Alafoti Faosiliva, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i, 21 Johnny Leota, 22 Fa'atoina Autagavaia.

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Taylor Paris, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Phil Mackenzie, 11 Matt Evans, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jon Phelan, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Jason Marshall, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Brett Beukeboom, 20 John Moonlight, 21 Eric Wilson, 22 Nick Blevins, 23 Jeff Hassler.

Referee:  Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)

All Blacks earn 100th win for McCaw

The All Blacks completed an impressive clean sweep in the Rugby Championship on Saturday, overcoming South Africa 32-16 at Soccer City on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

In a performance worthy of their status as the top-ranked team in the world, New Zealand weathered an early storm to overturn a half-time deficit and eventually run out comfortable winners.

The result extends the All Blacks' winning streak to 16 consecutive games, moving them within touching distance of the world record.

The Springboks led 16-12 at the break having dominated for most of the first half but were given a lesson in counter attacking to be outscored two tries to one in the opening stanza.

The All Blacks reversed the trend in the second period, adding two more tries while denying their hosts any points to underline their supremacy.

It was a classic case of shifting momentum — while South Africa started with a bang and ended with a whimper, the Kiwis progressively upped the tempo until there was only one team left in the contest.

The much-vaunted Highveld crowd mirrored their team's effort as they made it very clear to the All Blacks they weren't in Auckland anymore in the early stages but the corridors were filled with fans leaving the stadium with ten minutes left on the clock.

As was the case a week ago, Johan Goosen missed his first two attempts at goal but the hosts would nevertheless open the scoring with a rare sight:  A South African try from a set-piece move.  Willem Alberts bust through the All Black defence before offloading to Jean de Villiers, who showed off some juggling skills but managed to hold on.  Bryan Habana was in space outside his skipper and had an easy run in, scoring behind the posts.

Goosen had no problems with the conversion and could further extend the lead to 10 points at the end of the first quarter when Brodie Retallick was penalised for a dangerous tackle.

The All Blacks had hardly ventured into the South African half but took their first chance to score in typical fashion, with a blistering counter-attack from broken play to send lock Sam Whitelock over in the corner.

If the hosts weren't already alerted to the New Zealand's ability to punish their mistakes, they were given a reminder on 35 minutes.  Habana came flying up in search of an intercept, it didn't work, and Hosea Gear ghosted through the gap left in the Bok defensive line before offloading to Aaron Smith, who finished.  Dan Carter's conversion gave the visitors a lead that made a mockery of the possession and territory stats.

The Boks were dealt another blow as Goosen was forced off injured but replacement fly-half Elton Jantjies held his nerve with his first kick to put South Africa back in front at 13-12.

Jantjies found the target again from 48 metres with the last act of the half to give the hosts a deserved four-point advantage at the interval.

The All Blacks moved back in front almost immediately after the restart however after Jaco Taute missed a tackle on Israel Dagg, who combined with Kieran Read to set up a try for Ma'a Nonu.

Disorganised defending cost the Boks another try as Conrad Smith touched down to put the visitors ten points clear once Carter had added the easy extras.

Two misses from Jantjies suggested the Boks' woes at the kicking tee were far from finished, prompting De Villiers to turn down a shot at goal in favour of chasing a try.  And it nearly paid off, but Habana was not able to hang on when presented with a chance in the corner.

The last quarter was one-way traffic.  Carter added a neat drop and a penalty to move his team well clear … in more ways than one.

Man of the Match There were a number of candidates in black but the official award went to Kieran Read, who was once again the ultimate example of a complete number eight as his ball skills matched his contribution in the tight exchanges.

Moment of the match:  The All Blacks' second try, scored by Aaron Smith, summed up where these teams are at the moment.  An instance of a Springbok trying too hard to do something special was punished by a clinical finish.  Give All Blacks scraps, and they will feast!

Villian of the match:  The 'fans' who left early.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try:  Habana
Cons:  Goosen
Pens:  Goosen, Jantjies 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Whitelock, A. Smith, Nonu, C. Smith
Cons:  Carter 3
Pen:  Carter
Drop goal:  Carter
Yellow card:  Dagg (66th min — offside)

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Pat Lambie.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Luke Romano, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Tamati Ellison.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
Assistant referees:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)