England toil to defeat Italy

England were left frustrated by a resurgent Italian performance as the hosts kept their Grand Slam hopes alive with an 18-11 win.

Six penalties from Toby Flood kept England ahead on the scoreboard as Italy recovered from a 15-3 deficit at the start of the second half to leave Twickenham on edge in a dramatic finish.

The Azzurri resembled the side that were so impressive in their opening game of the championship against France — hounding England in defence and creating ample attacking opportunities in the second half against an opponent who they have never defeated.

Only desperate defence from England going into the final 10 minutes kept the hosts clinging on to the lead, with all thoughts of a first Grand Slam in a decade put firmly on hold.

England signalled their intent early on with a penalty from Toby Flood after just three minutes — the Leicester fly-half coming in for the injured Owen Farrell.

Mike Brown came close to the opening try after Luciano Orquera's kick was charged down, but the ball eluded him as he tried to make the grounding.

The hosts enjoyed all the possession throughout the opening minutes but were unable to find the opening try, Flood settling for another three points to leave England 6-0 up after 15 minutes.

Italy responded on their first visit to England's half with a penalty from Orquera after an effective driving maul, lifting the voices of the visiting fans.  The Azzurri supporters grew even louder minutes later when Alessandro Zanni burst down the left touchline after Sergio Parisse's inside flick — only for the ball to be knocked on.

England's large swathes of possession created another try-scoring opportunity for the hosts, but Flood's attempted score was ruled out.  Italy then lost scrum-half Edoardo Gori to the sin-bin for taking out Flood off the ball.

The hosts' power at the scrum was again capitalised on by Flood, who added a further three more points after a fine break from Brown to leave England 12-3 up going into the interval after a frustrating half for the home fans.

Another Flood penalty at the start of the second half extended the gap and left Italy chasing the scoreboard, Orquera responding with a penalty of his own after England collapsed at the scrum.

Care's sloppy box kick was then taken out of the air by Andrea Masi and Orquera's delicate chip across to the left wing was snapped up by Luke McLean to score in the corner.

Giovambattista Venditti then carried down the right touchline to leave English tacklers on the deck, but Orquera's resultant penalty attempt fell well wide to the right — failing to make the most of a passage of play where England lost control.

The introduction of Ben Youngs steadied Flood and England crept back to a seven-point advantage thanks to another penalty from the Leicester number 10.

Italy however continued to produce some of their best rugby in this year's championship, finding space down the left-hand side through McLean.

It meant that England were clinging on desperately to their lead as time ticked away, until a knock-on five metres from their own try line led to a collective sigh of relief from the 82,000 crowd.

Twickenham expected a thrashing — the humbled crowd left booing and counting their blessings.

Man of the Match:  A whole host of Italian candidates to choose from in defeat, with Alessandro Zanni getting the nod ahead of his captain Parisse, Masi and winger McLean.

Moment of the Match:  Courtney Lawes' crucial line-out steal with two minutes remaining that helped England ease the Italian pressure.

Villain of the Match:  Starting his first Test for some time, Toby Flood may have kicked well off the tee but struggled to get England's backs firing.

The scorers:

For England:
Pens:  Flood 6

For Italy:
Try:  McLean
Pens:  Orquera 2
Yellow Card:  Gori

The teams:

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 David Wilson, 18 Joe Marler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

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

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Mathieu Raynal (France)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Tied result at Aviva Stadium

A try from powerful France number eight Louis Picamoles salvaged a 13-13 result against Ireland as they left the Aviva Stadium with a point.

The Toulouse man's try six minutes from time, converted by Frederic Michalak, ensured the French ended their run of three straight defeats.

It had looked like Ireland would hold on to pick up a priceless Six Nations win but a series of injury concerns over Brian O'Driscoll and Luke Marshall left the hosts scrambling for fit players before Picamoles crashed over in the 73rd minute.

It was the second successive draw between the two sides but extended France's winless streak over the past two Six Nations to seven, their worst run since 1926-27, and leaves them needing to beat Scotland at home next Saturday to have any chance of avoiding the wooden spoon.

The Irish made the early running in terrible weather conditions and were rewarded after a superb tactical kick deep into the French 22 by O'Driscoll set up a lineout.

Peter O'Mahony won the ball and from the resulting driving maul Heaslip squeezed over the line to score his eighth international try — Jackson belied concerns over his place-kicking, after a disastrous performance against Scotland, by landing a superb conversion.

France were presented with a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit in the 16th minute but Michalak, whose selection had raised eyebrows after three poor performances, missed his penalty from close range.

Ireland were very much in control but Jackson missed a chance to make it 10-0 in the 23rd minute as his penalty from long range drifted wide.

Michalak made no mistake with his second chance in the 27th minute as he slotted over a penalty to make it 7-3.

However, the Irish scrum were forcing the French into infringement after infringement and Jackson, assuming responsibility when the Irish could have kicked for the corner, opted for a kick at goal from long range in the 30th minute and converted it to restore the seven point advantage.

The 21-year-old, playing in only his second test, was showing little fear and he punished the French again three minutes later as he stroked a penalty over from about 45 metres for 13-3 which even had injured first choice fly-half Jonathan Sexton grinning and applauding from the stands.

Michalak's woeful first-half finished on a suitably low note as given the chance to give France a filip on the stroke of half-time he sent another kickable penalty wide to leave the Irish sitting comfortably enough at the break.

Jackson had an early chance in the second-half to extend the lead but his effort fell just short.

The Irish were still controlling the game but prop Mike Ross conceded a penalty in the 54th minute and Morgan Parra stepped up, replacing the misfiring Michalak, and converted it for 13-6.

Parra, though, proved he too was fallible, missing a tough penalty attempt just before the hour mark as the French started to pressure the hosts into a series of errors.

The visitors pressed forward desperate to redress the balance but saw a chance go begging as with extra men wide out to the right they failed to push home the advantage and the Irish defence held firm.

However, eventually the French breached the line as Picamoles took advantage of Ireland dithering after a penalty was awarded and tapping it quickly he touched it down for his fifth try for his country — Michalak stepped up to the task and converted for 13-13.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Heaslip
Con:  Jackson
Pen:  Jackson 2

For France:
Try:  Picamoles
Con:  Michalak
Pen:  Michalak, Parra

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c) 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Greg Garner (England)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Halfpenny boots Wales to victory

Wales downed Scotland with a 28-18 victory in a penalty-ridden goalkicker's dream at Murrayfield in the Six Nations.

A match dominated more by the whistle and boot than any real memorable moments of attacking flair, Scotland and Wales racked up a total of 28 penalties between them as both sides continued to displease referee Craig Joubert.

Leigh Halfpenny ended his afternoon with seven penalties to his name and missed three earlier in the first half, while Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw also reaped the rewards from persistent indiscipline with six penalties of his own.

Neither side was able to generate any sustained tempo due to an imposing performance from the Welsh scrum and countless idiotic penalties from Scotland, in a replica of their discipline against Ireland two weeks ago.

A promising start from Wales at the scrum lead to a simple penalty opportunity for Halfpenny, handing the visitors a 3-0 lead after four minutes.

Greig Laidlaw responded with a long-range penalty that snuck over the crossbar minutes later, before Scotland took the lead when Wales were caught offside outside their own 22.

Scotland's penalty count continued to rise but Halfpenny wasted two penalty chances to let the hosts off the hook.  The full-back's fourth attempt ricocheted off the post.

George North's break down the right-hand side gave Wales excellent field position, and they capitalised with a try from Richard Hibbard, regaining the lead with Halfpenny converting.

Rare field position for Scotland yielded a penalty at the scrum to the hosts, Laidlaw going for goal from the limit of his range and sending it through the posts.

Sale lock Richie Gray was stretchered from the field after a lengthy stoppage in play, causing concern for is club side Sale and also the selectors of the British and Irish Lions.

Laidlaw continued to maintain his accuracy going for goal, putting Scotland ahead just before half-time with another 40 metre effort to put the hosts into the lead.

Wales though were handed an attacking scrum in Scotland's 22 after a knock-on from Sean Lamont at the restart, winning a penalty after Jim Hamilton infringed for Halfpenny to restore the Welsh lead in Edinburgh — 12-13 to the visitors at the interval.

Laidlaw fell short of the posts with his fifth penalty attempt at the start of the second half, his first miss of the afternoon as he struggled kicking into the wind from 46 metres out.

Halfpenny had no such problem from a much shorter distance after a Welsh attack, stretching the gap to four points before Laidlaw responded in the latest chapter of the Murrayfield kicking exhibition.

Wales were presented with a chance to produce some attacking rugby from a five metre lineout, but inevitably the ball was lost forward.  Another penalty to the visitors from the scrum saw Ross Ford cautioned, with Halfpenny converting.

The full-back struck again with yet another penalty to stretch the Welsh lead to 22-15 nearing the 60 minute mark.  The kicking pendulum inevitably swung back Scotland's way as Laidlaw then added three more points of his own.

Halfpenny added his fifth and sixth penalties of the afternoon to open up an 18-25 gap for Wales going into the final 10 minutes as their scrum continued to ruthlessly dominate the Scottish pack.  Another penalty chance, another three points for Halfpenny.

Scotland threw everything at Wales late on as they attempted to claw their way back into the match, but there was to be no breakthrough against a revitalised Welsh defence.  The title decider between Wales and England next weekend is very much on.

Man of the Match:  Hounded by his critics in recent weeks, Sam Warburton's work ethic was exceptional throughout with 13 tackles to his name.

Moment of the Match:  After missing three consecutive kicks, Leigh Halfpenny nailed a difficult touchline conversion after Richard Hibbard's try and never looked back.

Villain of the Match:  Frustrating for supporters, the high penalty count ruined the game as a spectacle.  Eyes on you Mr Joubert.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 6

For Wales:
Try:  Hibbard
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 7
Yellow Card:  James

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Max Evans.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Ryan Jones (capt), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Scott Andrews, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Scotland stay in the hunt

Scotland kept their Six Nations title hopes alive thanks to a hard fought 12-8 victory over Ireland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

It's the first time since 2001 that the Scots have won back-to-back Six Nations matches.

After trailing 8-0 early in the second half, the hosts put 12 unanswered points past their Celtic rivals thanks to the boot of scrum-half Greig Laidlaw that helped his team to an unlikely win and that effectively ends Ireland's Six Nations challenge.

It certainly wasn't the most memorable Championship clash ever witnessed, as the two teams served up a borefest in the first half with Ireland — who dominated possession throughout — heading into the break with a slender three-point lead.

However, Scotland's fightback in the second half breathed some life into a tight contest.

Ireland started the game with a roar and a hiss, with centre Luke Marshall breaking the Scots' defence with ease in his Test debut.  But Ireland failed to convert pressure into points — even against 14 men after Scotland prop Ryan Grant was sin-binned — and only had a 35th-minute Paddy Jackson penalty to show for their dominance.

Ireland finally found the breakthrough they deserved when wing Craig Gilroy crossed early in the second half out wide.  The tricky conversion from Jackson, who missed three times from the tee, was unsuccessful.

That try only seemed to give Scotland the wake-up needed to mount a comeback and it didn't take long for Laidlaw to put his team on the scoreboard with his first penalty kick of the match on 53 minutes.

Jackson pulled another penalty wide two minutes later, but Laidlaw showed the Irish rookie how it was done with his second three-pointer of the afternoon that cut the deficit to just two points and suddenly the crowd came alive.

Laidlaw continued to find his target and made no mistake with two more accurate kicks to give the Scots a four-point cushion entering the final five minutes of what was turning into a gripping finale.

But Ireland weren't prepared to roll over yet, and threatened to steal the match from their hosts when they awarded two attacking scrums 10m out from Scotland's tryline.

However, Scotland dug deep in defence and there was no way through for the Irish whose knock-on sent Murrayfield into raptures.

Man of the match:  Scotland lock Jim Hamilton won the official gong, and his hard work at the set-piece was a real standout for the hosts.  But we've opted for hero of the day Greig Laidlaw, who's four perfect kicks at goal handed Scotland victory.

Moment of the match:  There weren't many.  But those last few minutes that so nearly ended in heartbreak for the hosts was a real nail-biter.

Villain of the match:  Ryan Grant's sin-binning didn't prove as costly as Paddy Jackson's three missed kicks at goal which ultimately cost his side dearly.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 4
Yellow card:Grant (15th min)

For Ireland:
Try:  Gilroy
Pen:  Jackson

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.
Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.
Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)

England conquer the French

England sidestepped their latest challenge on their way to a Grand Slam with a punishing 23-13 victory over France at Twickenham.

France were transformed from the sluggish side that were abysmal against Wales a fortnight ago — aggressive at the breakdown and benefiting from moving Wesley Fofana back into the centre after his ill-fated stint on the wing.

England were more clinical in the second-half and gained the lead thanks to a fortuitous try from Tuilagi, who enjoyed an excellent afternoon against his French counterpart Mathieu Bastareaud.

A brutally physical clash worth of its affectionate title, saw frequent crunching tackles whilst the scrum was a contest initially dominated by France, before England gained parity as the match progressed.

It was far from the greatest performance under Stuart Lancaster, but a crucial result that leaves England with Italy and Wales in their path on the way to a first Grand Slam since 2003.

Farrell opened the scoring for England after just two minutes following an infringement from Thierry Dusautoir at the breakdown.

France were unable to exploit a three-man overlap on the outside when Bastareaud knocked on, but with advantage being played Morgan Parra opened his account with a penalty from 39 metres out.

The visitors grabbed the initiative in the scrum to force England into conceding two consecutive penalties, with France benefiting from a smoother surface than the pot-holed Stade de France from a fortnight ago against Wales.

Both sides struggled to convert large periods of possession in attack — conceding penalties when faced by a physical backlash from the opposition at the breakdown.

An attacking line-out created the base for a promising English attack after Manu Tuilagi burst through the midfield, only for Farrell's chip across for Chris Ashton to go too deep.  Farrell converted England's penalty advantage however to make the score 6-3 after 27 minutes.

Fofana then broke through several English tackles down the left flank to score the game's opening try, Ashton's tap tackle unable to bring the Clermont centre down as he crossed in the left-hand corner, with Parra converting.

Farrell hit back with a penalty to cut the deficit to one point with five minutes left before half-time, before Parra attempted to respond with a penalty of his own at the end of the half from long-range which fell wide to the left.

France showed no let-up in the scrum at the beginning of the second half, forcing the penalty, but Parra was unable to convert.

A punishing maul from England then handed Farrell the chance to regain the lead, with the Saracen again successful to move England 12-10 ahead.

England then furthered their lead thanks to Tuilagi, the Leicester centre snatching up a loose ball at the back of the French ruck to canter into the corner.

France struck back with a penalty immediately from the restart, substitute Frederic Michalak coming on to convert and leave the score at 17-13.  More strict officiating at the breakdown from referee Craig Joubert handed England an opportunity to add more points, Farrell lining up a 48 metre attempt which fell low to the left.

A burst up the left from Picamoles had England scrambling, before Michalak failed to take a low pass having begun the passage of play with a perfect chip over the top of the English defence.

Another brilliant surge from Tuilagi left Bastareaud flat on his back in midfield, setting up a grubber kick for Toby Flood behind the French defence which was well fielded by Vincent Clerc.

England though were in the ascendency at the breakdown, with Michalak penalised to allow Toby Flood the easiest of opportunities to stretch the home side's lead.  He made no mistake — sending England into a 20-13 lead with seven minutes remaining.

Another error at the breakdown handed Flood a further three points to give England a solid cushion heading into the closing minutes.

The home side's defence held despite a late French surge, confirming their victory on a bitterly cold night at Twickenham and condemning France to one of their worst starts to a Six Nations ever.

Man of the Match:  Despite the presence of Tuilagi, Tom Wood was outstanding for England from the base of the scrum.

Moment of the Match:  With a lucky break needed, Manu Tuilagi could scarcely believe his luck as he picked up a loose ball and scored England's first try.

Villain of the Match:  Not the greatest of substitute appearances for Frederic Michalak, whose little errors gave up key points in the second half.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Tuilagi
Pens:  Farrell 4, Flood 2
Yellow Card:  Cole

For France:
Tries:  Fofana
Cons:  Parra
Pens:  Parra, Michalak

The teams:

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

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Jocelino Suta, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Florian Fritz.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Victory for Wales in Rome

Second-half tries from Jonathan Davies and Alex Cuthbert helped Wales to a 26-9 victory over Italy in the Six Nations in Rome.

A severe downpour before kick-off hindered the handling ability of both sides through the first half, with Leigh Halfpenny adding three penalties for the visitors and Kristopher Burton responding with two for the hosts.

Wales though stepped up the intensity in the second half and were worthy winners as Italy struggled to find a breakthrough past the advancing Welsh defence, Burton twice settling for drop goal attempts that both sailed wide.

The result will further lift Welsh spirits with their second victory on the road in this year's championship, leaving them in contention for the title should other results go their way over the coming weeks.

Wales opened the scoring through a penalty from Leigh Halfpenny following a series of drives in the Italian 22, as both sides gradually adjusted to the difficult conditions.

The Italians won the first battle at the scrum, Martin Castrogiovanni getting on top of Gethin Jenkins to create a kicking opportunity for new fly-half Burton to level the scores at 3-3 after ten minutes.

Wales hit back however on the next engage to hand Halfpenny another opportunity for points, with the full-back regaining the lead with a penalty.

Further dominance at the scrum handed Wales another penalty chance after 18 minutes, with Halfpenny duly converting for a 9-3 lead.

A penalty to Italy on the half-way line saw Burton opt for the corner rather than attempting the long-range shot at goal, but his execution was poor and fortunately for the Italians a handling error from Alex Cuthbert handed Italy an attacking scrum five metres from the Welsh line.

Fast defence from Wales limited the Italian's progression metres out from the try line, with Burton opting for a drop-goal attempt which missed narrowly to the left.

Another surge of pummelling rain created more handling errors from both sides — before Italy chipped back at the Welsh lead through a penalty from the scrum.

A charged down box kick on Edoardo Gori by Jenkins put the Italians under pressure in their own 22, with Wales winning a consequent penalty at the breakdown to go 12-6 in front as half-time approached.

The hosts had the better opening period in the second half, keeping possession in the Welsh half, with Burton sending another drop goal attempt wide of the posts.

Italy then floundered trying to regather a chip over the top into their 22 and Jonathan Davies pounced for Wales to snatch the game's opening try.

A probing kick from Andrea Masi put Wales under pressure with a lineout metres from the try line as Italy searched for a foothold in the second half with the score at 16-6.

Burton then clocked three more points after a penalty to bring the Azzurri within seven.

Halfpenny responded after another dominant scrum inside the Italian half, extending the gap once more to ten points with half an hour remaining.

More disruption from the Italian scrum led to referee Romain Poite sending captain Castrogiovanni to the sin-bin, and Wales wasted no time to extend the gap on the scoreboard.

A well-taken line by Alex Cuthbert cut through a gap in the Italian's defence, with the Cardiff Blues winger going over in the left corner for the second Welsh try of the afternoon to make the score 26-9.

Another penalty opportunity for Wales presented itself with Italy down to 14 men — with Ryan Jones opting to go for the corner rather than the extra points, but Wales were unable to capitalise.

Neither side were able though to add to the scoreboard as Wales kept their hopes of a possible title alive dependent on England's result against France, whilst Italy's stunning victory over France now feels more and more like a one-off success.

Man of the Match:  16 tackles summed up the hard-work and commitment of Wales captain Ryan Jones, whose rich vein of form continues.

Moment of the Match:  A comical mix-up between the Italian half-backs allowed Jonathan Davies to simply pounce on the loose ball for the game's opening try.

Villain of the Match:  The woes of the Italian scrum were summed up by Castrogiovanni's sin-binning on a poor afternoon for Italy's stand-in captain.

The scorers:

Italy:
Pens:  Burton 2

Wales:
Tries:  Davies, Cuthbert
Cons:  Halfpenny 2
Pens:  Halfpenny 4

The teams:

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Ratu Manoa Vosawai, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c) 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Gonzalo Garcia.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)

Dublin triumph for England

England picked up an impressive 12-6 victory over Six Nations rivals Ireland on Sunday in an absorbing 80 minutes at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Stuart Lancaster's outfit put in another mature effort that leaves them as the last remaining unbeaten side in the 2013 Championship.

No tries were scored in the spectacle but the English displayed an edge that denied Ireland, who had crossed for three tries against Wales, any real opportunity to get over the whitewash.

Owen Farrell kicked all of England's points, but it was their intelligence with and without the ball that ultimately won the game as Ireland struggled to get into the match, due in part to losing Simon Zebo and Jonathan Sexton to early injuries.

Farrell gave England an early lead with a second-minute penalty but Dublin tempers flared in the fourteenth minute when Ireland prop Cian Healy's apparent use of the boot on England tighthead Dan Cole at a ruck sparked a mass brawl.

Both packs managed to slow their opponents' ruck ball and neither side had a genuine chance of a try in the first-half of a match featuring several candidates for the Lions tour.

In such a tight contest, discipline was especially important, and Farrell punished Ireland for coming round the wrong side of a ruck with a superb penalty from nearly 50 metres out.

Ireland lost fly-half Sexton with a hamstring pull just after the half-hour mark, although the wet conditions put a premium on the kicking game for which Ronan O'Gara is renowned.

But when O'Gara, Ireland's most capped player, held on too long in the tackle, following good work by England defensive linchpin Brad Barritt, it gave Farrell a long-range penalty chance on the stroke of half-time.  However, his kick just went wide.

Early in the second period Ireland won a scrum penalty and O'Gara cut the deficit in half.

Coach Lancaster stiffened his side's physical presence by bringing on centre Manu Tuilagi for Billy Twelvetrees and Courtney Lawes for lock Joe Launchbury in the 48th minute.

England, though, were a man down in the 57th minute when blindside James Haskell, was yellow carded by French referee Jérôme Garces for kicking the ball out of a ruck.

O'Gara landed the ensuing penalty to tie the match at 6-6 heading into the final quarter.  Yet despite being reduced to fourteen, England then outscored Ireland 6-3 in the ten minutes.

Farrell's clever kick ahead set up an England line-out close to Ireland's line and then Tuilagi was just unable to get a touch for a try after a neat chip ahead by scrum-half Ben Youngs.

However, Garces had already awarded England a penalty from inside the 22 and Farrell made no mistake to nudge his side into a 9-6 lead.  And that became 12-6 when the composed Farrell landed his fourth penalty after Ireland infringed by not releasing.

Ireland then saw O'Gara miss an eminently kickable penalty from just outside the 22 and England's defence held firm for a result that puts them two points clear at the summit.

Man of the match:  While the official award went to captain Chris Robshaw, who was superb as a leader, we believe that Ben Youngs had a slightly better shift in Dublin.  He organised his pack well while his kicking for position was outstanding in difficult conditions.  Rarely does Danny Care not make it onto the field but today Youngs was not to be disturbed.

Moment of the match:  After Ronan O'Gara had kicked three points following England's James Haskell kicking the ball out from a ruck, the visitors showed real character to record their own points while the flank was in the sin-bin.  In such spells wins are earned.

Villain of the match:  There were two occasions when Cian Healy lost his cool and it is now expected that the Irish loosehead prop will face a trip to a hearing.  The first indiscretion saw him stamp on Dan Cole's ankle before he led with the elbow in a ruck.  Not good at all.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pen:  O'Gara 2

For England:
Pen:  Farrell 4

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Mike McCarthy , 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Keith Earls.

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

Referee:  Jérôme Garces (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Wales win at last in Paris

Wales ended an eight-game losing streak with a hard-fought 16-6 victory over an uninspired French side at the Stade de France on Saturday.

A solitary late try from wing George North handed Wales the spoils in a dour game that culminated to the sound of boos and whistles from the Parisian crowd.

The result leaves pre-tournament favourites France rooted to the bottom on the Six Nations Championship standings after their shock loss to Italy last week.

'Crisis' might be too harsh a term to define the French situation at the moment, but all is clearly not well in Philippe Saint-André's camp.  Most worrying was the lack of intensity and commitment in the French defence in the last quarter, when the game was still there for the taking.

The pressure was evident in what was a must-win game for both sides, as the fear of failure seemed to dominate the attacking spirit that has served these teams so well in the past.

A first-half characterised by conservative tactics and wasted opportunities on both ends came to a close with the scores locked at 3-3 and the spectators voicing their displeasure.

Wales had enjoyed the lion's share of possession but the French came closest to crossing whitewash, only to fluff two great chances with poor decision making.  The only thing worse than the quality of the spectacle was the state of the playing surface which, was once again, took a beating at every scrum.

The French half-back duo of Frederic Michalak and Maxime Machenaud came under heavy fire for their showing in Rome last week and they did their chances of being selected for next week's trip to Twichenham no good with some poor passes and options while full-back Yoann Huget failed to offload to frustrated wing Wesley Fofana on his outside with the tryline begging.

Wales started the second half well though and Leigh Halfpenny was able to give the visitors the lead with his second penalty.

The home crowd howled when Francois Trinh-Duc — playing at full-back after coming on for wing Benjamin Fall at the break — missed an easy drop goal when France were camped on the Welsh line.

Michalak drew the hosts level with a penalty (against the Welsh scrum) with half-an-hour left on the clock.

The hosts' scrum had become their primary weapon but it couldn't help them when Dan Biggar chipped over the top for North, who did brilliantly to evade the touchline and score in the corner in the 71st minute.

A long-range penalty from Halfpenny in the dying moments sealed the deal to leave France with plenty to think about.

Man of the match:  Not many stand-out performers but Leigh Halfpenny was very solid, making very few errors and landing crucial kicks.

Moment of the match:  There was only one.  North's try was the game changer and a rare highlight.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff, but if you're French, a guy called Philippe won't be on your Christmas card list right now.

The scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Michalak 2

For Wales:
Try:  North
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Florian Fritz.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Venue:  Stade de France, St. Denis (Paris)
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Sensational Scotland hammer Italy

An exceptional effort at the breakdown helped Scotland to a confident 34-10 victory over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Four tries, including a brilliant length of the field interception try from Stuart Hogg, led to a memorable victory for Scotland in front of a vocal home crowd at Murrayfield, compensating for the performance against England at Twickenham last weekend.

Interim head coach Scott Johnson had bemoaned his side's lack of intensity in the tackle area against England in Round One, but there was to be no let-up from the Scots at Murrayfield — throwing their bodies into the breakdown and forcing the Italian platform that stood solid against France to collapse.

That pressure on the half-backs was illustrated by the performance of Luciano Orquera.  Sensational against Les Bleus, Orquera fumbled, shanked and laboured against Scotland — a shadow of the player who was so impressive six days before in Rome.

Both sides played with a level of ambition that this fixture has witnessed too little of in previous years, with Italy still riding high after last weekend's victory over France.

Handling errors were a plenty though and it took a penalty from Greig Laidlaw after 15 minutes to open the scoring, handing Scotland the lead.

Little errors continued to compound long periods of Italian possession throughout the opening quarter, with Scotland frustrating the Azzurri at the tackle area, Laidlaw adding another further three points to hand Scotland a 6-0 lead after 25 minutes.

A howling missed kick from Tommaso Benvenuti handed Scotland centre Matt Scott the opportunity to score in the left corner, only to be denied by a brilliant try-saving tackle from Tobias Botes.

The missed chance though was a warning shot — Ruaridh Jackson creating the space for Tim Visser minutes later down the left-hand side and the Edinburgh flyer jinked his way through for the opening try.

Italy looked to have the final say in the first half and Orquera's made no mistake with his second penalty attempt to leave the score at 13-3 going into the break.

Scotland's dominance continued after the interval — an attacking lineout producing a second try as Matt Scott dived over following a great offload from Sean Maitland in midfield.

Stuart Hogg then hammered the nail into the Italians coffin, intercepting a two-on-one that would have certainly led to a try for Italy to scamper down the length of the pitch himself, his second exceptional try of the Six Nations stretching the lead to 27-3.  Orquera, his final act of the afternoon being the pass that set Hogg free, swiftly left the field.

Fortune continued to work against Italy as the half wore on, a strong attacking position in front of the Scottish posts snuffed out by a powerful drive in the scrum from the home pack.

Maitland looked to have made another fine assist for Scott in the right-hand corner later on, but his pass was marginally forward as Scotland sought to pile on the humiliation with a fourth try.

They did not have to wait long.  Sean Lamont pouncing for his ninth international try, a loose ball at the back of the Italian ruck snatched up by the centre who raced away to score under the posts on a dream afternoon for the home side.

Italy did work a consolation score, a well-worked scrum resulting in an inside flick from Parisse into the grateful path of Alessandro Zanni who powered over for the try.

But this was Scotland's day — a great response to the criticism thrown their way after their defeat at Twickenham and a feast of tries for Murrayfield to savour.

Man of the Match:  Scotland's pack were so strong that this honour is split between Euan Murray and Kelly Brown — each player making 15 tackles in an excellent defensive performance.

Moment of the Match:  Undoubtedly Stuart Hogg's breakaway score that put Scotland out of sight.  A potential Lion in waiting.

Villain of the Match:  The wild missed hack from Giovambattista Venditti was both hilarious and tragic, but more importantly nearly cost his side a try.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Visser, Scott, Hogg, Lamont
Con:  Laidlaw 4
Pens:  Laidlaw 2
Yellow Card:  Cross

For Italy:
Try:  Zanni
Con:  Burton
Pen:  Orquera

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (capt), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.

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

14-man Italy prevail in Rome

Italy condemned France to a shock 23-18 Six Nations defeat at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday.

It was a sensational victory for the Azzurri who have now managed to beat Les Bleus twice in the last two years following their famous win in 2011.

France — favourites to win the Championship heading into this match — must now pick themselves up for next Saturday's clash with Wales in Paris.  Italy, in contrast, now have critical momentum that will serve them well when they make the trip to Edinburgh to tackle Scotland.

It's been a highly entertaining opening round of Six Nations rugby and this final hit-out of the weekend certainly didn't disappoint as both sides produced two tries apiece in a pulsating match filled with some heart-stopping moments at the death (no pun intended).

Indeed, Italy and their supporters were put through a frantic finale with France desperately seeking a late score to win the match.  Despite being under sustained scrum pressure after replacement hooker Davide Giazzon was sin-binned two minutes from time, Italy held on — giving them an opening weekend Six Nations win for the first time since 2003.

Italy raced out of the starting blocks first and struck the opening blow after five minutes courtesy of sublime brilliance from fly-half Luciano Orquera.  His ability to freeze the opposition defence surfaced in all its glory, with three French defenders transfixed as he broke out of Italy's half before delivering a scoring pass to captain Sergio Parisse.

Orquera's conversion made it 7-0.

Despite some resilient defensive work from Italy after keeping Florian Fritz inches out from the tryline, France spread the ball to the left and hit back through number eight Louis Picamoles who didn't need a second invitation to score.

Frederic Michalak failed to find his target, but France were on the board.

Italy were once again in territorial control, and it was that man Orquera who extended his team's lead thanks to a cheeky drop-goal and a penalty in the 15th and 18th minutes respectively (13-5).

Michalak managed to raise the flags with his first penalty attempt after Italy were pinged at scrum-time, and then put his side in front for the first time of the match after converting Benjamin Fall's try in the 33rd minute.

It was Yoann Huget who sparked the move that hauled Les Bleus level, running aggressively from just inside Italy's half to leave Fall with a clear run-in besides the posts.

The seven-pointer secured France a 15-13 lead at the break.  And the big question on everyone's lips was whether Italy would keep within striking distance of their French rivals in the second half.

At first, it didn't seem that way when Michalak landing a long-range penalty.

But when prop Martin Castrogiovanni powered over after another piece of magic from Orquera, the home crowd could sense another upset on the horizon.  Even more so when Orquera's conversion put Italy back in front (20-18).

Replacement pivot Kris Burton then ultimately sealed the deal with a well-struck drop-goal that meant France needed to score twice to win.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

Man of the match:  Italy skipper Sergio Parisse once again led from the front, but fly-half Luciano Orquera ran the show majestically — setting up two tries, kicking a drop-goal, two conversions and a penalty for a personal haul of 13 points.

Moment of the match:  Take your pick!  All four tries were out of the top drawer, but the final minute of the match left everyone watching this tense spectacle on the edge of their seats.

Villain of the match:  Replacement hooker Davide Giazzon may have been given his marching orders, but luckily for him, it didn't prove costly.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Castrogiovanni
Cons:  Orquera 2
Pens:  Orquera
Drop:  Orquera, Burton
Yellow card:  Giazzon (79th minute)

For France:
Tries:  Picamoles, Fall
Con:  Michalak
Pens:  Michalak 2

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

France:15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

England see off Scotland

A strong performance from England saw them defeat Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham to retain the Calcutta Cup.

The hosts enjoyed large portions of possession in both halves and arguably should have come away with more points, despite racking up four tries through Chris Ashton, debutant Billy Twelvetrees, Geoff Parling and Danny Care.

Scotland were not without their moments — a brilliant break from full-back Stuart Hogg leading to the first try of the afternoon for the visitors — but they were forced into defence too often and conceded needless penalties at the breakdown when momentum was behind them.

Owen Farrell produced one of his best displays yet in international rugby, a long pass securing England's third try, whilst Twelvetrees lived up to the billing he has been given in recent weeks in the build-up to the beginning of the Six Nations.

The victory means that England will travel to Dublin with confidence, but also aware that there is plenty to work on if they are to finish this year's championship with a title.

A burst from Ben Morgan set England on their way early on, winning the penalty phases later which Farrell converted for a 3-0 lead after two minutes.

England controlled the opening phases, going close with attacks from Wood and then Ashton with little errors causing them to lose possession — but it was a stunning break from Hogg that brought Scotland into the game as he scorched though frozen English tacklers and ended up close to the line.

Scotland controlled possession metres out before Greig Laidlaw drew the tackle of Geoff Parling to put Sean Maitland in the corner to score on debut.

Farrell responded with a penalty to give England a 6-5 lead.  A loose pass from Richie Gray then put Scotland under intense pressure on their own 22, England winning the penalty at the breakdown for Farrell to add another three points.

England were immediately penalised from the restart for entering the side of a ruck, handing Laidlaw a penalty chance on the edge of the 22 which he duly converted to narrow the gap to a single point at 9-8.

The hosts struggled to convert several chances in the red zone before a chargedown off the back of Farrell created another opening — Twelvetrees gliding through a gap before Chris Ashton squeezed under two tacklers to score England's first try.

Neither side was able to establish a foothold in the opposition's half during the closing stages of the opening 40 minutes, until a high tackle on Morgan led to another penalty for Farrell to send through the posts.

Johnnie Beattie responded with a powerful run for the Scots which ended in a penalty nearly 30 metres out, Laidlaw converting to leave the score at 19-11 at the interval.

England started the second half with a bang — Billy Twelvetrees eventually crashing over for a try on debut after a great pass from Ben Youngs.

Farrell continued to turn up the pressure in an assured performance, pinning Scotland back into their half.  Any momentum generated by the Scots a few minutes later was then killed off for a simple penalty, putting England back on the attack.

The hosts fluidity and power eventually proved too much for Scotland to handle, with Joe Launchbury appearing to cross over for a third try before the play was called back for a high tackle.

A burst from Ben Youngs however threw England back into Scottish territory, Farrell spinning a brilliant wide pass to Geoff Parling to go over in the corner for England's third try.

Scotland's defence continued to struggle throughout the second half, but a turnover near their own life breathed life into their attack, Alex Goode was wrapped up by four blue shirts to concede a penalty in his own half with Jackson kicking to the corner.

Their efforts though were in vain as replacement David Denton knocked on heading for the try line.  The resulting scrum did not go England's way and Scotland had another chance, but their efforts once again were undone at the breakdown.

England continued to show the greater invention in attack but a breakaway score from Hogg gave Scotland hope — Maitland's kick gathered by the rapid Hogg who scored in the corner with Laidlaw converting.

An error from Mike Brown then saw him penalised for holding on inside England's 22, handing Scotland an opportunity with a five metre lineout which they failed to make the most of.

England switched the momentum back their way and finished things off with a fourth try in the 80th minute, replacement Danny Care sniping around the fringes to leave the final score at 38-18.

Man of the match:  Excellent handling, pace and kicking from Billy Twelvetrees on debut saw him cap it off with a try on debut.

Moment of the match:  After being disallowed a third try, Ben Youngs had Scotland scampering and ultimately led to the score from Geoff Parling, putting the game out of reach.

Villain of the match:  Scotland's 19 missed tackles meant that today was always going to be a struggle.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Ashton, Twelvetrees, Parling, Care
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 3

For Scotland:
Tries:  Maitland, Hogg
Cons:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

The teams:

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 David Strettle.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (capt), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.

Ireland win classic in Cardiff

Ireland produced a brilliant first-half display to clinch the opening fixture of the Six Nations with a 30-22 win over Wales in Cardiff.

A dire performance from Wales in the opening 40 minutes left them with a mountain to climb in the second-half, at which they threw everything to bounce back from a 30-3 scoreline to 30-22 in an utterly dominant half.

Ireland appeared to mentally crumble under the depth of their 27-point lead, producing brilliant defence at times but unable to escape their own half as Wales pounded away at the visitors try line, falling short of cutting down the whole deficit in a classic.

Superb hands from Brian O'Driscoll built the opening opportunity for Simon Zebo to touchdown in the left hand corner for the first score of the afternoon, with Jonathan Sexton converting.

Sexton's control with the boot and sharp hands from the Irish backs kept Wales pinned back and after a set of punishing phases, Ireland were held up in the right-hand corner.  Wales held out from the resulting phase of play and Sexton settled for a penalty to stretch the lead to 10-0.

Best then charged down Biggar's kick before gathering the loose ball and sending the ball wide first to Heaslip before an audacious bit of skill from Zebo saw him use his feet kept the attack going, Cian Healy pouncing from close range to leave Wales on the ropes.

Another Sexton penalty stretched the lead to 20-0 with half an hour gone, Wales imploding with another loose pass from Davies going straight into touch in the Irish 22.  Healy's attempt to drive out of his 22 resulted in a penalty at the breakdown to Wales, with Halfpenny putting his side on the board.

Warburton's cheap block on Zebo handed Ireland another attacking lineout, with O'Brien setting the foundations for a final flourish in the first half.  Another penalty against Wales at the breakdown yielded one more opportunity for Sexton, who slotted the kick to leave the half-time score at 23-3.

Ireland carried on where they left off at the start of the second half, a scrum on the Welsh 22 setting up a series of relentless drives before O'Driscoll clawed his way over the line from the bottom of a ruck for Ireland's third try.

A response from Wales was essential and it came through sustained drives forward into the Irish half, hard yards culminating in a Welsh lineout five metres out from the try line.  A pre-planned move saw Toby Faletau held up narrowly short, before Alex Cuthbert found space between the rushing Irish defenders to score the first try of the afternoon for Wales.

Cuthbert's score seemed to light a fuse under Welsh backsides as they went for broke, Faletau storming down the left touchline before a crucial hand from O'Driscoll brought the surge to a halt.

A tap penalty sent Wales backwards rather than nearer to the line as the Irish defence turned desperate, Gilroy producing a memorable tackle on Halfpenny before Romain Poite sent Rory Best to the sin-bin for entering from the side.

The extra space was then capitalised on by Halfpenny, the full-back burrowing under the double tackle of Rob Kearney and Jamie Heaslip to score in the right corner, missing the conversion to make the score 30-15.

There was to be no let up in the Welsh response as Cuthbert thundered down the right wing, but breakdown defence from Healy was enough to relieve the pressure with a penalty.

A crucial Welsh scrum yielded a penalty for Biggar to find the corner once more, Ireland mentally struggling with the hosts resurgence.  Faletau appeared initially to crash the ball against the base of the post, falling marginally short as Conor Murray was sent to the bin.

Wales were utterly dominant but unable to cross the Irish line, Davies missing a simple overlap as the green wall heroically held firm with time running out.

The hosts inevitably came again though — Craig Mitchell appearing to dive over the line before the TMO confirmed Wales third try of the afternoon, narrowing the score to 30-22.

Ireland finally relieved the pressure by pinning Wales deep in their own half to close out a brilliant opener to this year's tournament — a classic with each side forcing the other into submission for lengthy periods in each half.  Ireland march on dreaming of a title.  Wales have hope.

Man of the match:  Streetwise, skilful, a magnificent return to form from Brian O'Driscoll stole the show in Cardiff.

Moment of the match:  An outrageous piece of footwork from Simon Zebo to control possession in the build-up to Ireland's second try.

Villain of the match:  Unnecessary petulance from Mike Phillips after being brought back from a tap penalty was needless.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Cuthbert, Halfpenny, Mitchell
Con:  Halfpenny 2
Pens:  Halfpenny

For Ireland:
Tries:  Zebo, Healy, O'Driscoll
Cons:  Sexton 3
Pens:  Sexton 3
Yellow Card:  Best, Murray

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Olly Kohn, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Keith Earls.

Beale breaks Welsh hearts

A last-minute try from Kurtley Beale denied Wales victory over old foes Australia as the Gold run continued with a 14-12 result on Saturday.

The loss meant that Wales, the current Grand Slam champions and World Cup semi-finalists, fell out of the top-eight seeds for RWC 2015, the draw for which takes place on Monday.

The game had looked to be going Wales' way at 12-9 with a minute to play, but replacement flanker Dave Dennis found a metre of space out wide with the Welsh defence flagging and fed Beale, who outpaced Alex Cuthbert to the corner.

It was a ninth victory in 15 Tests of a marathon season for Australia and meant they leapfrogged South Africa into second in the IRB rankings.

But the defeat was Wales' seventh on the trot and denied them the chance of a first win over a southern hemisphere nation since their 2008 victory over the same opposition.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked four penalties for Wales, who had lost November matches against Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand, with Beale notching up three of his own for the visitors.

Beale missed two other penalty attempts and replacement Mike Harris another in the sixth match between the two sides in 13 months, the Wallabies winning all five previous encounters, including the third-place play-off at the World Cup and a closely-fought three-Test series on Australian soil in the summer.

Beale missed a straightforward early penalty attempt as referee Wayne Barnes took to his whistle against a series of sloppy Welsh ruck infringements.

The visitors, fielding just three players from last year's season-ending victory in Cardiff, dominated early possession and territory, but it was Wales who first set the stadium alight when Cuthbert was set free on his own line.

A fine covering tackle by Berrick Barnes smothered Cuthbert into touch.

Beale was successful with his second penalty, struck from the halfway line, and Halfpenny responded almost immediately with his own 52-metre effort.

The Welsh full-back then pushed the home side into the lead with a second penalty in the 23rd minute after returning Wallaby openside David Pocock was penalised for not rolling away in the tackle.

Halfpenny then split the defence and while he collided with Barnes chasing his own chip ahead across the line, Toby Faletau crashed through, only to be beaten to the ball by opposite number Wycliff Palu.

Beale drew the scores level with a second long-range penalty but failed with an easier effort that would have seen the Wallabies into the lead.

Wales, with fly-half Rhys Priestland showing signs of his old confidence, looked to run everything, but Australia showed why they remain in the top three countries in the world with an aggressive, counter-rucking defence.

The Wallabies ended the half 9-6 up after Beale nailed his fifth attempt at goal after home captain Sam Warburton was penalised, again at the ruck, while Halfpenny sent a late effort wide.

The second period opened with a full seven minutes of aerial ping-pong, neither side able to capitalise on any real territorial gain.

Halfpenny, comfortably Wales' best player in the four November Tests, was on hand to again show his defensive abilities with a fine covering tackle with Ryan Jones on Drew Mitchell, who should have gone wide after a Barnes feint.

The Welsh full-back finally drew Wales level on 55 minutes with a penalty after the Wallaby scrum wilted and then put Wales into the lead when Australia captain Nathan Sharpe, playing in his 116th and final Test, was found on the wrong side of a ruck.

Replacement Mike Harris then saw his penalty drift wide as the Wallabies tried to find a way through the Welsh defence, which finally flagged when Dennis found Beale who finished excellently in the corner.

Man of the match:  We go for Leigh Halfpenny after another impressive performance at the back for his country.  He was yet again faultless covering the ground in attack and defence while his kicking from hand and tee means that he edges out Wallaby flank David Pocock.

Moment of the match:  Of course, that last-gasp try from Kurtley Beale.

Villain of the match:  Nothing too dirty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pen:  Halfpenny 4

For Australia:
Try:  Beale
Pen:  Beale 3

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 Aaron Shingler, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Scott Williams.

Australia:  15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Digby Ioane.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
Television match official:  Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)

Brilliant England stun New Zealand

Delirium was the order of the day on Saturday at Twickenham as England defeated New Zealand 38-21 with three second-half tries.

New Zealand responded to a 15-0 defecit with scores from Julian Savea and Kieran Read, before England took charge thanks to three of their own from Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi in an astonishing second-half performance.

Owen Farrell endured a tumultuous week with being named as one of the best four players in the world, as if the pressure coming for England's most-capped player in Toby Flood wasn't enough.  But the young Saracen flourished, showing great poise with the boot as he continued to tally up the points and steered England during the first half.

The All Blacks had been struck down by a vomiting bug during the week and despite Richie McCaw's claim that it would not affect them at Twickenham, New Zealand did not look themselves at all during the first 50 minutes as they were denied possession.

Julian Savea's try changed all of that;  stepping his way through three England defenders in the left-hand corner to breathe life into the All Blacks.  They flicked the switch and thundered forward from the re-start, sticking to their principles of running rugby and exploiting gaps that they left untouched in the first half.

England though were not simply going to fall down on their knees.  Instead they roared back, thumping the All Blacks as the second half wore on.  The rarest of breaks from Brad Barritt had the crowd roaring and a one-two with centre partner Tuilagi led to the hosts' first try.

Tuilagi then skipped through a tackle from Dan Carter to burst free, feeding Ashton who sprinted over for the second try.  A Tuilagi interception then sealed the match, cruising home and slowing down as he neared the line as if he couldn't believe his luck.  England were like a new team - the All Blacks were exhausted.

Whilst Carter missed two shots at goal in the first half, his fellow IRB Player of the Year nominee Farrell was accurate - knocking over two first-half penalties to give England a surprising 6-0 lead to the delight of the home crowd.

An overthrown lineout from Keven Mealamu resulted in another English driving maul before Tuilagi burst into the 22 and with the advantage being played, Farrell dropped back and stretched England's lead to nine.

Another infringement with seconds remaining left Farrell with another chance to strike before half-time, landing the 48 metre kick to leave the score at 12-0.  Twickenham had never been more pleasantly surprised.

The run continued after the break with England winning a penalty at the scrum, Farrell again converting to leave New Zealand more than two converted tries behind the hosts.

Those tries duly arrived in two explosive bangs in the left-hand corner;  the first coming from Savea then the second coming as the conclusion to some wonderful passing that left Read galloping into the corner before England scorched away.  Savea responded with a try with only five minutes left but it was not enough as the All Blacks lost for the first time in 2012.

Man of the match:  Two assists and one crucial interception try from Manu Tuilagi make him the player of the day.

Moment of the match:  With New Zealand edging back into the match, Brad Barritt's score swung the momentum back in England's favour.

Villain of the match:  The mystery bug that struck New Zealand earlier in the week.  McCaw might have denied it would have an effect, but the All Blacks looked exhausted.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Barritt, Ashton, Tuilagi
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell (5), Burns
Yellow Card:  Vunipola

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Savea (2), Read
Cons:  Carter (2), Cruden

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonathan Joseph.

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

USA run Romania ragged

The USA Eagles eased past Romania 34-3 in Bucharest on Saturday, with Chris Wyles collecting a personal haul of 19 points.

The visitors crossed the whitewash on five occasions with Wyles bagging a brace, while Andrew Suniula, Paul Emerick and Takudzwa Ngwenya also added their name to the scoresheet.

The game was all but wrapped up by half-time as the Americans led 22-3, with pivot Andrei Filip providing the only points for Romania.

The end result, thanks to a committed performance by the forwards, was one of the Eagles most impressive victories in years.

The scorers:

For Romania:
Pen:  Filip

For USA:
Tries:  Wyles 2, A. Suniula, Emerick, Ngwenya
Cons:  Wyles 3
Pen:  Wyles

The teams:

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Madalin Lemnaru, 13 Ionel Cazan, 12 Csaba Gal, 11 Ionut Botezatu, 10 Andrei Filip, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Mihai Macovei (c), 6 Vasile Rus, 5 Alin Coste, 4 Cosmin Ratiu, 3 Mihaita Lazar, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Petru Tamba.
Replacements:  16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Horatiu Pungea, 18 Vlad Badalicescu, 19 Alexandru Manta, 20 Viorel Lucaci, 21 Grigoras Diaconescu, 22 Ionut Florea, 23 Constantin Gheara.

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever, 7 Peter Dahl, 6 John Quill, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Scott Lavalla, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Derek Asbun, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Zachary Fenoglio, 19 Graham Harriman, 20 Inaki Basauri, 21 Robbie Shaw, 22 Roland Suniula, 23 Zachary Pangelinan.

Boks make it 11 unbeaten over England

South Africa saw off England with a 16-15 win on a grim Saturday at Twickenham, with a late rally from the hosts seeing them fall short.

Three penalties from Pat Lambie and a bizarre try from Willem Alberts handed the visitors the win, with Toby Flood and Owen Farrell accumulating five penalties between them.

England dominated territory and possession but were naive in attack, lacking direction and depth which made matters simple for the Springboks defence.  Too often forwards were found in midfield when England needed a clinical line-breaker.  The fact that Tom Youngs was the most effective Red Rose attacker said it all.

An interception break from Manu Tuilagi in the second half summed up their troubles perfectly;  Chris Ashton choosing to not back his pace and ultimately seeing England plod forward into another turnover.

South Africa on the other hand were more patient, clinical and superior without anywhere near the same amount of possession — executing to greater effect when inside opposition territory in a replica performance from their victory over Ireland weeks earlier.

Controlling the line-out, they were spearheaded by the excellent Eben Etzebeth and made better use of their kicks to pin England back.  Their scrum was also in the ascendancy as time ticked away, gaining the upper hand and reversing England's dominance from the first half.

Mike Brown's clean break in the opening minutes gave England valuable territory, with Toby Flood eventually converting a penalty after South Africa went offside near the posts.

Lambie tied the scores with his first kick of the afternoon but England regained the lead with a penalty from the game's first scrum, Flood returning to the field after being checked for concussion to grab the points.

A knock-on from Zane Kirchner inside his own 22 handed England an opportunity at the scrum — the returning Alex Corbisiero getting the edge over Jannie du Plessis — only for Flood to miss the simple kick wide to the right.

Persistent South African pressure in England's red zone then yielded a penalty for Lambie to give the visitors the lead for the first time at 6-9.

A fine offload from Joe Launchbury released Flood before Alex Goode burst upfield to bring Twickenham onto it's feet.  But the chance was wasted after a grubber kick from Flood dribbled beyond the dead ball line.  Key defence at the breakdown then helped both teams clear their lines before half-time.

The Springboks started the second half with a bang and after setting up camp in the England 22 scored a bizarre try.  Ben Youngs' box kick ricocheted forward off JP Pietersen, with Tom Wood fumbling the ball which dropped into the hands of Alberts who burrowed over for the opening try.

Farrell replaced a wayward Flood and drew England within seven points with a penalty after 60 minutes and then added another as the match went into the closing stages, giving England a chance as they moved within four points.

Faced with a tough decision inside Springbok territory with two minutes left, Farrell brought England within a single point with another penalty kick rather than opting for the corner.  Unable to win the restart, South Africa closed out the match and remain unbeaten in November.

Man of the match:  One big performance from Eben Etzebeth, dominant in the skies and a joint top tackler with 16.

Moment of the match:  England may well regret their decision for points over the corner as the clock ran out.

Villain of the match:  Aimless kicking.  It entertains nobody and transforms games from spectacles to duds.

The scorers:

For England:
Pen:  Flood 2, Farrell 3

For South Africa:
Try:  Alberts
Con:  Lambie
Pen:  Lambie 3

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

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 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Rampant Ireland destroy Pumas

Ireland silenced their critics with an impressive 46-24 victory over Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

Ireland led from start to finish in a dominant display, outscoring their visitors seven tries to two.

Few would have expected such a one-sided clash after Argentina's recent win over Wales but the home side produced their best performance since pushing the All Blacks close in June to run the Pumas ragged.

The result ends Ireland's five-Test losing streak and secures their place among the second seeds for the 2015 World Cup draw.

Ireland raced to 24-9 lead by half time thanks to tries from debutant Craig Gilroy, fly-half Jonathan Sexton, hooker Richardt Strauss and full-back Simon Zebo.  Argentina's only reply came via three penalties from pivot Nicolas Sanchez.

Unlike a fortnight ago when the Springboks turned the tables on Declan Kidney's men, the second half saw Ireland secure victory with two tries from Tommy Bowe and another from Sexton as the green-clad pack ruled in the tight exchanges and the backs hit their straps.

Argentina scored two consolation tries — via Tomas Leonardi and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe — in the final ten minutes but will be disappointed with their effort.

Gilroy got his international debut off to a perfect start by scoring a fabulous try after taking a flat pass from Sexton and beating handful of defenders, putting the hosts in front early on — and they never looked back.

Sexton grabbed his first try shortly afterwards with an equally good run to step his way to the whitewash.  Strauss emerged from a line-out drive to crash over and give Ireland a 19-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The result looked done and dusted.

Bowe and Sexton combined to send Zebo over the corner before the half-time whistle, handing the Ireland a 15-point headstart as the sides swapped ends.

Sanchez landed his fourth penalty of the afternoon to get the second half started but two tries in the space of four minutes from Bowe and Sexton ended any hopes of a comeback from the Pumas.

Bowe collected Sexton's chip ahead to gather and touch down before bagging his second after some fancy footwork from Gilroy and a final pass from Donnacha Ryan.

Argentina pushed hard for a try but to their credit, the Irish defence never backed off had held firm against multiple waves of heavy Argentine ball carriers.

The final Irish try arrived when Bowe pounced on Keith Earls' chip kick, but substitute Leonardi and skipper Fernandez Lobbe scored late tries from short range to give Argentina some respectability on the scoreboard.

Man of the match:  A few candidates here and Jonathan Sexton deserves a mention for his two tries and getting the Irish backline going.  But Ireland really won the game up front and Donnacha Ryan stood out, not only in the line-outs but for his tireless work cleaning out at the breakdown.

Moment of the match:  The writing was on the wall early for the Pumas.  Craig Gilroy's try was a great start to both the game and a promising Test career.

Villain of the match:  Maximiliano Bustos was for a silly swing of a handbag — throwing the ball into the face of opposite number Cian Healy — so not worthy of the villain award.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Gilroy, Sexton 2, Strauss, Zebo, Bowe 2
Cons:  Sexton 3, O'Gara
Pen:  Sexton

For Argentina:
Tries:  Leonardi, Fernandez Lobbe
Con:  Hernandez
Pens:  Sanchez 4
Yellow card:  Bustos

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 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.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 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 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Nicolas Vergallo, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi, 23 Manuel Montero.

Venue:  Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Andrew Small (England)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)

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)