Wales win but hat-trick hero ruled out

Wales will be sweating over the fitness of Liam Williams while Cory Allen was ruled out of the World Cup after their 54-9 win over Uruguay on Sunday.

Again injuries have soured the Welsh day as full-back Williams and centre Allen both limped off with respective issues.  Williams' however did not seem too serious as he fought with the medical staff to remain on the field.  It's not an ideal situation though with a crunch match against England ahead next weekend.

Following the biggest shock in World Cup history on Saturday in Brighton, Wales would have been advised to rein in any thoughts of a procession.

Uruguay, maybe buoyed by that Japan performance, were courageous in defence and for large parts frustrated a Welsh side looking to start well.

Positives though will come in the form of Samson Lee's try-scoring return and also Gareth Davies' assured showing in Rhys Webb's scrum-half jersey.  They both crossed along with left wing Hallam Amos and outside centre Allen, who picked up a first-half hat-trick of tries before a hamstring injury soured his day.

As expected, a couple of pockets of blue were engulfed by a sea of red fans at the Millennium Stadium as Wales looked to join England with a bonus-point victory to kick-off their pool campaign.  It was billed to be a foregone conclusion but after twenty minutes, it was anything but.

Felipe Berchesi knocked over an early penalty for Los Teros before adding a second soon after as Wales infringed.  Remarkably Uruguay led 0-6.

Cardiff was silenced but normal service was resumed on fifteen minutes when, after snubbing three points, the Welsh drove over the whitewash, with returning tighthead prop Lee the man last to his feet.  Priestland would knock over the relatively simple conversion to push Wales ahead.

Cue the floodgates as Priestland began to unlock a Uruguay starting XV who were all making their Rugby World Cup debut.  His chip over the top after nineteen minutes allowed centre Allen to gather and dot down as the Welsh moved 14-6 in front, much to the delight of their supporters.

Uruguay would not roll over and credit to them as reward came in the shape of a third Berchesi penalty, this time for a Jake Ball high tackle.

Those three points proved only to act as a momentary speed bump for Wales though, as Allen scored again on 30 minutes for a worrying try from Uruguay's perspective as their midfield defence was losing its early solidity.  Scott Williams was the provider this time after a strong carry.

Allen's hat-trick was complete in added time of the first-half as Justin Tipuric and wing Amos combined to send him over for an easy walk-in.

With the bonus point in the bag and 28-9 up at the break, the second-half focus for Wales would be to accumulate a score and when Tipuric went over on 49 minutes that looked to be the start of it.  However, referee Romain Poite correctly went to the TMO who confirmed he had knocked on over the line.

It only delayed the inevitable though as scrum-half Davies' silky run off the tail of a line-out helped set up Amos for Wales' fifth score and there was more to come, with Davies spotting a gap on the fringe of a maul to go in on the hour mark.  Wales were now flying at 40 points to 9.

Despite Tipuric being rewarded for his hard work with a try off the back of a maul on 71 minutes before Davies' second late on, errors would halt a Welsh surge in the closing stages as attention now turns to Twickenham and that clash between two of Pool A's heavyweights.  The World Cup is warming nicely.

Man of the match:  Justin Tipuric was his usual hard-working self while Gareth Davies impressed at nine, but for his hat-trick outside centre Cory Allen takes this award.  This gong won't improve his mood though after his "significant" hamstring injury.

Moment of the match:  The whole 80 minutes from Uruguay.  Few expected anything like the solidity they showed early on and credit to the South Americans, who'd been beaten 40-0 by Japan earlier this year.  They led 0-6 and fought admirably throughout.

Villain of the match:  A clean game in Cardiff.  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Lee, Allen 3, Amos, G Davies 2, Tipuric
Cons:  Priestland 7

For Uruguay:
Pens:  Berchesi 3

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Tom Francis, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ross Moriarty, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Matthew Morgan.

Uruguay:  15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Santiago Gibernau, 13 Joaquin Prada, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 7 Matias Beer, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 5 Jorge Zerbino, 4 Santiago Vilaseca, 3 Mario Sagario, 2 Carlos Arboleya, 1 Alejo Corral.
Replacements:  16 German Kessler, 17 Oscar Duran, 18 Mateo Sanguinetti, 19 Franco Lamanna, 20 Agustin Alonso, 21 Juan De Freitas, 22 Alejo Duran, 23 Francisco Bulanti.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Nanai-Williams shines in Samoa win

Samoa began their Rugby World Cup campaign with a 25-16 win over the USA, spurred on by the man of the match Tim Nanai-Williams.

Samoa were always ahead on the scoreboard thanks to tries from Nanai-Williams and their captain Ofisa Treviranus, along with the boot of fly-half Tusi Pisi.

USA fly-half AJ MacGinty shone in only his sixth cap for the Eagles, playing a major role in their first try and scoring two penalties, but despite a bright resurgence at the end of the first half the USA never truly looked like springing a surprise.  29 missed tackles proved to be their downfall.

The Pacific Island side have big ambitions in this tournament, which will have only increased after watching Japan's shock win on Saturday, but with the game under their control late in the second half they failed to score two more tries to secure a bonus point.

What a venue though Brighton has turned out to be, bathed in sunshine over the opening weekend and filled with enthusiastic supporters.

Matching Saturday's extraordinary events was the tallest of orders but no one will have left the Community Stadium feeling short-changed.

Early rust was obvious as both sides initially opted to use the boot rather but as soon as their confidence levels rose after 20 minutes then the game came to life.

Adding the talent of Nanai-Williams to their backline has transformed Samoa's threat with the ball in hand, and it was no surprise to see the Chiefs star involved in their first try.

After bruising carries from the Samoan tight five Tusi Pisi spotted the change of direction from Nanai-Williams behind him and threaded a grubber behind the USA defence, with a kind bounce allowing the Samoa full-back to score.

The Americans work in defence had to be first-rate to keep Samoa's physical runners at bay but they paid for ill-discipline at the breakdown, allowing Tusi Pisi to stretch Samoa's lead at one point to 11-0.

AJ MacGinty's penalty appeared to spark the USA into life and the Dublin-born fly-half was heavily involved in a special try finished off by the captain Chris Wyles.

MacGinty burst through a gap in the Samoan defence inside his own half and combined with Seamus Kelly to release Wyles for the score.

Suddenly the deficit was only three points, but a third penalty from Pisi for Samoa ensured they were ahead 14-8 at half-time in an even contest.

Making metres through breaks from the likes of Maurie Fa'asavalu and Jack Lam, Samoa's power began to tell as they controlled territory and possession.

Samoa's dominance under the high ball set up their second try.  Having targeted Takudzwa Ngwenya throughout the winger spilled the ball under pressure from Nanai-Williams, allowing Samoa to set up an attack close to the USA line from which Treviranus drove low and couldn't be stopped.

Pisi and MacGinty traded penalties but Samoa held a comforable 22-11 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Bonus points are now more crucial than ever in Pool B and while Samoa certainly carried with purpose, too often the final pass went astray to construct many try-scoring chances.

Replacement prop Chris Baumann's try for the USA set up an interesting finish with seven minutes to play, but it had no bearing on the final outcome.

Samoa will now prepare for the uneasy challenge of facing a humiliated Springbok side, but this was a solid start.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Nanai-Williams, Treviranus
Pens:  T Pisi 4, Stanley

For USA:
Tries:  Wyles, Baumann
Pens:  MacGinty 2

Samoa:  15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Paul Perez, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Ofisa Treviranus (c), 7 Jack Lam, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Zak Taulafo
Replacements:  16 Viliami Afatia, 17 Motu Matu'u, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Vavao Afemai, 22 Mike Stanley, 23 Fa'atoina Autagavaia

USA:  15 Blaine Scully, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Chris Wyles (c), 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Al McFarland, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Zach Fenoglio, 1 Eric Fry
Replacements:  16 Phil Thiel, 17 Oli Kilifi, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Cam Dolan, 20 Danny Barrett, 21 Shalom Suniula, 22 Folau Niua, 23 Brett Thompson

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

France win but at a cost

France comfortably saw off Italy 32-10 in their Rugby World Cup Pool D encounter at Twickenham on Saturday, but lost winger Yoann Huget to a knee injury.

The Toulouse winger went down clutching his knee 15 minutes into the second half, and judging by his tears on the sidelines, his tournament is surely over.

The rest of the French squad looked to have been affected by the injury, but on the pitch they were too good for Italy, if not entirely convincing.

Two tighthead props, Rabah Slimani and Nicolas Mas, crossed for les Bleus, while their reunion with Craig Joubert was a happier one than four years ago in Auckland.

The South African referee had a busy night on the whistle, and Frédéric Michalak took advantage to kick 15 points, with Italy struggling to turn the possession they had into points and managing just one try, through Giovanbattista Venditti.

In the context of the tournament, France are now on course for a pool decider with Ireland, while Italy on this form should provide little resistance to Joe Schmidt's men.

However the loss of Huget will be a massive blow, with limited options to replace him, but Philippe Saint-André will have been pleased to see Man of the Match Louis Picamoles again outstanding.

The set-piece battle was always going to be key, and France drew first blood as they earned a penalty in the third minute, however Michalak's attempt came back off the left post.

He was given a second attempt two minutes later when Italy failed to release in a tackle, this time splitting the uprights to hand France an early 3-0 lead.

France then looked to have scored the first try after ten minutes, only for the delayed TMO to strike once more.  Having checked to see whether Picamoles had knocked on when offloading for Noa Nakaitaci to score, France were awarded a try, but as Michalak prepared to take the conversion, a knock-on from the winger appeared on the big screen, with the score ruled out and les Bleus having to settle for a penalty in front of the sticks instead.

Italy had their first real period of possession after about quarter of an hour, but following a nice break from Leonardo Ghiraldini in midfield, Tommaso Allan pulled his penalty attempt wide.

While Italy were enjoying some possession, their scrum remained under the cosh, with Slimani getting the better of Matias Aguero to give Michalak another shot at goal, but for the second time his effort came back off the woodwork, with Huget unable to gather as he chased.

The tries weren't coming, but Michalak slotted a third penalty after some good carrying from Picamoles and Mathieu Bastareaud had set France up in good position.

Italy finally got on the board just after the half-hour, with Sébastien Tillous-Borde stupidly penalised for kicking the ball out of the hands of Edoardo Gori.  Allan made no mistake from almost the same position as he missed his first.

The end of the half belonged to France however, with Scott Spedding nailing a long-range penalty from inside his own half before Michalak made it 15-3 at the break on the stroke of half-time.

The start of the second half followed a familiar pattern, with Italy charged down almost from the kick-off and despite recovering, giving away a penalty to allow Michalak to stretch the lead to 15 points.

And two minutes later les Bleus had the opening try, and in fine.  After a mazy run down the left from Nakaitaci, Guilhem Guirado was hauled down just short of the line.  The chance looked to have gone when Italy sprinted up offside, but France kept their cool, and Michalak's delightful grubber was perfect for Slimani to score his first Test try.  Michalak converted and France led 25-3.

That appeared to spark Italy into life and they almost scored in bizarre circumstances through Gori.  After France had turned the ball over at a ruck close to their line, it squirted loose, and when Yoann Maestri failed to gather, the scrum-half thought he had touched down over the line, however he was deemed to have knocked on.

Still, Italy didn't have to wait long for their first try, coming straight back into the French 22.  While the defence held initially, the Azzurri eventually worked up some numbers out wide, and a wide pass to Venditti alloewd him to scuttle over untouched.  Allan added the extras.

France then came back and created an opportunity out wide.  Rather than score they lost Huget with the French winger in tears on the sidelines after leaving the pitch.

The game was getting quite fractious, with pushing and shoving after every blow of the whistle, killing the rhythm of the match.

Les Bleus did cross a second time with ten minutes to go, as Mas showed all his experience to dot down against the foot of the post after a period of French possession in the Italian 22.

And although Italy tried to come back, there was no way through the French defence, les Bleus holding out for a comfortable win.

Man of the match:  It's great to see Louis Picamoles back to his best, and he was comfortably the best player on the pitch.  One powerful run where he crashed through one man before stepping another really stood out.

Moment of the match:  Sadly it was the sight of Huget crumpled in a heap after trying to step past Luke McLean.  He will be a big loss for les Bleus.

Villain of the match:  It was a niggly evening but nothing too nasty to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Slimani, Mas
Cons:  Michalak 2
Pens:  Michalak 5, Spedding

For Italy:
Try:  Venditti
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

The teams:

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Bernard le Roux, 20 Alexandre Flanquart, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Gaël Fickou.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:  16 Andrea Manici, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Enrico Bacchin

Venue:  Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Japan beat SA to shock the world

Japan pulled off the greatest Rugby World Cup upset of all time with an outstanding 34-32 win over favourites South Africa in Brighton.

Karne Hesketh's try in stoppage time clinched an improbable victory after they were kept in the game by the boot of their full-back Ayumu Goromaru to counter four tries from South Africa by Francois Louw, Bismarck du Plessis, Lood de Jager and Adriaan Strauss.

Eddie Jones' side shocked the world with a controlled display in which they absorbed the Springboks' physicality and repelled it right back.

Goromaru, Japan's full-back, scored 24 points in a performance for the ages as the Brave Blossoms never gave up hope or let the two-time champions ever pause for breath.

Remarkably, this was Japan's first win in a Rugby World Cup match since defeating Zimbabwe in 1991.  They now have new legends.

Breaking down Japan was no easy task for the Springboks and they relied on their impressive rolling maul early on.  Only when Japan did miss tackles, not a common occurence, did the Springboks capitalise with tries from Lood de Jager and Adriaan Strauss.

The number of basic mistakes from the world's number two side was unacceptable, as was their penalty count at the breakdown.

Eddie Jones' work with Japan has to be commended, coming up with a game-plan that both contained South Africa and gave his side every chance of an upset.  Despite an overwhelming number of physical mismatches, Japan were rigidly disciplined when it came to their defensive structure and showed unbelievable heart.

This was illustrated time and again by holding out the Boks in their own 22, when they produced a number of turnovers.  Jones has been heavily linked with a move to coach the Stormers in Super Rugby — what a shame that seems now with the progress Japan have clearly made since he took charge.

Twice early on the Springboks were turned over in Japan's 22 but Ayumu Goromaru was more ruthless.  The full-back sliced his way through the South African defensive line before slotting the first penalty of the game to give Japan the lead.

A second penalty attempt from Goromaru fell wide but South Africa were wobbling — executing poor clearance kicks and with a vocal Brighton crowd seemingly against them.

It was a brief malaise.  As soon as Ruan Pienaar and Pat Lambie were able to get their big forwards running straight and hard, Japan's defence was always going to creak.

Carries from Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger and Lood de Jager resulted in a penalty and after kicking to the corner the Springbok maul was unstoppable, finished off by Francois Louw and converted by Lambie for a 7-3 lead after 20 minutes.

Forcing Japan into making an exhaustive number of tackles began to pay off for South Africa and they should have scored a second try with numbers out to the left, but Burger mishandled a pass from Pienaar and Bismarck du Plessis was unable to control the loose ball.

After coming under the cosh for close to half an hour it was only fair that Japan unleashed their own rolling maul after an excellent touchfinder from Goromaru.

The Brave Blossoms came up short, confirmed by the TMO, but willed on by the crowd they wouldn't be stopped on the second attempt after returning to the corner from a penalty — the Japan captain Michael Leitch crashing over to make it 10-7.

South Africa naturally refused to be upstaged in the maul department and responded instantly with Bismarck du Plessis this time doing the honours.

Lambie's missed conversion meant the Springboks only held a slender two-point lead going into half-time.

Goromaru put Japan back ahead after the break with his second penalty but one missed tackle was all it took for De Jager to break free and canter through for South Africa's third try and a 19-13 advantage.

A third Goromaru penalty after the Springboks failed to roll away kept Japan in touch and even when Lambie convert a penalty of his own it wasn't long until Goromaru had a chance to hit back.

His effort from over 40 metres made it 22-22 going into the final quarter.

Injecting the Springbok bench into the fray added fresh impetus to their carrying and Adriaan Strauss, just as De Jager had done earlier in the half, skipped through untouched for the bonus point try.

Goromaru however wasn't done.  Cutting a fine line off a first-phase lineout move, he left the Springbok defence for dead to score, before converting his own try from the right touchline to once again level matters at 29-29 with ten minutes left.

With the crowd sensing that history was about to be made Lambie was booed after converting his second penalty to give the Springboks a three-point buffer.

That should have been that.  It was so far from the end.

Japan unleashed a final assault on the Springboks line that after multiple penalties and reset scrums that took an age, when so often teams fail to execute, Japan kept their cool.

Mafi, who carried brilliantly from the bench, delivered the final pass to his fellow replacement Karne Hesketh and the rest was history.

Whatever else happens in this World Cup, we have witnessed something incredibly special.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Leitch, Goromaru, Hesketh
Cons:  Goromaru 2
Pens:  Goromaru 4

For South Africa:
Tries:  Louw, B du Plessis, De Jager, Strauss
Cons:  Lambie 2, Pollard
Pens:  Lambie, Pollard
Yellow Card:  Oosthuizen

Japan:  15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kotaro Matsushima, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Hitoshi Ono, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Takeshi Kazu, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Harumichi Tatekawa, 23 Karne Hesketh.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 JP Pietersen.

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Ireland put 50 past Canada

Ireland got their Rugby World Cup campaign off to a positive start on Saturday as they eased past Canada 50-7 at the Millennium Stadium.

Tries from Sean O'Brien, Iain Henderson, Jonathan Sexton, Dave Kearney, Sean Cronin, Rob Kearney and Jared Payne saw them to a hefty victory.

Canada though can take pride from their spirited performance as they battled hard throughout, scoring one try of their own through DTH van der Merwe.

Canada, who were without influential captain Tyler Ardron and full-back Harry Jones for the game, began strongly as fly-half Nathan Hirayama's slick distribution put team-mates on the outside shoulder of the Irish defenders.  However, Ireland were soon enjoying most of the territory.

Hirayama was the catalyst for Canada as this time he unlocked Ireland with a lovely step 40 metres out.  Again though the Irish repelled them until number eight Jamie Heaslip was penalised at ruck time, allowing Canada scrum-half Gordon McRorie a shot from 52 metres which went wide.

Ireland's first opportunity would arrive in the eleventh minute when fly-half Sexton's smart kick put the pressure on Ray Barkwill's line-out throw.  That subsequently wasn't straight before Canada failed to roll away, with Sexton easily slotting the opening points seven metres out.

3-0 would become 10-0 on nineteen minutes as sustained pressure led to O'Brien mauling over from a close-range line-out, this after Canada's Jamie Cudmore was shown a yellow card for hands in the ruck.  One wondered whether this would open the floodgates at the Millennium Stadium.

Paul O'Connell went close only to be held up but his in-form second-row partner Henderson would not be denied as the Irish moved 17-0 in front.

Ireland were cruising at this point and their third try was not long in coming, as a nice interchange between O'Brien and Sexton saw the fly-half find a mismatch in defence and race over in the left corner.  His conversion miss was the only blot on an otherwise excellent 30 minutes.

As Ireland cantered, Canada were chasing shadows as they spread the play well to allow right wing Kearney a run in for the try bonus point.  The extras made it 29-0 before Van der Merwe and Canada were cruelly denied a try due to Hirayama's forward pass.  That score was sorely needed.

What the near miss did offer Canada was hope, not of a titanic comeback, but of salvaging something from a game that looked to have long gone.  They pressed hard for a score early in the second-half and with O'Connell having been sent to the sin-bin for offside, Canada were encouraged.

The try wouldn't come in that passage as Ireland recovered to mount their own onslaught.  But like their opponent, Canada showed stout defence, forcing handling mistakes from the Irish, who had brought off Sexton, Rory Best and Mike Ross for Ian Madigan, Sean Cronin and Nathan White.

With the Irish tweaks, Canada sensed uncertainty and came back on the hour mark with good ball in the 22.  Replacement scrum-half Phil Mack had lifted his troops but once again Schmidt's men kept their try-line intact, forcing a penalty at the breakdown as Madigan cleared their lines.

They would rub salt into Canadian wounds too when replacement Cronin powered over from five metres out to push Ireland way out at 36 in front.

It seemed fitting though that Canada would get something from the game and from a loose Irish pass, Van der Merwe was rewarded for all of his hard work in the game with a clean run-in down the left wing from halfway.  Hirayama's extra two points turned their zero into a 36-7 deficit.

But Ireland would have the final say via a breakout score as Earls outpaced John Moonlight down the wing before setting up Rob Kearney who ran in under the posts.

Outside centre Payne was finally put through by Madigan to send Ireland over the 50-point barrier and give them the perfect start.

Man of the match:  An excellent first half from Jonathan Sexton helped set Ireland on their way in Cardiff.  If the Irish are to go all the way in this World Cup there is no question that Sexton has to be on his game and judging from this, he is in the mood.

Moment of the match:  It's never good to see an underdog go home with 0 next to their name so when DTH van der Merwe intercepted and ran 50 metres to score, the neutrals were delighted.  Few would argue that Canada didn't deserve a score.

Villain of the match:  Nothing unsavoury to report in a clean game in Cardiff.  Jamie Cudmore may feel a touch disappointed to have been binned early on though as Ireland subsequently turned the screw during the ten minutes the second-row was absent.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  O'Brien, Henderson, Sexton, D Kearney, Cronin, R Kearney, Payne
Cons:  Sexton 3, Madigan 3
Pen:  Sexton
Yellow Card:  O'Connell

For Canada:
Try:  Van der Merwe
Con:  Hirayama
Yellow Card:  Cudmore

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Simon Zebo.

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH Van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 John Moonlight, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 Jamie Cudmore (c), 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Liam Underwood, 23 Conor Trainor.

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Georgia see off Tonga at Kingsholm

Georgia got their World Cup campaign off to a fine start when they secured a 17-10 victory over Tonga in their Pool C encounter at Kingsholm on Saturday.

The result is a major boost for Georgia as this fixture is viewed as a shootout for third place in the group — New Zealand and Argentina are favourites to advance to the quarter-finals as the top two teams — which will allow them to qualify automatically for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

As expected, Georgia's forwards dominated up front — especially the scrums — and they outscored their opponents by two tries to one.

Georgia dominated the territorial and possession stakes for large periods and although Tonga were competitive throughout, they committed a litany of basic errors which led to their downfall.

The Pacific Islanders took the lead in the 10th minute via a Kurt Morath penalty, but Merab Kvirikashvili drew Georgia level ten minutes later whe he landed a three-pointer from the kicking tee.

The next ten minutes were characterised by several handling errors by both sides until Georgia's captain Mamuka Gorgodze stamped his authority on the game when he got over for the opening try.

The big number eight caught the defence by surprise when he barged through the middle of a ruck, close to Tonga's tryline, and dotted down next to the uprights.

Tonga thought they had got their opening try shortly before half-time when Viliami Ma'afu got over, after running onto a Nili Latu pass close at a line-out on Georgia's five-metre line, but referee Nigel Owens disallowed the effort as the offload from Latu was forward.

The opening 20 minutes of the second half was less intense as both sides battled to gain the ascendancy but Georgia's dominance in the forward exchanges meant they were more likely to score next.

They won another scrum penalty in the 50th minute but Kvirikashvili pushed his effort wide of the target.  Georgia were eventually rewarded on the hour-mark when Giorgi Tkhilaishvili showed great determination to score his side's second try.

After a frenetic passage of play in which the ball went through several pairs of hands, Tkhilaishvili shrugged off two tacklers inside Tonga's 22 before scoring in the left-hand corner.

Kvirikashvili slotted the conversion from close to the touchline which meant his side held a comfortable 17-3 lead with 20 minutes left to play.

Tonga then stepped up a gear as they tried to get back into the game and they narrowed the gap to seven points in the 71st minute when Fetu'u Vainikolo rounded off after the Pacific Islanders set up numerous phases inside Georgia's 22.

Georgia suffered a setback as Kvirikashvili was yellow-carded for offside in the build-up to Vainikolo's try, but despite several concerted efforts from Tonga to score another try, their 14 men held firm on defence during the closing stages, sparking massive celebrations after the final whistle.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Gorgodze, Tkhilaishvili
Cons:  Kvirikashvili 2
Pen:  Kvirikashvili
Yellow card:  Kvirikashvili

For Tonga:
Try:  Vainikolo
Con:  Morath
Pen:  Morath

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Giorgi Aptsiauri, 10 Lasha Malaghuradze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Mamuka Gorgodze (c), 7 Viktor Kolelishvili, 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Konstantin Mikautadze, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Kakha Asieshvili, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Levan Datunashvili, 20 Shalva Sutiashvili, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Giorgi Pruidze, 23 Muraz Giorgadze

Tonga:  15 Vunga Lilo, 14 Telusa Veainu, 13 Will Helu, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Tane Takulua, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Lua Lokotui, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Tevita Mailau.
Replacements:  16 Paul Ngauamo, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Hale T Pole, 20 Jack Ram, 21 Samisoni Fisilau, 22 Latiume Fosita, 23 Sione Piukala

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

England clinch late bonus in opener

England left it late but came away from their Rugby World Cup opener with a bonus point 35-11 win over a punishing Fiji side at Twickenham.

Late tries from Mike Brown and Billy Vunipola in many ways glossed over a number of issues for Stuart Lancaster and the rest of his coaches to address — although they had time to do so during multiple lengthy stoppages involving the television match official.

England never hit the pace they set at their best against Ireland in their final warm-up match due to a combination of clear jitters along with Fiji's refusal to let them settle.

Head coach John McKee and scrum coach Alan Muir's work with Fiji means they are no longer a soft touch at the scrum, that crucial area in the past where teams have dominated them.  No more, on this basis at least.

That secure set-piece allowed the likes of Niko Matawalu and Nemani Nadolo to do what they do best — run riot at the opposition's defence.  Combined with a robust work-rate at the breakdown, England were never comfortable until there were seven minutes to go before Vunipola struck in extra time.

Much has been made in England about recapturing the spirit of the Olympics, far from a simple task, but there were moments during the opening ceremony where 2012 felt like yesterday.

Charting the history of the sport with cameos from Jonny Wilkinson and Prince Harry along with 20 legends each representing their own countries, it was certainly spectacular.  Twickenham has never looked or sounded anything like it.

Not everyone though could handle the bright lights — young Fiji fly-half Ben Volavola knocking on with no one around him, apart from the eyes of the world anyway.  It would turn out to be his only mistake of the night.

England showed their upper hand in the scrum at the first attempt, as the first points of the Rugby World Cup came from the boot of George Ford.  3-0, three minutes played.

Volavola's unfortunate knock-on was followed by hard luck, a touchline penalty just drifting onto the left post at the end of it's flight.

Fiji's rush defence initially kept England's attack contained until a dangerous tackle from Dominiko Waqaniburotu handed the hosts a penalty deep in Fiji's half.

England's maul will feature heavily over the next few weeks and Fiji had no answers to their efficient drive as it rumbled through the 22, ending with a penalty try, their 100th try under Stuart Lancaster, and a yellow card for Fijian scrum-half Niko Matawalu.

Even mentioning the word 'TMO' after this World Cup might send people into a fit of rage, and another reviewed incident against Fiji — for Apisalome Ratuniyarawa not using his arms while hitting a ruck — handed England the territory to create their second try.

A turnover at the lineout gave England space out wide and Mike Brown held the last tackler before diving over to make it 15-0.

Matawalu returned from the bin and made an instant impact when he seemed to have scored one of the greatest individual World Cup tries.  A blindside burst off the scrum twisted Jonny May inside out and the pacy scrum-half sprinted down the touchline, only to drop the ball as he reached out for the line.  Referee Jaco Peyper originally awarded the score before referring to the TMO prior to the conversion being taken.

England's scrum though began to creak, dangerously so in front of their own line as Fiji turned the ball over short of the English line.

Volavola's cross-field kick put a back-pedalling Anthony Watson up against all 130kg of Nemani Nadolo.  Inevitably, the Crusaders wing won the aerial battle to score Fiji's first try and make it 15-5.

Ford and crowd favourite Nadolo traded penalties but Ford missed the chance to increase the lead with a strike from a long way out on the angle just before half-time, meaning England were ahead by ten at the interval.

A 47-metre effort from Nadolo at the start drifted wide in a scrappy opening to the second half.  England made four changes looking to lift the tempo but Fiji's scrum continued to impress with another penalty win.

Time and again the Pacific Nations Cup champions make England look ordinary, limiting their attack and disrupting any splutters of tempo they created with good line speed in defence.

Fiji's aggresion at the breakdown earned Nadolo another penalty attempt which he failed to convert.  Volavola resumed the kicking duties and was successful with a penalty after a monstrous Nadolo break, to make it 18-11 with Fiji on top.

Brown, Billy and Mako Vunipola combined through three phases to move England 80 metres up the field to earn a penalty which Farrell converted, but Fiji continued to make things difficult.

Only when Brown scored again did England look home and dry, the full-back doing well to juggle an offload off the ground and then hold off two Fiji tacklers to score.

England searched for the bonus point score with time running out and Fiji out of steam and after Brown was stopped by an incredible tip tackle, Billy Vunipola did enough to power his way just to the line for that crucial bonus point try.

Man of the Match:  Tom Wood impressed in the England forwards, while Nemani Nadolo was a constant threat with the ball in hand for Fiji supported well by a top effort from the Fijian front row.  But Mike Brown scoops the honour for his two tries.

Moment of the Match:  At one point it looked like one of the great Rugby World Cup solo tries, but despite Jaco Peyper awarding the score Niko Matawalu's incredible effort was ruled out.  Fiji scored soon after, but it was a special run.

Villain of the Match:  Due to various stoppages the first half took 54 minutes.  Say no more.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Penalty Try, Brown 2, B Vunipola
Cons:  Ford, Farrell 2
Pens:  Ford 2, Farrell

For Fiji:
Try:  Nadolo
Pens:  Nadolo, Volavola
Yellow Card:  Matawalu

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Rob Webber, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Sam Burgess.

Fiji:  15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Sakiusa Masi Matadigo, 7 Akapusi Qera (c), 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements:  16 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Isei Colati, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Peceli Yato, 21 Nemia Kenatale, 22 Joshua Matavesi, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup

New Zealand exacted revenge for last weekend's loss in Sydney with an outstanding 41-13 win over Australia, thus retaining the Bledisloe Cup.

It was a very different story to seven days ago as the All Blacks were relentless as they kicked on in the second-half, turning a 13-6 lead into the final result to cap Richie McCaw's special day with an ideal result at Eden Park in Auckland.

Tries were scored by Dane Coles, a penalty try, Ma'a Nonu (2) and Conrad Smith as the world champions go into the World Cup on a positive note.

It was an nervy start for New Zealand as they forced offloads out of rucks and struggled to contain the Wallaby backline, notably Israel Folau.  And eventually Australia were rewarded with three points as Quade Cooper silenced the boos.

That kick on seven minutes didn't wake up the All Blacks as mistakes continued, with the world champions looking somewhat flustered on their home patch.

New Zealand did level matters on seventeen minutes when good work at the breakdown handed Dan Carter a shot from range, which he took superbly before the Wallabies looked to apply pressure in the 22.  They certainly did that, but excellent defence kept them at bay.

To compound Australia's disappointment not to add to their tally, New Zealand broke through Carter on halfway as he scythed through like the Carter of old before setting up in-form hooker Coles who sprinted over from 35 metres out.

The sides would trade penalties around the half-hour mark to make it 13-6, with the latter offence, Conrad Smith taking out Adam Ashley-Cooper in the air, seeing the centre fortunate not to see yellow.  Carter and Cooper were both striking it well.

Carter wasn't so solid with an attempted drop-goal on half-time, meaning the score was not altered going into the break.

New Zealand were this time the side on song early in the half and it took them just six minutes to put themselves in a commanding position, as wing Nehe Milner-Skudder's brilliant footwork before an even better offload led to Aaron Smith being taken high by Cooper five metres out.  The penalty try was awarded and to compound Australia's woes, their fly-half was given his marching orders for ten minutes by Welsh referee Owens.  The boos had turned to loud cheers for Cooper.

20-6 soon became 27-6 when Milner-Skudder was again involved, this time kicking down the line before recycled ball was swiftly moved along to Nonu who strolled over for their third try.  With Carter's conversion, the All Blacks were dominating.

Their fourth try came thanks to Nonu's bust up to within ten metres and then he was on hand to fire out the assist to centre partner Smith, who was deserving of his crossing after a performance that silenced his recent critics.  It was now 34-6.

New Zealand were now cruising against a Wallaby side that was a shadow of last week's team, with Nonu grabbing his brace on 65 minutes when he switched with Carter, brushing off scrum-half Nic White en route to the line.  Steve Hansen would then empty his replacements bench which prompted one of the loudest cheers of the night as captain and world record appearance holder Richie McCaw came from the field.  He would later get his hands on the coveted Bledisloe Cup.

For Australia this was a lesson and a psychological blow as they were outclassed in Auckland, with Folau's consolation try doing little to paper over what was a hugely disappointing day at the office that sends them into the World Cup shaken.

Man of the match:  Plenty stood up for New Zealand after that Sydney defeat but one player who was brilliant in everything he did was Conrad Smith.  His efforts in defence and attack saw him rewarded with a score as he edges out Ma'a Nonu.

Moment of the match:  It was 13-6 when Nehe Milner-Skudder sliced through with a trademark step.  What followed was an unreal offload that led to a penalty try.  A close second has to be the ovation for Richie McCaw when he was replaced.

Villain of the match:  It wouldn't be Eden Park and Australia in town without Quade Cooper being seen as the bad guy.  His yellow for taking out Aaron Smith prompted New Zealand to up the pace and they never looked back from that moment.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Coles, Penalty, Nonu 2, C Smith
Con:  Carter 5
Pen:  Carter 2

For Australia:
Try:  Folau
Con:  White
Pen:  Cooper 2
Yellow:  Cooper (high tackle ― 49 mins)

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Victor Vito, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Kane Douglas, 21 David Pocock, 22 Matt Giteau, 23 Kurtley Beale.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Impressive Pumas shock Springboks

A hat-trick from Juan Imhoff helped Argentina record their first ever win over South Africa in a 37-25 Rugby Championship victory in Durban on Saturday.

It's taken 20 attempts but the Pumas finally got a positive result against the Springboks after two close calls last year.  Using their domination at scrum time as a platform, Argentina created the biggest upset in the history of the Rugby Championship on the day that they commemorated 50 years since their first tour of South Africa.

The result means the Boks have now lost four consecutive Tests to different countries for the first time since 1965.

While the Pumas produced their best game of the year, tackling their hearts out, their disjointed hosts were a pale shadow of the side that troubled the All Blacks last week as they made countless unforced errors and offer very little on attack.

Argentina led 27-13 at the interval thanks to three excellent tries, including two for Imhoff, who also helped set up the opener for Marcelo Bosch.

South Africa hit back via a try from lock Lood de Jager, but the visitors were well worth their lead against an error-prone Bok outfit.

Imhoff bagged his hat-trick in controversial circumstances soon after the break and although South Africa hit back via tries from Willie le Roux and Bryan Habana, they fell well short of saving the result.

It took los Pumas just two minutes to score the opening try and silence the Durban crowd.  Imhoff sliced through the Bok defence from a set-piece move before offloading to Bosch, who cruised home.  Juan Martin Hernandez added the easy extras to cap a perfect start for the visitors.

The scrum tussle between Bok tighthead Vincent Koch and veteran Pumas loosehead Marcos Ayerza had been highlighted as key battle and it was the South African rookie who won the first round earning a penalty for Handre Pollard to send over.

Ayerza made a strong comeback however, winning the next two penalties, but Hernandez was off target with both to leave the scores at 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The Pumas went over for another excellent try to stretch their lead after Le Roux handed possession away cheaply with a terrible kick, which led to Tomas Cubelli putting Imhoff away a few phases later.  Hernandez added the conversion and at 14-3, the Boks looked rattled.

Strong runs from Pollard and Bismarck du Plessis forced an offside penalty, which the fly-half slotted but the Pumas would soon ber over for their third try.

A massive scrum laid the platform for Leonardo Senatore to break off with Cubelli providing the link for Imhoff to cross on the overlap for his second try.  Hernandez's conversion stretched the lead to 15 points.

South Africa hit back with a classic drive off the back of a lineout which saw De Jager stretch out an arm for the hosts' first try.

Pollard landed the conversion but Hernandez was able to reply immediately when Beast Mtawarira was pinged for obstruction.

Koch was really suffering at scrum time and another penalty against him allowed Bosch to smash over three more points from 50m out to give Argentina a 14-point lead at half-time.  Marcel van der Merwe replaced Koch in the second half, but the flow of penalties was only partially slowed.

The Pumas' fourth try came in controversial circumstances.  With a gaggle of medics on the field and Jean de Villiers in the middle of a team talk, referee Romain Poite called time back on, Hernandez took a quick tap and Imhoff pounced in the corner, much to the hosts' bemusement.

Another conversion from Hernandez left South Africa with a 21-point mountain to climb.

Le Roux started the move that would lead to his try by plucking a bomb out of the air before De Villiers and Jesse Kriel combined to put their full-back away for a long sprint home.

Pollard added the conversion but a neat drop goal from Bosch kept the Boks beyond two converted tries.

Cobus Reinach was denied a try by the TMO but Habana was able to grab a consolation try as the Boks used the extra space created by Pablo Matera's yellow card for a high tackle on Schalk Burger.

Man of the match:  There can be only one candidate.  A hat-trick for Juan Imhoff seals the gong.

Moment of the match:  The Boks would have believed they were in with a chance of making a comeback but Imhoff's controversial try took the wind of their sails.

Villain of the match:  No punches thrown.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  De Jager, Le Roux, Habana
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Bosch, Imhoff 3
Cons:  Hernandez 4
Pens:  Hernandez, Bosch
Drop:  Bosch
Yellow card:  Matera

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 VIncent Koch, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements:16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza.

Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Matias Diaz, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Lucas Amorosino.

Venue:  Kings Park, Durban

Referee:  Romain Poite

Assistant referees:  JP Doyle, Marcus Mitrea

TMO:  Ben Skeen

Australia win Rugby Championship

Australia have broken New Zealand's hold on the Rugby Championship trophy thanks to a 27-19 win over their trans-Tasman rivals in Saturday's decider in Sydney.

The All Blacks had won every previous Rugby Championship since the expansion to four teams in 2012, but were outscored three tries to two by their hosts in a thrilling contest at ANZ Stadium.

This is Australia's first title since claiming the Tri-Nations in 2011.  The result also means New Zealand must win next week's clash at Eden Park if they are to retain the Bledisloe Cup, which they have held since 2003.

All Black fly-half Dan Carter had a poor night with the boot but nevertheless made history by becoming the first man to reach 1500 Test points.

But it was the Wallabies' replacement half-backs who stole the show, making a telling contribution in the last quarter with Nic White scoring the winning try.

New Zealand led 6-3 at the interval thanks to two penalties from Carter opposed to one from Matt Giteau.  As that scoreline suggests, there was nothing to choose between the sides in a high-paced opening 40 minutes.

Tries after the break by Wallaby prop Sekope Kepu and wing Adam Ashley-Cooper were answered by a double by All Black debutant Nehe Milner-Skudder before White ghosted over to secure the trophy for Australia.

David Pocock made a great start with a couple of early steals, but Kepu was shown a yellow card inside the opening 10 minutes after making a tackle without retreating 10m when the All Blacks were threating to score from a quickly-taken penalty.

Carter slotted the easy three points and almost bagged the first try soon thereafter but was beaten by inches in a foot race with Giteau after the All Black pivot had hacked a loose ball ahead.

The hosts were able to ride out the sin-bin period without conceding further points as the first quarter ended with New Zealand 3-0 up.

The Wallaby scrum had made a strong start and earned a penalty that allowed Giteau to level the scores, but a ruck penalty against the home side meant that Carter could reply almost immediately with a long-range effort to restore the gap.

Giteau hit the upright with his next shot at goal and Dean Mumm fumbled a terrible pass from Nick Phipps when a try was on the cards after a break by Israel Folau.

Consecutive lineout steals by the All Blacks denied the hosts further opportunities to score and a last-gasp tackle by Michael Hooper kept Julian Savea out of the corner, meaning the visitors went into the break with a narrow lead.

Kiwi scrum-half Aaron Smith was sent to the sin bin soon after the restart for a high tackle on Ashley-Cooper.  The Wallabies immediately cashed in as Kepu showed a neat step before shrugging off two tacklers to race over.

Giteau added the conversion to put the Wallabies 10-6 ahead but Carter landed his third penalty — against Pocock at a ruck — to cut the deficit to a single point on 50 minutes.

A bad night for Phipps got worse when he too saw yellow for pulling back Conrad Smith, who had taken a quick penalty.

New Zealand struck right away as a half-break from Carter allowed Ben Smith to escape before the full-back found Milner-Skudder up in support for the young winger's first Test try.

The Wallabies moved back in front when Ashley-Cooper collected Matt Toomua's chip ahead and barged through Ben Smith to finish wonderfully in the corner, with Giteau adding the conversion.

A first-phase attack from New Zealand got the ball quickly to Milner-Skudder, who did brilliantly to get the it down depsite the attention of three tacklers.

Carter missed the conversion meaning that when White hit the target from 48m out following an offside penalty, Australia led 20-19.

White would be the hero of the night as, in the dying minutes, he sold the Kiwi defence a dummy before slipping past Codie Taylor for the winner.  White's conversion sealed a deserved win for the Wallabies.

Man of the match:  A mention for David Pocock, who was excellent once again, but we have to go for Nic White, who only needed 15 minutes on the field to change the complexion of the game.

Moment of the match:  The All Blacks are usually the ones who produce a fast finish but White's try will long be remembered as it sealed a memorable win.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Kepu, Ashley-Cooper, White
Cons:  Giteau 2, White
Pens:  Giteau, White
Yellow cards:  Kepu, Phipps

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Milner-Skudder 2
Pens:  Carter 3
Yellow card:  A. Smith

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c) 1 Scott Sio,

Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Nic White, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Kurtley Beale.

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Luke Romano, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.

Venue:  ANZ Stadium, Sydney

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)

Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)

TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Bonus revenge for Australia

Australia outscored Argentina by four tries to none, gaining revenge for their 2014 defeat by winning 34-9 in Mendoza on Saturday.

Adam Ashley-Cooper scored a try with the final play of the match to secure the bonus point for the Wallabies, whose bench played a major role once again.

Argentina often sparkled individually but never showed enough control or composure when it mattered most, committing basic errors that undermind their efforts.

For a while the Wallabies were sucked into an attritional battle without making much progress.  However a special try for Dean Mumm, the Australia lock who recently returned from a stint in England with Exeter Chiefs, proved to be a finishing blow that killed off the hopes of their hosts.

Soft penalties meant that Australia made harder work of the contest than required, particularly with off the ball incidents that cancelled out their penalty advantages.

Quade Cooper's yellow card in the second half was inevitable and if they leak penalties against New Zealand in two weeks time Australia will be in real trouble.

Despite that the Wallabies greater structure shone through as Argentina relied on moments of individual magic, espeically from the livewire full-back Santiago Cordero, to make any real progress without aimlessly kicking the ball away.  After that thrilling finish to last year's Rugby Championship with their first win in the competition, Argentina have started 2015 very slowly.

Israel Folau was lucky not to see yellow for a mid-air challenge on Nicolás Sánchez in the opening minutes, with a penalty against the Wallabies ending a dominant opening period from the visitors where they enjoyed 90 percent possession.

Australia lost Matt Toomua to an early concussion, forcing a re-shuffle in the backline with Quade Cooper replacing him as Sánchez pushed a long-range drop goal attempt narrowly wide.

More loose kicking then cost Sánchez and his side when Folau returned one with interest, combining with Bernard Foley to release Joe Tomane down the touchline for the opening try.

Excitement was never far away when Cordero was involved for the home side but Argentina lacked that final touch to finish off some promising early moments.

They were lucky the Wallabies persisted to squander their advantages like when Will Skelton saw a penalty reversed for grabbing a player around the neck at the bottom of a ruck.

Inaccuracies from both sides meant the Wallabies still led 5-0 approaching the half-hour mark, before Sánchez knocked over his first penalty to put the hosts on the scoresheet.

Australia though persisted to threaten with the ball in hand, a show-and-go from the captain Stephen Moore being a highlight as the Wallabies forced a penalty out of the defence which Foley was unable to convert.

Argentina had to control the scrum to have a chance of winning and after a quiet week against New Zealand they looked to have rediscovered their rhythm, with James Slipper feeling the heat as a result.

Foley rediscovered his accuracy to add a first penalty but Sánchez instantly responded with the final act of the half to leave Australia ahead by two points at half-time, leading 8-6.

A second penalty from Foley right after half-time stretched the visitors advantage to five points, even if it wasn't the cleanest of strikes from the Waratahs fly-half whose form off the tee is becoming a minor concern.

Argentina weren't short of attacks but the Wallabies, more often than not through the excellent David Pocock, were always there ready to turn over possession or slow them down.  Appropriately the openside put in an impressive run down the wing, before being bundled into touch by the cover defence.

Another penalty from Foley gave the Wallabies a comfortable eight-point lead as they welcomed back Mumm from the bench for his first Test appearance since 2010.

Argentina did receive some reward for the efforts of Cordero and Juan Pablo Socino when Sánchez added this third penalty coming up to the fourth quarter, making it 14-9 and keeping los Pumas in the hunt.

Mumm though crushed those hopes with a barnstorming run of his own down the touchline, fending off tacklers to score a fine solo try in the corner and open up the gap to ten points.

Indiscipline however kept pulling the Wallabies back into the game, with Cooper heading to the sin-bin for a high tackle, but a crucial steal from Rob Simmons prevented Argentina from attacking through their rolling maul.

Foley curled in a fourth three-pointer to make it 22-9, putting the result almost beyond doubt with ten minutes to go as Argentina's attack failed to make in-roads, capping off a frustrating night for their supporters.

There was still time for Australia to add a third try — Tevita Kuridrani the man to go over for his second score in a week after a good pass over the top from Foley and the bonus point wasn't far behind.

Ashley-Cooper was the man to finish it off but only after great input from Kurtley Beale, on his 50th cap, and Folau to make sure Australia head back home with all five points.

The bonus point also moves them level on points with New Zealand at the top of the Rugby Championship ahead of their meeting on August 8.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Pens:  Sánchez 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Tomane, Mumm, Kuridrani, Ashley-Cooper
Cons:  Foley
Pens:  Foley 4

Yellow Card:  Cooper

Argentina:  15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Javier Ortega Desio, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Santiago Iglesias Valdez, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Matías Díaz, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino.

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Kurtley Beale.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

New Zealand edge another Bok classic

A late Richie McCaw try helped the All Blacks clinch a closely-fought clash with the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday, winning 27-20.

New Zealand have become masters of the fast finish and it was fitting that McCaw — in what was probably his last Test on South African soil — landed the killer blow against their fiercest rivals.

With the Springboks having crossed the Indian Ocean twice in the last fortnight, the last 20 minutes needed a big effort, but — as was the case last week against Australia — the Boks faded at the death of what was a thrilling game.

After being outscored three tries to two, the home side will rue a number of close calls having had their noses in front for most of the game.

The scores were locked at 10-all at the interval as Willie le Roux's early try was cancelled out by Ben Smith.

South Africa had led for almost the entire half and looked in control but — in typical fashion — the All Blacks struck with the last play of the half to level matters.  It was sign of things to come.

Quick-fire tries from Jesse Kriel and Dane Coles early in the second stanza kept the contest tight before McCaw's late try snatched victory for the world champions.

After a poor tactical kicking display in Brisbane last week, South African coach Heyneke Meyer was looking for huge improvement but he will have mixed feelings as the Boks mixed the excellent with the mediocre when kicking from hand.

It took the Boks less than two minutes to cheaply hand possession over to the All Blacks with a poorly directed box kick.  The ensuing ruck saw the visitors awarded a penalty, which Lima Sopoaga duly slotted for his first Test points.  The home crowd feared the worst.

However, a much better kick from Ruan Pienaar was at the origin of the first try.  Bismarck du Plessis caught Kieran Read in possession after Israel Dagg's pass, forcing the turnover.  The ball was sent wide to Le Roux on the overlap and the full-back split the outnumbered Kiwi defenders to race home.  Handré Pollard added the easy extras.

New Zealand had a golden opportunity to strike back, but Conrad Smith couldn't hang onto the snap pass from Aaron Smith, who had decided to run from a penalty dead in front of the posts.

The Boks were taking no such risks, and Pollard extended the lead with a penalty for offside play, meaning the hosts led 10-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The visitors were clearly intent on keeping the pace of the game as high as possible and avoiding set pieces wherever possible, robbing the Boks of attacking chances from lineouts with a few quick throw-ins.

Pollard fell short with a shot at goal from inside his own half before Sopoaga was also off target with a much easier effort.

The home side looked set to take a seven-point gap into the break but a brilliant run up the middle of the field from Sopoaga changed the complexion of the game as Ben Smith collected his fly-half's pass to cross.  Sopoaga added the conversion to draw his team level.

A knee injury meant that Bok prop Jannie du Plessis did not emerge from the tunnel for the second half, giving Vincent Koch his first taste of Test rugby.  Francois Louw lasted just two minutes after the restart and home-town boy Warren Whiteley was given a huge welcome.

Kriel backed up his brilliant try last week with another great score as he split Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith off Pollard's pop pass to sprint over.  Pollard added the conversion as the Ellis Park crowd roared their approval.

The counter-punch from the All Blacks didn't take long to follow though, as Coles showed incredible pace for a hooker to charge over under the sticks.  Sopoaga's extras meant it was all-square with a half-an-hour to play.

Beauden Barrett was given a run at full-back as Dagg was taken off but it was the visitors' forwards who were in the firing line.

The TMO ruled that Lood de Jager had placed the ball millimetres short of the line — much to the hosts bemusement — but Pollard was able to put the Boks back in front with a penalty as the All Blacks gave away a penalty under huge pressure on their line.

A break from Le Roux put the visitors under more pressure and Sam Whitelock was sent to the bin for his attempts to kill the attack.

South Africa opted for the scrum rather than three easy points, but Eben Etzebeth was held up after a big shove for the line.  A knock on from Koch — who had blood streaming from his face — meant that they failed at their second attempt as precious points were left by the wayside.

South African breathed a huge sigh of relief as a long-range shot from Sopoaga fell short of goal, allowing the Boks to take a slim lead into the final 15 minutes.

Koch's trip to the nurse's office meant the hosts no longer had a specialist tighthead, resulting in uncontested scrums in the last 10 minutes.

Brodie Retallick was held up over the line but New Zealand went for the corner and McCaw ghosted through the middle of the lineout to bump Pienaar out the way to score an all-too-easy try in the 73rd minute.

Sopoaga's third conversion of the night put the men in black four points ahead, forcing the home side to chase a late try.

But it was Sopoaga who slammed home the final nail, sending over a penalty in the last minute.

Man of the match:  A mention for Lood de Jager, who worked tirelessly but Charles Piutau booked his ticket to the World Cup with a faultless display on defence and an electric performance on attack.

Moment of the match:  How do they always do it?  McCaw's try was another example of New Zealand's clinical execution as they came back from behind once again.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Le Roux, Kriel
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B. Smith, Coles, McCaw
Cons:  Sopoaga 3
Pens:  Sopoaga 2

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messsam, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Victor Vito, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa

Venue:  Emirates Airlines Park (Ellis Park), Johannesburg
Referee:  Jérôme Garcès
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite, Leighton Hodges
TMO:  Graham Hughes

Last-gasp Wallabies edge Boks

Australia overturned a 13-point deficit to beat South Africa 24-20 in an enthralling Rugby Championship contest in Brisbane on Saturday.

The TMO awarded Tevita Kuridrani a try after the final hooter, which capped a brave comeback by the hosts, who had trailed 20-7 early in the second half.

The sides scored a try apiece late in the first half via Adam Ashley-Cooper and Eben Etzebeth but two early penalties from the boot of Handré Pollard meant the Boks led 13-7 at the interval, which was a fair reflection of the opening 40 minutes.

The South African scrum was on top and their loose trio were doing well at the breakdown, although Israel Folau proved a threat every time he touched the ball for the hosts.

Test debutant Jesse Kriel announced his arrival on the international scene with a fabulous try early in the second period but the visitors were made to do a huge amount of defending as Australia swung the territory and possession stats around.

A change in front-row personnel on both sides ended the Springboks' set-piece dominance and the tandem threat of Michael Hooper and David Pocock helped the Wallabies hang onto the ball in the last half hour.

Hooper muscled his way over in the dying minutes to set up a grandstand finish, before Kuridrani managed to get the tip of the ball down on the chalk to snatch victory in dramatic style.

Two poor kicks by Pollard made for a poor start for the Boks but a great steal on the deck from Bismarck du Plessis relieved the pressure.  Those early incidents would be repeated a few times as Pollard blew hot and cold, while Du Plessis made a big contribution.

Pollard's willingness to take the ball to the line did however earn the visitors the first penalty but the young fly-half hit the upright with what should have been an easy kick.

South Africa let another chance slip after a strong scrum set up a break for Damian de Allende which put Australia under pressure.  The centre should have given it to JP Pietersen out wide and a few phases later Pollard was left red-faced when he knocked on with the visitors pressing.

The first points came on the quarter-hour mark as Pollard landed a penalty after Hooper was adjudged to be offside in a marginal call.

Scott Higginbotham would have been angry with himself for rushing a chip ahead with the Springbok midfield exposed, leaving the enterprising hosts scoreless at the end of the first quarter.

The Boks were dealt a massive blow when Victor Matfield was forced off with a hamstring injury but Lood de Jager was impressive on his return from a long injury layoff.

Under-pressure Jannie du Plessis and co. also came good to win a scrum penalty that allowed Pollard to double the lead.

Quade Cooper missed a long-range penalty against Bismarck du Plessis at a ruck but the Wallabies took the lead thanks to a slick backline move with half time approaching.

Matt Giteau and Cooper combined before Ashley-Cooper came in on the angle to collect Cooper's inside ball and slip between Pollard and De Allende for a great try.  Cooper converted to put the Aussies 7-6 up.

South Africa would head into the break in front, however, thanks to an equally good try.  Bryan Habana did well to flick Pollard's chip ahead back for Willie le Roux, who drew three defenders before offloading to Etzebeth, who crashed over in the corner.  Pollard found the target with the touchline conversion.

The Wallabies survived a late onslaught thanks to ruck steal on their own tryline to keep the gap at six points heading into the changing rooms.

Will Genia was an injury casualty when the teams reemerged and his replacement, Nick Phipps, missed a tackle as the Boks grabbed a second try.

Credit to Kriel though, as he showed wonderful feet and pace to zigzag past three defenders after latching onto Habana's offload.  Pollard landed another excellent conversion to put the Boks well ahead at 20-7.

Cooper cut the deficit to 10 points when the otherwise excellent Ruan Pienaar was penalised for offside but the Wallaby fly-half was way off target after Adriaan Strauss was pinged for dropping a knee to the ground at scrum time.

Rob Simmons lost the ball in contact just short of the line but the Wallabies were rewarded for their sustained pressure after a series of strong scrums set up Hooper's try as he beat the tackle of Oupa Mohoje to get the ball over the whitewash.

Giteau added the conversion but missed a long-range effort that would have pulled the Wallabies level.

Australian skipper Stephen Moore made a brave decision to go for the corner from a last-minute penalty before Kuridrani was able to dot the ball down for a millisecond, despite the best efforts of Schalk Burger to hold it up.

Man of the match:  A few candidates on both sides but we'll go for Israel Folau, whose counter-attacking gave the Springboks zero respite and limited their exit options.

Moment of the match:  The game looked lost but Kuridrani's try at the death gave Wallaby coach Michael Chieka a win in his first Test on home soil.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ashley-Cooper, Hooper, Kuridrani
Cons:  Cooper 2, Giteau
Pen:  Cooper

For South Africa:
Tries:  Etzebeth, Kriel
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 2

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 James Horwill, 20 David Pocock, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Drew Mitchell.

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lodewyk de Jager, 20 Teboho Mohoje, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.

Venue:  Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

All Blacks cruise past Pumas

New Zealand kicked off their Rugby Championship campaign with a comfortable 39-18 win over Argentina in Christchurch on Friday.

Impressive at scrum time, the All Blacks showed their power in defence and attack in the first half, running in two tries through Richie McCaw and Ma'a Nonu, allowing them to take an 18-6 half-time lead.

Despite two second-half tries from Agustin Creevy, it was the All Blacks who controlled things, running in three more scores through Charles Piutau, Kieran Read and debutant Codie Taylor.

The key to the game was the difference in defence, with New Zealand able to knock back runners all day long, while the Pumas were constantly on the back foot.

With quick ball, they created plenty of opportunities, and were never really in danger, giving McCaw and Dan Carter a fitting farewell for their final games in Christchurch.

Argentina had rested a number of experienced players, putting in faith in the likes of Guido Petti and Facundo Isa, who impressed last November, as well as promising winger Santiago Cordero.

In contrast New Zealand were playing the most experienced side in Test history, despite the absence of the likes of Conrad Smith, Julian Savea and Sam Whitelock.  There was an All Black debut for Waisake Naholo, the Highlanders winger who topped the try-scoring charts in Super Rugby this season.

Argentina struggled to make inroads early on, and when Nicolas Sanchez was charged down by Read, the All Blacks swarmed to the ball with McCaw earning a penalty that Carter converted to make it 3-0.

However after winning the first penalty of the game, the All Black skipper was then penalised for killing the ball in a ruck, allowing Sanchez to level the scores after 11 minutes.

The All Blacks had barely touched the ball in attack, but once they finally did, they started to cause Argentina problems.

First Carter added his second penalty before McCaw popped up for the first try of the game.  After a long period in the Pumas 22, New Zealand won a penalty which they kicked to touch.  They produced a clever maul, shifting the point of attack to send McCaw up against two backs, and he wasn't going to be stopped from close range.  Carter was off-target with the conversion but New Zealand led 11-3.

On debut, Naholo had looked dangerous, and he made a searing break on the half-hour, sprinting past halfway after getting the ball in his own 22.  Argentina were impressing at the breakdown though, and produced a stunning counter-ruck to earn a penalty.

Marcelo Bosch missed from just inside his own half, but Sanchez made no mistake a minute later to cut the deficit to five.

Carter was then just wide with a penalty from the left, but it seemed poetic justice after a very harsh call on Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

As they so often do, New Zealand finished the half with a flourish, thanks to some great individual work by Nonu.  The in-form Hurricanes centre got the ball out wide and held off two tackles to power over, with Carter's conversion making it 18-6 at the break.

One of the few issues for the All Blacks in the first half had been Carter's kicking, and he missed a third shot at goal right at the start of the second half, albeit from halfway.

Argentina then failed to chase their 22 drop-out though, and New Zealand needed no second invitation, opening up the space for Piutau to dart over.  Carter's extras made it 25-6 to the hosts.

It could have got even better for the All Blacks, but Naholo knocked on and stepped into touch when he looked certain to score after some good work from Sonny Bill Williams.

By this point it was one-way traffic, and when Argentina were again caught in their own 22, Read popped up to nick the ball off Horacio Agulla and race over untouched to stretch the lead even further.

Finally New Zealand started to concede the odd penalty, allowing Argentina to set up camp in the All Black half.  And when they kicked to the corner, Creevy went over for his first Test try in similar fashion to McCaw in the first.

The rolling maul was working for Argentina, and when they got another opportunity, Creevy went over again, with Sanchez converting to make it 32-18.

The comeback wasn't really on, and any slim hopes were killed off when New Zealand went back up the field, with their replacement front row making a big impact.

After winning a scrum against the head, Taylor, on debut, popped up to burrow over from close range, with Carter adding his fourth conversion of the game.

That was how it remained until the end, with New Zealand setting themselves up nicely before next week's trip to South Africa.  Argentina will hope to bounce back at home to the Wallabies, with a number of players set to return.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  McCaw, Nonu, Piutau, Read, Taylor
Cons:  Carter 4
Pens:  Carter 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Creevy 2
Con:  Sanchez
Pens:  Sanchez 2

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Andy Ellis, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Ryan Crotty.

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Jeronimo De la Fuente, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 5 Guido Petti, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Nahuel Chaparro Tetaz, 19 Benjamin Macome, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.

Venue:  AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Dixon try completes job for Maori ABs

Replacement back-row Elliot Dixon's converted try helped the Maori All Blacks secure a come-from-behind 27-26 win over Fiji in Suva on Saturday.

The man-of-the-match in the Super Rugby Final came on to score with less than ten minutes to play before fly-half Otere Black sent over the extra two points.

Fiji had led 10-26 at the interval after an impressive opening that saw full-back Kini Murimurivalu finish off down the left sideline, inside two minutes in Suva.

Maori All Black wing Rieko Ioane hit back with a try off a scrum before the half-hour mark which made it 10-11, but then Fiji clicked into gear with a Nemani Nadolo trademark finish down the left wing adding to his earlier penalty kick.

Fiji captain Akapusi Qera then crashed over to extend their lead to sixteen.

Colin Cooper's charges needed to respond after the turnaround and a Marty McKenzie penalty reduced the scoreline to 13-26 before the elusive Damian McKenzie slipped across.  Suddenly it was 20-26 with the contest reaching its final fifteen minutes.  Fiji were now holding on as the benches were utilised.

But it didn't take much longer for the Maori All Blacks to complete the job when Dixon powered over from close range and Black did the rest off the tee, with the visitors seeing out the match to extend their fine winning streak to nineteen games.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Murimurivalu, Nadolo, Qera
Con:  Matavesi
Pen:  Nadolo 3

For Maori All Blacks:
Tries:  R Ioane, D McKenzie, Dixon
Con:  M McKenzie 2, Black
Pen:  M McKenzie 2

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Benito Masilevu, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Gabby Lovobalavu, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Josh Matavesi, 9 Nemia Kenatale, 8 Akapusi Qera (c), 7 Malakai Ravulo, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements:  16 Villiame Veikoso, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Isei Calati, 19 Nemia Soqeta, 20 Masi Matadigo, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Napolioni Nalaga.

Maori All Blacks:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Rieko Ioane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Charlie Ngatai (c), 11 Kurt Baker, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Mitchell Crosswell, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Jacob Skeen, 3 Ben May, 2 Ash Dixon, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements:  16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Brendon Edmonds, 18 Josh Hohneck, 19 Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 20 Elliot Dixon, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Otere Black, 23 Jason Emery.

Venue:  ANZ National Stadium, Suva
Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Rohan Hoffman (Australia)

Crazy win not enough for England

England won 55-35 against France at Twickenham in a crazy game but it wasn't enough to claim the Six Nations title, which is retained by Ireland.

Ben Youngs scored the first try of the game in the opening minute, and from then it was back and forth all game, with England taking advantage of their greater fitness to run in seven tries.

France played their part, scoring five tries of their own, but missed 12 points with the boot and failed to take advantage of a period of first-half dominance before running out of steam.

Youngs and Jack Nowell scored two tries apiece to leave England needing a converted try in the final seconds but after the ball was turned over, Rory Kockott kicked it out to put paid to England's hopes.

Anthony Watson, George Ford and Billy Vunipola scored the other English tries, with Sébastien Tillous-Borde, Noa Nakaitaci, Maxime Mermoz and Vincent Debaty crossing for les Bleus.

England grabbed the first try after just two minutes, taking advantage of a mix-up in midfield by the French.  Jonathan Joseph pounced on a loose ball before finding Mike Brown outside him.

With the French scrambling, Brown fed Ford, and while he couldn't get over he had Youngs on his shoulder for the score.  Ford converted and England were 7-0 up in no time.

It could have been even better for the home side after a powerful scrum earned them a penalty, but Ford was off-target from 45 metres out.

And having made a calamitous start, France finally got a foothold in the match after ten minutes when Thierry Dusautoir got in at a breakdown to earn a penalty, with Jules Plisson slotting the three points.

From that moment France took control, taking advantage of an English mistake to score their first try.  Youngs was scragged in a ruck and the loose ball was scooped up by Tillous-Borde who sprinted 60 metres to score.  Plisson missed the conversion, but France were leading 8-7.

France almost blew another try when Nakaitaci sprinted over, but he tried to go under the posts and was tackled by Youngs.  He was on the verge of going dead in-goal, getting the ball a fraction of a second before his foot went touched the dead-ball area, much to his relief.  Plisson's conversion made it 15-7.

After England's good start, it was all France, and they almost had a third when Nakaitaci again got away down the left, but England just scrambled in time to stop Alexandre Flanquart getting the final pass away with his winger awaiting a return pass.

Les Bleus had also turned things around in the scrum, but Plisson missed an easy shot at goal when Joe Marler was penalised in the English 22.

The game was being played at a ferocious pace, but it came to a shuddering stop when Courtney Lawes put in a huge hit on Plisson.  While the ball had gone, the tackle was deemed legal with Lawes having launched into the tackle before the pass was made.

The game had been stopped and required a scrum to restart, and this time France were penalised, with Ford cutting the deficit to five points.

France came back and should have stretched their lead back to eight but Plisson again was off-target when Dan Cole went off his feet in a ruck.

And on the half-hour England took the lead again, with Watson taking advantage of a great run by Youngs.  The scrum-half had fed Ford, and while he was tackled, Nakaitaci ripped the ball away but it bounced kindly for England and James Haskell put Watson over in the corner.  Ford converted to make it 17-15.

The momentum was with England and they went over again five minutes later with a stunning counter-attack.  After Ford had been charged down, the ball went into touch five metres out.  England took the lineout quickly and Joseph got away.  His kick-through was collected by Bernard le Roux who was immediately under pressure from Burrell.

The centre seemed to go off his feet but the decision went the other way as France were accused of sealing.  The penalty was taken quickly and Youngs slipped out of le Roux's tackle to score.  In front of the posts Ford made it 24-15.

There was still time for more points, with Mermoz obstructing Joseph on a kick-chase, and Ford completing the half with another penalty to make it 27-15 at the break.

Trailing by 12 points after a crazy half, France needed an instant response and they got one after just two minutes.  Some great work off a lineout saw them work their way into the English 22, and after a number of charges Guilhem Guirado produced a delightful offload out of the tackle for Mermoz to go over.  Plisson converted to bring France back to within five points.

The intensity wasn't about to let up though, and England came straight back with a try from Ford.  Youngs spotted a gap as France struggled to get back at a ruck and after he sprinted through Ford was on hand to go under the posts.  His conversion made it 34-22 to England.

France turned to their bench and when Marler couldn't resist and put his hands into a ruck, Rory Kockott added three points with the help of the post to bring the deficit back to nine points.

But it was only temporary respite, with England turning the ball over in the French 22 and le Roux leaving Nowell free to run in a try on the left.  With Ford's conversion England led 41-25 and were ten points away from claiming the title.

Their task got harder though when Haskell tripped Plisson and was sent for ten minutes in the sin-bin.

Still, France were struggling in the lineout, and missed the chance to get back onto the front foot with an overthrown lineout by Kayser.

While they looked out on their feet, France weren't done yet, and Debaty completed a stunning counter-attacking try.  After Mermoz had put Nakaitaci into space, the winger couldn't go all the way, but stayed on his feet long enough to feed Debaty in support to score in the corner.  Kockott couldn't convert however and the deficit remained at 11 points.

It didn't stay that way for long, as England managed their sixth try despite being a man down, with Vunipola crashing over from close range, but every time England looked to be back in with a shout of winning the Championship, they let France back in.

This time it was after a powerful rolling maul, with Kayser the man to emerge from the pile of bodies.  Again the conversion was off-target, bringing the French tally up to 12 points missed with the boot.

England needed 13 points and they set up a grandstand finish with a try off the back of a scrum, going through the backs and sending Nowell over.  With Ford's conversion England needed a converted try with three minutes to go.

They had their chance when they had a lineout five metres out but the French won a penalty and Kockott eventually kicked it out to hand the title to the Irish.

Man of the match:  There were many candidates, but in the end we've got to go with Ben Youngs who scored two tries and was involved in a number of others.  Arguably his finest performance in an England shirt, even if it wasn't quite enough.

Moment of the match:  How do you pick in a game with 12 tries?  We'll go with Ford's try early in the second half.  That try seemed to definitively kill off the French challenge and set England up to chase the title.

Villain of the match:  The trip from Haskell was pretty careless and did deprive England of a man for ten minutes.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  B. Youngs 2, Watson, Ford, Nowell 2, B. Vunipola
Cons:  Ford 6
Pens:  Ford 2
Yellow Card:  Haskell

For France:
Tries:  Tillous-Borde, Nakaitaci, Mermoz, Debaty, Kayser
Cons:  Plisson 2
Pens:  Plisson, Kockott

The teams:

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Geoff Parling, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieron Brookes, 19 Nick Easter, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Sébastian Tillous-Borde, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud

Venue:  Twickenham, London
Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)