Six-try Ireland march on

Ireland eventually cruised past Romania by 44-10 in front of a record crowd for a Rugby World Cup match at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

It took the Six Nations champions over 60 minutes to notch up their bonus point try before they ran riot late on, watched by 89,267 fans of which well over half were present wearing green.

Ireland wingers Keith Earls and Tommy Bowe both scored either side of half-time and the Pool D favourites never looked out of control at any moment, even if it took longer than planned to ensure they took away maximum points — a compliment to Romania who were dogged and snuffed out a number of Irish attacks without troubling the scoreboard themselves until a late consolation try from Ovidiu Tonita.

The only real negative for Ireland was the withdrawal of Rob Kearney after he came on in the second half as a replacement, although he left the field unassisted.

Chris Henry and Simon Zebo were both noticeable standouts for Ireland, who ultimately finished with six tries.

Everybody but referee Craig Joubert thought Zebo has produced the try of the tournament after a brilliant score in the corner following some of his trademark footballing skill, but a look from the TMO confirmed that his foot had been in touch.

Ireland would have to wait a little longer, not too long though, as Tommy Bowe ended his seven-game try drought with an inch-perfect finish by the corner flag after Ireland exploited an overlap.

Madigan's second penalty made it 13-3 as the Six Nations champions flexed their muscles, finding complete control at the lineout.

Zebo had provided the final pass for Bowe's try and was once more the provider when Ireland struck again, floating out a perfect pass to his Munster team-mate Keith Earls who dipped his head and sprinted for the line.

It took 33 minutes until the game's first scrum, normally Romania's stronghold, but they were well pressured by Ireland who completely dominated possession (71 per cent) and territory (76 per cent) throughout the first half.

Yet their lead was only 15 points going into the break up 18-3 thanks to those tries from their two wingers.

It took all of three minutes into the second half for Earls to strike again.  Eoin Reddan's low rolling kick bounced up perfectly for Earls to rush behind the Romania defence and dot down, with Madigan landing the wide conversion.  In the process Earls levelled Brian O'Driscoll's record of seven Rugby World Cup tries for Ireland.

Credit to Romania, their heads never dropped.  Adrian Apostol's break down the touchline sparked a long attack in Irish territory, only for Richardt Strauss to strike at the breakdown with a turnover.

Earls was denied the chance of a hat-trick after going off for a Head Injury Assessment.

Wembley's mexican wave produced such volume that Romania had to form a huddle in order to call their lineout, but they continued to frustrate with key turnovers deep in their own 22.

They were close to going down to 14 men after Florin Ionita's dangerous tackle in the air on Paddy Jackson, only resulting in a penalty, but it set up Ireland in the Romanian 22 and ultimately led to their bonus point try.

Reddan's loop with Jackson created the space out wide for Bowe to grab his second try, shortly followed over by replacement Rob Kearney after another Zebo break created by Ireland's clever runners in their backline.

Ireland's sixth try was all about forward power as Henry came up with the ball after an unstoppable rolling maul.

Veteran lock Tonita came up with a deserved score for Romania after their defensive work and kept Ireland from scoring a seventh try into overtime, but the job was long done for Ireland as they take ten points from their first two games.

Man of the Match:  A close call as Ireland's back three all shone but Simon Zebo was all class for Ireland, providing two assists and close to pulling off a spectacular score of his own.

Moment of the Match:  Not actually during the 80 minutes but afterwards following Romania's lap of the pitch to warm applause from the crowd, scrum-half Florin Surugiu proposed to his girlfriend out on the field, who said yes!

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Bowe 2, Earls 2, Kearney, Henry
Cons:  Madigan 4
Pens:  Madigan 2

For Romania:
Try:  Tonita
Con:  Vlaicu
Pen:  Calafeteanu
Yellow Card:  Gal

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Jordi Murphy, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Nathan White, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Paul O'Connell, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Rob Kearney

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Adrian Apostol, 13 Paula Kinikinilau, 12 Csaba Gal, 11 Ionut Botezatu , 10 Michael Wiringi, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Daniel Carpo, 7 Mihai Macovei (c), 6 Valentin Ursache, 5 Ovidiu Tonita, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Andrei Radoi, 1 Andrei Ursache
Replacements:  16 Mihaita Lazar, 17 Otar Turashvili, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Johan Van Heerden, 20 Stelian Burcea, 21 Florin Surugiu, 22 Florin Ionita, 23 Florin Vlaicu

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Leighton Hodges (Wales),Romain Poite (France)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Bonus-point win for Scotland

Scotland launched a second-half fightback against USA as they recovered from a 6-13 deficit to win 39-16 with a bonus-point at Elland Road on Sunday.

It was a match of two halves as Vern Cotter's charges, who were well off the pace in the opening 40 minutes, found their form as they moved top of Pool B.

After the break they clicked into gear with tries from Tim Visser, Sean Maitland, Willem Nel, Matt Scott and Duncan Weir seeing them pick up the maximum.

One negative for Scotland however would have been the sight of Finn Russell being helped off the field with what looked like an ankle injury on 60 minutes.

Scotland came into the game knowing they could take a three-point lead in Pool B after Samoa joined South Africa in having one defeat from two.  However, claiming that bonus-point victory was never going to be an easy task as USA have improved a great deal in the past year under head coach Mike Tolkin.

The Eagles going in at the interval 6-13 up certainly proved that point.

It took the Scots until the fifteen minute mark to enjoy their first real period of dominance in the USA half, this after Eagles number ten AJ MacGinty and opposing full-back Stuart Hogg had traded shots.  Those offences were for offside and a scrum penalty respectively in an even start.

What was concerning for the USA was a wobbly line-out with hooker Phil Thiel's first two throws being skew before the team's third went loose.  Scotland made them pay with the resulting territory and possession as fly-half Russell landed their second penalty of the match for 6-3.

The tide turned in the 21st minute however when from a smart line-out move that saw Samu Manoa standing at inside centre for the carry, USA's recycled ball saw tighthead prop Titi Lamositele picking and driving over for the game's first try.  With MacGinty's extras the Eagles were 6-10 up.

Scotland had their chance to respond in quick time but it was butchered on a seismic scale.  Hogg's electric feet saw him run from his own ten-metre line down to the USA 22 but his final pass to Visser was poor and the left wing could not hold it.  Elland Road could not believe it.

Things would not improve from a Scottish point of view before the break as Russell's missed 40 metre penalty attempt preceded yet more errors, with USA's physical gameplan clearly having rattled their opponents — Takudzwa Ngwenya's huge blindside tackle on Peter Horne helped with that.

As mentioned, USA would jog into the dressing rooms 6-13 to the good after Scotland came offside in their 22, MacGinty slotting the easy penalty.

Scotland were sure to have been given the hairdryer treatment from head coach Cotter, who brought on props Alasdair Dickinson and Nel.  It paid immediate dividends on 42 minutes when Hogg this time found his wing Visser for a clear run-in down the left.  That made it 11-13.

The wheels were now in motion for Scotland and when Russell made up for his missed conversion of Visser's try with a cool assist for Maitland, his extra two points this time meant USA were now behind 18-13.  Fortunately for the States, a MacGinty penalty cut that down to 18-16 and halted the onslaught.

It was short-lived as replacement Nel powered over from close range and with Greig Laidlaw, on for Henry Pyrgos, adding the two, Scotland were 25-16 up and for the first time in the game had a cushion.  Now they could focus on getting the bonus point that for so long looked unreachable.

They would have to achieve it minus fly-half Russell though after his withdrawal, but his replacement, Weir, and Scotland had 20 minutes to get the job done.  And so started a period of sustained pressure in the USA 22, with referee Chris Pollock losing patience with the Eagles.

USA's defence expectedly crumbled as Scotland had that pivotal fourth try thanks to a lovely line from replacement centre Scott before Weir added the fifth as Cotter's men head to Newcastle to face South Africa next Saturday full of confidence.

Man of the match:  While his opposite number Phil Thiel had a difficult game with his throwing, Ross Ford was solid and put in a shift for his team.  Originally set to be on the bench before injury hit John Hardie, Ford had a strong 78 minutes for Scotland.

Moment of the match:  Whatever was said in the dressing room at half-time clearly did the job.  Vern Cotter take a bow.

Villain of the match:  Yet another World Cup match played in good spirit as neither side felt the wrath of Chris Pollock.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Visser, Maitland, Nel, Scott, Weir
Con:  Russell, Laidlaw 3
Pen:  Hogg, Russell

For USA:
Try:  Lamositele
Con:  MacGinty
Pen:  MacGinty 3

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ryan Wilson, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Fraser Brown, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Matt Scott.

USA:  15 Chris Wyles (c), 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Blaine Scully, 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 Phil Thiel, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements:  16 Zach Fenoglio, 17 Oli Kilifi, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Cam Dolan, 20 John Quill, 21 Danny Barrett, 22 Shalom Suniula, 23 Folau Niua.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Wales late comeback stuns England

A resounding comeback from Wales helped them secure a 28-25 win over Rugby World Cup hosts England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Gareth Davies' spectacular try for Wales with ten minutes to go flipped the contest on its head after they had trailed for over 40 minutes.

A kicking contest under high pressure was always expected and the two fly-halves duly obliged, Dan Biggar responding to the challenge with seven penalties, the last of which from the half-way line sealed a dramatic turnaround.  Worries about Leigh Halfpenny's absence proved to be unnecessary.

Even losing both Scott Williams and Hallam Amos to serious injuries in the second half couldn't stop a spirited response against huge adversity from Warren Gatland's side.

England's return to old-fashioned power was backed up by a dominant scrum, which won the approval throughout of referee Jérôme Garcès, but they squandered crucial territory in the second half.

A call from captain Chris Robshaw to kick for the corner with a few minutes left rather than attempt to tie the scores off the tee spectacularly backfired.

Jonny May's first-half finish in the corner exploited some poor Welsh defence and on a night where line breaks were at a premium, let alone tries, it looked for a long time to be the difference.

This felt more like a knockout game than a group clash based on the tension and sheer level of noise inside Twickenham, with both sides fully aware of how hard the road to the quarter-finals would be should they suffer a defeat and with a massive clash against Australia to come.

England now have to face that nightmare situation head on, but their failure to kill off a game where they were ahead for so long will be scrutinised.

Biggar struck first after Tom Youngs failed to roll away, the only points in a cagey opening ten minutes were England won the first battle at the scrum, but were penalised at the breakdown — two trends that would continue throughout.

More scrum dominance allowed Farrell to equalise before a nervous drop goal attempt from Biggar drifted wide, although it mattered little after converting his second penalty as England were once again caught out at the ruck.

Twickenham might have produced a chorus of boos for Biggar's attempt but they seemed to mind less when Farrell made good with a low drop goal effort, after England's attack had lost its shape, to make it 6-6.

Wales' scrum though was becoming a hinderance by conceding a third straight penalty, this time converted by Farrell to put England ahead for the first time.

Finally the game opened up from England's lineout, a long loop from Anthony Watson off his wing giving the hosts an extra man and although his pass bobbled into the path of Mike Brown, England did well to recycle with Ben Youngs releasing May down the blindside to score.

With Farrell's conversion, England suddenly led by ten points.  Wales, falling short in the set-piece and held by England's defence, which pushed the limit of offside, were being kept quiet.

Biggar though had the final say before the break, adding a third penalty to make it 16-9 at half-time after Scott Williams reminded Sam Burgess who he was with an outstanding burst of speed.

A wobble from Biggar trying to control Farrell's tactical kick set England up for another attack right at the start of the second half, ending in a third penalty for Farrell, but not for the first time England coughed up a penalty for not rolling away at the breakdown to allow Biggar to close the gap at 19-12.

Continuing the tempo of the half Farrell and Biggar traded penalties once more, with Wales always just about within reach, before a sixth Biggar penalty and tackle-busting run from North suddenly kicked them into life to the sound of Hymns and Arias.

England's four-point lead was under threat but Wales' horrendous injury luck hit them hard again, first with the loss of Scott Williams on a stretcher, quickly followed by young winger Amos.

Every scrum continued to go England's way as Farrell converted a fifth penalty, stretching the home side's advantage to 25-18 with ten minutes to go.

Wales though hadn't read the script, spreading the ball wide to makeshift winger Lloyd Williams whose brilliant kick infield was first met by Gareth Davies to score under the posts, sending the majority of Twickenham into silence.

Biggar landed his long-range seventh penalty but England stlll had time.  However rather than attempt a kickable penalty out wide in the Welsh 22, they went for the jugular with their maul and missed — a killer blow as Wales clung on.

Gatland's side had raided Twickenham and kept their composure when it mattered, showing unbelievable character in the process.

Man of the Match:  For his unnerving display off the kicking tee it has to be Dan Biggar, who rose to the challenge for Wales and kept them in the contest.

Moment of the Match:  Trailing by seven with nearly ten minutes to go, the timing of Gareth Davies' try was monumental as Wales drew level.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May
Cons:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 5
Drop Goal:  Farrell

For Wales:
Tries:  G Davies
Cons:  Biggar
Pens:  Biggar 7

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

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Alex Cuthbert

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Wallabies cruise to top of Pool A

Australia moved top of Pool A with the biggest win of the World Cup so far, downing Uruguay 65-3 at Villa Park on Sunday.

After Wales' comeback win over England, Australia continued to ease into the competition, scoring 11 tries against the pool's weakest side.

The difference in size and physicality was evident from the off, and the Wallabies ran in five tries in the first-half, with the outstanding Sean McMahon getting them off the mark.

Joe Tomane and Dean Mumm crossed either side of a sin-binning for Quade Cooper before Henry Speight's first Test try sesaled the bonus point.

There was time for one more try before the break from Ben McCalman as Australia led 31-3 at the break, Felipe Berchesi getting the lone penalty for los Teros.

Drew Mitchell scored two tries early in the second-half, with McCalman and McMahon also completing braces, and Matt Toomua and Tevita Kuridrani chipping in with tries late on.

The Wallabies are now top of the pool ahead of their two key clashes with England and Wales.  A win at Twickenham next Saturday would guarantee them a spot in the last eight, almost certainly ending the hosts' chances in the process.

While they were far from perfect, McMahon was particularly impressive, unlike Cooper, who did little to convince Michael Cheika that he should start against England.

Australia broke the first tackle on each of their first two charges, and they should have had the first try after just five minutes.  A quick lineout saw Kurtley Beale away down the left.  He didn't have the legs to go all the way, and Mitchell couldn't collect his inside pass, with a free run-in had he done so.

It made little difference though, two minutes later they were over, McMahon taking on David Pocock's role in the maul and then peeling off to score sprint over untouched on the blindside.  Cooper's conversion was wide but Australia led 5-0.

There was no question it was going to be a one-sided affair, and Australia had their second almost from the restart.  The impressive McMahon started it, breaking through tackles and going past halfway.  The ball was then spread wide where Beale kicked through.  Cooper was first on it before finding Tomane outside him for the score.  Cooper added the conversion from the other touchline as the Wallabies took complete control.

While Australia were completely dominant, they then lost fly-half Cooper to a needless yellow card.  With Uruguay on the attack, he caught Agustin Ormaechea round the neck before throwing him to the ground.  For a player desperately trying to prove a point to Cheika, it was a disastrous error, although Uruguay were unable to take advantage after kicking for the corner, with their maul going nowhere against the Australian defence.

Despite being a man down, Australia continued to look the more dangerous side, however Uruguay did get their first points of the game through a Berchesi penalty after Will Skelton had tackled a man without the ball.

As soon as Cooper returned, Australia were over again.  Mumm was the man to cross on this occasion, collecting Nick Phipps' delayed ball before handing off Leandro Leivas and dotting down.  Fresh from his ten-minute break, Cooper missed the conversion from the right.

And the bonus point came after 31 minutes when Australia again opened up space out wide, with Skelton's half-break then setting up the Wallabies to go through the hands, the final pass coming from Mitchell to Speight.  Côoper converted to make it 24-3.

The next try didn't take long, another carry from Skelton seeing the ball spready quickly.  Cooper drifted left before finding McCalman on his shoulder to go clean through.  From in front Cooper added the easy extras.

Uruguay started the second-half strongly, with a couple penalties kicked to the corner setting them up in good position.  Unfortunately their lack of physicality was a major issue, and Australia were able to keep them at bay relatively comfortably.

Australia, on the other hand, were much more clinical.  On their first attack of the half, Mitchell produced a mazy run, stepping out of two tackles before powering his way over, although the two men free outside him would have been fuming had he not gone all the way after ignoring them.

He had his second on 51 minutes after more good work through the centre by the Wallabies.  When the ball came out, a simple wrap with Cooper opened up the space and he then sent a pin-point wide pass out to the Toulon winger to dive over on the left.  Cooper again missed the conversion, albeit from a tough angle.

The one concern for Cheika will have been seeing Skelton holding his shoulder as he was forced off.  He looked to have a shoulder problem, which would be a cruel blow after growing into the game following a shaky start.

On the hour it was McCalman's turn to grab his second, with the Wallabies showing quick hands after a charge from Rob Simmons, Beale in particular giving immediately for the scoring pass.  Cooper added his fourth conversion of the afternoon to make it 48-3 to the Wallabies.

They crossed the half-century with just over ten minutes to go, an unstoppable rolling maul ending with McMahon dotting down for his second of the game.

Toomua then added the tenth try, and the pick of the bunch after some fabulous build-up work.  Cooper went clean through in midfield, stepped one man and then produced a sublime 20-metre pass to Beale.  He shipped it on to Toomua for the easy finish.  His miserable afternoon from the kicking tee continued though as he pulled his conversion wide once more.

Uruguay thought they finally had their first try of the tournament with five minutes remaining, were deemed to have been held up after turning the ball over on the Wallaby line.

Instead Australia came back up the pitch and Kuridrani went over on the right with the final play of the game, Cooper adding the tough conversion to complete a mixed game for him.

Man of the match:  As well as his two tries, Sean McMahon was simply a beast with ball in hand, constantly breaking tackles.  Slotting into David Pocock's role on the back of rolling mauls, the Wallabies have another excellent flanker to add to their already impressive collection.

Moment of the match:  Australia were dominant throughout, but their tenth try was probably the best of the lot, Quade Cooper showing his best side with a huge sidestep and then perfect pass for Kurtley Beale to send Matt Toomua over.

Villain of the match:  The game was played in good spirit, but Quade Cooper's judo throw of Agustin Ormaechea, while not particularly dangerous, was certainly stupid.  Michael Cheika can't afford to take chances on a player like that in the big games coming up.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  McMahon 2, Tomane, Mumm, Speight, McCalman 2, Mitchell 2, Toomua, Kuridrani
Cons:  Cooper 5
Yellow Card:  Cooper

For Uruguay:
Pen:  Berchesi

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Henry Speight, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Sean McMahon, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Dean Mumm (c), 3 Toby Smith, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Rob Simmons, 21 Will Genia, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

Uruguay:  15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Leandro Leivas, 13 Joaquin Prada, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 7 Matias Beer, 6 Juan De Freitas, 5 Franco Lamanna, 4 Santiago Vilaseca (c), 3 Mario Sagario, 2 German Kessler, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti.
Replacements:  16 Nicolas Klappenbach, 17 Oscar Duran, 18 Carlos Arboleya, 19 Alejandro Nieto, 20 Diego Magno, 21 Fernando Bascou, 22 Alejo Duran, 23 Alberto Roman.

Venue:  Villa Park, Birmingham
Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

Boks back in business against Samoa

South Africa got their World Cup campaign back on track with a convincing 46-6 win over Samoa thanks to a hat-trick from JP Pietersen.

A week on from their shock loss to Japan, the Springboks knew that it was win or bust for them, and they came out with intensity from the off.

Samoa led early with two Mike Stanley penalties and were the better team until the fly-half was picked off by Pietersen for a try against the run of play.

That changed the complexion of the game, and the Springboks, led by the infuriatingly brilliant Eben Etzebeth used all their experience to open up a 17-6 half-time lead.

Pietersen's second try early in the second half put the result beyond doubt, and South Africa were helped by Samoa's stubborn decisions to keep taking tough shots at goal when trailing by three scores.

Despite the best efforts of Tim Nanai-Williams, Samoa committed too many errors to really trouble the Boks, and will have to beat Japan in their next game to keep their own quarter-final hopes alive.

Schalk Burger's try just before the hour set South Africa on their way to a bonus point and it came with ten minutes remaining when Schalk Brits came off the bench and was perfectly positioned at the back of a rolling maul to score.

Pietersen completed his hat-trick a minute from time with a score in the corner, before Bryan Habana got in on the act at the death, completing what will be a welcome success for Heyneke Meyer and his much-criticised Dad's Army.

The Springboks now lead Pool B, and despite their loss to Japan, are favourites to emerge top with games against Scotland and the USA to come.

Fourie du Preez was exceptional for them, while skipper Jean de Villiers also excelled, but it was Eben Etzebeth who was the heartbeat of the team, driving his teammates forward and proving a menace in all aspects of the game.

South Africa showed their intent from the start, smashing the Samoan receiver at the kick-off and earning a penalty which Handrè Pollard converted for a 3-0 lead after barely a minute.

The Springboks meant business and a mammoth rolling maul from the restart earned a penalty as they looked in complete control.  A huge tackle from TJ Ioane slowed their momentum somewhat, and it was Samoa who started to grow into the game, levelling on eight minutes with the aid of the post through Michael Stanley after Francois Louw had failed to roll away from a ruck.

Pollard then put the restart out on the full, as South Africa showed some signs of nerves, with Samoa earning a penalty from the resulting scrum which Stanley slotted from halfway to give his team the lead.

Samoa looked the better team, with Nanai-Williams causing all sorts of problems with his quick feet, but against the run of play South Africa grabbed the first try.  After going through their backs Samoa looked to have a man over, but Stanley's floated pass couldn't clear Pietersen and he plucked it out of the air before racing 50 metres for the try.  Pollard pulled his conversion wide but the Springboks led 8-6.

Pollard added three more a couple of minutes later when Samoa were slow to roll away from a ruck and South Africa moved 11-6 in front.

They were able to stretch the lead to eight points on 24 minutes when Zak Taulafo was penalised for a tackle without the ball on Burger, giving Pollard a simple shot from in front of the posts.

Having been on the back foot early, South Africa were starting to come back into it and almost had a second try on the half-hour.  A fine break down the blindside from du Preez had Samoa scrambling and some quick hands saw de Villiers cross.  Unfortunately for South Africa, the final pass from Willie le Roux came just after he'd put a foot in touch much to Samoa's relief.

The intensity was huge with hits flying in from both sides.  Alesana Tuilagi allowed it to boil over at one point, putting in an unnecessary dig on Etzebeth after the lock had earned a turnover by stopping a Samoan maul.

South Africa moved back up the pitch with the penalty and when Joe Tekori strayed offside, Pollard stretched the lead to 17-6 with Stanley off-target with a 60-metre effort to end the half.

The Springboks flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half and almost had a second try after some fantastic interpassing.  De Villiers got away on the left and two quick passes from him to Habana, and then onto le Roux saw the full-back in the clear.  He chipped over Nanai-Williams but couldn't regather, knocking on two metres short of the line.

They were over five minutes later though, with Pietersen again on the end of it after good work from the forwards.  A powerful maul was eventually stopped by the Springboks worked the overlap and spread the ball quickly through le Roux and de Villiers to send Pietersen over for his second.  Pollard converted from the touchline and South Africa led 24-6.

Samoa kept fighting, but the game was getting away from them and it didn't help when Stanley pulled a penalty attempt well wide when kicking to the corner would surely have been the better option.

Stanley was off-target with a third straight penalty effort a couple of minutes later with his final kick of the game as Samoa failed to close the gap once more.

Instead it was South Africa who showed their clinical side, stealing a lineout five metres out before Burger had enough power to crash through the tackle of Ole Avei for their third try.  Pollard's conversion came back off the post but South Africa were on their way to a big victory.

Samoa were beaten but they then almost scored the try of the game, inevitably created by the sensational Nanai-Williams.  Collecting the ball on the right, he outpaced Tendai Mtawarira, chipped over le Roux and collected but his pass to Kahn Fotuali'i, who in turn found Tusi Pisi, was deemed forward.

And South Africa grabbed the bonus point try with ten minutes to go through Brits, the Saracens hooker the beneficiary of some great work by the Springbok pack as they marched towards the line.

There was still time for Habana to notch up his 60th try for the Boks, with the final play of the game, sprinting away in space after a turnover in midfield.

Man of the match:  Eben Etzebeth was outstanding, and probably deserves it, but we can't ignore JP Pietersen's hat-trick.  Back in the side, he proved his worth and looked back to his best.

Moment of the match:  The opening try turned the match on its head.  Until that point, Samoa looked the better team but when Mike Stanley tried an optimistic floated pass, JP Pietersen picked it off, and from there the Springboks were on their way.

Villain of the match:  The game looked like it might get out of hand when Alesana Tuilagi put in an unnecessary dig on Eben Etzebeth after a maul.  It didn't quite boil over though.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Pens:  Stanley 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Pietersen 3, Burger, Brits, Habana
Cons:  Pollard, Lambie
Pens:  Pollard 4

The teams:

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

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Schalk Brits, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jesse Kriel.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  JP Doyle (England), Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Italy shake off impressive Canada

Italy were given a mighty scare on Saturday but managed to see off Canada, winning 23-18 at Elland Road in an entertaining Rugby World Cup fixture.

Both teams crossed for two tries but it was the boot of pivot Tommaso Allan that proved the difference as the Azzurri picked up their first victory of the pool.

For Canada this was a much-improved performance from their heavy defeat to Ireland as tries from wing DTH van der Merwe and full-back Matt Evans put them ahead on two separate occasions in front of 33,120 supporters in Yorkshire.

Italy's try-scorers were loosehead prop Michele Rizzo and inside centre Gonzalo Garcia as their blushes were saved in a disappointing showing.

It was a high-octane opening in Leeds and Canada were the ones edging the contest, particularly at the breakdown where they won two penalties and also forced a turnover.  Nathan Hirayama was once again pulling the strings nicely but the scores remained deadlocked for fourteen minutes.

Italy were clearly rattled and that was illustrated by scrum-half Edoardo Gori stamping on a Canadian at a ruck which led to a kickable penalty being reversed.  The battle for third place in this pool was most definitely on as Canada grew in confidence whilst enjoying more ball in the 22.

Their dominance finally bore fruit when Italy were caught offside and Hirayama made them pay with three points.  The best was yet to come though.

From the restart Canada broke down the left through Van der Merwe before a lovely interchange with centre Ciaran Hearn saw the wing finish well.  Hirayama's extras made it 0-10 to the Canadians but Italy would hit back moments later through prop Rizzo, as he crashed over for 7-10.

The game had gone up another level at this point with Italy now starting to gain the ascendancy as they set up camp 20 metres out.  Canada did well to keep the Azzurri out on two occasions but eventually the pressure told, with Allan landing the levelling three points after 25 minutes.

Allan would leave the field before the interval for a Head Injury Assessment and his replacement, Carlo Canna, had a chance to put his side in front from the tee after a Canadian failed to roll away.  He was wayward and soon after found himself in touch as he attempted to score wide out.

Italy would however go 13-10 in front as the return of Allan saw an immediate chance to kick three points, this time for Canada's side entry.

Canada came out fighting in the second stanza and retook the lead on 45 minutes as a scything break from full-back Evans saw him dive over near to the left touchline.  Hirayama missed his difficult conversion attempt but his side would still restart with a slender two-point lead in Leeds.

Agonisingly for Kieran Crowley's side wing Phil McKenzie was denied a try one minute later on the other flank as TMO footage showed there to be a forward pass.  That decision came as welcome relief to Italy, who were on the ropes and shocked by what their opponents were throwing at them.

They managed to weather that storm though and hit the front once more before the hour mark when centre Garcia dived over from close range, after Canada had made the error of clearly directly to touch after the ball was taken back into their own 22.  Allan's conversion extended the arrears to 20-15.

Canada certainly had chances to respond with an all-important late score as livewire replacement scrum-half Phil Mack almost set up McKenzie for a run-in.  However, an Italian hand halted the pass which meant Canada would be denied but still have possession in the Azzurri red zone.

The pressure finally turned into points from Hirayama's boot on 72 minutes and so began a frantic final eight minutes of action at Elland Road.  Italy though would survive and in fact made sure of the win with the last kick of the game as Allan landed a penalty for 23-18.

Man of the match:  Outstanding on a losing side once again, DTH van der Merwe was a willing runner for Canada and took his try tally this World Cup to two with his first-half effort.  Also impressive for the second successive week was fly-half Nathan Hirayama.

Moment of the match:  Canada will be kicking themselves after clearing directly into touch after taking the ball back into their 22 on the hour mark.  Italy punished them with what turned out to be the match-winning try.  On such margins internationals are won.

Villain of the match:  A thoroughly entertaining game with nothing malicious to report.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Rizzo, Garcia
Con:  Allan 2
Pen:  Allan 3

For Canada:
Tries:  Van der Merwe, Evans
Con:  Hirayama
Pen:  Hirayama 2

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Josh Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Michele Campagnaro.

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Connor Braid, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 8 Tyler Ardron (c), 7 John Moonlight, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Evan Olmstead, 20 Kyle Gilmour, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Conor Trainor, 23 Harry Jones.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Argentina put 50 past Georgia

Argentina got their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track when they beat Georgia 54-9 in their Pool C clash at Kingsholm on Friday.

Los Pumas, who lost their tournament opener to New Zealand last Sunday, outscored their opponents by seven tries to nought and their fly-half Nicolas Sanchez impressed with his goalkicking, finishing with a 15-point haul, via two penalties, three conversions and a drop goal.

In a physical encounter — especially the first half when Georgia gave as good as they got — Los Pumas' experience and superior tactical play proved too good for their opponents and they stepped up a gear in the second half after holding a slender 14-9 lead at the break.

Georgia punched above their weight for large periods and were kept in the game up until half-time by the accurate goalkicking of Merab Kvirikashvili, who slotted three penalties, but they ran out of steam in the second half.  The sin-binning of their captain Mamuka Gorgodze, for playing the ball on the ground deep inside his 22 shortly after the break, proved costly as Argentina scored 21 unanswered points during his time off the field.

Argentina had the better of the early exchanges and after a sustained period of pressure inside Georgia's 22, Nicolas Sanchez opened the scoring with the tournament's first drop goal in the sixth minute.

The South Americans continued to dominate during the opening quarter and were 8-0 up shortly afterwards when, after taking the ball through several phases in the build-up, Tomas Lavanini scored the game's opening try in the right-hand corner.

Kvirikashvili replied with two penalties for Georgia before Sanchez added a three-pointer from the kicking tee, which meant Argentina held an 11-6 lead in the 22nd minute.  The next 10 minutes was an arm wrestle as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy with most of the play restricted to the forwards.

Kvirikashvili added his third three-pointer before Sanchez replied with another penalty for Argentina.

Argentina showed their intentions from the outset when they came out for the second half and were soon camped inside Georgia's 22.  Gorgodze's sending-off in the 45th minute proved the pivotal moment in the match and his absence underlined how important he is to Georgia's cause.

First Tomas Cubelli exploited a gap in the defence to go over untouched from a scrum on Georgia's tryline before Juan Imhoff showed a superb turn of speed to get over in the left-hand corner.

The game was all over as a contest by the 52nd minute when Cordero got over for his first try after running onto a pass from Facundo Isa.  Cordero still had work to do and beat the final defender with a brilliant side-step before going over for his side's bonus-point try.

That was the knockout blow but Los Pumas weren't done yet.  After a sustained period of pressure, close to Georgia's tryline, Martin Landajo scampered over from close quarters after selling the defence a dummy.

Sanchez had been replaced by then and Marcelo Bosch added the extras and also converted Cordero's second try, after he shrugged off two challenges before outpacing the cover defence to dot down.

Imhoff was not to be outdone and also scored his second try in the 75th minute.  The speedster had an easy run-in after Argentina's forwards took the ball through several phases inside Georgia's 22.

The victory means Argentina are now second in the pool with five points from two matches — four points adrift of New Zealand.

Man of the match:  Several candidates in Argentina's side but Nicolas Sanchez delivered a superb all-round display during his time on the pitch.  Sanchez varied his play well and thrived as a playmaker.  He brought his forwards into play with clever offloads and also created space for his outside backs.

Moment of the match:  The sin binning of Mamuka Gorgodze proved disastrous for Georgia as Argentina made full use of their numerical advantage by scoring three tries in a seven-minute period.

Villain of the match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Argentina:

Tries:  Cordero 2, Imhoff 2, Lavanini, Cubelli, Landajo
Cons:  Sanchez 3, Bosch 2
Pens:  Sanchez 2
Drop goal:  Sanchez

For Georgia:
Pens:  Kvirikashvili 3
Yellow card:  Gorgodze

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Javier Ortega Desio, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino

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

All Blacks ease past Namibia

New Zealand produced a clinical display as they cruised past a valiant Namibia 58-14 at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday.

In the first meeting between the two teams, there was only ever going to be one winner, and the All Blacks were thoroughly professional as they downed their overmatched opponents scoring nine tries in total.

However, the loudest cheer of the evening went to Namibia centre Johan Deysel, as he scored their first try of the tournament ten minutes into the second-half.

New Zealand had five tries by half-time, with Sonny Bill Williams stealing the limelight with some delightful offloads and Nehe Milner-Skudder grabbing two tries.

Victor Vito had got them on their way with the first try, while Malakai Fekitoa and Beauden Barrett also crossed as Namibia had little answer to the world champions.

The second-half gave Julian Savea the chance to end his try-scoring drought in black, scoring his first Test try of 2015, although the All Black winger still looks worryingly short of form despite a second try late on.

Ben Smith also crossed after coming off the bench and Codie Taylor scored with the final play of the game, but Steve Hansen will have been disappointed with the lack of accuracy from his side in the second-half as they allowed their standards to drop considerably, while Barrett's goal-kicking was inconsistent.

It didn't take long for New Zealand to exert their dominance, with an early penalty from in front from Barrett giving them a 3-0 lead after four minutes.

And a minute later they were over for their first try, Savea breaking down the left and two phases later Vito finding enough space to get over in the same corner.  Barrett converted from the touchline to make it 10-0 to the world champions.

It was a sign of things to come and after another Vito break Milner-Skudder made up for a sloppy performance against Argentina with a fine finish for New Zealand's second.  Collecting the wide ball from Fekitoa he easily stepped inside Deysel and dived over, although Barrett couldn't convert from the opposite touchline.

Namibia got on the board just before the quarter-hour however, when Ben Franks was penalised for holding on, allowing Theuns Kotzè to slot three points from just over 40 metres out.

That brought a huge cheer, and it was nearly matched a few minutes later when an All Black lineout five metres out was stolen by Tjuee Uanivi, allowing them to clear their lines.

New Zealand were just too big, too strong and too quick, and they had a third try on the board after 20 minutes.  Williams shrugged off a couple of tackles after taking Barrett's pop pass.  He was finally stopped short of the line but produced a trademark offload to give Fekitoa the easiest of finishes.  With Barrett's conversion, the All Blacks led 22-3.

That soon became 22-6 when Charlie Faumuina rushed up too quickly in defence, allowing Kotzè to slot his second penalty of the evening.

But New Zealand came back again, and had their bonus point after just half an hour, Barrett spotting a huge gap in midfield and sprinting straight through before showing his pace to go under the posts.  He converted his own try to make it 29-6.

Namibia could have had a try just before the break, but David Philander couldn't hold onto Colin Slade's loose pass, knocking on with no cover in behind.

Instead it was New Zealand who had the final word of the half, breaking through in midfield, and after Fekitoa had been stopped just short, the ball was spread wide for Milner-Skudder to grab his second.  Barrett missed the conversion but New Zealand led 34-6 at the break.

Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreboard, Namibia continued to take shots at goal when they had the chance and Kotzè slotted his third penalty of the night to open the scoring in the second-half.

New Zealand had their sixth try soon after though, with Savea crossing for a morale-boosting score.  Having struggled for form so far in 2015, he showed his power to crash through in midfield, and after being stopped just short, he reached out and placed the ball on the line.  The All Blacks had decided to switch Slade and Barrett between full-back and fly-half at the break, and the former also took on kicking duties, slotting the simple conversion.

Having scored three penalties, Namibia decided to kick their next opportunity to the corner, and it paid dividends with their first try of the evening.  A clever lineout move saw Torsten van Jaarsveld crash it up in midfield and after going right then back left, Deysel spun out of two tackles and powered his way over for the try.  That brought a massive cheer from the crowd although Kotzè's conversion was just off-target.

The Welwitschias were performing admirably, but just before the hour their task got a great deal harder.  After a string of attacks in the Namibian 22, Jaco Engels was caught killing the ball on his line, earning a yellow card from Romain Poite.

Namibia had actually outscored their illustrious opponents in the first 20 minutes of the second half, but the dam had to break eventually, and it was Smith, coming off the bench, who went over for their seventh try, although Barrett's touchline conversion was again wayward.

New Zealand lacked fluency in the final 20 minutes but did get over again through Savea, finishing with a low dive after the All Blacks had worked space on the left before Taylor finished the scoring following a stunning inside pass from Milner-Skudder.

Still, it was a respectable result for Namibia, who had been tipped to lose by a great deal more, and will take confidence heading into their next game against Tonga.

Man of the match:  It could have gone to Sonny Bill Williams but Nehe Milner-Skudder's final assist gets him the nod.  His step off his right foot is so hard to counter and he showed his finishing skills with two fine tries.

Moment of the match:  There's no question it was Johan Deysel's try for Namibia.  He slipped two men before bouncing off Malakai Fekitoa for a magical moment for the underdogs.

Villain of the match:  No nasty business to report.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Vito, Milner-Skudder 2, Fekitoa, Barrett, Savea 2, Smith, Taylor
Cons:  Barrett 4, Slade
Pen:  Barrett

For Namibia:
Try:  Deysel
Pens:  Kotzè 3
Yellow card:  Engels

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Colin Slade, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Sam Cane (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Tony Woodcock, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Richie McCaw, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Ma'a Nonu, 23 Ben Smith.

Namibia:  15 Johan Tromp, 14 David Philander, 13 JC Greyling, 12 Johan Deysel, 11 Conrad Marais, 10 Theuns Kotzè, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Leneve Damens, 7 Tinus du Plessis, 6 Jacques Burger (capt), 5 Pieter-Jan van Lill, 4 Tjuee Uanivi, 3 Johannes Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements:  16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Casper Viviers, 18 Raoul Larson, 19 Renaldo Bothma, 20 Janco Venter, 21 Rohan Kitshoff, 22 Eneill Buitendag, 23 Chrysander Botha.

Venue:  The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Mathieu Raynal (France)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Uninspiring France battle past Oaks

France made heavy weather of beating Romania, 38-11, eventually picking up a bonus point win after an underwhelming display.

After being thoroughly outplayed at the breakdown, France needed a ten-minute spell with an extra man to finally break Romania down in the first half, with Sofiane Guitoune and Yannick Nyanga crossing to give them a 17-6 half-time lead.

Despite a stern talking to from a furious Philippe Saint-André, things didn't get much better in the second half, with France only threatening on the all too rare occasions they injected some pace into the game.

They finally picked things up in the final quarter, with Guitoune grabbing his second and Wesley Fofana then crossing for the crucial fourth try as Romania started to slip off some tackles.

Gaël Fickou sealed the win after Valentin Ursache had crossed for the Oaks, who deserved their try having caused les Bleus all sorts of problems.

That win keeps France on course for a pool decider with Ireland but on this display, they will have to improve a great deal to avoid a defeat and a likely quarter-final against the All Blacks.

For their part, Romania continued the impressive displays of the so called lesser teams in this tournament, but apart from their excellent scrum and breakdown work, were a little too limited to make their possession and territorial dominance in the first half count.

Romania drew first blood at scrum-time, disrupting a French put-in to earn a penalty with just two minutes on the board.  Unfortunately for the Romanians, their lineout wasn't quite so hot, overthrowing the jumper and losing their first possession in French territory.

While their scrum was going well, the worry for the Romanians was how easy France were making ground, with Wesley Fofana going clean through with his first touch.

Eventually France found themselves five metres out and when the Romanian defence sprinted up too quickly, it handed Morgan Parra an easy opportunity to open the scoring with a penalty in front.

However after a shaky start, Romania started to come into it, and when Adrian Apostol kicked through Brice Dulin was pressured on his own line, conceding a penalty which the Romanians kicked to the corner.  While their maul was stopped, a series of drives stretched the French defence, opening things up for Florin Vlaicu to get over.

Unfortunately for the centre Bernard le Roux did brilliantly hold him up initially, before a pile of bodies obscured any potential touchdown.  With penalty advantage Romania took the three points through their centre to level the scores after 20 minutes.

The Romanian pack was bossing their counterparts, with the French lineout in disarray and countless breakdown penalties as Romania threw bodies into rucks.  After yet another turnover France strayed offside, giving the Oaks the chance to take the lead, only for Vlaicu to pull an easy chance wide.

While France had been struggling at everything else, their maul was at least functioning.  After one such play Romania were forced to haul down the onrushing pack, with Paulica Ion sin-binned as a result.

Les Bleus went straight back to the maul, and while it didn't work, it opened up space on the blindside for Parra to put Guitoune into space.  The winger had just enough strength to reach over and dot down.  Parra's conversion from the touchline made it 10-3.

That try seemed to liberate France and they were over again two minutes later.  After a searing break in midfield from Dulin, France recycled quickly.  This time Uini Atonio burst through in midfield and with the Romanians scrambling, Alexandre Flanquart delayed his pass perfectly before putting Nyanga over on the right.  Parra again added the extras from the touchline and suddenly it was a 17-3 lead.

Despite being down to 14, Romania kept battling, and created one chance when Catalin Fercu opened up some space for Apostol.  He found his full-back again inside him but Guitoune was back in time to drag him into touch.

They were still causing France problems at the breakdown, and another turnover led to a penalty for slowing the ball down, with Vlaicu making no mistake this time to cut the deficit to 11 on the stroke of half-time.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with France still struggling at the breakdown but causing problems with their maul.  They lacked patience however, with one little chip over the top from Parra clearly the wrong option with his team approaching the line.

Inaccurate and lethargic, France played into their opponents' hands by playing at a snail's pace, only raising the tempo in the final quarter of an hour.

When they did pick up the pace, Romania struggled to disrupt them at the breakdown, with one quick passage eventually sending Guitoune over for his second, showing power to force his way over.  Parra again slotted the tricky conversion and France led 24-6 with 13 minutes left to get a bonus point.

It didn't take them long, with the Oaks starting to tire.  After some more quick hands, France's offloading game finally clicking, Fofana spun out of two tackles and dotted down to seal the five points.  Rory Kockott, on for Parra, added the conversion for les Bleus.

But quite rightly Romania got the try they deserved.  Having failed to deal with the French maul all game, they showed they could do the same with Ursache, undoubtedly their best player, the man to crash over.

Guitoune almost had a hat-trick after an acrobatic finish following a chip over the top, but he couldn't quite get the ball down before running out of space in-goal.

There was still time for a fifth try, with Fickou showing his quick feet when running an excellent line, weaving through the defence and over for a simple score.

Man of the match:  There had been question marks over his selection after a disappointing display against England in the warm-ups, but Sofiane Guitoune scored two tries and also stood up in defence with a couple of crucial tackles.  There are tougher tests to come but he did as well as he could have.

Moment of the match:  Florin Vlaicu came desperately close to the first try, getting over the line but being held up by Bernard le Roux and Sofiane Guitoune.  With France wobbling, that try might just have sparked an upset.

Villain of the match:  No nasty business to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Guitoune 2, Nyanga, Fofana, Fickou
Cons:  Parra 3, Kockott 2
Pen:  Parra

For Romania:
Try:  V Ursache
Pens:  Vlaicu 2
Yellow Card:  Ion

The teams:

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Sofiane Guitoune, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Rémi Talès, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Bernard le Roux, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (c), 1 Vincent Debaty
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Yoann Maestri, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Frédéric Michalak, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Madalin Lemnaru, 13 Paula Kinikinilau, 12 Florin Vlaicu, 11 Adrian Apostol, 10 Danut Dumbrava, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Mihai Macovei (c), 7 Viorel Lucaci, 6 Valentin Ursache, 5 Johan Van Heerden, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Mihaita Lazar
Replacements:  16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Andrei Ursache, 18 Horatiu Pungea, 19 Ovidiu Tonita, 20 Stelian Burcea, 21 Valentin Calafeteanu, 22 Ionut Botezatu, 23 Csaba Gal

Venue:  Olympic Stadium, London
Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Australia win without bonus point

Australia got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start on Wednesday as they overcame a spirited Fijian side 28-13 at the Millennium Stadium.

While they didn't pick up the try bonus-point like England five days ago, it was a streetwise pool start from the recent Rugby Championship winners in Cardiff.

The combination of David Pocock and Michael Hooper together in the back-row again offered plenty of dynamism while Matt Giteau organised well at centre.

Of course tougher fixtures will arrive in the coming weeks as after Uruguay it's crunch time against England and then finally Wales in this pool of death.

But a three-try triumph will do nicely to kick things off as a double from number eight Pocock and one from tighthead prop Sekope Kepu saw them to victory.

Fiji were kept at arm's length for most of the game with their only try coming from fly-half Ben Volavola.  Australia though were deserved winners on the day.

Australia had trained as two teams since arriving from the USA as they face Uruguay on Sunday at Villa Park.  Fiji had their own problems after only playing England last Friday but were able to limit the changes to four as Peceli Yato, Netani Talei, Tevita Cavubati and Tuapati Talemaitoga came into the starting line-up.

That quickly became four tweaks from the XV that went down the hosts as they lost Waisea to injury inside four minutes.  Aseli Tikoirotuma was his replacement amid a decent start from the Wallabies, with Israel Folau in particular a threat.

Australia were on the board soon after as Bernard Foley kicked over a penalty from in front, with an off the ball tackle on Giteau the offence.  Giteau would have a fine first-half as he regularly took the right option, proving his return from the Test wilderness could be a masterstroke.

Credit to Fiji who settled and worked their way downfield before decent possession gave the crowd reason to cheer.  The noise grew when they won a scrum penalty against the head — much to the delight of tighthead Manasa Saulo — before further pressure resulted in Nemani Nadolo levelling.

Fiji weren't the only ones keeping the Millennium Stadium crowd happy as back-to-back decisions to ignore the posts bore fruit when Pocock was the man at the tail of a driving line-out, thus opening Australia's try account at this World Cup.  Foley cooly kicked the difficult conversion.

Australia were now motoring as their maul seemed to have Fiji's number, Pocock again at the tail as the Wallabies extended their lead to 15-3, this after Fiji loosehead prop Campese Ma'afu was carded for an offence at the breakdown.  It would be a crucial ten minutes before the break.

Foley would keep the scoreboard ticking over with his second penalty before the turnaround but one felt that 18-3 was slightly harsh on Fiji, whose heads looked to be dropping after a tough opening 120 minutes in the tournament.  If anyone could strike from nothing though, it's them.

The opening score of the half however would go the way of the Wallabies as tighthead prop Kepu showed good feet to cross, making it 25-3 with the result now seemingly beyond doubt.  The try bonus-point wasn't in the bag just yet though as Australia looked to join England at the summit.

Fiji meanwhile were staring a zero from two pool record in the face and despite Nadolo making it 25-6 off the kicking tee, losing the influential Nikola Matawalu to injury on 50 minutes was another painful moment for John McKee.  He'll hope he recovers for Wales next Thursday.

Many expected Australia to run away with things in the second half as Fiji have recently developed a tendency to dip after the break.  Not so today as they upped their game to make it a two-score game.  Volavola was the man crossing with an excellent step and strength seeing him over.

Foley was wise to restore a 15-point buffer on 69 minutes but when outside centre Tevita Kuridrani was shown yellow for not rolling away, Fiji again put the foot to the floor despite being out on their feet and there being just three minutes left.

It was all in vain but try telling Fiji to take their foot off the gas in their closest losing margin against Australia since 1984.

Man of the match:  It's hard to look past David Pocock for his two-try performance.  His work at the breakdown once again stood out as Fiji struggled to shift him.  Alongside Michael Hooper the Wallabies have a formidable duo in the back-row.

Moment of the match:  The loudest cheer of the night arrived when Ben Volavola crossed in the second half.  It was a lovely finish from the Fiji fly-half as his quick feet got him to the try-line from almost 20 metres out before power did the rest.

Villain of the match:  Nothing dirty to report.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Pocock 2, Kepu
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Foley 3
Yellow card:  Kuridrani (not rolling away — 73 mins)

For Fiji:
Try:  Volavola
Con:  Nadolo
Pens:  Nadolo 2
Yellow card:  Ma'afu (ruck offence — 31 mins)

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Kane Douglas, 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 Dean Mumm, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Kurtley Beale.

Fiji:  15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Akapusi Qera (c), 6 Peceli Yato, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements:  16 Viliame Veikoso, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Isei Colati, 19 Nemia Soqeta, 20 Malakai Ravulo, 21 Nemia Kenatale, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma.

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England

Clinical Scots power past tired Japan

Scotland kicked on in the final half hour to secure a comprehensive 45-10 win over Japan at Kingsholm in Gloucester on Wednesday.

Five tries in the second half, including two for Mark Bennett, wrapped up a convincing win at the end for the fresher Scots in their first game, with the outcome always set to hinge on how quickly Japan had recovered both mentally and physically from last Saturday's spectacular triumph over South Africa.

Six changes from Eddie Jones went some way to freshening up his side but asking the majority of the heroes who conquered the Springboks to do it all again four days later bordered on unreasonable.

They weren't as sharp, conceded more penalties, but crucially were never out of the contest until their legs went with 30 minutes left.  The loss of outstanding number eight Amanaki Mafi not long into the second half was also a cruel blow.

Scotland had no such worries when it came to fatigue and were ruthless in putting points on the board early on through the boot of man of the match Greig Laidlaw, but they never looked truly at ease until Bennett's first try midway through the second half.

Laidlaw, kicking on familiar turf at Kingsholm having joined Gloucester last year, converted an early penalty won through Scotland's maul after Kotaro Matsushima was harried into touch deep in his own 22.

A second Scotland penalty was fair reward for dominating the opening stages where Laidlaw and Finn Russell kept the tempo high.

That all changed after Grant Gilchrist gave away a sloppy penalty at the breakdown, allowing Ayumu Goromaru to put the ball in the corner.

Japan's maul was excellent against South Africa and struck again here at the first attempt.  Shifting the ball at the lineout to a second pod led by the captain Michael Leitch, the Brave Blossoms wouldn't be stopped as Mafi found the line.

Laidlaw responded after a no-arms tackle saw Shota Horie penalised to put Scotland back ahead at 9-7, and Japan continued to struggle in the scrum, Laidlaw wasting no time to make it 12-7 from 45 metres out after the Japanese front row dropped their bind.

Japan's indiscipline was beginning to cost them with Matsushima questionably sin-binned for hands in the ruck, but Laidlaw's wide kick left them off the hook on the scoreboard.

Leitch and Japan's bravery however hadn't deserted them, opting to go to the corner from a kickable penalty only for the ball to be lost forward.

Little errors such as those — Goromaru's missed penalty, a forward pass — undid plenty of promising groundwork but Japan were relentless in the pressure they put on Scotland when Fumiaki Tanaka and Mafi were able to get on the front foot.  Despite an entertaining stint camped in Scotland's 22, they failed to produce any points.

Having withstood Japan's barrage Scotland almost had the final say of the half, only for a spectacular try-saving tackle from Goromaru on Tommy Seymour to keep the score at 12-7.

More brilliance from Mafi almost handed Japan a perfect start to the second half, only for Scotland to cling on, but after another barnstorming run through the defence the Tongan-born number eight couldn't carry on in huge blow to Japan's hopes.  Goromaru's first penalty closed the gap to just two points.

Line breaks for Scotland had been hard to come by but a sharp inside ball released Sean Lamont into space and opened up the Japanese defence for John Hardie to score his first Scotland try in only his third cap.

Vern Cotter's side then completely switched off from the restart, letting the ball bounce for Matsushima to sneak in behind for an attack that ended with a penalty which Goromaru clattered off the post.

With 25 minutes to go Scotland full-back Hogg sped through a gap and left Japan scrambling, giving Bennett a simple chance to score Scotland's second try with what felt like the killer blow even though the centre went precariously close to crossing the dead ball line before touching down.

Tommy Seymour's interception try confirmed the result, despite him being chased well by Kenki Fukuoka, with Bennett then adding a second to the delight of the Scottish fans packed into the crowd as their side secured a try-bonus point.

Birthday boy Finn Russell made the most of Japan being out on their feet as he stepped through for try number five to add more points that might go far when the pool stages come to a close.

A sadly predictable outcome, but Scotland won't mind one bit.

Man of the Match:  Amanaki Mafi impressed for Japan while Greig Laidlaw was crucial for Scotland, but John Hardie showed a high work-rate in Scotland's back row and looks like a top addition.

Moment of the Match:  It felt already over but Tommy Seymour's interception try confirmed there was no way back for Japan.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Try:  Mafi
Con:  Goromaru
Peny:  Goromaru
Yellow Card:  Matsushima

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hardie, Bennett 2, Seymour, Russell
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pens:  Laidlaw 4

Japan:  15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Male Sau, 12 Yu Tamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Justin Ives, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Kazu, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Shoji Ito, 21 Hendrik Tui, 22 Atsushi Hiwasa, 23 Karne Hesketh

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Maitland

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

All Blacks avoid Pumas upset

Richie McCaw was sin-binned and they even went down to 13 at one point but New Zealand held their nerve to come from behind and beat Argentina 26-16 at Wembley.

In front of a world record crowd, Argentina dominated for 50 minutes, taking advantage of two All Black sin-binnings as they played some scintillating rugby.

However Aaron Smith's try just before the hour proved the turning point, with Sonny Bill Williams' introduction making a massive difference as the world champions calmly came back for what was eventually a relatively comfortable win.

In a tournament that came alive with Saturday's shock win for Japan over South Africa, Argentina looked prime to record their first-ever win against the All Blacks, but after failing to press home their early dominance, they paid the price in the final quarter.

The game followed the expected script in the opening 20 minutes, New Zealand opening up a 9-0 lead, however Guido Petti's try sparked an incredible passage from Argentina who had the All Blacks on the ropes.

Eventually Aaron Smith's score, and a second try from Sam Cane, proved enough for the All Blacks, but the Pumas laid down a marker and won't fear anyone in what is potentially the easier side of the draw should they finish second in the pool.

New Zealand were put under pressure, and saw McCaw and Conrad Smith both sin-binned, but also showed why they are the best in the world when up against it, calmly fighting their way back to complete the win.

The world champions drew first blood with an early Dan Carter penalty, and things got worse for the Pumas on ten minutes when they lost a man to the bin.

Despite a powerful Pumas scrum five metres out from their own line, New Zealand were able to secure the ball and set up camp in the Argentina 22.  Ben Smith's through-the-legs pass was reminiscent of Carlos Spencer 12 years ago, but after Julian Savea had been tackled, Argentina were penalised for slowing the ball.  Aaron Smith tapped and went and was instantly tackled by Pablo Matera who was inevitably yellow-carded.

Carter added a second penalty to make it 6-0 to the All Blacks, with Argentina having barely ventured into New Zealand territory.

Argentina coped relatively well while down a man, but did concede a third penalty, converted by Carter, when they were caught offside in defence.

However on their first lengthy period of possession in All Black territory, Argentina scored a well-deserved try.  Both forwards and backs made ground with ball in hand, number eight Leonardo Senatore was particularly involved.  When he was stopped short, young lock Petti picked up and dived around the fringes to score.

He caught a boot to the head from Carter in the process, having to go off as a result.  Nicolas Sanchez's conversion made it 9-7 midway through the half.

While Carter's offence wasn't intentional, McCaw could have been sin-binned in the build-up, coming in cynically from the side as Argentina piled forward.  He was soon taking ten minutes off though after being spotted tripping Juan Martin Fernandez-Lobbe as he tried to take a tap penalty.  TMO George Ayoub spotted the remarkably cynical act, and the All Black skipper was yellow-carded for only the third time in his long Test career.

Sanchez converted the penalty to give Argentina the lead, and the Pumas took advantage of their extra man to pile forward with some great continuity as the half drew to a close.  Juan Imhoff's break had New Zealand scrambling, and when Conrad Smith dived off his feet to kill the move, he became the second All Black to go to the bin.  Sanchez added three more points and Argentina led 13-9.

New Zealand showed their experience to earn a penalty while down to 13, Matera penalised for slowing down the ball, and Carter made it a one-point game with the last kick of the half.

Those three points from Carter were quickly cancelled out by Sanchez after the break, as New Zealand rushed up too quickly in defence following more good work from the Pumas.

Steve Hansen clearly wasn't happy with what he was seeing, and brought on Williams for Ma'a Nonu, the former league star almost making an instant impact.  He shrugged off one tackle and was almost over, but after he was scragged, Nehe Milner-Skudder couldn't collect a trademark offload with the try-line at his mercy.

Milner-Skudder was hooked for that mistake, replaced by Beauden Barrett, but while the chance had gone, territory and possession was all New Zealand by this point.  The Pumas held for as long as they could, but just before the hour, the All Blacks finally broke through.

Following a maul that had been shunted backwards, Aaron Smith peeled away and then stepped inside the despairing Tomas Cubelli to dive over and give his team the lead again.  Carter's conversion made it 19-16 to the world champions.

From there Argentina never really threatened a comeback, and any hopes were extinguished when New Zealand worked some space out wide for Cane to stroll over.

They could have had more, but the Pumas defence held, and in fairness, anything more than the ten-point margin between the sides would have been unfair on Argentina.

New Zealand continue their record of never having lost a pool game, and despite some signs of weakness, showed all their experience to get the job done.

Man of the match:  It's tempting to go with Agustin Creevy after an incredible all-action display, but we'll go for Sonny Bill Williams.  He might have been lucky to make the squad, but his introduction turned the tide for New Zealand.

Moment of the match:  The Aaron Smith try seemed to liberate New Zealand, having looked rattled for much of the opening 50 minutes.  Tomas Cubelli knew its importance as he watched on helplessly having fallen for Smith's sidestep.

Villain of the match:  Richie McCaw played the cartoon villain role, and his trip was surprisingly stupid from a player of his experience.  The boos that rang out every time he appeared on the big screen were unnecessary though.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Try:  Petti
Con:  Sanchez
Pens:  Sanchez 3
Yellow Card:  Matera

For New Zealand:
Tries:  A Smith, Cane
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 4
Yellow Cards:  McCaw, Smith

The teams:

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 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 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino

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

Venue:  Wembley Stadium, London
Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  JP Doyle (England), Angus Gardner (Australia)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

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)