All Blacks hit their stride against Samoa

New Zealand cruised to a 78-0 thrashing of Samoa at Eden Park on Friday, running in 12 tries in their warm-up for the Lions series.

Tries from Anton Lienert-Brown, Beauden Barrett, Ardie Savea and Sonny Bill Williams gave New Zealand a comfortable 28-0 lead, at the end of a first half where Samoa had big chances to score but failed to capitalise, not to mention being on the wrong side of a contention decision for the first try.

Once Samoa's confidence dipped after Savea's ruthless score off first-phase, the outcome of the contest felt familiar as the All Blacks shook off that early rust.

Israel Dagg continued the rout with Julian Savea, Codie Taylor, a second for Beauden Barrett, Vaea Fifita on debut, TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea's second and Sam Cane all crossing.

It was the visitors who had the better start, impressively retaining the ball for 20 phases and testing the All Blacks' defence early on.  An attack that started right back in their own half moved all the way up to just short of New Zealand's try line, only to be brought to an end for a neck roll by Faifili Levave.

Inevitably after a tough opening the All Blacks began to settle, Lienert-Brown scoring a fortuitous opener.

After a five-metre scrum Beauden Barrett did his best to power over, before his loose offload luckily fel into the hands of his centre to dot down.  Replays suggested Ardie Savea may have lost the ball forward at the initial scrum, but the score stood.

Albert Nikoro attempted to respond swiftly for Samoa, his long-range penalty from inside his own half falling short of the sticks, but there was no faulting their attitude early on as the opening quarter ended 7-0.

A sweet sidestep from Tim Nanai-Williams left his cousin Sonny Bill Williams rooted to the spot, only for the Samoa break to come to nothing.  A second long-range penalty effort came up short again, but Samoa continued to dominate at the breakdown, winning multiple penalties in that area in the first half.

Frankly it was an excellent first half an hour for Samoa, who deserved some points as a reward, Alapati Leiua cutting the All Blacks' defence open again.

Instead the hosts countered, turnover ball deep in their own 22 transformed into an attack by captain Ben Smith, mutiple offloads leading to Beauden Barrett hacking on and producing a quality slide to regather the ball and add New Zealand's second try on his 50th cap.  His subsequent conversion made it 14-0.

There was nothing lucky about their third try.  A set-piece move off the scrum, Barrett's speed to beat the cover defence opened up the space, with Lienert-Brown's inside pass putting away Ardie Savea to make it 21-0.

It could have soon been four, a one-two between Brodie Retallick and Israel Dagg ending with the All Blacks lock unable to haul the ball in with the line in front of him.

There was still time however before the half was out.  Opting for a short-range scrum off a penalty, Sonny Bill Williams could not be be stopped crashing up close to the posts.  Beauden Barrett's conversion meant the All Blacks went into the break up 28-0.

It was a similar story to start the second half, Lienert-Brown's quick feet and well-timed pass giving Dagg an easy run to the line.  Faced with his toughest kick of the night, Beauden Barrett converted from out wide.

Julian Savea got in on the act with his 46th Test try, and possibly the easiest, thanks to Retallick's rampaging run before the All Blacks spread the ball wide, Lienert-Brown again with the final pass.  Beauden Barrett missed for the first time, leaving the score at 40-0.

There was always more to come, Scott Barrett and Beauden Barrett combining and despite the best work of Ahsee Tuala, New Zealand drove over all too easily only for Aaron Smith to bomb a golden chance.  With Samoa out on their feet and still having a man treated Taylor added to the tally, Ben Smith too quick and too sharp for a scattered defence.

On came Vaea Fifita for his All Blacks debut with the pick of the tries coming next.  TJ Perenara's run, Williams' straightening and offload all made the space down the touchline for Beauden Barrett to slide over for his second try, adding his seventh conversion before being replaced by Lima Sopoaga.

Fifita then capped his debut with a try, finishing off a sweeping move started by a Scott Barrett break but truly made by Dagg's goose step and acceleration past Tusi Pisi.

Perenara added try number ten after Sopoaga's break, making the score 66-0, before an all-Hurricanes score saw Perenara and Julian Savea combining to put away Ardie Savea with a cute chip over the top.

Jordie Barrett's fine offload on debut then started the move for the 12th and final try by Cane, as Sopoaga had a late score ruled out.  All Blacks rusty?  No chance.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Lienert-Brown, B Barrett 2, A Savea 2, Williams, Dagg, J Savea, Taylor, Fifita, Perenara, Cane
Cons:  B Barrett 7, Sopoaga 2

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith (c), 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Vaea Fifita, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Jordie Barrett

Samoa:  15 Ah See Tuala, 14 Albert Nikoro, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Tim Nanai-Williams, 10 Tusiata Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Faifili Levave, 7 Faalemiga Selesele, 6 Piula Faasalele, 5 Faatiga Lemalu, 4 Chris Vui, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Maatulimanu Leiataua, 1 Viliamu Afatia
Replacements:  16 Seilala Lam, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Paul Alo-Emile, 19 Taiasina Tuifua, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Dwayne Polataivao, 22 D'Angelo Leuila, 23 Ken Pisi

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Rohan Hoffmann (Australia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO:  Ian Smith (Australia)

Wales see off plucky Tonga

Wales got their mid-year tour of to a winning start but were made to work hard before beating Tonga 24-6 in Auckland on Friday.

Despite what the scoreline suggests, this was a tight affair and the result was in the balance until late in the game.  Wales eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to none but they battled to cope with Tonga's physicality, especially in the forward exchanges.

The opening half was evenly contested with Alex Cuthbert's try and a Sam Davies penalty giving the visitors an 8-3 lead at the break, with Sonatane Takulua slotting a penalty for Tonga.

Cuthbert was in the thick of the action from the outset and had two tries disallowed during the opening quarter.  In the third minute he dotted down in the right-hand corner, but his effort was disallowed after the TMO ruled that he had a foot in touch.

Sam Davies opened Wales' account shortly afterwards via a penalty after Tonga's backs strayed offside on defence.

Five minutes later, Davies delivered an inch-perfect crossfield kick and Cuthbert dived on the ball behind Tonga's try-line, but televison replays revealed that there was no downward pressure from the wing.

Midway through the half, Cuthbert eventually crossed for the opening try after gathering his own kick ahead, inside Tonga's 22, and although Davies failed to convert, Wales looked well set with the score 8-0 in their favour.

Takulua added a penalty in the 23rd minute and the rest of the half was a tight affair and Wales knew they would have to dig deep if they wanted to see off their hosts.

Shorlty after the start of the second half, Takulua narrowed the gap with his second penalty but conditons became more difficult as most of the second half was played in driving rain.

Davies added his second penalty and there was little interesting to report for the next 15 minutes as the rainy conditions led to a plethora of unforced errors from both sides.

Tonga mistakes proved costly as the half progressed, especially at the breakdowns, with the highlight of the second period being a monster tackle by David Halaifonua on Cory Allen as two further penalties from Sam Davies meant his side led 17-6 by the 78th minute.

And just before full-time, Wales sealed victory when referee Nick Briant awarded them a penalty try after Tonga's forwards collapsed a maul illegally close to their try-line.

The scorers:

For Tonga:
Pens:  Takulua 2

For Wales:
Tries:  Cuthbert, Penalty Try
Pens:  S Davies 4

Tonga:  15 David Halaifonua, 14 Nafi Tu'itavake, 13 Siale Piutau (c), 12 Vili Tahitu'a, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Latiume Fosita, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Valentino Mapapalangi, 7 Nili Latu, 6 Dan Faleafa, 5 Sitiveni Mafi, 4 Leva Fifita, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Latu Talakai
Replacements:  16 Suliasi Taufalele, 17 Sila Puafisi, 18 Phil Kite, 19 Sione Tau, 20 Mike Faleafa, 21 Leon Fukofuka, 22 Kali Hala, 23 Kiti Taimani

Wales:  15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts (c), 11 Steffan Evans, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Cory Hill, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Ellis Jenkins, 20 Ollie Griffiths, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Cory Allen

Referee:  Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Georgia blank Canada in Calgary

Georgia full-back Merab Kvirkashvili scored all the points of the match in his side's 13-0 victory over Canada in Calgary on Saturday.

The game was played in extremely windy and rainy conditions and served as a precursor to the Rugby World Cup qualifiers later this month.

Georgia's dogged defence ensured the Canadians went tryless in this game as Georgia continue to make a name for themselves in World Rugby.

Canada's Aaron Carpenter became the most-capped Canadian player ever, tied alongside Al Charron with 76 caps to his name.

The first-half saw both sides employing conservative gameplans, taking the ball up through the forwards around the fringes of the ruck.

As a result, the opening 40 minutes was a largely scoreless affair, except for Kvirkashvili's early penalty which saw Georgia take a 3-0 lead in to the interval.

Kvirkashvili added three points to double the away side's lead in the 46th minutes.  However, he failed to further double their lead when he missed two more opportunities before the hour mark.

The veteran number 15 made up for this when he pounced on a wayward Canadian pass to score the only try of the match which he converted himself.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Try:  Kvirkashvili
Con:  Kvirkashvili
Pens:  Kvirkashvili 2

Canada:  15 Andrew Coe, 14 Dan Moor, 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Guiseppe Du Toit, 11 Sean Duke, 10 Shane O'Leary, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Admir Cejvanovic, 7 Matt Heaton, 6 Kyle Baillie, 5 Conor Keys, 4 Brett Beukeboom (c), 3 Jake Ilnicki, 2 Benoit Piffero, 1 Djustice Sears-Duru
Replacements:  16 Eric Howard, 17 Anthony Luca, 18 Matt Tierney, 19 Liam Chisholm, 20 Aaron Carpenter, 21 Andrew Ferguson, 22 Gradyn Bowd, 23 Ciaran Hearn

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Soso Matiashvili, 13 David Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze (c), 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Bitsadze, 7 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 6 Lasha Lomidze, 5 Kote Mikautadze, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements:  16 Badri Alkhazashvili, 17 Kakha Asieshvili, 18 Soso Bekoshvili, 19 Nodar Cheishvili, 20 Otar Giorgadze, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Lasha Malaghiradze, 23 Giorgi Chkhaidze

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Shuhei Kubo (Japan), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Nine-try Ireland put 50 past USA

Ireland made a fine start to their mid-year tour when they claimed a deserved 55-19 victory over the USA in New Jersey on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, Ireland dominated for large periods and they eventually outscored their hosts by nine tries to three with Keith Earls leading the way with a brace scored in the first half.

The visitors were in control from the outset and Earls' two tries and further five-pointers from Jacob Stockdale, Niall Scannon and Kieran Marmion helped their side to a 29-7 half-time lead, with the USA's points registered via a Nic Civetta try which AJ MacGinty converted.

Ireland showed their intent from the outset and they opened the scoring as early as the third minute when Earls went over for the opening try after combining with Tiernan O'Halloran, who tore the Eagles' defence to shreds with a superb line break in the build-up.

The USA had some good moments during the next 10 minutes with Marcel Brache and David Tameilau doing well with impressive carries but poor decision making meant those attacks were snuffed out by Ireland's defence.

In the 14th minute, Earls turned provider and after making a decisive break in midfield he floated out a long pas to debutant Stockdale, who outpaced the cover defence before diving over in the left-hand corner.

Shortly afterwards, O'Halloran breached the USA's defence with ease again before getting a pass out to Marmion, who did well to free his arms close to the USA's tryl-line, and Earls had an easy run-in for his second try.

Midway through the half, the USA opened their account when Civetta charged down a Joey Carbery chip kick inside Ireland's 22 before regathering the loose ball and diving over for his side's first try.

Ireland finished stronger though and further tries from Scannell and Marmion meant the visitors were cruising as the teams changed sides at the break.

Like the first half, Ireland were fastest out of the blocks after the interval when Jack Conan crossed for their sixth try in the 44th minute but shortly afterwards, the USA replied with their second try, scored in a remarkably similar fashion to their first.

This time it was John Quill who charged down a Carbery kick before pouncing on the loose ball and crossing the whitewash.  And 10 minutes later, things got better for the hosts when Ryan Matyas crossed for their second try after selling O'Halloran a dummy deep inside Ireland's 22.

Ireland finished stronger though and they scored three tries during the final quarter.  First, replacement James Ryan went over with his first touch of the game after the ball went through several pairs of hands in the build-up.

And further tries from Luke McGrath and Simon Zebo, in the game's closing stages, brought up a half century of points and sealed the result for the visitors.

The scorers:

For USA:
Tries:  Civetta, Quill, Matyas
Cons:  MacGinty 2

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls 2, Stockdale, N Scannell, Conan, James Ryan, McGrath, Zebo
Cons:  Ringrose, Carbery 2, R Scannel 2

USA:  15 Ben Cima, 14 Mike Te'o, 13 Ryan Matyas, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Nate Augspurger (c), 8 David Tameilau, 7 Tony Lamborn, 6 John Quill, 5 Nic Civetta, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Chris Baumann, 2 Peter Malcolm, 1 Ben Tarr
Replacements:  16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Joe Taufete'e, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Matthew Jensen, 20 Andrew Durutalo, 21 Shaun Davies, 22 Will Magie, 23 Bryce Campbell

Ireland:  15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Dave Heffernan 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 James Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Simon Zebo

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees:  Federico Anselmi (Argentina), Chris Assmus (Canada)
TMO:  Neil Paterson (Scotland)

Solomona's late score edges Argentina in epic Test

Denny Solomona made his England debut a game to remember with a sensational late solo try, defeating Argentina 38-34 in an epic Test match.

A loose, entertaining contest full of running, it was Argentina who led at half-time thanks to tries from Emiliano Boffelli and Tomás Lavanini, plus a Nicolás Sánchez penalty, with Marland Yarde crossing for England as the score stood at 17-13.

George Ford's firing boot and a try from Jonny May put England ahead before the lead changed hands again in San Juan, two quick tries from Jerónimo de la Fuente and Joaquín Tuculet giving Argentina a 31-23 cushion with a pair of sensational finishes.

Ford tied things up with a penalty on try, building up to a tense conclusion, before Juan Martín Hernández slotted over a drop goal that looked to have to won an enthralling contest.

Up stepped Solomona, at fault for two of Argentina's tries, to race clear for a sensational solo score with two minutes left, winning the game as a result.

Sánchez's early attempt to open the scoring was unsuccessful, after Nathan Hughes was penalised at the scrum, with his effort from a long way out missing the posts.

Argentina started far better and were rightly rewarded through a try for Boffelli on debut, the hard carrying from the Argentine pack making the space down the blindside.  The grubber from Sánchez was spot on, with Boffelli winning the race and rightly celebrating with plenty of enthusiasm.

England needed to settle, a youthful team showing their nerves, and after Lucas Noguera Paz was penalised around the breakdown Ford stepped up to make it 7-3.

As time wore on however England's confidence grew, winning penalties at the scrum and ruck, with Ford stepping up for his second penalty to cut the gap to a point.

Much was made of England's lighter backline but the resulting speed and skill was on full display for England's opening try, all starting from Alex Lozowski's break.

England stayed calm, recycling the ball through offloads before getting it wide where Yarde had the easy task or rounding prop Enrique Pieretto.  Ford's conversion made the score 13-7.

The visitors' enthuiasm then proved costly, Ellis Genge sticking out a hand for a pass and knocking in the process as Argentina pounced through Jerónimo de la Fuente.  Lavanini capitalised, the big lock powering his way over the line as Argentina hit back.  With the conversion from Sánchez, Argentina led again, in a contest that whilst littered with turnovers certainly had the crowd entertained.

Argentina had the final say of the half, winning a penalty from the maul which Sánchez knocked over to move past 500 points for his country, joining the great Hugo Porta and Felipe Dominguez as the only players to pass that landmark, as los Pumas led 17-13.

England started the second half with Ford closing the gap thanks to his third penalty, after another ruck offence from Argentina, and they might have had more if Marland Yarde's break had been capitalised on shortly after.

Turns out the score wasn't far off, a brilliant step and grubber kick from Henry Slade finished off by May, with Brown not far behind him.  Ford converted from the touchline, making the score 17-23.

Argentina then hit back from a set-piece, Denny Solomona on debut slipping as Martín Landajo raced clear, feeding De la Fuente for the try.  Sánchez made no mistake with the conversion, switching the lead once more.

The best was still to come, Argentina with their tails up scoring an outsanding try starting deep in their 22, Solomona again at fault with a missed tackle as Matías Orlando and Matías Moroni combined to release Tuculet for try number four, and a 31-23 lead.

Eager to extend the lead Sánchez attemped a drop goal, his attempt falling way wide, but the Argentine scrum impressed with a pushover penalty.  Sánchez couldn't convert, the gap staying at eight points.

England soon closed in, Ford adding a penalty before scoring a breakout try of his own, Piers Francis off he bench on debut with a quality offload.  For once Ford missed off the tee, tying the scores at 31-31 to set up a grandstand finish.

Hernández stepped up for the drop goal, leaving Argentina three minutes to hang on for the win.  They couldn't do so, Francis releasing the fleet-footed Solomona, who brushed off a tackle before outpacing Moroni to race clear for the winning try.  It was a fitting end to a spectacular contest.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Boffelli, Lavanini, De la Fuente, Tuculet
Cons:  Sánchez 3
Pen:  Sánchez
Drop Goal:  Hernández

For England:
Tries:  Yarde, May, Ford, Solomona
Cons:  Ford 3
Pens:  Ford 4

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Lucas Noguera Paz
Replacements:  16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Gonzalo Bertanou, 22 Juan Martín Hernández, 23 Ramiro Moyano

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Jack Singleton, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Will Collier, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Don Armand, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Denny Solomona

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Egon Seconds (South Africa)
TMO:  Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)

Winning start for new-look Springboks

South Africa got their 2017 Test campaign off to a superb start when they secured a 37-14 victory over France in Pretoria on Saturday.

With five Springboks making their Test debuts, the home side still managed to see off les Bleus after outscoring the visitors four tries to two.

The Boks were the better side during the opening half and although a Jesse Kriel try was cancelled out by one from Henry Chavancy, three Elton Jantjies penalties gave the home side a 16-7 lead at half-time.

Much was said of Bok coach Allister Coetzee's decision to field seven Lions players in his starting line-up and for large periods they looked like the Johannesburg-based side in disguise with several of their players leading the way.

Chief amongst those was the half-back pairing of Jantjies and Ross Cronjé who impressed with their game management with Jantjies, who was the object of much anger from Bok supporters after some underwhelming performances last year, delivering arguably his best showing at Test level and he eventually finished with a 17-point haul courtesy of four conversions and three penalties.

France had the better of the early exchanges although Jules Plisson missed an early opportunity to give them the lead when he pushed his shot at goal wide of the psots after Franco Mostert collapsed a maul illegally.

The Boks soon got into the game and held a 6-0 lead by the 15th minute thanks to two penalties from Jantjies after defensive indiscretions by les Bleus.

The next 15 minutes was a tight affair and although both sides came close to scoring tries, a combination of handling errors and scrambling defence meant that neither side managed to cross the whitewash during this period.

First, Virimi Vakatawa found himself in space down inside the Boks' 22 and did well to get a pass out to Gaël Fickou, who was stopped just short of the try-line by a superb cover tackle from Jan Serfontein.

Then, Siya Kolisi set off on a superb run before offloading to Cronjé, who got a pass out to Franco Mostert who was penalised for holding onto the ball at a ruck deep inside France's 22.

On the half-hour mark, the Boks extended their lead when Andries Coetzee showed a great appreciation of the game's laws when, after being tackled close to the halfway line, he released the ball on the ground before regathering immediately.

This caught the French defenders napping and he set off on a darting run towards the try-line before offloading to Malcolm Marx and the burly hooker delivered a well-timed pass to Jesse Kriel, who crossed for the opening try.

Shorlty afterwards, France struck back when Coetzee failed to deal with a chip kick from Yoann Huget, behind the Boks' try-line, and the wing did well to knock the ball backwards to Chavancy who dotted down.

On the stroke of half-time, Fickou infringed at a ruck and Jantjies slotted the penalty to extend the Boks' lead as the sides changed sides at the interval.

The second half saw both sides continuing to show attacking intent although there were some worried looks on Bok supporters' faces when Baptiste Serin crossed for his side's second try in the 54th minute after selling the hosts' defence a dummy close to their try-line.

Plisson converted, which meant France trailed by two points, but things went pear-shaped for the visitors on the hour-mark when they conceded a penalty try after Brice Dulion tackled Courtnall Skosan as he tried to gather the ball behind les Bleus' try-line.

Dulin was also yellow carded for his indiscretion and the Boks would score two tries during his stint off the field.

The first one was straight out of the Lions' playbook when, from a lineout just outside France's 22, Whiteley gathered at the back of the set-piece before throwing an inside pass to Cronje, who glided through a gaping hole and dotted down under the posts.

And just before Dulin's return, Coetzee put in a good run before getting a pass out to Serfontein, who went over in the right-hand corner.

That try sealed the win for the hosts and although France tried gallantly to fight back in the last 10 minutes, they could not breach the Boks' try-line again.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Kriel, Penalty Try, Cronjé, Serfontein
Cons:  Jantjies 4
Pens:  Jantjies 3

For France:
Tries:  Chavancy, Serin
Cons:  Plisson 2
Yellow Card:  Dulin

South Africa:  15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Raymond Rhule, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Dillyn Leyds

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Loann Goujon, 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Yoann Maestri (c), 4 Julien le Devedec, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Clément Maynadier, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Mohamed Boughanmi, 19 Bernard le Roux, 20 Kévin Gourdon, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Vincent Rattez

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Scotland dispatch the Azzurri

Scotland continued their stranglehold on Six Nations rivals Italy with a 34-13 victory at the Singapore National Stadium on Saturday.

Tries from Ali Price, Tim Visser, Damien Hoyland and a brace from Ross Ford proved too much for Italy, who scored through tries from Michele Campagnaro and Angelo Esposito.

The Scots have now won eight of the nine previous meetings between these sides with that solitary loss only coming by a three-point margin.

Following up their 29-0 trouncing of the Azzurri in the Six Nations in March, the Scots asserted their dominance over the Italians here once again.

It was a convincing performance in Gregor Townsend's first match in charge of the Scottish national team.  What will please him the most is their creativity on attack and Finn Russell's excellent display at fly-half.

Despite the Scots dominating the territory and possession stakes, they were unable to turn this dominance into points for the majority of the first-half.  Much of this had to with the Italians' dogged defence and conservative gameplan.  The Azzurri seemed to be more focused on not conceding points than scoring any of their own.  Their attack lacked in imagination and was largely blunt and route one, preferring to take it up through the forwards on the fringes of the ruck as opposed to going wide.

The first half was largely devoid of any try-scoring opportunities with the fly-halves exchanging penalties.  It was a stop-start 40 minutes in which both sides struggled for continuity on attack until the Scots came to life with five minutes to go.

Finally, the try came on the stroke of half-time and it was a well-deserved one.  It was scrum-half Price who reached over after good work by his forwards.

There was still time for one more.  With the hooter already gone, Russell showed his class by chipping over an onrushing Italian defence for wing Visser to collect and dot down.  It was superb play from Finn who exploited the space behind the Azzurri defence to great effect as Scotland took a 15-3 lead in to the interval.

Scotland continued their dominance straight after the break with their third try.  This time it came from a well-controlled driving maul with hooker Ford going over at the back.  Russell added the extras as they took a 22-3 early second-half lead.

After repeated warnings by referee Paul Williams to the Italians for infringements at the breakdown, Dean Budd was sin-binned six minutes into the second-half for going off his feet.

Scotland's fourth try was a combination of superb interplay and expert handling.  Russell made the break with Hoyland and Ben Toolis involved in the build-up that led to Ford grabbing his brace.  It was a memorable team try.

Italy got their first try of the match when they profited on an errant Scotland pass to intercept.  From the intercept, Maxime Mbanda offloaded to Campagnaro who showed good support play and a sharp turn of pace to dot down.

The Azzurri were guilty of more indiscipline.  Referee Williams yellow-carded Italian substitute Abraham Steyn in the 73rd minute for lifting Price off the ground and putting him down in a dangerous horizontal position after the whistle had blown.

Soon after, Hoyland got on the scoresheet as the pressure told on the Italians for playing with 14 men.  Taylor drew the man cleverly to tie in the last defender before giving the late pass to Hoyland who was not going to be stopped with his pace.

Italy grabbed a second in the closing minutes.  After sustained pressure on the Scottish defence, Edoardo Gori's box-kick was well collected by Esposito who went over the line.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Campagnaro, Esposito
Pen:  Allan
Yellow Cards:  Budd, Steyn

For Scotland:
Tries:  Price, Visser, Ford 2, Hoyland
Cons:  Taylor, Russell
Pen:  Russell

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori (c), 8 Robert Julian Barbieri, 7 Maxime Mata Mbanda, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Ornel Gega, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Andries van Schalkwyk, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Marcello Violi, 22 Carlo Cane, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Scotland:  15 Duncan Taylor, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ryan Wilson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Cornell du Preez, 22 Henry Pyrgos, 23 Peter Horne

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Tim Baker (Hong Kong)
TMO:  Minoru Fuji (Japan)

Japan too good for Romania

Japan claimed a 33-21 win over Romania in their first Test of their June campaign at Egao Kenko Stadium, Kumamoto on Saturday.

Tries from Akihito Yamada, Kenki Fukuoka and Michael Leitch saw them to the success, with Jumpei Ogura kicking 18 points from the tee.

In reply Mihai Macovei scored twice for Romania in defeat.

Japan led 23-9 at the interval after an impressive 40 minutes that saw them cross twice while limiting the Romanians to only penalty goals.

Vlaicu added two penalties to make it 0-6 but the Brave Blossoms hit back with scores from Yamada and Fukuoka with Ogura kicking well.

The first score of the second-half was always going to be crucial and it went the way of the home side when Leitch crossed two minutes in.  That made it 30-9 with the extras to leave Romania a mountain to climb as changes began to be made from both head coaches in Kumamoto.

Romania would strike next though through captain Macovei and with Heiichiro Ito yellow carded on 63 minutes, the visitors sensed a chance.

Macovei scored again on 66 minutes and with Vlaicu's conversion the Romanians were now just 33-21 behind, setting up an intriguing finish.

But Japan would hold on to start their June Test campaign on a positive note.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Yamada, Fukuoka, Leitch
Cons:  Ogura 3
Pens:  Ogura 4
Yellow Card:  Ito

For Romania:
Tries:  Macovei 2
Con:  Vlaicu
Pens:  Vlaicu 3

Japan:  15 Ryuji Noguchi, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Jumpei Ogura, 9 Fumiaka Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Kotaro Yatabe, 3 Takuma Ashara, 2 Shota Horie (c), 1 Koki Yamamoto
Replacements:  16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Yuya Odo, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Kotaro Matsushima

Romania:  15 Sabin Stratila, 14 Fonovai Tangimana, 13 Paula Kinikinilau, 12 Sione Fakaosilea, 11 Jack Cobden, 10 Florin Vlaicu, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Mihai Macovei (c), 7 Viorel Lucaci, 6 Andrei Gorcioaia, 5 Marius Antonescu, 4 Johannes Van Heerden, 3 Andrei Ursache, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Ionel Badiu
Replacements:  16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Constantin Pristavita, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Valentin Poparlan, 20 Vlad Nistor, 21 Tudorel Bratu, 22 Luke Samoa, 23 Ionut Dumitru

Referee:  Alex Ruiz (France)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Will Houston (Australia)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Five-try win for slick Wallabies

Australia got their June international campaign off to an impressive start on Saturday as they saw off Fiji 37-14 at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

Tries from Israel Folau (2), Henry Speight (2) and Stephen Moore saw them to victory, with Bernard Foley kicking 12 points in a slick showing.

This result will give the Wallabies plenty of confidence going into next weekend's fixture against Scotland before they face Italy on June 24.

It was an extremely positive opening 40 minutes to the Wallabies' June campaign as they ran in two tries to sit 18-0 up at the turnaround.

Australia were over after just four minutes when a cross-kick from Foley found Folau airborne, and after a tussle with Fiji full-back Kini Murimurivalu, the dangerous Wallaby gathered the loose ball before dotting down for the opener.  Foley would then make it 7-0 off the tee.

Fiji were struggling to live with the slickness of Australia's play and an offside saw Foley extend the gap to ten points on nine minutes.

The pattern was to continue soon after too as a second try came, this time thanks to lovely handling which saw lock Adam Coleman, number eight Scott Higginbotham and wing Dane Haylett-Petty combine to send over Speight on the right.  The unconverted score meant it was 15-0.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the Wallabies though as on 20 minutes Folau was yellow carded for a high tackle.  However, Niko Matawalu could not get his side on the board soon after as his crossing was chalked off due to holding of Michael Hooper at the scrum set-piece.

That was Fiji's best chance of a half they came out of distinctly second best, with Foley making it 18-0 on 29 minutes before Ben Volavola missed his own attempt at goal a minute before the interval, which summed up a hugely disappointing stanza for the islanders in Melbourne.

Australia came close to adding two further tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, with a knock-on foiling the first before a foot in touch from Tevita Kuridrani saw him denied wide on the right.  Michael Cheika was though encouraged by their positive early efforts.

It was only going to be a matter of time before they had their third try of the contest and it came from a lovely short ball from Foley to Folau, who set off for the right-hand corner to claim his brace on 56 minutes.  Foley slotted the extras to put the Wallabies 25-0 in front.

Finally though Fiji got themselves on the board after 64 minutes when loose ball was gathered by Vereniki Goneva, who backed himself from 40 metres to go in untouched.  Volavola added the conversion but they still required three scores in 15 minutes to pick up an unlikely win.

And any thought of a shock result was put to bed three minutes later when replacement hooker Moore crossed from the back of a maul to put the seal on a professional victory, with a late Timoci Nagusa try from close range coming only as a consolation for the Fijians before Speight would have the final say with an unconverted try in the dying embers.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Folau 2, Speight 2, Moore
Cons:  Foley 3
Pens:  Foley 2
Yellow Card:  Folau

For Fiji:
Tries:  Goneva, T Nagusa
Cons:  Volavola 2

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Karmichael Hunt, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Sam Carter, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Tom Robertson
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Toby Smith, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Richard Hardwick, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Reece Hodge

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Albert Vulivuli, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Akapusi Qera (c), 7 Naulia Dawai, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Peni Ravai, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Campese Maáfu
Replacements:  16 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 17 Joeli Veitayaki, 18 Kalivati Tawake, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Nemani Nagusa, 22 Seurpepeli Vularika, 23 Benito Masilevu

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Ireland end England Slam hopes

England were denied successive Six Nations Grand Slams on Saturday as Ireland claimed a hard-fought 13-9 victory in Dublin.

Only one try was scored in the game and it went the way of Irish lock Iain Henderson, as the hosts held on for a morale-boosting success.

The result sees England's run of wins end on 18 as Ireland bounced back from last week's loss to Wales with a hugely spirited showing.

All of England's points came via the boot of Owen Farrell and in truth they were massively under-par against an Ireland side full of fight.

Ireland were always going to be much-improved from last Friday's defeat in Cardiff, especially in front of their fans, and they did not disappoint early on.

Johnny Sexton struck on 10 minutes after side entry from England at the ruck and they were well worth their early advantage.

Farrell did level matters eight minutes later due to Ireland not rolling away and the game was fascinatingly poised even at an early stage.

Ireland, who had lost the influential Jamie Heaslip to injury before kick-off, had to reshuffle their squad as CJ Stander moved to number eight with Peter O'Mahony coming off the bench to start on the blindside flank.  The tweaks did not fluster them though as they were on top.

Further reason to smile came in the 24th minute when lock Henderson reached out for a try which Sexton converted to make it a 10-3 cushion.  And that was the scoreline at the break after a first 40 that Ireland dominated, enjoying 74 percent possession and 77 percent territory.

Eddie Jones was clearly upset with his side's showing and duly made a change up front as Mako Vunipola replaced Joe Marler at prop.

A stern talking to seemed to improve their fortunes as Farrell reduced the score to 10-6 on 52 minutes and they appeared to be turning the screw in the tight exchanges.

Three minutes later Jamie George was the next to emerge, replacing captain Dylan Hartley for the run-in.

However, Jones' next changes were somewhat a knee-jerk reaction to Sexton sending over a crucial penalty from a tough angle after Farrell had tackled him high.

That made it 13-6 so Ireland had pushed England out to two scores from claiming that Grand Slam with 17 minutes left.

Farrell cut the margin four minutes later off the tee after strong mauling work from his forwards saw Ireland enter from the side, and thus we had the grandstand finish back on in Dublin at 13-9.

England though, importantly for Ireland, had yet to breach the whitewash in the match.

That pyschological fact seemed to get the Irish over the finish line with their noses in front as they held on for victory that sees them finish in second place, while England, upset to miss the Slam, must settle with the Six Nations title.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Henderson
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 2

For England:
Pens:  Farrell 3

Ireland:  15 Jared Payne, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadgh Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Conway

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te'o, 23 Jack Nowell

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

France win in 100th minute

France scored a converted try in the 100th minute of the game to defeat Wales 20-18 in their Six Nations clash in Paris on Saturday.

A 20-minute spell on the Welsh line was the conclusion to this fixture as Camille Chat's try, converted by Camille Lopez, saw France win.

Les Bleus' other try-scorer was Rémi Lamerat, while for Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny kicked six out of six penalty attempts, as they finish fifth.

France began with a real purpose in Paris and despite fly-half Lopez missing a long-range penalty, they led 7-0 in the seventh minute after said player's clever chip in the Welsh 22 saw centre Lamerat gather and cross.  Lopez's conversion was an easy one from in front.

Louis Picamoles was a catalyst for France up front while their pack also showed their power to hand Lopez a shot for 10-0 which he took.

Then came a controversial moment in the match on 19 minutes as Virimi Vakatawa was adjudged to have deliberately knocked down Dan Biggar's pass to George North, who had the line within reach.  Wayne Barnes was confident it was a card offence as Vakatawa went to the bin.

Halfpenny made an immediate dent in the score from wide out before nailing another penalty, this time from over 50 metres out, for 10-6.

Wales seemed to be growing in confidence and continued to flourish with ball in hand, possibly feeling aggrieved to go into the break with just one more Halfpenny penalty to their name.

As it was, 10-9 was a fair reflection on the fixture which looked set to go down to the wire.

France wanted to make a statement after the break, snubbing two penalties in favour of a quick tap and then scrum, which backfired when Barnes penalised them at the set-piece.

Barnes was becoming increasingly unpopular at the Stade de France with the local supporters.

And the experienced referee Barnes was in the firing line of boos again soon after when Wales were handed another scrum penalty, Halfpenny did the rest from halfway.

Wales were now leading for the first time in the game and with 20 minutes remaining France decided to send on the majority of their bench.

The visitors meanwhile had lost both Alun Wyn Jones and Jake Ball to injury, which meant replacement hooker Scott Baldwin had to play out of position, with more disruption set to come until the end of the match.

Halfpenny was on-target again from a similar position on 65 minutes to make it 15-10 to Wales but Lopez responded soon after for 15-13.

Crucially for Wales they reclaimed that five-point buffer on 72 minutes following Uini Atonio's high tackle, with Halfpenny slotting from in front.

They now had the clock and lead on their side with the possibility of back-to-back wins over Ireland and France looming large.

Then followed over 20 remarkable minutes of France play being camped on the Welsh line, which saw tighthead prop Samson Lee yellow carded, as France banged on the door.

Eventually they bust it open with replacement Chat crossing in the 100th minute, after a series of scrum penalties and attacks giong close, before Lopez slotted the match-winning conversion, ending a bizarre game at the Stade de France.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Lamerat, Chat
Cons:  Lopez 2
Pens:  Lopez 2
Yellow Card:  Vakatawa

For Wales:
Pens:  Halfpenny 6
Yellow Card:  Lee

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Scotland finish on a high

Scotland finished their Six Nations campaign on a high when they claimed a deserved 29-0 bonus-point win over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The home side were full value for their win as they dominated for large periods — especially during the first half — although Italy will be disappointed with their effort and poor goalkicking from Carlo Canna, who failed to convert three penalties in the first half, meant they failed to score any points.

The result was a perfect send-off for Scotland's head coach Vern Cotter under whose guidance the Scots have made tremendous strides, and they finish the tournament with an unbeaten home record having won three out of five matches, which is their best performance with the New Zealander at the helm since he took over the coaching reins in 2014.

Scotland started brightly made an early statement of intent when they overpowered Italy at the opening scrum.

The Azzurri's forwards were blown up for illegal scrummaging and Stuart Hogg opened the scoring when he slotted the resulting penalty from 45 metres out in the fifth minute.

The next 15 minutes was fairly even as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy although Italy missed a golden opportunity to open their account in the 21st minute when Canna was off target with a fairly straightforward shot at goal, after John Barclay was penalised for an indiscretion at a ruck.

Five minutes later, Huw Jones made a line break on the edge of his 22 but stumbled when trying to beat the final defender on Italy's five-metre line.  That was the Stormers midfielder's final act of this Test as he injured his ankle in that run and was then replaced by Matt Scott.

Scotland were eventually rewarded just before the half-hour mark when Finn Russell went over for the opening try after gathering a perfectly-timed pass from Ali Price close to Italy's try-line.

Russell dusted himself off and added the extras before Canna missed his second easy penalty attempt shortly afterwards after Jonny Gray was penalised for obstructing Sergio Parisse.

Scotland did not waste any time to extend their lead and just before half-time Scott got his name onto the scoresheet when he dived on a loose ball behind Italy's try-line, after Price delivered a teasing box kick which was knocked backwards by Hogg.

Russell failed with the conversion attempt and on the stroke of half-time Italy were awarded a penalty, but Canna's poor goalkicking continued as he failed with his third effort from the kicking tee.

Italy came out like men possessed after the interval and spent the first 15 minutes of the second half camped inside the home side's half.

The Azzurri restricted play mostly to their forwards but missed a golden opportunity to open their account when they did strike out wide with their backs, Hogg and Scott doing well to hold Angelo Esposito up in the tackle when he went over Scotland's try-line in the 49th minute.

Shorlty afterwards, Scotland were reduced to 14 men when their captain, Barclay, was sent to the sin bin for deliberately collapsing a maul close to his try-line.

But despite being a man down, Scotland launched a gallant defensive effort and kept the visitors at bay for the next 10 minutes.

This was best illustrated in the 51st minute when Edoardo Padovani knocked on a pass from Esposito with the try-line begging which summed up the lack of finishing power Italy had, having been largely in control since the break.

Ten minutes later, Scotland made them pay when Tim Visser beat Tommaso Benvenuti in a foot race to touch down after Hogg delivered a chip kick in the build-up.

Russell converted which sealed the win for the hosts, and when Tommy Seymour crossed for Scotland's fourth try, after running onto a pass from Hogg deep inside Italy's 22, they also had the bonus point in the bag to give Cotter the perfect send-off.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Russell, Scott, Visser, Seymour
Cons:  Russell 3
Pen:  Hogg
Yellow Card:  Barclay

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Matt Scott

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Maxime Mata Mbanda', 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Marcello Violi, 23 Luca Sperandio

Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

England claim Six Nations title

England made it back-to-back Six Nations triumphs as they defeated Scotland 61-21 with a bonus-point at Twickenham on Saturday.

A hat-trick from outside centre Jonathan Joseph led the way for Eddie Jones' charges, with Anthony Watson, Billy Vunipola and Danny Care (2) also crossing as they move an impressive eight points clear in the table.

Scotland, who were a shadow of the side that beat Ireland and Wales, carded tries from Gordon Reid and Huw Jones (2) in a poor display.

They were immediately on the back foot, largely from their own doing, when hooker Fraser Brown was sin-binned for a tip tackle on England wing Elliot Daly.

The Wasps man was eventually permanently substituted for Watson and when Brown returned his side were 13-0 down.

The first England try came from quick lineout ball as fast hands led to Joseph slicing through from 30 metres out.  Owen Farrell made it 7-0.

Farrell was on-target again on seven minutes when Scotland had come offside at a ruck, the penalty meaning England had a 10-point buffer.

That became 13-0 after hands in the ruck, before Daly eventually made way, with Scotland then losing Stuart Hogg and also his replacement Mark Bennett to injury soon after.

It had been a truly disastrous opening to the game at Twickenham for a Scotland side looking out of sorts.

England showed no sympathy and were over again on 25 minutes when slick handling saw Joseph ghost through for a 20-0 lead with the kick.

Fortunately for the Scots Reid barged over to get them on the board but England chalked that off when Joseph supplied Watson for 30-7.

The start to the second-half was a carbon copy of the first as Joseph re-opened his team's account, taking a short ball off Ben Youngs for his hat-trick and the bonus-point.

England were now motoring towards the Calcutta Cup and the Championship, with Scotland trailing by 30.

Slim hope arrived for Vern Cotter's charges on 50 minutes when a period of pressure in the England 22 led to Jones barging over for 40-14.

But it was short-lived as England turned the screw again at the hour mark, replacement number eight Vunipola crossing from a driving maul as England closed to within two points of the half century.

At this point they'd replaced captain Dylan Hartley and hat-trick man Joseph.

Scotland's own stand-out centre, Jones, was over again on 70 minutes with a strong finish but shortly after England struck back through Care, with Farrell's kick making it 54-21 before Care grabbed a brace late on.

Those tries helped to seal a comprehensive win and the title with a round to spare on a day of records;  the most points England have ever scored against Scotland, as England matched New Zealand's Tier 1 win record of 18 victories in a row.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Joseph 3, Watson, B Vunipola, Care 2
Cons:  Farrell 7
Pens:  Farrell 4

For Scotland:
Tries:  Reid, Jones 2
Cons:  Russell 3
Yellow Card:  Brown

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Anthony Watson

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Bonus-point win for France in Rome

France broke away in the second half to secure a 40-18 win over Italy in Rome, earning a second victory of the tournament.

Italy took a surprise lead through Sergio Parisse but France responded in kind through Gaël Fickou, with three penalties from Camille Lopez to two from Carlo Canna giving France a 16-11 advantage by the break.

Virimi Vakatawa's try extended the French advantage and from there they never looked back, Louis Picamoles crashing over before Brice Dulin secured the bonus point in the final few minutes.

Under the Rome sunshine Italy started full of running, a multiple-phase attack concluding when Canna sold a dummy to the French defence to draw in two defenders, before freeing his arms to offload to Parisse for the opening score.

France hit back through a Lopez penalty after Edoardo Gori strayed offside at the scrum, but Italy had the perfect chance to respond after unlocking France's defence with a cute offload from Parisse.

With numbers to spare out wide, Lorenzo Cittadini's cut-out pass was the entirely wrong option and France escaped conceding a second try.

That mistake aside this was an outstanding display in the opening quarter from the Azzurri, whose confidence appeared high.  Canna punished France for not rolling away with a first penalty to make it 8-3.

France then punctured the mood with an attack straight off the restart.  Fickou's excellent mid-air take released Vakatawa down the touchline, and after testing the Italian defence France won a penalty which Lopez converted to cut the gap to two points.

Suddenly it was France who had their tails up, executing a brilliant attack from deep for their first try.

Rémi Lamerat and Vakatawa combined to chew up the ground ahead of them before the ball was kept alive and Fickou finished it off, slicing through following a brilliant show-and-go before scoring under the posts.  Lopez converted, with France ahead for the first time at 13-8.

Italy have crumbled after similar moments in the past but this was a little different, working their way upfield for Canna to land a second penalty and reduce the deficit.

Another Lopez penalty in response cemented France's advantage, with les Bleus holding a 16-11 advantage come the interval.

And the purple patch for Lopez off the kicking tee continued with another three points after half-time, stretching the lead to six, before France looked on the verge of putting the game to bed following another Fickou break.  Edoardo Padovani had other ideas, reeling in Vakatawa down the touchline.

The big winger couldn't be restrained for long however.  Setting up deep in Italian territory, Baptiste Serin's short pass caught Italy out around the fringes for Vakatawa to score under the posts, making it 26-11 with the conversion from Lopez.

Early optimism over Italy's prospects was now beginning to fade, Giorgio Bronzini denied by the TMO, with France instead going up the other end and powering over through Picamoles after Italy's forwards had been sucked into the rolling maul.

Eddy Ben Arous looked to have wrapped up the bonus point, only for the try to be brought back after Picamoles was adjudged to have a foot in touch.

With the game all but won, France handed a debut to exciting young scrum-half Antoine Dupont, and it took until the 76th minute for the bonus point to finally come.

Kévin Gourdon, in another outstanding performance, broke free and fed Dulin on his outside for the full-back ro race home, securing the bonus-point win in the process, with Angelo Esposito's late consolation try for Italy having no bearing on the outcome.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Esposito
Con:  Canna
Pens:  Canna 2

For France:
Tries:  Fickou, Vakatawa, Picamoles, Dulin
Cons:  Lopez 4
Pens:  Lopez 4

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carla Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Benvenuti, 23 Luca Sperandio

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget

Referee:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), JP Doyle (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

North double lifts Wales past Ireland

George North answered his critics with a brace of tries as Wales held off Ireland in a stellar Test match in Cardiff, winning 22-9.

North's try and a Leigh Halfpenny penalty handed Wales an 8-6 half-time advantage, after three-pointers in response from Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson.

North then grabbed a second score after good work upfront from the Welsh maul, Sexton keeping Ireland in the game with a penalty at 15-9.

That six-point gap made for a remarkable final quarter as Ireland threw everything at Wales only to come up short, as a late try from Jamie Roberts put the seal on the win.

Friday's result means that England can now win the Six Nations title a round early if they defeat Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday.

Wales head coach Rob Howley's decision to stick with the exact same starting XV felt less like a vote a confidence and more of a last chance warning, following that abject second half at Murrayfield.

And if reputations and places in the Test side were truly on the line, then those Wales starters will head into next week's training with a spring in their step.  On a skills basis it was never perfect.  But for heart and physicality, Wales could not have given anything more.

The stage to perform equally could not have been better, under Cardiff's closed roof and backed by a deafening crowd even by the high standards of the Principality Stadium.

It was Ireland who struck first, Sexton knocking over three points to make him the second Irishman to reach the 300-point Six Nations milestone after Ronan O'Gara.

Twice Ireland sprung out of the defensive early to make interceptions but the size of the early tackles, most of all an outstanding effort by Sean O'Brien, rightly drew approving roars from the crowd.  Both the consistency and quality of those huge hits rarely seemed to let up.

CJ Stander's tackle bust and sprint up the touchline was a rare instance of defensive line speed letting Wales down, even if the hosts escaped.

As so often in this Championship however Rhys Webb provided the spark, coincidentally minutes after Sexton left the field for a Head Injury Assessment.

Setting up as if to deploy a maul, Webb upped the tempo through a quick one-two with Scott Williams, before sending a perfect pass wide to Leigh Halfpenny who sent in North from ten metres out.

Created superbly by Webb, North simply had too much power and speed having charged up onto the ball, celebrating with relish after criticism over his recent performances.

Ireland soon led again, pressure on Wales resulting in a penalty for not releasing and the unwavering Paddy Jackson making it 6-5 before Sexton returned.

From one half-back injury to another Ireland were left sweating over the condition of Conor Murray's left bicep, as the hot favourite to start for the Lions was treated on multiple occasions after a collision at the ruck which seemed to affect the usual zip on his pass.

And as for so much of the first half the final minutes centred around Wales pressing around the fringes of Ireland's defence for an opening deep in the visitors' territory.

Awarded a penalty advantage Biggar's cross-field kick found Liam Williams, left in space by Keith Earls, and as Wales surged to the line Sexton failed to roll away, receiving a yellow card as a result.

Halfpenny knocked over the resulting penalty to make it 8-6, handing the hosts a slender half-time advantage.

Somewhat surprisingly Murray returned for the second half, but it was his foot falling into touch chasing back to cover a kick which left Wales in a golden position to attack five metres from the Irish line.

They duly struck, sucking in Irish bodies through the rolling maul before North was fed down the blindside to score his second try.  Halfpenny converted from the touchline, giving Wales a 15-6 lead.

Momentum, the fickle beast, felt completely with Wales and Ireland produced a fine response, surviving a period of defensive pressure before unleashing a multi-phase barrage on a tiring Wales.  After two penalties Ireland settled for a shot at the posts, cutting the gap to six.

Biggar clattered the post with a drop goal attempt not long after, eager to restore Wales' two-score lead, and the tension that resulted from that six-point gap was palpable, memories of the late defeat to England from last month still lingering.

Ireland underthrew at the lineout, Halfpenny uncharactersitcally knocked on under the ball, and when Biggar was charged down deep in his own dead-ball area it felt as though Wales were about to crack.

Robbie Henshaw's immaculate grubber kick duly forced Halfpenny into touch and from the ensuing lineout Ireland looked set to finally break Wales down, only to concede a penalty as their maul trundled towards the try line, Robbie Henshaw the guilty party for obstruction.  Irish chances repeatedly wasted.

And after Ireland had failed to find a way through from a five-metre scrum it was Wales who landed the knockout punch, Roberts the scorer after Taulupe Faletau charged down Sexton's kick.

Exhaustion, clear on both sides, summed up an excellent Test match played at peak physicality.  Yet there could only be one winner.  Welsh pride restored.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  North 2, Roberts
Cons:  Halfpenny 2
Pen:  Halfpenny

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton 2, Jackson
Yellow Card:  Sexton

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Tommy Bowe

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England survive determined Italy

England survived a spirited Italian side to claim a 36-15 bonus-point win at Twickenham on Sunday.

Eddie Jones's men stuttered and fumbled their way through the first half allowing Italy's intensity to throw them off their game after Giovanbattista Venditti scored just before halftime it looked as though Italy were about to claim their second big scalp under Conor O'Shea after beating South Africa in November.

But England found new life in the after the interval, presumably after getting a stern talking to from Jones, and scored six tries to claim the victory.

England go back into the driving seat on the Six Nations points table with the win, taking the top spot from Ireland and now sit on 13 points after three games.  Italy couldn't do enough to get themselves off the bottom spot.

Owen Farrell who won his fifteenth cap on the day, wasn't in the finest kicking form, failing to convert on a number occasions missing three out of six attempts.

England had a terrible start to the game after number eight Nathan Hughes knocked on in the first two minutes of the clash before the loose-forward was found off his feet at ruck time, allowing Italy a shot at goal.  Luckily for the Fiji-born player the kick was missed and the scores stayed at nil-all.

The home team's discipline let them down in the first ten minutes which allowed Italy to camp in their half, but the visitors weren't potent enough to use their field position.

The hosts made plenty of unforced errors as balls were knocked on, not used or kicked out on the full which led to the home side looking fairly innocuous 20 minutes, at which point one would think the second best side in the world would have had some points on the board against Italy.

The Azzurri should have been ahead by six points after 10 minutes as after two opportunities to kick, Tommaso Allan missed both of them.  The hard work that Italy was putting in wasn't being translated into points but they didn't let that extinguish their zeal.

England finally had a legitimate opportunity to score after they attacked down the right wing only for Jonny May to knock the ball on to the palpable disappointment from the crowd.

England finally broke the deadlock after prop Dan Cole was pushed over the whitewash by his compatriots in a maul, after they were given a penalty on the Italian 22 metre line and kicked for touch before using their maul astutely to score.  The conversion was missed by Farrell and England were ahead 5-0.

The home side's sloppiness seeped into their game once again and after a slew of penalties and mistakes, Italy were five metres away from the English try-line and were looking dangerous.  But thanks to some Maro Itoje magic the Italians were stopped in their tracks and the ball turned over.

Italy's immense effort eventually translated into points after full-back Edoardo Padovani used his quick feet to send the English defence in disarray before consolidating their field position in the England 22 metre and then sending the ball back to Allan who sat deep in the pocket and slotted the ball through for the drop goal.

Danny Care then made an electric break, 30 metres from the Italian try-line after spotting a gap around the fringes of a ruck and took it brilliantly before putting in a nifty chip over Padovani to chase.

The full-back grabbed the ball in the air and stuck up his arm for the mark before Care tackled him over his try-line in feat of athleticism.

Italy were then given a penalty right in front of the posts after Italian lock Andries Van Schalkwyk was given a short pass and ran 20 metres towards the line before being taken down.

Hughes was found on the wrong side of the ruck once again and penalised.  Allan hit the up-right to the dismay of the Italians but their fortunes changed dramatically when winger Giovanbattista Venditti pounced onto the ball and dragged several players with him over the line to score.  Allan didn't miss conversion.

England then levelled the scores when they were given a scrum in the Italian 22 metre and after a strong scrum that turned the Italian pack, referee Romain Poite blew up Italy again, Care took the opportunity in the best way possible and darted through the bewildered Italian defence to score.

The kicking curse of the day plagued Farrell once again and the kick went wide.

The home side used their new-found momentum well when Itoje offloaded the ball out from the ruck who swung it wide to outside centre Ben Te'o who sucked in the cover defence and found an unmarked Elliot Daly who scored in the corner.  Farrell broke his kicking curse and slotted the conversion.

England replacement winger Jack Nowell's try was disallowed in the 57th minute when the player took it quickly from the back of the ruck and ran in front of one of his own players before touching down.

The referee looked confused as to whether his decision was correct or not, but was vindicated after TMO George Ayoub agreed.

Italy weren't done yet though, after some individual brilliance saw outside centre Michele Campagnaro receive the ball from a scrum on the 50 metre line before slipping through the English defence and leaving Mike Brown in his wake with a cheeky sidestep before sprinting over the tryline.

With Allan off injured Padovani took the kick but it went astray.

Moments later Farrell took a shot at goal from 50 metres out and missed it, failing to pull his side away from the Italians, the score stayed at 17-15 with 15 minutes left to play.

England were then given a five-metre lineout after a clever dab behind the Italian line sent their defence scurrying backwards to cover the loose ball with Daly racing towards it with serious speed.

The visitors were saved though when Carlo Canna came out of nowhere and kicked the ball out of Daly's control into touch.  They used the position perfectly as they mauled the ball right up to the Italian line, sucking in their forwards before spreading it quickly to Nowell who outpaced the Italian cover defence for the try.

The floodgates had opened after Nowell's try.  Replacement prop Kyle Sinckler made clever break through the opposition defence before being taken down on the Italian 22 metre.  The ball was given blind and Ben Te'o scored his first try in an English jersey.  Nowell bagged his second moments later.

The defending Six Nations champions ending the game with daylight between them and their opponents.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Cole, Care, Daly, Nowell 2, Te'o
Cons:  Farrell 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Venditti, Campagnaro
Cons:  Allan
Drop Goal:  Allan

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Ornel Gega, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mata Mbanda', 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Irish revival overcomes France

Johnny Sexton guided Ireland to a hard-earned 19-9 win over France in Dublin on Saturday in the Six Nations.

Both teams were unaffected by Dublin's rainfall and produced a passionate game of rugby that typified European rivalry.

The game did not decline into trench-style combat because of the weather but rather an exhibition of each team's undeniable skill, in particular Sexton, who was magnificent on the day.

Ireland's win sees them jump Scotland to the top of the table with England yet to play, a fine position to be in considering their defeat to Scotland in the first round of the competition.  France languish at fifth on the table with only Italy below them.

Scrum-half Conor Murray scored the only the five-pointer of the match, his try aided by the flawless kicking effort from Sexton.

France had an inspired start to the fixture, pulling off a magic moment it seemed with every minute on the field.

It started with an unprecedented cross kick from fly-half Camille Lopez close to their own line to winger Yoann Huget that parted the stunned Irish defence like the red sea, allowing the French to initiate a dangerous attacking movement up field which unfortunately didn't lead to a try for the visitors.

They were the first onto the board though, when Lopez slotted a penalty in the 13th minute silencing a passionate home crowd.

Lopez would then add to his side's lead seven minutes later.  France should have scored a try through outside centre Rémi Lamerat after France pulled off another brilliant move that led to the centre receiving a pop pass and curbing around the defence, which was disallowed by the TMO after it was ruled that Gaël Fickou had knocked it on before the movement.

Against the general current of the game, Ireland scored the first try of the match when Conor Murray took it over the line after a brilliant break from Sexton that would catalyse an Irish revival to the dismay of the passionate French.

Ireland nearly scored again moments later after they rumbled up field, generating some forward momentum when they found themselves on the French line but could not quite break a resolute French defence, before Murray tried to pop the ball back which didn't go as planned, rolling out of bounds.

Passions were high as Ireland's dogged intensity had now eclipsed France's enthusiasm as they pushed up field, almost exclusively through Garry Ringrose's Herculean effort as he grasped for every metre possible.  Murray used the field position astutely, spotted a gap and darted towards the line but was just taken down before the whitewash and offloaded, which came to no avail.

The half ended as a one-point game to the Irish, 7-6.

Ireland didn't let the break ruin their new-found vigour and put France under pressure from the first minute of the second half, the pressure eventually culminating with Sexton kicking a penalty over and making the score 10-6 in Ireland's favour.

The crowd was reminded of Sexton's keen eye for an opportunity when the mercurial number ten had the ball 30 metres out from the French try line and attempted a drop goal, and despite the Dublin wind and deluge it stayed true to its course and Ireland went up by another three points.

Sexton's boot punished the French once again after Ireland were awarded a very kickable penalty and the fly-half knocked it through making it a ten-point game.

The game became quiet after that as France made some desperate attempts to get back on the scoreboard.  But each time their plan was foiled by the cohesive Ireland unit that just kept them out after wave after wave of French attack.

With ten points between France and Ireland, the French used a penalty in the Irish 22-metre area to shoot for goal rather kick for line.  Lopez slotted the chance and it became a seven-point game with six minutes to play.

Ireland though replied quickly as replacement fly-half Paddy Jackson widened the gap to ten points once again.

With two minutes left to play Ireland were edging towards the French line once again and looked as though they were going to score their second try of the match, before Kieran Marmion decided that the victory was enough and kicked the ball into touch.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Murray
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 2, Jackson
Drop Goal:  Sexton

For France:
Pens:  Lopez 3

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Trimble

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Bernard le Roux, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Julian Le Devedec, 20 Charles Ollivon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Henry Chavancy, 23 Djibril Camara

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Scotland defeat Wales at last

Scotland sealed a first victory over Wales in ten years thanks to a vibrant second-half comeback, winning 29-13 at Murrayfield.

They had waited a decade for a victory over Wales, their last success coming at Murrayfield with a 21-9 win back in 2007, and ultimately were more than worthy victors after tries from Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser, remarkably winning the second half alone 20-0.

Finn Russell and Leigh Halfpenny traded early penalties before Wales grabbed the first try, Liam Williams finishing in the corner after some fine passing.  Further points from both kickers made it 9-13 to Wales by the break.

However, Seymour's early try in the second half swung the lead Scotland's way, extended to 19-13 by another Russell penalty and despite significant Welsh pressure Visser was the next to score, set up brilliantly by Stuart Hogg, as Scotland opened up a 26-13 advantage, and from there the hosts never looked back.

Outstanding rush defence and work around the breakdown were both vital to Wales' success in the first half, when Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric were ruthless.

But Scotland then took full command of the second quarter, holding firm and riding their luck in defence while imposing themselves at the ruck and taking two key chances.

Wales welcomed back George North with open arms as Scotland came in without the leadership of Josh Strauss at number eight along with captain Greig Laidlaw, and they coped well in spite of those absences, led superbly by John Barclay.

Scotland's scrum was much maligned in the opening two matches but the first blood in that part of the set-piece went to the hosts.  From the ensuing attack Wales were penalised for not rolling away, allowing Russell to open the scoring with an easy penalty;  no repeat of his horrorshow conversion against France here.

Halfpenny responded to make it 3-3 after Scotland went off their feet in tentative, penalty-ridden start from both teams.

The frequency of referee John Lacey's whistle was already beginning to irritate the Murrayfield crowd, no more so than when Dan Biggar appeared to over-egg a contest for the high ball from Tim Visser and subsequently won a penalty.

After 22 minutes the deadlock was finally broken.  Opting for a quick tap from a free-kick, Wales then fizzed the ball wide through Scott Williams and Halfpenny to give Liam Williams enough space to use his speed, finishing in the corner.  Halfpenny's touchline conversion made it 10-3.

Not long after the future Saracens winger was away again, cantering down the touchline from Rhys Webb's pass, only for the play to be brought back after Webb was ruled to have illegally pulled back a chasing Tommy Seymour.

A second Russell penalty closed the gap to four points as tempers seemed persistenly on the verge of boiling over.

Wales however were on top, their rush defence shutting Scotland down with Sam Warburton winning a breakdown penalty which Halfpenny duly converted to make it 13-6, before a rare miss let Scotland off the hook.

Only a remarkable turnover by Justin Tipuric five metres from the Welsh line denied Scotland a chance to respond, their sweeping attack stemming from Hogg's grubber kick before Huw Jones did his best only to be hauled in by the cover defence.

Scotland did have something to show for their efforts after Warburton was penalised, Russell stepping up to make it 9-13, but it could have been more as Wales led by four points at half-time.

The home side tore into the start of the second half, Hogg's quick footwork and delayed pass freeing up Tim Visser first and then Seymour, who finished to put Scotland ahead despite a phenomenal cover tackle from Scott Williams.  Russell's touchline conversion went through courtesy of the post, making it 16-13, as Murrayfield began to make herself heard.

Wales should have instantly hit back, Jonathan Davies charging clear deep into Scotland's half from Ken Owens' pass, but the resulting offload missed Webb to let Scotland off the hook.

It was they who scored next, via a fourth Russell penalty, but Webb was inches away from scoring himself, a sloppy Scottish scrum seeing Webb snap up the loose ball and race clear before Visser managed to get him into touch.

Both sides looked for impetus from their benches as the toil of the first 60 minutes began to show.

Scotland suddenly began to sparkle.  A burst into Welsh territory continued to test the visitors' defence, Russell loitering for the drop goal, before Henry Prygos sniped through a few phases later the ball was spun wide with Hogg providing the delicate final pass as Visser finished.  Russell's conversion from out wide made it 26-13.

All the momentum with ten minutes to go seemed to be with Scotland as Russell knocked over a fifth penalty, a beaming smile across his face hinting at a belief that the win was in Scotland's hands.

He was right.  Ahead by 16 points, Scotland successfully wound down the clock thanks to more excellent breakdown work from early replacement Hamish Watson to start the celebrations.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Seymour, Visser
Cons:  Russell 2
Pens:  Russell 5

For Wales:
Tries:  L Williams
Cons:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

Referee:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

France hold off Scotland for first win

France got their campaign back on track when they secured a hard-fought 22-16 win over Scotland in Paris on Sunday.

In an entertaining encounter, in which both teams kept the ball alive at every opportunity, momentum between the two sides ebbed and flowed, but it was the hosts who got the rub of the green in the end coming away with a deserved victory.

Scotland will be kicking themselves, however, as they were competitive for large periods, but could not repeat last week's heroics when they stunned Ireland at Murrayfield.

And although they outscored their hosts by two tries to one, they conceded too many penalties and when it was within goalkicking range, les Bleus pivot Camille Lopez made them pay and eventually finished with a 17-point haul courtesy of five penalties and a conversion.

France drew first blood courtesy of a Lopez penalty in the sixth minute after Josh Strauss played the ball on the ground but the game came alive ten minutes later when Scotland took the lead when Stuart Hogg rounded off a superb team try.

This after the ball went through umpteen phases in the build-up and Huw Jones deserves special praise as he did well to draw in Virimi Vakatawa before offloading to Hogg, who dived over in the right-hand corner despite a desperate tackle from Baptiste Serin.

The try was a fitting reward for Hogg in his 50th Test as it meant he became the fifth Scot to score a try in four successive Championship matches.

Greig Laidlaw's conversion attempt struck the cross-bar but France regained the lead when Lopez slotted another penalty two minutes later.

The visitors suffered a setback midway through the half when their captain, Laidlaw, left the field due to injury with Ali Price replacing him at scrum-half and Finn Russell taking over the goalkicking duties.

France took Scotland on at their attacking game and were rewarded in the 30th minute when, after taking the ball through 12 phases in the build-up, Scott Spedding offloaded to Gaël Fickou, who crashed over from close quarters with two defenders on his back.

Lopez added the extras but Scotland continued to fight and after Russell added two penalties, the hosts held a slender 13-11 lead at the interval.

Shortly after the restart, Scotland were dealt another blow when John Hardie was forced off the field with a head knock but his replacement, Tim Swinson, soon made his presence felt when, three minutes after entering the playing field, when he crossed for Scotland's second try.

This after Tommy Seymour had done brilliantly in the build-up.  The flyer found himself in space down the left-hand touchline and delivered a teasing kick ahead which bamboozled Spedding inside France's 22.

Seymour did well to regather and offloaded to the on-rushing Swinson who went over under the uprights.  Crucially, however, Russell failed to add the easy extras — when the ball fell off the kicking tee — which meant the visitors held a slender three-point lead.

France were soon level when Lopez added his third penalty in the 47th minute and although the next 25 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy, the hosts were gradually gaining the upperhand.

Lopez put his team back in front with another penalty in the 71st minute and five minutes later he sealed his team's win with his final three-pointer from the kicking tee.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Fickou
Con:  Lopez
Pens:  Lopez 5

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Swinson
Pens:  Russell 2

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Julian Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Yoann Huget

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw(c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 John Hardie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)