Italy too strong for spirited Georgia

Italy proved too strong for Georgia as they claimed a hard-fought 28-17 victory in their November international in Florence on Saturday.

In a fast paced and exciting game, Italy were the dominant side for most of the match and eventually outscored their visitors by four tries to two with Tommaso Allan contributing 13 points courtesy of a try, two penalties and a conversion.

The result is a significant one for the Azzurri as it is only their second triumph of 2018 and follows their win over Japan in Kobe in June.

Italy had the better of the early exchanges and opened the scoring in the 10th minute courtesy of an Allan penalty after Georgia's backline strayed offside on defence.

Despite that setback, Georgia were soon camped inside Italy's 22 and in the 16th minute Tamaz Mtchedlidze gathered a long pass from Vasil Lobzhanidze and showed great strength and leg-drive to shrug off three defenders before scoring the opening try.

Soso Matiashvili slotted the conversion but Italy did not take long to respond as five minutes later Michele Campagnaro bumped off Lasha Khmaladze before stepping past three challengers on his way over the try-line.

Allan added the extras which gave the Azzurri a 10-7 lead but the Lelos had a chance to draw level shortly afterwards, when Italy were blown up for a scrum infringement, but Matiashvili's shot at goal was wide of the mark.

In the 28th minute, Georgia were dealt a blow when Giorgi Tsutskiridze was yellow carded for taking out Luca Sperandio in an aerial challenge.  As expected, Italy dominated proceedings for the next 10 minutes and after Allan slotted the resulting penalty, they spent large periods camped inside the Lelos' half.

Shortly after Tsutskiridze's exit, Braam Steyn went over the whitewash from close quarters but television replays could not reveal whether he grounded the ball.  And in the 34th minute, Tommaso Castello was in the clear inside Georgia's 22 but instead of pinning his ears back and heading for the corner, he stepped inside where his progress was halted by the cover defence.

The dam wall eventually burst in the 39th minute when Mattia Bellini ran onto a pass from Tito Tebaldi before rounding Giorgi Koshadze and dotting down in the left-hand corner.

Allan's conversion attempt was off target but the home side went into the sheds at half-time with an 18-7 lead.

The Azzurri were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and three minutes after the restart, Simone Ferrari crossed the whitewash from close range for his side's third try.

That gave them a 23-7 lead but Matiashvili reduced the deficit 10 minutes later via a penalty after another indiscretion at a scrum from the Azzurri.

Italy continued to hold the upper hand, however, and in the 57th minute Steyn put Allan in the clear with a well-timed pass and the Azzurri fly-half showed a superb turn of speed to outpace the cover defence before crossing for a deserved try in the left-hand corner.

Despite that try, Georgia did not surrender and they were rewarded with a penalty try in the 63rd minute when Tommaso Benvenuti was blown up for early tackle on Beka Bitsadze close to Italy's try-line, and the Azzurri wing was also sent to the sin bin for that offence.

With a numerical advantage, Georgia upped the ante on attack but they were met by a solid defensive effort from their hosts, who did well to prevent any further points from being scored during the rest of the match.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Camapagnaro, Bellini, Ferrari, Allan
Con:  Allan
Pens:  Allan 2
Yellow Card:  Benvenuti

For Georgia:
Tries:  Mtchedlidze, Penalty try
Con:  Matiashvili
Pen:  Matiashvili
Yellow Card:  Tsutskiridze

Italy:  15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Abraham Jurgens Steyn, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traorè, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Johan Meyer, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Luca Morisi

Georgia:  15 Soso Matiashvili, 14 Giorgi Koshadze, 13 Merab Sharikadze (c), 12 Tamaz Mtchedlidze, 11 Zurab Dzneladze, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 6 Otar Giorgadze, 5 Lasha Lomidze, 4 Nodar Tcheishvili, 3 Dudu Kubriashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Zurab Zhvania, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Shalva Sutiashvili, 20 Beka Bitsadze, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Lasha Malaghuradze, 23 Giorgi Kveseladze

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Frank Murphy (Ireland), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Impressive Ireland brush aside Italy

Ireland produced an impressive display, running in eight tries to dispatch Italy 54-7 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday.

The Grand Slam champions and the number two side in the world controlled the match from beginning to end and are building up momentum at just the right time ahead of that crucial clash with the All Blacks on November 17.

Ireland got off to the best possible start when good work at close quarters from Tadhg Beirne, aided by good support from Jack McGrath and Niall Scannell, got the former over for his first international try.  Joey Carbery converted for a fourth-minute 7-0 lead.

Joe Schmidt's men had their second on the half-hour mark.  Following an aerial take by Andrew Conway, Ireland retained the ball well before Jordan Larmour stepped off his left, cut in between two forwards and darted into the 22 before laying off for the supporting Luke McGrath to touch down to the left of the posts.

However, Ireland's lead would be halved just before half-time through Italy's captain for the day Michele Campagnaro, wearing the armband in the place of the injured Sergio Parisse.  Campagnaro intercepted Rhys Ruddock's pass to dot down for the intercept try two minutes before the interval.

Two minutes after the half-time break, towering lock Beirne had his second after running on to a flat ball from Luke McGrath to break clean through the Azzurri defence and dot down.

Soon after, Larmour scored his first international try when he plucked a wayward Campagnaro pass out the air and run the rest of the way to dot down.

In the 57th minute, replacement hooker Sean Cronin went over at the back of a well-worked driving maul as Carbery maintained his one hundred percent record with a fifth successive conversion to make it 35-7 after 60 minutes.

Six minutes later, Larmour grabbed his brace by which time Ireland were beginning to run riot.  Dave Kilcoyne got his legs pumping, getting over the gain-line, Bundee Aki charged into space off a Ross Byrne pass and he sent his centre partner Garry Ringrose over in the right corner.

The icing was on the cake when Larmour ran in for his hat-trick to well and truly put the nail in the coffin of the Azzurri.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Beirne 2, McGrath, Larmour 3, Cronin, Ringrose
Cons:  Carbery 5, Byrne 2

For Italy:
Try:  Campagnaro
Con:  Canna

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Will Addison

Italy:  15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Michele Campagnaro (c), 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Giulio Bisegni, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Rento Giammarioli, 7 Bram Steyn, 6 Johan Meyer, 5 George Fabio Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Jimmy Tuivatti, 22 Guglielmo Palazzani, 23 Ian McKinley

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Television match official:  David Ardrey (USA)

England edge Springboks in slugfest

A 73rd-minute Owen Farrell penalty gave England a narrow 12-11 victory over South Africa in a hard-fought encounter at Twickenham on Saturday.

England will have the psychological momentum going into the World Cup next year with this slender victory, safe in the knowledge they have emerged victorious on the previous two of the four meetings played between the sides this year.

It was a cagey stop-start affair, which didn't make for the most entertaining viewing.  Both sides made too many mistakes for the match to live up to its billing.

Handre Pollard gave the Boks an early five-minute lead from the tee after the English were caught offside.

Ten minutes later, the Boks were applying pressure and winning penalty after penalty, which forced referee Angus Gardner's hand to yellow-carding Maro Itoje.  The Springboks were using the driving maul to great effect, making ground every time they deployed the tactic.

Indeed, South Africa were enjoying the majority of the possession and territory, but were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage and would kick themselves for that.  Instead, Owen Farrell responded for the hosts with a well-struck penalty to level matters on the scoreboard as Itoje returned to the field moments later.

The Boks continued to do all of the attacking and were controlling the game, but were still unable to affect the scoreboard.  However, that all changed in the 32nd minute when they got what would ultimately prove to be the game's only try.  It started with a Damian de Allende mini-break before brilliant hands between Aphiwe Dyantyi and Warren Whiteley released Sbu Nkosi, who finished clinically in the right-hand corner.

Farrell cut the deficit to two when his three-pointer sailed between the posts three minutes before the half-time break with no further points scored until the interval.  If England were going to change the course of the match, they would need to come up with more than the aimless hanging kicks they were raining down on the Bok back three, who were dealing comfortably with the aerial bombardment.

The pressure the Boks were exerting on the English scrum precipitated Eddie Jones in to making changes in the front-row, replacing Alec Hepburn with Ben Moon for his international debut at the age of 29.

Malcolm Marx was having a shocker in terms of his line-out throwing and this was one of the factors in the Springboks not being able to extend their lead as well as a host of handling errors.

Ten minutes in to the second-half, England took the lead through the monster boot of Elliot Daly — the England full-back launching a penalty between the poles from just outside his own half — after the Boks gave away a silly penalty.

England were coming into the game more after a torrid first-half and getting more rhythm on attack as the match headed in to the final quarter.  But with 13 minutes to go, Pollard put the Boks back into the lead with a long distance penalty.

However, in the 72nd minute, the hosts won a rare scrum penalty as their replacement tighthead Harry Williams put pressure on Springbok replacement Thomas du Toit, who conceded the advantage.  Farrell made no mistake with the three-pointer to edge England back in front by a point at 12-11.

In the end Farrell's last-gasp penalty and Pollard's miss from distance would see the home side hold on for a morale-boosting Test victory over one of their contenders for the World Cup next year.

The scorers:

For England:
Pens:  Farrell 3, Daly
Yellow Card:  Itoje

For South Africa:
Try:  Nkosi
Pens:  Pollard 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (cc), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Brad Shields, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (cc), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Chris Ashton

South Africa:  15 Damian Willemse, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 André Esterhuizen.

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jerome Garces (France), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Wales claim Doddie Weir Cup

Wales claimed the inaugural Doddie Weir Cup as they ran out 21-10 winners over Scotland at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

Tries from George North and Jonathan Davies and the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, who kicked 11 points, saw Warren Gatland's outfit to victory.

Scotland will be disappointed with their showing as they crossed just once, through Stuart McInally, with Adam Hastings kicking five points.

Wales were 14-10 ahead at the interval as both sides went into the dressing rooms with a try apiece, through wing North and hooker McInally.

Halfpenny got Wales moving with four minutes gone when, after top work from Ken Owens at the breakdown, he landed a 40 metre penalty.

But Scotland had an opportunity to strike back when Alex Dunbar bust through the attempted tackle of opposite number Hadleigh Parkes on halfway.  Unfortunately for the visitors the recycled ball saw Hastings' grubber through gathered by Halfpenny, who crucially foiled the attack.

Wales almost made it 8-0 on 14 minutes when Gareth Anscombe's lovely chip out to the right wing found North.  However, his foot slid into touch and the try was ruled out by the officials.  Wales though would convert a penalty moments later as there was an advantage being played.

6-0 became 9-0 on 22 minutes when lock Jonny Gray was pinged for diving around the side of a ruck, Halfpenny slotting his third attempt.

Scotland needed to stop the rot and their first points came four minutes later via a scrum penalty which Hastings turned into three points.

But it was the closing stages of the half that brought about the most entertaining spell, with first North crashing through contact from 15 metres out for what was an unconverted try before McInally also crossed via the back of a driving line-out from for a much-needed seven.

Wales though would crucially score first in the second-half when Anscombe's short ball put centre Davies through a hole and he raced over.

The hosts were now 21-10 up but the closing half-an-hour in Cardiff was dominated by Scotland, with the visitors banging on the Welsh door.

Gregor Townsend's charges went close through Gray who was penalised for double movement half a metre out and when Wales replacement hooker Elliot Dee was sin binned on 69 minutes for offside.  It seemed now or never for Scotland, who again went close through Peter Horne.

Yet more Scottish pressure was to come in the dying embers but Wales admirably continued to stand firm, sealing the Doddie Weir Cup success.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  North, J Davies
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3
Yellow Card:  Dee

For Scotland:
Try:  McInally
Con:  Hastings
Pen:  Hastings

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Steff Evans

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Darcy Graham

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

10-try New Zealand see off Japan in Tokyo

New Zealand demonstrated the depth in quality at their disposal as they eased past Japan 69-31 at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday.

A 10-try performance saw Dane Coles, Richie Mo'unga, Ngani Laumape (3), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, George Bridge (2), Waisake Naholo and Matt Proctor cross the whitewash while fly-half Mo'unga also kicked 17 points off the tee, with Jordie Barrett adding the remaining conversion.

Samuela Anise, Hendrik Tui, Timothy Lafaele (2) and Jamie Henry went over for the Brave Blossoms, who could not match their opponents.

After an early Mo'unga penalty, it was Japan who hit the front as a charged down kick led to second-row Anise crossing for a 7-3 buffer.

But New Zealand responded in the 15th minute as returning hooker Coles celebrated his comeback with a try on the wing before five minutes later Mo'unga extended the lead, converting his own try for a 17-7 gap.  Japan were now in danger of being picked off.

Laumape's first try on 28 minutes made it 24-7 but thankfully for the home side they responded six minutes later via Tui to cancel it out.

Tries from Tahuriorangi and Laumape before the break shot the All Blacks 38-14 ahead, but there was still time for Lafaele to respond for the hosts, which gave Japan their highest ever points tally against New Zealand at 19.  In an open contest, it was likely they'd grab more.

So it proved as following Bridge crossing in the 47th minute for a debut try with his first touch, Henry hit back to make it a 45-24 game.

New Zealand though were scoring at will and Naholo's try, after an impressive carry from Gareth Evans, put their seventh try on the board.

50-24 became 57-24 three minutes later as impressive replacement Bridge then turned provider to give centre Proctor his own score on debut.

Proctor's midfield partner Laumape soon sealed his hat-trick, regathering his own chip to further extend the lead, before Bridge was over again as the All Blacks raced into a 69-24 advantage on 68 minutes.  They were showing no signs of slowing down going into the closing stages.

Thankfully for Japan they stopped that All Black procession when centre Lafaele went over for his second score in the 71st minute, which proved the final try of the game in Tokyo, with New Zealand now shifting their focus to next weekend's showdown with England at Twickenham Stadium.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Anise, Tui, Lafaele 2, Henry
Cons:  Tamura 3

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Coles, Mo'unga, Laumape 3, Tahuriorangi, Bridge 2, Naholo, Proctor
Cons:  Mo'unga 7, Barrett
Pens:  Mo'unga

Japan:  15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Jamie Henry, 13 Will Tupou, 12 Tim Lafaele, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Yusuki Niwai, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Asaeli Valu, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Vaka Nakajima, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Rikiya Matsuda 23 Ryoto Nakamura

New Zealand:  15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 8 Luke Whitelock (c), 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Jackson Hemopo, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ofa Tuungafasi
Replacements:  16 Liam Coltman, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Dillon Hunt, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Mitch Drummond, 22 Brett Cameron, 23 George Bridge

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Damon Murphy (Australia), Graham Cooper (Australia)
TMO:  Damien Mitchelmore (Australia)

Impressive All Blacks blow Wallabies away

The All Blacks' dominance over the Wallabies continued when they claimed a 37-20 win over their trans-Tasman rivals in Yokohama on Saturday.

Although Australia were aiming to repeat last year's Bledisloe Cup dead rubber win, New Zealand had other ideas and delivered a dominant display in which they outscored the Wallabies by five tries to two with Beauden Barrett leading the way with a 17-point haul courtesy of a try, three conversions and two penalties.

Australia made a bright start and took the ball through several phases from the kick off with only a desperate tackle from Scott Barrett on Dane Haylett-Petty — which took him into touch at the corner flag — preventing the Wallabies from opening the scoring in the second minute.

Despite that early attack from their opponents, the All Blacks were soon in control of proceedings and 10 minutes later Liam Squire crossed for the opening try after gathering a pass from Sonny Bill Williams inside the Wallabies' 22.

Beauden Barrett succeeded with the conversion before Kurtley Beale opened Australia's account in the 21st minute with a penalty from 46 metres out after Williams was blown up for offside play on defence.

Five minutes later, The All Blacks restored their seven-point lead when Barrett added a penalty after the Wallabies' front-row were penalised for illegal scrummaging.

New Zealand continued to dominate and in the 36th minute Kieran Read scored their second try after selling Will Genia a dummy off the back of a scrum on Australia's five-metre line.

Barrett's conversion meant the world champions held a 17-3 lead but on the stroke of half-time Sefa Naivalu collected a pass from Marika Koroibete before crashing over in the left-hand corner for a deserved try.

Foley added the extras and the Wallabies were back in the game with the All Blacks holding a seven-point lead at the interval.

Just like the first half, Australia were fastest out of the blocks after the break and, after taking the ball through 11 phases, Rob Simmons crossed the whitewash, although his effort was disallowed as television replays revealed he failed to ground the ball after Beauden Barrett did brilliantly on defence.

However, the All Blacks strayed offside in the build-up to that effort and Foley slotted the resulting penalty which meant New Zealand were now leading 17-13 after 48 minutes.

Five minutes later, Barrett restored his side's seven-point lead when he added another penalty after Scott Sio infringed at a ruck.

The All Blacks were slowly gaining the upper hand and extended that buffer on the hour-mark courtesy of a brilliant try from Beauden Barrett.

This, after the All Blacks launched an attack from a scrum close to their 10-metre line, with Read and TJ Perenara attacking on the openside before Barrett changed the direction of play towards the blindside when he passed to Rieko Ioane.  The wing was soon inside the Wallabies' half and did well to draw in a couple of defenders before offloading to Barrett, who outpaced the cover defence to dot down.

That try was a major setback for Australia and their cause wasn't helped when Tolu Latu was yellow carded in the 67th minute for an open-handed shove in the face of Codie Taylor.

With a man in the sin bin, the Wallabies were always going to struggle against the world champions and things went from bad to worse for them when Ben Smith intercepted a wayward Israel Folau pass before racing away to score his side's fourth try.

To their credit, the Wallabies did not surrender and in the 76th minute, Samu Kerevi got a pass out to Folau inside the All Blacks' 22 and he did well to step past a couple of defenders before crossing the whitewash.

The All Blacks were not done, however, and two minutes later Richie Mo'unga started an attack which tore the Wallabies' defence apart.  The world champions were soon inside Australia's 22 and a brilliant a through-the-legs pass from Barrett to Ioane was rounded off by the wing which sealed his side's win.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Squire, Read, B Barrett, B Smith, Ioane
Cons:  B Barrett 3
Pens:  B Barrett 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Naivalu, Folau
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Beale, Foley
Yellow Card:  Latu

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Sefa Naivalu, 13 Israel Folau, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Faingaa, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Samu Kerevi, 23 Tom Banks

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
Television match official:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Incredible fightback seals win for Wallabies

Australia recovered from a sizeable 31-7 deficit at the interval to defeat Argentina 45-34 in their Rugby Championship clash in Salta on Saturday.

The visitors, who scored through Michael Hooper, Izack Rodda, Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty (2) and David Pocock, avoid the wooden spoon, thus handing bottom spot to the Pumas, who will rue how they let slip that buffer at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.

Argentina's try-scorers were Pablo Matera, Emiliano Boffelli, Matias Orlando and Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias in what was a game of two halves.

It was a dream opening 40 for the Pumas as they went in with that handy 31-7 cushion thanks to four tries, with Australia's defence in pieces.

The Wallabies were slipping off tackles — 17 in total during the first stanza — and Argentina made them pay, starting in the second minute when Matera hit a superb line before racing over.  The conversion from Nicolas Sanchez made it 7-0 and it was 14-0 a couple of minutes later as Reece Hodge's pass was intercepted and full-back Boffelli eventually finished off the breakaway score.

However, Australia did respond on 14 minutes thanks to a well worked over-the-top line-out move that saw Hooper go over from recycled ball.

The visitors needed to build on that but instead it was the Pumas who scored next as Orlando crashed over, after another good Matera carry.  The lead grew further shortly after on 31 minutes as Gonzalez Iglesias scored a fine individual try immediately after coming on.

Gonzalez Iglesias, who had replaced the injured Sanchez, would add a penalty before the break to make it a 24-point advantage to the hosts.

The first try of the second period was always going to be crucial so when Gonzalo Bertranou's box kick was charged down and ended up with Rodda crossing under the posts, the Wallabies had hope of a potential fightback, Foley's extras making it 31-14 on 45 minutes.

Australia looked re-energised and continued to chip away at the lead four minutes later when Folau's slick try thanks to a great line made it 31-21.  Two minutes after that the lead was down to three points as Haylett-Petty's finish on the left touchline piled the pressure on the Pumas.

A penalty from Gonzalez Iglesias on the hour helped ease the tension in Salta but it was short relief as Pocock crashed over three minutes later, with the conversion from Foley nudging the Wallabies 35-34 in front.  It was the first time Australia had held the lead in the game.

That advantage grew to eight points as Australia's sixth try soon followed, this time from a cross kick that led to Haylett-Petty scoring.  And with Foley slotting his second penalty of the game on 75 minutes, the loss of Tolu Latu to the sin-bin late on did not impact on the result as Australia sealed an unlikely comeback win.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Matera, Boffelli, Orlando, Gonzalez Iglesias
Cons:  Sanchez 3, Gonzalez Iglesias
Pens:  Gonzalez Iglesias 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Hooper, Rodda, Folau, Haylett-Petty 2, Pocock
Cons:  Foley 6
Pen:  Foley
Yellow Card:  Latu

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Caleb Timu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Tom Banks

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Late All Blacks comeback stuns Springboks

A late Ardie Savea try helped the All Blacks to a hard-fought 32-30 victory over the Springboks in their Rugby Championship Test in Pretoria on Saturday.

In a tightly contested match, the home side made a bright start and dominated the early exchanges but two Handré Pollard penalties were all they had to show for their efforts before the All Blacks struck back with two penalties of their own from Beauden Barrett, which meant the sides were level at 6-6 at half-time.

South Africa upped the ante on attack after the break and eventually held a 30-13 lead by the hour-mark before the world champions' late comeback saw them score 19 unanswered points during the final quarter.

If the truth be told, the All Blacks were far from their best as they were under the cosh for large periods although they did well to fight back and eventually outscored their hosts by four tries to three.

The Springboks were the dominant side early on and took the lead in the fourth minute when Pollard slotted a penalty from 52 metres out after Kieran Read was blown up for offside play on defence.

The All Blacks conceded several further penalties over the next 10 minutes and the Springboks were soon camped inside their opponents' 22.

In the 13th minute, Damian de Allende was held up while crossing the All Blacks' try-line but, once again, the world champions strayed offside on defence and Pollard doubled his team's lead when he added the resulting penalty.

South Africa continued to dominate and had the bulk of the possession and territory during the next 10 minutes and kept the All Blacks pinned inside their half thanks to accurate kicking out of hand from Pollard and Faf de Klerk.

New Zealand soaked up that early pressure and opened their account in the 26th minute courtesy of a penalty from Barrett after Eben Etzebeth infringed at a lineout 10 metres inside South Africa's half.

And 10 minutes later, Barrett drew his side level when he added another three-pointer of the kicking tee after illegal play from Francois Louw at a ruck.

Just like the opening half, the Springboks were fastest out of the blocks after the break and four minutes after the restart Steven Kitshoff got a pass out to Jesse Kriel, just outside the All Blacks' 22, and he did well to shrug off tackles from Waisake Naholo and Ryan Crotty before outsprinting the cover defence to score the opening try.

Pollard added the extras and also slotted another long range penalty three minutes later which meant the Boks were now leading 16-6.

Five minutes later, South Africa went further ahead when Siya Kolisi made a brilliant line break before offloading to De Allende, who dotted down under the posts.

Once again, Pollard was successful off the kicking tee but the All Blacks responded shortly afterwards courtesy of an Aaron Smith try after Codie Taylor tore the home side's defence to shreds with a superb run in the build-up.

Despite that setback, the Boks did not panic and in the 59th minute Cheslin Kolbe ran onto a pass from Willie le Roux and dotted down in the right-hand corner but only after confirmation from the television match official after desperate tackles from fly-half Barrett and Rieko Ioane on defence.

Pollard retained his perfect goal-kicking record by slotting the conversion which meant the Boks had their tails up with the score 30-13 in their favour.

But despite that huge margin, the All Blacks showed why they are the world champions as they came back strongly during the game's closing stages.

Two minutes after Kolbe's try, the All Blacks created space for Ioane on the wing and he cantered in for an easy five-pointer after an inch-perfect long pass from pivot Barrett.

The All Blacks finished stronger and they spent most of the final 10 minutes inside South Africa's half.  And after an extended period camped deep inside the Boks' 22, Scott Barrett barged over the whitewash from close range in the 75th minute with Richie Mo'unga's conversion making it a three-point game.

Just before full-time, the All Blacks were hammering away at the Boks' try-line before Savea showed his class to dot down under a mass of bodies and, once again, Mo'unga added the extras with the last act of the game to clinch the win for New Zealand.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Kriel, De Allende, Kolbe
Cons:  Pollard 3
Pens:  Pollard 3

For New Zealand:
Tries:  A Smith, Ioane, S Barrett, Savea
Cons:  Mo'unga 3
Pens:  B Barrett 2

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

All Blacks claim Rugby Championship title

New Zealand wrapped up a third successive Rugby Championship title on Saturday after they beat Argentina 35-17 at Estadio Jose Amalfitani.

Tries from Rieko Ioane (2), Waisake Naholo, Patrick Tuipulotu and Anton Lienert-Brown saw them prevail, with Beauden Barrett kicking eight points while replacement Richie Mo'unga added the other conversion as New Zealand bounced back from that loss to the Boks in good fashion.

For Argentina this was a frustrating performance on home soil as they could not build on their away win over Australia.  Tomas Cubelli and Emiliano Boffelli scored their two tries while Nicolas Sanchez kicked seven points as their long wait for an All Blacks' scalp continues.

New Zealand were dealt a blow before kick-off when Luke Whitelock was ruled out, which meant Ardie Savea came into the XV at number eight.  With Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and Owen Franks also missing from their forward pack, the All Blacks looked somewhat depleted up front.

Argentina took an early 0-3 lead on six minutes when Shannon Frizell was penalised at the base of a ruck.  The All Blacks hit back in style two minutes later with wing Naholo's run leading to Ben Smith finding Ioane for the contest's opening try.  Barrett converted for 7-3.

Sanchez had a chance to reduce that gap down to one point a minute later, but uncharacteristically missed a relatively simple shot at goal.

New Zealand soon made the Pumas fly-half pay for that miss when Naholo crashed over following a dominant New Zealand scrum to make it 14-3.

What added to Argentina's worries was their scrum once again looking decidedly fragile as New Zealand turned the screw.  That ultimately led to Ioane claiming his second try of the match on 30 minutes as the resulting passage saw him collect loose ball for a score down the left.

Argentina desperately needed points before the break and even with Sonny Bill Williams yellow carded for coming offside, it would not come.

The Pumas began the second-half as they ended the first as they enjoyed the lion's share of possession and territory.  However, chances were blown in the red zone as New Zealand somehow survived as centre Williams returned from the sin-bin with the score the same as when he left.

It was Williams too who turned the match in terms of momentum on 54 minutes as his offload on halfway saw Ioane go close.  From an ensuing attack replacement second-row Tuipulotu crossed, a try which came thanks to a lovely pass in close quarters from loosehead Karl Tu'inukuafe.

Argentina finally got over the whitewash on 59 minutes, if in fortuitous circumstances, with Cubelli's try allowed despite clear double movement.  Sanchez converted that score as it was now 28-10 with both coaches having now emptied their benches for the closing 20 minutes.

Boffelli then made it 28-17 with 12 minutes left after a strong carry from Pablo Matera to give Argentina hope, but that was extinguished seven minutes before full-time as Mo'unga's smart grubber saw Lienert-Brown ground next to an upright to secure the win and the silverware.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Cubelli, Boffelli
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pen:  Sanchez

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Ioane 2, Naholo, Tuipulotu, Lienert-Brown
Cons:  Barrett 4, Mo'unga
Yellow Card:  Williams

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Matias Moroni, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Matias Orlando, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Samuel Whitelock (c), 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Jackson Hemopo, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Television match official:  David Grashoff (England)

Springboks see off Wallabies in tight affair

South Africa continued with their fine recent form when they beat Australia 23-12 in a Rugby Championship Test in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

In a tightly contested match, the Springboks were made to work hard for this result as they were under plenty of pressure for long periods but a solid defensive effort, particularly in the second half, kept the Wallabies at bay.

Both teams scored two tries apiece, although excellent goalkicking from Handré Pollard proved to be the difference between the sides and he contributed 13 points courtesy of three penalties and two conversions.

The victory is South Africa's third of the tournament and consolidates second position on the table while Australia are still firmly rooted to the bottom of the standings.

South Africa made a terrific start when 25 seconds into the match Kurtley Beale threw a long pass — close to his tryline — which Aphiwe Dyantyi intercepted, from under the nose of Dane Haylett-Petty, before crossing for the opening try.

Pollard slotted the conversion which meant the Boks had their tails up with the score 7-0 in their favour.

Three minutes later, the Wallabies had a chance to narrow the gap when Matt Toomua lined up a penalty, after the Boks strayed offside on defence, but his shot at goal was wide of the posts.

The home side held the upper hand over the next 15 minutes but, despite having the bulk of the possession, they could not convert their dominance into points.

Despite being on the back-foot during that period, the visitors were kept in the game thanks to a superb defensive effort with David Pocock leading the charge with two crucial steals at the breakdown.

However, the Boks' fortunes would change in the 21st minute when Pollard beat a couple of defenders inside the Wallabies' 22 before throwing an inside pass to Faf de Klerk, who raced away before scoring next to the posts.

Despite that score, the visitors stayed true to their attacking roots and ran the ball from all areas of the field.  And in the 26th minute that tactic reaped reward when Will Genia threw a long pass to Reece Hodge, who dotted down in the right-hand corner.

Toomua's conversion was off target but shortly afterwards Marika Koroibete found himself in space down the left-hand touchline, inside South Africa's half, before throwing a pass to Genia, who cantered in for the visitors' second try.

This time Toomua was successful off the kicking tee which meant the match was evenly poised with the Springboks leading 14-12.

However, in the 34th minute, Australia strayed offside on defence close to their tryline and Pollard added the resulting penalty to give his side a five-point lead.

The Wallabies had a chance to narrow the gap shortly afterwards when Pollard was blown up for offside play but Reece Hodge was off-target with a long range penalty.

Just before half-time, Siya Kolisi did brilliantly to win a penalty for his side at a breakdown and Pollard added another three-pointer which gave the Boks a 20-12 lead at the interval.

The Springboks made a bright start to the second half and six minutes into the half they extended their lead when Pollard slotted another penalty after Pocock was blown up for an illegal hit on Dyantyi.

The next 20 minutes was an arm wrestle with Australia spending long periods inside South Africa's half but, although the visitors were awarded several penalties within goalkicking range, their captain, Michael Hooper, opted to kick for touch instead.

In the 64th minute, the Springboks' penchant for conceding penalties proved costly when Dyantyi was yellow carded when he slowed the ball down cynically at a ruck inside his 22.

That gave the Wallabies a chance to up the ante on attack and, although they did just that, a combination of unforced errors and the Boks' excellent defensive work kept them out during Dyantyi's stint off the field and the game's closing stages.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Dyantyi, De Klerk
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 3
Yellow Card:  Dyantyi

For Australia:
Tries:  Hodge, Genia
Con:  Toomua

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier , 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Adam Coleman, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Faingaa, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Rob Simmons, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Jack Maddocks

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Matthew Carley (England)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

Argentina squeeze past Australia

Argentina returned to winning ways in the Rugby Championship when they claimed a hard-fought 23-19 win over Australia on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

The result is a significant one for the Pumas as it ends a nine-match winless run in away matches in the Rugby Championship and it's the first time they have beaten the Wallabies in Australia since 1983.

In a tightly contested clash, Australia outscored their visitors by three tries to two, but they committed too many unforced errors which helped Argentina to secure the result.

The win means the Pumas move into third position on the Rugby Championship table while the Wallabies are in last place.

Argentina held a slight edge during the opening exchanges and opened the scoring in the fifth minute via a monster penalty from Emiliano Boffelli from just inside his half.

The Wallabies struck back five minutes later when Will Genia rounded off a well-worked move.  Dane Haylett-Petty started the attack when he put Reece Hodge into a gap with a fine offload before Hodge threw an inside pass to Genia, who crossed for the opening try which was converted by Matt Toomua.

Australia's lead did not last too long though as Argentina responded with a Nicolas Sanchez try three minutes later.  This, after they set up some phases inside the Wallabies' half before Jeronimo De La Fuente offloaded to Sanchez, who dotted down.

Sanchez added the extras but the topsy-turvy nature of this game continued when Israel Folau left his stamp on this match in spectacular fashion midway through the half.

The cross-code star, who was playing on the wing, showed his class as he beat five defenders on a mazy run before dotting down in the left-hand corner.

Toomua slotted the conversion which gave the home side a 14-10 lead but Argentina struck back when Sanchez crossed the whitewash in the 31st minute.  His joy was short-lived, however, as television replays revealed that Ramiro Moyano put a foot into touch in the build-up, after a great tackle from Genia.

Despite that setback, the Pumas continued to attack and they were rewarded in the 36th minute when Bautista Delguy crossed for their second try.  Pablo Matera did well with a fine break in the build-up and although Delguy had plenty of work to do when he gathered the ball, midway between Australia's 10-metre line and their 22, he did well to beat Haylett-Petty before cutting inside on his way over the tryline.

Sanchez's conversion meant the visitors held a slender 17-14 lead as the teams changed sides at half-time.

Two minutes into the second half, Argentina thought they had extended their lead when Boffelli crossed the Wallabies' tryline but, once again, the visitors had a try disallowed when the television match official ruled that the final pass from Delguy was forward.

Argentina put that setback behind them and took a six-point lead when Sanchez added a penalty in the 48th minute.  The Wallabies did not panic and in the 55th minute, they reduced the deficit when Haylett-Petty ran onto a pass from Hodge before dotting down although Toomua failed with the conversion attempt which would have given his team the lead.

That proved costly as both sides battled to gain the ascendancy over the next 20 minutes.  The Pumas finished stronger though and in the 77th minute Bofelli landed another long range penalty which sealed his side's victory.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, Folau, Haylett-Petty
Cons:  Toomua 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Sanchez, Delguy
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pens:  Bofelli 2, Sanchez

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Will Genia, 8 Pete Samu, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Folau Faingaa, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Jack Maddocks

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Springboks stun All Blacks in Wellington

South Africa caused a major shock in their Rugby Championship Test with New Zealand as they claimed a 36-34 win in Wellington on Saturday.

In a thrilling match filled with plenty of drama, the Boks were deserved winners as they held the lead for most of the match.

The All Blacks outscored their visitors by six tries to five although poor goalkicking from Beauden Barrett cost the world champions in the end as he missed four shots at goal.

The win is a momentous result for the Springboks as it is their first triumph on New Zealand soil since 2009 and this is the All Blacks' first defeat in the Rugby Championship since 2015.

South Africa were under the cosh early on when Handré Pollard's kick to get the game underway went over the deadball line and, after an extended period camped inside the Boks' half, the All Blacks opened the scoring.  Jordie Barrett gathered a pass from his brother Beauden and glided through a gaping hole in the visitors' defence before crossing for the opening try.

The older Barrett failed with the conversion attempt but the All Blacks continued to dominate and spent long periods inside South Africa's half during the next 10 minutes.

And in the 16th minute, Ben Smith made a superb line break down the right-hand wing before throwing an inside pass to Aaron Smith, who cantered in for an easy five-pointer.

Barrett made up for his earlier miss and added the extras which gave the world champions a deserved 12-0 lead.

The visitors did not panic, however, and struck back midway through the half with a well-taken try from Aphiwe Dyantyi after good work from Malcolm Marx and Willie le Roux in the build-up.

That try was converted by Pollard and, although the Boks were trailing by five points, they were the dominant side for the next 15 minutes and were rewarded with two further tries during that period.

First, Jordie Barrett took a quick lineout just outside his 22 but the throw was an inaccurate one and Le Roux gathered the bouncing ball from under the nose of Rieko Ioane before crossing for the visitors' second try.

And in the 32nd minute, the Boks went further ahead when Marx crossed the whitewash off the back of a lineout drive deep inside the All Blacks' 22.  Pollard converted both those tries which meant South Africa had their tails up with the score 21-12 in their favour.

The All Blacks needed a response and that came in the 38th minute when the ball was shifted to Ioane, who found himself in space out wide and he had an easy run-in for his side's third try.

The Boks would have the final say of the half, however, when just before half-time Pollard added a penalty which gave his side a 24-17 lead at the interval.

The visitors made a dream start to the second half when two minutes after the restart Cheslin Kolbe intercepted a pass from Anton Lienert-Brown before racing away to score his side's fourth try.

Pollard's conversion was successful which meant the Springboks were leading 31-17 but the All Blacks struck back 10 minutes later when Ioane gathered a pass from Beauden Barrett before stepping past Kolbe on his way over the tryline.

But despite that score, the Springboks continued to attack and in the 57th minute Dyantyi rounded off a flowing move — in which RG Snyman, Steven Kitshoff, Elton Jantjies and Warren Whiteley all handled the ball superbly — which gave his side a 36-24 lead.

That boosted the Boks' confidence but it did not deter the All Blacks who came roaring back in the 61st minute when Codie Taylor crossed the whitewash after a lineout drive close to the visitors' tryline.

The final quarter saw the All Blacks launching several attacks deep inside the Springboks' half as they looked to retain their unbeaten record in the competition.  In the 67th minute, South Africa were reduced to 14 men when Willie le Roux was yellow carded for taking Ioane out from an offside position close to the Boks' tryline.

With a numerical advantage, the All Blacks upped the ante on attack and were rewarded when Ardie Savea crossed the whitewash in the 74th minute after another lineout drive deep inside Bok territory.

The closing stages were a tense affair with the world champions continuing to attack close to the Boks' tryline but the visitors kept them at bay with a heroic defensive effort and held on for a memorable win.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  J Barrett, A Smith, Ioane 2, Taylor, Savea
Cons:  B Barrett 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Dyantyi 2, Le Roux, Marx, Kolbe
Cons:  Pollard 4
Pen:  Pollard
Yellow Card:  Le Roux

New Zealand:  15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Liam Coltman, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Jack Goodhue, 23 Damian McKenzie

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Beast Mtawarira, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Cheslin Kolbe

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Nic Berry (Australia)
Television match official:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wallabies hold on to deny Springboks

Australia got their Rugby Championship campaign back on track when they secured a hard-fought 23-18 victory over South Africa in Brisbane on Saturday.

As expected, this was a tough battle between two evenly matched sides but the teams committed a plethora of unforced errors which meant the game had a stop-start nature to it.

Both sides scored two tries apiece although a fine all-round performance from Matt Toomua proved the difference between them in the end as he finished with a 15-point haul courtesy of a try, two conversions and two penalties.

Australia made the brighter start and took the lead as early as the second minute when Michael Hooper burrowed his way over the try-line from close quarters after Scott Sio and Allan Alaalatoa went close in the build-up.

Toomua added the conversion but despite being on the back foot early on, South Africa soon took control of proceedings and were the dominant side for the next 15 minutes.

Elton Jantjies opened the Springboks' account from the kicking tee in the seventh minute after Alaalatoa was penalised for a scrum indiscretion.

The Boks continued to dominate as the half progressed and took the lead seven minutes later when Bongi Mbonambi dotted down off the back of a line-out drive deep inside Wallabies territory.

Jantjies added the extras which gave the visitors a 10-7 lead and they went further ahead in the 28th minute when Makazole Mapimpi gathered a long pass from Faf de Klerk before diving over in the right-hand corner.

But despite that try, the Wallabies were soon back in the match thanks to a mistake from the Boks deep inside their 22.  This, when Mbonambi over-cooked a long throw-in at a line-out on his five-metre line.  The ball was gathered by Toomua, who had an easy run-in under the posts and he dusted himself off before adding the conversion which meant the match was evenly poised with South Africa holding a one-point lead.

The Boks extended their lead in the 39th minute, however, when Jantjies added another penalty after another infringement from the Wallabies at a scrum deep inside their half.

But that would not be the last points of the half as deep into injury time, Steven Kitshoff infringed at a ruck and Reece Hodge landed a long-range penalty from 53 metres out, which meant South Africa held a slender 18-17 lead at half-time.

The second-half was a more subdued affair and the opening points of the half were registered in the 55th minute when Toomua slotted a penalty after Kitshoff was blown up again for playing the ball on the ground.

That meant the Wallabies were leading 20-18 and Toomua gave his side a five-point lead when he added another penalty in the 69th minute after Tendai Mtawarira was penalised for illegal scrummaging.

The rest of the half was a tight affair as South Africa tried to regain the initiative but their game was littered with errors and they failed to haul in their hosts.

The Boks hammered away at the Wallabies' try-line and the visitors thought they crossed for their third try when Francois Louw went over in the 78th minute but his effort was disallowed due to a knock on from Malcolm Marx in the build-up.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Hooper, Toomua
Cons:  Toomua 2
Pens:  Toomua 2, Hodge

For South Africa:
Tries:  Mbonambi, Mapimpi
Con:  Jantjies
Pens:  Jantjies 2

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Will Genia, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Tom Banks

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Rudolph Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Cheslin Kolbe

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Six-try All Blacks too good for Argentina

New Zealand retained their unbeaten status in this year's Rugby Championship when they claimed a 46-24 win over Argentina in Nelson on Saturday.

As usual, the All Blacks' brilliance on attack laid the foundation for their win but they had to work hard for this result as Argentina also impressed with ball in hand and were competitive for long periods.

The world champions' class shone through in the end though and they eventually outscored the Pumas by six tries to three with TJ Perenara crossing for a deserved brace.

The All Blacks had the better of the early exchanges and opened the scoring in the fifth minute courrtesy of a Richie Mo'unga penalty after the Pumas capitulated under pressure at a scrum deep inside their half.

Argentina had a chance to draw level from the kicking tee, when Ardie Savea went off his feet at a ruck shortly afterwards, but Nicolas Sanchez's shot at goal was wide of the posts.

The All Blacks suffered a major setback in the 10th minute when Brodie Retallick, Ngani Laumape and Ben Smith were all forced off the field through injury which saw Sam Whitelock, Anton Lienert-Brown and Damian McKenzie entering the fray as their replacements although Smith would return to action after passing a Head Injury Assessment.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side five minutes later when Ramiro Moyano found himself in space just inside the All Blacks' half and he did brilliantly to step past three defenders before crossing for the opening try.

Sanchez added the extras which meant the Pumas were leading 7-3 after 15 minutes but the All Blacks regained the lead midway through the half when Codie Taylor offloaded to Nehe Milner-Skudder, who cantered in for an easy try which was converted by Mo'unga.

The All Blacks were slowly gaining the upper hand especially in the forward exchanges where rookie flanker Shannon Frizell was particularly impressive with several barnstorming runs and a solid defensive effort.

And on the hour-mark, the world champions extended their lead when Perenara crossed the whitewash from close quarters after strong carries from Frizell, Ardie Savea and Jack Goodhue in the build-up.

Five minutes later, Sanchez glided through a gap in the home side's defence before offloading to Matias Moroni, who dotted down in the right-hand corner but his effort was disallowed when television replays revealed that he put a foot in touch after an excellent cover tackle from Perenara.

And on the stroke of half-time Mo'unga added another penalty which gave his side an 18-7 lead at the interval.

But despite trailing by 11 points, Argentina were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and two minutes after the restart, Sanchez beat Owen Franks with deft footwork deep inside New Zealand's 22 before crossing for their second try.

Sanchez added the extras but despite seeing their lead slashed to four points, the All Blacks did not panic and in the 50th minute Kieran Read crossed for their third try after a superb line break from Smith in the build-up.

That score gave the world champions some breathing space but Argentinia would not surrender and a Sanchez penalty made it 25-17 to the All Blacks after 56 minutes.

The hosts continued to dominate, however, and on the hour-mark Lienert-Brown made a telling break before offloading to Perenara, who had an easy run-in for his second try.

Mo'unga's conversion was successful but despite holding a 32-17 lead, the All Blacks had not yet secured the result and in the 70th minute, Emiliano Boffelli crossed for a well-taken try which meant Argentina were trailing by eight points after Sanchez added the conversion.

New Zealand finished stronger though and Frizell rounded off a superb all-round performance when he crossed for a deserved try from close quarters in the 74th minute before Goodhue sealed his side's win when he scored his side's sixth five-pointer just before full-time.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Milner-Skudder, Perenara 2, Read, Frizell, Goodhue
Cons:  Mo'unga 5
Pens:  Mo'unga 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Moyano, Sanchez, Boffelli
Cons:  Sanchez 3
Pen:  Sanchez

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Luke Whitelock, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Tomas Lezana, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Chaparro Tetaz, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Gaston Cortez, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Argentina see off South Africa to end losing streak

Argentina ended an eleven-match losing streak in the Rugby Championship when they claimed a deserved 32-19 win over South Africa in Mendoza on Saturday.

The home side were full value for their win as they dominated for large periods and eventually outscored the Springboks by four tries to three with Nicolas Sanchez leading the way with a 17-point haul courtesy of a try, three conversions, a penalty and a drop goal.

Apart from a brief period during the first half, when they held the upper-hand, the Springboks found the going tough and they seemed shell-shocked by the intensity with which los Pumas approached this match.

The hosts' forwards deserve plenty of credit for matching the Boks' physicality and this allowed their backs to play with freedom and Sanchez to dictate proceedings.

South Africa made the brighter start but despite doing most of the early attacking, it was Argentina who opened the scoring courtesy of a Sanchez penalty in the fifth minute, after Frans Malherbe was blown up for not releasing the ball on the ground.

The Boks had an opportunity to draw level in the 12th minute, after Pablo Matera strayed offside on defence on the edge of his 22, but Handré Pollard pushed an easy shot at goal wide of the uprights.

Shortly afterwards, the visitors took the lead courtesy of a well-taken try from their captain, Siya Kolisi.  This, after he slipped out of a tackle from Sanchez close to Argentina's 10-metre line and although he still had plenty of work to do, he did well to sell the cover defence a dummy before diving over.

Pollard added the extras but Argentina put that setback behind them and soon took the game by the scruff of the neck as they would score three tries during a 10 minute blitz.

First, Bautista Delguy rounded off in the right-hand corner in the 20th minute after Emiliano Boffelli tore the Bok defence to shreds with a superb line break just inside the visitors' half.  Boffelli then drew in a defender before offloading to Bautista Ezcurra, who got a pass out to Delguy and he went over the whitewash despite a desperate cover tackle from Willie le Roux.

Three minutes later, the Pumas forwards did well to get the better of their counterparts at a scrum close to the halfway line before Javier Ortega Desio gathered and made a telling break before the ball was shifted to Delguy, who beat Le Roux with ease before crossing for his second try.

The home side had their tails up and things went from bad to worse for the Springboks in the 26th minute when Eben Etzebeth was yellow carded for slowing the ball down cynically close to his try-line.

And two minutes later, Argentina went further ahead when Sanchez rounded Malcolm Marx down the left-hand touchline before diving over for his side's third try.  He made no mistake with the conversion attempt which gave his side a 24-7 lead.

Argentina were now brimming with confidence and in the 36th minute, Sanchez hammered home their advantage when he landed a drop goal from 35 metres out which meant los Pumas held a commanding 27-7 lead at half-time.

They continued to dominate after the restart and six minutes into the second half Matias Moroni did well to get a pass out to Ramiro Moyano, who had an easy run-in for his side's fourth try.

Sanchez failed to convert with his side holding a 32-7 lead, which meant the visitors had a mountain to climb if they wanted to wanted to win this Test.  And although the Boks showed more urgency on attack, they committed far too many unforced errors which cost them dearly in the end.

Two minutes after Moyano's try, Warren Whiteley, Aphiwe Dyantyi and Le Roux combined brilliantly to create space for Lionel Mapoe, who went over for his first Test try.

That try seemed to reinvigorate the Boks and they held a slight advantage for the next 15 minutes.  On the hour-mark, they thought they had narrowed the gap when Dyantyi crossed the whitewash, but his effort was disallowed when the final pass from Lukhanyo Am went forward.

South Africa continued to chase the game and were rewarded in the 65th minute when Mapoe crossed for his second try after good work from his forwards in the build-up.

The rest of the match was a topsy-turvy affair with both sides running the ball from all areas of the field and although the Boks spent large periods camped inside los Pumas' half, the home side finished stronger and held on for the win.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Delguy 2, Sanchez, Moyano
Cons:  Sanchez 3
Pen:  Sanchez
Drop goal:  Sanchez

For South Africa:
Tries:  Kolisi, Mapoe 2
Cons:  Pollard 2
Yellow Card:  Etzebeth

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Siya Kolisi (c), 6 Francois Louw, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Damian Willemse

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Beauden Barrett brilliance downs the Wallabies

Beauden Barrett scored a remarkable four tries as New Zealand secured another Bledisloe Cup following a 40-12 triumph over Australia at Eden Park.

Akin to last week, it was a mistake-ridden first-half but two pieces of quality saw the All Blacks go into the break 14-7 ahead thanks to a brace of Barrett tries.

Will Genia had levelled matters for the Wallabies but they fell away in the early stages of the final 40 minutes when Joe Moody and Liam Squire touched down in quick succession.

Although Reece Hodge crossed the whitewash to reduce the arrears to 16 points, successive Barrett efforts eased the hosts clear as they claimed a second victory over their trans-Tasman rivals in 2018.

After this loss, further questions will be asked of Wallaby boss Michael Cheika in a defeat which resembled the previous match between the two.

New Zealand started slowly in their opening Rugby Championship encounter and were similarly slack at Eden Park, but their quality eventually told.  Mistakes were prevalent in the first 10 minutes and Australia had a couple of chances to put the hosts under duress but, without their primary attacking threat Israel Folau, Steve Hansen’s charges were relatively comfortable.

The All Blacks were struggling to find their fluency but one moment of brilliance appeared to change all that.  Shorn of Folau, who was the visitors’ biggest aerial threat, the Wallabies were exposed as Ben Smith brilliantly collected Aaron Smith’s box kick.  Play was shifted wide and Jordie Barrett broke through before his brother, Beauden, took a superb line off Aaron Smith’s pass to touch down under the posts.

It was a classic example of what the world champions can do on the front foot but, to Australia’s credit, they continued to pressurise the home side’s attack.  As a result, Cheika’s men were gaining plenty of possession through their opponents’ errors and they eventually benefited.

Kurtley Beale was the instigator, kicking through to Marika Koroibete, and the two combined to send them to within inches of the line.  Although the initial attack was halted, Genia spotted a small gap following a five-metre scrum to scamper over from close range.

Cheika’s charges were back in the contest but, unperturbed, New Zealand created another outstanding score.  This time it came from turnover ball and once again their wing played a crucial part after Smith went on a mazy run down the right.  He found Jack Goodhue and, despite seeing the centre hauled down just short, fly-half Barrett was on hand to cross the whitewash for a 14-7 lead at the interval.

That try proved to be a hammer blow for Australia with New Zealand raising the intensity in the second period and increasing their buffer minutes into the half.  When Jordie Barrett was needlessly taken off the ball, play was taken inside the opposition 22 and Moody barrelled his way over.

Following what was effectively the game-clinching try, the All Blacks put the result beyond doubt minutes later when Brodie Retallick showed his range of skills by deftly sending Squire through a hole to score.

Hodge responded almost immediately for the visitors but Barrett’s scything break resulted in the fly-half touching down for his hat-trick.

The pivot wasn’t done there and, after Damian McKenzie had broken through, good hands on the outside gave the two-time World Player of the Year a fourth for a 30-point haul.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B Barrett 4, Moody, Squire
Cons:  B Barrett 5

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, Hodge
Con:  Foley

New Zealand:  15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Folau Faingaa, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Tom Banks

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Springboks’ second-half blitz downs Argentina

The Springboks opened their Rugby Championship account with a 34-21 come-from-behind victory over Argentina at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

The Boks have not lost consecutive matches on home soil since a three-match losing run between 2015 and 2016.  And after that 25-10 defeat to England in the final Test of the June internationals, they looked as if they just might repeat the feat when trailing 14-10 at the interval after a scrappy first-half performance.

However, Rassie Erasmus' men clicked into gear in the second-half, scoring 17 unanswered points to complete a thrilling comeback and continue their impressive record under their charismatic new mentor.  The former Munster boss will be delighted with his wing duo and inexperienced centre pairing (playing together for the first time) as well as handing Damian Willemse and Marco van Staden their debuts.

The Springboks opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Lukhanyo Am powered his way over after superb interplay between backs and forwards, with Andre Esterhuizen, Frans Malherbe and Faf de Klerk instrumental in the build-up.

Argentina responded seven minutes later.  A Nicolas Sanchez up and under was spilled by Willie le Roux as the visitors pounced on the loose ball.  Possession was recycled and with the Bok defence scrambling that allowed Sanchez to run in under the posts and convert his own try for a 7-5 lead.

Soon afterwards, los Pumas had the lead.  Bok captain Siya Kolisi found himself isolated after a mini break down the right flank, with the Argentine counter-ruck proving successful as wing Ramiro Moyano effected the turnover before running 20 metres and timing the final pass expertly for flank Pablo Matera to dot down for his fourth international try.

However, moments later and ten minutes before the interval, Le Roux saw the space on the outside and produced a pinpoint cross-field kick to find Aphiwe Dyantyi out on the left wing for his second try in a Bok jersey as the hosts to cut the deficit to four at 14-10 at the half-time break.

Two minutes after the resumption, Handre Pollard and Esterhuizen combined to make the mini-break to get the Springboks on the front foot before De Klerk's kick over the top was gobbled up by Dyantyi, who produced a brilliant one-handed finish to grab his brace.  Pollard made no mistake with the conversion this time to give the hosts a 17-14 lead.

The Springboks' third came six minutes later.  It came when Beast Mtawarira got under his opposite number at scrum-time and drove him backwards, thus winning the penalty for the home side.  They were rewarded for going for the attacking line-out when De Klerk found Makazole Mapimpi with an over-the-top pass, the winger having all the time in the world to complete the finish.

Moments later, both Bok wings had doubles when Mapimpi finished off a flowing move from the home side that involved slick interplay between backs and forwards once again.  Malcolm Marx made a particularly telling carry in the build-up to get his side over the advantage line.  Pollard's conversion made it a 27-14 lead after 53 minutes.

After Eben Etzebeth, who had an impressive return, made a bullocking run downfield, replacement debutant fly-half Willemse threw a wayward pass which eluded fellow debutant Van Staden, with Matias Moroni intercepting and crossing untouched under the posts.  Sanchez converted to cut the deficit to six.

But with ten minutes to go, scrum-half De Klerk would put the game beyond doubt when he showed good presence of mind to snipe over after Steven Kitshoff was halted inches short.  Pollard added the extras, which would prove to be the final points scored of the game, as the Boks ran out 34-21 winners.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Am, Dyantyi 2, Mapimpi 2, De Klerk
Cons:  Pollard 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Sanchez, Matera, Moroni
Cons:  Sanchez 3

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Siya Kolisi (c), 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Damian Willemse

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Impressive All Blacks fight back to see off Wallabies

A superb all-round performance by New Zealand saw them claim a deserved 38-13 win over Australia in Saturday's Rugby Championship opener in Sydney.

In a tough and uncompromising encounter the Wallabies had the better of the early exchanges but the world champions improved as the match progressed and eventually outscored their hosts by six tries to one.

If the truth be told, the All Blacks were far from their best during the opening half as they delivered a lethargic showing which was littered with numerous unforced errors.  But they were a completely different side after half-time and totally dominated the second half.

Australia made the brighter start and opened the scoring in the 10th minute courtesy of a Reece Hodge penalty after Kieran Read infringed at a ruck.

New Zealand were dealt a further blow three minutes later when Ryan Crotty was forced off the field after a clash of heads with his centre partner Jack Goodhue, with Anton Lienert-Brown coming on to replace Crotty.

And midway through the half, Bernard Foley made it 6-0 to the Wallabies when he added a three-pointer off the kicking tee after Liam Squire slowed the ball down illegally inside his 22.

The rest of the half was an attritional affair as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy and although the Wallabies held the upper-hand over the next 15 minutes, they did not trouble the scoreboard during that period.

On the stroke of half-time, the All Blacks came alive, however, and they did this in style thanks to a superb try from Aaron Smith.  This, after Ben Smith did brilliantly to beat a couple of defenders just inside the Wallabies' half and the ball was subsequently handled by Goodhue, Waisake Naholo and Read before the captain offloaded to his scrum-half, who crossed for a deserved try.

Beauden Barrett was off target with the conversion attempt and although the Wallabies led 6-5 as the teams changed sides at the interval, the momentum had swung in the world champions' favour.

And four minutes into the second half, the All Blacks showed why they are the world's best team with a try against the run of play which seemed to catch the Wallabies by surprise.

Australia were initially on the attack inside New Zealand's 22 but Naholo did well to rip the ball from Marika Koroibete's grasp and the world champions quickly shifted ball to Rieko Ioane, who found himself in space out wide.  He still had work to do but did well to get an inside pass out to Goodhue, who outpaced the cover defence before crossing for his first Test try.

That score was a shot in the arm for the All Blacks and they received another confidence booster when Beauden Barrett pounced on a knock on from Dane Haylett-Petty just inside the Wallabies' half in the 52nd minute.  Barrett was fastest to react and booted the ball ahead before regathering and diving over the try-line.

The All Blacks were now running the ball from all areas of the field and it didn't help the Wallabies' cause when star full-back Israel Folau was forced to leave the fray with what looked like a serious ankle injury.

Shortly afterwards, Brodie Retallick found himself in space just outside Australia's 22 before selling Foley a cheeky dummy on his way over the try-line.

To their credit, the Wallabies did not surrender and five minutes later replacement Jack Maddocks crossed for a try on his Test debut after Foley and Kurtley Beale combined brilliantly in the build-up.

But the All Blacks were far from done and finished the match stronger with Naholo crossing for two tries during the game's closing stages.  First, he collected an inch-perfect cross-field from fly-half Barrett before crossing untouched in the 73rd minute.

And four minutes before the end, he gathered a loose pass before beating a couple of defenders to add the final nail in the Wallabies' coffin.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Maddocks
Con:  Foley
Pens:  Hodge, Foley

For New Zealand:
Tries:  A Smith, Goodhue, B Barrett, Retallick, Naholo 2
Cons:  B Barrett 4

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Tom Robertson
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Jack Maddocks

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Tim Perry, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Scotland humiliate Argentina in Resistencia

Daniel Hourcade’s last match in charge of Argentina ended in an awful defeat as Scotland claimed a dominant 44-15 triumph in Resistencia.

Los Pumas were embarrassing in the opening period and conceded three tries early on through George Horne, Blair Kinghorn and Stuart McInally.

Although Nicolas Sanchez’s penalty gave Hourcade’s outfit brief respite, Magnus Bradbury’s score added to the frustration for the hosts.

Gregor Townsend’s men were producing an outstanding response to their shock defeat to the USA the previous week and led 36-3 at the interval following Pete Horne’s three-pointer and his brother’s second try.

Argentina were slightly better in the second half, touching down via Tomas Lezana and Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, but Dougie Fife’s effort and Horne’s penalty ended another painful 80 minutes for Hourcade.

It was not exactly a fitting send-off for the man that took them to a World Cup semi-final in 2015 as the visitors ripped through the Argentinian defence.

The hosts were constantly exposed and Townsend’s changes were clinical when the opportunities presented themselves.  Scotland manipulated the opposition rearguard superbly and a break from Adam Hastings resulted in George Horne going over.

Nick Grigg then took a similarly direct route and showed excellent patience to draw the cover defence and give Kinghorn an easy finish.  For the second time in the match, Pete Horne converted and then added a third two-pointer when McInally bounced off another poor tackle to cross the whitewash.

It was all too easy for the away side as, despite Sanchez reducing the arrears from the tee, the Six Nations outfit scored a fourth try via Bradbury’s close-range effort.

Scotland were unrelenting in the first half, going 28 points ahead via Horne’s penalty, before brother George collected his brace for a comfortable 36-3 buffer at the interval.

The visitors struggled to build on that performance in the second period and often needlessly overplayed.  It led to a series of errors and Argentina benefited, reducing the arrears through Lezana, who barged his way over.

Townsend’s men quickly regained their composure, however, and Fife touched down after an impressive Stuart Hogg pass.

Los Pumas responded when Gonzalez Iglesias displayed excellent power to cross the whitewash but Scotland had the final word as Horne kicked a penalty.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Lezana, Gonzalez Iglesias
Con:  Sanchez
Pen:  Sanchez

For Scotland:
Tries:  G Horne 2, Kinghorn, McInally, Bradbury, Fife
Cons:  P Horne 4
Pens:  P Horne 2

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Sebastian Cancelliere, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Javier Diaz
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 David Denton, 7 Fraser Brown, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 James Lang, 23 Chris Harris

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Composed England secure first win in seven games

England finished their tour of South Africa on a high when they claimed a 25-10 victory over the Springboks in the third Test, in Cape Town on Saturday.

In an evenly contested and often dour encounter, play was restricted mostly to the forwards due to wet underfoot conditions and England got the rub of the green in the end as they committed less unforced errors and, although both sides scored a try apiece, it was Owen Farrell’s goalkicking which proved the difference.

Although South Africa still clinched a 2-1 series triumph this victory is a significant one for England as it ends their six-match losing run and the result will be a big relief for their coach, Eddie Jones, who will be pleased with his side’s performance as they stood up well to their opponents’ physicality.

South Africa had an opportunity to open the scoring in the fifth minute, after England were blown up for a lineout infringement, but Elton Jantjies pushed his penalty attempt wide of the target.

Five minutes later, Chiliboy Ralepelle went off his feet at a ruck and Owen Farrell made no mistake off the kicking tee to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.

The next 20 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to gain the upperhand but, apart from a couple of sparkling runs down the right-hand touchline from Jonny May and a big hit from Pieter-Steph du Toit on Mike Brown, there was little interesting to report with most of the play restricted to the forwards during this period.

The game came alive in the 31st minute, however, when the Boks launched a counter attack from inside their half.  Jesse Kriel did well to straighten the line before offloading to S’busiso Nkosi close to the halfway mark.  Nkosi kicked the ball upfield but May did well to gather close to his try-line before evading Kriel and Faf de Klerk and eventually booted the ball into touch.

England eventually extended their lead in the 37th minute courtesy of another Farrell penalty after another Ralepelle indiscretion at a ruck before Jantjies opened the visitors’ account with a three-pointer off the tee on the stroke of half-time which meant England held a slender 6-3 lead at half-time.

England were fastest out of the blocks after the restart with Farrell adding his third penalty four minutes into the second half, but the Boks struck back in style when Kriel crossed for the opening try two minutes later.

This, after Warrick Gelant had delivered an inch-perfect grubber kick which Kriel gathered before dotting down.  Jantjies added the extras to give the home side the lead for the first time but England were back in front by the 50th minute after Farrell succeded with his fourth penalty.

And the Saracens man gave his side some more breathing space when he slotted his fifth penalty in the 58th minute after Elliot Daly was off target shortly before that.

With a five-point buffer, England’s confidence grew and they sealed their win in the 72nd minute when Danny Cipriani delivered an excellent kick which bounced around behind the Boks’ tryline and May beat Handré Pollard in a footrace before diving onto the ball.

Farrell’s conversion meant the visitors held a comfortable 22-10 lead and the fly-half confirmed England’s win when he slotted his sixth penalty in the game’s closing stages to restore some much-needed pride for his team.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try:  Kriel
Con:  Jantjies
Pen:  Jantjies

For England:
Try:  May
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 6

South Africa:  15 Warrick Gelant, 14 S’busiso Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Schalk Brits, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Jean-Luc du Preez, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Willie le Roux

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Mike Brown, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Sam Simmonds, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Denny Solomona

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)