Superb England stun Ireland in Dublin

England made a brilliant start to their 2019 Six Nations campaign courtesy of a 32-20 bonus-point win over defending champions Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

As expected, this was a spellbinding and uncompromising encounter characterised by great physicality from both sides.

The collisions were brutal but, in the end, England got the rub of the green and outscored their hosts by four tries to two with Henry Slade leading the way with a deserved brace.

The result is a significant one for England as it is their first triumph over Ireland in Dublin since 2013 and ends a six-match winning run for Ireland in the Six Nations which stretches back to March 2017.

England made a terrific start and two minutes into the match Jonny May rounded off superbly in the left-hand corner.  This, after Manu Tuilagi played a prominent role in the build-up with two strong carries before the ball was recycled quickly and Owen Farrell delivered an inch-perfect long pass to Elliot Daly, who did well to offload to May before he dotted down.

Farrell held his nerve to slot the conversion from close to the touchline but Ireland reduced the deficit in the 11th minute courtesy of a Johnny Sexton penalty after a Kyle Sinckler infringement at a ruck.

One minute later, England suffered a setback when they were reduced to 14 men – Tom Curry sent to the sin-bin for a late tackle on Keith Earls.  And although Ireland held the upper-hand during Curry’s stint on the sidelines, England’s defence held firm and they did well to prevent the home side from scoring points during that period.

But despite that, Ireland did not panic and shortly after Curry returned to the fray Cian Healy spotted a gap at a ruck and barged over from close quarters to register his side’s first try.

Sexton’s conversion gave them a 10-7 lead but that did not last long as three minutes later, an error from Jacob Stockdale was pounced on by Daly, who scored England’s second try.

Stockdale did well initially, when he fielded a grubber kick from Daly close to his try-line, but he lost possession after Jack Nowell put pressure on him with a solid tackle.  The ball spilled over backwards behind Ireland’s tryline and Daly was first to react by diving on the ball.

Farrell added the extras which gave the visitors a 14-10 lead and he slotted a penalty just before half-time when Ireland strayed offside in the build-up to a disallowed try from Mako Vunipola.

The ruthless nature of this match continued in the second half, although both sides were initially more measured in their approach.  And we had to wait until the 55th minute for the opening points of the half which came via a Sexton penalty after an illegal tackle from Sinckler.

On the hour-mark, Farrell had a chance to restore his side’s seven-point lead – after Sexton played the ball on the ground – but his effort was wide of the mark.

That did not prove costly, however, as five minutes later May found himself in space down the left-hand touchline inside Ireland’s half before booting the ball ahead.  He was taken out after his kick but Henry Slade gave chase and outsprinted the cover defence before diving on the ball behind Ireland’s tryline.

That score meant Ireland were under the cosh and in an effort to get back into the game they committed numerous unforced errors.

Farrell added another penalty in the 70th minute which gave his side a 25-13 lead before Slade intercepted a pass from Sexton, deep inside Ireland’s half, and scored his second and his side’s fourth try.

That sealed the result, although Ireland did not surrender, and just before full-time John Cooney crossed for a consolation try.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Healy, Cooney
Cons:  Sexton 2
Pens:  Sexton 2

For England:
Tries:  May, Daly, Slade 2
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 2
Yellow Card:  Curry

Ireland:  15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 John Cooney, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Chris Ashton

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Blair Kinghorn stars as Scotland beat Italy

Blair Kinghorn scored a hat-trick as Scotland opened their Six Nations campaign with a comfortable 33-20 triumph over Italy at Murrayfield.

Gregor Townsend’s men created a number of chances in the first-half but could only convert two of them as Kinghorn crossed the whitewash twice.

Tommaso Allan had given the Azzurri the lead but that was as good as it got for the visitors in the first three quarters of the encounter.  They were outplayed and the Scots secured the bonus-point through Stuart Hogg and his back three partner, who went over for his third.

It seemed a case of how many the hosts would score but they could only add one more before the end of the game when Chris Harris touched down.

Instead, Italy actually finished the stronger and were rewarded through scores from Guglielmo Palazzani, Edoardo Padovani and Angelo Esposito, but they succumbed to their 11th successive Six Nations defeat under Conor O’Shea.

Given the respective form of the sides in 2018, it was no surprise to see the hosts dominate the majority of the contest.  Although Allan opened the scoring from the tee following some loose play from Townsend’s outfit, the home side deservedly touched down for the first try soon after.

Kinghorn had already displayed his quality by scything through the opposition rearguard before the Azzurri gave him too much space on the left.  Finn Russell duly found him with a delightful cross-field kick and last season’s third place finishers had a 5-3 advantage.

It was awful defence from the Italians and their head coach was no doubt frustrated when Scotland – and their left wing – crossed the whitewash once again.

O’Shea has looked to bring more of an attacking game to the country but, when they attempted to run the ball out from their own line, the visitors duly knocked on.  From the resultant scrum seven metres out, Scotland made no mistake as Hogg off-loaded for the Edinburgh player to score.

Greig Laidlaw’s conversion made sure they had a nine-point buffer at the break and Townsend’s men continued to control matters against a poor Italy side, touching down for the third time early in the second period.

Laidlaw and Russell were dictating proceedings well from half-back and it was the latter who created their next try when his grubber through was finished by Hogg.  It was slightly controversial as there was more than a hint of a knock-on but it probably did not matter anyway with the hosts well in control.

That was proven by Kinghorn’s hat-trick effort after the wing scampered through some weak tackling to seal the bonus-point.

Harris then touched down in the move of the match, which saw excellent contributions from Hogg, Russell and Josh Strauss, but Italy responded well in the final 15 minutes.

The game was already lost but they pressurised the opposition line and, as a result, Simon Berghan was yellow carded.

With the prop off the field, the Azzurri remarkably scored three times as Palazzani, Padovani and Esposito all went over, but the contest had already been lost by then.

Townsend will be frustrated by his side’s performance in the final quarter but it was a solid start to the tournament by Scotland.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Kinghorn 3, Hogg, Harris
Cons:  Laidlaw 3, Russell

For Italy:
Tries:  Palazzani, Padovani, Esposito
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Jake Kerr, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berhan, 19 Gary Graham, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 David Sisi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’ 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 21 Tommaso Benvenuti, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Edoardo Padovani

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

George North double inspires Wales to opening round win

George North touched down twice as Wales came from 16-0 behind to defeat France 24-19 in the opening Six Nations encounter on Friday.

Les Bleus had deservedly gone into the interval comfortably ahead thanks to Louis Picamoles and Yoann Huget tries, while Camille Lopez also kicked a penalty and drop-goal, but they were awful after the break.

Jacques Brunel’s men failed to maintain their authority on proceedings and Warren Gatland’s outfit got themselves back into the contest via Tomos Williams and North.

Going into the final quarter, the French were just two points in front but Wales had the momentum and Dan Biggar gave them the lead.

Although Lopez restored the hosts’ buffer, North had the final say to give Wales a winning start to the tournament and set them up nicely for the rest of the competition.

The 2012 and ‘13 winners endured a dreadful start, however.  There had been plenty of positivity within the country going into this tournament but it was the hosts who were sprightly early on.  On his return to the team, Damian Penaud impressed while their big pack consistently got over the gain line.

They were creating space in the wide channels and it was no surprise to see the home team touch down first as Maxime Medard fed Picamoles and the number eight duly powered over.

It was a brilliant start from the French but they should have been pegged back when Liam Williams took an outstanding line and appeared to have scored.

The full-back, despite the difficult conditions, should have finished but the Saracens man knocked on and that was to prove costly with Les Bleus continuing to cause problems for the Welsh defence.

North was the one to succumb, poorly deciding to come inside and allowing Huget to sprint clear.  It was a brilliant offload from the impressive Arthur Iturria but the wing’s error was rather symptomatic of the visitors’ first-half performance.

Mistakes were prevalent and France pounced, opening their buffer further through Lopez’s penalty and well-taken drop-goal.

The early exchanges of the second period seemed to be heading the same way, with the match being peppered by errors from Gatland’s outfit, but a piece of individual brilliance from Josh Adams got the visitors back into the contest.

Adams spotted some space in the centre of a ruck and scythed through before finding the supporting Williams, who had the simple task of finishing the chance.

That altered the momentum and all of a sudden it was Brunel’s charges that were under duress.  Huget ceded and, ironically, it was North who benefited.  Roles were very much reversed as the Frenchman failed to deal with a grubber through and the British and Irish Lion was on hand to excellently pick up and score.

Gareth Anscombe, who had endured a poor day with the boot, kicked a second conversion before Biggar came on to the field to incredibly move Wales ahead.

Moving into the final 10 minutes, the visitors held a one-point advantage but, after being sent into reverse at a scrum, Lopez regained France’s lead.

However, the hosts then proceeded to press the self-destruct button as Sebastien Vahaamahina threw a shocking pass, which North intercepted and finished to snatch a remarkable win.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Picamoles, Huget
Pens:  Lopez 2
Drop-goal:  Lopez

For Wales:
Tries:  T Williams, North 2
Cons:  Anscombe 2, Biggar
Pen:  Biggar

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Romain Ntamack, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Greg Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Gael Fickou, 23 Geoffrey Doumayrou

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Barbarians edge 73-point thriller

A late drop-goal from Elton Jantjies saw the Barbarians complete an epic 38-35 come-from-behind victory over Argentina in their Killik Cup game.

Despite trailing 28-7 at one point in the first-half, the Baa-baas came out on top at Twickenham thanks to Jantjies' effort from 35 metres.

The Barbarians' try scorers were Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Siya Kolisi, Damian de Allende and Lood de Jager, with a penalty try also awarded by referee John Lacey to go with extra points from Handre Pollard and Jantjies.

In reply for Argentina, Matias Orlando, Ramiro Moyano, Pablo Matera, Sebastian Cancelliere and Julian Montoya crossed the whitewash, with Joaquin Diaz Bonilla sending over 10 points with his boot from the tee.

It was a thoroughly entertaining first-half at Twickenham as 42 points were scored, with Argentina going into the dressing rooms 28-14 up.

The Barbarians in fact took the lead inside two minutes with Kolisi and Schalk Brits combining well before Leguizamon barged over for 7-0.

The early score woke up the Pumas though and two minutes after Cancelliere went close on both wings, Orlando dived over on the right after Baa-baas fly-half Pollard took the strange option of a chip close to his own line.  Bonilla converted that try to level things up in the match.

Bonilla then turned provider when his grubber kick through was easily gathered by Moyano to make it 14-7 and when Moyano offloaded to Orlando, who in turn found Matera in support for their third, the Argentines were cruising at 21-7 ahead as the Barbarians were all at sea.

Five minutes later Argentina moved even further clear with that man Moyano again involved, kicking across to Cancelliere for the try.  But fortunately for the Baa-baas they would cancel that out before the interval as they were awarded a penalty try for a maul being collapsed.

The first score of the second 40 was always going to be crucial and the Barbarians came out hungry but were halted by spirited defence.  Argentina could not stop the driving maul however as Kolisi would cross on 48 minutes for a converted try that brought the scores to 28-21.

The response was positive from Argentina and their fifth try wasn't long in coming, Montoya barging over from the back of a maul for 35-21.

De Allende was next to cross for the Baa-baas as he gobbled up Jantjies' grubber through to bring the match back to a seven-point contest.

The scoring then dried up before man-of-the-match De Jager galloped over on 75 minutes.  And then it was down to Jantjies as after adding the extras, he sat back in the pocket with two minutes to play to land the match-winning drop-goal, bringing an end to a thrilling clash.

The scorers:

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Leguizamon, Penalty try, Kolisi, De Allende, De Jager
Cons:  Pollard 2, Jantjies 2
Drop-goal:  Jantjies

For Argentina:
Tries:  Orlando, Moyano, Matera, Cancelliere, Montoya
Cons:  Bonilla 5

Barbarians:  15 Jack Debreczeni, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tom English, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Leon Fukofuka, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Wyatt Crockett (c)
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Anton Peikrishvili, 19 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 20 Jordan Taufua, 21 Frank Lomani, 22 Jesse Kriel, 23 Elton Jantjies

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Juan Pablo Zeiss
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 23 Santiago Carreras

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Fiji secure first-ever win against France

Fiji caused a major upset when they secured a hard-fought 21-14 victory against France in their November international in Paris on Saturday.

In a fast-paced and entertaining game, both sides scored two tries apiece but Fiji deserved their win as they delivered brilliant passages of play throughout and also had two tries disallowed.

The win is a significant one for the Pacific islanders as it is their first-ever victory over France in 10 Tests.

The opening exchanges were closely contested and Fiji were competitive from the kick-off.  They spent large periods camped inside Les Bleus' half and the home side battled to build momentum during the early stages.

The Pacific islanders grew in confidence as the half progressed and took the lead midway through it via a spectacular try from Semi Radradra.  This, after the Bordeaux-Begles star gathered the ball deep inside France's 22 and shrugged off challenges from Sebastien Vahaamahina and Baptiste Serin before crashing over for the opening try with two defenders on his back.

Ben Volavola slotted the conversion but it did not take long for France to respond and five minutes later their captain, Guilhem Guirado, powered his way over the try-line off the back of a line-out drive deep inside Fiji's 22.

Serin added the extras which meant the sides were level at 7-7 after 25 minutes.  But on the hour-mark, Fiji regained their lead when Josua Tuisova rounded off in the right-hand corner after Volavola found Vereniki Goneva in space and the veteran wing beat two defenders before offloading to Radradra.  He did well to draw in the final defender before getting the final pass out to Tuisova.

And in the 37th minute, Fiji thought they had extended the lead when Radradra won a turnover at a ruck deep inside his half and launched a counter attack.  He offloaded to Goneva, who outpaced the cover defence on his way over the try-line but the score was disallowed when the television match official ruled that Radradra was in an offside position in the build-up.

That decision proved costly as deep into injury time, Guirado crossed for his second try from a line-out maul close to Fiji's try-line and Serin succeeded with the conversion attempt which gave his side a 14-12 lead at half-time.

The second-half started brightly for the visitors and three minutes after the restart, Volavola gave them the lead when he slotted a penalty after Vahaamahina was blown up for an indiscretion at a ruck.

Fiji continued to run the ball from all areas of the field and in the 49th minute, Leone Nakarawa offloaded brilliantly to Tuisova, who dotted down in the corner but that effort was also disallowed for a late tackle from Tevita Cavubati on Yoann Huget earlier on.

In the 58th minute, Volavola added his second penalty after another indiscretion from France at a breakdown and with Fiji now holding an 18-14 lead, France stepped up a few gears on attack.

But their efforts were in vain as Fiji met them head on with a superb defensive effort with Nakarawa and Jale Vatubua particularly impressive.

The game's final stages was a frantic affair and after launching a counter-attack, Fiji found themselves on the attack deep inside France's half.

In the 80th minute, Les Bleus conceded another defensive penalty which Volavola converted to seal a memorable and historic win for his side.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Guirado 2
Cons:  Serin 2

For Fiji:
Tries:  Radradra, Tuisova
Con:  Volavola
Pens:  Volavola 3

France:  15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Artur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Kelian Galletier, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Geoffrey Doumayrou

Fiji:  15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (c), 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Campese Maafu
Replacements:  16 Mesulame Dolokoto, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Kalivati Tawake, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Henry Seniloli, 22 Alivereti Veitokani, 23 Eroni Sau

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees:  Tom Foley (England), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Ireland cruise past USA

Andrew Conway scored a hat-trick as Ireland cruised to a 57-14 victory over the USA at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

Despite Ireland fielding a second-string side, the USA were impressive and showed improvement from last year's 55-19 defeat in Harrison.

Ireland's superior conditioning and fitness came to the fore in the latter stages of the game, which made the result look slightly more flattering in the end, especially seeing as the USA trailed by just ten at half-time.

Ireland came flying out of the blocks and got the scoring underway in the third minute.  Captain Rhys Ruddock ran a nice line to break the Eagles' defensive line and offloaded for Conway to finish in the left-hand corner.

In the 12th minute, the USA were right back in it when Joe Taufete'e crashed over off the back of a well-worked lineout move, with the hooker breaking at least three tackles before dotting down.

Soon afterwards, some slick hands from the Irish backline resulted in the ball being spread out to the right wing where Conway was on hand to grab his brace for a 14-7 lead after 17 minutes.

However, the USA were utilising the driving maul as an effective strategy and were rewarded with a penalty try from using that particular tactic in the 23rd minute.

Joey Carbery's penalty in the 27th minute edged the hosts in front and then Jack Conan scored after the USA were guilty of slipping at least two tackles, although it was an impressive run from the number eight.  Carbery added the conversion as the hosts took a slightly underwhelming 24-14 lead in to the interval.

It took 12 minutes after the break for the visitors' defence to crack when dynamic lock Tadhg Beirne powered over after a series of powerful carries from the Irish forwards.

The fifth Irish try all began from a Conan charge-down and a nice run from Dave Kilcoyne before the hosts had the penalty advantage and Stuart McCloskey was found with a good cross-field kick, dotting down for his maiden international try.

Replacement Quinn Roux got in on the act in the 65th minute as he had too much power for the USA defence from close range after the Irish forwards had made good metres to make it 43-14.

Four minutes from time, a superb line break and offload from Garry Ringrose set up Conway for a deserved hat-trick as the Munster man went home with the man-of-the-match award.

A try from John Ryan topped off the 55-14 victory as the Irish backs and forwards showed slick hands to stretch the tiring USA defence and close out a convincing victory in the end.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Conway 3, Conan, Beirne, McCloskey, Roux, Ryan
Cons:  Carbery 7
Pen:  Carbery

For USA:
Tries:  Taufete'e, Penalty Try
Con:  Magie

Ireland:  15 Will Addison, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Sam Arnold

USA:  15 Will Hooley, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Bryce Campbell, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Marcel Brache, 10 Will Magie, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 6 John Quill, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Paul Mullen, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 Titi Lamositele
Replacements:  16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 David Tameilau, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Gannon Moore, 23 Ryan Matyas

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ian Davies (Wales)

Wales hold off Springboks in Cardiff

Wales finished their 2018 Test campaign in style when they beat South Africa 20-11 in a highly entertaining Test in Cardiff on Saturday.

In a tough and uncompromising clash, highlighted by numerous brutal collisions, Wales stood up well to the Springboks' physical onslaught and eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to one.

The result means Warren Gatland's charges complete their first ever clean sweep in the November internationals, as they also beat Scotland, Australia and Tonga in their previous Tests.  They have also now won their ninth Test in a row.

The Springboks were full of running early on and in the fourth minute, Pieter-Steph du Toit found himself in space down the left-hand touchline, just outside Wales' 22, where he sold Hadleigh Parkes a dummy before dotting down.  His effort was ruled out, however, as television replays revealed that he had a foot in touch.

Despite that setback, South Africa continued to attack and won plenty of ground but they were met by a solid defensive effort from the home side.

Wales soon got into the game and in the 11th minute, they took the lead when Ellis Jenkins burst through a tackle from Malcolm Marx, inside the Boks' 22, before offloading to Tomas Francis, who crashed over under the posts.

Gareth Anscombe added the extras and Wales held the upper hand over the next five minutes as they had bulk of the possession.  And in the 15th minute, they were rewarded again when Anscombe found Liam Williams with a long pass deep inside Springbok territory before he stepped past the cover defence on his way over the try-line.

Anscombe was on target with the conversion attempt again before Handré Pollard opened the visitors' account with a long range penalty midway through the half.

In the 25th minute, Pollard had a chance to further reduce the deficit, after Gareth Davies held onto the ball on the ground, but his shot at goal missed the target.  Five minutes later, Anscombe also lined up a kick, after Steven Kitshoff infringed at a ruck, but his effort hit a post.

The next 10 minutes was a slugfest with both sides spending long periods camped inside each other's half, although the Boks finished the half stronger.  But, despite dominating those latter stages, they failed to add to their points tally.

In the 38th minute, Embrose Papier made a fabulous break from a line-out close to the halfway line and he did well to boot the ball ahead but knocked on when trying to regather close to Wales' try-line.

A minute later, Jesse Kriel crashed over Wales' try-line from close quarters but his effort was disallowed when the television match official ruled that it was inconclusive whether he grounded the ball.

South Africa continued to attack as the half drew to a close but just before the break, Eben Etzebeth conceded a turnover inside his opponents' 22 which meant Wales had their tails up with the score 14-3 in their favour at half-time.

The Boks came out firing in the second half and after an extensive period camped inside Wales' half, Kriel crossed in the left-hand corner after a strong carry from Duane Vermeulen and quick hands from Willie le Roux in the build-up.

Pollard's conversion attempt was off target but the Boks continued to attack and in the 62nd minute they narrowed the gap to three points when Elton Jantjies slotted a three-pointer off the kicking tee after Wales conceded a breakdown penalty.

That meant it was game on but with the Boks chasing the game, they also conceded several penalties and when it was in goal-kicking range.  Wales made them pay.  Dan Biggar had replaced Anscombe by then and in the 69th minute he punished a Bok infringement at a breakdown when he slotted the resulting penalty.

And in the 72nd minute, the Boks strayed offside on defence and Biggar added his second penalty which gave his side a 20-11 lead.

The game's closing stages was a frantic affair as the Boks tried desperately to haul in their hosts but it wasn't to be as Wales' defence held firm.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Francis, L Williams
Cons:  Anscombe 2
Pens:  Biggar 2

For South Africa:
Try:  Kriel
Pens:  Pollard, Jantjies

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

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

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

England ease past poor Australia

England ended their November international campaign on a positive note as they comfortably beat Australia 37-18 at Twickenham on Saturday.

Tries from Jonny May, Elliot Daly, Joe Cokanasiga and Owen Farrell saw England to victory, with Farrell also adding 17 points off the tee.

In reply for Australia their two tries came via Israel Folau as the pressure continues to mount on coach Michael Cheika after a poor 2018.

It was a first-half of two quarters at Twickenham as an impressive opening from England was overshadowed by the Wallabies' late onslaught.

Indeed the hosts started superbly and crossed through May after a solid scrum five metres out led to Ben Youngs putting the finisher over.  Farrell landed the touchline extras with ease but the seven-point lead was cut to four shortly after as Matt Toomua landed one from range.

England though were on top in all areas and Farrell added to his tally with a penalty coming after he'd hit the post with an earlier shot.

Full-back Daly was then short with a long-range penalty attempt that prompted the Wallabies into life, a nice interchange seeing tighthead prop Sekope Kepu and centre Samu Kerevi involved before Dane Haylett-Petty went over, only to be denied because of an earlier forward pass.

Australia, unperturbed by that chalked off try, pushed hard in the closing stages of the half and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty try late on as Farrell's no arm tackle on Izack Rodda was overlooked by referee Jaco Peyper.  England survived by leaking just three points.

Coming out for the second-half at 13 points apiece the game was finely poised until Daly hit a fine line off Farrell to go in from halfway.  Farrell once again added the conversion to move England 20-13 in front and one sensed the hosts were growing in confidence at Twickenham.

So it proved as Cokanasiga scored on 56 minutes, bumping Haylett-Petty off en route to the line, and he almost had a double soon after but for superb scrambling work from Michael Hooper.  England knew they were still not out of sight as Farrell slotted a penalty a few minutes later.

With a 17-point cushion England had a nice lead as Australia attacked late on and turnover ball almost led to May grabbing a second try of the afternoon but for the ball touching the sideline.  While the try wasn't awarded it showed real footballing skill from the speedster May.

England weren't done though as George Ford announced his arrival onto the field on 76 minutes by laying on Farrell for their fourth try of the game before Australia had the final say, Haylett-Petty's impressive break leading to Folau collecting a grubber from the recycled ball and dotting down.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May, Daly, Cokanasiga, Farrell
Cons:  Farrell 4
Pens:  Farrell 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Folau 2
Con:  Toomua
Pens:  Toomua 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 George Ford, 23 Manu Tuilagi

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Jack Maddocks, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jermaine Ainsley, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Sefa Naivalu, 23 Marika Koroibete

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Scotland edge out Argentina

Scotland returned to the victory trail when they claimed a 14-9 triumph over Argentina in their November Test at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In a tightly contested encounter, the home side had to dig deep to secure their win but they eventually took control of proceedings and outscored the Pumas by one try to none.

Both sides were guilty of committing numerous mistakes but Argentina were the architects of their downfall as poor goalkicking — they missed four penalty attempts — led to their loss.

The opening exchanges were characterised by plenty of running and some unforced errors from both sides.  Greig Laidlaw opened the scoring with a well-taken penalty in the fourth minute before Nicolas Sanchez had a chance to draw his side level five minutes later, but his shot at goal was wide of the mark.

The next 15 minutes was an arm wrestle as the sides tried to gain the upper hand but there was little interesting to report during that period.

In the 22nd minute, Emiliano Boffelli lined up a long range penalty, from just inside Scotland's half, but like Sanchez's earlier effort, his kick was also off target which meant Scotland were still clinging to their 3-0 lead.

The next 10 minutes saw the Pumas doing most of the attacking and they finally opened their account in the 28th minute when Sanchez landed a penalty after Adam Hastings was blown up for holding onto the ball on the ground.

Four minutes later, Scotland regained their three-point lead via another penalty from Laidlaw when Sanchez infringed at a breakdown.  There was little to report during the rest of the half which petered out and Scotland went into the sheds at half-time with a slender 6-3 lead.

Argentina drew first blood in the second-half courtesy of another Sanchez penalty, two minutes after the restart, after Hastings went off his feet at a ruck.  Five minutes later, Sanchez had a chance to give his side the lead for the first time but, once again, he failed to convert his penalty attempt.

That miss proved costly as Laidlaw put Scotland back in front when he added his third penalty in the 54th minute after Agustin Creevy punished for a high tackle on Huw Jones.

That kick gave Scotland some breathing space and they soon upped the ante on attack.  And in the 64th minute, they were rewarded when Sean Maitland crossed for a deserved try after running onto a pass from Stuart Hogg inside the Pumas' 22.

Laidlaw's conversion attempt struck and upright before Sanchez lined up another shot at goal off the kicking tee, three minutes later, but he pulled his effort wide of the mark for the third time.

Three minutes later, Argentina won a scrum penalty deep inside Scotland's 22 and this time Sanchez was successful off the tee which meant his side were trailing by five points on the scoreboard.

Scotland finished stronger, however, and although Laidlaw also missed a penalty in the game's closing stages, they held on to clinch their fifth successive victory over the Pumas.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Maitland
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

For Argentina:
Pens:  3

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Finn Russell, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Greg Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 George Horne, 22 Alex Dunbar, 23 Byron McGuigan

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 Rodrigo Bruni, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Augustin Creevy, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Matias Orlando, 23 Sebastián Cancelliere

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

All Blacks put Italy to sword

New Zealand ended their November international series on a positive note with a 66-3 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

As expected, the Azzurri were on the receiving end of a backlash as the All Blacks bounced back from their defeat to Ireland with a clinical performance.  It was a completely one-sided affair as the world champions ran in 10 tries while they prevented their hosts from dotting down.  Italy's discipline let them down as they conceded too many penalties, which the visitors duly capitalised on.

The opening exchanges were scrappy with plenty of handling errors.  The All Blacks were especially guilty of knocking on but took eight minutes to click into gear and score the match's first try.

Dane Coles made a sniping blindside break and released Jordie Barrett on the right wing with Barrett feeding TJ Perenara on the inside who had the pace to make it over the line.  Beauden Barrett failed to convert.

Soon afterwards, Tommaso Allan would cut the deficit to two with a penalty out on the left-hand touchline.  But in the 17th minute the visitors had their second.  Patrick Tuipulotu ran a beautiful line off Kieran Read's pop pass and slipped the ball to Damian McKenzie who dotted down under the posts.

On the half-hour mark, the All Blacks had their third when Beauden Barrett put in a deft grubber kick through which allowed McKenzie to dot down for his brace.

All Blacks hooker Coles, back from a year out with torn knee ligaments, was having an impressive game and once again turned creator when he showed soft hands to put McKenzie through the gap, the full-back timing the final pass expertly for Jordie Barrett, who showed searing pace to outsprint the Italian cover defence.

The away side would have one more try before the break and it came after the hooter when the Azzurri were penalised for collapsing the maul.  After taking the ball up around close quarters through the forwards from the line-out, the ball was quickly swung out to Beauden Barrett who caught the hosts' defence napping with the cross-kick to the opposite wing for his brother Jordie Barrett to outjump his marker for the finish as the All Blacks took a commanding 31-3 lead.

It was much of the same after the interval, with the All Blacks in cruise control, scoring two quick-fire tries in the opening five minutes of the second-half.  First, Read offloaded for Ngani Laumape, who side-stepped his marker to complete a good finish before Coles found Beauden Barrett with a long throw to the back of the line-out as the fly-half sped away under the posts.

New Zealand went past the 50-point mark shortly afterwards when replacement fly-half Richie Mo'unga's chip kick through was snaffled upon by McKenzie, who claimed his hat-trick.

With eight minutes to go, the All Blacks began to really turn on the style when Laumape got the offload away for replacement hooker Nathan Harris, who put in a brilliant diagonal grubber through with his left foot for Jordie Barrett to complete his hat-trick.  Mo'unga's conversion took New Zealand up to 59-3.

The All Blacks would end with one final flourish as Jordie Barrett grabbed his fourth try of the game as superb interplay between backs and forwards once again completed the 66-3 rout.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pen:  Allan

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Perenara, McKenzie 3, J Barrett 4, Laumape, B Barrett
Cons:  B Barrett 5, Mo'unga 3

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Luca Sperandio, 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 Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Johan Meyer, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Edoardo Padovani

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Jordie Barrett, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ofa Tuungafasi
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Rieko Ioane

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
TMO:  Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Springboks extend winning run against Scotland

South Africa continued with their fine recent form when they beat Scotland 26-20 in their November international at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In an entertaining encounter, in which momentum between the teams ebbed and flowed, the Springboks' superior physicality played a big part in this victory especially in the second-half when the match was on a knife edge for long periods.

Both sides scored two tries apiece and Handré Pollard led the way for the visitors with an 18-point haul courtesy of a try, three penalties and two conversions.

The result means the Springboks extend their winning run against Scotland to six matches and they have now won three successive Tests at Murrayfield.

As expected, this was a fast-paced match with both sides giving the ball plenty of air and this tactic reaped reward for the Springboks as early as the sixth minute when Jesse Kriel scored the opening try.  This, after Pollard made the initial break and Embrose Papier, RG Snyman, Steven Kitshoff and Sbu Nkosi all handled the ball before the latter was brought to ground close to Scotland's try-line.  The ball was recycled quickly and Papier got a pass out to the onrushing Kriel, who dotted down.

Pollard slotted the conversion but despite trailing on the scoreboard, Scotland stayed true to their attacking roots and were rewarded midway through the half when Peter Horne rounded off after Huw Jones and Sean Maitland combined brilliantly in the build-up.

The Boks did not take long to respond though and after Damian de Allende and Siya Kolisi did well to win a turnover at a ruck, the ball was shifted wide to Pollard, who sold Maitland a dummy before crossing for his side's second try.

The Boks pulled further ahead in the 25th minute via a penalty from Pollard, when WP Nel was blown up for illegal scrummaging.  But that effort was cancelled out when Greig Laidlaw also added a penalty — after offside play at a kick from Aphiwe Dyantyi — which meant South Africa were leading 17-10 by the half-hour mark.

Five minutes later, the home side drew level with a converted try from Hamish Watson which came when they caught the Boks napping with an innovative move at a lineout in which Watson came through the front of the set-piece, which was on South Africa's five-metre line, before crashing over.

That drew the sides level but just before half-time Pollard succeeded with his second penalty, after another indiscretion at a scrum from Nel, which gave the visitors a narrow 20-17 lead at the break.

The second-half started poorly for South Africa when, six minutes after the restart, Willie le Roux was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on from a Horne pass midway between the Boks' 22 and their 10-metre line.  Laidlaw made no mistake from the kicking tee which drew the sides level again.

From the restart, the Boks won a turnover and were soon on the attack inside Scotland's 22.

In the 53rd minute, Stuart McInally slowed the ball down cynically at a ruck close to his try-line and Pollard punished that indiscretion by adding his third penalty which restored the visitors' three-point lead.

Three minutes later, Scotland were blown up for another infringement at the breakdown and Pollard lined up a shot at goal but his effort struck a post.

The next 10 minutes was an attritional affair as both teams tried to gain the ascendancy and Pollard had another opportunity to extend the Boks' lead in the 67th minute off the kicking tee, but he scuffed his kick which was well wide of the target.

The Boks continued to dominate the breakdown and in the 73rd minute they won another penalty in that facet of play.  Elton Jantjies took over the goal-kicking duties from Pollard and was on target with his effort which also sealed the win for his team.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Horne, Watson
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Kriel, Pollard
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 3, Jantjies
Yellow Card:  Le Roux

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Cheslin Kolbe

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

France beat Argentina to end winless streak

France brought to an end a five-match winless streak with a 28-13 victory over Argentina at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Saturday.

Argentina, meanwhile, have suffered their fourth successive defeat and will be desperate to reverse their downward spiral, just as France did here.

However, it was Argentina who got off the best possible start when they seized on a loose ball and quickly went on the attack to Jeronimo De La Fuente, who got the offload away for Ramiro Moyano to cut inside off his wing under the posts.  Nicolas Sanchez added the extras for a 7-0 lead with just two minutes gone.

Baptiste Serin cut the deficit to four with a seventh-minute penalty after Argentina were penalised at the scrum.  But Sanchez stretched the lead back to seven with a penalty after the French infringed at the breakdown.

In the 27th minute, the hosts eventually scored their first try.  It came after good work in the build up by Yoann Huget to wriggle through a gap.  The ball was recycled, with good hands freeing Teddy Thomas for the finish in the right-hand corner.

Five minutes later, Serin gave France the lead for the very first time with a well-struck three pointer and they would hold on to that slender 11-10 margin until the sides headed into the interval.

The Pumas wrestled the lead back five minutes into the second-half via a Sanchez penalty after Les Bleus had been penalised for going off their feet at the breakdown.

But soon afterwards, France regained the lead and it was made by Gael Fickou, who scythed his way through the Argentine defensive line before feeding Thomas with the long pass out to the right-hand touchline for an easy finish as the winger grabbed his brace.  Serin converted for an 18-13 lead with 49 minutes gone.

No scoring would occur until the 67th minute when Serin gave Les Bleus an eight-point lead with another successful penalty attempt.

France were then handed a gift after Tomas Lezana spilt a ball from a five-metre line-out on the Argentine try-line, only for Les Bleus skipper Guilhem Guirado to gleefully accept the gift and dive over, Serin converting for an unassailable 28-13 lead, which they would hold on to until the final whistle.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Thomas 2, Guirado
Cons:  Serin 2
Pens:  Serin 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Moyano
Con:  Sanchez
Pens:  Sanchez 2

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Artur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoan Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Augustin Creevy, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Tomas Lezana, 22 Tomas Cubelli, 23 Matias Moroni

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Brilliant Ireland beat try-less New Zealand in Dublin

Ireland produced a superb display to secure a monumental and thoroughly deserved victory over New Zealand following a 16-9 triumph at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

In a match billed as being the game of the November series, it was a brutal encounter, but the scoring was left to the respective kickers in the first half – Johnny Sexton and Beauden Barrett – as they traded a brace of three-pointers in the opening half-an-hour.

Sexton then gave the hosts the lead just shy of the interval as they moved 9-6 ahead before Jacob Stockdale increased that buffer in the second period.

That was enough for Joe Schmidt’s men to claim just their second victory over the All Blacks, after their triumph in Chicago two years ago, despite Barrett's late penalty.

Similar to last week’s Test at Twickenham, it was a confrontational opening with the hosts physically testing the world champions, but this time the All Blacks were much more abrasive in the early exchanges.  They controlled the play and pressurised the opposition line but, to the home side’s credit, they produced an outstanding defensive set to negate that threat.

Ireland were duly rewarded minutes later when they moved into the visiting 22 and, following an offside infringement, Sexton kicked them ahead.

Back came New Zealand and, after a penalty out wide, Barrett was impressively on target from the tee to level matters at the end of the first quarter.

Steve Hansen’s men had yet to truly find their stride, however, and their penalty count was mounting, giving Schmidt’s charges a chance to put the away team under further duress.

Ireland were ferocious with ball in hand, forcing their opponents into errors, and their fly-half regained their advantage with a three-pointer.

The All Blacks once again responded via a Barrett drop-goal, but the Emerald Isle were the dominant outfit and Sexton deservedly gave them a three-point buffer going into the interval.

Following an exhilarating first-half, a couple of mistakes crept into the hosts’ game at the start of the second period, with Peter O’Mahony dropping the ball and Stockdale almost gifting a try to Kieran Read, but those two players soon made up for that.

Firstly, O’Mahony won a penalty at the breakdown before the wing took over, producing a piece of individual brilliance to help take Ireland 10 points in front.  It was an excellently worked play as Sexton and Bundee Aki combined to provide Stockdale with some space on the short side, but there was still plenty to do and the Ulsterman finished brilliantly.

That was the decisive score, despite the visitors increasing the pressure midway through the half.  Barrett, having gone to full-back following the arrival of Richie Mo’unga, probed in the wider channels but their opponents’ cover defence often mopped up.

Barrett did reduce the arrears from the tee but the All Blacks were tactically naive at times in the latter stages, running the ball when it wasn’t on, and Ireland superbly held on to lay down a marker for the World Cup.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Stockdale
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 3

For New Zealand:
Pens:  Barrett 2
Drop-goal:  Barrett

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

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

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

England survive scare to beat Japan

England overcame a superb first half performance from Japan to score 25 unanswered points and claim a 35-15 triumph at Twickenham on Saturday.

The visitors were outstanding in the opening 40 minutes, deservedly going into the break ahead thanks to Ryoto Nakamura and Michael Leitch tries.  In contrast, the Red Rose were slack and, despite Danny Care’s try and Elliot Daly’s penalty, the hosts struggled to control possession.

They did lift the intensity in the second period, though, and managed to regain their advantage via George Ford’s penalty and Mark Wilson’s score.

Japan were still in the contest going into the final quarter but Joe Cokanasiga and Dylan Hartley tries eased the tension around Twickenham.

Jamie Joseph’s men were dangerous with ball in hand against New Zealand two weeks ago and they showed plenty of those qualities in London.  However, they were initially unable to break through the hosts’ defence and, after kicking the ball away, England launched an excellent counter-attack.

Elliot Daly found Cokanasiga and on debut the Fijian-born wing sprinted down the left before finding Jamie George, who in turn passed to Care to finish.

It was an excellent start for Eddie Jones’ revamped team but they began to concede penalties and that allowed the Brave Blossoms to pressurise the 22.

They were patient and created panic in the opposition rearguard, which eventually led to Yu Tamura reducing the arrears from the tee.

George was sin-binned following further ill-discipline and the visitors brilliantly took advantage, touching down via Nakamura, who barrelled through Alex Lozowski’s weak attempted tackle.

Joseph’s charges were playing some outstanding rugby and the Six Nations outfit were struggling to cope.  Although Daly levelled matters with a penalty, Japan were enjoying themselves and Leitch scored a brilliant individual try, powering through Care before stepping Daly to superbly cross the whitewash.

The Japanese were manipulating England’s rearguard wonderfully and were unfortunate not to get over the line again in the first half, but the hosts held out until the interval.

Jones’ side looked to be far more direct in the second period but once more the tourists were relatively comfortable.  Japan did, however, concede a penalty which allowed Ford to bring the home team to within two points before another infringement gave the Red Rose an attacking opportunity.

This time, the Brave Blossoms were regularly sent into reverse and, under pressure, a hole opened up and Wilson raced through to give England the lead.

The Red Rose were now in command of the contest and, after Ford had extended their buffer off the tee, Cokanasiga and Hartley sealed the victory late on with well-taken efforts.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Care, Wilson, Cokanasiga, Hartley
Cons:  Ford 3
Pens:  Daly, Ford 2
Yellow Card:  George

For Japan:
Tries:  Nakamura, Leitch
Con:  Tamura
Pen:  Tamura

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jack Nowell, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Danny Care, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Mark Wilson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jamie George, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Henry Slade

Japan:  15 William Tupou, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Masakatsu Nishikawa, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Samuela Anise, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 22 Yutaka Nagare, 23 Rikiya Matsuda

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Wales second-half blitz too much for Tonga

Wales ran in seven of their ten tries in the second-half to record a comprehensive 74-24 victory over Tonga in Cardiff on Saturday.

Tonga got themselves off to the worst possible start when they conceded a penalty try and a yellow card to Leva Fifita for bringing down a Wales' driving maul that had marched upfield in the second minute.

Soon after, the hosts had their second try.  Tongan hooker Paula Ngauamo failed to find his jumper at the lineout and Wales quickly pounced on the ball.  It was recycled to Dan Biggar, who finished from first phase.  Biggar converted his own try to go past the 300 point mark for Wales.

Tongan scrum-half Sonatane Takulua added a penalty but the Wales backline were looking in fine form and added their third try after 12 minutes when slick hands from Tyler Morgan allowed Liam Williams to be freed in the corner.  Biggar added the extras to make it 21-3 to the home side in no time at all.

However, much against the run of play it would appear Tonga had scored from their first foray upfield, but the try was dubiously ruled out for a knock-on and Tonga would feel hard done by for that.

Biggar extended the lead to 24-3 with a penalty after Tongan openside flanker Fotu Lokotui was lucky to escape a yellow card after a very high hit.

Tonga were beginning to grow more and more into the game and got themselves camped on the Welsh tryline on a couple of occasions but were unable to find the cutting edge to finish until they eventually found a way through on the half-hour mark.  It was Fifita who dotted down at the base of the post after a series of powerful carries from the Tongan forwards.

Tonga's strategy of playing a direct forwards-based game of taking the ball up at close quarters was causing all sorts of problems for the Welsh defence as Steve Mafi this time burrowed over after another series of powerful carries from the Tongan pack.  Newcastle Falcons number nine Takulua made no mistake with the conversion to cut the deficit to seven at 24-17 as the sides headed into the interval.

From a routine Wales lineout two minutes in to the second-half, Tomos Williams threw a suicidal pass straight to Sione Vailanu, who ran coast to coast for the intercept try.  Takulua levelled matters up at 24-24 with the conversion.

But Wales hit back immediately, with lock Jake Ball making the initial break before the ball was worked out to Biggar, who executed the cross-field kick for Steff Evans to pounce and dot down.  Biggar converted for a 31-24 lead after 46 minutes.

Biggar added another penalty before scrum-half Williams scored with an outstretched hand.  Jonah Holmes then got in on the act, dotting down a few moments later as Wales raced into a 46-24 lead with 15 minutes to go.

It was beginning to really get away from Tonga when replacement Cory Hill got himself on the try column after excellent support play from fellow replacement Tomas Francis.  Rhys Patchell made it 53-24 with the extras as the game headed into the final 15 minutes.

Five minutes later, Wales had another try after fantastic interplay between backs and forwards saw another replacement Aled Davies go over for the eighth.  It must be said that Wales' replacements made a significant impact after the interval.

Patchell then scored a magnificent individual effort, swerving his way past numerous defenders to make it 67-24 before wing Williams put the icing on the cake, grabbing his brace as Wales closed out a 74-24 victory.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Penalty Try, Biggar, L Williams 2, Evans, T Williams, Morgan, Hill, Davies, Patchell
Cons:  Biggar 4, Patchell 4
Pens:  Biggar 2

For Tonga:
Tries:  Fifita, Mafi, Vailanu
Cons:  Takulua 3
Pen:  Takulua
Yellow Card:  Fifita

Wales:  15 Jonah Holmes, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Seb Davies, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Josh Adams

Tonga:  15 Vunga Lilo, 14 Viliami Lolohea, 13 Alaska Taufa, 12 Siale Piutau (c), 11 Daniel Kilioni, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Fotu Lokotui, 6 Dan Faleafa, 5 Sitiveni Mafi, 4 Leva Fifita, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi
Replacements:  16 Sefo Sakalia, 17 Latu Talakai, 18 Paea Fa’anunu, 19 Onehunga Havili, 20 Mike Faleafa, 21 Leon Fukofuka, 22 Kali Hala, 23 Atieli Pakalani

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Wallabies get the better of plucky Italy

The Wallabies returned to winning ways when they claimed a 26-7 victory over Italy in their November international in Padua on Saturday.

Despite outscoring the Azzurri by four tries to one, this was far from a convincing performance from Australia, who were on the back foot for long periods especially during the second-half.

But despite dominating the possession and territorial stakes after the interval, Italy failed to capitalise on their superiority and the Wallabies eventually sealed their win courtesy of a Will Genia try in the game's dying moments.

Australia did most of the early attacking but had nothing to show for their efforts.

The game came alive in the seventh minute when Jayden Hayward made a superb line break which caught the Wallabies by surprise.  He kicked the ball upfield where Braam Steyn gathered deep inside the visitors' 22 and although he dotted down in the right-hand corner, his effort was disallowed after television replays revealed he had a foot in touch.

Three minutes later, Australia had a chance to take the lead when Tommaso Benvenuti made an early tackle on Adam Ashley-Cooper but Matt Toomua was off target with the resulting penalty.

Despite that miss, the Wallabies continued to attack but things went awry for the visitors in the 14th minute when Tito Tebaldi intercepted a pass from Jake Gordon — after a lineout close to the halfway line — and raced away before crossing the whitewash.  But, much to the Wallabies' relief, the try was ruled out when referee Pascal Gaüzère ruled that Tebaldi was offside when he gathered the ball.

The next 15 minutes was a tight affair as both sides spent time in their opponents' half but neither managed to trouble the scoreboard during this period.

However, things changed on the half-hour mark when Samu Kerevi got over the advantage line with a devastating run.  He threw an inside pass to David Pocock and he did well to offload to Marika Koroibete, who dotted down under the posts.

Five minutes later, the Wallabies increased their lead courtesy of another Koroibete try.  This, after Ashley-Cooper found himself in space down the right-hand touchline before he stepped inside and offloaded to his fellow wing, who went over for his second five-pointer.

Toomua converted both tries which meant the Wallabies led 14-0 at half-time.

Australia were fastest out of the blocks after the break and four minutes after the restart, Taniela Tupou shrugged off a challenge from Tebaldi inside Italy's 22 before powering his way over the tryline with Steyn on his back.

Toomua added the extras but two minutes later Mattia Bellini gathered a wayward pass from Bernard Foley, just inside Italy's half, and raced away before crossing for his side's only try which was converted by Tommaso Allan.

That try boosted the Azzurri, who spent most of the next 15 minutes camped inside the Wallabies' half.  And on the hour-mark, the home side received a shot in the arm when the Wallabies were reduced to 14 men after Scott Sio was yellow carded for a deliberate knockdown close to his try-line.

Italy continued to pile on the pressure but, after spending the next 10 minutes camped inside Australia's half, a handling error from Steyn was pounced on by Israel Folau, who gathered the loose ball before racing upfield, although Bellini did well to haul him in on the edge of the Azzurri's 22.

The game's closing stages was a tight affair but the Wallabies finished stronger and Genia made certain of the result in the 79th minute when he crossed from close quarters after Ashley-Cooper did well with a mazy run in the build-up.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Bellini
Con:  Allan

For Australia:
Tries:  Koroibete 2, Tupou, Genia
Cons:  Toomua 3
Yellow Card:  Sio

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Braam 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

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jermaine Ainsley, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Will Genia, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Dane Haylett-Petty

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Springboks late show floors France

A converted try from Bongi Mbonambi in the final play of the game helped South Africa to edge out France 29-26 in Paris on Saturday.

In a tight Test, in which momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed, both sides scored two tries apiece but Mbonambi proved to be the match-winner when he dotted down off the back of a line-out drive deep inside France's 22.

The home side will be wondering how they lost this game as they dominated for large periods and held a 23-9 lead early in the second-half.  But South Africa fought back bravely to clinch the win.

France showed their intentions from the outset by running the ball from all areas of the field and in the fifth minute, Maxime Medard set off on a mazy run which wreaked havoc in the Springbok defence.  He did well to get a pass out to Teddy Thomas whose progress was halted inside South Africa's 22.  The ball was recycled quickly before Camille Lopez launched a cross-field kick which just eluded Damian Penaud.

Shortly afterwards, Baptiste Serin opened the scoring when he landed a penalty after Franco Mostert and Steven Kitshoff were blown up for offside play on defence.

Five minutes later, Serin doubled his team's lead via another penalty after the Boks strayed offside on defence again.  Shortly after the restart, it was France's turn to be penalised and Handré Pollard made no mistake off the kicking tee to reduce the deficit to three points.

With points on the board the Springboks' confidence grew and in the 22nd minute, Pollard drew his side level when he slotted his second penalty after Jefferson Poirot was blown up for illegal scrummaging.

On the hour-mark, Pollard gave the Boks the lead for the first time when he added another three-pointer off the tee after Malcolm Marx did well to win a breakdown penalty.

That lead did not last long, however, as five minutes later Lopez restored parity when he landed a drop goal from the edge of his 22.  And just before half-time, France regained the lead when Guilhem Guirado caught the Boks by surprise when he burst through two tackles from a line-out drive before powering his way over the try-line from close quarters.

Serin added the extras which meant the home side held a 16-9 lead as the teams changed sides at the interval.

France came out firing in the second-half and two minutes after the restart, Sbu Nkosi failed to deal with a teasing high kick from Lopez, close to his try-line.  His error proved costly as Mathieu Bastareaud gathered the loose ball before crossing for Les Bleus' second try from close range.

Serin succeeded with the conversion attempt, which meant France were now holding a comfortable 23-9 lead, but from the restart Sebastien Vahaamahina spilled the ball deep inside his half, after great pressure from Pieter-Steph du Toit.  Nkosi was quickest to react and after gathering the ball he crossed for the Boks' first try.

Pollard added the conversion and the Boks had the upper hand during the next 15 minutes.

Two further penalties from Pollard meant France held a slender 23-22 lead by the hour-mark.

Shortly afterwards, Gael Fickou lined up a shot at goal from about 50 metres out but although his effort had the distance, it was wide of the uprights.

Despite that miss, Les Bleus got another chance to extend their lead, in the 67th minute, when Faf de Klerk was penalised for a late hit on Lopez.  Serin held his nerve to slot his third penalty.

That meant the Springboks had to score a try to regain the lead and they thought they had done that when Cheslin Kolbe set off on a blistering run down the right-hand touchline.  He did well to step past the cover defence before crossing the whitewash but his effort was disallowed after a brilliant tackle from Arthur Iturria.

The final 10 minutes was a frantic affair as the Boks gave their all in a bid to secure the win and just before full-time they thought they had done it when Aphiwe Dyantyi crossed the whitewash, However, his effort was disallowed when the television match official ruled that the final pass from Willie le Roux was forward.

However, the Boks would have another opportunity as Les Bleus had infringed in the build-up to that effort and shortly afterwards Mbonambi crossed for his try which sealed his side's victory.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Guirado, Bastareaud
Cons:  Serin 2
Pens:  Serin 3
Drop goal:  Lopez

For South Africa:
Tries:  Nkosi, Mbonambi
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 5

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Damian Penaud, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Gael Fickou

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

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Tom Foley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Ireland see off valiant Argentina in Dublin

Ireland overcame a resilient display from Argentina to go two from two in their November Test series following a 28-17 triumph at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

It was a topsy-turvy contest and one where Los Pumas very much came to play.  There was little in it at the interval, with Kieran Marmion and Bundee Aki going over for the hosts and Bautista Delguy responding for the Argentinians.

Nicolas Sanchez also kicked three penalties in the opening period to Johnny Sexton’s one and he added his fourth after the interval to give the visitors a 17-15 lead.

However, the home side eventually took control of the match as Luke McGrath’s try and a brace of Sexton three-pointers secured the win for the Irish.

The 11-point margin was tough on the tourists but Ireland’s quality eventually told as they continued their fine form in 2018.

Joe Schmidt’s men have clearly been the best side in the northern hemisphere over the past year but they were put under pressure by Los Pumas in the opening quarter.

The defending Six Nations champions looked to move the ball from the kick-off but they were penalised at the breakdown and Sanchez was on target from long range.

Although they responded impressively when Marmion benefited from a dominant scrum to cross the whitewash, the opposition fly-half regained Argentina’s advantage from the tee.

Mario Ledesma’s men deserved that 6-5 lead given to them by their pivot and they then produced an outstanding move which led to their only try.

Matias Orlando took an outstanding line, breaking through the attempted tackles of Sexton and Aki, before they moved to within inches of the opposition line.  Play was taken wide and Delguy had the simple task of touching down in the right-hand corner for a six-point buffer.

Back came Ireland, however, and they once again built pressure, capitalising on Argentinian ill-discipline, and Aki eventually went over as the Emerald Isle attained a semblance of control on the encounter.

It was a lead they would maintain at the break after the respective kickers traded three-pointers towards the end of the half.

However, the visitors began the second period on the front foot and were rewarded via the boot of their pivot.

There were fewer chances being created and Ireland had to be content with Sexton’s accuracy off the tee as they went into the final quarter 18-17 in front.

Schmidt’s charges were now beginning to gain control of proceedings, though, and Argentina’s line-out was starting to become an issue.  One such errant throw allowed the hosts to build an attack five metres out and, although Dan Leavy was initially held up, McGrath sniped over from the resultant scrum to effectively seal the victory.

The Irish dominated the latter stages and Sexton rubber-stamped the triumph from the tee, although the team will have to improve if they are to challenge New Zealand next weekend.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Marmion, Aki, L McGrath
Cons:  Sexton 2
Pens:  Sexton 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Delguy
Pens:  Sanchez 4

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Will Addison, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Andrew Conway

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicholas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Rodrgo Bruni, 20 Thomas Lezana, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 23 Matias Moroni

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Ludovic Cayre (France)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Wales edge out Wallabies to end winless streak

Wales ended a 13-match losing streak against Australia when they claimed a hard-fought 9-6 win in their November Test in Cardiff on Saturday.

In an evenly contested and often dour encounter, both sides committed a plethora of unforced errors and as the scoreline suggests, neither managed to cross the whitewash.

Wales eventually outscored their visitors by three penalties to two with Dan Biggar slotting the winning kick in the game's closing stages.

The Wallabies made a bright start and launched several attacks from the kick off.  In the third minute, Samu Kerevi was in the clear deep inside Wales territory but spilled the ball after an excellent cover tackle from Gareth Anscombe.

The next 10 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy although Leigh Halfpenny missed an opportunity to open the scoring when he failed with a penalty attempt in the 12th minute.

10 minutes later, he made up for that miss when he slotted a three-pointer off the kicking tee after the Wallabies were penalised for illegal scrummaging.

Australia battled to gain momentum as they were met by a ferocious defensive effort from the hosts although Dan Lydiate and Alun Wyn Jones went offside on defence in the 34th minute and Bernard Foley slotted the resulting penalty to open the Wallabies' account.

The tight nature of the game continued with the sides cancelling each other out with great defence while the breakdown battle, between Wales tearaway Justin Tipuric and the Wallabies' Michael Hooper and David Pocock, was one of the highlights of this Test.

On the stroke of half-time, Halfpenny had a chance to regain the lead for his team but, once again, his shot at goal was wide of the mark which meant the sides were deadlocked at 3-3 at half-time.

The Wallabies had the better of the second half's early exchanges but poor decision making cost them dearly during that period.  In the 51st minute, Tipuric collapsed a maul within goalkicking range but instead of taking a kick at goal from the resulting penalty, Wallabies captain Hooper opted to kick for touch.

That decision backfired when Tolu Latu knocked the ball on after they launched a drive from the subsequent line-out deep inside Wales 22.

Three minutes later, Australia had another chance to extend their lead off the kicking tee, when Liam Williams played the ball on the ground, but Hooper opted to set up another line-out close to Wales' tryline and this time Latu failed to find his jumper at the set-piece.

Those decisions came back to haunt the visitors as Wales regained the lead in the 68th minute courtesy of another Halfpenny penalty after Tatafu Polota-Nau infringed at a ruck just outside his 22.

The Wallabies needed a response and it came in the 75th minute when Pocock showed his class by winning a crucial breakdown penalty for his side and Matt Toomua made no mistake off the tee to draw the visitors level again.

Wales would have the final say, however, as two minutes later, Australia conceded a penalty at the breakdown and Biggar made no mistake from the tee to end his side's long winless run in this fixture.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pens:  Halfpenny 2, Biggar

For Australia:
Pens:  Foley, Toomua

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

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

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

All Blacks edge England after controversial finish

New Zealand came from 15-0 down to defeat England 16-15 at Twickenham on Saturday but another match involving the Red Rose ended in controversy.

Similar to the Owen Farrell incident last week, which cost South Africa a chance of winning the game, this time the hosts were denied when Sam Underhill thought he had scored, only for television match official Marius Jonker to rule it out.

Eddie Jones’ men were outstanding in the opening 35 minutes, taking a 15-0 advantage via Chris Ashton and Dylan Hartley tries, but the All Blacks responded excellently.

Damian McKenzie touched down before Beauden Barrett added a pair of three-pointers – including his first ever drop-goal at international level – to reduce the arrears to 15-13.

As the rain continued to affect proceedings, there were fewer scores in the second period, but the visitors took control as Barrett moved them in front, before an impressive home team were denied victory by a late call.

After defeating the Springboks in their opening November Test, England effectively had a free shot at this game.  Few expected them to win but the hosts started superbly, showing patience and a high skill set to move the ball through the phases in difficult conditions.

The forwards, who were considered underpowered in comparison to the visitors, carried excellently and Ben Youngs moved it wide at the right time, finding Ashton on the right to finish.

Jones’ charges were not done there and Jonny May caused further consternation in the opposition rearguard by kicking ahead and forcing McKenzie to conceded a five-metre scrum.

Although the All Blacks scrum forced the home side to infringe, it did not deter the Twickenham outfit and a Farrell drop-goal moved them 8-0 clear.

New Zealand looked to responded with McKenzie displaying a couple of nice touches but the Red Rose were soon back on the front foot and an outstanding maul resulted in Hartley touching down.

Steve Hansen’s men were stunned by the hosts’ defensive pressure but they regained their composure and showed superb handling to get themselves back into the contest.  Beauden Barrett dictated play well from fly-half and the two-time World Player of Year sent McKenzie across the whitewash from close range.

Barrett converted and then added a three-pointer following Farrell’s errant restart as the All Blacks went into the break just five points in arrears, despite struggling for the majority of the half.

New Zealand took that momentum into the second period and, although they couldn’t force their way over the line, Barrett made sure they came away with points through a drop-goal.

England’s set-piece had remained solid, even if there were concerns before the game, but it began to malfunction following Jamie George’s introduction and the visitors assumed command with their pivot kicking another off the tee to give the All Blacks the lead.

The lineout wobbles were costing them crucial possession and territory, allowing the tourists, who were attempting to pin Jones’ outfit back, off the hook.

The Red Rose continued to battle, though, and thought they had won the game when Courtney Lawes charged down TJ Perenara’s kick.  Underhill collected and finished superbly, but Jonker controversially ruled out the try for offside as the world champions held on.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Ashton, Hartley
Con:  Farrell
Drop-goal:  Farrell

For New Zealand:
Try:  McKenzie
Con:  Barrett
Pens:  Barrett 2
Drop-goal:  Barrett

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

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

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Tommy Seymour stars as Scotland hammer Fiji

Tommy Seymour starred with a hat-trick as Scotland claimed a convincing 54-17 win over Fiji at Murrayfield, having led 21-17 at half-time.

The visitors started the game on the front foot.  However, they emerged from their spell of dominance with only a Ben Volavola penalty kick to their name.

Scotland took the lead in the 11th minute thanks to their persistent efforts to force their way over following an attacking lineout.  Eventually, it was Allan Dell who prevailed.

After a patient build-up which saw Pete Horne come close to crossing the try-line, Scotland scored again seven minutes later, with Fraser Brown powering over.

Gregor Townsend's charges were virtually monopolising possession and looked comfortably in control of the game at this stage.  However, they handed Fiji a lifeline in the 22nd minute.  Brown's overthrown lineout was pounced upon and Viliame Mata went over after a fine offload from Peceli Yato.

Fiji took the lead in the 28th minute after some lovely hands in the build-up, with Leone Nakarawa's linebreak starting the move and Tevita Cavubati's pass setting Semi Radradra up for the finish.

However, the visitors' indiscipline let them down.  Cavubati was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul and Brown crashed over the try-line almost immediately afterwards.  Unfortunately for Scotland, the try was disallowed due to obstruction from Jamie Ritchie.

Fiji were reduced to 13 men two minutes before half-time when Nakarawa was yellow-carded — also for collapsing the maul.  Scotland finally made their advantage count right before the break, with Finn Russell's pass setting Seymour up to finish out wide on their right.

With momentum back in their hands, Scotland picked up where they left off after the break.  It took under three minutes for Sean Maitland to crash over following some good handling from the hosts.

Seymour then scored his second and third tries either side of the hour-mark, making the most of some good passing from his fellow backline players in both cases.

In the 77th minute, it was back to the forwards, as Ritchie grabbed a well-deserved try, forcing his way over from close range.

Then, three minutes afterwards, Adam Hastings brought up 50 for Scotland.  Russell initiated the attack by bursting through a gap in the defence before setting him up for the finish.

Despite a few nervy moments in the first half, it was ultimately a convincing victory from Scotland, who bounced back brilliantly from a 21-10 loss to Wales.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Seymour 3, Dell, Brown, Maitland, Ritchie, Hastings
Cons:  Laidlaw 5, Russell 2

For Fiji:
Tries:  Mata, Radradra
Cons:  Volavola 2
Pen:  Volavola
Yellow Cards:  Cavubati, Nakarawa

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

Fiji:  15 Setareki Tuicuvu, 14 Metui Talebula, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Jale Vatabua, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (c), 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Campese Maafu
Replacements:  16 Mesulame Dolokoto, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Kalivate Tawake, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Henry Seniloli, 22 Alivereti Veitokani, 23 Eroni Vasiteri

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)