Ireland beat France to set up Wales showdown

Ireland will go into the final round with an outside chance of claiming the Six Nations title following a dominant 26-14 triumph over France at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.

The Emerald Isle are currently third in the table, two points below leaders Wales, and they will have to beat Warren Gatland’s side and hope that England fail to win against Scotland for them to defend their championship.

Joe Schmidt’s men prepared well for their gargantuan contest next week, however.  They combined physicality with some nice touches with ball in hand against Les Bleus to score three tries and go into the break 19-0 in front.

Rory Best, Johnny Sexton and replacement Jack Conan all touched down as they effectively ended the game as a contest in the opening 40 minutes.

Keith Earls then sealed the bonus-point in the third quarter to secure the win and complete a miserable day for the French, despite Yoann Huget’s and Camille Chat’s late consolation efforts.

It was another abysmal display from Les Bleus as a slack defence made it all too easy for the hosts to get over the gain line.  CJ Stander and Tadhg Furlong needed no invitation and the visitors were consistently sent into reverse.

Those facets were all in evidence with the opening try when they set up a maul and powered towards the whitewash.  The result was inevitable and Best splintered off to touch down for an early 7-0 advantage.

The hosts were impressive but no one was taking responsibility for France.  Antoine Dupont, so spritely and confident against Scotland, was indecisive and his lack of control almost cost them a try, only for Cian Healy to let them off with a knock on.

Ireland were not to be denied, however, and a trademark Sexton wraparound saw the visitors take the bait.  Huget and Gael Fickou rather comically collided and the home side’s fly-half simply touched down by the right-hand upright.

At 14-0 down, it was already an uphill battle, particularly with Jacques Brunel’s charges showing few signs of creating anything of note.  Ireland were dominant aerially and in the kicking game, and the pressure resulted in a number of errors from the visitors.

Another turnover in their own 22 saw Les Bleus cede possession once again and Conan barrelled his way over for a 19-0 lead at the break.

France were slightly better in the early stages of the second half, winning a couple of penalties and taking play well into the opposition half, but their attack was stagnant and a swarming Irish defence halted any potential threat.

Instead, Ireland turned over the ball and exposed the French’s poor organisation in backfield.  A period of play in the away team’s 22 ensued before a lovely set-piece move resulted in Earls scampering clear to confirm the bonus-point.

It was well and truly game over, but the French did manage to avoid suffering any further embarrassment as Huget and Chat went over late on.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Best, Sexton, Conan, Earls
Cons:  Sexton 3

For France:
Tries:  Huget, Chat
Cons:  Serin 2
Yellow Card:  Aldegheri

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Jack Conan, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Felix Lambey, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Maxime Medard

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England put 50 past hapless Italy

England returned to the victory trail in the Six Nations when they claimed a 57-14 bonus-point win over Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a one-sided affair with England dominating most facets of play and they eventually outscored their visitors by eight tries to two with Manu Tuilagi and Brad Shields crossing for a brace apiece.

The result means England are still in second position in the standings but they have narrowed the gap to a point behind table-toppers Wales, who beat Scotland earlier on Saturday.

England made their intentions known from the outset by running the ball from all areas of the field and they were soon camped inside the Azzurri’s half.  In the eighth minute, Jamie George opened the scoring when he barged over off the back of a driving maul deep inside Italy’s 22.

That try did not deter the visitors, who also gave the ball plenty of air, and they opened their account shortly afterwards.  This, courtesy of a fine try from Tommaso Allan, who spotted a gap in the English defence before selling Joe Cokanasiga an outrageous dummy on his way over the try-line.

Allan dusted himself off and added the conversion from close to the touchline, which meant the sides were level at 7-7 after 15 minutes.

But that would be the last time Italy would add points during the half as England scored three further tries which secured them a try-scoring bonus point before the interval.

First, Elliot Daly made a superb line break before offloading to Jonny May, who cantered in for his fifth try of the tournament.  Then, midway through the half, Tuilagi’s power and speed proved too much for his opponents as he set off on a barnstorming run from the halfway line before scoring his side’s third five-pointer.

Owen Farrell added the extras before slotting a penalty which gave his side a comfortable 24-7 lead by the 26th minute.

And in the 32nd minute, Shields ran onto a pass from Tuilagi and outpaced the cover defence on his way over the try-line to notch his first Test try.

Farrell succeeded with his fourth conversion and England were cruising as the teams changed sides at half-time.

The home side’s dominance continued during the early stages of the second of half and Tuilagi was rewarded with his second try in the 47th minute after forwards and backs combined in the build-up.

Despite being comprehensively outplayed, Italy did not surrender and in the 55th minute Luca Morisi gathered a long pass from Allan before diving over in the left-hand corner.

But just like the first half, the Azzurri could not build momentum after scoring points and England regained the initiative with further tries from George Kruis and Dan Robson which gave them a 50-14 lead by the 69th minute.

And just before the end, Kruis charged down an attempted clearance from Tito Tebaldi before Shields regathered the loose ball to cross for his second try which sealed an emphatic win for England.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  George, May, Tuilagi 2, Shields 2, Kruis, Robson
Cons:  Farrell 4, Ford 3
Pen:  Farrell

For Italy:
Tries:  Allan, Morisi
Cons:  Allan 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Brad Shields, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nathan Hughes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Henry Slade

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

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Wales grind past plucky Scotland

Wales consolidated their position at the top of the Six Nations standings courtesy of a hard-fought 18-11 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In an attritional affair, characterised by several massive hits and constant physicality, both sides deserve plenty of credit for making this the entertaining spectacle that it was and the result was in the balance until the game’s closing stages.

If truth be told, this was a game of two halves with Wales dominating proceedings during the opening stanza but a different Scotland came out of the changing room and dominated the second half.

But in the end, Wales held on for the win – their 13th successive one – and will play for the Grand Slam against Ireland in Cardiff next weekend.

The match started at a frenetic pace and Scotland eventually opened the scoring in the 11th minute courtesy of a Finn Russell penalty after Josh Navidi infringed at a lineout.

That lead did not last long as two minutes later, Wales struck back with a superb try.  This, after Jonathan Davies got a pass out to Josh Adams down the left-hand and, although the flyer still had plenty of work to do, he did brilliantly to beat Blair Kinghorn with deft footwork before crossing the whitewash.

Gareth Anscombe slotted the conversion but Scotland were soon on the attack deep inside the visitors’ half thanks to a mazy run from Darcy Graham in which he beat five defenders.

Despite Graham’s brilliance on attack, Scotland were not rewarded with a try but had to settle for another penalty from Russell which meant the match was evenly poised with Wales holding a slender 7-6 lead.

The game’s intensity levels were incredibly high and Scotland came off second best in most of the collisions.  They lost Jamie Ritchie to a HIA, although he later returned to the field, while Tommy Seymour was forced off with a rib injury and Blair Kinghorn hobbled off with an ankle knock – all by the half-hour mark.

Ritchie was replaced by Hamish Watson but he too had to leave the field with a blood injury with back-up hooker Fraser Brown Brown taking his place while Wales also lost the services of Adam Beard to a HIA.

Wales continued to control the pace of the game as the half progressed and Anscombe added another penalty in the 25th minute to give his side four-point lead.  And on the half-hour mark, Jonathan Davies crossed for their second try after the ball was taken through 24 phases with Hadleigh Parkes and George North particularly impressive with strong carries in the build-up.

Anscombe converted which gave his side a 15-6 lead and, although there were more pointscoring opportunities for the visitors during the half’s closing stages, they would not add to their tally.

Scotland upped the ante on attack after the restart but, despite several forays into Wales territory during the first 15 minutes of the half, they did not score any points during that period.

The dam wall eventually burst in the 58th minute when Graham went over for a well-worked try.  Russell did brilliantly when he threw an inside pass to Byron McGuigan, after a lineout just inside Wales’ 22.  Although McGuigan still had work to do, he did well to offload to Adam Hastings, who got a pass out to Graham and the winger went over in the right-hand corner.

Russell’s conversion attempt was off target which meant Wales were leading 15-11 but, despite that miss, they were back in the game and continued to attack.

That tactic nearly backfired when, shortly afterwards, Hastings lost possession inside Wales’ half.  Adams booted the ball upfield but, although he regathered, the bounce of the ball forced him wide deep inside Scotland’s 22 and there was no reward for the visitors from that attack.

Scotland launched several further attacks inside Wales’ half over the next 15 minutes but a combination of unforced errors and solid defence from the Welsh kept them at bay.

Wales eventually found themselves on the attack inside Scotland’s 22 during the game’s closing stages and a breakdown infringement from the hosts allowed Anscombe to slot his second penalty which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Graham
Pens:  Russell 2

For Wales:
Tries:  Adams, J Davies
Con:  Anscombe
Pens:  Anscombe 2

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Darcy Graham, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Byron McGuigan

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 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

Referee:  Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Spirited Italy give Ireland a scare

Ireland were given an almighty scare by Italy on Sunday, before registering a hard-earned 26-16 victory in their Six Nations Test in Rome.

Despite heading into this match on a 19-game losing streak in the tournament, Italy were competitive throughout and even held a 16-12 lead at half-time after a superb showing during the opening stanza.

In the end, Ireland fought back bravely in the second-half and eventually secured a crucial bonus point after outscoring their hosts by four tries to two.

That means the champions move into third place in the standings – one point behind England and three adrift of table-toppers Wales.

As expected, Ireland were fastest out of the blocks but despite having most of the possession in the game’s early stages, they committed several unforced errors during that period.

They eventually settled down and took the lead in the 11th minute when Quinn Roux barged over from close quarters for their opening try after Chris Farrell was stopped short of the try-line in the build-up.

Johnny Sexton slotted the conversion but five minutes later Tommaso Allan lined up a long-range kick at goal and although he had the distance, he pushed his shot wide of the posts.

Soon after, Sean O’Brien was blown up for illegal play on defence and Allan made up for his earlier miss by converting the resulting penalty, which meant the visitors were leading 7-3 midway through the half.

The Azzurri forwards failed to claim the ball from the restart and in attempt to regather, Michele Campagnaro knocked on.  Jacob Stockdale pounced on the loose ball before racing away from the cover defence to score his side’s second try.

Despite that setback, Italy were soon on the attack inside Ireland’s half and the hosts reduced the deficit via another penalty from Allan in the 26th minute after Sean Cronin strayed offside on defence.

The game’s momentum swung in the 33rd minute when Ireland lost possession at a line-out inside their half and after a good run from Jayden Hayward, Italy were camped close to the visitors’ try-line.  The ball was recycled quickly and Allan did well to deliver a superb long throw to Edoardo Padovani, who had an easy run-in for his side’s opening try.

Although Allan failed with the conversion attempt, Italy finished stronger and in the 39th minute they took the lead courtesy of an excellent try from Luca Morisi.

Tito Tebaldi deserves plenty of credit for his role in the score as he did brilliantly to win a turnover inside his half before setting off towards his opponents’ try-line.  Tebaldi then booted the ball upfield and Italy did well to regather deep inside Ireland’s 22 where Padovani was stopped close to the right-hand corner.  Italy then shifted the ball to the left where Luca Morisi powered his way over the whitewash despite the attentions of Farrell.

Allan was off target from the kicking tee again but the Azzurri were buzzing as the teams changed sides at half-time.

Ireland seemed shell-shocked and the interval came at just the right time for them.  They regathered their composure and regained the lead in the 51st minute when Keith Earls stepped past a couple of defenders inside Italy’s 22 before diving over.

The next 15 minutes was a slugfest and although Ireland had most of the possession and territory, they could not breach their opponents’ defence.  But, despite being frustrated during that period, Ireland remained patient and they were rewarded in the 67th minute when Conor Murray scored their bonus-point try, off the back of a line-out drive deep inside Italy’s territory.

Despite securing their bonus point, Ireland could not rest on their laurels as Italy continued to attack.  The closing stages were frantic and Italy had a chance to gain a losing bonus point when Ian McKinley lined up a shot at goal.  His effort was off target, however, and although Ireland tried to attack from behind their posts, they soon committed a handling error which brought proceedings to a close.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Padovani, Morisi
Pens:  Allan 2

For Ireland:
Tries:  Roux, Stockdale, Earls, Murray
Cons:  Sexton, Murray 2

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

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Wales go top after epic win over England

Wales took a giant step towards winning this year’s Six Nations title when they claimed a hard-fought 21-13 triumph over England in Cardiff on Saturday.

In a tough and uncompromising duel, characterised by several huge collisions, England’s defence kept Wales at bay for long periods.  Wales finished stronger, however, and eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to one with both the home side’s five-pointer scored in the game’s closing stages.

The win means Wales move above England at the top of the table and they have now won a record 12 successive Tests.

Both teams came into this fixture as the only unbeaten teams in the competition which meant there was plenty of hype in the build-up.  And that was certainly justified as the sides gave their all for the full 80 minutes.

The match started at a frenetic pace with Wales doing most of the early attacking and although they had the bulk of the possession and territory, they were frustrated by the superb defensive efforts of their opponents.

England had an early opportunity to open the scoring when Elliot Daly lined up a long range shot at goal – after Justin Tipuric was blown up for a no-arms tackle on Billy Vunipola – but his effort was wide of the mark.

Wales held the upper-hand over the next 15 minutes but despite their dominance, they could not breach the visitors’ defence.

And it was England who eventually took the lead in the 18th minute courtesy of an Owen Farrell penalty, after an indiscretion at a scrum from Wales.

Wales didn’t take long to respond and in the 24th minute Gareth Anscombe restored parity with a penalty of his own after Kyle Sinckler was punished for a late tackle.

That penalty seemed to rally English spirits and three minutes later, during a rare visit to Wales’ 22, Tom Curry burst through a hole around the fringe of a ruck and crossed for the opening try.

Farrell added the extras which gave his side a 10-3 lead and although both sides spent time inside their opponents’ 22 during the half’s closing stages, neither side would add to their points tally.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first with Wales having little reward despite numerous incursions in England’s half.

They eventually narrowed the gap to three points when Anscombe slotted another penalty after Jonny May held onto the ball at a breakdown.

And in the 57th minute, Anscombe made it a one-point game when he landed a three-pointer from the kicking tee after Sinckler was blown up for a dangerous tackle on Alun Wyn Jones.

However, England struck back in the 63rd minute when Farrell added another penalty, after Hadleigh Parkes infringed at a ruck.

Wales needed a response and that came five minutes later when, after taking the ball through 34 phases in the build-up, Cory Hill crashed over from close quarters to give his side the lead for the first time.

Dan Biggar slotted the conversion which meant Wales led 16-13 and the game was up for grabs.  Wales finished stronger and in the 78th minute Biggar launched an inch-perfect cross-field kick which Josh Adams gathered before crossing the whitewash for the try which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Hill, Adams
Con:  Biggar
Pens:  Anscombe 3

For England:
Try:  Curry
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 2

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 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

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 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

France see off Scotland to claim first Six Nations win

France registered their first victory of this year’s Six Nations when they beat Scotland 27-10 in an entertaining contest in Paris on Saturday.

After suffering defeats to Wales and England in their two previous matches, Les Bleus came in for plenty of criticism, but they delivered a much-improved performance in this fixture and were full value for their win.

By contrast, Scotland battled to get going as they committed too many unforced errors, although they held a slight edge in the possession and territorial stakes.

In the end, France were deserved winners as they were better on attack and eventually outscored their visitors by four tries to one.

The opening exchanges were frantic with both sides giving the ball plenty of air and France thought they had opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Damian Penaud dotted down in the right-hand corner.  His effort was disallowed, however, as television replays revealed a knock on from Antoine Dupont in the build-up.

France put that disappointment behind them but continued to attack and in the 13th minute Thomas Ramos tore the Scottish defence to shreds with a mazy run in which he beat four defenders.  He got a pass out to Penaud, who was brought to ground inside the visitors’ 22 but the ball was recycled quickly and Romain Ntamack did well to glide through a gap before crossing for his first Test try.

Ramos slotted the conversion and added a penalty in the 18th minute after Scotland were penalised at a breakdown.

Shortly afterwards, Greig Laidlaw had an opportunity to open his side’s account from the kicking tee but his effort struck an upright.

Laidlaw had a chance to make up for that miss in the 26th minute – when Mathieu Bastareaud infringed at a ruck – and he did just that which reduced Les Bleus’ lead to seven points.

In the 28th minute, France were dealt a blow when Yoann Huget was yellow carded for slowing the ball down cynically at a ruck just inside his half.

Despite that setback, they stayed true to their attacking roots with Ntamack shining with his playmaking skills and in the 31st minute he delivered a superb chip kick which was gathered by Gaël Fickou, who crossed the whitewash.  Their joy was short-lived, however, as there was a knock-on from Wenceslas Lauret in the build-up.

Soon after, Ramos lined up another shot at goal from close to the posts but his effort was a horrible one and wide of the target which meant the match was evenly poised with France leading 10-3 at half-time.

France were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and they went onto the attack from the restart.  Penaud, Bastareaud and Louis Picamoles came to the fore with strong runs before Dupont got a pass out to Huget, who stepped past a defender before dotting down.

The rest of the half saw Scotland upping the ante on attack but despite several forays into Les Bleus’ half, they could not convert those chances into points.

France finished stronger though, with their forwards particularly impressive, and in the 75th minute they put in a huge shove at a scrum on Scotland’s five-metre line before Gregory Alldritt barged over from the base of the scrum.

That gave Les Bleus a 20-3 lead but Scotland struck back from the restart when Pete Horne broke through the home side’s defence before throwing an inside pass to Ali Price, who scored under the posts.

That try did not deter France though and just before full-time Alldritt dotted down again but his effort was disallowed due to a double movement.  France were awarded a penalty, however, and they opted to take a scrum and shortly afterwards Alldritt powered his way over the whitewash for his second try which secured a bonus point win for his team.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Ntamack, Yuget, Alldritt 2
Cons:  Ramos, Serin
Pen:  Ramos
Yellow Card:  Huget

For Scotland:
Try:  Price
Con:  Hastings
Pen:  Laidlaw

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Félix Lambey, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Maxime Medard

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Darcy Graham

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Jonny May scores three as England dominate France

Jonny May scored a hat-trick inside half-an-hour to set England on their way to an excellent 44-8 triumph over an awful France side at Twickenham.

Eddie Jones’ men benefited from Jacques Brunel’s muddled selections as the back three were constantly exposed by the hosts’ kicking game.

Damian Penaud, Yoann Huget and Gael Fickou failed to deal with the threat and May took advantage, touching down three times in the first half, while Henry Slade also crossed the whitewash.

Penaud did get over for Les Bleus but they were outplayed by Jones’ side and a penalty try and Owen Farrell added to their pain, with the fly-half finishing with 17 points overall.

England duly secured their second bonus-point victory in the Six Nations to move to the top of the table and set up a mouth-watering clash against Wales.

Scoring early tries has become a habit for the Red Rose and they set the tone immediately.  Brunel’s men had looked to go through the phases but, following a knock on, Daly counter-attacked and weaved his way through several would-be tacklers.

The full-back then kicked through and May’s pace took over as the Leicester Tigers man scampered through and touched down for a 5-0 advantage.

England were in control and Farrell rewarded their early dominance with a three-pointer before the visitors got on the board through Morgan Parra.

They then showed a couple of nice touches as a neat cross-field kick got them well into opposition territory but that was as good as it got in the opening 35 minutes.

Instead, the home side dominated and their fly-half extended their buffer before the kicking game exposed France’s frailties.  Brunel’s outfit were utterly abysmal at dealing with the accuracy of the English, while Penaud and Huget were often caught out.

May duly thrived and scored for the second time following a lovely step off his right foot, but he was not done there and had a hat-trick within the first half-hour.  This time it was Chris Ashton that obliged with the deft grubber through and his fellow back three player excellently collected and finished.

It was embarrassing by France but they at least responded with a well-worked effort.  Huget partially put his earlier issues behind him by going on a mazy run and Penaud was on his shoulder to take the pass and score in the corner.

However, normal service was resumed when Ben Youngs kicked ahead, Ashton picked up and Kyle Sinckler moved the ball left for Slade to step inside and cross the whitewash.

England were dominant and led 30-8 at the break but, despite controlling the early exchanges of the second, they were initially unable to add to their lead.

Jones’ outfit were overplaying slightly and, as a result, the hosts were making mistakes, but they could always rely on the French to gift them a score and they almost inevitably threw a loose pass for Slade to collect.

The centre showed good pace to get away and kick ahead to Ashton, but the wing was illegally tackled off the ball by Fickou, leading to a penalty try and yellow card.

France were perhaps unfortunate, with the ball going away from the England player, but they only had themselves to blame and it summed up a terrible effort from the visitors.

Matters only got worse, however, as Youngs and Farrell combined for the fly-half to extend their buffer going into the final quarter.

England’s intensity then unsurprisingly dropped in attack, allowing Les Bleus to gain some possession, but the Red Rose’s defence remained solid as they secured a dominant win.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May 3, Slade, penalty try, Farrell
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 2

For France:
Try:  Penaud
Pen:  Parra
Yellow Card:  Fickou

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Chris Ashton, 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 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Jack Nowell

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Gaël Fickou, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Félix Lambey, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Thomas Ramos

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Wales grind out victory over Italy

Wales moved to the top of the Six Nations standings on Saturday with a hard-fought 26-15 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

After starting their campaign with a narrow come-from-behind win over France in Paris last week, Wales opted to rest most of their first-choice players for this encounter and it showed as they battled to build momentum on attack.

Both sides eventually scored two tries apiece although four first-half penalties from Dan Biggar proved the difference between the sides in the end and he also added a conversion to finish with a 14-point haul.

The result means Wales have now won 11 successive Tests, which is a record for them in the professional era, while Italy are on a 19-match losing streak in the Six Nations.

Wales dominated from the outset and took a 3-0 lead courtesy of a penalty from Biggar after the Azzurri were blown up at a breakdown.

Italy continued to infringe as the half progressed and Biggar slotted another penalty in the 14th minute after the home side’s front-row were gulity of illegal scrummaging.

Shortly afterwards, the Azzurri were caught offside on defence and Biggar made no mistake from the kicking tee before succeeding with his fourth penalty on the hour-mark to give his side a deserved 12-0 lead.

But despite dominating in the possession and territorial stakes, Wales could not breach Italy’s defence and the home side actually finished the half stronger.

On a rare occasion that the Azzurri ventured into Wales’ half they were awarded a penalty within goal-kicking range but instead of lining up a shot, Tommaso Allan opted to kick for touch and put the ball out deep inside the visitors’ 22.

The gamble paid off and after setting up a couple of phases close to Wales’ try-line, Braam Steyn spotted a gap and barged over from close quarters for the opening try.

Allan slotted the conversion which meant his side were only trailing by five points and he had a chance to make it a two-point game when he took a shot at goal – after Adam Beard played Sebastian Negri in the air at a lineout – on the stroke of half-time.  His kick struck an upright but Wales were fastest to the loose ball and managed to scramble the ball into touch before with the score 12-7 in their favour at the break.

Italy made the brighter start to the second-half and narrowed the gap to two points courtesy of a penalty from Allan.

Wales took control of proceedings in the 55th minute when Liam Williams burst through a tackle from Jayden Hayward just outside Italy’s 22 before getting a pass out to Josh Adams, who crossed for a deserved try.

That score gave Wales more breathing space and they upped the ante on attack.  In the 64th minute, Jonathan Davies crossed the whitewash but his effort was disallowed after television replays revealed a handling error before he dotted down.

Despite that setback, Wales continued to attack and they sealed their win in the 70th minute when Owen Watkin dived onto an inch-perfect chip kick from Gareth Anscombe behind the home side’s try-line.

The closing stages was a frantic affair as both sides gave the ball plenty of air and Italy were rewarded when Edoardo Padovani crossed for a consolation try in the 75th minute after good work from Allan in the build-up.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Steyn, Padovani
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

For Wales:
Tries:  Adams, Watkin
Cons:  Biggar, Anscombe
Pens:  Biggar 4

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

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Jonathan Davies (c), 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Hallam Amos

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Ireland see off Scotland to return to winning ways

Ireland were made to graft but eventually got the job done as they beat Scotland 22-13 in their Six Nations Test at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In a fast-paced encounter, Ireland were deserved winners as they committed less unforced errors and eventually outscored their hosts by three tries to one.

The victory is an important one for the defending champions as it is their first of this year’s competition, although they will be kicking themselves as they failed to secure a try-scoring bonus point which could prove costly later on.

Scotland made the brighter start and opened the scoring in the seventh minute courtesy of a Greig Laidlaw penalty after Bundee Aki infringed at a breakdown.

Things went pear-shaped in the 10th minute for the home side, however, when Ireland replied via a Conor Murray try which came against the run of play.  This, when Tommy Seymour fielded a kick inside his 22 before throwing a wild pass to Sean Maitland, who failed to gather.  Murray pounced on the loose ball and had an easy run-in over the try-line.

Scotland suffered another setback in the 17th minute when Stuart Hogg was forced off the field with an arm injury.

Blair Kinghorn had barely come on as Hogg’s replacement when Ireland struck again via a try from Jacob Stockdale.  Peter O’Mahony and Johnny Sexton combined superbly in the build-up to create space for Stockdale, who gathered a pass from Sexton just inside Scotland’s half, and he did well to outsprint the cover defence before crossing the whitewash.

Despite trailing 12-3 on the scoreboard, the Scots did not panic and they reduced the deficit in the 29th minute when Sam Johnson crossed for their opening try.

Ireland were initially on the attack close to the halfway line but Finn Russell intercepted a pass from Joey Carbery, who had replaced the injured Sexton, and the home side’s fly-half did well to set off on a 45 metre run before his progress was halted by a fine tackle from Keith Earls.  Russell managed to free his arms, however, and offloaded to the on-rushing Johnson, who crossed for his first Test try.

Laidlaw slotted the conversion which narrowed the gap to two points but, although the home side had the better of the half’s closing stages and spent long periods camped inside Ireland’s 22, they could not score further points before the interval.

Half-time came at the right time for Ireland as they regrouped during the break and regained the initiative after the restart.

In the 56th minute, Carbery, who struggled up to that point, left his stamp on the match with a telling break before throwing a long pass to Keith Earls, who scored his side’s third try.

Carbery added the extras but Scotland struck back when Laidlaw slotted a penalty shortly afterwards which meant Ireland held a 19-13 lead as the game entered its final quarter.

Despite that kick, the visitors held the upper-hand and went further ahead in the 68th minute when Carbery slotted a penalty which gave his side a 22-13 lead.

Scotland needed a response but they committed several errors in a bid to haul in their opponents, who held on for the win with a solid defensive effort during the game’s closing stages.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Johnson
Con:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

For Ireland:
Tries:  Murray, Stockdale, Earls
Cons:  Sexton, Carbery
Pen:  Carbery

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Blair Kinghorn

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

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

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)