Filipo Daugunu double fires Australia to series win

Two tries from Filipo Daugunu helped Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies beat Wales 36-28 at AAMI Park in Melbourne to wrap up the series 2-0 on Saturday.

Daugunu scored in each half while Jake Gordon and Allan Alaalatoa also crossed the whitewash as Schmidt’s tenure at the helm continues to start on a positive note.

While falling to a ninth successive Test loss, Wales will take some positives after tries were scored by hooker Dewi Lake (2) and wings Liam Williams and Rio Dyer.

It was Wales’ best performance this year, yet they are now just one more defeat from equalling their record losing run of 10 Tests in 2002 and 2003.

Wales were rocked by a spectacular Wallabies score after just seven minutes when they attacked from deep inside their own 22.

Australia were under pressure defensively, but wing Andrew Kellaway turned it into a blistering counter-attack as he kicked into space then flicked an inside ball to flanker Fraser McReight, and he surged clear before sending Daugunu for his second touchdown in successive games.

Noah Lolesio added the conversion, and his penalty eight minutes later following 21 attacking phases deep inside Wales territory made it 10-0.

Ben Thomas missed a chance to open Wales’ account when he drifted a penalty wide in driving rain at AAMI Park, then the visitors twice threatened Australia’s line when flanker James Botham and number eight Taine Plumtree went close.

Wales had plenty of possession, yet the conditions made handling difficult for both teams and Australia were able to absorb pressure before extending their lead early in the second quarter.

Gordon’s steepling kick caused problems for Wales full-back Cameron Winnett, who could not gather it, and Gordon reacted quickest as the ball rolled into space and compounded Welsh misery, with Lolesio converting.

Wales needed a rapid response, and they delivered one from an attacking lineout as Lake claimed the touchdown before Thomas’ conversion made it a 10-point game again.

Another Lolesio penalty restored Australia’s cushion, and he completed his hat-trick just before half-time after Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was yellow-carded following a high challenge on Wales prop Archie Griffin, securing a 23-14 interval advantage.

Wales posted a third try just six minutes into the second period after outstanding work by the forwards ― notably, Plumtree, Lake and Botham ― created an opportunity for Williams, who finished easily, and Thomas converted.

It was an admirable effort by Wales, but they conceded a third score midway through the second quarter when Australia gave them a taste of their own medicine through an imposing driven lineout, with Alaalatoa then touching down.

Wales remained firmly in the contest, but Australia struck a major blow 12 minutes from time after Williams’ attempt to keep the ball in play saw him deflect the ball straight to Daugunu, who accepted the gift and took his team past 30 points.

Wales were still not done, though, and Dyer displayed great strength to dive over, and replacement Costelow’s touchline conversion reduced the gap to five points with nine minutes left.

But Ben Donaldson stepped up to boot a 77th-minute penalty, and Wales were finally downed following a display that bristled with intensity and purpose.

The teams

Wallabies:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Charlie Cale, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Jeremy Williams, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 James Slipper (c)
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Angus Blyth, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Nic White, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Dylan Pietsch

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 James Botham, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Christ Tshiunza, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Nick Tompkins

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

All Blacks keep Eden Park fortress intact with dramatic win over England

The All Blacks were made to work hard again by an improving England side but they managed to get the job done with a thrilling 24-17 victory at Eden Park.

It was another fast start by the hosts, who went 7-0 ahead through Mark Tele’a’s try, but just like last weekend the Red Rose responded.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso levelled matters with an excellent effort and, although successive Damian McKenzie penalties took New Zealand 13-7 in front, the English hit back via Tommy Freeman.

After Marcus Smith converted and added a three-pointer early in the second period, the visitors were in control, but they couldn’t build on it.

The All Blacks kept themselves in the contest and finished the stronger, winning the match through Tele’a’s second score and McKenzie’s third penalty.

As a result, the home side stretched their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 49 matches, a record they had held for 30 years.

Beauden Barrett’s super-sub cameo conjured a try for Tele’a, ignited the All Blacks’ attack and produced a series of important inventions.

England had been magnificent until his arrival with second-rows Maro Itoje and George Martin and Feyi-Waboso outstanding, aided by the leveller of the hosts’ spectacular line-out malfunction.

But, despite dominating territory and possession in the third quarter, points were elusive and they fell short with an overtime attempt to snatch a draw when a line-out drive that reached the line was penalised.

New Zealand’s 30-year unbeaten record at Eden Park had survived in a gripping Test between two well-matched rivals, who clash again at Twickenham on November 2.

For England it was another missed opportunity but they at least showed fight to stay in the hunt following a worrying start.

Their scrum struggled ― a theme of the game ― Freddie Steward was slow to deal with a kick and their defence was too soft in the face of an Ardie Savea carry that allowed Tele’a to touch down.

But their response to Tele’a scooting down an unguarded blindside was stunning as Smith directed a pinpoint chip into space between two All Blacks for Feyi-Waboso to gather and produce a sharp finish.

Smith then came to the rescue in defence as New Zealand went within one pass of scoring, intercepting at the critical moment while Steward applied pressure by covering with determination.

McKenzie nudged the All Blacks ahead with a penalty but there were promising signs from England’s attack as they pieced together phases.

Ben Earl was hustled off the ball at the back of a scrum by Finlay Christie as another strong position passed without points being scored, while New Zealand’s line-out was malfunctioning with Itoje picking off one errant throw.

McKenzie was on target again but England pounced on the stroke of half-time when Martin made hard yards for Smith to find Freeman with another accurate kick and the wing’s athleticism and handling skills did the rest.

Smith landed a penalty to increase the lead to 17-13 but the points came after a bustling attack was ended by a Jamie George knock-on that could have yielded a great prize.

England were camped in home territory, helped by Sevu Reece kicking out on the full and a monster Smith touch-finder, yet were unable to reflect their control of territory on the scoreboard.

When the All Blacks finally escaped their half, they pounced with Barrett racing through a hole and providing the scoring pass to Tele’a.

Barrett had come on with 23 minutes to go and virtually every touch was influential, providing New Zealand with renewed purpose as McKenzie’s penalty delivered the final points.

The teams

New Zealand:  15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett

England:  15 Freddie Steward, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Ollie Sleightholme

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Damon Murphy (Australia), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (Australia)

Ewan Ashman grabs first-half hat-trick as Scotland see off USA

Ewan Ashman scored a first-half hat-trick as Scotland made it two victories from two on their Americas tour, easing past the USA 42-7 at Audi Field in Washington DC.

Wing Duhan van der Merwe opened the visitors’ try account in the sixth minute before hooker Ashman’s treble sent Gregor Townsend’s troops in 28-7 ahead at the interval.

The second half dipped in quality as both teams struggled in the wet weather, with George Horne and Matt Fagerson claiming a further two crossings for Scotland.

Former Italy international centre Tommaso Boni scored the USA’s only try of the game with 32 minutes on the clock, as they came off second best to the Six Nations outfit.

As mentioned, Van der Merwe was quick off the mark to equal Stuart Hogg’s record of 27 tries for Scotland, timing his run to take Adam Hastings’ popped pass and coasting over.

Hastings converted and added the extras for each of Ashman’s treble ― all of which came at the back of rolling mauls from lineouts as they opened a healthy lead at the break.

The USA grabbed a try of their own in the midst of Ashman’s scoring spell, centre Boni going over despite prop David Ainu’u being in the sin bin for a breakdown offence just moments after the hosts had been warned for repeat infringements.

Bristol fly-half AJ MacGinty converted, but was off target with two penalty attempts.

Scotland stretched their advantage 10 minutes into the second half, scrum-half Horne racing in after getting on the end of Kyle Rowe’s break. Hastings added the conversion.

Stubborn home defence and increasing scrappiness in the testing conditions halted the scoring until Fagerson touched down six minutes from time at the back of a dominant Scottish scrum, Ross Thompson completing the scoring with the conversion.

The teams

USA:  15 Luke Carty, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 13 Tavite Lopeti, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Nate Augspurger, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 JP Smith, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Paddy Ryan, 6 Sam Golla, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Viliami Helu, 3 David Ainu’u, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 1 Jack Iscaro
Replacements:  16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Jake Turnbull, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Saia Uhila, 20 Ben Bonasso, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Bryce Campbell, 23 Mitch Wilson

Scotland:  15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (cc), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Robbie Smith, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Matt Currie

Referee:  Jordan Way
Assistant Referees:  Adam Leal, Robin Kaluzniak
TMO:  Chris Assmus

Posolo Tuilagi channels his inner Jonah Lomu in STUNNING 50-metre try

The youngest member of possibly the most famous rugby family is making waves on the Test scene as French international Posolo Tuilagi showed off his strength to run 50-odd metres for a solo special.

Tuilagi who weighs a whopping 149 kilograms and stands 194 centimetres tall made his Test debut earlier this year in the second-row, quickly proving he is ready for the highest level of the game.

His latest exploits come from France’s clash with Uruguay on their South American tour where he was handed the ball on the halfway line with a little bit of space to work with and boy did he maximise it.

As he got the ball defenders did their best to slow him down but only bounced off the charging bull of a second-row. Tuilagi went on to beat three defenders before the fourth decided not to even attempt tackling him.

It was the kind of try one would see in a mismatched secondary school game, one that had shades of the great Jonah Lomu moving his giant body so fast and so powerfully.

Posolo Tuilagi making an absolute mockery of test rugby pic.twitter.com/37oz8Iwz2v

― Old Downbadians RFC (@OldDownbadians) July 10, 2024

South American tour

France would go on to win the game 28-43 making it two wins from two in South America having beaten Argentina 13-28 despite fielding a youthful team.

Les Bleus’ time in the continent has not been without its drama after Melvyn Jaminet was sent home for making racist remarks in a video posted online. On an even worse note two players ― Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou ― were arrested in connection with a sexual assault claim from their time in Mendoza.

The team will need to turn their attention back to Los Pumas who they face this weekend in Buenos Aires for the second Test between the teams.

Scotland ease past Canada as Sale Sharks duo grab try doubles

A second-string Scotland side got their mid-year tour off to a winning start as they comfortably dispatched Canada 73-12 at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa on Saturday.

Missing the majority of their Six Nations regulars, head coach Gregor Townsend is using this Americas tour to look at fringe players who are pushing for regular places.

Josh Bayliss, Dylan Richardson (2), Aaron Reed (2), Gus Warr (2), Harry Paterson, Jamie Dobie, Stafford McDowall and Kyle Steyn all crossed the whitewash in an 11-try result.

Lucas Rumball scored for Canada early on and Kyle Baillie after the break but it was a stroll in the end for Scotland as they claimed The Douglas JL Horn Memorial Trophy.

The hosts were camped inside the Scotland 22 in the opening exchanges and were duly rewarded after eight minutes when captain Rumball burst over following a driving maul.

Spurred into action, Scotland hit back four minutes later with their first real attack as Paterson punctured the defensive line and offloaded to Matt Currie on the left wing, his pass back inside allowing Bayliss to go over unopposed.

Richardson had his first try after a quarter of an hour having collected an offload from Ross Thompson, who converted both of Scotland’s opening scores to put them 14-5 ahead.

Thompson failed to split the posts when Richardson dotted down from a surging maul and was again wayward with his kick when Reed marked his international bow with a try before half-time, Paterson the architect of the move with an offload out the back of his hand which freed the debutant to score.

Warr reinforced Scotland’s lead after the break, first dancing through the line and while Canada briefly held out, the scrum-half collected the ball again and dived over the ruck for a debut try.

Baillie’s converted try gave Canada respite from the Scotland onslaught, but the impressive Paterson and Warr combined for the latter to shrug off a couple of challenges and touch down.

Scotland looked a threat every time they pushed forward and Reed grabbed his second of the match after barrelling down the left wing, barging past a couple of defenders, before going over.

Scotland breached the 50-point barrier just after the hour mark when Paterson deservedly got on the scoreboard following some excellent interplay, while Dobie touched down underneath the posts after being teed up by Reed.

McDowall also went over underneath the posts after some deft footwork to evade several challenges while Steyn gratefully accepted Healy’s offload to round off the scoring.

Next up for Scotland is a clash with USA on Friday in Washington before facing Chile in Santiago (Saturday, July 20) and then Uruguay in Montevideo (Saturday, July 27).

The teams

Canada:  15 Cooper Coats, 14 Andrew Coe, 13 Mitch Richardson, 12 Ben LeSage, 11 Nic Benn, 10 Peter Nelson, 9 Jason Higgins, 8 Siaki Vikilani, 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Mason Flesch, 5 Kyle Baillie, 4 Conor Keys, 3 Conor Young, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 1 Liam Murray
Replacements:  16 Jesse MacKail, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Cole Keith, 19 James Stockwood, 20 Sion Parry, 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 Talon McMullin, 23 Takoda McMullin

Scotland:  15 Harry Paterson, 14 Jamie Dobie, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Glen Young, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Elliot Millar-Mills, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 Robbie Smith, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Ben Healy, 22 Kyle Steyn, 23 Ross McCann

Referee:  Adam Leal (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Kat Roche (USA), Kahlil Harrison (USA)
TMO:  Austin Reed (USA)

Baptiste Serin steers youthful side to shock win

A youthful France team put Los Pumas to the sword, claiming a stunning 28-13 victory in Mendoza, Argentina, on Saturday.

Fabien Galthie flexed Les Bleus’ depth as his charges ran in three tries to Argentina’s one, as Felipe Contepomi’s tenure as head coach of the Pumas started with a disappointing defeat.

Tries from captain Baptiste Serin and debutants Antoine Frisch and Theo Attisogbe saw France to a convincing victory, with Antoine Hastoy adding 10 points from the tee ― and Melvyn Jaminet kicking a penalty.

For Los Pumas, skipper Julian Montoya and centre Matias Orlando scored their tries in what was an ill-disciplined performance.

French boss Galthie named six uncapped players in his starting XV, but a late change saw that number bloat to seven, with another on the bench. The total starting caps racked up to just 97, most of which coming from Serin.

Meanwhile, Contepomi named a far more experienced squad, with just one player not representing Argentina at the World Cup last year despite many stars being rested.

This led to a frenetic start to the match strewn with handling errors and turnovers, hefty hits, and abrasive collisions. However, with little cohesion for both sets of players, the sides struggled to make the most of their opportunities.

In fact, it took until the 22nd minute for France to open the scoring and it came after a sustained period of attack and pressure on the hosts with Hastoy eventually taking the tee and knocking over the first three points of the match.

But France almost immediately let the hosts level the scores when Oscar Jegou made a poor no-arms tackle to gift Carreras a shot at goal, which he drilled through the uprights with little fuss.

Argentina looked to have taken the lead for the first time soon after when Martin Bogado chipped over the top and seemed to have scored in the corner but upon a TMO review, Toulon-bound midfielder Frisch had made an excellent tackle to deny the full-back.

The French scrum was steaming along in the first half but it was the lineout that provided the first try of the match but more accurately the brilliance of stand-in captain Serin.

With Antoine Dupont off with the sevens squad chasing his Olympic dream, France still got some magic from the number nine jumper as Serin threw a dummy from the lineout, sliced through a gap, put in short grabber, nudged it on and ― despite an early tackle from Paolo Matera ― managed to dot the ball down over the line while appealing to the referee mid-air for the early challenge. A glorious solo try.

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This is such a Baptiste Serin try, I love it! #ARGvFRA pic.twitter.com/BLYZL0fSKk

― Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) July 6, 2024

Hastoy would add the extras from out wide before the fly-half booted the ball into touch a few minutes later as Les Bleus led 10-3 at the break.

A bright start from France in the second half looked to bear some fruit as prop Georges-Henri Colombe thundered the ball down, but the front-rower had a poor poker face and rightly so as he had slammed the ball on the ground well short and denied the try.

But Les Bleus were rewarded soon afterwards as debutant Frisch rounded off a stunning score after another powerful scrum. He cantered through a gap in Pumas’ defence after some lovely hands in close quarters and won the race to the line. Hastoy added another penalty as the young French side extended their lead to 20-3.

However, a penalty kick to the corner gave Argentina a sniff and captain Montoya made the most of it has he ran over the top of winger Lester Etien after a slick dummy driving maul from the lineout. Tomas Albornoz scuffed the extras badly as he attempted to convert.

Again the French scrum dominated, and a brilliant 50:22 from Serin put France back into the Los Pumas 22 after a lovely bit of attack, one poor pass led to Hastoy popping a pass up to Attisogbe running an angle and the rookie powered through three defenders to score a great try.

Replacement full-back Jaminet added a penalty soon after before Orlando pounced to score an opportunistic try and a consolation one as the game was well beyond their reach.

France will play again on Wednesday in a midweek fixture against Uruguay before clashing with Los Pumas again next Saturday.

The teams

Argentina:  15 Martin Bogado, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Bautista Pedemonte, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Orlando

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Antoine Frisch, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Georges-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Romain Taofifenua, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Ibrahim Diallo, 22 Baptiste Couilloud, 23 Melvyn Jaminet

Referee:  Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (IRFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

Springboks end Ireland hoodoo as Farrell’s men rue missed opportunities

The Springboks claimed their first victory over Ireland since 2016 as they overcame the Six Nations champions, winning 27-20 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed for an early try for South Africa before Cheslin Kolbe went over in the second period, with a 78th minute penalty try from a scrum sealing the win.

Ireland’s tries came via Jamie Osborne, Conor Murray and Ryan Baird, while James Lowe had a stunning long-range effort chalked off due to an earlier ruck offence.

The Irish will also rue Caelan Doris going agonisingly close to grounding from a close-range carry and Lowe’s error that led to Kolbe’s try as the Boks go 1-0 up in the series.

In worrying scenes, Ireland also saw scrum-half Craig Casey carried off on a stretcher after he hit his head on the pitch during a forceful tackle from RG Snyman.

Andy Farrell’s tourists were seeking a fourth-successive Irish victory over South Africa following a captivating pool-stage win at last year’s World Cup in France.

The Springboks recovered from that 13-8 Paris defeat to retain the Webb Ellis Cup, while forthright comments emanating from their camp since have further stoked a growing rivalry between Test rugby’s two leading sides.

Home supporters humorously fanned the flames by adapting the words of Ireland’s unofficial World Cup anthem ‘Zombie’, chanting “in your head, in your head, Rassie, Rassie” in reference to the frequent mind games of head coach Erasmus.

South Africa responded to the big build-up and made a rapid start as jet-heeled wing Arendse collected Siya Kolisi’s pass to sidestep Osborne and cross on the left.

Ireland travelled to the southern hemisphere having bounced back from a familiar World Cup quarter-final exit by retaining the Six Nations title.

Jack Crowley’s 13-minute penalty put the visitors on the scoreboard before Handre Pollard twice split the posts at the other end to move the Springboks 10 points ahead.

Farrell’s men were struggling to build momentum amid a low-energy first-half display.

Crowley missed a routine penalty to reduce the deficit before Lowe’s magnificent offload as he was ploughed into touch by a combination of Kolbe and Jesse Kriel, after a slick pass from Dan Sheehan gave international newcomer Osborne a simple score.

Ireland were perhaps fortunate to only trail 13-8 at the break.

Erasmus brought on all six of his replacement forwards 10 minutes into the second period in an attempt to remain on top of the physical battle, just before visiting prop Andrew Porter departed with a bloodied hand.

Following his fine first-half assist, Lowe looked to have restored parity by darting clear to touch down.

But referee Luke Pearce disallowed the 58th-minute effort on review as replacement hooker Kelleher was deemed to have played the ball on the floor during the turnover.

Ireland’s misfortune was compounded by the worrying departure of Casey, before Lowe, in his attempts to keep the ball from going into touch, left Kolbe with an unchallenged run to the try line.

The contest then burst into life during a frenetic finish during which the Springboks were reduced to 14 men when Arendse was sin binned following repeated infringements inside the hosts’ 22.

Murray ― on for the stricken Casey ― dived over to put Ireland back in touching distance but a penalty try for the Springboks, prior to Baird’s consolation, ultimately decided a breathless encounter.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Ireland:  15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Garry Ringrose

Referee:  Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (RFU), Mike Adamson (SRU)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Joe Schmidt gets ideal Wallabies start as Wales’ dreadful run continues

Joe Schmidt enjoyed a winning start at the Wallabies after they deservedly overcame a struggling Wales side 25-16 in Sydney.

Australia began the match well, going 13-3 ahead through Taniela Tupou’s try and two penalties from Noah Lolesio, but they were pegged back.

A penalty try reduced the arrears at the interval before Ben Thomas kicked his second three-pointer to level matters.

However, Filipo Daugunu touched down to regain the Wallabies’ advantage and, after the visitors had a try ruled out for obstruction, Tom Wright’s mazy run ended in a third try.

It meant Schmidt’s first match in charge ended in victory as Wales succumbed to an eighth successive defeat.

Wales made a promising start and were ahead after just three minutes when Thomas kicked a long-range penalty after Wallabies prop James Slipper’s dangerous tackle on Dewi Lake, but Lolesio quickly cancelled out that strike.

Lolesio missed a penalty chance four minutes later, but he then booted Australia ahead after Wales infringed at the game’s first scrum as poor technical discipline began to surface.

Referee Pierre Brousset issued a team warning to skipper Lake, and Australia breached the Welsh defence after 21 minutes when Tupou went over following relentless pressure, with Lolesio’s conversion opening up a 10-point lead.

Brousset’s patience ran out as he yellow-carded Wales prop Gareth Thomas, yet the visitors responded impressively to that setback.

Wing Rio Dyer touched down behind Australia’s line, although the score was ruled out following a knock-on by centre Owen Watkin, before Wales gained a penalty try after the Wallabies illegally collapsed a maul on their own line.

It brought Wales back to just three points adrift, and Australia had a player yellow-carded as a result with flanker Fraser McReight being sent from the field.

Wales continued to have scrummaging issues, with the powerful Tupou proving a particular handful, but they were strong in other areas through strong breakdown and defensive work.

And they remained firmly in contention at the halfway point, trailing 13-10 following an impressive second quarter.

Gareth Thomas went off early in the second period after taking a blow to his leg, being replaced by Scarlets prop Kemsley Mathias, and Wales pressed after a promising attack that involved Liam Williams and debutant Josh Hathaway.

Fly-half Thomas drew Wales level through a 46th-minute penalty, but Australia went back in front after a fine solo score by Daugunu, who outstripped defending centre Mason Grady on a race to the line.

Wales then thought they had drawn level when they drove Australia’s forwards backwards and replacement James Botham went over just seconds after joining the action.

But the try was ruled out for obstruction and Australia escaped on the back of what appeared to be a marginal call following consultation between Brousset and television match official Marius Jonker.

Thomas completed his penalty hat-trick 14 minutes from time to guarantee a tense finale, but the closing stages belonged to Wright, who rounded off a brilliant counter-attack, before Tom Lynagh’s conversion completed the scoring.

The teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Liam Wright (c), 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Jeremy Williams, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 James Slipper
Replacements:  16 Billy Pollard, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Angus Blyth, 20 Charlie Cale, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Hathaway, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Christ Tshiunza, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James Botham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Nick Tompkins

Referee:  Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), James Doleman (New Zealand)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Scott Robertson’s era begins with dramatic victory

The All Blacks began Scott Robertson’s reign with a tight and tense victory as they overcame England 16-15 at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.

There were a few errors from both sides but it proved to be a thrilling contest. It may have New Zealand’s first game under Robertson but they showed some fluency in attack in the first half, scoring two tries via Sevu Reece and Ardie Savea.

Maro Itoje had given the Red Rose a 7-5 advantage before Savea’s try re-established the hosts lead. However, Marcus Smith’s penalty levelled matters at the interval.

Smith would struggle off the tee, missing two relatively simple attempts, but he was influential in attack and assisted the score for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s score.

Those missed kicks would prove costly, though, and successive Damian McKenzie three-pointers enabled the All Blacks to kick-start the Robertson era with a tense win over the English.

England were outstanding in patches and they showed tremendous fight when it was needed to stay in contention, but they finished knowing they had missed a glorious opportunity to upset a side that is rebuilding after the World Cup.

Smith was unable to reward a dominant early scrum penalty by missing a routine kick and when an ugly line-out invited pressure, the All Blacks staged a sustained attack.

Having faltered close to the line because of a knock-on and then conceded a scrum free-kick, they regrouped to claim the opening try with Reece grabbing McKenzie’s cross-field kick to touch down.

England hit back impressively, their runners flooding through gaps until a line-out provided the platform for Chandler Cunningham-South to power forward before Itoje surged over.

But their joy was shortlived because they cracked on New Zealand’s next attack, Ben Earl missing a tackle on Stephen Perofeta as part of a disjointed defensive line and a pass later Savea had scored.

With prop Joe Marler off the pitch due to injury and debutant Fin Baxter on in his place, England’s scrum was struggling and there were worrying signs as the All Blacks showed the confidence to run the ball from their 22.

The tourists were unable to make the most of their own possession, promising moments breaking down by mistimed runs and inaccurate passing.

But they finished the half with a Smith penalty to draw level at 10-10 and the chance to take the lead moments after the interval went begging when the Harlequins fly-half missed with an ugly attempt from the tee.

Redemption then came quickly for Smith, who ignited an attack with a delayed off-load to Cunningham-South and several phases of forward carries later he flung out a long pass for Feyi-Waboso to stroll in.

McKenzie was successful with a penalty as England began to suffer at the breakdown and although the visitors had taken an element of control of the game, New Zealand’s fly-half was able to grab another three points.

The All Blacks had the ball for much of the last 10 minutes yet they blundered when McKenzie allowed the shot clock to run down when lining up another penalty.

As a result, England had the opportunity to stage an overtime attack but the last-gasp attempt ended with yet another breakdown infringement.

The teams

New Zealand:  15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Ollie Sleightholme

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

All Blacks great Sam Whitelock signs off in style for Barbarians against Fiji

All Blacks legend Sam Whitelock signed off from rugby in style on Saturday as he led the Barbarians to a 45-32 victory over an impressive Fiji at Twickenham Stadium.

Try doubles from Lachlan Boshier, Jonny May and Leicester Fainga’anuku were added to by a crossing from Zach Mercer as an end-to-end game was won by the Barbarians.

Indeed, an under-strength Fiji side pushed the famous invitational outfit all the way in London as a Epeli Momo hat-trick and Kemu Valentini’s try saw them press for the win.

However, it was to be the Barbarians’ and Whitelock’s day in the sunshine as the All Blacks stalwart received a rousing round of applause when he was replaced late on.

The 35-year-old put in an excellent shift and showed little signs of slowing down, which has led to many fans discussing whether he could continue playing at the highest level.

His partnership at lock with England international David Ribbans caught the eye at Twickenham but it was Boshier, May and Fainga’anuku who crossed for the Baa-baas.

Article continues below.

The end of a LEGENDARY career 👏 👏

Twickenham rises to its feet for the @AllBlacks’ Sam Whitelock #Baabaas #KillikCup pic.twitter.com/wxgYEUhIze

— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) June 22, 2024

The trio were always looking for work as the wings appeared to relish their time in the jersey while flanker Boshier once again showed just what an under-rated player he is.

Crusaders’ Chay Fihaki also starred at full-back while Gael Fickou and Virimi Vakatawa ― former France teammates ― showed flashes of quality as they reconnected at centre.

However, perhaps the standout player at Twickenham was Momo, who claimed a wonderful hat-trick as a young and inexperienced Fiji proved that the future is bright.

Indeed, Fiji head coach Mick Byrne and his players will take a great deal from this narrow loss ahead of their upcoming Tests against Georgia and New Zealand.

But amidst all those takeaways from an entertaining game will be a lasting one of Whitelock’s departure as a true, evergreen, rugby union great hangs up his boots.

The teams

Barbarians:  15 Chay Fihaki, 14 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Jonny May, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Danny Care, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lachlan Boshier, 6 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Sam Whitelock (c), 4 David Ribbans, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Shota Horie, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Liam Mitchell, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Cameron Woki

Fiji:  15 Vilimoni Botitu, 14 Epeli Momo, 13 Epeli Waqaicece, 12 Apisalome Vota, 11 Taniela Rakuro, 10 Caleb Muntz, 9 Peni Matawalu, 8 Elia Canakaivata, 7 Motikiai Murray, 6 Ratu Derenalagi, 5 Ratu Rotuisolia, 4 Mesake Vocevoce, 3 Samuela Tawake, 2 Zuriel Togiatama, 1 Livai Natave
Replacements:  16 Mesulame Dolokoto, 17 Emosi Tuqiri, 18 Meli Tuni, 19 Isoa Nasilasila, 20 Kitione Salawa, 21 Moses Sorovi, 22 Kemueli Valetini, 23 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula

Referee:  Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
TMO:  Stuart Terheege (England)

Springboks shake off rust as debutant shines in convincing win over Wales

The Springboks kicked off their mid-year international campaign with a 41-13 victory over Warren Gatland’s under-strength Wales at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Tries from Jesse Kriel, Makazole Mapimpi, Bongi Mbonambi and Edwill van der Merwe were added to by a penalty try as South Africa sealed the win in the London sunshine.

Captain Dewi Lake would grab Wales’ only try of the game as they fought admirably but ultimately were well beaten as the world champions pulled clear late on in the fixture.

Player of the match Van der Merwe shone on debut for the Springboks and added the gloss on an impressive individual performance with a solo try late on at Twickenham.

Wales’ list of absentees ― players either injured, unavailable or rested ― ran comfortably into double figures and they were widely expected to suffer a crushing defeat.

But they trailed only 14-13 at half-time following a try for hooker Lake, with fly-half Sam Costelow adding two penalties and a conversion.

The Springboks, who are building for a two-Test series against fellow heavyweights Ireland in July, often struggled to impose themselves on a first outing since retaining the World Cup eight months ago.

South Africa ultimately scored 27 second-half points without reply, yet Wales will take a considerable amount of confidence with them on tour to Australia despite suffering a seventh successive defeat since beating World Cup pool opponents Georgia.

Jordan Hendrikse missed an early penalty chance for South Africa but the Springboks went ahead after just four minutes when they shredded Wales’ defence through a sweeping attack.

Mapimpi broke clear after collecting full-back Aphelele Fassi’s pass, and supporting centre Kriel was afforded a simple finish, before Hendrikse converted for a 7-0 lead.

Costelow opened Wales’ account through a seventh-minute penalty but they were soon on the back-foot again following Springboks number eight Evan Roos’ midfield surge, with wing Rio Dyer being yellow-carded for a technical infringement.

South Africa then attacked from a close-range lineout and referee Chris Busby awarded them a penalty try after Wales forward Aaron Wainwright illegally pulled down a maul. Wainwright was sin-binned and South Africa had an 11-point advantage.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Wales should have scored early in the second quarter after Liam Williams intercepted Hendrikse’s pass, but scrum-half Ellis Bevan couldn’t gather the ball from centre Mason Grady and a glorious chance went astray.

Wales did not have to wait much longer, though, to cut the deficit after Fassi was yellow-carded when his boot caught flanker Taine Plumtree in the face.

South Africa could not clear danger from a lineout inside their own 22 and Lake pounced for a score that Costelow converted, making it 14-10.

It was an impressive recovery by Wales and their fightback continued six minutes before half-time when another Costelow penalty meant that South Africa led by just a point.

Wales lost prop Keiron Assiratti with an injury on the stroke of half-time ― he was replaced by Harri O’Connor ― yet his team had defied pre-match odds at the halfway point.

South Africa struck within two minutes of the second-half starting and it was a simple try as they simply out-flanked Wales’ defence and Mapimpi had a straightforward run-in, with Hendrikse converting from the touchline.

Hendrikse kicked a long-range penalty to extend South Africa’s advantage, then his replacement Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu bisected Wales’ posts from inside his own half, and Wales trailed by 14 points.

The quality of South Africa’s bench began to take its toll, and Wales were powerless to prevent Mbonambi crashing over from close range as the Springboks moved past 30 points, then Van der Merwe broke clear five minutes from time.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Damian de Allende

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 James Ratti, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Eddie James, 23 Jacob Beetham

Referee:  Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Christophe Ridley (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO:  Mark Patton (Ireland)

Marcus Smith shines as England put 50 past Japan in Tokyo

England proved too strong for Japan in their mid-year international in Tokyo on Saturday as they sealed a 52-17 victory, with Marcus Smith leading the way with a fine individual performance.

As the scoreline suggests, England were full value for their win as they outscored their hosts by eight tries to two with Smith, Chandler Cunningham-South, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall and Sam Underhill all crossing the whitewash for the visitors.

Smith added four conversions while Slade also succeeded with a couple of two-pointers off the kicking tee.

For the Brave Blossoms, Koga Nezuka and Samisoni Tua scored tries which were both converted by Rikiya Matsuda while Seungsin Lee slotted a penalty.

Despite a fine all-round performance from the Red Rose, their victory was soured somewhat when Charlie Ewels was sent off for a dangerous hit on Michael Leitch in the game’s latter stages. Ewels initially received a yellow card but it was upgraded to red upon review.

He became the nation’s first player to be sent off twice following his dismissal in his last international against Ireland two years ago.

A pleasing performance saw Steve Borthwick’s men pick up where they left off in the Six Nations by playing smart and ambitious rugby that was well executed, particularly close to the whitewash.

Smith was at the heart of the enterprise shown, justifying his selection ahead of Fin Smith by orchestrating play intelligently until he was replaced having been shown a yellow card in the 55th minute.

Tougher challenges lie ahead on tour in the form of two Tests against New Zealand, who will give Smith far less room to work his magic than an accommodating Japan defence, but the Harlequins fly-half pointed to a future that does not include George Ford and Owen Farrell.

Borthwick will have taken satisfaction from winning his personal duel with Eddie Jones, his former boss with England and Japan.

There was early evidence of the humidity that England had trained for as the ball squirted out of the hands of both sides, but Japan made the faster start that was rewarded with a penalty from fly-half Lee.

FULL TIME

A dominant win for England in Tokyo 🌹#JPNvENG pic.twitter.com/WctNNxQpQe

― England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 22, 2024

The tourists’ first meaningful attack produced a try, however, as a series of pick and goes underlined the greater carrying power of their forwards until the excellent Cunningham-South muscled over with help from Earl.

A slick line-out move that saw Jamie George find Ollie Lawrence with a long throw ended when Smith ghosted through the midfield to score and the Harlequin then turned provider with a long pass for Feyi-Waboso.

Smith was at the heart of England’s growing control of the game, also catching the eye with a 50-22, and pleasingly for Borthwick every visit to the 22 saw their lead increase.

His vision sent a leaping Slade over via a crossfield kick in another clinical finish and the second half was only two minutes old when Mitchell exploited a gap around the ruck to glide over.

Japan launched a rare attack that was foiled by an Underhill turnover and the home defence was then back in grave peril as Smith pinned them back with a kick that was followed by Feyi-Waboso and Dan Cole going close.

Earl succeeded soon after, helped by an offload from Mitchell who sucked in two tacklers, but England then had to regroup when Smith was sent to the sin-bin for an early tackle on Yoshitaka Yazaki.

Despite being a man down, scrum-half Randall darted over with ease and he was joined off the bench by Tom Curry, who was making his first Test appearance since the World Cup because of hip surgery.

The replacements streamed off England’s bench and Japan took advantage of the comings and goings to run in classy tries through Nezuka and Tua.

But there was one last try for Underhill as England finished with 14 men after Ewels’ dismissal.

The teams

Japan:  15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Jone Naikabula, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Tomoki Osada, 11 Koga Nezuka, 10 Seungsin Lee, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faulua Makisi, 7 Tiennan Costley, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Sanaila Waqa, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Takayoshi Mohara
Replacements:  16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Shogo Miura, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Amanaki Saumaki, 20 Kai Yamamoto, 21 Shinobu Fujiwara, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Samisoni Tua

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Tom Roebuck

Referee:  Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant Referees:  Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Ireland seal back-to-back Six Nations titles after victory over Scotland

Ireland made it back-to-back Six Nations title triumphs after securing a hard-fought 17-13 victory over a rugged Scotland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

Coming into the game on the back of a shock loss to England, the Irish regrouped and ground out the win thanks to tries from front-row duo Dan Sheehan and Andrew Porter.

Jack Crowley added seven points off the kicking tee against a steely Scotland side who while struggled with ball in hand, put in a formidable defensive showing on the road.

Scotland’s only try of the match came late on through Huw Jones, with Finn Russell kicking a conversion and two penalties as they finish with three defeats and two wins.

Andy Farrell’s hosts were well below their free-flowing best in Dublin but avoided any major ‘Super Saturday’ drama to retain the championship title.

Underdogs Scotland crossed the Irish Sea with a slender chance of snatching the title but realistically seeking to secure a first Triple Crown since 1990 following a chastening round-four loss to Italy.

Their mission to rip up the script began in positive fashion thanks to an early Russell penalty before Sheehan was gifted his fifth try of the tournament by George Turner’s overthrown lineout.

The fortunate 13th-minute score, converted by Crowley, did little to settle Irish nerves and the fired-up Scots kept up the pressure with another three points from Russell’s boot.

Farrell’s men were struggling to gain meaningful territory during a cagey opening period punctuated with errors and frequent kicking exchanges amid a subdued atmosphere.

Crowley squandered a long-range penalty to stretch the slender advantage as resolute Scotland remained relatively untroubled, while offering a threat on the counter attack.

Ireland, who had been forced to replace injured full-back Hugo Keenan with Jordan Larmour just before kick-off, trudged down the tunnel leading by only a single point and with major room for improvement.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend acknowledged pre-match that his side needed to produce “something special” to spoil the Irish party and bounce back from a dismal display in Rome.

Crowley made their uphill task slightly harder with a straightforward penalty before the visitors received a major reprieve when Tadhg Furlong’s apparent touch down was chalked off following a lengthy review as referee Matthew Carley deemed the ball had been dislodged.

Heroic last-ditch defending was the only thing preventing a rampant home side showing renewed purpose from fully taking control of the contest.

Scotland flanker Andy Christie superbly halted the weaving Calvin Nash with the try-line in touching distance before rusty Ireland replacement Garry Ringrose inexplicably fumbled.

Ringrose, making his first appearance of the tournament following a shoulder injury, atoned with a lung-busting intercept run which led to Ireland’s crucial second try.

Robbie Henshaw was adjudged to have been held up on the line in the immediate aftermath before Porter subsequently powered over from a tap-and-go penalty following a yellow card for Ewan Ashman.

Supporters responded with a rousing rendition of the Fields of Athenry, fully believing the job was done.

However, home fans were forced to endure a nervy final couple of minutes after replacement fly-half Harry Byrne was sin binned for a head-on-head challenge on Russell and Scotland centre Jones broke clear to touch down.

Ireland duly avoided any further issues to jubilantly celebrate a fifth Six Nations title in 11 years ― and sixth overall ― to underline their status as the northern hemisphere’s leading nation.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Garry Ringrose

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Andy Christie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Kyle Rowe

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Thomas Ramos helps France edge England in seven-try Six Nations thriller

A late Thomas Ramos penalty helped France win a thrilling Six Nations clash with England 33-31 in a result that sees them finish the 2024 campaign in second spot.

With less than a minute remaining, the Les Bleus fly-half stepped up from the halfway line and succeeded in nudging his side into the lead before they saw out the game.

France had earlier scored tries via Nolann Le Garrec, Leo Barre and Gael Fickou, with Ramos finishing with 18 points off the tee, missing just one of his eight attempts.

While coming out on the losing side, England will take plenty from the game as their four tries were scored by Ollie Lawrence (2), Marcus Smith and Tommy Freeman.

Ireland may already have clinched the Six Nations title by toppling Scotland but if evidence was needed that this match still mattered it came when Ramos kicked off before the countdown had even begun.

Once the false start had been dealt with, England were greeted with waves of attacks and a challenging opening was compounded when George Furbank departed with a calf injury and was replaced by Smith.

George Ford drew first blood through a penalty and his side were successfully slowing down play to stem the blue tide but there was no stopping the stunning end to end move began by Fickou and finished by Le Garrec.

England were in danger of being swept aside as they scrambled furiously to stop a second long-range strike but a sizeable lead opened up when Ramos kicked his second penalty.

Wing Damian Penaud beat a host of tackles yet made no metres in a crabbing run but it resulted in another opportunity for Ramos and he found the posts once more.

England showed their mettle, however, when Lawrence ran through Fickou on the cusp of half-time for a vitally important try that reduced the interval deficit to 16-10.

And there was better to come as a sweeping move given impetus by big runs from Sam Underhill and Ben Earl ended with a second try for Lawrence.

In a remarkable turn of events, England were now breaking through the home defence at will as Underhill and Earl combined a second time to create the opening before Smith arrived to score.

France now found their second wind and when their opponents eventually ran out of bodies in defence, they crossed through Barre to make it a one-point game heading into the final quarter.

With control restored, the 2023 World Cup hosts conjured a third try by Fickou that was born out of Theo Dan’s line-out overthrow.

But there was yet another twist as England staged a well-constructed attack that led to an overlap, providing a simple run in for Freeman.

Yet, with the Test seemingly won, up stepped Ramos to decide otherwise.

The teams

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Nicolas Depoortere, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ethan Roots, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Manu Tuilagi

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Italy repeat Cardiff heroics as Wales handed Six Nations Wooden Spoon

Wales suffered a first winless campaign in 21 years as a 24-21 loss to an impressive Italy outfit in Cardiff condemned Saturday’s hosts to bottom spot in the Six Nations.

For the Azzurri they can finally offload the Wooden Spoon for the first time since 2015 as tries from Monty Ioane and Lorenzo Pani helped to seal a solid victory on the road.

Paolo Garbisi slotted 11 points off the tee while Martin Page-Relo sent over a further penalty, with Elliot Dee, Will Rowlands and Mason Grady going over for Wales late on.

Wales have now suffered seven successive Six Nations home reversals, two on the bounce to Italy and won just one game from 10 starts in the tournament since Warren Gatland returned for a second stint as head coach.

Italy had propped up the table for eight campaigns in a row, but they avoided that fate this time around, and the Cardiff mood was in stark contrast to five years ago when Wales stormed to the Six Nations title and a Grand Slam by crushing Ireland.

The Azzurri, though, could reflect on a memorable campaign that also saw them defeat Scotland and draw with France in Lille.

And life is not about to get any easier for Gatland or his players.  Their next game is against world champions South Africa in June, followed by a two-Test tour of Australia.

Wales monopolised early possession without making any real attacking headway, and Italy went ahead when Garbisi booted a sixth-minute penalty.

Italy comfortably absorbed continued pressure from Wales, before Garbisi doubled their lead through a second penalty after George North infringed by not releasing the ball on the floor.

And Wales’ promising start soon unravelled, with North’s midfield partner Nick Tompkins dropping a pass and Italy storming upfield to post an outstanding try.

Garbisi, centre Tommaso Menoncello and lock Federico Ruzza combined superbly, setting up a strong attacking platform before Wales were unlocked defensively when Ioane sprinted through a gap and touched down.

Garbisi missed the conversion, but Italy had an 11-point advantage after 20 minutes, leaving the Wooden Spoon hovering closer into view for Wales.

The home side were at sixes and sevens, a situation underlined when a defensive mix-up between Sam Costelow and Cameron Winnett saw the ball knocked-on to gift Italy an attacking scrum 20 metres out.

Although the Azzurri could not capitalise, there was continued uncertainty and hesitancy from Wales, and even when they established a threatening position inside Italy’s 22, Tompkins knocked on again.

Wales looked completely fazed by the occasion, in contrast to Italy’s largely calm and assured presence, and an 11-0 interval lead confirmed a sense of control for the visitors.

It had been an opening 40 minutes for Wales as poor as the first half against Scotland in their Six Nations opener, when the Scots built up a 20-point advantage.

Italy struck again just six minutes after the restart, with Ioane heavily involved and Pani producing a blistering finish as he cut back inside Wales wing Rio Dyer.  Garbisi’s conversion put them 18 points ahead, with seemingly no way back for Wales.

Gatland began ringing the changes, and a glimmer of hope was provided when Dee crashed over for a try 16 minutes from time that Costelow converted.

But Garbisi snuffed that out when he kicked a 45-metre penalty, and Page-Relo then found the target from even longer range as Wales’ abject Six Nations season reached its sorry conclusion despite late tries from Rowlands and Grady.

The teams

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady

Italy:  15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Leonardo Marin

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Chris Busby (Ireland), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO:  Joy Neville (Ireland)

France beat Wales to ease pressure on Fabien Galthie

France responded to their recent criticism with a fine 45-24 victory over Wales at the Principality Stadium in another excellent Six Nations encounter.

Head coach Fabien Galthie has been under pressure following a disappointing tournament so far, but this was a much-improved display.

The teams were closely matched going into the interval, with Les Bleus edging 20-17 ahead through Gael Fickou and Nolann Le Garrec tries, while Thomas Ramos added 10 points off the tee.

However, they were behind in the early stages of the second period when Joe Roberts touched down, adding to earlier efforts from Rio Dyer and Tomos Williams.

That could have been a hammer blow for the French, who have been heavily criticised during the 2024 Six Nations, but they simply upped the intensity.

The replacements made a huge impact and three of those ― Georges-Henri Colombe, Romain Taofifenua and Maxime Lucu ― crossed the whitewash to seal a priceless win.

It condemned Wales to a fourth defeat in a row in this year’s competition, with Warren Gatland’s men hoping to avoid the wooden spoon against Italy next weekend.

Wales led by a point inside the closing quarter, but they have now lost 13 of their last 15 Six Nations games, and it is 21 years since Gatland’s fellow New Zealander Steve Hansen oversaw a campaign when they failed to win a match.

But that scenario could now unfold, with Italy appearing in stronger shape than Wales after beating Scotland and drawing with France, who finish their Six Nations season against England in Lyon next weekend.

Wales were dealt a late injury blow when hooker Ryan Elias withdrew due to hamstring tightness, so Elliot Dee won his 50th cap in the starting line-up and Test rookie Evan Lloyd featured among the replacements.

Sam Costelow kicked Wales into a third-minute lead, and although that was immediately cancelled out by a Ramos penalty, France’s defence was quickly cut open.

Wales attacked impressively, with Dee and lock Will Rowlands prominent, but no-one tracked Dyer and he sprinted 35 metres unopposed to touch down, before Costelow’s conversion opened up a 10-3 lead.

There was am immediate concern for Wales, though, when the game’s first scrum saw the Welsh front-row mangled into a horrible shape and Ramos kicked an easy penalty.

It gave France momentum, and they stung Wales midway through the opening half after consistent phase-play afforded Fickou a chance, and he brushed off Costelow’s weak challenge to cross wide out, with Ramos converting.

But any chance of France consolidating their advantage was quickly undone when centre Owen Watkin’s half-break exposed Ramos in defence and Williams claimed another opportunist score, again converted by Costelow.

🙌 Another incredible Six Nations game this weekend!#GuinnessM6N #WALvFRApic.twitter.com/hPIeGvBmPU

― Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) March 10, 2024

The rollercoaster contest had no obvious pattern, and Fickou set up a second French try 10 minutes before half-time when his strong carrying was rewarded by Le Garrec’s finish. Ramos’ conversion meant that France led 20-17.

Wales counter-attacked as the half drew to a close, but they could only reflect on what might have been after number Aaron Wainwright dropped Williams’ pass when the French defence was again stretched.

The try spree continued shortly after half-time, with Wales moving back in front following strong approach work by Costelow and Williams that created an opening for Roberts to score. Costelow’s touchline conversion left France four points behind.

The visitors looked to have gone back in front following a sustained spell of pressure, but lock Thibaud Flament was adjudged to have dropped the ball as he tried to touch down and Wales escaped after referee Luke Pearce had originally awarded the score.

A Ramos penalty made it a one-point game entering the final quarter and Wales found themselves under prolonged pressure before cracking 15 minutes from time as Colombe crashed over and Ramos converted.

It got worse for Wales as Taofifenua charged down Gareth Davies’ attempted clearance to secure a bonus-point triumph and there was no way back for the home side as Lucu’s late score compounded their misery.

The teams

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Alex Mann, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Nicolas Depoortere, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Marcus Smith drop-goal denies Ireland another Six Nations Grand Slam

A last-ditch drop-goal from replacement Marcus Smith saw an impressive England stun Ireland 23-22 in an absorbing Six Nations clash at Twickenham on Saturday.

The shock result denies the Irish a shot at back-to-back Grand Slams as they came off second best to a much-improved performance from the Red Rose in front of their fans.

Tries from Ollie Lawrence, George Furbank and Ben Earl were added to by a conversion apiece for George Ford and Smith before the latter landed that late drop-goal for the win.

The Achilles heel of failing to capitalise on visits to the 22 appeared to be harming England once again and their 8-6 lead was a poor return for half an hour of dominance that produced just a single try for Lawrence.

But they were inspired in the closing stages, soaking up James Lowe’s 72nd-minute try that appeared to have snatched the win for Ireland and then striking through Smith amid a late do-or-die assault.

England dazzled from the start and their first try had Furbank’s influence stamped all over it as he launched the counter-attack and then helped flash the ball to Lawrence, who finished in the left corner.

The early score developed into a full-scale onslaught as inspired England poured forward, directed by Ford and with Earl, Ollie Chessum and full debutant Immanuel Feyi-Waboso making telling contributions.

Bundee Aki made ground with every carry as Ireland’s main weapon but he was swimming against the tide as the white shirts pressed again and a second Lawrence try was ruled out because of a knock-on.

The crippling handling errors and turnovers that led to Scotland retaining the Calcutta Cup in round three had vanished, replaced by players running hard on to flat passes and punching holes in the visiting defence.

Yet for all the hosts’ dominance, successive Jack Crowley penalties meant they trailed 9-8 and as Ireland produced their first sustained attack the fly-half landed a fourth shot from the tee.

England were guilty of inviting pressure when Ford missed a routine penalty and Furbank took the ball into touch, but when their line were breached for the first time in the 44th minute it was because of their opponents’ killer instinct by exploiting Henry Slade’s positioning in the blitz defence to conjure a try for Lowe.

Furbank hit back quickly by racing over in the left corner after slick approach work from his team-mates and suddenly the pendulum swung again.

Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony was sent to the sin-bin for hands in the ruck and England seized their chance, battering away at the green wall through route one until Earl forced his way over.

Smith replaced Ford and Danny Care came on for his 100th cap but the Harlequins fly-half was unable to stop Lowe with his despairing late tackle attempt as Ireland crept back in front.

Elliot Daly missed with a long-range penalty attempt but there was still time for England to conjure the Six Nations win, Smith splitting the posts after his team had battered away at the whitewash.

😱 THE DRAMA!#GuinnessM6N @EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/tdA5i2EPDl

― Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 9, 2024

The teams

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Elliot Daly

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Ciaran Frawley

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Andrea Piardi (Italy), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Italy end long wait for Rome win as Scotland's Six Nations hopes dented

Italy scored 21 unanswered points in a stunning comeback to secure a 31-29 victory over Scotland, which severely dents Gregor Townsend’s men’s Six Nations hopes.

Juan Ignacio Brex, Louis Lynagh and Stephen Varney tries helped the Azzurri to a famous victory, with Paolo Garbisi and Martin Page-Relo adding points off the tee.

Zander Fagerson, Kyle Steyn, Pierre Schoeman and Sam Skinner went over for Scotland as they claimed two points from a shock defeat in Rome that could end their title push.

This chastening Six Nations defeat in the Eternal City is sure to crank up the heat on head coach Townsend five months after exiting the World Cup at the group-stage.

Italy got the chance to get the scoreboard ticking over just seconds into the match when Scotland were penalised on their own 22 immediately from the kick-off. Garbisi saw the ball fall off the tee while the clock was running but the fly-half kept his composure to re-tee and send his kick between the posts.

Scotland soon gained a foothold, however, and they got themselves in front in the sixth minute when Fagerson powered his way over from close range after a sustained spell of pressure inside the Italian 22. Finn Russell converted.

The visitors crossed the whitewash again five minutes later when they worked the ball out to the right and Blair Kinghorn fed Steyn, who bundled his way past two Italians to cross the line. Russell converted again.

The Azzurri summoned a swift response as scrum-half Page-Relo lobbed a clever kick over the top and centre Brex ran gleefully over just to the left of the posts in the 15th minute. Garbisi converted.

Shortly after Russell kicked a close-range penalty, Scotland scored their third try of the match in the 28th minute as Schoeman finished things off after being fed by George Turner in a driving maul. Russell’s conversion drifted wide.

Italy finished the first half strongly and reduced their interval deficit to 22-16 with a couple of penalties kicked by Garbisi and then Page-Relo, who was on target from close to the half-way line.

Scotland t―ought they had extended their advantage two minutes into the second period when scrum-half George Horne ― on his first start since the 2019 World Cup ― bolted over after excellent play by Huw Jones to release him but it was subsequently chalked off after Schoeman was adjudged to have committed a foul in the build-up.

The prop’s needless indiscretion was to prove hugely pivotal. Just two minutes later, Italy closed to within a point when debutant Lynagh ― son of former Australia international Michael ― ran on to Garbisi’s kick-through and darted over the line. Garbisi ― with the chance to edge his team in front ― saw his conversion attempt come back off the post.

The Scots found themselves in trouble in the 57th minute when the Italians got themselves in front as replacement scrum-half Varney found a gap between Andy Christie and Jack Dempsey to nudge his way over. This time Garbisi was on target.

Garbisi then scored a huge penalty from distance to put the hosts nine points ahead with seven minutes to play, placing the Scots in a state of desperation.

Replacement lock Skinner ― denied a match-winning try against France a month previously – pushed over with two minutes left and Russell converted to bring the Scots back to within two points and set up a tense finish.

Townsend’s team were unable to find another score, however, and ― as the Azzurri celebrated a rare and deserved victory ― the Scotland players slumped to their knees in abject despair as a campaign had that promised so much was reduced to rubble in Rome.

The teams

Italy:  15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Spanish Mirco, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Lorenzo Cannone, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Federico Mori

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Andy Christie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Ali Price, 23 Kyle Rowe

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

Italy settle for thrilling Six Nations draw with 14-man France in Lille

Italy fly-half Paolo Garbisi missed a late penalty which meant his side had to settle for a 13-13 draw with France in their Six Nations clash at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Sunday.

In the end, both sides scored a try apiece with Les Bleus captain Charles Ollivon crossing the whitewash for the hosts and Ange Capuozzo scored the Azzurri’s five-pointer.

France’s other points came via a conversion and two penalties from Thomas Ramos while Garbisi succeeded with a penalty and a conversion for Italy and Martin Page-Relo also added a three-pointer off the kicking tee.

However, Italy will be kicking themselves as they had a chance to win the game in its dying moments when Garbisi lined up a shot at goal from 38 metres out.

But the ball toppled off its tee and, with just a few seconds left on the shot clock after it had been replaced, Garbisi rushed his kick and struck the right-hand post.

France ― who had won 45 of their previous 48 Test matches against Italy, including the past 14 in a row ― had lost Jonathan Danty to a red card on the stroke of half-time for a high shot on opposite centre Juan Ignacio Brex.

Les Bleus thrashed Italy 60-7 at last year’s World Cup but a repeat of that one-sided encounter did not materialise as the Azzurri underlined their improvement under new head coach Gonzalo Quesada.

Italy remain bottom of the Six Nations, level on points with Wales, while France stay in fourth place, with their title dream over.

France started at breakneck pace and were rewarded with a seventh-minute try.

Italy were unable to stop a series of pick-and-go’s through the middle of their defence and skipper Ollivon got the ball down under a pile of Azzurri bodies.

Ramos dispatched a simple conversion and swiftly added a penalty as France suggested the game could be effectively over by half-time.

Italy spent most of the first half hanging on by their fingernails, and were not helped by a risky strategy of trying to escape their 22 with ball in hand.

Fly-half Matthieu Jalibert was stopped near to the line and 19-year-old lock Posolo Tuilagi almost celebrated his first Test start with a try.

But Tuilagi was held up over the line and the contest took a dramatic turn in the final play of the first half as Italy launched a rare attack.

There was clear head-on-head contact between Danty and Brex, and English referee Christophe Ridley reduced France to 14 men with a yellow card.

Late drama in Lille and it ends all square between France and Italy 😱🙌#GuinnessM6N #FRAITA pic.twitter.com/jfoKEvGZ1T

― Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 25, 2024

Page-Relo provided further punishment to France from long range, and Ridley confirmed after the interval that the bunker review system had upgraded Danty’s yellow to red.

France made light of their numerical disadvantage as their forwards rallied for Ramos to land his second penalty.

Tommaso Menoncello went close to an Azzurri try, kicking ahead before running out of ground, but Garbisi cut the gap to seven points again with a straightforward penalty.

Italy drew level 10 minutes from time after building through the phases for Leonardo Marin to find Capuozzo with a superb offload.

Garbisi converted but then failed to top it as Italy, with only two Six Nations wins over France since joining the Championship in 2000, fell agonisingly short of a second success in 45 matches.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 François Cros, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Posolo Tuilagi, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Esteban Abadie, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Yoram Moefana

Italy:  15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Andrea Zambonin, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Leonardo Marin

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Duhan van der Merwe fires Scotland to Calcutta Cup victory over England

A Duhan van der Merwe hat-trick helped Scotland keep their hands on the Calcutta Cup as they beat rivals England 30-21 in the Six Nations at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The powerful finisher scored twice against the Red Rose in last year’s match but went one better in 2024 as Scotland bounced back from the loss to France in Round Two.

England‘s two tries on the day came via George Furbank and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as they suffer a first loss of this Six Nations campaign in a major dent to their title hopes.

Remarkably, the Red Rose have now won only one of the last seven meetings with Scotland.

Led into battle by courageous captain Jamie George just over a week after he lost his mother to cancer, England made a strong start.

Having forced the Scots back from the outset, the Red Rose got themselves ahead in the fifth minute when Northampton full-back Furbank ― making his first start in almost two years ― bounded over gleefully from close range after being played in by Elliot Daly at the end of a brilliant move.

Scotland suffered a further setback moments later when Zander Fagerson had to go off for an HIA, although the influential prop was able to return to the fray in the 18th minute.

By that point, England had opened up a 10-0 lead, with Ford kicking a penalty in the 15th minute.

Scotland had been in a state of disarray for most of the opening quarter, but they suddenly sparked into life and got themselves back into the game in the 20th minute.

Huw Jones made a dash for the line on the right and after being dragged to the ground, the centre flipped the ball up into the path of Van der Merwe, who produced a superb piece of skill to find a gap and bolt over.

The early wind had been removed from England’s sails and Van der Merwe edged the Scots in front on the half-hour mark with a breathtaking score from his own half.

As the visitors mounted an attack, Ford’s heavy pass bounced off the face of Furbank and into the hands of Jones, who instantly offloaded to Van der Merwe 60 metres out.

The wing put on the after-burners and raced clear up the left, leaving a trail of white jerseys in his slipstream. Finn Russell added the extras before stretching the hosts’ advantage to 17-10 with a penalty shortly afterwards.

England were wobbling, but Ford kept his cool to reduce their interval deficit to four points with an opportunist drop goal from 35 yards out.

Scotland suffered what appeared to be a blow within seconds of the second half kicking off when Sione Tuipulotu limped off to be replaced by Cam Redpath.

However, the substitute centre was instrumental in the hosts going further ahead in the 45th minute when he burst through a gap on the halfway line.

A ruck ensued as Redpath was halted in his tracks, and Russell produced one of his trademark cross-field kicks out to the left for Van der Merwe, who burst over for his hat-trick and his 26th try for Scotland.

Ford reduced the deficit to 24-16 with a penalty in the 50th minute, but Russell put the home side firmly back in command with a couple of penalties either side of the hour mark.

England ― having offered little since the opening quarter ― gave themselves a glimmer of hope in the 67th minute when replacement wing Feyi-Waboso bolted over on the left.

Fin Smith ― with the chance to bring his side within a converted try of victory ― hit the post with the conversion, leaving the Scots nine points ahead and able to see out the remainder of the match in relatively comfortable fashion.

Not even a yellow card in the closing moments for a tip tackle could take the shine off Van der Merwe’s day.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Andy Christie, 21 George Horne, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Redpath

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Chris Busby (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Ireland keep Grand Slam hopes on track after Six Nations win over Wales

Ireland kept their Grand Slam dreams on track after they overcame a dogged Wales outfit 31-7 in their Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

Tries from Dan Sheehan, James Lowe, Ciaran Frawley and Tadhg Beirne saw Andy Farrell’s charges to the five points, their third try bonus-point of this Championship.

Wales had a penalty try to show for their efforts as they suffer their third defeat of the campaign after narrowly going down to Scotland and England in previous rounds.

Ireland‘s ominous march towards another clean sweep continues next month against England and Scotland, while winless Wales host France in round four ahead of a possible wooden spoon shoot-out with Italy.

A largely inexperienced Wales team crossed the Irish Sea as overwhelming underdogs on the back of narrow defeats to the Scots and Steve Borthwick’s side.

Visiting head coach Warren Gatland insisted he travelled with belief rather than hope and urged his players to make “everything uncomfortable” for the fancied hosts.

Wales’ bid to disrupt began with some colossal defending as the home team’s early dominance was initially rewarded only by a long-range Jack Crowley penalty.

Yet Ireland’s well-oiled machine persisted with wave after wave of attack to break down the staunch resistance and take control of the scoreboard.

Hooker Sheehan powered over at the end of a line-out maul in the 21st minute to claim his fourth try of the tournament before Calvin Nash later teed up Lowe to touch down in the left corner.

Wales finally enjoyed some forays into Ireland’s 22 just before the break.

But Sam Costelow’s decision to kick a penalty to the corner failed to pay off, while a couple of costly fumbles ensured they went into half-time scoreless for a third match on the bounce, at 17-0 down.

Any potential fears Wales had of joining Italy in being nilled in Dublin were extinguished within three minutes of the restart as Tomos Williams’ quick tap penalty led to a momentum shift.

Italian referee Andrea Piardi awarded a penalty try at the end of a lengthy review of a collapsed maul on Ireland’s line, with Beirne sent to the sin bin for illegally changing his bind.

Fired-up Wales were well and truly in the ascendancy at that stage but failed to make further inroads on the scoreboard in Beirne’s absence before Ireland restored order.

After the bulldozing Bundee Aki was denied a try on review for Robbie Henshaw’s knock on, Frawley, deputising for the injured Hugo Keenan, gleefully dived under the posts to celebrate his first Test start in style.

Wales came close to a consolation score in the closing minutes, during which Ireland replacement James Ryan was sent to the sin bin.

Yet, with Beirne’s late finish compounding their misery, they ultimately slipped to a 10th defeat from their last 11 Six Nations fixtures as their wait for a first championship win in Dublin since 2012 goes on.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Ciaran Frawley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Oli Jager, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Stuart McCloskey

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady

Referee:  Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (England), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)