Springboks wallop woeful Wallabies in Rugby Championship opener to claim just their second Brisbane victory

The Springboks made a superb start to their Rugby Championship campaign as they cruised to a deserved 33-7 bonus point victory over the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a tough day at the office for the home side whose game was littered with numerous unforced errors and they conceded a plethora of penalties.

In the end, the Springboks crossed for five tries with Kurt-Lee Arendse leading the way with a brace while captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kwagga Smith scored their other five-pointers and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted four conversions.

For the Wallabies Hunter Paisami grabbed a consolation try which was converted by Tom Lynagh.

The result was a momentous one for the visitors as it was only their second victory in Brisbane and the first one since 2013.

The Springboks held the upper hand during the opening exchanges and despite a wayward penalty attempt from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, they continued to dominate and were soon rewarded when Kolisi crossed for the opening try in the 10th minute.

This, after they caught the home side napping with a smart lineout move deep inside Wallabies territory.  The ball was initially gathered by Ben-Jason Dixon at the back of the set-piece and he then passed the ball, while being in the air, to Eben Etzebeth, who was also airborne at the front of the lineout.

The Boks set up the driving maul from which Kolisi crashed over for the game’s opening points.

That score boosted South Africa’s confidence as they were completely dominant for the rest of the half while the Wallabies had to be satisfied with scraps of possession.

It was all South Africa for the rest of the half and in the 24th minute, Du Toit glided through a gaping hole in the Wallabies’ defence before crossing for his team’s second try.

The Wallabies needed a response but that did not come as they battled to cope with the sheer intensity of the world champions’ onslaught.

And on the half-hour mark things went from bad to worse for the home side when Andrew Kellaway was yellow carded for a dangerous lifting tackle on Cobus Reinach.  The incident was reviewed by the TMO Bunker and luckily for Australia, the yellow card was not upgraded to red.

With a numerical advantage, the Boks went in search of their third try and that came five minutes later when Arendse gathered a loose ball midway between Australia’s try-line and their 22 and stepped past five players before dotting down.

That meant South Africa had their tails up as they held a deserved 21-0 lead when the teams changed sides at half-time.

An emphatic start to the #Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign in Brisbane.  See you again next week @Wallabies 🙌#ForeverGreenForeverGold #AUSvRSA pic.twitter.com/lttggUdVX4

― Springboks (@Springboks) August 10, 2024

The Wallabies were more competitive after the interval and spent some time in the Boks’ 22 during the third quarter but it was only a matter of time before the visitors regained the initiative.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus had made some changes and in the 62nd minute replacement scrum-half Grant Williams offloaded to reserve back-row Smith, who went over for the bonus-point try.

Five minutes later, Arendse was rewarded with his second five-pointer after Jesse Kriel laid the groundwork with a superb line break and with the score 33-0 in their favour, the Boks took their foot off the pedal in the game’s closing stages.

They were then reduced to 13 men when Malcolm Marx and Marco van Staden were yellow-carded in quick succession before Paisami crossed for Australia’s try in the 76th minute.

South Africa finished the match with 12 men on the field when Kriel also received a yellow card in the 79th minute but despite their sloppy finish, the Boks were deserved winners.

The teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Isaac Kailea
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Luke Reimer, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 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 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handré Pollard

Referee:  Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Duhan van der Merwe breaks Stuart Hogg’s try record in Scotland victory

Duhan van der Merwe became Scotland men’s record try-scorer after he touched down in their tight 31-19 victory over Uruguay.

The 29-year-old scored Scotland’s third try after 26 minutes on Saturday, which was the 28th time he has crossed the whitewash at Test level.

Van der Merwe duly surpassed the tally of Stuart Hogg, who went over on 27 occasions for Scotland between 2012 and 2023.

When the powerhouse scored, the visitors were 19-0 in front with Ewan Ashman and Luke Crosbie also touching down, but they then suffered a fright.

A spirited Uruguay outfit levelled matters with a quarter of the match to go thanks to tries from Santiago Alvarez, Felipe Etcheverry and Manuel Diana.

Los Teros sensed that an upset was on the cards but Patrick Harrison and Pierre Schoeman re-established Scotland’s dominance and secured the victory for Gregor Townsend’s men.

There was a late change to Townsend’s team with Scott Cummings dropping out with a foot injury.  Gregor Brown came in and Ewan Johnson was promoted into the 23-man squad, which was entirely composed of Glasgow and Edinburgh players given the game fell outside the international calendar.

Uruguay had the early pressure and their forwards drove within metres of the try line before failing to make the most of two penalties, one which they kicked to the corner and another which Etcheverry kicked wide of the posts.  It would not be the last time Scotland were grateful for the Uruguayan fly-half’s wayward kicking.

The momentum shifted with an incredible kick from Ben Healy, who found touch near Uruguay’s 22-metre line from deep within his own.

Scotland soon won a penalty and Ashman forced himself over for his fourth try of the tour in the 12th minute after the hooker followed up his own lineout to drive over at the back of a maul.

There was a scrappy spell of kicking before Matt Fagerson’s interception put Scotland on the front foot, and he ultimately fed Crosbie to cross for his first Scotland try after Diego Arbelo had been shown a yellow card for halting George Horne illegally after a kick-and-go penalty.

Van der Merwe was handed his memorable moment thanks to an unselfish pass from Kyle Rowe.  At 29, the Edinburgh winger could go on to set a final tally that will be very difficult to surpass.

The historic moment was nearly followed by a turnaround that would have been talked about for years.

Scrum-half Alvarez got Uruguay off the mark after intercepting Healy’s pass in front of the posts.  Etcheverry then went over from close range before taking his tally to nine points.

The fly-half somehow hit the post with a straightforward kick early in the second half after Brown was penalised for a high tackle but his deft kick forward led to the maul which saw Diana go over just after the hour mark.

Etcheverry was well wide with the conversion attempt that could have put the hosts ahead and the introduction of Adam Hastings and Jamie Dobie in the half-back positions brought some urgency to the visitors.

Harrison went over from a maul and Schoeman crossed inside four minutes before another substitute, Kyle Steyn, saw a late try disallowed.

The teams

Uruguay:  15 Ignacio Álvarez, 14 Juan Bautista Hontou, 13 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Tomás Inciarte, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 8 Carlos Deus, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 6 Manuel Ardao, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 1 Ignacio Peculo
Replacements:  16 Joaquín Myszka, 17 Mateo Sanguinetti, 18 Reinaldo Piussi, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Santiago Civetta, 21 Manuel Diana, 22 Santiago Gini, 23 Joaquín Suárez

Scotland:  15 Harry Paterson, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (c), 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Gregor Brown, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Murphy Walker, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Kyle Steyn

Referee:  Damian Schneider (UAR)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (FFR), Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (IRFU)

More misery for Eddie Jones as Japan suffer big home loss against Italy

Italy proved too strong for Japan in their mid-year international in Sapporo on Sunday as they clinched a convincing 42-14 victory over their hosts.

In a fast-paced and entertaining encounter, the Azzurri were full value for their win as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored the Brave Blossoms by five tries to two.

For Italy, Ange Capuozzo, Martin Page-Relo, Andrea Zambonin, Alessandro Garbisi and Ross Vintcent crossed the whitewash with Paolo Garbisi (3) and Leonardo Marin succeeding with conversions while Page-Relo also slotted three penalties.

Meanwhile, Dylan Riley scored a brace of tries and Rikiya Matsuda added a couple of conversions for Japan.

The result was another setback for Japan’s new head coach Eddie Jones as the Brave Blossoms are yet to win a Test since he took over the coaching reins at the start of the year.

Japan also suffered a heavy defeat against England last month before losing narrowly to Georgia last weekend. Meanwhile, Italy lost their first mid-year Test to Samoa before bouncing back with back-to-back victories over Tonga and Japan.

On Sunday, the Azzurri raced into a 10-0 lead after Page-Relo opened the scoring early on with a penalty before Capuozzo crossed for the opening try in the eighth minute.

The visitors continued to dominate as the half progressed and were rewarded with further converted five-pointers from Page-Relo and Zambonin before Riley crossed for his first try in the latter stages of the first half which meant Italy held a 24-7 lead at the interval.

The Brave Blossoms were fastest out of the blocks after the break and were rewarded soon after the restart when Riley crossed for his second try.

Concern over Paolo Garbisi

The next 25 minutes was a tight affair as the sides battled to gain the ascendancy but the Azzurri suffered a big blow in the 68th minute when star fly-half Garbisi was forced off the field due to a blow to his head after an accidental clash with Riley.

Despite that setback, Italy came to the fore with a strong finish and secured the result thanks to late tries from replacement scrum-half Garbisi and Vintcent.

Scotland weather Chile physicality to claim eight-try victory in Santiago

Scotland picked up their third straight triumph on their Americas tour after they overcame a physical Chile side 52-11 in Santiago on Saturday.

Josh Bayliss, Kyle Rowe (2), Jamie Dobie (2), Matthew Currie, Dylan Richardson and Kyle Steyn all crossed the whitewash while Ben Healy and Adam Hastings added extras.

A combative Chile outfit managed to cross just once, through replacement Diego Escobar, but they defended superbly throughout, especially at the ruck to frustrate Scotland.

Forwards Ewan Johnson, Nathan McBeth and Will Hurd were all handed their first Scotland starts, while leadership trio Jamie Ritchie, Sione Tuipulotu and Steyn ― who shifted from his usual position on the wing to play at centre ― were the only players to start the game who had more than 10 caps to their name.

The tourists struggled in the early stages and were behind at the end of the first quarter after Santiago Videla’s penalty got the passionate Chileans up and running in the 11th minute.

Scotland gradually began to feel their way into the match, however, and they claimed the lead in the 22nd minute when back-rower Bayliss showed good feet to push his way over from close range, with Healy adding the extras.

The hosts reduced the deficit to one point shortly afterwards with a penalty from Tomas Salas but the Scots started to exert their authority in the closing stages of the half.

Just before the half-hour, Rowe waltzed in off the left to score his first Scotland try, but the visitors could consider themselves fortunate that the officials did not deem Tuipulotu’s pass in the build-up to have gone forward. Healy converted.

Dobie ― playing on the wing instead of his usual scrum-half berth ― then finished off the Scots’ third try of the evening in the 35th minute following an exquisite pass out to the right from Healy, who was on point once more from the tee.

Hooker Richardson almost added another in the 39th minute but was held up on the line.

Dobie enjoyed another easy finish five minutes after the break when, following a lineout on the left, the Scots worked the ball clinically through hands to the right, with Rowe laying it on a plate for his Glasgow colleague to bound over. Healy was off target with his conversion from wide on the right.

Chile got one back in the 50th minute when replacement hooker Escobar bulldozed his way through Gus Warr and Arron Reed off the back of a maul, although Salas’ conversion attempt drifted just wide.

Edinburgh back Currie raced away for his first Scotland try in the 58th minute, with fellow substitute Hastings converting.

Rowe then scurried over for his second of the evening in the 65th minute after another slick Scottish move from left to right while Escobar was in the sin-bin following some cynical play.

Richardson pushed over in the 73rd minute before Steyn darted clear to seal an ultimately comfortable eight-try victory in virtually the last action of the match.

The teams

Chile:  15 Diego Warnken, 14 Cristobal Game, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 12 Santiago Videla, 11 Matias Garafulic, 10 Tomas Salas, 9 Lucas Berti, 8 Alfonso Escobar Alvarez, 7 Raimundo Martinez, 6 Martin Sigren, 5 Javier Eissmann, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 3 Matias Dittus, 2 Augusto Bohme, 1 Javier Carrasco Albornoz
Replacements:  16 Diego Escobar, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Inaki Gurruchaga, 19 Santiago Pedrero Poduje, 20 Joaquin Milesi, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Benjamin Videla, 23 José Larenas

Scotland:  15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Jamie Dobie, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 James Ritchie, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Ewan Johnson, 4 Alexander Craig, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements:  16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Adam Hastings, 22 Stafford McDowall, 23 Matthew Currie

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (IRFU), Gonzalo De Achaval (UAR)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

Makazole Mapimpi and debutants shine as Springboks thrash Portugal

The Springboks overcame an early sending-off for Andre Esterhuizen to produce a dominant performance and secure a 64-21 victory over Portugal in Bloemfontein.

Esterhuizen received a yellow card after just two minutes for a head-on-head collision before it was upgraded to a red following a bunker review.

Os Lobos had already gone 7-0 ahead through Jose Paiva dos Santos when the centre’s punishment was increased, but it did not affect South Africa.

They were simply too powerful for the visitors and touched down five times in the first half through Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Phepsi Buthelezi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ben-Jason Dixon and Lukhanyo Am.

Rassie Erasmus’ men duly held a comfortable advantage at the interval, despite Manie Libbok having more issues off the tee ― kicking just two conversions ― and Arendse being sin-binned.

The Boks then built on that lead in the second period as Makazole Mapimpi scored a brace before Quan Horn and Andre-Hugo Venter made it four debutants on the scoresheet.

Jose Madeira crossed the whitewash for Portugal late on, but Mapimpi rounded off a good Boks display with a hat-trick try.

Few gave Portugal a chance going into this clash but they started the match well and their hopes were given a boost when Esterhuizen was yellow-carded for hitting Jose Lima high.

With the Boks midfield powerhouse off the field, the visitors touched down for the first try when a counter-attack resulted in Paiva dos Santos going over.

Thoughts then turned to a potential shock being in the cards after Esterhuizen received his marching orders after a review, but they were only brief.

Ultimately, the hosts’ power, skill and set-piece excellence came to the fore, which enabled Wessels to go over on his debut.

Buthelezi, another newbie, then followed him after a dominant driving maul allowed the flanker to touch down from close range.

Despite the obvious physical dominance, the Springboks were also playing some excellent rugby with the ball in hand and Aphelele Fassi exemplified that.

The full-back received the ball on halfway, jinked his way through the opposition defence and kicked ahead for Arendse to collect and score.

South Africa were in control and a fourth try in 14 minutes was soon forthcoming when Dixon crossed the whitewash on just his second cap.

Portugal kept on battling and briefly stemmed the tide ― partly thanks to Arendse’s yellow card for a croc roll ― but their defence was once again breached just shy of the interval through Am.

At 29-7 in front at the break, the result was effectively decided but the Boks increased their buffer at the start of the second period via Mapimpi.

The wing then completed his brace after good work from replacement Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who drew the defence and off-loaded for Mapimpi to scamper clear.

To the visitors’ credit, they continued to play expansively and caused the South African rearguard a few problems, with Paiva dos Santos rewarding their ambition with a second try.

However, there was still time for two more Springboks debutants to go over as Horn and Venter both got their names on the scoresheet.

Portugal did go over for a third time via Madeira, but Erasmus’ men had the final word through Mapimpi.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements:  16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn

Portugal:  15 Simao Bento, 14 Manuel Cardoso Pinto, 13 Jose Lima, 12 Tomas Appleton (c), 11 Rodrigo Marta, 10 Joris Moura, 9 Hugo Camacho, 8 Vasco Baptista, 7 Diego Pinheiro, 6 Jose Madeira, 5 Duarte Torgal, 4 Nicolas Fernandes, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 Francisco Fernandes
Replacements:  16 David Costa, 17 Pedro Vicente, 18 Abel Cunha, 19 Antionio R. Andrade, 20 Andre Cunha, 21 Pedro Lucas, 22 Domingos Cabral, 23 Jose P. Santos

Referee:  Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Evans (Wales), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO:  Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Wallabies hold off Georgia as Joe Schmidt makes it three wins from three

The Wallabies made it three wins out of three under head coach Joe Schmidt but they were made to work by a spirited Georgia side in a 40-29 victory on Saturday.

Tries from Hunter Paisami, Rob Valetini (2), Isaac Kailea and Fraser McReight (2) saw the hosts see off a dangerous Lelos team, with Ben Donaldson kicking 10 points.

Mikheili Babunashvili, Davit Niniashvili and Akaki Tabutsadze (2) went over for Georgia on the night, as they gave Australia a real scare early in the second period.

The Wallabies played with real tempo in the first half as tries from Paisami, Valetini, Kailea and McReight sent them into the break with a healthy 26-10 advantage.

However, it was Georgia who struck first in the game after Angus Blyth was pinged for holding on, Luka Matkava successfully putting them ahead on five minutes.

That sparked the Wallabies into life though as quick ball allowed Valetini to make decent ground before Tate McDermott found Len Ikitau, who sent Paisami over.

Donaldson would add the two but he was unsuccessful with his second attempt, this after Valetini cleverly spun through contact from close range on 13 minutes.

Australia were now purring and with McDermott dictating play from the base, his scamper into the Georgian 22 led to prop Kailea powering over for a 19-3 buffer.

Georgia desperately needed a response and it came on 34 minutes when sustained pressure in the hosts’ 22 resulted in Babunashvili scoring to reduce the deficit.

Helping their cause was a yellow card for Filipo Daugunu as his attempted charge down of Sandro Todua’s kick ahead saw his knee catch the Georgian wing’s face.

The visitors couldn’t make their numerical advantage count before the break though as it was in fact Australia, through flank McReight, who crossed in the final play.

The second 40 resumed with a further update on Daugunu, whose yellow card was upgraded to red that meant his stint on the sidelines was extended to 20 minutes.

Georgia came out firing and crucially crossed first when a fortuitous kick ahead from star Niniashvili ricocheted back into his hands and he crossed on 43 minutes.

Things would get even better for Richard Cockerill’s men moments later when turnover ball on their own line found Tabutsadze, who kicked ahead and chased hard. His efforts were rewarded as the bounce found his grasp and he set off on a clear run to the try-line. With Matkava’s conversion it was suddenly a two-point game.

Georgia’s momentum was halted, however, when Niniashvili was sin-binned for hands in the ruck before Valetini scored his second, with all the back-row involved.

That theme continued in the 63rd minute when McReight crashed over for his second score, this after being denied moments earlier due to obstruction at the maul.

But Georgia refused to give up the fight and when Tedo Abzhandadze found space to run, he fed Tabutsadze who fended the last man to go over for his own brace.

That was to be the final score in a thoroughly enjoyable contest as Schmidt continues his 100 per cent record as boss while Georgia can take plenty from this defeat.

The teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Darby Lancaster, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Angus Blyth, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Billy Pollard, 1 Isaac Kailea
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Tom Hooper, 20 Jeremy Williams, 21 Nic White, 22 Noah Lolesio, 23 Andrew Kellaway

Georgia:  15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tafladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Mikheil Alania, 8 Tornike Jalaghonia, 7 Beka Saghinadze, 6 Beka Gorgadze (c), 5 Mikheil Babunashvili, 4 Lado Chachanidze, 3 Aleksandre Kuntelia, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Mamaiashvili
Replacements:  16 Luka Petriashvili, 17 Luka Goginava, 18 Irakli Aptsiauri, 19 Lasha Jayani, 20 Luka Ivanishvili, 21 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 22 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 23 Tedo Abzhandadze

Referee:  James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

All Blacks score SEVEN tries in commanding win over Fiji in San Diego

Scott Robertson’s All Blacks claimed a 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego where several new faces shone on the Test scene for the first time.

New Zealand scored an impressive seven tries on the day through Caleb Clarke, Cortez Ratima, Billy Proctor, Ardie Savea, Sevu Reece, Ethan de Groot and George Bell, with fly-half Damian McKenzie kicking six conversions on the night.

Fiji only had the first-half try from Vilimoni Botitu to show for their efforts at SnapDragon Stadium.

The All Blacks got going early on and looking to start fast they launched several attacks resulting in Clarke’s try in the ninth minute. McKenzie was on hand to add the extras before Ratima sniped over for another try four minutes later. The fly-half made no mistake again from the tee.

The Fijians refused to lie down and found their response through an unconverted Botitu try which was a fair reward for a beautiful period of play from the Pacific side.

Despite the best efforts of the Fijians, the one-way traffic resumed with Proctor going over next in the 26th minute for a try on debut. There would only be one more score in the first period with Savea crashing over from a tap-and-go set play. McKenzie nudged the conversion over to hand the All Blacks a commanding lead at the break.

It did not take the New Zealanders long to make their mark in the second half with Reece crossing after just five minutes. However, they would have to wait until the hour mark before replacement De Groot showed off his power close to the line.

A Fijian rally did not yield a point but slowed the bleeding until two minutes from time until Bell, another debutant, scored on a memorable day. McKenzie nailed yet another conversion to round out a solid shift from the All Blacks.

The teams

All Blacks:  15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Ethan Blackadder, 6 Luke Jacobson, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 George Bell, 17 Ethan de Groot, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Noah Hotham, 22 Jordie Barrett, 23 Emoni Narawa

Fiji:  15 Vilimoni Botitu, 14 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu (c), 12 Inia Tabuavou, 11 Semi Radradra, 10 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Kitione Salawa, 6 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Isoa Nasilasila, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements:  16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Haereiti Hetet, 18 Samu Tawake, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Elia Canakaivata, 21 Simione Kuruvoli, 22 Caleb Muntz, 23 Sireli Maqala

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Anthony Woodthorpe (England), Luke Rogan (USA)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Wales survive scare against Reds as Gatland ends nine-game drought

A late try from replacement Kieran Hardy spared Wales’ blushes as they snatched a dramatic 36-35 victory over a second-string Reds side in Brisbane on Friday night.

The Reds, shorn of their Wallabies who face Georgia on Saturday, were on the verge of claiming a famous win until a 79th minute try from scrum-half Hardy broke their hearts.

Archie Griffin, Regan Grace, Rio Dyer, Christ Tshiunza and Nick Tompkins also went over for a relieved Wales outfit, while Sam Costelow added three conversions off the tee.

For an impressive Reds outfit, hooker Richie Asiata grabbed a hat-trick of tries while wing Mac Grealy went over twice, with James O’Connor firing over five conversions.

Wales captain Cory Hill withdrew from the game, with the Welsh Rugby Union saying his absence was due to “personal reasons”.

He was named skipper for the game on Wednesday by head coach Gatland, when Hill told reporters that he regretted an incident that happened three years ago and publicly apologised.

Hill, 32, was named among a group of individuals that damaged a woman’s house in May 2021. He was not charged by police and he apologised at the time through a representative.

Scrum-half Gareth Davies took over as Wales skipper, with Exeter forward Dafydd Jenkins replacing Hill in the second-row.

Wales made a bright start and they were ahead after six minutes when Bath tighthead Griffin claimed a try, with Costelow’s conversion attempt hitting the post.

But poor discipline began to surface from the visitors, and the Reds took advantage, setting up an attacking position that led to Asiata touching down and O’Connor converting.

It was an early warning for Wales, yet they hit back impressively and regained the lead through Grace after he collected Dyer’s pass.

Costelow converted from the touchline, and Wales led 12-7 after a lively opening quarter full of attacking intent from both teams.

There was no let-up in the scoring, and Dyer was next to pounce after he collected a pinpoint cross-kick from Costelow, before the fly-half’s conversion opened up a 12-point advantage.

The Reds thought they had narrowed the gap immediately following a slick move, but O’Connor lost control of the ball before touching down and Wales escaped.

Asiata then claimed his second try ― O’Connor converted ― after Wales hooker Evan Lloyd was yellow-carded, but Tshiunza claimed a fourth Welsh touchdown on the stroke of half-time for a 24-14 interval lead.

Tompkins crossed for a try just six minutes into the second period, putting Wales firmly in the driving seat, yet Asiata’s hat-trick score underlined that they could not switch off.

And further evidence of that came on the hour-mark as Grealy rounded off a sharp move, with O’Connor’s conversion meaning Wales had conceded 14 unanswered points in eight minutes.

Grealy then finished a stunning length-of-the-field move, with O’Connor maintaining his 100 per cent conversion strike-rate and leaving Wales desperately requiring some inspiration that ultimately came from Hardy.

The teams

Reds:  15 Jock Campbell (c), 14 Floyd Aubrey, 13 Tim Ryan, 12 Dre Pakeho, 11 Mac Grealy, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Louis Werchon, 8 Joe Brial, 7 John Bryant, 6 Seru Uru, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Connor Vest, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Richie Asiata, 1 Sef Fa’agase
Replacements:  17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Massimo De Lutiis, 19 Josh Canham, 20 Connor Anderson, 21 Will Cartwright, 22 Mason Gordon, 23 Lachie Anderson

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Eddie James, 11 Regan Grace, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies (c), 8 Mackenzie Martin, 7 Taine Plumtree, 6 Christ Tshiunza, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements:  16 Efan Daniel, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Dewi Lake, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ben Thomas, 23 Mason Grady

Referee:  Damon Murphy

Los Pumas props power past France to seal long-awaited home victory

A spirited Argentina team beat France 33-25 in a frantic Test match in Buenos Aires as new head coach Felipe Contepomi notched up his maiden victory since taking charge of Los Pumas.

The victory was not only Contepomi’s first since taking over from Michael Cheika but also Los Pumas’ first win in Argentina since their 48-17 triumph over Australia in 2022.

It was a profitable day for the props, with Eduardo Bello and Thomas Gallo (2) both scoring for the Pumas, who were also awarded a penalty try, with Santiago Carreras racking up 11 points, including a try and three conversions.

As for Les Bleus, captain Baptiste Serin scored the opener with Emilien Gailleton and Theo Attisogbe also crossing for tries ― Antoine Hastoy adding 10 points from the tee.

Much of the build-up to the match was marred by off-field controversy from the French squad following Melvyn Jaminet’s racist comments on social media and a pair of players being arrested on accusations of sexual assault.

However, the game marked a significant milestone for Pumas flanker Pablo Matera, who earned his 100th Test cap for his country.

But it wasn’t a bright start for the hosts as Les Bleus captain Serin rounded off a lovely flowing attack from a turnover.

Argentina resounded swiftly as prop Bello forced his way over the line from close range as the Pumas pack flexed their muscles.

Hastoy kicked France back into the lead in the 24th minute but it did not last long again as just five minutes later, the Argentine pack lay down a marker. After their struggles in the scrum in Test I, Contepomi rang the changes up front and it had the desired effect as they obliterated Les Bleus’ front-row earning a penalty try on the 30 minute mark.

A bit of brilliance from Carreras saw him slice through the French defence, throwing a lovely dummy and speeding over the line with the resulting conversion, giving the Pumas a 21-10 lead at the break.

Fabien Galthie’s side came out firing in the second half, with Hastoy reducing the lead with a penalty before Gailleton and Attissogbe both crossed for tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to take a 21-25 lead.

Replacement prop Gallo quickly got his side back in the lead with a try from close range and doubled up in the 66th minute to take a 35-25 advantage, which they would hold onto until the final whistle, holding out all France’s attacks.

Argentina wrap up their July internationals next week against Uruguay while France return home to rest up before the start of next season.

The teams

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

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Emile Gailleton, 12 Antoine Frisch, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Judicael Cancoriet, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 George-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Romain Briatte, 21 Killian Tixeront, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Leo Berdeu

Ciaran Frawley drop goals stun Springboks as Ireland level series

Two late drop goals from replacement fly-half Ciaran Frawley helped Ireland claim a stunning 25-24 victory over the Springboks at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

It had looked like South Africa would secure a 24-22 win as the seconds ticked down, but up stepped Frawley with time up to send over his second drop goal of the evening.

Conor Murray scored the only try of the game while Jack Crowley kicked a conversion and four penalties as Ireland’s success levels the epic two-game series at one apiece.

Handre Pollard kicked all of the Springboks’ 24 points as they could not break the Irish try-line, with Frawley’s incredible late efforts silencing a packed Kings Park Stadium.

The extraordinary twist came at the end of an undisciplined second period from Ireland during which stand-in captain Caelan Doris was sin-binned.

Victory was just Ireland’s second on South African soil and even more impressive given they were without five of their first-choice stars after injured pair Dan Sheehan and Bundee Aki joined tour absentees Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen and Hugo Keenan on the list of unavailable talent.

Farrell dropped skipper Peter O’Mahony to the bench as part of four personnel changes from the opening Test and warned his players to expect South Africa to be “twice as good” as seven days ago.

The hosts stuck with an unchanged 23, including selecting the most experienced starting XV in the nation’s history, following a first success over the Irish since 2016.

Springboks full-back Willie le Roux was forced off by a head injury, while team-mates Franco Mostert and Eben Etzebeth were left with bloodied faces during an intense opening in which Crowley calmly slotted a penalty.

Ireland’s physical start was deservedly rewarded with a superb 14th-minute try.

Slick interplay between Jamie Osborne and Robbie Henshaw opened up the hosts’ defence, leaving scrum-half Murray to add to his score in Pretoria with another diving finish.

A bruising encounter showed little sign of relenting and Ireland prop Andrew Porter was left bloodied for the second successive week after Pollard’s penalty put South Africa on the scoreboard.

The impressive away side dominated the opening third of the match.

Yet they were reliant on alert full-back Osborne producing a crucial last-ditch tackle just metres from the try line to preserve their lead after Kwagga Smith charged down a Crowley kick to race clear.

Pollard and Crowley exchanged further penalties, while Doris was held up on the line by Pieter-Steph du Toit moments before the break.

The Six Nations champions should really have turned their territory into a second try but had to settle for the consolation of another three points from the boot of Crowley to end a fierce first half 10 points in front.

South Africa returned fired up and moved within four points following two more Pollard penalties, the second of which was converted after stand-in skipper Doris was yellow-carded for a crocodile roll on Malcolm Marx.

Poor discipline was piling pressure on Ireland and proved extremely costly during a monumental shift in momentum.

The Springboks led for the first time in the 58th minute following Pollard’s sixth penalty of the evening and then quickly restored the lead through two more kicks from the same player after Crowley’s boot briefly stemmed the one-way traffic.

Ireland remained in touching distance going into the closing stages and, after again being held up on the line, reduced the deficit to just two points thanks to Frawley’s fine drop goal from distance.

Andy Farrell’s men were on the verge of suffering a second successive loss for the first time since the 2021 Six Nations before Frawley repeated the trick in a fascinating climax to stun South Africa.

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 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Stuart McCloskey

Referee:  Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (RFU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

Eddie Jones suffers stunning setback as Japan lose AT HOME to Georgia

A late try from Giorgi Javakhia cemented a famous 25-23 away victory for Georgia over Eddie Jones’ Japan, condemning the former England boss to his third defeat as Japan coach.

The Brave Blossoms got off to the perfect start, as Jone Naikabula crossed in the third minute of the game, but things quickly turned sour.

In the 18th minute of the game, Kanji Shimokawa was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle, which was later upgraded to a red card. The Lelos quickly rubbed salt into the wound too, as Vano Karkadze and Mikheil Alania crossed twice in the space of 10 minutes to give them the lead heading into half-time.

14-man Japan rallied though at the start of the second-half, with Seung Sin Lee’s boot and Tomoki Osada’s try combining to give Japan a 23-18 advantage going into the final minutes of the game.

Not going down without a fight though, Georgia ensured they had the last laugh as Javakhia crossed in the 75th minute, and allowing Luka Matkava to cement a famous victory for his nation with the conversion.

Japan look to Italy clash to end mini-slump

Speaking after the game, Japan captain Michael Leitch said:  “We played the way Japan are known for and I’m proud of the team, but we’re not satisfied with the result. We’re looking ahead to the Italy game and we want to prepare well for that.”

“We tried to stay positive (after the red-card),” Leitch continued. “Just because you’re playing with a man less, it doesn’t mean you’re going to lose.”

Since Jones returned to the role of Japan head coach, he has won just once in his first four matches, including the heavy 52-17 defeat to England last month.

That defeat was compounded by another loss to the Maori All Blacks, but he secured his first win last weekend against the same opposition.

Jones and his Japan team now prepare for a tough test with Italy next weekend, with the Azzurri also coming into the game off the back of a solid 36-14 win over Tonga on Friday night.

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)