Springboks put innovation to one side in destructive victory over Georgia

The Springboks decided not to reveal too many more tricks as they went the direct route to secure a comfortable 55-10 victory over Georgia.

A week after Rassie Erasmus’ men caused another stir in the rugby world by bringing some innovation in their triumph over Italy, they were a bit more traditional in Mbombela.

South Africa were stunned early on as Vano Karkadze crossed the whitewash, but they soon asserted their dominance, particularly up front, as Boan Venter and Marnus van der Merwe touched down on debut.

The Boks went over twice more in the first half via Canan Moodie and Van der Merwe before the latter’s namesake, Edwill van der Merwe, went over early in the second period.

Wing Van der Merwe would also complete his brace, but not before Damian Willemse had scored as the hosts eased to the win.

They would then end the game in style as Kurt-Lee Arendse and Handre Pollard took them past the 50-point mark.

After nilling Italy last weekend, Erasmus would have set them the task of being just as ruthless against Georgia, but those plans went up in smoke in the opening mistakes.

Two mistakes from the kick-off — Grant Williams’ clearance going awry and a subsequent penalty — enabled the visitors to set up an opportunity in the 22.  The lineout went smoothly and their drive marched the Boks backwards before Karkadze crossed the whitewash

After seeing their pride dented by the Lelos’ maul score, the hosts responded and looked to inflict similar forward-oriented pain on the away side.

Initially, they attempted a variation on the Cam Roigard try for the All Blacks last weekend but, after Van der Merwe was shunted backwards, they decided to go route one.

It didn’t take long for the Georgian line to be breached as on debut loosehead prop Venter touched down from close range.

South Africa then began to create more opportunities via their talented backline with Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu both testing the visiting rearguard, but there was no doubt that the direct route was giving them the most success.

They went back to their trusty maul, and Marnus van der Merwe followed his front-row colleague by going over on his Test bow.

After a slow start, it looked like the Springboks could move away from their opponents, and when they manufactured a brilliant try for Moodie, a dominant victory looked on the cards.

However, a mixture of Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s errant kicking and Georgian resilience kept the game in the balance for a while.

The fly-half missed his first three conversion attempts, which meant when Luka Matkava kicked a penalty, just five points separated the teams after half-an-hour.

Erasmus’ side would give themselves some breathing space at the break, though, when Marnus van der Merwe completed their brace and they built on that at the start of the second period.

South Africa touched down twice in the third quarter to put the game to bed and make sure that they would head into the Rugby Championship with consecutive victories.

Firstly, Edwill van der Merwe scored one of the easiest tries of his career when Williams’ bullet pass landed in his arms just two metres out from the line before Willemse crossed the whitewash after a set play from a scrum.

The clash then became scrappy, but South Africa finished with a flourish as Van der Merwe, Arendse and Pollard went over in the final 10 minutes.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Cobus Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Neethling Fouche 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Damian Willemse

Georgia:  15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Ilia Spanderashvili, 7 Beka Saginadze (c), 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Lado Chachanidze, 4 Mikheili Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Akhaladze
Replacements:  16 Irakli Kvatadze, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Demur Epremidze, 20 Sandro Mamamtvarishvili, 21 Tornike Jalagonia, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Tornike Kakhoidze

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant referees:  Hollie Davidson (SRU), Adam Leal (RFU)
TMO:  Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO:  Tual Trainini (FFR)

All Blacks come from behind against France as debutant scores key try

New Zealand had to come from behind to defeat a dogged France 29-19 at FMG Stadium Waikato on Saturday in a result that wraps up a 3-0 series victory over Les Bleus.

Tries from Will Jordan, Anton Lienert-Brown, Du’Plessis Kirifi and Brodie McAlister, coupled by nine points from Damian McKenzie’s boot, saw the All Blacks prevail.

France were excellent for large parts in Hamilton with scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec scoring 16 points that included a crossing while Antoine Hastoy struck a drop-goal.

The All Blacks were looking to pick up a clean sweep in this series, which has been under the spotlight ever since rumours of France’s squad intentions were made clear.

Scott Robertson’s outfit had to deal with some late disruption to their line-up after Luke Jacobson pulled out injured in the warm-up, which meant Ardie Savea shifted to number eight and Kirifi was handed his first start on the openside.  That freed up a place on the replacements bench where Christian Lio-Willie wore jersey 20.

The game started in entertaining fashion and after an early All Blacks foray, it was in fact France who struck first on nine minutes, Le Garrec scrambling over at the back of a maul on the right wing before converting his own score.  That was an early marker thrown down, confirming that this France team in Test III was a genuine threat.

Clearly rattled, the hosts gift wrapped a further three points for Les Bleus after Savea attempted a chip kick in his own 22 that resulted in Le Garrec nudging it to 10-0.

That penalty took the scoring up a notch in its frequency as on 21 minutes, a smart kick into open space from Cortez Ratima saw wing Jordan win the foot race as New Zealand cut the gap to three points before Hastoy knocked over a smart drop-goal for the French soon after to make it 13-7.  Suddenly, every attack had real potential.

The concern for New Zealand was the frequency France were adding to their tally, as two further Le Garrec penalties after a McKenzie effort made it a nine-point cushion.

Crucially, though, the All Blacks struck with the clock in the red at the end of the opening half when Lienert-Brown slid over the whitewash to make it 19-17 at the interval.

France looked to keep the scoreboard ticking shortly after the restart, but this time Hastoy’s drop-goal attempt was dragged wide before New Zealand looked to counter.

However, tenacious French defence was evident again, typified by Gabin Villiere who won his side a ruck penalty that was also off-target from Le Garrec from distance.

Two lifelines for the All Blacks who then sent on front-row replacements including debutant McAlister at hooker, with boss Robertson eyeing a response from his side.

But France’s resolve in defence was something to admire as they continued to frustrate the hosts, Mickaël Guillard this time denying Patrick Tuipulotu a try out wide.

Finally, though New Zealand got their score when a McKenzie grubber caused chaos in-goal and Kirifi was on hand to gather and ground for the try before the hour.

At 22-19, the match was far from over, but the All Blacks had their noses in front for the first time in the contest.  Les Bleus though were still enjoying opportunities.

As time wore on, however, New Zealand were starting to gain dominance and Dalton Papali’i went agonisingly close to crossing as the hosts had a spell of territory.

Finally, they got their reward as debutant McAlister slid over for a game-sealing try that must have felt incredible after the All Blacks’ lineout had been struggling.

McKenzie would send over the conversion attempt to add the gloss as New Zealand had seen off an impressive France side to take this series in a 3-0 whitewash.

The teams

All Blacks:  15 Ruben Love, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Sevu Reece, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Brodie McAlister, 17 George Bower, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Dalton Papali’i, 20 Christian Lio-Willie 21 Noah Hotham, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Jordie Barrett

France:  15 Léo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbé, 13 Nicolas Depoortère, 12 Gaël Fickou (c), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickaël Guillard, 7 Joshua Brennan, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Matthias Halagahu, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Baptiste Erdocio
Replacements:  16 Gaëtan Barlot, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Romain Taofifénua, 20 Killian Tixeront, 21 Pierre Bochaton, 22 Thibault Daubagna, 23 Émilien Gailleton

Referee:  Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant referees:  Damian Schneider (UAR), Takehito Namekawa (JRFU)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO:  Damon Murphy (RA)

England secure 2-0 series win in Argentina thanks to late try

England claimed a famous 2-0 series victory over Argentina as a late Jack van Poortvliet try helped them to a 22-17 win at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario.

Tries from Seb Atkinson, Freddie Steward and that Van Poortvliet effort at the death were added to by seven points from George Ford as the series was won in San Juan.

Lucio Cinti and Ignacio Mendy crossed for Los Pumas who will be bitterly disappointed to come out on the losing side for the second straight week against their visitors.

There was a tweak to England‘s team for this game after Jamie George was called up by the Lions, which meant Theo Dan started and Curtis Langdon made the bench.

That was only the second alteration to the XV that won last weekend with head coach Steve Borthwick keeping the faith with the players that impressed seven days ago.

England started the match sprightly and were 7-0 up with just four minutes on the clock when Ford’s cross-kick found Tom Roebuck and the ball eventually made its way to Atkinson for the try.  Ford slotted the extra two points to extend the arrears before Santiago Carreras landed a long-range penalty soon after that reduced the gap.

Ben Curry was then issued a yellow card for making contact with the head of Argentina back-row Pablo Matera and fortunately for him there was no change in card colour.

Argentina managed to capitalise on the numerical advantage when scrum-half Simon Benitez Cruz found a hole and had Cinti on his outside for a score that made it 10-7.

However, England struck back on 33 minutes as they showed good width in their attack which created space for the impressive Will Muir to find full-back Steward on the left wing for the score.  Ford was on-target from the touchline with the extra two and the visitors had their four-point buffer restored in front of a passionate crowd.

It looked like the English would take this cushion into the changing rooms at the turnaround but a fortuitous moment from Los Pumas saw them grab the lead late on.  A speculative chip over the top from Carreras clipped the post and bamboozled Steward in his in-goal and Mendy was sharpest to react to make it 17-14 to the hosts.

England came out for the second half with similar purpose to the first but were denied on more than one occasion by some stout Los Pumas defence near their own line.

Borthwick’s charges did get something for their dominance as a ruck offence handed Ford the opportunity to level matters from close range, which he did on 53 minutes.

Five minutes later Argentina were reduced to 14 players as Matera was sent the sin-bin following a series of team offences on their own try-line as England threatened.  However, that seemed to galvanise the home side as they came through that period unscathed thanks in part to some heroic defence which denied Van Poortvliet a score.

The match remained deadlocked at 17-17 as it entered the closing 10 minutes, with the series being on the line certainly adding to the tension and style of both countries.

But it was England who deservedly came out on top as replacement Guy Pepper’s line break and offload set up Van Poortvliet for a dramatic try that secured the series.

The teams

Argentina:  15 Benjamin Elizalde, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Benjamin Grondona, 22 Agustin Moyano, 23 Nicolas Roge

England:  15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Will Muir, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ben Curry, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements:  16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Alex Dombrandt, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Cadan Murley

Referee:  Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Mike Adamson (Scotland)
FPRO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Second string Ireland humiliate Portugal with record-breaking 16-try rout

Ireland rounded off their two-match summer tour with a facile 106-7 win over Portugal in Lisbon that should have the authorities worried about the competitiveness of the expanded 24-team Rugby World Cup in 2027.

The Irish were 54-0 ahead at the break following a horrible eight-try defensive horror show by the hosts, and the chasm widened in the second to record-breaking proportions following eight more tries.

By the finish, a new mark has been set for the biggest win in their history, beating the 83-3 set in 2000 versus the USA.  The 16-try total also bettered the record of 13, also set in that American demolition at the turn of the millennium.

Interim Ireland boss Paul O’Connell, who was given the reins with Andy Farrell in Australia heading up the British and Irish Lions, had arrived at the Estadio Nacional looking to continue the depth-building mission impressively launched last weekend with a 34-5 win over Georgia in Tbilisi.

Here, he handed debut caps to starters Hugh Gavin, Shayne Bolton and Alex Kendellen and while two of them – Gavin and Bolton – struck for two first-half tries each, the lack of Portuguese fight meant that little or nothing could be taken by the Irish from this training-ground-like-runaround that was a terrible look for tier two international rugby in Europe.

Shambles

The Portuguese XV comprised seven local club players and eight earning a living in France’s Pro D2, but this team, marshalled by Simon Mannix, was a shambles compared to the side that flourished at the 20-team Rugby World Cup 2023 under Patrice Lagisquet.

There were a couple of fleeting reminders from two years ago; they still have some players committed to attempting to run it from anywhere and the sole try they scored was neat, but their unreliable in-structure play and their amateurish defence left much to be desired, and they looked well-beaten as early as the 13th minute following the concession of four early tries.

Ireland needed less than a minute to illustrate the gulf between the teams in what was the first Test between the countries.  A gallop from Jimmy O’Brien was the initial warning sign, and the danger became clear when Jack Crowley looked up and exploited the unfolding space.

He put in a well-placed kick ahead that bounced up into the hands of the scoring Stuart McCloskey, who benefited from Nuno Sousa Guedes’ hesitation.  Crowley converted from the touchline, and he also added the extras to his team’s other three early tries.

It was lineout ball that was the foundation for skipper Craig Casey to send Gavin racing through a massive gap on nine minutes.  Two minutes later, another break from full-back O’Brien set up his namesake, winger Tommy O’Brien, to sprint clear.

This early 28-0 surge was then completed by Bolton gathering a Casey box kick inside his own half, fighting off the resulting contact on landing and creating an unopposed run-in for himself from the halfway line.  Painfully, it was men against boys.

Even when they managed to raise a cheer on 20 minutes, the noise was quickly silenced by the TMO as the Sousa Guedes’ breakaway try they had been celebrating was chalked off due to a forward pass from Vincent Pinto.

The Portuguese cause was further damaged by the loss of Tomas Appleton, who exited injured on a stretcher following a lengthy stoppage for treatment.

Equipment malfunction

A communications issue added to this delay, referee Adam Leal returning to the field after a brief disappearance to explain there would be no more TMO in the game due to an equipment malfunction.  He insisted, though, that the Appleton incident had been checked and the Portuguese midfielder wasn’t the victim of foul play when cleared out at a ruck.

After play finally restarted, Ireland went on to usher Tommy O’Brien in for his second try on 24 minutes, the winger running the perfect support line on Crowley’s shoulder from a lineout move to take the pass and go in at the posts.

There was no staunching the Portuguese bleeding before the interval as three more tries were conceded.  A neat Cian Prendergast pass invited tighthead Thomas Clarkson to run free and round to score under the posts.

Next, Tom Ahern won an impressive breakdown turnover near his team’s 10-metre line and Casey went for a 50:22.  It looked like a poor kick but with two defenders idling and looking for the ball to roll out over the dead ball line, Bolton raced into the in-goal area to get the touch.

For once, Crowley didn’t have the accuracy off the tee to bag the extra points, but he was back on task less than two minutes later to make it 54-0.  A break from the back of a maul from Gus McCarthy scattered the Portuguese cover and when the ball came back infield, McCloskey gave the assist pass to Cooney for the try.

There was no let-up from the Irish when the second half began, as a scrum in their own 22 was the platform for Casey going in under the posts after a powerful Bolton break.

Tackling air

Crowley’s added points pushed the gap to 61, and it moved to 66 on 51 minutes when a low throw to the front of the lineout resulted in Prendergast successfully breaking down the short side off a resulting ruck.  Crowley scuffed his conversion, and he won’t want to be reminded either for tackling air two minutes later when Pinto breezed by him to set up Nicolas Martins for Portugal’s first converted try.

It wasn’t the cue for a consolatory fightback.  Within minutes, a Casey pass from scrum ball sent in sub winger Calvin Nash for an unconverted Irish score, and the 71-7 lead was added to by Ciaran Frawley’s converted try.  Next, Casey set up Prendergast and the records set in a 2000 hammering of the USA were now set to tumble.

Kendellen, the third debut starter in the Ireland XV, scored the record-making 14th try and another Crowley conversion left it 92-7, an 85-point margin greater than the 80 achieved in New Hampshire 25 years ago.  There was more to come, a converted Ben Murphy score and a penalty try completing Portugal’s humiliation.

The teams

Portugal:  15 Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14 Simao Bento, 13 Vincent Pinto, 12 Tomas Appleton, 11, Manuel Cardoso Pinto, 10 Hugo Aubry, 9 Hugo Gomes Camacho, 8 Diego Pinheiro Ruiz, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 David Wallis de Carvalho, 5 Pedro Ferreira, 4 Antonio Rebelo de Andrade, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 David Costa
Replacements:  16 Abel da Cunha, 17 Pedro Santiago Lopes, 18 Martim Souto, 19 Guilherme Costa, 20 Francisco Almeida, 21 Vasco Baptista, 22 Antonio Campos, 23 Gabriel Aviragnet

Ireland:  15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Gavin, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey (c), 8 Cian Prendergast, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements:  16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Calvin Nash

Referee:  Adam Leal (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU), Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
TMO:  Matteo Liperini (FIR)

Jaw-dropping tactics help seven-try Springboks demolish Italy

Seven-try South Africa sealed a 2-0 Test series victory over Italy with a 45-0 win in Gqeberha after innovation from Rassie Erasmus made light work of the numerical disadvantage of the 21st-minute permanent red card shown to Jasper Wiese for a headbutt.

The hosts were two tries ahead when Wiese made his premature exit, but rather than this decision unsettling them, they pressed on and had the match emphatically won after 51 minutes with a 31-0 lead.

The highlight was how tries number three and five featured the crazy sight of the Springboks setting up lineout mauls in open play, a tactic that resulted in the Italians collapsing and then conceding scores from the resulting plays off penalty advantage.

It was a genius trick that gave this fixture its highlight reel moments, a development that contrasted with last weekend’s frustrating series-opening win, where South Africa’s play left much to be desired after they had initially gone 28-3 up.

First-minute ruse

Erasmus’ reaction to seeing his team outscored 21-14 in the second half in Pretoria resulted in the alteration of 11 of the starting XV, and this breath of fresh air was seen right from the kick-off.

Rather than start the match in the usual way by sending the ball beyond the requisite 10 metres in the air, Manie Libbok purposely kicked the ball forward just a few yards into the hands of Andre Esterhuizen so that it would result in a scrum that the Italians would feed.  This first-minute ruse didn’t pay off as the Springboks had a free award against them for going early.

Then, after a Wiese knock-on during an attack that ended with a pile-up over the Italian line heralded a follow-up scrum in the first minute, another free-kick decision from referee Andrew Brace was turned into a penalty, getting the Italians up out of danger and up to their 10-metre line.

South Africa’s early issues continued with centurion Willie le Roux knocking on when trying to attack, but the game’s third scrum worked out perfectly in their favour.

Grant Williams’ put-in ignited the shove that generated a penalty advantage, and this offered the incentive for Williams to ignite a move that he ended himself over the try line after the sweep from inside their own half included some excellent footwork and speed from wingers Edwill van der Merwe and Makazole Mapimpi.

The ninth-minute score went unconverted, but a flurry of penalties, mainly at the breakdown, ensured momentum stayed with the Springboks.

After deciding to scrum five metres out following a further infringement, another penalty advantage from the set-piece sparked the flourish where Libbok’s lengthy pass had Van der Merwe successfully diving in at the corner for a 16th-minute try.

Again, the extra points weren’t added from the kicking tee, and the game’s early pattern had a dramatic twist in the 21th minute.

A penalty was whistled for Italy at a maul but, as the players disengaged, a bust-up featuring Azzurri prop Danilo Fischetti and Wiese ended with referee Brace brandishing a permanent red card to the South African for a headbutt.

The man-losing decision didn’t neutralised the Springboks scrum:  with midfielder Esterhuizen packing down at blindside and Marco van Staden switching to number eight, they were soon winning a set-piece penalty.

Then, with Ox Nche brought on for Thomas du Toit on 30 minutes, a penalty advantage at a halfway line scrum allowed Le Roux, the assist king, to strike again.  His chip kick bounced awkwardly, putting Giulio Bertaccini off the scent and allowing Van der Merwe to boot the ball onwards and win the race to regather over the line.

Off the charts

Libbok added the conversion, and he did likewise eight minutes later after Canan Moodie scored South Africa’s fourth try.  If the start to the match was bizarre with the tactic of forcing a scrum to happen straight away, the sight of a lineout happening in the middle of the pitch was off the charts.

After a ruck formed following a first-phase lineout attack, Williams made a pass from the breakdown to an airborne Ruan Nortje, who was lifted by his props as if jumping at the lineout on the side of the pitch.

It was a cunning plan, allowing the forwards to instigate a maul that was immediately collapsed and the penalty advantage was once more the cue for the South African backs to pounce, this time Moodie blasting through a defensive hole to make the line.

That made it 24-0 at the break and, unlike a week ago in Pretoria, there was no repeat of the second half lull on this occasion.  Italy’s so-called ‘grenade squad’ defused the ‘bomb squad’ at Loftus, but they pulled the wrong wire here, and the margin of defeat spun out to 45 unanswered points.

A 45th-minute yellow card for Wilco Louw for shoulder to head contact on Sebastian Negri made the contest a 13-versus-15 match, but Italy spoiled this advantage by having Fischetti yellow carded three minutes later following his team’s latest breakdown infringement.

This invited the Springboks to kick to the corner.  A forward pass by Le Roux denied Van der Merwe his hat-trick, but there was no stopping Malcolm Marx getting over on 51 minutes following the formation of another open play lineout lift, instigating a maul that couldn’t be stopped.

Libbok’s conversion stretched the lead to 31 points, but the game then became very scrappy, and it took a penalty advantage emanating from a lineout maul seven minutes from time to get the Springboks going again.

Some slick backline ending with Mapimpi scoring, and the rout was completed when Jan-Hendrik Wessels reached out in the final play to ground.  Libbok converted both tries.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements:  16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker

Italy:  15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone (c), 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 David Odiase, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Giulio Bertaccini

Referee:  Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (RFU), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO:  Tual Training (FFR)
FPRO:  Andrew Jackson (RFU)

All Blacks clinch series with emphatic victory over France in Wellington

The All Blacks delivered a much improved performance as they clinched an emphatic 43-17 triumph against France in their mid-year international in Wellington on Saturday.

After notching a narrow victory over Les Bleus in Dunedin last week, there was pressure on All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and his troops but they were full value for this series-clinching win as they dominated for long periods and were more clinical in their execution.

The All Blacks eventually outscored their visitors by six tries to two with Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor, Tupou Vaa’i, Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane all crossing the whitewash.

Their other points came via four conversions and a penalty from Beauden Barrett while Jordie Barrett also succeeded with a two-pointer off the kicking tee.

For France, Léo Barré and Joshua Brennan scored tries while Nolann Le Garrec added a conversion and a penalty, and Antoine Hastoy also converted a five-pointer.

The opening exchanges were evenly contested and after absorbing some early pressure from the visitors, the All Blacks opened the scoring in the eighth minute courtesy of a Barrett penalty after Nicolas Depoortère strayed offside on defence.

Five minutes later, the home side extended their lead when Roigard crossed for his try after some brilliance from the All Blacks forwards.

From a lineout just outside France’s 22, the hosts flummoxed the visitors with a move from the set-piece which looked like it was straight off the training ground.

After delivering his throw-in, hooker Taylor came charging around the lineout and made like he was going to take a pass from Christian Lio-Willie only for Savea and Roigard to break around the blindside and the former offloaded to his scrum-half, who cantered in for his score.

Midway through the half, New Zealand were reduced to 14 men when fly-half Barrett was yellow carded for deliberately knocking down a pass from Le Garrec deep inside the hosts’ 22.

Le Garrec slotted the resulting penalty which meant the All Blacks held a 10-3 lead by the 20th minute before Savea went over for another converted try off the back of a lineout drive deep inside Les Bleus territory.

France were then dealt a massive setback when Brennan was sent to the sin bin in the 28th minute for a dangerous tip tackle on Jordie Barrett and the rest of the half was dominated by the hosts, who scored two further tries during that period.

On the half hour-mark, Taylor dotted down in similar fashion to Savea after a strong lineout drive from the All Blacks, before Vaa’i rounded off a spectacular try after the ball went through several pairs of hands in the build-up.

That meant New Zealand had their tails up with the score 29-3 in their favour at half-time.

🇳🇿🇫🇷 ALL BLACKS HAMMER FRANCE IN WELLINGTON TO CLINCH THE SERIES!#NZLvFRA pic.twitter.com/33z6GO6zjb

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) July 12, 2025

France needed a response and that came eight minutes after the restart when Barré crossed for their first try after running a superb line deep inside the All Blacks’ 22.

The All Blacks did not panic though and in the 56th minute Jordan rounded off in style after Billy Proctor was stopped just short of the try-line in the build-up.

And in the 62nd minute, Ioane got over for his five pointer in the left-hand corner, after running onto a well-timed pass from Jordie Barrett, before Brennan added some respectability to the final score for Les Bleus when he crashed over for his try in the game’s closing stages.

The teams

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea (c), 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Damian McKenzie

France:  15 Léo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortère, 12 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 11 Émilien Gailleton, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Esteban Abadie, 7 Jacobus Van Tonder, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Matthias Halagahu, 4 Joshua Brennan, 3 Georges-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaëtan Barlot (c), 1 Baptiste Erdocio
Replacements:  16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22 Thibault Daubagna, 23 Antoine Hastoy

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (RA), Takehito Namekawa (JRFU)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO:  Damon Murphy (RA)

Wales pain ends with first victory since Rugby World Cup after Japan win

Wales ended almost two years of pain and claimed their first victory since the 2023 Rugby World Cup by securing a 31-22 triumph over Japan on Saturday.

They have gone on a run of 18 consecutive defeats, including last weekend’s reversal against the Brave Blossoms, but that anguish was finally over in Kobe.

The visitors were excellent in the first half, going 21-3 ahead through Josh Adams’ try and Kieran Hardy’s brace, but they had to withstand another Japanese fightback.

Shuhei Takeuchi, Warner Dearns and Dylan Riley all touched down to reduce the arrears to two points.  However, Wales would not be denied this time as Dan Edwards made sure of a victory which brought some positivity back to Welsh rugby.

Confidence must have been low in the Welsh camp after their latest dispiriting defeat, but it did not show in the opening period of the second Test.

Like they did in the opener, Matt Sherratt’s men began the match impressively and showed real intent with ball in hand.

In the first 10 minutes, Wales showed their willingness to shift the ball wide as off a turnover Ben Thomas received the ball, made a half-break and sent Blair Murray scampering clear.  The full-back then drew the final defender and enabled Adams to cross the whitewash.

Although the Brave Blossoms reduced the arrears with a Lee penalty, the visitors were creating the majority of the chances, while their maul was also working effectively.

A couple of dominant drives took them to within metres of the line and Hardy was on hand to reward their pressure by touching down.

With their opponents down to 14 men, Wales then went over for a third time as Adams made the break and found his scrum-half, who completed his brace.

Last week, Sherratt’s side moved found themselves in a dominant position before faltering in the second period and a try just shy of the interval from Takeuchi would have increased those fears of it happening again.

The start of the final 40 minutes was promising, however, as the visitors controlled the game and earned a penalty which Edwards kicked to move them 14 points ahead.

But, perhaps understandably, the Welsh players went into their shells and Japan came back into the contest, getting themselves over the line through Dearns.

Riley soon followed and just two points separated the teams going into the latter stages.  Worries of a 19th successive defeat would have crept into their minds but Wales showed impressive composure to get back on the front foot and get over for match-sealing try when Edwards dotted down to end almost two years of Welsh misery.

The teams

Japan:  15 Ichigo Nakakusu, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Shogo Nakano, 11 Halatoa Vailea, 10 Lee Seungsin, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faulua Makisi, 7 Jack Cornelsen, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Epineri Uluiviti, 3 Keijiro Tamefusa, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Yota Kamimori
Replacements:  16 Hayate Era, 17 Sena Kimura, 18 Shuhei Takeuchi, 19 Waisake Raratubua, 20 Ben Gunter, 21 Shinobu Fujiwara, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Kazuma Ueda

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3.Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Liam Belcher, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Christian Coleman, 19 James Ratti, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Tommy Reffell, 22 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 23 Keelan Giles

Referee:  Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant referees:  Karl Dickson (RFU), Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (NZR)
FPRO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

Fiji claim big Scotland scalp as Darcy Graham sees red for visitors

Scotland’s summer tour of the South Pacific suffered a setback when they were handed a 29-14 defeat against Fiji in an entertaining international in Suva on Saturday.

In a fast-paced and exciting encounter, Fiji had too much firepower for their opponents who finished the match with 14 men after Darcy Graham, who missed out on selection to the British and Irish Lions squad, was red carded in the final quarter.

In the end, the home side delivered an outstanding performance and were deserved winners after outscoring the Scots by four tries to two.

Tevita Ikanivere, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Jiuta Wainiqolo crossed the whitewash for Fiji while they were also awarded a penalty try and Caleb Muntz slotted two conversions and a penalty.

For the visitors, Kyle Rowe and Tom Jordan scored tries and their other points came via the boot of Test debutant Fergus Burke who succeeded with a couple of conversions.

Fast start from Scotland

Gregor Townsend’s troops were fastest out of the blocks and opened the scoring as early as the third minute when Rowe dotted down and Burke’s conversion gave the visitors a deserved 7-0 lead.

Shortly afterwards, Ewan Ashman was yellow carded before Muntz opened Fiji’s account via a penalty midway through the half.

Things went pear-shaped for Scotland in the 33rd minute when Graham was yellow carded for foul play and Fiji made full use of their numerical advantage as Ikanivere and Ravouvou crossed for tries during the closing stages of the opening half which gave them a 15-7 lead at the interval.

Scotland made a bright start to the second half when Jordan crossed for a converted try in the 44th minute but that would be the last time they would score points as Fiji finished stronger.

Wainiqolo dotted down in the 57th minute and 10 minutes later things went from bad to worse for the Scots when Graham was red carded.

This, after he tried to intercept a pass deep inside his 22 but did so from an offside position.  He was also the last defender which resulted in referee Ben O’Keeffe issuing him his second yellow card as well as a penalty try to the hosts, which sealed their victory.

The teams

Fiji:  15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13 Sireli Maqala, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 10 Caleb Muntz, 9 Simione Kuruvoli, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Elia Canakaivata, 6 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Isoa Nasilasila, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements:  16 Samuel Matavesi, 17 Haereiti Hetet, 18 Samuela Tawake, 19 Mesake Vocevoce, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Sam Wye, 22 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 23 Vilimoni Botitu

Scotland:  15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (c), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 George Turner, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Ollie Smith

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Jordan Way (Australia), Matt Kellahan (Australia)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

Sam Prendergast guides Ireland to victory over Georgia as Paul O'Connell's short reign begins in style

Paul O’Connell’s short reign in charge of Ireland got off to the perfect start as their understrength side cruised to a 34-5 victory over Georgia in Tbilisi.

Tommy O’Brien, making his debut after a fine season for Leinster, scored a brace within the opening 10 minutes as the visitors signalled their intent.

To their credit, the Lelos did respond just before the break through Tornike Jalagonia, but Ireland dominated the second period and sealed the win through Craig Casey and Nick Timoney tries, while Sam Prendergast added two penalties and four conversions.

O’Connell’s men travelled to Eastern Europe shorn of stars, who are of course with the British and Irish Lions, but they were still able to field a very talented squad in Tbilisi.

Plenty of players were seeking to prove their worth and their class showed in the early stages as they moved into an early 14-point lead.

From the kick-off, the visitors made ground with ball in hand and were across the whitewash after just two minutes when Prendergast’s chip through resulted in O’Brien touching down on debut.

The Leinster fly-half was given the nod over Jack Crowley for this encounter and soon after he had his second assist when the playmaker’s pass was once again collected by wing O’Brien.

It was the perfect start for the Irishmen but Georgia would soon get into the game and their scrum caused problems for the visitors.

The Lelos pressurised the opposition line and created a few opportunities but the try would not come as solid Ireland defence, combined with Georgian profligacy, harmed their hopes of a comeback.

Their all-time leading try-scorer Akaki Tabutsadze didn’t help matters by surprisingly failing to ground the ball with the line begging and that would ultimately cost Richard Cockerill’s men.

Although Jalagonia touched down at the end of the first half, they were unable to build on that score and duly found themselves out of the contest in the early stages of the second period.

Georgia once again switched off at the start of the half, but credit must also go to Ireland who manufactured an excellent try.

Calvin Nash was the instigator as the wing broke down the left before he found Ryan Baird, who then combined with Casey to finish it off.

Prendergast converted for the third time in the match and then added a penalty as Georgia’s hopes of a shock victory dissipated.

The Lelos were not helped by missing another try-scoring opportunity, this time through Vano Karkadze, who like Tabutsadze failed to keep control of the ball in the act of scoring.

Even with half-an-hour still remaining that was their chance gone as the visitors managed to control the remainder of the encounter.

Prendergast rewarded their dominance with a second three-pointer before the fly-half converted Timoney’s try with 10 minutes left to complete the scoring.

The teams

Georgia:  15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Tornike Jalagonia, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Vladimeri Chachanidze, 4 Mikheili Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Akhaladze
Replacements:  16 Irakli Kvatadze, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Giorgi Javakhia, 20 Ilia Spanderashvili, 21 Mikheil Alania, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Tornike Kakhoidze

Ireland:  15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 3 Tom Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements:  16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Thomas Ahern, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Calvin Nash

Referee:  Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Adam Leal (England), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Matteo Liperini (Italy)

Springboks beat Italy but defused 'bomb squad' fail to build on convincing first-half lead

South Africa got their 2025 Test season underway on Saturday with a 42-24 win over Italy in Pretoria.

The Springboks, who can feel pleased with how the likes of Test debutant Vincent Tshituka went, deserve praise for the directness of their first-half attack as a four-try display had them 28-3 clear.

However, their second-half display wasn’t as clinical, and questions will be asked about the ineffectiveness of the bomb squad as the resolute Italians ‘won’ the second period 21-14.

This comeback was a match pattern different from what had been seen so far in 2025 from the visitors as Italy, under Gonzalo Quesada, don’t usually roll over in the first half of games.

The margins at the break in their recent Six Nations losses to Ireland, England and Scotland were two, four and 10 points respectively — and even in their 49-point hammering versus France, the gap at the break was just 18 after they managed a couple of tries of their own.

The blunted Italians folded early at Loftus Versfeld, though, paying a heavy price for their coach’s decision to travel with a tour squad minus a raft of experienced players.

Last weekend’s facile 73-6 win over Namibia in Windhoek was an insufficient prep for the intensity of the play generated by a Springboks XV showing five changes – including the long-awaited return of Damian Willemse – from the uncapped stroll versus the Barbarians in Cape Town seven days earlier.

The Italians, who hadn’t played the Boks since a November 2022 hammering in Genoa, came under immediate pressure in Pretoria, Eben Etzebeth charging down Alessandro Fusco’s attempted clearance kick just seconds into a contest the hosts soon went on to dominate at the scrum.

A monster eighth-minute set-piece turnover at an Italian put-in was a highlight, and this show of power was followed two minutes later by the opening score.  Skipper Jesse Kriel fastened onto a grubber kick from Damian de Allende on penalty advantage, and he nabbed the try converted by Handre Pollard.

Some handling errors delayed the Springboks extending their lead, but Lorenzo Cannone’s 23rd-minute yellow card was the cue for the hosts to immediately strike from the five-metre scrum they opted for from the resulting penalty.

With the Azzurri pack hurtling backwards under their posts, Morne van den Berg easily touched down and Pollard added the extras for a 14-point cushion.

Italy were in dire need of some possession and territory to stem the wound, and an offside from Tshituka allowed them a 28th-minute shot at goal from distance that Giacomo Da Re landed to reduce the margin.

This respite was fleeting, though, as lineout ball two minutes later was popped to Kurt-Lee Arendse on the 10-metre line and his excellent footwork bludgeoned the Azzurri defence.

With the steely-eyed Pollard converting, South Africa has ‘won’ the 10-minute sin-binning period 14-3, and further damage was inflicted before the break despite Cannone’s return to the field.

Another penalty was scrummed down five metres from the line and Van den Berg again proved unstoppable, fooling the defence with a dummy and darting over.

Pollard’s ensuing kick left it 28-3 heading down the tunnel and with the result already decided, the question when the teams returned for the second half was how wide the margin would ultimately be.  Incredibly, it was just 18 points, seven less than the 25 it was at the break.

The Italians breathed a sigh of relief as a Vincent Tshituka score just 97 seconds after the restart was scrubbed out on review due to the obstruction on halfway from Ox Nche that had illegally opened a corridor for Willemse to race through.

There was further cheer for the visitors when Manuel Zuliani wriggled over for a converted 46th-minute try after Malcolm Marx got his decision wrong defending at a ruck.

The ‘bomb squad’ that failed to go off

The pin was pulled two minutes later on the ‘bomb squad’, but this tactic of changing their pack’s entire tight five in one go soon didn’t convince on this occasion.  Vincent Koch was celebrating a 57th-minute converted try, but South Africa failed to push on.

Four minutes later, Arendse pulled off a superb try-saving tackle in-goal on Simone Gesi, but nothing could be done to stop the impressive 63rd-minute maul that ended with the debut making Pablo Dimcheff touching down and Da Re converting.

That shaved the gap to 18, and it was cut to 11 five minutes later with Niccolo Cannone rolling in under the posts for Italy’s third second-half try.  This was as close as they got, though, as Marco van Staden’s converted 73rd-minute try closed out South Africa’s six tries to three win.

The teams

Springboks:  15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux

Italy:  15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone (c), 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Giulio Bertaccini

Referee:  Hollie Davidson (SRU)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (RFU), Andrew Brace (IRFU)
TMO:  Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO:  Tual Trainini (FFR)

All Blacks made to work hard for maiden 2025 victory against rookie French outfit

Scott Robertson’s All Blacks are up and running in 2025 after defeating a spirited France outfit 31-27 at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin to take a 1-0 series lead.

Much of the build-up to the series opener was dominated by France’s decision to send an inexperienced team to New Zealand, but the Les Bleus rookies rose to the occasion and put up a mighty fight against the All Blacks.

Ultimately, a Beauden Barrett penalty in the final 10 minutes of the match sealed the result for the All Blacks, with the veteran pivot knocking over all five of his kicks at goal.

He converted tries scored by Will Jordan (2), Tupou Vaa’i and Jordie Barrett before Robertson’s men held out a French onslaught to secure the victory.

Mickael Guillard and Cameron Woki crossed for Les Bleus, while Joris Segonds added three points from the tee with Nolann Le Garrec racking up a further nine, but ultimately, it was not enough.

The French were the first on the board as the All Blacks conceded a penalty in the seventh minute, providing Segonds with an easy shot at goal the pivot did not waste the chance to dissect the posts.

Jordie Barrett looked to have scored the opening try of New Zealand this year when the midfielder slid over the line after a marvellous attacking play, but the All Blacks were denied as prop Fletcher Newell was judged to have knocked on the ball in the build-up to the score.

From the ensuing scrum, the French struck as superb full-back Theo Attisogbe skinned Billy Proctor out wide, launching a stunning attack with Beauden Barrett making a great last-ditch tackle that seemingly denied a try.  However, France recycled the ball, and powerhouse forward Guillard thundered over the line to open up a 10-point lead after 17 minutes.

That try seemingly lit the spark for the All Blacks as captain Scott Barrett charged down a kick from Le Garrec, and that turnover of possession resulted in the first try of the year for Jordan, who benefited from a great long ball from fly-half Beauden Barrett, who added the extras.

New Zealand really started to turn the screws in the second quarter of the first half as they dominated the French scrum, earning a penalty for their efforts and subsequently kicked to the line which led to a score for Vaa’i who powered over from close range after several powerful carries from the French pack.

However, Vaa’i conceded a silly penalty at the lineout in the 32nd minute and Le Garrec made no mistake with his kick to make it a one-point game at 14-13.

That did not last long as Jordie Barrett would have the final say of the half as Jordan went from scorer to assister to send the centre over as the hosts led 21-13 at the break.

France came out of the blocks steaming in the second half as Villiere acrobatically dived over the line after an impressive 16 phases from the French.

Villiere produced another moment of brilliance to make a try-saving tackle and turnover, but that did not last long as Jordan scored a second try from the ensuing lineout.

Fabien Galthie started to empty his bench soon afterwards, and it immediately paid dividends as debutant Jaco van Tonder made a stunning linebreak with Woki rounding off the try.

Momentum looked to have swung back into the All Blacks’ favour when Jordan’s offload was judged to have been knocked down by Villiere, who was subsequently yellow-carded.  Robertson’s side went to work from the lineout and after a long passage of attack, Proctor reached out to dot the ball over the line, but he was denied upon review from the TMO, who judged that he spilt the ball over the line.

Again, the TMO would deny the All Blacks as Jordan’s hat-trick score was scratched off after Berry agreed that replacement tighthead Pasilio Tosi obstructed the French defensive line — the third time the All Blacks had been denied.

The All Blacks couldn’t breach the Shaun Edwards’ defence again in the second half as Barrett knocked over a penalty to extend the lead to four points, which sealed the victory.

The teams

All Blacks:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie

France:  15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Tom Spring, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Gael Fickou (c), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickael Guillard, 7 Killian Tixeront, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Tyler Duguid, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Giorgi Beria
Replacements:  16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Jacobus van Tonder, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Antoine Hastoy

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Christophe Ridley (England), Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
TMO:  Damon Murphy (Australia)

Wales' misery continues as Japan condemns them to 18th successive loss

Japan made an outstanding start to their two-Test series against Wales when they clinched a 24-19 triumph in their first clash in Kitakyushu on Saturday.

The result is a momentous one for the Brave Blossoms as it is only their second-ever win in 15 matches against Wales and their first triumph in this fixture since 2013.

Japan‘s head coach Eddie Jones, who also masterminded that win in Tokyo, will be delighted that his side managed to repeat that feat and will be full of confidence ahead of next weekend’s second Test in Kobe.

Meanwhile, Wales‘ horrific run at international level continues as they have now lost a record 18 Tests in a row and they only have themselves to blame for this defeat as they held a 19-7 lead at half-time.

Japan launched a stunning comeback in the second half, however, and were deserved winners in the end.

Both sides scored three tries apiece with Takuro Matsunaga, Ichigo Nakakusu and Halatoa Vailea crossing the whitewash for the home side while Seungsin Lee finished with nine-point contribution after succeeding with three conversions and a penalty.

For the visitors, Ben Thomas and Tom Rogers dotted down while they were also awarded a penalty try while Sam Costelow added a conversion.

Wales were fastest out of the blocks and opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute when they won possession at a lineout deep inside Brave Blossoms territory.

From the set-piece, Taulupe Faletau launched an attack and drew in a couple of defenders before offloading to the on-rushing Thomas, who crashed over for a deserved try.

Costelow added the extras before Japan struck back in the 16th minute when Matsunaga crossed for his five-pointer after excellent work from Kippei Ishida in the build-up.

Midway through the half, Wales extended their lead courtesy of a penalty try after Ichigo Nakakusu deliberately slapped the ball out of Josh Adams’ hands close to Japan’s try-line and Nakakusu was also yellow carded for his indiscretion.

Two minutes later, Rogers got over for his try after finding himself in space down the left-hand touchline and showing the defence a clean pair of heels with a blistering run before dotting down.

The rest of the half was characterised by plenty of thrilling action but neither side managed to score further points until half-time.

The second half was a completely different story as the Brave Blossoms soon took control of proceedings and they were rewarded in the 59th minute when Nakakusu crossed in the left-hand corner.

Lee added the extras and slotted a penalty five minutes later which meant the match was evenly poised with Wales holding a slender 19-17 lead.

Japan continued to attack as the half progressed and in the 70th minute they went ahead when Vailea crossed for his converted try off the back of a maul deep inside the visitors 22.

That gave the hosts the lead for the first time in the match and although Wales tried desperately to strike back in the game’s closing stages, it wasn’t to be as the Brave Blossoms held for a deserved victory.

The teams

Japan:  15 Takuro Matsunaga, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Shogo Nakano, 11 Malo Tuitama, 10 Seungsin Lee, 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 8 Amato Fakatava, 7 Jack Cornelsen, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Warner Deans, 4 Epineri Uluiviti, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Yota Kamimori
Replacements:  16 Hayate Era, 17 Sena Kimura, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Waisake Raratubua, 20 Ben Gunter, 21 Shuntaro Kitamura, 22 Ichigo Nakakusu, 23 Halatoa Vailea

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Liam Belcher, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 James Ratti, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Tommy Reffell, 22 Rhodri Williams, 23 Joe Roberts

Referee:  Damian Schneider (UAR)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (RFU), Luke Pearce (RFU)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

France crowned 2025 Six Nations champions after fending off Scotland

France claimed the 2025 Six Nations title after they overcame a determined Scotland side 35-16 at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.

Tries from Yoram Moefana (2), Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos, who finished with a 20-point haul, steered Les Bleus to tournament glory in front of their fans.

Scotland battled bravely throughout but missed opportunities and lack of brute force up front meant they were gradually moved out of reach of this superb France side.

Darcy Graham scored Scotland‘s only try of the game while Finn Russell kicked 11 points but Gregor Townsend’s men will rue several missed opportunities on the night.

England were hoping Scotland would do them a favour after their impressive win over Wales moved them above Les Bleus ahead of this final clash of the Championship.

However, France looked on their game from kick-off at the Stade de France as Ramos slotted a simple penalty on four minutes, this after the Scots brought down a maul.

Another maul pull-down led to Jamie Ritchie being sin-binned by referee Matthew Carley after 12 minutes, but Scotland managed to survive the ensuing French onslaught.

That was until the 17th minute when a fine side-step and offload from Gael Fickou on the Scottish 22 sent centre partner Moefana scrambling under the uprights for 10-0.

Then came a moment of controversy as France hooker Peato Mauvaka threw himself into Scotland’s Ben White on the ground, making head on head contact with the scrum-half after the referee’s whistle had blown.  However, his card remained yellow, much to the anger of plenty of supporters of Scotland who believed it should have been a straight red.

Russell would take the three points from the offence but that was soon wiped out by Ramos off the tee, who landed his own shot after Ritchie was penalised for offside.

Scotland were starting to find their groove with ball in hand and crossed the whitewash on 29 minutes when Russell’s inside ball saw Graham slice through and get over.

Russell would level matters at 13-all four minutes before the interval after Jean-Baptiste Gros was yellow carded, but Ramos kicked a penalty of his own on 39 minutes.

Scotland thought they had crossed before the interval when Russell found Jordan who crashed over.  However, Blair Kinghorn had grazed the sideline in an earlier attack.

It was a case of what if and that was only amplified when after an excellent start to the second period, Scotland found themselves under their posts in a flash when a loose pass was snapped up by Romain Ntamack, who passed it on to Bielle-Biarrey who cruised over.  With the Ramos extra two points, France were 10 points in front against the run of play.

Russell would opt for three points on 50 minutes, which made it 23-16, as Scotland had the view there was ample time left, but one wondered if they should have gambled.

France would make them rue that decision as they picked up their third and fourth try before the hour mark as Ramos and Moefana finished well to stretch the lead to 19.

That margin felt like the match had been ended as a contest and so it proved as despite Scotland continuing to chance their arm while France looked to their power game, neither side would trouble the scorers thereafter as Les Bleus subsequently cruised to their first Six Nations title since 2022 as Ireland’s Championship reign is brought to a conclusion.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickael Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio 2, Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyrill Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Antony Jelonch, 23 Nolann le Garrec

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Marshall Sykes, 21 Ben Muncaster, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (RFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

England inflict Wales' darkest day as Six Nations title chasers romp to stunning 10-try win in Cardiff

England finished their Six Nations campaign with a flourish as they inflicted Wales’ darkest day following a 68-14 hammering at the Principality Stadium.

Against their biggest rivals in the game, the Welsh were utterly outclassed by a ruthless English outfit, who were dominant from start to finish.

Steve Borthwick’s men were excellent in all facets but the tone was no doubt set by the forwards, who were absolutely brutal in contact.

They touched down five times in the first half through Maro Itoje, Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Chandler Cunningham-South and Will Stuart.

Although the visitors were not quite as impressive at the start of the second period, they still controlled matters and then ended in fine style, scoring five more times via Alex Mitchell, Joe Heyes, Cunningham-South and debutant Henry Pollock, who touched down twice.

England duly kept themselves in the Six Nations title hunt and condemned Wales to a second successive Wooden Spoon and a 17th Test loss in a row.

Borthwick stated his intention for the team to play with pace and tempo, but after what they showed against Scotland, you would have forgiven the fans for not believing what the head coach was saying.

However, England stayed true to his promise and from the kick-off looked to test the Welsh defence.  They were utterly brutal in contact with their big runners consistently sending the hosts into reverse.

It took just three minutes for the Red Rose to open the scoring.  Tom Curry made the hard yards following an inventive lineout move before Itoje took it upon himself to touch down from close range.

Wales thought they had immediately responded when Blair Murray latched on to a loose ball and scorched across the whitewash, but it was ruled out for Tomos Williams being offside.

That moment rather encapsulated the clash with seemingly everything going in the visitors’ favour in the opening period as moments later the English had their second try.

Once again the powerhouse forwards did the hard work, but this time the finesse was provided by the backs as Fin Smith’s beautifully weighted pass was collected and finished by Roebuck.

To the hosts’ credit, they did hit back when Freeman was caught out close to his line, allowing Ben Thomas to go over unopposed, but the England centre would soon get his own back.

The Northampton Saint showed his class to take advantage of more good work by those up front to shake off a couple of defenders to score.

It would begin a passage of play which saw the visitors score three tries in seven minutes as the Red Rose moved into a dominant position at half-time.

Cunningham-South was the second to go over during that blitz before Stuart was the beneficiary of a bizarre build-up.

Akin to Courtney Lawes’ try against Japan in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the Red Rose were the beneficiary of similar fortune at the Principality Stadium.

On Saturday, it was another loosehead ― Ellis Genge ― who quite literally used his head to set up the position for Fraser Dingwall and Ben Curry to combine for Stuart to cross.

Those quick-fire scores effectively ended the game as a contest and, as a result, the second period was initially a bit of a damp squib.

England’s intensity reduced and they began to make mistakes, allowing Wales opportunities to try and save face, but Matt Sherratt’s men were unable to take advantage.

The English remained resolute in defence while the Welsh were profligate and it was the visitors who were first on the scoreboard in the second period.

Once again, they were thankful for some more fortune when an attempted Wales pass hit the head of Elliot Daly, but Mitchell showed great awareness and speed to collect and score.

Of all the dreadful days in Welsh rugby, particularly over recent times, this was arguably the worst and England added to their pain when Pollock went over on debut.

Heyes then crossed the whitewash as England moved past a half-century of points and, although Thomas responded for the Welsh, Borthwick’s men deservedly had the final word through Pollock and Cunningham-South.

It completed a wonderful day for the English but Welsh rugby surely cannot sink any lower.

The teams

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Joe Roberts, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Nick Tompkins

England:  15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 George Ford

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Pierre Brousset (France), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO:  Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Dan Sheehan hat-trick papers over ropey Ireland win over Italy

A hat-trick from Dan Sheehan propelled a poor Ireland to a 22-17 victory over Italy that keeps alive their slim hopes of a Six Nations three-peat on Super Saturday.

It was a ropey performance from the reigning champions as they struggled for fluency against the Azzurri, but still managed to come away with a bonus-point success.

Hugo Keenan scored Ireland‘s other try of the game but three missed conversions from Jack Crowley gave Italy an opening and they came agonisingly close to victory.

Monty Ioane and Stephen Varney scored Italy’s tries while Tommaso Allan converted both and fired over a penalty goal as the hosts picked up the losing bonus-point.

Ireland were out of sorts during the opening stanza and will have wondered how they went into the interval in front, this after they struggled for fluency against Italy.

It was a performance best summed up as clunky as they came off second best in most departments, except for the maul, which provided them with a half-ending score.

The Azzurri started the match in fine fashion as Tommaso Menoncello lit the touchpaper with a hard line before offloading to Paolo Garbisi, who sent wing Ioane over.

Mennoncello was causing Ireland problems with his big carries and made inroads again in the early stages, with Martin Page-Relo and Juan Ignacio Brex also on song.

However, Ireland’s maul cut loose from the outset and after Finlay Bealham was denied a try a five-metre scrum saw Crowley beautifully set up Keenan for the leveller.

Italy were then dealt a double injury blow to go with Dino Lamb’s earlier shoulder dislocation as both Lorenzo Cannone and Sebastian Negri came off after 30 minutes.

An Allan penalty after an obvious offside from Garry Ringrose helped to cushion those injuries for Italy, but they would rue a moment of ill-discipline before the half.

Replacement flanker Michele Lamaro was furious with himself for knocking the ball out of Jamison Gibson-Park’s hand at the base of a ruck and received a yellow card before Ireland went for the jugular.  It paid off as their maul bore fruit again and this time the try stood as Sheehan was at the tail of a fast moving set-piece for a 12-10 lead.

Crucially Ireland backed up that try with a score soon after the resumption when a penalty went to the corner and the maul yet again steered Sheehan over for a brace.

And things would get immediately worse for Italy from the ensuing kick off when replacement Ross Vintcent made head on head contact with Keenan which resulted in a yellow card that was later upgraded to red by the bunker, thus compounding the Azzurri’s third-quarter woes that have hindered their Six Nations over recent weekends.

Ireland sensed their hosts were there for the taking and they duly racked up their bonus point score on 58 minutes when Gibson-Park found Mack Hansen with a cross-field kick and the wing batted it back to hooker Sheehan who completed his hat-trick.  Crowley was wide from the tee and was replaced by Sam Prendergast shortly after.

Crowley’s missed conversions were suddenly amplified when a moment of Ange Capuozzo magic led to Varney going over and with Garbisi’s extras, Italy were in touch.

However, the Azzurri could not make their possession count late in the game and a red card for replacement hooker Giacomo Nicotera ended their hopes of a shock win.

The teams

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

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Bundee Aki

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO:  Andrew Jackson (England)

Seven-try England beat Italy to move above Ireland on Six Nations table

A second-half flurry of tries helped England see off the challenge of Italy in a 47-24 home victory that puts them right in the hunt for Six Nations glory next week.

Tries from Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme (2), Marcus Smith, Tom Curry and Ben Earl saw them to a seven-try win, with Fin Smith sending over 12 points.

However, a serious injury to Ollie Lawrence that left him in a protective boot will concern head coach Steve Borthwick ahead of next week’s meeting against Wales in Cardiff.

Ange Capuozzo, Ross Vintcent and Tommaso Menoncello crossed for Italy but they will be hugely disappointed at how they fell apart in the second 40, this after a good start.

The opening period was wonderfully entertaining as both sides threw caution to the wind in welcome March sunshine as those in attendance were treated to five first-half tries.

England struck first as early as the third minute when a break down the right wing from Freeman saw him offload to Tom Curry before the recycled ball saw Willis dive over.

However, joy turned to despair soon after when star centre Lawrence departed the action after dropping to the ground off the ball with what appeared to be an Achilles injury.

Italy would respond to the break in play the better as two chip kicks over the top, the first from Paolo Garbisi and second from Monty Ioane, found Capuozzo, who raced over.

7-7 could easily have been 10-7 to Italy on 23 minutes but Garbisi was wayward with his penalty attempt and England would make them pay soon after down the other end.

The hosts went close and felt aggrieved when Earl was tackled in a maul, but a minute later a kick in behind from Elliot Daly led to Freeman getting there first for his score.

But Italy once again struck back in style with full-back Capuozzo involved, this time scorching through a tiny hole on halfway before finding Vintcent who raced over to level.

The end-to-end nature of the match continued on 35 minutes though when England went wide left to where Sleightholme was in space and he sprinted over to make it 21-14.

Italy did manage to reduce the arrears before half-time courtesy of a Garbisi penalty and would have been pleased with their efforts going in for a rest just four points adrift.

However, England came out for the resumption in scintillating form as a quick-fire double from Marcus Smith and Tom Curry moved them up to a 35-17 lead on 47 minutes.

That became 42-17 six minutes later when slick handling from Maro Itoje and Jamie George set Sleightholme up for his brace and Fin Smith slotted the tough touchline extras.

There was then a lull in the fixture as England had the result and try bonus point safely wrapped up and rang the changes with the 100-cap George one of those departing.

That drought would end on the 71st minute when Martin Page-Relo found Menoncello for Italy’s third try but Ben Curry sent Earl over late on as England had the last say.

The teams

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith

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

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Craig Evans (Wales), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Wales' losing streak extends to 16 after Six Nations defeat to Scotland

Wales were made to count the cost of a shambolic first 60 minutes after Scotland claimed a 35-29 victory in the Six Nations on Saturday.

After the improvement against Ireland, this was a step backwards from the Welsh, who were overwhelmed by an impressive Scottish team in the opening hour.

The result was effectively confirmed at the break as Tom Jordan’s double, allied by further scores by Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham, moved them 28-8 ahead going into the second period.

Blair Murray responded for the visitors in the opening period, while Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams and Max Llewellyn also touched down in the second half to rescue two bonus-points, but Blair Kinghorn sealed his brace to make sure of a victory for the hosts.

It moved Scotland up to third in the Six Nations table ― for the time being at least ― and within an outside chance of the title going into the final weekend, but this game mostly served as an opportunity for redemption after the England disappointment.

As for the Welsh, credit must be given for their response in the final 20 minutes, which gave them tangible reward for their efforts, but they were outclassed for the most part.

Hopes were high that Wales could finally end their barren streak and, after they earned an early penalty, which Gareth Anscombe converted, eyebrows would have been raised further, but it proved to be a rather chastening first 60 minutes for the visitors.

Matt Sherratt’s men were ripped apart time and time again, with the opening try showing just how fallible this team still is as Kinghorn shrugged off a couple of tackles to touch down.

Scotland, after their immensely frustrating defeat to England, were also fired up and played some outstanding rugby.  Gregor Townsend’s side moved the ball so well at Twickenham two weeks ago and once again they found gaps in the opposition defence.

That was demonstrated by their second try as a sweeping move from right to left saw Duhan van der Merwe send Huw Jones free down the left.  The centre then drew the final defender and sent Jordan over the line to open up a 14-3 lead.

Wales’ only real bright spark was New Zealand-born Murray and the livewire back latched on to Anscombe’s smart chip kick to get them back in the contest.

However, that Welsh delight was only brief as the Scots reasserted their authority and went over for the third time.  On this occasion it was Graham who scored but the wing was indebted to Finn Russell after the fly-half dummied and sent him through a hole to touch down.

A fourth try ― and thus the bonus-point ― was soon forthcoming when Jordan completed his brace for a 20-point lead at the break.

Although Wales mounted a remarkable comeback last year and almost snatched an unlikely win, Scotland effectively had the game wrapped up six minutes into the second period.

Townsend’s team once again dominated the physical exchanges and stressed Wales’ defence, which opened the space for Kinghorn to race through a large gap and cross the whitewash.

To Wales’ credit, however, they continued to work hard and they got their reward in the final quarter with two tries for Thomas and Teddy Williams.

It could have been a third in quick succession when Taulupe Faletau touched down ― which certainly would have made Scotland fans nervous ― but it was controversially ruled out for Murray ‘jumping over a tackle’ in the build-up.

That ended any faint hopes of a fightback, although the Welshmen did get a final score with the clock in the red when Llewellyn crossed, giving them two bonus-points.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Stafford McDowall, 23 Kyle Rowe

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Joe Roberts

Referee:  Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Fantastic France thump Ireland despite Antoine Dupont injury as Simon Easterby's side suffer massive blow in search for historic Six Nations three-peat

France turned the 2025 Six Nations on its head as they produced a stunning display to hammer Ireland 42-27 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Much of the talk beforehand was about Fabien Galthie’s decision to go with a 7-1 split on the bench, but the decision paid off despite seeing their star man Antoine Dupont limp off in the first half and end with a forward in the backline after Pierre-Louis Barassi suffered a head injury.

Maxime Lucu came on for Dupont and was utterly magnificent as Les Bleus built on an 8-6 half-time lead given to them by Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s try and Thomas Ramos’ penalty.

Ireland had actually gone ahead after the break through Dan Sheehan, whose try followed two first-half three-pointers by Sam Prendergast, but the visitors would go on to thrash Simon Easterby’s charges.

They played some superb rugby at times and further tries from Paul Boudehent, Bielle-Biarrey, Oscar Jegou and Damian Penaud took them to a potentially defining Six Nations success.

France moved to the top of the table and, providing they beat Scotland next weekend, will end Ireland’s chances of claiming an unprecedented three-peat.

It was always going to be a brutal encounter and the opening quarter set the tone for the match as both teams went into contact viciously.

Ireland dominated the opening 20 minutes as they kept the French guessing with their dexterity with ball in hand.  Les Bleus did not help themselves by conceding a series of penalties, but the hosts were putting them under severe duress.

Somehow Galthie’s men managed to survive the onslaught with some incredible last-ditch defence and that proved crucial in the end result.

France eventually managed to edge themselves into the contest and, after having a try ruled out for a knock-on following a turnover, they opened the scoring minutes later.

It started with Thomas Ramos and Bielle-Biarrey linking up down the left-hand side before the wing chipped over the top.  Although Robbie Henshaw was there to clean up, earlier in the move Joe McCarthy cynically pulled Ramos back and was duly sin-binned.

With the lock off the field, the visitors took advantage as they mauled towards the line before Dupont spotted space out wide and Bielle-Biarrey was on hand to touch down.

However, the away side suffered what seemed like a huge blow when their talisman was taken off with a serious-looking injury after Tadhg Beirne landed on his leg.

Officials have clamped down on those type of acts over the past couple of years but not this time as it was deemed to have been an accidental collision.

Ireland would take advantage of that let-off as Prendergast’s two penalties to Ramos’ one kept them in the game at the interval.

They then moved ahead as Sheehan’s score from a dominant drive gave the hosts a 13-8 advantage, but from thereon in it was all about Galthie’s side.

The French were utterly magnificent and responded immediately to that effort from the hooker as a brilliant move resulted in Boudehent crossing the whitewash.

In that same attack, Calvin Nash took Barassi high and it resulted in a yellow card for the winger.

France would once again take advantage of the extra man when Penaud instigated a counter-attack and found Bielle-Biarrey on the left.  The youngster still had loads to do but, of course, the special talent found a way, kicking ahead and touching down.

At that point, Ireland were still just about in the game but the fresh French forwards were doing their job and another infringement enabled Ramos to extend the lead from the tee.

All the momentum was with the visitors and their ‘Bomb Squad’ made the desired impact as Jegou touched down from close range.

That was well and truly game over, with Ireland’s Grand Slam dreams fading, but they still wanted to really rubberstamp the win and that came through Penaud, despite a couple of late scores via Cian Healy and Jack Conan.

The teams

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

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Emmanuel Meafou, 20 Hugo Auradou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

France send warning to Ireland with 11-try demolition of Italy

France went some way to answering their critics as they produced a stunning performance to absolutely hammer Italy 73-24 at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Two weeks after they were heavily criticised for losing to England, Les Bleus took out their frustration on the Azzurri by playing some absolutely spellbinding rugby.

Unlike at Twickenham, everything seemed to go to hand and they ended up crossing the whitewash 11 times.  That was despite going 7-0 behind to an early Tommaso Menoncello score.

Five of the tries came in the first half as Mickael Guillard, Peato Mauvaka, Antoine Dupont, Paul Boudehent and Leo Barre all touched down.

Dupont and Barre would both go over again in the second period while Gregory Alldritt, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Theo Attissogbe and Pierre-Louis Barassi also got their name on the scoresheet.

Juan Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi followed Menoncello in touching down for the Italians but it was very much France’s day, who set up a mouth-watering clash with title favourites Ireland in the fourth round of the Six Nations.

Les Bleus were criticised for their profligacy against England but that accusation could not be thrown at them in Rome, despite seeing the hosts go ahead after an early Barre try was ruled out for a forward pass.

Thomas Ramos was the player penalised and that error was to prove costly as from the resultant scrum, Brex sent Menoncello through a hole and the young centre did the rest with a brilliant finish.

However, France would soon find their rhythm.  They absolutely dominated the collisions, with the Italian rearguard failing to deal with the ferocity of their opponents, and Dupont duly dictated proceedings.

Guillard was the first player to go over for the visitors as he powered through some weak tackling.  Although a Tommaso Allan penalty took the Azzurri back in front, it was only brief and two quick-fire tries rather encapsulated the game.

The first, a close-range Mauvaka effort from a driving maul was all about the forwards, but the second, which saw some lovely hands by the backline and ended in Dupont touching down, showed the other side of their game.

That beautiful balance was too much for the Italians, even if the hosts themselves constructed a stunning try for Brex just shy of the half-hour mark.

While there were brief moments of class from Gonzalo Quesada’s men, what the French were producing was simply a level or two above.  Everything was in sync and they added two more scores before the break via Boudehent and Barre to move 18 points clear going into the second period.

It was not necessarily game over at that point, given the chances Italy had created in the first half, but their spirit had been broken and France remained dominant throughout the second period.

They were playing some truly wonderful rugby and Alldritt added their sixth try before a stunning Attissogbe off-load allowed Bielle-Biarrey to cross for a seventh.

Italy could simply not stem the haemorrhaging and that man Dupont soon went over for a brace.  This time it was Yoram Moefana with the excellent hands that enabled the great scrum-half to add to his and France’s tally.

To the home side’s credit, they mustered enough of a response for Garbisi to score their third try, but it proved to be a brief respite as Barre joined Dupont on a double.

France did not relent and in the final five minutes, Attissogbe and Barassi rounded off a remarkable performance from Les Bleus.

The teams

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Joshua Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla

France:  15 Leo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Oscar Jegou, 21 Alexandre Roumat, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (FFR)

Finn Russell misses cost Scotland, England win Calcutta Cup

Finn Russell’s three missed conversions proved costly as Scotland somehow lost the Calcutta Cup following a 16-15 defeat to a poor England side at Twickenham.

The visitors utterly dominated the opening hour of the game but they found themselves just 10-7 ahead thanks to tries from Ben White and Huw Jones.

England’s only response came via Tommy Freeman but it was enough to keep them in the contest as the Scots’ profligacy harmed them.

The Red Rose would duly take advantage despite their pretty abysmal display with Marcus Smith kicking two three-pointers and Fin Smith adding one of his own which would confirm the win.

That was despite a remarkable ending to the match as Scotland manufactured a brilliantly worked try for Duhan van der Merwe.

It left Russell with a conversion out wide to win it but, like his other two efforts, it drifted wide of the uprights as Scotland failed to go five in a row against England.

Irrespective of what Scotland have done or what they go on to do, they always bring the performance against England and by and large they did so again on Saturday.

Considering how poor they were against Ireland and for large parts of their game with Italy, logic dictated that Gregor Townsend’s men would struggle at Twickenham, but they were excellent in the first half.

England’s defence certainly helped as their narrowness and passiveness enabled Russell, Tom Jordan and Blair Kinghorn to pick them off.

Scotland spread the ball wide with regularity and, as a result, that man Van der Merwe once again thrived.

The gargantuan wing was hugely influential for the first score as his off-load, combined with good hands from Kinghorn, sent Jordan free.  Although the centre still had plenty to do, he sent a beautiful pass inside for White to finish.

England did hit back as a spell of pressure resulted in Freeman crossing the whitewash, but the visitors were by far the better side.

Every time they had the ball in opposition territory they looked like creating something, which rather meant their two-try return in the opening half would have probably disappointed head coach Townsend.

Jones would get their second after more superb work from Van der Merwe, but they would fail to add to that for the next 60 minutes.

In fact, the Scots could have gone into the break behind had Ollie Lawrence got his off-load right having initially sent Marcus Smith clear.

Smith took play to within five metres before the centre got his hands on the ball for the second time, but his attempted pass went straight into touch to end the half.

Quite frankly, England were fortunate to only be three points behind at the break but they didn’t seem to heed the warning as Scotland continued to control matters in the second period.

Townsend’s outfit were comfortable against this English team but they almost became too relaxed as they failed to add to the scoreboard.

As a result, it enabled the hosts to edge their way into the contest and when the Scots conceded a penalty, Marcus Smith levelled matters off the tee.

All of a sudden, the visitors started to make errors and the Red Rose capitalised, with the two Smiths kicking a penalty apiece to take them 16-10 ahead.

That looked to have sealed the win for England, but there was a dramatic conclusion when Scotland manufactured another brilliant try.

Stafford McDowall scythed through the middle and the ball was sent out wide for Van der Merwe to finish.  It left Russell with a difficult conversion and for the third time in the game he missed to hand England the win and the Calcutta Cup.

The teams

England:  15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellie Genge
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

Referee:  Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO:  Tual Trainini (France)