United States 31 Uruguay 17

The USA bagged second spot in the Pan-American Championship in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires, putting paid to Uruguay with a 31-17 scoreline.

Uruguay finished bottom of the competition, having lost all their games, and Los Teros came in for heavy criticism from USA coach Tom Billups due to their misplaced aggression, which saw four players yellow-carded.

"It is unfortunate that the Uruguayans decided to bring such a thuggish attitude to the contest," said Billups.

"All rugby players are vulnerable at some time or other in a game, and there were times when red cards must have been considered."

Centre Philip Eloff opened the scoring for the Eagles in the opening minute with a try after David Fee had broken through the defence to find his support runner -- Eloff running in the score from halfway.

Both teams kicked a penalty before America's second try, scored by fullback Paul Emerick after barging his way over.

The Uruguayans scored a converted try from a dab ahead, but a further penalty from Hercus and a try from wing Riaan Van Zyl restored the Eagles' lead to 25-10 at the interval.

Hercus struck a penalty and dropped a goal as a messy second half got underway, before Uruguay hit back with their second try -- the last points of the match.

The Teams:

United States:  1 Dan Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Mike MacDonald, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Alec Parker, 6 Jurie Gouws, 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle (c), 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Mike Hercus, 11 David Fee, 12 Jason Keyter, 13 Phillip Eloff, 14 Riaan Van Zyl, 15 Paul Emerick
Reserves:  Gerhard Klerck, Aaron Satchwell, Jacob Waasdorp, Matt Wyatt
Unused:  Kain Cross, Richard Liddington, Mose Timoteo

Uruguay:  1 Pablo Lemoine, 2 Diego Lamelas, 3 Juan Machado, 4 Juan Alzueta, 5 Juan Carlos Bado, 6 Nicolas Brignoni, 7 Nicolas Grille, 8 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 9 Juan Campomar, 10 Bernardo Amarillo, 11 Carlos Baldassari, 12 Diego Aguirre (c), 13 Hilario Canessa, 14 Joaquin Pastore, 15 Juan Menchaca
Reserves:  Eduardo Berruti, Jose Viana, Marcelo Gutierrez, Hernan Ponte
Unused:  Juan Alvarez, Guillermo Storace, Emiliano Caffera

Referee:  Borsani s.

Points Scorers:

United States
Tries:  Emerick P.L. 1, Eloff P. 1, Van Zyl R. 1
Conv:  Hercus M. 2
Pen K.:  Hercus M. 3
Drop G.:  Hercus M. 1

Uruguay
Tries:  Campomar J. 1, Ponte H. 1
Conv:  Menchaca J. 1, Amarillo B. 1
Pen K.:  Menchaca J. 1

England 16 France 17

France extended their perfect run at Marseille's Stade Velodrome, with Les Bleus fielding something near their strongest team and squeezing home 17-16 against an England outfit minus many of its star names -- ending England's 14-match winning streak in the process.

Not since March 2002 -- against France in Paris -- had England been beaten, and now any thoughts of breaking the world record run of consecutive Test wins can go out of the window -- although a combative French side were good value for their win after applying sufficient elbow grease in key areas.

Even the hot-and-cold kicking and decision-making of their fly-half Frédéric Michalak could not throw them off the scent, with the Toulouse star adding three penalties and a drop-goal to fullback Nicolas Brusque's first-half try.

Two late drop-goal attempts from England fly-half Paul Grayson were in vain, as they battled well against a hungry French pack, but were visibly missing star names such as Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson -- with only three or four of their starters from this match likely to figure in the first-choice World Cup side.

And the teams meet again at Twickenham on Saturday, a match in which England coach Clive Woodward has signalled his intent to field some of his frontline players to get them in the World Cup swing.

There were a number of solid performances by the men in white, not least from try-scorer Mike Tindall, although the centre limped off the field midway through the second half in what may well be a worry for the management.

Fit-again Austin Healey started at scrum-half and was one of the oustanding England performers, showing nerve and direction, while flankers Martin Corry and Lewis Moody also gave good physical accounts of themselves in the open field, covering yard after yard.

For France, in what was pretty much their main starting XV, virtually all of the tight five can pat themselves on the back for their superb scrummaging, while second rower Fabien Pelous excelled throughout.

The relaxed play of fly-half Michalak will no doubt have nerves jangling however, and his often wasteful use of posession will have frustrated captain Fabien Galthié, who was his usual bustling self.

With both sides bedecked in their bizarre new skin-tight kits, the sets of players looked more like cyclists, sprinters or rave dancers than rugby players, and with a whole host having to go off for running repairs on their figure-hugging attire, it seems work still needs to be done by the manufacturers.

It was France who had the early lead with a Michalak penalty after only two minutes, but Grayson levelled the scores six minutes later with one of his own.

The 60,000 capacity crowd were on their feet when Christophe Dominici broke through a tackle and hared away down the left-wing towards the tryline, although play was brought back for a previous infringement.

But despite most of the play being in the tight exchanges, it was a back who scored the opening try, with the shaven-headed Tindall powering his way over after a long line-out down the left-wing, taking the ball at second receiver before bashing his way through a double tackle on the 22, having a clear run to the line thereafter.

Grayson converted, and got France on the back foot with some well-taken punts, although when he chipped the French defence in the corner for Iain Balshaw to touch down a try -- the Bath speedster was judged to have been in front of the kicker, and the score was chalked off.

But France were pressuring upfront, especially in the scrums, their dominance however failing to be rewarded by the inconsistent boot of Michalak, who missed two penalties and a conversion before the half was out.

He did however strike a cool drop-goal to bring the deficit back to four points, and Les Bleus took the lead not long after when fullback Brusque crashed over in the left corner for a try -- a handy midfield scrum seeing the ball worked wide before cutting it back inside and flat-footing the English defence.

It looked they would be back behind soon after as England No.8 Alex Sanderson charged down a Michalak clearance, only to bounce the ball in his attempt to ground it -- the video referee being called upon to make the tough decision.

A penalty apiece for Grayson and Michalak in first-half injury-time took the score to 14-13 in favour of the hosts at the interval -- referee Lawrence playing a whole eight minutes of extra time before blowing the whistle.

As the second half started, Grayson got an apt reminder of the presence of the French pack when Pelous clattered him with a beauty of a tackle.

With France having more than their fair share of the ball, a deft crossfield kick caught the England defence unawares, with Brusque chasing the kick into the left corner only for the video referee -- after a lengthy ponder -- to rule that he had a hand on the whitewash of the dead ball area when he touched the ball down.  It was a lucky escape for England, who were caught napping.

Michalak fired wide with a drop-goal attempt not long after, and with England captain Dorian West leaving the field for Steve Thompson, the mantle of captaincy passed to Grayson, who struggled at times with punting off his left foot, and never looked to have anything near the same sort of running threat of first choice Jonny Wilkinson, despite having a generally solid game.

And it was Grayson who nudged England into the lead on the 60-minute mark with a penalty from right of the posts, but Michalak put Les Bleus back on track with a quick reply, his penalty bouncing in off the top of the upright to claim what would actually be the last points of the match, with 20 minutes still left.

The latter stages saw French territorial domination, with midfield big-hitter Brian Liebenberg coming on to good effect, although his prime use seemed to be as a battering ram and a clearance man at the ruck.

He did however potentially save France the match as a frantic England mounted an injury-time onslaught, charging down a Grayson drop-goal attempt, with the fly-half then going on to fire another attempt wide of the posts moments later.

That miss brought about the full-time whistle, as France made it four wins from four matches at the Stade Velodrome -- with the notable scalps of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and now England to have fallen in what is rapidly becoming a rugby graveyard for the world's top sides.

Ahead of next week's rematch at Twickenham however, there may be enough chinks in the armour to suggest that a more familiar-looking England team can turn this result around.

Man of the match:  With the domination exerted by the French pack, our award really has to go to one of their front five, and for his all-round play, lock Fabien Pelous is the recipient, although tighthead prop Sylvain Marconnet could also have a near equal claim, while wing Christophe Dominici looked good on the odd occasion he got the ball.  For England, Austin Healey was outstanding at scrum-half, exercising good decision-making and proving his World Cup fitness, while openside Lewis Moody and centre Mike Tindall were among those to shine.

Moment of the match:  In an interesting game short on raw electrifying incidents, the well-crafted first-half try of French fullback Nicolas Brusque gets our vote, with the ball being shifted left through the hands before finding its way to Brusque on a straightening line -- the Biarritz player racing for the left corner and slamming the ball down under the challenge of the frantic English tacklers.

Villain of the match:  While it is sorely tempting to cite the cringingly tight shirts worn by both teams for our award due to crimes against fashion and male dignity, our decision goes to the member of the England support team who ran up the touchline and interfered with the (missed) conversion attempt of Frédéric Michalak after Brusque's try.  Michalak, to his credit, did not let the incident faze him, and while it may well have been an accidental transgression, it still could have easily soured the game.

The Teams:

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Dorian West (c), 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Steve Borthwick, 6 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Alex Sanderson, 9 Austin Healey, 10 Paul Grayson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Tindall, 13 Ollie Smith, 14 Josh Lewsey, 15 Iain Balshaw
Reserves:  Andy Gomarsall, Jason Leonard, Simon Shaw, Jamie Noon, Steve Thompson
Unused:  Andy Hazell, Dave Walder

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Yannick Bru, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Fabien Pelous, 5 Jerome Thion, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  David Auradou, Raphael Ibanez, Sebastien Chabal, Brian Liebenberg, Olivier Milloud, Patrick Tabacco
Unused:  Xavier Garbajosa

Attendance:  60000
Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

England
Tries:  Tindall M.J. 1
Conv:  Grayson P.J. 1
Pen K.:  Grayson P.J. 3

France
Tries:  Brusque N. 1
Pen K.:  Michalak F. 3
Drop G.:  Michalak F. 1

Ireland 61 Italy 6

Ireland cruised to an overwhelming 61-6 victory over Italy at Thomond Park in Limerick in their World Cup warm-up match, with wing Denis Hickie running in four fantastic tries.

Italy fullback Gert Peens had an opportunity to open the scoring for the Italians in the first minute of the game, but he pushed it wide of the posts and it was left to Ireland fly-half David Humphreys to put one over for Ireland to move the hosts into the lead.

The Italians defended with reckless abandon in the first half and the Irish struggled to break the line until Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll managed to swing the ball out wide to John Kelly, who beat the last of the defence to dot down on the stroke of half-time.

Peens and Humphreys traded penalties to leave the score on 9-6 with 39 minutes on the clock before Kelly broke the deadlock with the score just before the break.

Ireland finished the half in style, however, when left-wing Denis Hickie broke through the Italian defence on the half-way line, rounded Peens and went over for a brilliant solo effort to touch down underneath the posts for the first of his tries.  Humphreys stretched the lead with the conversion as Ireland went into the break leading 23-6.

Ireland picked up the tempo in the second half, and hooker Shane Byrne picked up the try when the TV referee was brought into play after the Irish forwards drove over the line, and 10 minutes later Hickie managed to latch onto a brillaint cross-kick by Humphries to dot down.

The Italian defence, which was so resolute in the first-half, finally broke, and the Irish began to run riot.  Hickie then went on to equal O'Driscoll's Irish record of 18 tries as he ran in for his third, and then broke it with his fourth leaving the Limerick crowd roaring for more.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Reggie Corrigan, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Marcus Horan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Leo Cullen, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Eric Miller, 8 Victor Costello, 9 Guy Easterby, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Jonathan Bell, Kieron Dawson, Brian O'Meara, Justin Fitzpatrick, Geordan Murphy, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul Shields

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Cristian Bezzi, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Andrea De Rossi, 8 Sergio Parisse, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Francesco Mazzariol, 11 Diego Sacca, 12 Matteo Barbini, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Carlo Festuccia, Matthew Phillips, Andrea Masi, Aaron Persico
Unused:  Matteo Mazzantini, Ramiro Martinez-Frugoni, Ramiro Pez

Attendance:  14000
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Dempsey G.T. 1, Kelly J.P. 1, Hickie D.A. 4, Humphreys D.G. 1, Byrne S.J. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 6
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 3

Italy
Pen K.:  Peens G. 2

Wales 23 Scotland 9

Wales finally got a credible win under their belts on Saturday after a year of pure torment, as they got the better of an adventurous Scotland by a 23-9 scoreline at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

While the second-string Welsh midweek team may have technically ended the country's barren run on Wednesday by beating a hapless Romania side, this victory over Scotland will be a major relief to beleaguered coach Steve Hansen, who has endured intense scrutiny in the Welsh media of late.

And there was much to be positive about in his side's display, not least the cultured centre play of Iestyn Harris, who dominated the game from No.12 and struck five valuable penalties for his side -- only a missed conversion attempt blotting his copybook.

The only try of the match came in the second half when lock Michael Owen crossed the line for Wales, against a Scotland team who showed great attacking flair in the first half, but whose play took on a comparably directionless appearance as the match wore on.

Scrum-half Graeme Beveridge provided quick but occasionally wayward service to his backs, and lacked the spark of the nippy Mike Blair or injured skipper Bryan Redpath, with captain for this game, lock Scott Murray, also leaving the field with a knee injury after only half an hour.

Three penalties from centre Brendan Laney were all the Scots had to show for their efforts, although despite the disappointment of defeat, players such as openside Andrew Mower, wing Simon Danielli and prop Bruce Douglas put in solid displays.

There was a frantic Super 12-style start to the game, and Scotland's short-haired props Gavin Kerr and Bruce Douglas must have felt like they were driving a soft-top into a car-wash machine when they scrummaged against Welsh duo Adam Jones and namesake Paul, both of whom were sporting enormous mop-top hairstyles.

Openside Richard Parks and blindside Colin Charvis likewise have volume in abundance in the folical department, although the resulting wind resistance did not seem to slow their game down.

With the game only minutes old, Laney nudged the Scots ahead with a well-struck penalty from all of 40 metres, before a quick-fire three from Harris -- one via the post, transformed the scoreline and sent Wales 9-3 in front.

Both sides made the running in a free-flowing opening, with Charvis twice breaking the line and streaking away, both times failing however to turn his territorial gains into a score.

Likewise, Scotland fullback Glenn Metcalfe caused havoc in the Welsh defence, side-stepping his way through the midfield and linking well with the support runners.

Both back rows showed energy, and Mower enjoyed a free 40-metre run before being hauled down by the defence -- the resulting recycle seeing Wales snaffle the ball at the feet of the scrum-half with the Scottish pack offering no protection.

Harris nudged Wales three points further in the lead with a fourth penalty, while a second for Laney brought the half-time score to 12-6 in favour of the Welsh -- the Kiwi going on to miss one just before the break from left of the posts.

The second half was not played at quite the same break-neck speed as the first, with Harris and Laney each striking a penalty in the opening five minutes -- just before the first and only try of the game.

It came from a miss pass by the cool Harris in midfield, and he found the industrious Shanklin, who stepped and burst through two tacklers before hurtling at full tilt towards the line.

He was stopped just short, but from the recycle the ball was worked left to second row Owen, who stepped inside an unconvincing challenge from fullback Metcalfe to fall over the line for the try.

Scotland applied a degree of forward pressure from this point onwards, producing superb continuity at times, and frustrating handling errors at others, but some of their quick hands in the tackle were sublime.

Despite the defeat, coach Ian McGeechan got to see 20 minutes of wing Chris Paterson at fly-half after coming on from the bench, having earlier featured in the No.10 shirt in a non-cap match against the Barbarians to some degree of success as the coach assesses his talent there.

He made impressive runs with his first two breaks, but failed -- much like Wales' Ceri Sweeney -- to really stamp his authority on the match.

Sweeney struck a late drop-goal to round the scoring off in a match which may have limited significance in the bigger picture, but which threw up some performances worthy of World Cup consideration -- Wales captain Colin Charvis and centre Shanklin among those to have shone.

Man of the match:  An assured all-round display from Wales inside centre Iestyn Harris sees the former Rugby League man get our award.  He kicked his goals well, showed superb vision and attacking flair, but also an understanding of when to clear the danger.  Openside Richard Parks fared well but gave away a host of penalties, while for the Scots there was a competent showing from Brendan Laney at inside centre, especially as he held his nerve witht the boot.

Moment of the match:  There were assorted passages of play where the Scots dazzled with their entertaining ability to pass the ball out of the tackle, but for one specific moment of the game look no further than Michael Owen's try for Wales, especially the way in which it was set up by centre Tom Shanklin's powerful break.

Villain of the match:  In a match without fisticuffs or any real nastiness, our villainous award goes to the shiny white boots of Scotland fullback Glenn Metcalfe, who looked like a car on a skid-pan all afternoon, falling over on at least five occasions.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Duncan Jones, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Michael Owen, 5 Vernon Cooper, 6 Richard Parks, 7 Colin Charvis (c), 8 Alix Popham, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Jamie Robinson, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Matthew Watkins, 15 Garan Evans
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Haldane Luscombe, Rhys Oakley, Gareth Llewellyn
Unused:  Nicky Robinson, Mike Phillips, Ben Evans

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Gavin Kerr, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Andrew Mower, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Jon Petrie, 9 Graeme Beveridge, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Rory Kerr, 12 Brendan Laney, 13 Andrew Craig, 14 Simon Danielli, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves:  Andrew Dall, Dougie Hall, Nathan Hines, Gordon McIlwham, Chris Paterson
Unused:  Michael Blair, Andrew Henderson

Attendance:  24740
Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Owen M.J. 1
Pen K.:  Harris I.R. 5
Drop G.:  Sweeney C. 1

Scotland
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 3

Argentina 62 Canada 22

Argentina showed their total domination yet again on Saturday as they completed their clean sweep in the Pan-American Championship, this time claiming the scalp of Canada to the tune of 62-22 in Buenos Aires.

Los Pumas ran in nine tries in total, and having beaten the USA and Uruguay earlier in the competition, they were the emphatic tournament winners.

Canada meanwhile end up in third place behind the USA, while Uruguay finish bottom, having failed to win a single game.

But it is the form of the Pumas which may be of more significant global interest.  One of the undoubted form sides in world rugby at present, they seem to have found their scoring touch, which they will need for tough pool matches against Australia and Ireland come October and November time.

Argentina scrum-half and captain Agustin Pichot opened the scoring for the Pumas early on with a try in the corner, but Canada actually had the lead when Leeds Tykes fullback Winston Stanley broke through to cross the line.

Gonzalo Longo and Ignacio Fernández Lobbe added tries for the hosts after both sides had exchanged penalty kicks, before Castres lock Lobbe then being barged over for a second try for a 27-10 half-time advantage.

With Canada's Sean Fauth in the sin-bin, Argentina made the most of their numerical advantage with a three-try blitz, with scores coming from fly-half Felipe Contepomi, wing José María Nuñez Piossek and back row Rolando Martin, all converted by Contepomi.

Kevin Tkachuk then went over from a Canadian rolling maul to show that the visitors were not lying down altogether, but Pumas wing Piossek sped over for his second, followed by replacement lock Rimas Álvarez soon after.

Canada's Australian fullback James Pritchard then ran the length of the field to score a try as the end of the game approached, with his coach David Clark hailing the never-say-die attitude of his men.

"Nobody else scored 22 points against them, and we scored three good tries, one of them to end the game," said Clark.

"There was some very good, hard driving forward play which was very pleasing against a team that is renowned for that kind of stuff.

"Argentina is a very skillful and well organised side.  Pichot is the master of direction and they have a very fine back-line.  I could see them playing in the semi-finals of the World Cup."

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Roberto Grau, 2 Mario Ledesma Arocena, 3 Omar Hasan Jalil, 4 Patricio Albacete, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Juan Martin Hernandez
Reserves:  Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, Ignacio Corleto, Martin Durand, Gonzalo Quesada, Martin Scelzo
Unused:  Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Federico Mendez

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 John Thiel, 4 Mike James (c), 5 Colin Yukes, 6 Jim Douglas, 7 Jeff Reid, 8 Josh Jackson, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 Sean Fauth, 12 John Cannon, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Winston Stanley, 15 James Pritchard
Reserves:  Garth Cooke, Ed Knaggs, Mark Lawson, Kevin Tkachuk, Matt King, Ryan Smith
Unused:  Ed Fairhurst

Referee:  Veldsman s.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Nunez Piossek J.M. 2, Contepomi F. 1, Pichot A. 1, Fernandez Lobbe C.I. 2, Longo Elia G.M. 1, Martin R.A. 1, Alvarez Kairelis R.E. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 7
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 1

Canada
Tries:  Pritchard J. 1, Stanley W.U. 1, Tkachuk K. 1
Conv:  Ross R.P. 2
Pen K.:  Ross R.P. 1

Canada 20 United States 35

The USA Eagles beat Canada by 35-20 in their Pan-American Championship fixture in Buenos Aires on Wednesday evening, with the winners outscoring the Canucks by four tries to two, giving them two successive wins over their North American rivals.

The Eagles, who were hammered in the first round by Argentina, played with discipline, patience and power, running into 20-6 half-time lead, despite being forced to play into the wind in the first stanza.

The more consistent Americans scored four tries, two in each half, as they dominated the line-out and gave fly-half Mike Hercus every opportunity to use his boot as he amassed 20 points through a try, three conversions, two penalties and a drop-goal.

America's first try came through Hercus as he tore through a gap in Canada's line after a series of phases in Canada's 22 that stretched the defence.

Wing Riaan van Zyl scored on a similar play at 36 minutes as James Pritchard accounted for Canada's first-half points with two penalties.  Hercus also struck a penalty and a drop-goal before the half.

Scrum-half Kevin Dalzell notched up his side's third try shortly after half-time, with prop Dan Dorsey getting their fourth try.  Hercus kicked a penalty and a conversion for a 35-13 lead before a Morgan Williams try and a James Pritchard conversion made the final score 35-20.

"The difference was that we were very naive," said Canada coach David Clark after the game.

"We played as individuals rather than as a team.  We lose our structure too easily when put under pressure as the Americans applied tonight.  We didn't use the wind to our advantage as we should have and could have done.

"We lost line-outs and didn't adjust to American pressure and we didn't follow the gameplan.  Full marks to the Americans they ran hard and found holes in our defence and they held onto the ball.  We lacked spark tonight and to lose to the US twice in a year is pretty drastic stuff."

Said a pleased USA coach Tom Billups afterwards:  "We have set some goals for our players and this was not an opponent specific win tonight.

"We have challenged our players to become students of the game and that means they have to work as hard intellectually as they do physically at the game.  It is starting to come to fruition and we are happy that the guys played hard and won the game.  We're glad to have Mike Hercus back and Dan Lyle led the team well."

The Eagles face Uruguay on Saturday, while the Canadians have a tough encounter against the Pumas of Argentina in the final round of Pan-Am fixtures.

The teams:

Canada:  1 John Thiel, 2 Mark Lawson, 3 Kevin Tkachuk, 4 Mike James (c), 5 Colin Yukes, 6 Jeff Reid, 7 Adam Van Staveren, 8 Josh Jackson, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 10 Jared Barker, 11 Sean Fauth, 12 John Cannon, 13 Matt King, 14 Winston Stanley, 15 James Pritchard
Reserves:  Garth Cooke, Jim Douglas, Rod Snow, Morgan Williams, Ryan Smith
Unused:  Pat Dunkley, Nik Witkowski

United States:  1 Dan Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Mike MacDonald, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Alec Parker, 6 Conrad Hodgson, 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle (c), 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Mike Hercus, 11 David Fee, 12 Kain Cross, 13 Phillip Eloff, 14 Riaan Van Zyl, 15 Paul Emerick
Reserves:  Jason Keyter, Richard Liddington, Jurie Gouws, Mose Timoteo, Matt Wyatt
Unused:  Gerhard Klerck, Matt Sherman

Referee:  Slinger s.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Lawson M. 1, Williams M. 1
Conv:  Pritchard J. 2
Pen K.:  Pritchard J. 2

United States
Tries:  Van Zyl R. 1, Hercus M. 1, Dalzell K. 1, Dorsey D.W. 1
Conv:  Hercus M. 3
Pen K.:  Hercus M. 2
Drop G.:  Hercus M. 1

Wales 54 Romania 8

Wales recorded their first Test win since last November when their second-string side put paid to a lacklustre Romania to the tune of 54-8 at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.

The victory ended a sorry run of defeats for the Welsh, although this match was a "Test" in name only in real terms, with head coach Steve Hansen handing the duties to his assistant Mike Ruddock after selecting an entire team of fringe players.

But despite the bit-part cast put out by the Welsh, there were actually some plus points amid a game where they dominated totally but failed to make the most of their possession, squandering overlap after overlap in a match punctuated by handling errors and penalties.

The international comeback of Neath-Swansea wing Shane Williams was marked with two tries in a skilful and explosive display, laying down a serious marker for a more regular inclusion after being out of the fold under coach Hansen.

Fullback Gavin Henson hit a perfect 10 from 10 with the boot in converting all six Welsh tries and adding four penalties, while blindside Jonathan Thomas was a tower in the line-out and a physical presence with ball in hand -- enough indeed to suggest that he should be in the senior ranks rather than this cast of extras.

The backs as a whole however -- the brilliant Williams excepted -- wasted numerous attempts to score with the plentiful ball at their disposal, with fly-half Nicky Robinson lacking the leadership to direct the game apart from a brilliantly-executed inside ball for debutant wing Nathan Brew's second-half try.

For the Oaks of Romania, the defeat was another apt demonstration of the decay afflicting the game there since the demise of the Communist regime which had built its rugby up.

Their ill-disciplined pack saw the sin-binnings of front rowers Petru Balan (use of the shoulder) and Marius Tincu (stamping) towards the start of the second half, and it should have been more after a lenient first half from South African referee Andy Turner, who could well have sent some more of the Oaks to the cooler after some cynical and dangerous offences from their forwards, including pulling down at the line-out and persistent killing of the ball.

Scrum-half Lucian Sirbu however looked an accomplished footballer capable of filling the considerable shoes of the absent veteran Pitre Mitu, and at least attempted to inject some thrust into their limp attack.

Wales were never in danger of losing this one though, and had the lead as early as the second minute when Shane Williams went over in the left corner after referee Turner played a good advantage from a Romanian knock on, after their scrum was shoved off its own feed.  The ball was spun quickly from right to left, with Williams the grateful recipient.

But Romania showed some battle themselves, in the early stages at least, and were rewarded for a string of rolling mauls when prop Balan was barged over the line, fullback Dan Dumbrava missing the conversion from the left touchline.

Had Romania persevered with this form of attack throughout, then against a Welsh front five badly lacking cohesion in the contact area, they would surely have profited more.

A Henson penalty kept Wales on the move, and then lively Llanelli scrum-half Mike Phillips gave them a boost with a try on an impressive debut, picking and going from short range after centre Andy Marinos had punched a hole in the defence and set up the ruck.

Dumbrava hit a penalty for Romania on the 15-minute mark, but it was to be their last points of the match as they then played the role of tacklers for 65 minutes, plus the remarkable 10 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the match played by referee Turner for some reason.

Wales then seemed to go into their shells, although the physical scrum-half Phillips got through some good work, but it was not until just before the break that they got their next try after a lean 20 minutes.

No.8 Alix Popham was the scorer after a very well structured rolling maul from all of 15 metres, with superb low body positions adopted by the Welsh forwards against a helpless and rapidly retreating Romanian defence -- Henson converting before adding a penalty to take the score to 30-8 at half-time.

The score really should have been at least doubled and probably nearer the 70-80 points mark in a second half which saw little headway gained by the visitors, but instead of sticking to the basics, Wales tried to complicate matters, to the frustration of the crowd.

Henson added another penalty, before Celtic Warriors wing Nathan Brew marked his debut with a try, coming off the right flank into midfield at pace on a straightening angle and being found well by fly-half Robinson, who flat-footed the defence with his change of direction with a pass from short range.

Andy Williams at scrum-half was among a plethora of substitutions, but on his debut he never exuded the same authority as the departed Phillips, and with the game just passing by, it was nearly 20 minutes before the next try.

When it came it was a beauty, energetic openside Gavin Thomas going over from close in after Shane Williams had come in from his wing perch to midfield and sniped from the fringes before releasing a superb flip pass from the tackle, again demonstrating the creativity with which he has been playing for some time.

Romania frustratingly kicked ball away and knocked on instead of sticking to their continuity game late on, and with the clock running down there was time for another Welsh try.

It was that man Williams who pounced, and with referee Turner playing an advantage for offside, he jinked past his man before reaching over the line for his second five-pointer, Henson rounding off a brilliant day with the boot by striking his sixth conversion, this time from all the way out on the left touchline.

This may have been a largely meaningless outing for the Welsh, but it has thrown up some selection posers for Hansen and his panel, with their senior team -- having been thrashed by a second-string England XV last weekend -- hosting Scotland in Cardiff on Saturday.

For Romania, expect their World Cup to be a torturous one if this performance is anything to go by.

Man of the match:  Why oh why have Wales overlooked Neath-Swansea wing Shane Williams for the last two years or so?  In his comeback Test he showed that he has the creative mind and attacking thrust to be a regular starter, even if he does have eyes on a move to scrum-half at club level.  Two tries in this game and a whole lot of endeavour show that he is as hungry as ever to make up for lost time in the international wilderness.  Blindside Jonathan Thomas and scrum-half Mike Phillips also shone for the hosts.

Moment of the match:  The second-half try of debutant right-wing Nathan Brew was simplicity exemplified, but a well-taken and imaginative score.  In on an angle from his wing, a deft switch pass from fly-half Nicky Robinson created the gap for Brew to power over -- even if the drift defence of the Romanians left somewhat to be desired.

Villain of the match:  The obvious candidates would be Romanian front rowers Petru Balan and Marius Tincu who were sin-binned in the second half, but for something which was not even penalised we are going to give debutant scrum-half Mike Phillips the dubious honour.  It stems from an incident in the first half where a Romanian player killed the ball at a ruck.  It was rightly penalised, but a frustrated Phillips gestured to the referee to yellow card the offending player, waving his hand in the air in a mock booking.  Such actions may have crept into soccer, but they have no place at all in the gentlemen's game of rugby.  Slapped wrists for Phillips, although it may have been due to over-eagerness on his debut rather than an unsavoury character trait.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Paul James, 2 Mefin Davies (c), 3 Ben Evans, 4 Brent Cockbain, 5 Ian Gough, 6 Gavin Thomas, 7 Jonathan Thomas, 8 Alix Popham, 9 Mike Phillips, 10 Nicky Robinson, 11 Nathan Brew, 12 Matthew Watkins, 13 Andy Marinos, 14 Shane Williams, 15 Gavin Henson
Reserves:  James Bater, Jonathan Bryant, Deiniol Jones, Andy Williams, Chris Anthony, Gareth Wyatt, Paul Young

Romania:  1 Petru Balan, 2 Marius Tincu, 3 Marcel Socaciu, 4 Sorin Socol, 5 Cristian Petre, 6 George Chiriac, 7 Costica Mersoiu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 10 Ionut Tofan, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 12 Romeo Gontineac (c), 13 Valentin Maftei, 14 Cristian Sauan, 15 Dan Dumbrava
Reserves:  Iulian Andrei, Augustin Petrechei, Cezar Popescu, Ioan Teodorescu, Petrisor Toderasc, Dan Tudosa, Marian Tudori

Referee:  Turner a.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Brew N. 1, Williams S.M. 2, Phillips M. 1, Popham A.J. 1, Thomas G. 1
Conv:  Henson G.L. 6
Pen K.:  Henson G.L. 4

Romania
Tries:  Balan P.V. 1
Pen K.:  Dumbrava D. 1

Argentina 57 Uruguay 0

Argentina smashed Uruguay by 57-0 in their Pan-American Championship fixture in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, putting the Pumas in pole position to claim the 2003 title.

The Pumas, who recorded a massive 42-8 win over the USA at the weekend, scored nine tries without reply as Uruguay had no answer to the powerful Argentines, who held a 33-0 half-time lead.

Argentina captain and scrum-half Agustín Pichot, who is back from injury, ran in one of his team's tries, with lock Rimas Álvarez and exciting Stade Francais fullback Ignacio Corleto both weighing with doubles.

The other try-scorers were loosehead prop Mauricio Reggiardo, tighthead Martin Scelzo, left-wing José María Núñez Piossek and veteran hooker Federico Méndez.

The Pan-Am tournament ends on Saturday when Argentina, the likely winners, face Canada, while the USA face potential Wooden Spoonists Uruguay.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Mauricio Reggiardo, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Martin Scelzo, 4 Patricio Albacete, 5 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 6 Martin Durand, 7 Rolando Martin, 8 Pablo Bouza, 9 Agustin Pichot (c), 10 Gonzalo Quesada, 11 Octavio Bartolucci, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Ignacio Corleto
Reserves:  Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Roberto Grau
Unused:  Diego Albanese, Felipe Contepomi, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Gonzalo Longo Elia, Santiago Phelan

Uruguay:  1 Eduardo Berruti, 2 Diego Lamelas, 3 Guillermo Storace, 4 Juan Alzueta, 5 Juan Alvarez, 6 Nicolas Grille, 7 Marcelo Gutierrez, 8 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 9 Emiliano Caffera, 10 Sebastian Aguirre, 11 Carlos Baldassari, 12 Diego Aguirre (c), 13 Hilario Canessa, 14 Emiliano Ibarra, 15 Joaquin Pastore
Reserves:  Bernardo Amarillo, Nicolas Brignoni, Jose Viana, Juan Andres Perez, Hernan Ponte
Unused:  Juan Carlos Bado, Juan Machado

Attendance:  5000
Referee:  Klemp a.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Corleto I. 2, Nunez Piossek J.M. 1, Pichot A. 1, Reggiardo M.H. 1, Mendez F.E. 1, Scelzo M.A. 1, Alvarez Kairelis R.E. 2
Conv:  Quesada G. 6

Fiji 41 Chile 16

Fiji completed their four-match tour of South America, which forms part of the pre-World Cup preparations, with a comfortable 41-16 win at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago.

The most pleasing aspect of the Fijian performance against Chile was not the win, but the four brilliant tries scored by their flying winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca, who used his blistering pace to leave the flat-footed Chilean defenders stranded.

Caucaunibuca has now scored nine tries in three matches since recovering from an injury that has plagued him since the Super 12.  But four of those tries, against Salta, will not count as official first-class tries, with both sides using more that the stipulated seven replacements and the game thus cannot be counted as a first-class fixture.

However, Caucaunibuca still has an impressive record, with five tries in his two official Tests for Fiji -- having also scored against the Pumas.  He has also become the first Fijian to score four tries in a Test since Niumaia Korovata achieved that feat in 1990.

The four tries Caucaunibuca scored certainly went a long way towards killing off the resistance of Chile.

The speedy Caucau opened his try-scoring account in the second minute, but Chile bounced back with a penalty from Cristián González six minutes later.  The score stayed at 5-3 for 10 minutes, before a penalty try and two quick tries by Caucaunibuca, combined with a conversion from fly-half Nicky Little, made it 22-3.

González kicked one more penalty before the break to make it 22-6.

After the break the Fijians broke further clear with tries by Caucaunibuca (his fourth), Ratu Rabeivi and Sekowe Leawere.  Veteran Sevens wizard Waisale Serevi, who came on as replacement, converted two of the tries.

But Chile got some consolation with a late try from centre Sebastian Pizarro.  González added the conversion and a penalty for some respectability to their score.

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Richard Nyholt, 2 Bill Gadolo, 3 Joeli Veitayaki, 4 Kele Leawere, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 6 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Kitione Salawa, 8 Alfi Mocelutu Vuivau, 9 Mosese Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Rupeni Caucaunibuca, 12 Seru Rabeni, 13 Saimoni Rokini, 14 Sekove Leawere, 15 Norman Ligairi
Reserves:  Waisale Serevi, Paula Biutanaseva, Isaia Rasila, Naka Seru, Seta Tawake Naivaluwaqa

Attendance:  3600
Referee:  Slinger s.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Leawere S. 1, Rabeni S. 1, Caucaunibuca R. 4, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Little N.T. 1, Serevi W.T. 2

Canada 21 Uruguay 11

Canada came away 21-11 winners over Uruguay in its first match at the 2003 Pan American Tournament at the Buenos Aires Rugby and Cricket club.  Canada held a 11-0 lead at half-time only to let the Teros back into the game in the first 15 minutes of the second half to level the scores at 11-all.

Canada then scored two tries in the last 12 minutes to seal their victory, their first win since beating Chile last August.  Since then the Canadians have lost six successive Tests.  Last August Uruguay beat them 25-23.

Canada's win says much for its commitment and determination in a feisty affair that saw a number of incidents that could have produced more yellow cards than the one handed Rod Snow by Argentina referee Santiago Borsani for a professional foul at 56 minutes.  Canada also lost its captain Ryan Banks at eight minutes when he strained his knee.  Mike James took over the captaincy.

"I would have preferred not to have had to assume the role as we could have used Ryan out there on the field today," James said after the game.

"There is a bit more responsibility being captain, and having to deal with the referee is a difficult task, especially in a game like this one.  Nevertheless, I'm delighted we finally got things together and secured a win."

Canada looked confident in the early going playing into the wind in 10 degree, cloudy weather.  Bob Ross controlled the game well, using the boot to secure position and putting the men from across the River Plate on the defensive.

He kicked a penalty at four minutes to give Canada an early lead.  Soon after Canada's backs brought Winston Stanley in from the left wing to break a tackle and romp into the corner from 50-metres for his 23rd try in a Canadian jersey.

At 19 minutes Bob Ross took his all time record points total for his country to 401 with a penalty from 40 metres as Canada fell off the pace for the latter part of the half allowing Uruguay four kickable penalties, all of which were missed.

Uruguay began the second stanza at a high rate of knots that garnered fullback Juan Menchaca a penalty at 45 minutes, and another at 56 minutes on Snow's dispatch to the sin bin -- 11-6.

Uruguay using the pick-and-drive to effect put Canada under pressure but the visitor's defence held solid.  Uruguay's try came on a strange play in the 64th minute when its outside half hoisted a ball into the air with his team inside Canada's 22-metre area, but unable to penetrate.  The kick looked more akin to something seen in the Fourth Division, but when Canada caught the ball in the centre, it lost the ball in contact allowing the Teros wing Alfonso Cardoso to pick up and sprint into the corner untouched.  A strange but effective play.  11-11.

Now Canada responded through Sean Fauth, who came on for Marco Di Girolamo, sending John Cannon from the wing to the centre.  Fauth hadn't been on the field more than a minute when the ball spun through the backs, Nik Witkowski took a tackle, and sent the ball to Fauth who found the corner to make it 16-11.

With the game nearly over Morgan Williams, who played an impish and quick-thinking game filled with quick taps and sniping runs, took a quick tap and fed his forwards near the line.  The forwards rallied round substitute prop Kevin Tkachuk and he scored -- 21-11.

"It was particularly nice to see us score our last try on a rolling maul, proving to the Uruguayans that we can be just as effective using that form of play as they are," said Canada coach David Clark after the game.

"A win is a win," he continued.  "We always looked like we were going to win the game, but we made too many errors and took too many penalties which allowed them to come into the game.  They were always dangerous with the rolling maul -- a boring way to play the game -- but we exploited them at outside centre and scored two good tries there.

"It wasn't a perfect game by any standard, but it is one that we can take hope from.  Next the United States, for which we will see some changes.  I thought Josh Jackson played well in his Test debut proving that we can take line-out ball against the opposition.  James led well and Bob Ross stood up to big men running at him all day and kicked with authority."

Canada plays the United States on Wednesday evening August 27 with its final game against the Argentina Pumas next Saturday, August 30.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Garth Cooke, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 Rod Snow, 4 Mike James, 5 Ed Knaggs, 6 Ryan Banks (c), 7 Jim Douglas, 8 Josh Jackson, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 John Cannon, 12 Marco Di Girolomo, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Winston Stanley, 15 James Pritchard
Reserves:  Sean Fauth, Mark Lawson, John Thiel, Kevin Tkachuk, Adam Van Staveren, Ryan Smith
Unused:  Ed Fairhurst

Uruguay:  1 Pablo Lemoine, 2 Juan Andres Perez, 3 Rodrigo Sanchez, 4 Juan Azuela, 5 Juan Carlos Bado, 6 Nicolas Brignoni, 7 Hernan Ponte, 8 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 9 Juan Campomar, 10 Bernardo Amarillo, 11 Alfonso Cardoso, 12 Diego Aguirre (c), 13 Diego Reyes, 14 Joaquin Pastore, 15 Juan Menchaca
Reserves:  Sebastian Aguirre, Juan Alvarez, Nicolas Grille, Diego Lamelas, Marcelo Gutierrez, Emiliano Ibarra
Unused:  Guillermo Storace

Referee:  Borsani s.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Stanley W.U. 1, Tkachuk K. 1, Fauth S. 1
Pen K.:  Ross R.P. 2

Uruguay
Tries:  Cardoso A. 1
Pen K.:  Menchaca J. 2

Scotland 47 Italy 15

Scotland recorded a useful 47-15 win over Italy in their pre-Rugby World Cup friendly at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, with the home side scoring six tries to two.

As they did on their June tour of South Africa, Scotland showed plenty of enterprise in this game, with halfbacks Mike Blair -- who was playing in place of regular skipper Bryan Redpath -- and Gordon Ross sending the ball down their backline as much as possible.

The Italians, however, defended strongly, with Scotland having to rely on the boot of Ross for their first few points, the Leeds Tykes No.10 slotting two penalties within the first quarter for a 6-3 lead, Italy's three points coming from the boot of their fly-half, Leicester's Ramiro Pez.

Scotland finally breached Italy's defence on the 20-minute mark when they sent the ball down their backline, with good work from wings Simon Danielli and Chris Paterson -- who replaced the injured Kenny Logan in the second minute of the game -- taking the ball down the right-hand touchline.

Their job, however, was not done, with the ball going left after some good work at the tackle and Sale flanker Jason White trotting over for the try, which Ross did not convert.

But Italy fought back soon after White's score, with a try from their No.7 Scott Palmer.  Captain and scrum-half Alessandro Troncon took a quick tap, when his side were on the attack in Scotland's 22, and Palmer powered over.  Pez missed the conversion, but Scotland were back in it at 11-8.

Italy's renewed hope was to be shortlived, however, when they had fullback Gert Peens yellow-carded by referee Donal Courtney for an infringement at the tackle, Ross rubbing salt into their wounds by slotting the subsequent penalty.

Scotland's 14-8 lead soon became 21-8 when White intercepted an intended long pass from Pez, with the hulking back rower racing away before being caught by Azzurri outside centre Andrea Masi.  But White had the presence of mind to get the ball away in the tackle, flinging a neat spin pass out, which bounced up and into the hands of Scotland's No.13, James McLaren.

At 21-8 Scotland finally had the breathing space they were looking for, and just before Peens came back onto the field -- after his 10-minute stint in the sin bin -- the home side got in for another score, this time little No.8 Mike Blair, who started the move with a cheeky tap penalty.

Blair darted ahead, passed to Paterson, who made good ground on the left-wing, before passing back inside to Blair, who was able to finish.  Ross converted and Scotland would have been elated with their 28-8 half-time lead.

Ross missed two penalty attempts early in the second half, which would certainly have put the Azzurri right out of contention, and the visitors made them pay just minutes later with a try by Nicola Mazzucato after a wonderful break from Pez.

Pez swerved, dummied and ran past would-be defenders before getting support from his centres Cristian Stoica and Andrea Masi, the latter throwing out a wildish pass to Mazzucato, who controlled the ball before speeding away to the tryline.

Pez's conversion took the score to 28-15, but any hopes of more Italian resistance were dashed in the 49th minute when Ross dived over for a try after good work from Danielli again.  Ross missed the conversion (he ended with five successful kicks from 10 attempts at goal) -- but 33-15 just seemed a bridge too far for the visitors.

Italy seemed to lose confidence after Ross's score, while Scotland added two more tries in the closing stages, one for debutant Danielli and one for replacement Brendan "Chainsaw" Laney, who is beginning to look more like a front rower than a back these days!

Man of the match:  Scotland back rower Jason White wins our vote for an all-action display on the side of the scrum.  He ran strongly, tackled well and was always up in support -- as he proved with his try.  Others to stand out were halfbacks Blair and Ross and wing Danielli, while fly-half Ramiro Pez and flanker Scott Palmer impressed for the Azzurri.

Moment of the match:  Simon Danielli's try was just reward for his excellent work-rate.  He showed enough in his first Test to suggest that he could be a force at Test level, while scoring a try would have made his debut that much sweeter.

Villain of the match:  Nobody or nothing.  We were treated to good clean rugby in Edinburgh!

Yellow card(s):  Gert Peens (Italy, 29)

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Robbie Russell, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Nathan Hines, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Jon Petrie, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Michael Blair, 10 Gordon Ross, 11 Kenny Logan, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 James McLaren, 14 Simon Danielli, 15 Ben Hinshelwood
Reserves:  Iain Fullarton, Brendan Laney, Gordon McIlwham, Gordon Bulloch, Martin Leslie, Chris Paterson
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Santiago Dellape, 6 Scott Palmer, 7 Maurizio Zaffiri, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Ramiro Pez, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Andrea Masi, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Gonzalo Canale, Ramiro Martinez-Frugoni, Fabio Ongaro, Mauro Bergamasco, Francesco Mazzariol, Sergio Parisse
Unused:  Juan Manuel Queirolo

Attendance:  25304
Referee:  Courtney d.

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Danielli S.C.J. 1, McLaren J.G. 1, Ross G. 1, Blair M.R.L. 1, White J.P.R. 1, Laney B.J. 1
Conv:  Ross G. 2, Paterson C.D. 2
Pen K.:  Ross G. 3

Italy
Tries:  Mazzucato N. 1, Palmer S. 1
Conv:  Pez R. 1
Pen K.:  Pez R. 1

Wales 9 England 43

England sent home a frightening message as to the vast depth in their ranks going into the World Cup, when what was effectively their second XV hammered Wales' strongest side to the tune of 43-9 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, scoring five tries in the process.

With virtually all of their front-line stars rested, England's back-up team wreaked havoc against a Welsh side in need of some serious soul searching after a desperate year which shows no sign of getting any better.

Three penalties from the boot of fly-half and captain Stephen Jones were all they had to show for their efforts, while a rampant England team flexed their forward muscle and piled on the points late on, having gone into the break at only 16-9 up.

And the scoreline could have been a lot bigger were it not for the wayward boot of England fly-half Alex King, with the London Wasps star firing five penalty attempts wide of the posts.

King did manage to strike three penalties, two conversions and a drop-goal through before being replaced by fellow World Cup aspirant Dave Walder, and by the time he left the field the result was beyond all doubt, as England coach Clive Woodward gave valuable match practice to his second-string players, many of whom had already featured in the gritty win over the New Zealand Maori back in June.

While second row Simon Shaw sent a World Cup marker home with a man-of-the-match performance, he did not make the scoresheet, although fellow forward Lewis Moody -- back after injury -- did just that to open the try-scoring when the Leicester flanker crossed the line on the 25-minute mark.

By that time King and Jones had struck two penalties each, but it was English pressure all the way -- wing Dan Luger nearly scoring in the corner, before King struck a drop-goal.

Jones hit his third penalty just before the break to send the Welsh in trailing by only seven points, but the men in white put their foot on the gas in the second half.

King had a torrid time of it with the boot as the half got under way, having his first pop at goal interrupted by a streaker before missing the target, then similarly failing to find the posts with his subsequent two -- something which may well increase the chances of Walder or Paul Grayson making the World Cup squad as back-up to starting fly-half Jonny Wilkinson.

Jones had a drop-goal charged down as Wales struggled for territory and possession, and when England took a quick tap penalty in Welsh territory after 53 minutes, the result was Luger crossing the line for the second try of the match after good work from the pack -- Danny Grewcock and Martin Corry both playing their part.

King converted, and then his Wasps club-mate Joe Worsley piled more misery on Wales when he picked up from the base of the scrum and went down the blindside to score only minutes later, King having added another penalty.

Moody nearly got his second after narrowly failing to reach the ball in time before it went dead behind the Welsh line -- going on to be replaced by Sale Shark Alex Sanderson after an enterprising comeback from injury.

England scrum-half and vice-captain Andy Gomarsall had a try chalked off for an accidental off-side, but with momentum firmly going the way of the visitors, it was only a matter of time before the Welsh defensive line was breached again.

And South African-born debutant Stuart Abbott was the man to do it, the Wasps centre finding a superb angle to hit the line at pace and go over after yet more powerful forward work including Grewcock -- back after the suspension which forced him to miss the Australasian tour.

Then just when the scoring looked complete, veteran Leicester hooker Dorian West rumbled over in injury time from a short-range line-out for the fifth try -- the match serving as an apt demonstration of the health of the English game and the depth to which coach Woodward can call upon as he prepares his World Cup challenge.

For Wales however, a stark reality check -- as if they needed one -- and another reminder that they will have to pull a very big rabbit out of a very small hat if they are going to cause a ripple in the World Cup waters in just over a month's time.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Iestyn Thomas, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Colin Charvis, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Dafydd Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Stephen Jones (c), 11 Mark Jones, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Adam Jones, Gavin Thomas, Gareth Williams, Jonathan Thomas
Unused:  Gavin Henson, Tom Shanklin, Mike Phillips

England:  1 Jason Leonard (c), 2 Mark Regan, 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 10 Alex King, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Stuart Abbott, 13 Jamie Noon, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 15 Dan Scarbrough
Reserves:  Will Green, Dorian West, Steve Borthwick, Alex Sanderson, Ollie Smith, Dave Walder
Unused:  Austin Healey

Attendance:  47500
Referee:  Deluca p.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 3

England
Tries:  Abbott S.R. 1, Luger D.D. 1, Worsley J.P.R. 1, Moody L.W. 1, West D.E. 1
Conv:  King A.D. 2, Walder D.J.H. 1
Pen K.:  King A.D. 3
Drop G.:  King A.D. 1

Argentina 42 United States 8

Argentina beat the USA 42-8 at the Buenos Aires Cricket and Rugby Club in the opening match of the 2003 Pan-American Championship.  The Pumas scored six tries to the youthful Eagles' one.

The USA had four new caps in their side -- prop Richard Liddington, lock Gerhard Klerck, flank Todd Clever and hooker Matt Wyatt.

Liddington led the list of first-time cap winners, scoring the Eagles' sole try of the match.  Lock Klerck also made a solid start, while hooker Wyatt and flanker Clever came off the bench to good effect.  The young side showed great commitment, but were not up to the experience and skill of the Argentinians.

The Pumas led 18-3 at half-time, but Liddington ran some 30 metres and scored a try early in the second half to make it 18-8 and awaken a flicker of hope in the young hearts, but really they were not going to win.

Felipe Contepomi made it 21-8 and then the Argentinians received a penalty try at a collapsed scrum and then added another two to make the result a comfortable one.

The victory puts the Pumas in line for another championship title, especially after the Canadians' very ordinary display against the Teros of Uruguay.

This is the fifth Pan-American Tournament.  Argentina won the previous four without losing a match.  A repeat is likely this year.  The previous tournaments were in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2001.

On Wednesday, the USA play Canada and Argentina play Uruguay.  Both matches are at the San Isidro Club.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Roberto Grau, 2 Mario Ledesma Arocena, 3 Omar Hasan Jalil, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Pedro Sporleder, 6 Pablo Bouza, 7 Martin Durand, 8 Santiago Sanz, 9 Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Martin Gaitan, 14 Hernan Senillosa, 15 Bernardo Stortoni
Reserves:  Ignacio Corleto, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Mauricio Reggiardo, Rodrigo Roncero
Unused:  Gonzalo Longo Elia, Rolando Martin, Agustin Pichot

United States:  1 Richard Liddington, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Jacob Waasdorp, 4 Gerhard Klerck, 5 Luke Gross, 6 Jurie Gouws, 7 Kort Schubert (c), 8 Olo Fifita, 9 Kimball Kjar, 10 Matt Sherman, 11 Johnny Naqica, 12 Kain Cross, 13 Jason Keyter, 14 Mose Timoteo, 15 John Buchholz
Reserves:  Todd Clever, Dan Dorsey, Paul Emerick, Alec Parker, Matt Wyatt
Unused:  Phillip Eloff, Mike MacDonald

Attendance:  6000
Referee:  Kuklinski b.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Gaitan M. 1, Durand M. 1, Bouza P. 1, Reggiardo M.H. 1, Corleto I. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 3
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 2

United States
Tries:  Liddington R. 1
Pen K.:  Sherman M. 1

France 56 Romania 8

France started their World Cup preparations with an easy 56-8 win over Romania in their warm-up match at Stade Felix-Bollaert in Lens.  The French outscored the Romanians by eight tries to one, to illustrate their dominance in this game.

It was the best possible start for Les Bleus' World Cup preparations as they dominated all aspects of play.  They enjoyed a 35-5 lead (five tries to one) at half-time and scored another three tries without reply after the break.

The win, on a good pitch in great conditions, will also boost the French team's self-confidence ahead of their two warm-up games against the World Cup favourites and topped-ranked team on the Zurich World Rankings, England.

French coach Bernard Laporte was delighted with his team's performance.  "In this type of match, against a reputedly weaker adversary, the risk is not taking the match the right way," he told reporters.

"Here, the guys played seriously and with desire."

France took an early lead, with Damien Traille, Aurélien Rougerie and Imanol Harinordoquy collecting tries inside the first quarter as the weak Romanian defence struggled to control the French runners.  They continued to dominate proceedings for the remainder of the match.

Romania winger Gabriel Brezoianu helped the visitors save face with a try in the waning minutes of the first half.

South African-born centre Brian Liebenberg won his first cap for France, scoring a try in the process.

Yellow card(s):  Marius Tincu (Romania)

The Teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Yannick Bru, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Fabien Pelous, 5 Jerome Thion, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Pepito Elhorga
Reserves:  Olivier Brouzet, Raphael Ibanez, Gerald Merceron, Christian Labit, Brian Liebenberg, Olivier Milloud, Dimitri Yachvili

Romania:  1 Petru Balan, 2 Marius Tincu, 3 Marcel Socaciu, 4 Sorin Socol, 5 Cristian Petre, 6 George Chiriac, 7 Costica Mersoiu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 10 Ionut Tofan, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 12 Romeo Gontineac (c), 13 Valentin Maftei, 14 Cristian Sauan, 15 Dan Dumbrava
Reserves:  Augustin Petrechei, Cristian Podea, Cezar Popescu, Petrisor Toderasc, Marian Tudori, Mihai Vioreanu
Unused:  Iulian Andrei

Attendance:  18005
Referee:  De santis g.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Rougerie A. 1, Jauzion Y. 1, Traille D. 1, Crenca J-J. 1, Betsen Tchoua S. 1, Harinordoquy I. 1, Magne O. 1, Liebenberg B. 1
Conv:  Michalak F. 7, Merceron G. 1

Romania
Tries: 
Brezoianu G. 1
Pen K.:  Dumbrava D. 1

Wales 12 Ireland 35

Ireland beat Wales 35-12 at Lansdowne Road in Dublin in the first of their 2003 Rugby World Cup warm-up games, handing the struggling Wales team their ninth consecutive Test defeat.

Ireland never looked threatened by a young and largely untested Wales team, consisting of six new caps with coach Steve Hansen, in an effort to settle on his final 30-man squad for the World Cup, picking Wales Under-21 outside half Nicky Robinson to make his first full Test debut at fullback and Gwent Dragons back row forward Rhys Oakley on the flank, as well as another four former or current Under-21 players on the bench.

For Ireland, inspirational captain Keith Wood made his first appearance in over a year since being ruled out by a shoulder injury, while star centre Brian O'Driscoll, who hasn't seen any action since injuring a hamstring in the Heineken Cup semi-final against Perpignan in April, also made his return, impressing, as always, alongside his skipper.

It took only four minutes for the hosts to cross over for the first try of the game when lock forward Paul O'Connell touched down following a relentless Irish surge up the field, with fly-half David Humphreys stretched the lead to seven points with the conversion.

Wales, however, answered back almost immediately after an Ireland handling error led to a turnover, with their young backline sweeping across the field, allowing veteran winger Gareth Thomas to touch down in the corner.

That, however, was to be the only joy for Wales in the first half.

What followed was wave upon wave of green jerseys as Ireland sent the ball wide at every opportunity and were it not for some poor handling and over-eagerness by Ireland, the scoreline could have looked entirely different.  As it turns out, the Irish managed to cross the tryline once only, going to the break at 14-5.

Ireland began the second half the same way they began the first, when replacement loose forward David Wallace crossed over in the first two minutes, Humphreys making no mistake with the conversion attempt.

Ireland again threatened to break loose, but a courageous Welsh defence limited the damage until lock Malcolm O'Kelly stormed down centre-field, cut inside young winger Garan Evans, and went down underneath posts to effectively finish off the game.

O'Connell was rewarded with a second try for his efforts on attack as well as defence, putting in some big tackles that left the Welsh reeling backwards in a display that may just leave more questions than answers, but the decision by Hansen to leave out all four of his "squad captains" -- Colin Charvis, Stephen Jones, Martyn Williams and Robin McBryde -- left the side with little in the leadership role.

Man of the match:  Wales showed plenty of courage on defence as well as on attack, but it was always going to be too much for such a young and inexperienced side to seriously threaten Ireland and while any number of the Irish could pick up the award, Paul O'Connell's work-rate was exceptional and his defence was at times simply devastating -- reason enough for the lock forward to be named as our Man of the match.

Moment of the match:  The massive lock Malcolm O'Kelly stepping inside Garan Evans to score underneath the posts for Ireland.  One up to the forwards!

Villian of the match:  Evans for letting O'Kelly step inside him to score underneath the posts.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Duncan Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Ben Evans, 4 Michael Owen, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Richard Parks, 7 Rhys Oakley, 8 Alix Popham, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Garan Evans, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Jamie Robinson, 14 Gareth Thomas (c), 15 Nicky Robinson
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Gethin Jenkins, Vernon Cooper
Unused:  Nathan Brew, Andy Williams, Andy Marinos, Robin Sowden-Taylor

Ireland:  1 Simon Best, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Keith Gleeson, 7 Alan Quinlan, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Tyrone Howe, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Anthony Horgan, 15 Geordan Murphy
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Gordon D'Arcy, Girvan Dempsey, Guy Easterby, David Wallace, Justin Fitzpatrick, Donncha O'Callaghan

Attendance:  20000
Referee:  Dume j.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Evans G.R. 1, Thomas G. 1
Conv:  Harris I.R. 1

Ireland
Tries:  O'Kelly M.E. 1, O'Connell P.J. 2, Quinlan A. 1, Wallace D.P. 1
Conv:  Murphy G.E.A. 1, Humphreys D.G. 4

Australia 17 New Zealand 21

The All Blacks won back the Bledisloe Cup courtesy of a 21-17 win over the Wallabies in an enthralling Tri-Nations encounter -- the final one in the 2003 competition -- at Eden Park in Auckland.

This match had a bit of everything, with the New Zealanders once again impressing when they sent the ball wide, but when the weather conditions worsened, both sides kept it tight as they tried to outwit each other when handling became that much tougher.

The Kiwis were deserved winners, which gave them a Tri-Nations clean-sweep -- the fourth squad to achieve this, after New Zealand in 1996 and 1997 and South Africa in 1998, but the Wallabies certainly pushed them to the very end, with a well-taken try from George Smith just six minutes from full-time, no doubt raising the ABs' stress-levels.

Smith's touchdown, Australia's only try of the day, came after incessant Wallaby pressure in the All Black 22 had gone unrewarded.  Skipper George Gregan -- as he did in the Tri-Nations opener in Cape Town -- spurned kicking opportunities at goal, opting, instead, for tries.

The All Black defence, however, which leaked just six tries in four Tri-Nations fixtures, was once again up to it, with the Kiwis even launching a wonderful counter-attack from their own 22, threatening the Wallaby defence at that late stage.

But the Wallabies turned the ball over on the half-way line and when they sent the ball wide, with George Smith sending a neat pass out to Mat Rogers, the All Black defence became brittle, with a Gregan probe and pass freeing Smith on the left-wing for a try in the corner.

Inside centre Elton Flatley missed the near-touchline conversion, leaving the score at 21-17, but the New Zealanders held out and the final whistle was sounded as the self-same Flatley managed to break a tackle, only to see his wild pass not going to hand, signalling a scrum for the knock-on, which then became full-time.

The home side ran in two first-half tries, both from speedy right-wing Doug Howlett, with the Australians once again guilty -- as they were in Sydney -- of kicking the ball at the Kiwi back three and giving them enough time and space to run it back with interest.

Howlett's first try came directly from a stray Wallaby kick, as fullback Mils Muliaina ran the ball back, hooker Keven Mealamu ran into space perfectly and popped up a pass to Howlett, who glided over for yet another Test try.

Howlett then made history a few minutes later when he became the first All Black to score more than one try against the Wallabies at Eden Park when he chased a clever kick-ahead from Carlos Spencer after Jerry Collins had stolen the ball from an Australian ruck.

Spencer's chip, from the Wallaby 10-metre line, was well-weighted, giving Howlett enough time to hunt the ball down in the Australian deadball area, beating a helpless Elton Flatley to the ball in process.

Interestingly enough, that kick from Spencer was the 20th time New Zealand had put boot to ball.  It was, however, the first time that they managed to regain the ball -- and how it mattered.

Spencer's conversion attempt hit the uprights, but a penalty from the Blues and Auckland first five-eighth took his side into a 15-9 lead -- Australia's points having come from three Elton Flatley penalties.

Wallaby coach Eddie Jones made an interesting substitution shortly before half-time, bringing on debutant tighthead prop Al Baxter for Glenn Panoho, the latter seemed sluggish around the park, but it mattered little as New Zealand stepped up a gear shortly before the half-time whistle, with Chris Jack coming very close to getting over on the stroke of half-time.

South African referee Jonathan Kaplan, who was playing advantage for a Wallaby infringement, needed the Television Match Official's help, but the request was turned down and the visitors could breath a sigh of relief.

A converted try would have given New Zealand a 22-9 half-time lead, and as it turns out Spencer missed the subsequent penalty attempt, leaving the score at the break at 15-9.

Man of the Match:  Plenty of contenders here from both sides.  Let us start with New Zealand, where Keven Mealamu, Chris Jack, Richie McCaw, Tana Umaga and Doug Howlett impressed.  For Australia, David Giffin, Phil Waugh and George Smith all stood out.  Our winner, however, is a Kiwi, with all-action hooker Keven Mealamu impressing in most facets of play.  His line-out throwing was a bit off-colour at times, but his ball-carrying and support-play are a joy to witness.  At times he moves like a flank, but, then, with the simple drop of his head he can transform himself into a powerful front rower.

Moment of the Match:  The final whistle and New Zealand's celebrations.  Despite the fact that these teams play against each other so often, the All Blacks' delight was evident as they managed to win back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 1997.  It was a superb encounter, with plenty of power and skill on show, but the final whistle was a joy to behold.

Villain of the Match:  The rain!  It nearly spoilt this wonderful encounter ...

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Glenn Panoho, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 David Giffin, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 6 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Elton Flatley, 13 Mat Rogers, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Owen Finegan, Matt Giteau, Jeremy Paul, Alastair Baxter, Nathan Sharpe
Unused:  Chris Whitaker

New Zealand:  1 David Hewett, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Richie McCaw, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Jerry Collins, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Aaron Mauger, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Leon MacDonald
Unused:  Daniel Carter, Steve Devine, Marty Holah, Brad Thorn, Mark Hammett, Kees Meeuws

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Smith G.B. 1
Pen K.:  Flatley E.J. 4

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 2
Conv:  Spencer C.J. 1
Pen K.:  Spencer C.J. 3

New Zealand 19 South Africa 11

The boot of first five-eighth Carlos Spencer proved to be the difference as New Zealand clinched the 2003 Tri-Nations title with a 19-11 win over the Springboks at Carisbrook in Dunedin.  The teams ended the game with one try each.

In the end it was a conversion and four penalties by Spencer, who produced a 100 percent kicking record, which beat an erratic Louis Koen's two penalties.

For a change there were far more positives coming out of a game involving South Africa than the negatives.  It was a traditional hard scrap between New Zealand and South Africa, with the Springboks showing that pride and passion which have been so inconspicuous in other matches this year as they managed to keep the Kiwis in check with some solid defending, another aspect which was badly lacking in most of their games this year.

The one question which has to be asked, and deserves an honest non-sugar coated answer, is why do the Springboks only play like this when they are under pressure after weeks of shocking execution?

This is a game that will certainly provide some answers to the Boks, even though a couple of key questions remain.  It is also a result which will ensure that they keep their feet firmly on he ground.

As for the Kiwis, they showed that their game is better suited to the dry grounds of South Africa, as opposed to a night game in the cool and windy evening air of Dunedin, where the night-time dew affects the handling.

The Springboks also put the Kiwis under pressure, from the outset, and contested every facet with the ferocity one would expect from the men in Green and Gold.

In fact, from the moment Bok prop Lawrence Sephaka and his All Black counterpart Kees Meeuws came into contact during the Haka, it was clear this was a game in which the Boks would not back off.

And by half-time, with the score at 13-11, in favour of the Kiwis, the Springboks had enjoyed a significant advantage in both territory and possession.  They held the ball for 57 percent of the time and took it through 51 phases (rucks and mauls).

At that stage the All Blacks managed just 26 rucks and mauls, as they attempted to spread it wide and stretch the big Bok pack.

But after the break the Kiwis picked up the pace and when the final whistle went they had secured a massive advantage in both territory and possession, with the visitors reduced mainly to a defensive role.

The All Blacks had enjoyed an overall advantage in the possession stakes of 54 percent, having taken the ball through 68 phases after the break, which saw them spend most of the second half in the Boks' territory.  In return, the Boks managed to take the ball through 45 phases only.

The Boks used their big forwards to take the ball up the middle and close to the rucks, where the All Blacks traditionally have fewer defenders.  This worked for most part, but South Africa's finishing let them down.

The All Blacks, with Spencer in control as usual, varied their options better, but found the Boks' defence much harder to break down this time.  As a result, they were forced into kicking more often than they normally would have.

The big difference is that their kicking was far more purposeful, effective and not as erratic as some of the South African punts were.

For the All Blacks the big question is still how they will react when their forwards are really under pressure.  At times, with the Bok pack in full cry, they did look vulnerable.  An England pack at their best could make life very unpleasant for this All Black team.

The Springboks will be concerned about their scrumming, with the All Blacks again putting them under pressure and even managing to hook once against the head.

Then there is their decision-making at scrum-half and fly-half, which certainly contributed to some of their problems on Saturday.

Man of the match:  When games get this close the difference is usually one moment of brilliance from one player.  All Black first five-eighth Carlos Spencer is not known for his kicking, but on the day he produced a 100 percent goal-kicking performance -- the difference on the board in the end -- and his overall kicking out of hand was also far more effective.

Moment of the Match:  It is a simple choice -- Richard Bands' try in the 16th minute.  There was a ruck just inside the All Blacks' half and the burly tighthead prop came charging up.  Scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen popped the ball to him as he charged into a gap.  30 metres downfield Carlos Spencer made a brave attempt to stop the rampaging Bok, but was brushed aside and Bands dropped over for his first Test try and one of the best forward tries you will ever see.

Villain of the Match:  Springbok fly-half Louis Koen and scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen both qualify for this award.  Van der Westhuizen for some of the shocking passes he flung in the general direction of his backline and Koen for trying to kick three drop-goals, with good quality ball, and all three were shockers.  He kicked far too many up and unders -- which may have been under instruction -- but his execution left a lot to be desired.  And his goal-kicking, the real reason why he is in the side, also left a lot to be desired.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 David Hewett, 2 Mark Hammett, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Brad Thorn, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Marty Holah, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Jerry Collins, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Aaron Mauger, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Keven Mealamu, Chris Jack, Greg Somerville
Unused:  Daniel Carter, Leon MacDonald, Rodney So'oialo, Byron Kelleher

South Africa:  1 Richard Bands, 2 Danie Coetzee, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 4 Geo Cronje, 5 Victor Matfield, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Juan Smith, 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Louis Koen, 11 Ashwin Willemse, 12 Gcobani Bobo, 13 Jorrie Muller, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves:  Lukas Van Biljon, Christo Bezuidenhout, Selborne Boome
Unused:  De Wet Barry, Neil De Kock, Andre Pretorius, Pedrie Wannenburg

Attendance:  30200
Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Rokocoko J. 1
Conv:  Spencer C.J. 1
Pen K.:  Spencer C.J. 4

South Africa
Tries:  Bands R.E. 1
Pen K.:  Koen L.J. 2

Canada 9 NZ Maori 30

The New Zealand Maori wrapped up their three-match tour of Canada with a 30-9 win over the Canucks in the second "Test" at York University in Toronto.

The visitors outscored their hosts by five tries to nil, but Maori first five-eighth Willie Walker forgot his kicking boots at home, missing all but one of his team's conversions and adding just one penalty.

All Black back five forward Troy Flavell scored a brace of tries, Crusaders and Canterbury wing Joe Maddock scored a try -- to go with his two last week -- All Black discard Christian Cullen got on the scoresheet and hooker Slade McFarland, a replacement for Corey Flynn in the Maori touring party, scored the fifth and final try.

Canadian fullback Jamie Pritchard, who was born in Australia, slotted three penalties for his side, but the home side were unable to breach the rock-solid Kiwi defence.

The NZ Maori won last week's "international" against Canada in Calgary by 65-27, while the New Zealanders also won their midweek encounter, against the Rugby Canada All Stars in Ottawa, by 52-11.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Garth Cooke, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 Kevin Tkachuk, 4 Mike James, 5 Colin Yukes, 6 Jim Douglas, 7 Adam Van Staveren, 8 Ryan Banks (c), 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Ryan Smith, 11 John Cannon, 12 Marco Di Girolomo, 13 Matt King, 14 Winston Stanley, 15 James Pritchard
Reserves:  Ed Fairhurst, Mark Lawson, Phil Murphy, Nik Witkowski, Kevin Wirachowski
Unused:  Sean Fauth, Bobby Ross

New Zealand Maori:  15 Christian Cullen, 14 Shayne Austin, 13 Rico Gear, 12 Joe Maddock, 11 Norm Berryman, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Brendan Haami, 8 Ron Cribb, 7 Wayne McEntee, 6 Troy Flavell, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Kristian Ormsby, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Slade McFarland, 1 Joe McDonnell.
Replacements:  16 Scott Linklater, 17 Deacon Manu, 18 Warren Smith, 19 Germaine Anaha, 20 Glen Jackson, 21 David Gibson, 22 Bryce Robins.

Referee:  Maybank r.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Pen K.:  Pritchard J. 3

New Zealand Maori
Tries:  Flavell 2, Maddock, Cullen, McFarland
Con:  Walker
Pen:  Walker

Australia 29 South Africa 9

The world champion Wallabies bounced back from their big loss to the All Blacks last week, recording a 29-9 win over the Springboks at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, relegating the South Africans to third-place on the Tri-Nations standings.

While the obvious headlines of "Wallabies bounce back" and "Still the world champions" would be expected, truth be told, the Australians still face some hard work ahead, but, at least they came away from this match with a win, which is more than the South Africans can say.

The home side scored two second-half tries, which ultimately proved to be the major difference on the scoreboard, but the kicking boot of Elton Flatley -- he kicked seven from seven -- and the ill-discipline of the visitors also played into the Wallabies' hands.

Flatley kicked two conversions and five penalties, with Springbok fly-half Louis Koen managing just three penalties from five attempts, as the Boks attempted to play a low-risk game, trying to remain in Wallaby territory and hoping to force the penalties.

But the South Africans would have surprised even themselves as they managed to hold the ball for long periods of play, forcing the Australians into making some tackles, but when it came to the moment critique, the visitors were just not up to it, with Koen just not the man to take the game by the scruff of its neck and call the shots.

Wallaby No.10 Stephen Larkham was not his usual dominant self either -- his kicking out of hand is still not where it should be -- but he did force a few clever passes in the second stanza, especially to powerhouse wing Wendell Sailor when the Bok pack began to tire, stretching the South African defence to its limit.

Just two tries were scored in the match, both by the Wallabies, with centre Mat Rogers snapping up a stray long pass from Louis Koen early in the second half, when the scores were still tied at the half-time score of 6-6, before racing away from debutant Jorrie Muller for the try.

Flatley's conversion took the score to 13-6, and although Koen replied soon afterwards with his third penalty, Flatley managed to keep his team ahead with two more penalties, before Koen missed his second attempt just after the advent of the final quarter to leave the score at 19-9.

Cynical play from Robbie Kempson just a few minutes later saw the Boks forced to play with one man down again -- hooker Danie Coetzee had spent 10 minutes in the sin bin between minutes 38 and 48 for foul at the tackle -- but Flatley's subsequent penalty, in the 67th minute, took his team out to 22-9, with time quickly running out.

The introduction of Brent Russell -- on the right-wing for Stefan Terblanché -- soon afterwards signalled the intention of the Boks at that stage, but the solid Australian defence, which did not seem threatened for much of the game, held out once again before one final strike to put daylight between the two sides.

The Wallabies worked the ball wide to left-wing Lote Tuqiri, who did not see too much off the ball, and he held off Russell for long enough before being hauled down.  The ball went to the right where Toutai Kefu drew in the final defence out wide before Phil Waugh dotted down in the corner despite a brave tackle from Bok No.8 Juan Smith.

For his efforts, Kefu was stretchered off the field after taking a late and high hit from Kempson, but the Wallaby elation proved just how much this win meant to them, having, before this match, lost three games on the trot, to England, South Africa and New Zealand, conceding 50 points in the latter fixture.

The South Africans certainly deserve some praise for their brave showing, but if they are to have any say at the World Cup later this year -- or in Dunedin next week -- they need to get more flair and authority into their game and have a good, hard look at their ill-discipline.

Man of the Match:  Two Waratahs men stood out for the Wallabies, hooker Brendan Cannon, who was excellent against the All Blacks last week, and one of the two Wallaby opensides, Phil Waugh.  For the Boks, Selborne Boome began well, while the rest of his tight five was not far behind, while Joe van Niekerk hardly looked rusty.  In the end, however, our obvious choice was Waugh, who was everywhere on attack, supporting the ball-carrier at every opportunity, defending strongly and competing well at the breakdown, along with George Smith.

Moment of the Match:  We have two moments, and both occurred within six minutes of each other.  First Wallaby No.12 Elton Flatley struck a tough penalty in the 57th minute, which bounced off the uprights to put his side ahead by 19-9, just past that crucial seven-point barrier.  Then, in the 63rd minute, South African kicking ace Louis Koen missed a relatively easy shot at goal, leaving the scoreline at 19-9.  If Flatley had missed and Koen been successful, the score would have been 16-12 in the home team's favour.  It still would have been game on ...

Villain of the Match:  Danie Coetzee was pencilled in early on for his silly misdemeanour, which earned him a yellow card in the 38th minute.  But our vote, here, goes to fellow Bok front rower, Robbie Kempson, firstly for a yellow card for tripping George Gregan in the 67th minute, and then for his high tackle on Wallaby No.8 Toutai Kefu, which knocked the Australian vice-captain out and saw him stretchered from the field.

Yellow card(s):  Danie Coetzee (South Africa, 38), Robbie Kempson (South Africa, 67)

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 David Giffin, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 6 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Elton Flatley, 13 Mat Rogers, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Owen Finegan, Matt Giteau, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Chris Whitaker, Nathan Sharpe

South Africa:  1 Richard Bands, 2 Danie Coetzee, 3 Robbie Kempson, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Selborne Boome, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Juan Smith, 9 Craig Davidson, 10 Louis Koen, 11 Ashwin Willemse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Jorrie Muller, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 15 Andre Pretorius
Reserves:  Wikus Van Heerden, Bakkies Botha, Brent Russell, Dale Santon, Lawrence Sephaka, Joost Van Der Westhuizen
Unused:  Gcobani Bobo

Attendance:  51188
Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Rogers M.S. 1, Waugh P.R. 1
Conv:  Flatley E.J. 2
Pen K.:  Flatley E.J. 5

South Africa
Pen K.:  Koen L.J. 3