Boks fail to match fancy France

Les Bleus go through November unbeaten

France underlined their growing stature with an elegant 26-20 victory over South Africa at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.  It was performance full of verve and cunning that left the touring Springboks looking decidedly flat-footed.

South Africa were, until late in the game, better in the scrums.  And they were better in the line-outs.  But the French tackled better, protected the ball better at the tackle and contested the tackle more than the Springboks did.

There was also a big difference at halfback where the French had strong, lively, varied, accurate Jean-Baptiste Elissalde at scrum-half and mercurial Frédéric Michalak at fly-half.  This was a far more effective pairing than the Springbok rookies of Meyer Bosman and Michael Claassen.  Mind you, that the French were much better in the post-tackle contest made life easier for their halves and harder for the South African halves.

France scored three tries to two -- one a brilliant counterattack, one an intercept and one a moment of clever opportunism off a messed line-out and a brilliant cut after a line-out.

It took France three minutes to score and ten minutes later they were leading 15-0.  They started running on the damp field in front of a full-house of spectators.

Their first try looked so simple.

Bok fullback Percy Montgomery did not find touch, but the ball went a long way downfield.  Aurélien Rougerie caught the ball and started running.  The first tackler stopped him and then the game burst asunder for Yannick Nyanga, who had already had a wonderful charge at the start of the match, came charging on his outside and down the touch-line.  He played inside to sturdy Dimitri Szarzewski.  Off the hooker went, short legs pumping as Bakkies Botha tried to haul him in.  Jean-Baptiste Elissalde converted to make it 7-0.

Montgomery missed a regulation penalty soon afterwards but when the Springbok backs moved the ball right somewhere near the half-way line, France scored.  Jaque Fourie was going right but turned the ball inside in an attempt to pass to Schalk Burger.  Frédéric Michalak darted in, grabbed the ball and raced away as Jean de Villiers gained on him, but the French fly-half did enough to squeeze over in the corner.

When Bok skipper John Smit was penalised for charging, ball under one arm, with his left elbow in front and right into the throat of the French captain Jérôme Thion, the touch judge pointed it out and Elissalde made it 15-0.

Later in the half, Thion was forced to leave the field and was replaced by Grégory Lamboley.

Montgomery got the Springboks on the board with a penalty goal just before half-time, making the score at the break 15-3.

When Bosman and Claassen created a mess early in the second half, Elissalde made it 18-3, and it did not look that there was any way back for the Springboks or any way that they would score a try.  But they did.

They did it when Claassen got a messed ball from a line-out and decided to burst forward and suddenly Bakkies Botha was charging for the line.  The touch judge seemed to be putting his flag up but then pulled it down and signalled to the referee that Botha had not been out.  Montgomery converted from far out.  18-10.

It did not take the French long to put things right.  From a scrum well in from touch they worked an 8-9 going left.  Elissalde slid a grubber behind Montgomery and Habana and Rougerie, big and powerful ran onto the ball, cutting inside two tacklers to score.  23-10.

Bosman kicked a long penalty for South Africa and Michalak one for France, 26-13.

When Cédric Heymans knocked on a harmless up-and-under near his line, the Springboks had a chance but the French defence was aggressive, the Springboks careless with the ball.  Smit dropped it and suddenly the French were footing free.  The next stoppage, a line-out, was well within the Springbok 22.

But the Springboks got back to within winning distance when Fourie took a sweet pass from Bosman as De Villiers ran to distract.  The big centre cut clean through and scored at the posts without a hand laid on him.  26-20 with five minutes left.  But it was the French who controlled the remained of the match.

Man of the match:  It's hard to find a Springbok who played consistently well unless it was, again, Bakkies Botha.  But the French had candidates in Aurélien Rougerie who set up a try and scored a try, lively Thomas Castaignède, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and our man-of-the-match Yannick Nyanga who carried the ball so well, contested the tackle so effectively and tackled in deadly fashion.

Moment of the match:  An intercept is always exciting and it was a long run for Frédéric Michalak but for sheer sweetness we have chosen as our moment-of-the-match the cut and try by Jaque Fourie -- perhaps the one moment of South African creativity.

Villain of the Match:  South African skipper John Smit for his elbow into Jérôme Thion.  At best it was reckless.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Szarzewski, Rougerie
Cons:  Michalak
Pens:  Elissalde 2, Michalak

For South Africa:
Tries:  Botha, Fourie
Cons:  Montgomery 2
Pens:  Montgomery, Bosman

The teams:

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Rémy Martin, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jèrôme Thion (captain), 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Sébastien Bruno, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Thomas Lièvremont, 20 Pierre Mignoni, 21 Yann Delaigue, 22 Pepito Elhorga.

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Breyton Paulse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Meyer Bosman, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Gary Botha, 17 Eddie Andrews, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 De Wet Barry, 22 Conrad Jantjes.

Referee:  Scott Young (Australia)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland, Alan Lewis (both Ireland)
Television match official:  Roy Maybank (England)

England weather moody clash

Mistakes litter England's play in victory over Samoa

England recorded a largely shapeless 40-3 victory over Samoa on Saturday -- a game marred by an ugly incident that saw Lewis Moody became the first England player to be sent off at Twickenham.

Moody received his marching orders after landing a volley of punches on Alesana Tuilagi, his Leicester team-mate, during a mass brawl late on the game -- not that the big Samoan wing was entirely blameless, he too saw red.

Moody reacted to Tuilagi's dangerous tackle which up-ended England wing Mark Cueto in mid-air and which sparked the ugly fracas which saw several other players flailing fists.

It puts a question mark over the future of the firebrand Moody, who had already been suspended for six weeks this season for punching.  And it completely overshadowed a two-try performance from Wasps wing Tom Voyce which had propelled England to their biggest win over Samoa.

Charlie Hodgson, Harry Ellis and Tom Varndell, on his debut, also posted touchdowns in a scrappy and frustrating encounter which had been something of an anti-climax following last week's epic against New Zealand.

The brawl understandably overshadowed the rugby.

But if this was an experiment to identify more creativity behind England's formidable pack then it was only a limited success.

True, the result was never really in doubt and England won at a canter against a Samoan side full of vim and vigour but lacking in technique and discipline.  But the five players who Robinson experimented with at the start earned mixed reviews.

Scrum-half Ellis was feisty and sharp around the base of the scrum and his try was the best of the match.

Bath's Matt Stevens, replacing Phil Vickery at prop, slotted seamlessly into England's front five, while Leicester second-row Louis Deacon -- making his international debut -- dropped his first catch from the kick-off but did well enough at the line-out without suggesting he will ever come close to emulating the feats of his Leicester mentor Martin Johnson.

James Simpson-Daniel, winning his eighth cap and in the problem position at centre, must have felt under the most pressure.  And, in truth, he conjured little imagination before being replaced by Olly Barkley at half-time, certainly not suggesting he is the answer to England's lack of creativity.  But by far the most promising was the work of Voyce.

As it was, Hodgson got the scoreboard ticking with a penalty after seven minutes, which was quickly cancelled out by an effort from Samoan fly-half Tanner Vili.

There was lots of huff and puff about England's work, lots more power from the forwards but too much of the early action was scrappy and disjointed.

Hodgson, however, settled Robinson's side with another penalty following Samoan ill-discipline at the scrummage, although it came at a cost.  Andrew Sheridan, England's so-called "Superman" against Australia and who was giving Samoa's Census Johnston a torrid time, was forced to leave the field after 20 minutes with an ankle injury.

It was a blow but it did allow former Leicester star, New Zealand-born Perry Freshwater, to make his debut at the age of 32.

When England's first try came after 23 minutes from Wasps wing Tom Voyce, however, it was a cracking combination of forward momentum and three-quarter opportunism.

England's pack sent the Samoans reeling at a touchline maul and when the ball spilled clear the ubiquitous Lewis Moody was first to pounce.

The flank flicked up the ball and fed scrum-half Harry Ellis, who slipped it to Mike Tindall and then to Voyce, who charged over with the panache which made him the Premiership's leading try-scorer last season.

It was England's most penetrative action in a scrappy first half which was most notable for a wonderful 50-metre break and kick forward by Samoan centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu which required a try-saving piece of work from full-back Josh Lewsey.

Still, the 16-3 half-time scoreline was a fair reflection of England's superior possession and territory.

The second half saw the introduction of Bath hooker Lee Mears, making his debut in place of Steve Thompson and Olly Barkley taking over from Simpson-Daniel as Robinson continued to run his eye over the men in waiting.

It was Voyce, however, who popped up yet again to show he has that invaluable knack of being in the right place at the right time.

Again the touchdown came courtesy of more forward domination, England camping out on the Samoan line before Ellis popped out a pass to Hodgson.  Another slick pass to Voyce and the wing scythed through the gap to score with a confidence bordering on nonchalance.

Leicester's Tom Varndell was rewarded with his debut but Samoan ill-discipline meant they were soon down to 13 men.  Prop Justin Va'a went to the sin-bin for constant infringement and Vili followed him after a dangerously high tackle almost decapitated Mark Cueto.

By this time the game was long over as a serious contest, a Hodgson try in the corner having eased England well clear and a darting, meandering run from Ellis ended with a diving touchdown to put some gloss on the work which had gone before.

But then came the Tuilagi tackle which sparked a brawl which shamed rugby and which Twickenham will want to forget.

Man of the match:  There was some powerful running from Samoan strongmen Sailosi Tagicakibau and Lome Fa'atau whilst Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu showed that Samoa's future is in good hands -- on the pitch, at least.  There were not too many stand-out performances from the English -- their backs looked like they only just been introduced to one another prior to the game ... over several beers in the Cardinal Vaughan.  Steve Borthwick was perhaps the pick of the forwards, and Moody looked in fine fettle before his attack on his fellow Tiger.  Tom Voyce took his tries well, Charlie Hodgson put together some nice touches, as did his halfback partner Harry Ellis who was probably the best performer in a poor encounter.

Moment of the match:  It was nice to see several new faces make their Test debut, and great to see Tom Varndell score in his first England game.  But all those moments are eclipsed by the incidents that spawned the two red cards.

Villain of the match:  There were plenty of ugly moments and there are two winners of this dubious gong.  Alesana Tuilagi's challenge on Mark Cueto was reckless to say the least, but he wins this award for the fact that he chose to follow that up with a punch on the injured party!  Lewis Moody's reaction was also unforgivable, he takes a share in these spoils.  Monday morning's training session at Welford Road will be very interesting indeed!

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Voyce 2, Hodgson, Ellis, Varndell
Cons:  Hodgson 3
Pens:  Hodgson 3

For Manu Samoa:
Pen:  Vili

Yellow card(s):  Va'a (Samoa) 65, collapsing the scrum;  Vili (Samoa) 68, dangerous tackle.

Red card(s):  Moody (England) 75, fighting;  Tuilagi (Samoa) 75, dangerous tackle.

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 James Simpson-Daniel, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry (captain), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Pat Sanderson, 5 Lewis Deacon, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andy Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 James Forrester, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Tom Varndell.

Manu Samoa:  15 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tanner Vili, 9 Steven So'oialo, 8 Daniel Farani, 7 Leo Lafaiali'i, 6 Semo Sititi (captain), 5 Pelu Taele-Pavihi, 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Loleni Tafunai, 17 Kas Lealamanua, 18 Paul Tupai, 19 Jonathan Faamatuainu, 20 Garrick Cowley, 21 Anitele'a Tuilagi, 22 Lolo Lui.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Rob Dickson, Malcolm Changleng (both Scotland)
Television match official:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Ireland subdue rugged Romania

Trimble claims a brace of tries

Ireland ended their November series with a compressive 43-12 victory over Romania at Lansdowne Road on Saturday but it wasn't quite the performance Irish fans had been hoping for.

It was sunny but cold in Dublin as the wind came down the field from the North Terrace, still desolate following the fire a while ago.

It was a strange match, possibly with more credit to the persistent Romanians than for the Irish who won well, but thanks only to their speed away from the pack.  The Irish pack was beaten.  Three times the Romanians were over the line but the television match official was unable to confirm a try and once teenager Catalin Fercu was tackled right at the cornerpost.

Romania, with "O'Neills" on their backs presumably because of a sponsorship and not covert Irish inclinations, played with the awkward wind and were leading until just after 20 minutes when Ireland got their first try.

Until then Ireland had been ponderous and their handling clumsy.  They had lost two line-outs on their own throw and were finding the bashing of the heavy Romanians troublesome.

The Oaks had the first chance to score as they bashed in phase after phase, getting closer to the Irish line till their scrum-half, the experienced Petre Mitu lobbed a kick over into the Irish in-goal.

They ended the half with a similar bit of mindlessness.  On half-time they attacked with many phases from a line-out till young fly-half Ionut Dimofte kicked the ball out for half-time.

At close quarters the Romanians were certainly the match of the Irish but it was a different story when there were chances to run with the ball.

As if a switch had been thrown, Ireland ran into the lead when they were trailing 6-3.  The best of the Irish runners were Geordan Murphy, the wings Shane Horgan and Tommy Bowe and the outside centre Andrew Trimble who had been so impressive against Australia the previous week.

The first try came when Murphy broke between the Romanian props in midfield and played to his right to Trimble who came racing through and on and over the line for a try, which captain David Humphreys converted.

Humphreys told the world how he wanted his side to play when twice he opted for scrums from penalties in midfield, and then he tapped and ran a penalty within his own half.

Penalties were a problem for the Oaks.  They conceded ten in the half to four by Ireland.  For the ninth big Alexandru Manta earned a yellow card at a tackle and went off to reappear for the start of the second half.  Things were better in the second half when the penalty count was 7-3 in favour of Romania!  But that was generally a much better half for the Oaks.

Ireland got a second try when Manta was resting.  They went through many phases until, as they went right, Neil Best burst through to score.

That made it 17-6 at half-time.  The Romanians were to come out to play into the wind.  They looked done.

Done they may have looked but their resolve was not.  They were better as the bog men battered again and again at the Irish in a half in which they had four five-metre scrums.

Romania had an early chance when a clearing kick by Humphreys was charged down but Murphy saved and then Ireland got a gift try.

Humphreys launched an up-and-under which Fercu dropped.  Ireland took the ball as the Romanians stood aside to avoid conceding a penalty, virtue which they may have regretted as Trimble scored his second try off an inside pass by Bowe.

Mitu kicked two penalties to make the score a respectable 24-12 but again Ireland got a present of a try as they played the blindside and, up against the touch-line, Johnny O'Connor ran past Ovidiu Tonitu who patted him on the back.  O'Connor scored with a gymnastic celebration.

It was after this that the Romanians attacked and attacked again near the cornerflag on the Irish right till they made a gross error -- passing to their backs.  From a five-metre scrum they ended with a line-out 15 metres from their line and Geordan Murphy was strong in Csaba Gal's tackle to score.  Humphreys converted from far out.  38-12.

Again the Oaks battered at the line, and again a mistake gave Ireland a try.

Denis Leamy won a fishy turn-over which became a scrum to Ireland which became a free kick.  Leamy took the tap and raced some 50 metres down the field.  The Irish went left and replacement fullback Girvan Dempsey surged over for the try.  Ronan O'Gara missed the conversion.

Ireland had one more chance to score a try but red-capped Fercu hauled Horgan in from behind and then won a turn-over to save for his side.

Romania ran once out of defence and hooker Marius Tincu had a long, strong run but it all fizzled out at the end.

Man of the Match:  For Romania it would have to be a forward and probably burly prop Petru Balan.  For Ireland it had to be a back and a choice of one of those outside backs -- Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Shane Horgan and our man-of-the-match Geordan Murphy.

Moment of the Match:  That high kick, chase, catch and dart by young Catalin Fercu that so nearly brought a try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody -- all good, clean fun.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Trimble 2, N Best, O'Connor, Murphy, Dempsey
Pens:  Humphreys
Cons:  Humphreys 5

For Romania:
Pens:  Mitu 4

Yellow card(s):  Manta, 35 -- killing the ball

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 David Humphreys (c), 9 Kieran Campbell, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Neil Best, 5 Leo Cullen, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Simon Best, 2 Shane Byrne, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 John Hayes, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Simon Easterby, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Girvan Dempsey.

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Gabriel Brezoianu, 13 Ionut Tofan, 12 Valentin Maftei, 11 Ioan Teodorescu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Petre Mitu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Petre Cristian, 4 Sorin Socol (captain), 3 Petrisor Toderasc, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Petru Balan.
Replacements:  16 Cezar Popescu, 17 Marel Socaciu, 18 Costica Mersoiu, 19 Cosmin Ratiu, 20 Lucian Sirbu, 21 Csaba Gal, 22 Dan Vlad.

Referee:  Andrew Cole (Australia)
Touch judges:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales), Peter Allen (Scotland)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

Italy beat Fiji in Monza

Two tries to one

Italy beat Fiji 23-8 before 12 000 lively, singing spectators in the slippery snow at Stadio Brianteo in Monza north of Milan on Saturday afternoon.

The snow fell as the teams ran out onto the cold field not far from the Alps.  The teams stood in the falling snow for the anthems on a white field, the men from the warm Pacific their legs bare to the elements.  Then in theri white jerseys on the white field they did their wardance, the cibi.  Their replacements sat in a shed huddled in large blackets like mediaeval monks at matins.

The lines on the field were marked in a reddish colour, that became pinkish.  It may have been a good idea to have had a red ball as well, as the white one was not always obvious.

Italy were never behind in the match and never looked like losing the match but it was only in the last ten minutes that they made the victory safe.

Both sides tried to run with the ball, Italy more so than the Fijians because they had a lot more ball to run with.  The Azzurri's pack was dominant throughout.  They destroyed the Fijian scrum and had by far the better of the line-outs.  Italy took five Fijian line-outs, the Fijians none of the Italians'.  Fiji spent much of the slithery afternoon under pressure.

Flyhalf Ramiro Pez kicked a penalty which Seremaia Bai, blowing on his hands to warm them, equalled to make the score 3-all after eight minutes.  That was the half-time score.

Not that the half was without life.  Fiji's Kameli Ratuvou had a good run, Mirco Bergamasco made a clean break in midfield and from a tapped free kick burly Norman Ligairi ran some 50 metres from near his own line.  Fiji once threatened as they chased a kick but Ludovico Nitoglia came across from the left wing to the right wing to save for Italy.

There were also two yellow cards just before the break.  Lock Kelemete Leawere, who was penalsied four times apart from this action, played a man from the side when he did not have the ball, and Sergio Parisse, the Italian No.8, stuck an angry shoulder into the big Fijian.  The referee sent both to the sin bin.  It was the nearest the match came to producing an untoward incident.

Italy relied heavily on the pack and it paid off soon after the restart when they turned a penalty into a line-out and drove a fast maul over the Fijian line for hooker Fabio Ongaro to plunge to ground for the try.  Pez converted.  10-3.

Pez then kicked two more penalty goals to make it 16-3.  After a run by Nitoglia Italy attacked and mauled and scrummed their way to the Fijian line, taking scrums instead of penalties as they did regulalrly in the half.  But, vitally, they failed to control the ball, and captain Mosese Rauluni saved for Fiji.

Ratuvou had a good run down the left wing and was close to scoring as the Fijians went on their best attack of the match.  They actually got over the line with a maul but the television match official was unable to confirm the grounding for a try.  But from the ensuing scrum inside centre Seremia Bai grubbered into the Italain in-goal where right-wing Mosese Luveitasau skied in for the try.  16-8.

With ten minutes to go, Pez side-footed a grubber into the Fijian in-goal where Mirco Bergamasco, playing outside centre, copied the Fijians and went skiing in for a try, converted by Pez.

In the last bit of the match the Fijians got more ball and handled well but the Italian defence held.

Man of the Match:  For Fiji Norman Ligairi was strong, defended well and thumped booming kicks with his right boot.  Marco Bortolami ruled the line-outs, Paul Griffen was as enegertic and effective as ever and Ludovico Nitoglia had moments of great skill.  Our Man of the Match is Italian flyhalf Ramiro Pez whose handling of the ball was remarable, his judgement and control exceptional and his kicking at goal successful with five out of six on that slippery field.

Moment of the Match:  There were two, the one a carbon copy of the other - Seremaia Bai's grubber for Mosese Luveitasau's try and Ramiro Pez's grubber for Mirco Bergamasco's try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody really.  Even the two yellow cards were of a pale and innocent hue.

The president of the Italian Federation Giancarlo Dondi said afterwards:  "What I saw of Italy today pleased me.  They had a will to win and did so despite the snow-covered field."

Coach Pierre Berbizier said:  "It was important to come back after the defeat by the Argentinians in Genoa last weekend The squad got it right.

"In the second half we gradually changed our gameplan to fit in better with the playing conditions."

Captain Marco Bortolami said:  "We are pleased to have beaten a team ranked above us on the world rankings."

The Fijian coach, Wayne Pivac, said of the conditions:  "We are not used to playing in such conditions but we also made some stupid errors that allowed Italy to take advantage through their strong pack.

The Fijian captain Mosese Rauluni said:  "We made too many mistakes.  The weather did not help us.  I play in England so that the weather today was not new but many of my team-mates had not seen snow before."

Scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Ongaro, Mirco Bergamasco
Cons:  Pez 2
Pens:  Pez 3

For Fiji:
Try:  Luveitasau
Pen:  Bai

Teams:

Italy:  15 Ezio Galon, 14 Samuele Pace, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Carlo Del Fava, 3 Martin Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Matias Aguero
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Carlos Nieto, 18 Valerio Bernabò, 19 Maurizio Zaffiri, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera 22 Rima Wakarua.

Fiji:  15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Mosese Luveitasau, 13 Epeli Ruivadra, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Kameli Ratuvou, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Mosese Rauluni (captain), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Aca Ratuva, 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 5 Kelemete Leawere, 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Apisai Nagi, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Josese Bale
Replacements:  16 Bill Gadolo, 17 Sikeli Gavidi, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Kiniviliame Salabogi, 20 Mosese Volavola , 21 Aporosa Vata, 22 Maleli Kunavore

Referee:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Daniel Jabase (Argentina)
Television match official:  Eric Darrière (France)

Wales pip Wallabies in thriller

Wales end a difficult month on a massive high

Much-maligned Wales dug deep into their reserves -- both physically and metaphorically -- and produced a stunning rear-guard 24-22 victory over Australia at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

It was a cracking game, the most open of the November Tests so far, and it culminated in an absorbing and triumphant finale.  For there was plenty riding on the outcome of this match, and the final result -- and the manner of defeat -- may well toll the bell for Eddie Jones and George Gregan.

Wales ran and spun and passed as Mike Ruddock's team does like no other, and the bigger and brasher Australians stretched the Welsh resolve to the limit with an enthralling never-say-die spirit.

Shane Williams was back to his inimitable best -- at one point he made Drew Mitchell look simply ridiculous with a jink -- and Australia's effort was carried for the large part on the strength and endurance of old heads Chris Latham and Lote Tuqiri

But Wales held on, and the result will give them a significant mental buck ahead of their next match:  the trip down the M4 to Twickenham in the Six Nations.

The first half was a lesson to all watching in maximising the use of possession.  Australia had only 40 per cent of the ball in the first forty minutes, yet scored one superb try and could have had at least two others.

Wales, by contrast, frittered away their 60 per cent share with some unimaginative wide passes and pedestrian midfield charges into the Australian line.  It was very pretty, but, two occasions excepted, it was very ineffective.  Wales won the possession 60-40 but lost the half 6-7 on points.

Conversely, Wales lost the second-half possession 44-56 but won it 18-15 on points.  It's not what you have, it's how you use it, and Wales seem much better when feeding off stolen possession than when they actually create their own platform.

The first half was also a lesson in set piece play; out of the sixteen line-outs (eight apiece) and six scrums (three apiece), only one was fluffed by team with the ball.  There were no turnovers by either team, and the only statistical imbalance was the seven penalties conceded by Australia to Wales' five.

The game loosened up in the second half as the teams tired and the foragers were given more time, and it was three turnovers that led to Australia's downfall, along with the crumbling of their scrum and their game discipline.

The first ten minutes of the match belonged solely to Wales -- they had a staggering 90 per cent of the territory in that time -- yet they emerged from the period of dominance only 3-0 ahead, courtesy of Stephen Jones, and then fell prey to a superb try.

Mat Rogers was the architect, looping round Morgan Turinui to take a return pass and then straightening at speed to break the Welsh backs.

Gareth Thomas had him marked, but Tuqiri was on the inside shoulder to take the scoring pass, which 74,000 voices called forward.  The one voice that counted didn't, and Tuqiri went in under the posts after thirteen minutes.

The try heralded a brief spell of Australian dominance.  George Smith broke from the restart, and then another sweeping back move sent Mitchell away, but Dafydd James covered with a superb tackle.

James rescued his team again three minutes later with a ball-and-all try-saving tackle on Phil Waugh which prevented him off-loading to Mitchell, and three minutes after that he smashed Mitchell when chasing an up and under, which led to Wales' most promising move of the half.

From Chris Horsman's recovery of the spilled ball, Martyn Williams broke the line, and had his pass struck Jones' hand and not the forearm, the fly-half would have been home.

Thomas escaped the potential consequences of a silly knock-on on his own 22, and the Welsh built up a real head of steam, taking the ball up to the Australian line through fifteen phases of possession.  Horsman stood on the back of the ruck poised for the final burst, and then dropped the ball.

The rest of the first half meandered a little after that, but the first warning signs of fatigue in the Australian scrum were shown when David Fitter brought a scrum down two minutes before the break.  Stephen Jones landed the penalty to make it 6-7.

Australia stole what ought to have been a significant advantage immediately from the start of the second half.  Thomas, who did not have a game to remember, hesitated on a kick to the corner by Latham, long enough for the chasing Tuqiri and Mitchell to close down Williams.

Williams was caught, the ball was turned over, and after half-breaks from Latham and Tuqiri, Nathan Sharpe made the final few hard yards for the try.  Rogers converted for a 6-14 lead.

Wales stormed back though, first through Williams, who was just bundled into touch by Latham, and then poaching a line-out five metres form the Australian line.  The ensuing scrums yielded three penalties as Fitter and Dunning buckled, and the last penalty was signalled under the posts for a seven-pointer.

Wales were back in the game, and then took the lead with a simply magnificent try.  Colin Charvis turned over Australian ball on his own 22, and the Welsh ran the ball wide to Shane Williams, who showed signs all match of returning to form.  Williams grubbered ahead, Thomas did brilliantly to gather and keep the ball available under Turinui's tackling arms, and Williams left Tuqiri for dead on his way to the line.  Jones failed to land the conversion, but Wales were good value for the 18-14 lead.

The try was closely succeeded by the exit of George Gregan, who was not even on the pitch for sixty minutes this time.  Chris Whitaker came on and added some much-needed zip to the distribution, and neither result nor performance will have done much to offset the pressure currently on Australia's record-breaking captain.

Jones extended the lead two minutes after the Williams try for a 21-14 scoreline, and the penalty count for the second half as the hour mark in the match passed was 4-0 to Wales.

Finally, the Wallabies got a penalty for Rogers to land and bring the Wallabies back to within four, but Jones extended the lead again two minutes later.  24-17 with 15 minutes to go.

Twice Lote Tuqiri -- by some distance the pick of the Australian players -- broke as Australia upped the pace.  Once he was shackled by the heroics of James, and once his pass to the overlapping Gerrard was handed to the floor by the retreating Watkins.

Finally a Tuqiri break told, with the converted centre once again going through the revolving door offered to him by Sonny Parker, before delivering a sweet grubber for Latham to run onto ten minutes before the end.  Rogers' conversion was pulled wide though and 24-22 the score remained.

The final ten minutes were a fitting climax to a superb game.  Wales were magnificently disciplined under pressure, and the Wallabies earnest in their endeavour.  But twice the Welsh stole ball in the final two minutes, once through Robert Sidoli, who looked up, saw 70m of open turf in front of him, baulked at the idea and opted to kick the ball clumsily to touch.

Then in the final minute, Charvis put the seal on his fantastic display by stealing ball immaculately and giving it to Williams to kick it out triumphantly and end the game -- a fitting end for the nippy little winger, whose try, side-steps and running signified the return of the Welsh wizard to his magical best.

Man of the match:  Shane Williams gets a mention for his running game, Dafydd James for some sterling defence, and Lote Tuqiri for a brilliant all-round display of running and tackling.  But Colin Charvis was the key to the turnovers upon which the Welsh second-half revival was based.  A great performance from an old head to inspire his team to victory.

Moment of the match:  Shane Williams' jink around Drew Mitchell.  Genius.  Williams' try was a joy to behold, but for an individual moment at the highest level, there has been no better this November.

Villain of the match:  Impossible to find one, the match was a credit to both teams and the referee.

The scorers:

For Wales
Tries:  S Williams, Penalty Try
Con:  S Jones
Pens:  S Jones 5

For Australia:
Tries:  Tuqiri, Sharpe, Latham
Cons:  Rogers 2
Pen:  Rogers

The teams:

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (c), 14 Dafydd James, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Mefin Davies, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Lee Byrne.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Morgan Turinui, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Mat Rogers, 9 George Gregan (c), 8 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 John Roe, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Hugh McMeniman, 3 David Fitter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Scott Fava, 20 Chris Whitaker, 21 Lloyd Johansson, 22 Wendell Sailor.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

All Blacks complete formalities

Clean sweep complete after win in Edinburgh

New Zealand recorded a controlled 29-10 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, a result that plonks the cherry on the top of an absolutely sumptuous season.  The All Blacks whitewashed of the Lions, triumphed in the Tri-Nations and have now completed the "grand slam" -- wins over all four Home Unions.

But bless Scotland!  They certainly made a match of it and actually had the better of the second half which ended 7-7 but a half in which Scotland had far and away the better chances to score.

They could, as in the first half, have banged kicks at goal but instead looked to get tries -- and just before the end that did just that.  The Scots were set on handling the ball.  That did not let them down but their kicking did.

By the end of the first half, with the All Blacks leading 22-, the writing on the wall would have said "big New Zealand victory".  But that was not the case and New Zealand spent most of the half on the defence.  They conceded penalties -- eight of them, three by Angus MacDonald, their scrum let up and their line-outs were less sure.  But the New Zealand defence was still so strong.

In the first half Scotland used a five-metre line-out to drive a maul over the line for what may well have been a try but the match officials could not see that it really was a try, and Scottish hopes may well have faded but to their credit they tries it again and again -- six times in the second half in the hope that practice would make perfect, but this New Zealand side is resilient.  When they did get their try it was an exquisite moment and no more than what the Scots deserved.  They had put great effort into scoring a try.

The very start to the match looked ominous for the Scots as New Zealand caught the kick-off and sent Joe Rokocoko racing 50 metres or so.  But Scotland opened the scoring when Dan Parks kicked a penalty.  But as the half wore on, the Scots were worn down.  Their line-outs became rickety and their scrum frail.  It made it all the harder to explain the Scottish resurgence in the second half.

The All Blacks made mistakes.  Tana Umaga was guilty of two gross knock-ons when tries beckoned.

But then tries beckoned whenever the All Blacks decided to run.

Come half time at cold, not-full Murrayfield New Zealand led 22-3.  It was going to be a tough second half for the Scots, a rewarding one for a New Zealand team which was not their best team.

Rico Gear got two tries for New Zealand, one in each half.  Piri Weepu made the first one when he went blind and grubbered.  The television match official confirmed that Gear had indeed grounded the ball fairly.  That made it 5-3.

The second try was brilliant -- All Blacks at their best as they picked up a dropped Scottish pass and came down the right from well inside their own half, went left and came back right before scoring going left through Evans who brushed aside Jason White's tackle to run round behind the posts.  He converted.  12-3.  The nmumbers of the players who handled tells the story of all-out All Black attack -- 14 -> 12 -> 15 -> 9 -> 10 -> 4 -> 9 -> 3 -> 5 -> 6 -> 5 -> 9 -> 10 -> 12 -> 9 -> 8 -> 13 -> 2 -> 9 -> 10, who scored.

An Evans penalty made it 15-3.

The third try was a great All Black moment.  Hugo Southwell kicked the ball out, the crowd applauded and New Zealand scored.  Well inside his 22, Nick Evans broke.  He seemed to be held but instead he was speeding down the field.  Through quick phases the ball went till it came to tall James Ryan who juggled and juggled and juggled again and left Sione Lauaki to juggle once and score.  Evans converted.  22-3.

Both sides made many changes as the half wore on but by and large it was Scotland who did better and could have scored a try of great brilliance had Sean Lamont had Gear or Rokocoko speed.  The Scots ran from near their own line and there was Lamont big, quick and nifty bursting down the field but Umaga hunted him down.  The Scots managed to keep the ball going but there was nobody on hand to keep it going at speed off Lamont.

Because New Zealand were pinned in their own half for much of the half their try had to be a long-distance affair.  They broke out and there they were again with that confident handling and endless support.  The great moment in the move was when replacement lock Jason Eaton acted like a classy centre, straightening dummying and giving Gear a perfect pass for his second try.  Leon MacDonald, on at fly-half for Evans, converted.

Scotland's try, inevitably, came from close in.  he attacked down in the corner on their left and replacement fly-half Phil Godman slid a perfect grubber on a diagonal in behind the charging defenders.  Replacement, blue-capped Simon Webster won the race for the ball his hands stretching out to get the touchdown, as the TMO conformed.  Paterson hurried to kick the conversion , doubtlessly because the Scots wanted to score again.  They did not, but in losing a match they won lots of success.

Man of the Match:  Piri Weepu was strong and good and Chris Jack was energetic and effective, but our man-of-the-match is the Scottish wing Sean Lamont -- so strong and daring, unfazed by the might of the army in front of him.

Moment of the Match:  There was James Eaton's pass to Rico Gear, there was James Eaton's pick-up off the ground.  There was that first run by Joe Rokocoko and there was the powerful run by Sean Lamont.  But our moment of the match was the juggling act that preceded Sione Lauaki's try, a passage of play that seems to encapsulates this crop of ABs -- they are able to craft silk purses out of pigs' ears.

Villains:  None.  It was not a day for villains, this special day of Grand Slam.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Webster
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Paterson

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Gear 2, Evans, Lauaki
Cons:  Evans 2, MacDonald
Pen:  Evans

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain), 5 Stuart Murray, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Simon Webster.

New Zealand:  15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Tana Umaga (captain), 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Angus MacDonald, 5 James Ryan, 4 Chris Jack, 3 John Afoa, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Mose Tuiali'i, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Leon MacDonald, 22 Ma'a Nonu.

Referee:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), George Clancy (Ireland)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)

Scotland struggle to subdue Samoa

Tourists give hosts plenty to think about

Scotland subdued a spirited Samoan side to record a gritty 18-11 victory at a sparsely-populated Murrayfield on Sunday.  The tourists' fabled defence stymied any hope of any Scottish creativity; England, who play Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday, would be advised to stock up on ice and bandages.

At the end of the match the Samoans trudged off, disappointments close to tears for the brave warriors from the Pacific.  They had not had enough ball to win but the effort they had put in had been enough for several victories.

At the end of it their captain Semi Sititi expressed their disappointment and their willingness to "put their bodies on the line for the blue jersey.  In the end our mistakes cost us the game."

Allister Hogg spoke about the physicality of the Samoans, and there were some jarring tackles, teeth-rattling, bone-rattling, bruising stuff.  At times some of the Scots seemed to be playing touch rugby, eager to get rid of the ball lest another blue shoulder thump into them.

The Scots certainly took hard knocks from the shoulders of the sturdy Samoans for whom tackling is a cultural achievement.  By half-time which came at 8-all the Scots must have been sore, and there was not even much of a crowd to ease and appreciate their pain.  Again Murrayfield was mainly empty.

The Scots mixed their game with mauls and spreading the ball wide.  Their mauls were strong but only one strong enough to score a try.  Their spreading the ball produced the try which won the match when the scores were locked at 11-all.

The Scots were better -- but not perfect for they lost their own twice -- at the line-outs and in the scrums but the Samoans won the turn-overs in the tackles as they drove in harder and lower.

The Samoans had three great wings at their disposal -- Lome Fa'atau, Alesana Tuilagi and Sailosi Tagicakibau but they hardly got the ball.  When Samoa did have the ball on the run they were intent to play the ball back inside rather than seek for chances for their wings while the Scots tried to get the ball to the Lamont brothers.

Samoa had a great start.  They made a penalty a line-out 10 metres from the Scottish line.  They mauled and then the ball came back to scrumhalf Garrick Cowley who chipped at the Scottish in-goal.

Chris Cusiter flew at the dropping ball and seemed to have the situation covered.  He caught the ball and immediately burly Alesana Tuilagi ripped the ball from the little scrumhalf's grasp and dropped to ground for the try.  The easy conversion was astray.

It took the Scots some time to get on even terms and when they did so it was the old sequence -- penalty -- line-out -- maul.  Over they went with Hogg in possession for a try that belonged to all.  The relatively easy conversion was wide.

There was an astonishing moment when Alesana Tuilagi counterattacked.  He burst through the Scots, planking Di Rollo on his back and chopped towards the posts.  He was leading the race for the ball when it hit the crossbar and bounced back into the field where the Scots saved.

When Sean Lamont was penalised at a tackle, Roger Warren goaled.  Warren and tanner Vili had an interesting afternoon, swapping fullback and flyhalf throughout though the Samoans were much better when Vili was at flyhalf.

Paterson made it 8-all with a penalty and then Samoa lost prodigal Iosefa Taina to the sin bin.  By then he had conceded three penalties at the tackle and there was still another to come till Paul Tupai replaced him -- and conceded a penalty at a tackle as if it were catching!

Alesana Tuilagi made an opportunity for himself when he intercepted a chip kick but Marcus di Rollo saved.

The Scots came close to the corner on their left twice in the second half but fits Rory Lamont and then Hog were tackled out by the zealous defence.  Rory Lamont was laid out in the tackle on him and Hugo Southwell took his place.

Eventually Paterson gave his side the lead with a penalty but with 12 minutes to go Warren, who was short with two long-range attempts, made it 11-all with 12 minutes to play.

Mike Blair, on for Cusiter, had a brilliant break down the right and it seemed that Southwell would score till he was dumped into touch.

The Scots at this stage were well on the attack.  Sean Lamont ran, weaving, beating men, strong.  Blair gave to Godman who gave to Di Rollo who scored far out.  Paterson's conversion meant that the Samoans needed a miracle to share the match as a try looked a remote possibility for the ardent Islanders.

They tried and tried, but in the end the match stopped in midfield.

Man of the Match:  Semo Sititi at No/8 for Samoa was all effort and courage and Tanner Vili did lots of clever and brave things.  Chris Paterson was a handful from fullback but our Man of the Match, just pipping Vili, is Sean Lamont.

Moment of the Match:  We have a choice of three -- Alesana's Tuilagi's try, Tanner Vili's thumping tackle on Godman as a symbol of all the thumping Samoan tackles and our Moment of the Match that thumping run, chip, chase and crossbar intervention when Alesana Tuilagi looked a possible scorer.

Villain of the match:  Nobody -- not even puzzled Iosefa Taina.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Di Rollo
Cons:  Paterson
Pens:  Paterson 2

For Samoa:
Tries:  Al.  Tuilagi
Pens:  Warren 2

Yellow card(s):  Taina (Samoa) -- killing the ball, 31.

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Rory Lamont (Hugo Southwell, 47), 13 Marcus di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks (Phil Godman, 61), 9 Chris Cusiter (Mike Blair, 61), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Simon Taylor, 6 Jason White ( Kelly Brown, 70), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Craig Hamilton (Alasdair Kellock, 40), 3 Craig Smith (Gavin Kerr, 47), 2 Scott Lawson (Dougie Hall, 64), 1 Allan Jacobsen.

Manu Samoa:  15 Roger Warren (Loleni Tafunai, 75), 14 Lome Fa'atau (Sailosi Tagicakibau, 65), 13 Anitelea Tuilagi, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Alesana Tuilagi (Aukuso Collins, 65) 10 Tanner Vili, 9 Garrick Cowley (Notise Tauafao, 64), 8 Daniel Farani, 7 Iosefa Taina (Paul Tupai, 47), 6 Semo Sititi (captain), 5 Jonathan Faamatuainu (Leo Lafaiali'i, 40), 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va’a (Kas Lealamanu’a, 56).

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Australia's dry run ends in Dublin

Wallabies come back with strong second-half performance

Australia finally ended their drought, a run of seven defeats, when they beat Ireland 30-14 at Lansdowne Road in Dublin on Saturday.  Coming back from being down 6-3 at half-time, the Wallabies scored 27 second-half points to record their first win in on their year-end tour.

Ireland produced a significant improvement on last Saturday's performance against New Zealand, but it was not enough to prevent them from crashing to the second defeat in their November internationals.

Eddie O'Sullivan's men were desperate to atone for the 45-7 blitz by New Zealand, a display criticised for its lack of passion, while Australia were also desperate to end their seven-match drought.

But while the Irish took a step in the right direction, they still came up well short against an Australian team just more desperate than themselves.

A brace of second-half tries from winger Drew Mitchell and one from Chris Latham saw the Wallabies power to victory and end their seven-match losing streak, keeping the job of under-fire coach Eddie Jones safe for another week.

All eyes were on the Australian scrum following last Saturday's shambles against England, a horror-show former All Black skipper Sean Fitzpatrick described as a "disgrace", but the set-piece never really figured.

Jones had reacted to events at Twickenham by axing Al Baxter in favour of debutant tighthead David Fitter and replacing injured Matt Dunning with Greg Holmes, who won his first Test start in a rookie front row.

But apart from a couple of times when their scrum buckled badly, Australia were able to keep the focus away from the set-piece and in the tight they never took the pounding received from England.

The game was marred by worrying scenes in the 18th minute when veteran lock Malcolm O'Kelly was stretchered off with his neck in a brace, following a ferocious double hit from Lote Tuqiri and Hugh McMeniman.

But there was some good news for Ireland, who crossed through Shane Horgan, in the shape of a promising debut from Ulster centre Andrew Trimble, who looked comfortable on his first outing in the Test arena.

Ireland had been criticised for their tactics against New Zealand as they overlooked their kicking game in favour of a more ambitious running approach, but they had adjusted their approach for Australia.

Geordan Murphy and Ronan O'Gara looked for touch in the opening two minutes when they could have run the ball, but unfortunately both efforts were poor and this set the tone for Ireland's kicking game in general.

Fitter and Simon Easterby traded blows at the breakdown shortly after, but Ireland were awarded the penalty by referee Chris White.

O'Gara found touch and the home side drove the ensuing line-out some 15 metres before White punished Australia for a second time and Ireland's Munster fly-half made no mistake with the three points.

Chris Latham and Matt Rogers threatened Ireland before Gregan dashed over the whitewash from five yards out but there had been an obstruction in the move.

Lansdowne Road was brought to its feet in the 16th minute when Denis Leamy punched a big hole in midfield and found openside Johnny O'Connor, who carried the ball deep into midfield only to lack any support runners.

O'Connor was brought to a halt and the ball eventually found its way to the right line where O'Kelly was hit.

The veteran Leinster second row, Ireland's most capped player, received lengthy treatment before being carried off and replaced by Matt McCullough, with O'Gara missing the ensuing penalty kick.

Australia battered away at their opponents' line in the 26th minute and when Ireland strayed offside, giving Rogers his first shout at goal which he gratefully accepted.

Some Latham back-chat put a penalty chance in O'Gara's range and the fly-half sent his kick between the posts.

Rogers was given a chance to level the score early in the second half after Ireland were caught holding the ball in the tackle and the former rugby league star slotted the three points.

Bowe was released on a promising run down the left but his kick was ineffective and Australia scored on the counter with the television match official required to decide whether Mitchell had grounded the ball correctly after being shoved over the line by his team-mates.

Rogers converted and then saw a switch in his opposite number with David Humphreys replacing O'Gara, and the Ulster fly-half coolly completed the first shot at goal he was given in the 59th minute.

Ireland were trailing just 13-9 going into the final quarter but a dropped pass from McCullough was punished as Latham surged through tackles from Humphreys and O'Connor and outstripped the Irish cover on his run to the line.

Rogers converted but his side were hit by the sin-binning of George Smith for a bad challenge on Peter Stringer.

However, the shortage in manpower made no difference as Mitchell beat off tackles from Trimble, Bowe and Horgan to score in the corner after Humphreys' loose pass was intercepted.

Rogers added the extras but Ireland had not given hope of scoring a try and Horgan obliged in the 77th minute after Murphy had supplied the telling pass, giving Ireland's defeat some respectability on the scoreboard.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Horgan
Pens:  O'Gara 2, Humphreys

For Australia:
Tries:  Mitchell 2, Latham
Cons:  Rogers 3
Pens:  Rogers 3

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Simon Easterby (c), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 18 Matt McCullough, 19 Neil Best, 20 Kieran Campbell, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Girvan Dempsey.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Morgan Turinui, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Mat Rogers, 9 George Gregan (c), 8 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 John Roe, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Hugh McMeniman, 3 David Fitter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Greg Holmes.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Scott Fava, 20 Matt Henjak, 21 Lloyd Johansson, 22 Wendell Sailor.

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Tappe Henning (South Africa)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

France make hard work of Tonga

Late glut of tries fails to disguise poor performance

France beat Tonga 43-8 in Toulouse on Saturday, but it was a performance which will not have pleased Bernard Laporte.

Laporte, who wanted his troops to put their hands up for selection for next week's match against South Africa, instead saw his team lose the first half by a try to nil, and fall foul of playing the opposition at their own game rather than imposing their own tactics upon their opponents.

France also suffered an early injury blow, with Julien Laharrague departing to a knee injury after two minutes.  His chances of playing in next week's test look slim indeed.

Yachvilli put France in the lead with an easy penalty after five minutes, but missed the chance to extend the lead a minute later with a longer-range effort, as the French made the most of a good attacking start.

They nearly got the opening try through Thomas Castaignède after a sweeping back-line move, but they were rocked on the quarter-hour by a try from their opposition.

Tonga fly-half Elisi Vunipola hammered a penalty 60m downfield, and although France took the line-out, the ball went to ground.  It was hacked through, Viliani Vaki reacted faster than all others, and Tonga had the lead -- after a brief consultation with the video referee.

Epi Taione, who had played for Sale the night before and flown over from Manchester overnight, came off the bench after 20 minutes to replace Pila Fifita on the wing.

France kept the pressure on, but could find none of last week's artistry to open up the Tongan defence.  Yachvili landed two further penalties to keep them in the lead, but it was not much, and it was certainly not pretty.

Sione Tu'ipulotu dropped a goal for Tonga to make it 9-8, and although Yachvili made it 12-8 with another penalty, the crowd voiced their disapproval as the half-time whistle went -- even though Vincent Clerc was also denied what looked like a perfectly good try.

France finally got into gear shortly after half-time, after Tongan prop Tonga Lea'aetoa was yellow-carded for his role in a handbag-swinging contest.  The trouble was started by a nasty punch from Rodney Mahe on Yann Delaigue, which may be subject to a later citing.

Thomas Lièvremont scored the first as the pack exploited the numerical advantage to push their counterparts over the line, and Castaignède sparked the second with a terrific burst of acceleration to send Aurélien Rougerie in for the second.  Yachvili converted both, but couldn't convert Clerc's try, which was also scored by feeding of Castaignède's creativity.

Jauzion and Clerc both added injury time scores as Tongan heads fell and superior fitness levels told, but France will have to come up with more than this against South Africa next week.

Man of the match:  Thomas Castaignède was the lone Frenchman who consistently rose above the mediocrity around him.

Moment of the match:  The switch between Clerc and Castaignède for France's third try.  One of those sublime moments from le petit general that have been sadly absent from the game for the last three years.

Villain of the match:  Rodney Mahe, for the punch.  Gratuitous and unwanted.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Lièvremont, Rougerie, Clerc 2, Jauzion
Cons:  Yachvili 3
Pens:  Yachvili 4

Tonga:
Try:  Vaki
Drop goal:  Tu'ipulotu

France:  15 Julien Laharrague (Perpignan), 14 Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont), 13 David Marty (Perpignan), 12 Thomas Castaignède (Saracens, England), 11 Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), 10 Yann Delaigue (Castres), 9 Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), 8 Sebastien Chabal (Sale Sharks, England), 7 Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), 6 Julien Bonnaire (Bourgoin), 5 Jèrôme Thion (Biarritz, captain), 4 Gregory Lamboley (Toulouse), 3 Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Français), 2 Raphaël Ibanez (London Wasps, England), 1 Olivier Milloud (Bourgoin).
Replacements:  16 Sébastien Bruno (Sale, England), 17 Pieter de Villiers (Stade Français), 18 Lionel Nallet (Castres), 19 Rémy Martin (Stade Français), 20 (Biarritz), 21 Frédéric Michalak (Toulouse), 22 Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse).

Tonga:  15 Sione Mone Tu'ipulotu (Newport, Wales), 14 Viliami Fifita (Bayonne, France), 13 Suka Hufanga (Béziers, France), 12 Andrew Ma'ilei (North Harbour, New Zealand), 11 Salesi Finau (Bath, England), 10 Elisi Vunipola (Caerphilly, Wales), 9 Sioeli Nau (Bradford, England), 8 Rodney Mahe (Hukunuku), 7 Christopher Hala'ufia (Rotherham, England)/Ueleni Fono (Fanga Club), 6 Viliami Vaki (captain, Perpignan, France), 5 Milton Ngauamo (Calvisano, Italy), 4 Fakahata Molitika (Llanharan, Wales), 3 Tonga Lea'aetoa (Nottingham, England), 2 Ifalemi Taufaka (Leicester Tigers, England), 1 Soane Tonga'uika (Bedford, England).
Replacements:  16 Viliami Ma'asi (Cornish Pirates, England), 17 Alani Maka (Oyonnax, France), 18 Talite Vaioletti (Lavangamalie), 19 Maama Molitika (Cardiff, Wales), 20 Soane Havea (Marist Club), 21 Fangatapu Apikotoa (Saint-Nazaire, France), 22 Samuela Lisala (Lavangamalie)

Referee:  Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Television match official:  Wayne Barnes (England)

Argentina beat Italy in Genoa

Another win for the Pumas

Argentina beat Italy 39-22 in Genoa on Saturday afternoon, a pleasant match on a sunny day that had a sad ending with players in unseemly scuffles.

It has been a successful November for the Pumas.  They ran South Africa close in Buenos Aires and have followed that up with successive victories over Six Nations sides, beating Scotland in Murrayfield and now Italy at Estadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa with the Mayor of Genoa Giuseppe Perìcu to watch.

The Italian pack creaked a buit in the scrum but had the better of the line-outs and post-tackle turn-overs.  In fact they were happy from the start to maul at the mauling Argentinians.

The Azzurri were certainly competitive till two quick tries turned the match the Pumas' way as the last quarter of the match approached.

Puma centre Gonzalo Tiesi opened the scoring when he burst powerfully through the Italian defence but Ramiro Pez reduced the deficit to 5-3 with a penalty goal.

Two penalties by Felipe Contepomi and another by Pez made the score 11-6.  Just after that Italy took the lead when centre Gonzalo Canale scored a try which Pez converted.  It was a brillaint try as Pez got his arms above the tackle and popped a short pass to Canale who burst clean through for a try under the posts.  13-11 to Italy.

The lead did not last long as Contepomi goaled a third penalty to make the score 14-13, which also did not last long as Pez then made the score 16-14.  Two minutes later Italy failed to control an innocuous looking up-and-under and quick passes sent left-wing Francisco Leonelli over in the corner.  That made the half-time score 19-16 to the Pumas.

A penalty by Contepomi and two penalties by Pez brought the score to 22-all with 27 minutes to play.  But then the Pumas raced ahead.

First fullback Bernardo Stortoni scored from a scrum, the simplest of tries it seemed.  Two passes and he burst past CDanale and then Sergio Parisse on a run to the line of some 50 metres as the defence evaporated.  Contpomi converted.

Soon afterwards Tiesi, big and shaven-headed, burst past four defenders and gave to Martin Aramburu who powered past another two for a try at the posts, again converted by Contepomi.  In a matter of five minutes the Pumas had scored 14 points.  Finally Contepomi added a penalty goal.

Italy strove manfully to score and ended the match on the Pumas' line.  But this period was marred by two scuffles.  At the end of the first Argentina were penalised and after the second Italy.  That second penalty was kicked out and the final whistle went, but the sight of grown men pulling hair was at the very least unseemly.

Man of the match:  Big, strong Gonzalo Tiesi who scored the first try and made the last try clincher.

Moment of the Match:  For its majestic simplicity Bernardo Stortoni's try.

Villain of the Match:  Therre were several but the one who caught the eye was Rodrigo Roncero who danced away from confrontation but managed to pull hair.  It looked neither mature nor manly.

Scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Tiesi, Leonelli, Stortoni, Aramburu
Cons:  Contepomi 2
Pens:  Contepomi 5

For Italy:
Try:  Canale
Con:  Pez
Pens:  Pez 5

The teams:

Italy:  15 Ezio Galon, 14 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Cristian Stoica, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Aaron Persico, 6 Sergio Parisse, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Carlo Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Mauro Bergamasco, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Pablo Canavosio, 22 Luciano Orquera.

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Federico Martín Aramburu, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Francisco Leonelli, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Juan Martin Fernández Lobbe, 7 Santiago Sanz, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Pablo Bouza, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 3 Omar Hasan, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements:  16 Eusebio Guiñazu, 17 Martín Scelzo, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 20 Nicolás Fernández Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Lucas Borges

Referee:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), James Jones (Wales)
Television match official:  Eric Darrière (France)

Portugal run Fiji close in Lisbon

Tourists escape with a win

Fiji recorded a 26-17 over Portugal at the Estádio Universitário in Lisbon on Saturday.  After putting the wind up the Six Nations champions in Cardiff last week, it was Fiji's turn to feel the heat, and needing to draw on all their experience to muscle past an impressive Portuguese XV.

Portugal had a lively and gratifying start when veteran António Aguilar intercepted and ran some 50 metres to score a try under the posts which Cardoso Pinto easily converted.  7-0.

After this Fiji attacked until they drew level with a try by Maleli Kunavore, converted by Jack Prasad.

But Pinto goaled a penalty and after 21 minutes Portugal led 10-7.

Fijian pressure resulted in a try and then a second converted try to make the half-time score 19-10 in the visitors' favour.

Fiji continued its pressure in the second half but as in the first half the Lusos tackled with great courage.

When Joaquim Ferreira scored their second try and Pinto converted it, the game was wide open, but the big Fijians, who had dominated pressure throughout, made it safe when hooker Bill Gadolo scored.

Fiji are ranked 9th in the world by the IRB, the Portuguese 15th.

Scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Kunavore, Ratuvou, Qovu, Gadolo
Cons:  Prasad 2, Vulakoro

For Portugal:
Tries:  Aguilar, Ferreira
Cons:  Pinto 2
Pens:  Pinto

The teams:

Portugal:  15 Pedro Leal, 14 Antonio Aguiar, 13 Miguel Portela, 12 Diogo Mateus, 11 Frederico Sousa, 10 Duarte C Pinto, 9 José Pinto, 8 Vasco Uva, 7João Uva (captain) , 6 Diogo Coutinho, 5 Gonçalo Uva, 4 Marcelo D´orey, 3 Joaquim Ferreira, 2 João Correia, 1 Rui Cordeiro.
Replacements:  16 Pedro Fonseca, 17 Rodrigo Aguiar, 18 Arnaud Ferreira, 19 David Penalva, 20 Luís Pissarra , 21 Filipe Grenho, 22 Pedro Carvalho

Fiji:  15 Josevata Tora, 14 Neumi Nanuku, 13 Maleli Kunavore, 12 Kameli Ratuvou, 11 Sireli Bobo, 10 Jack Prasad, 9 Mosese Rauluni (captain), 8 Jone Qovu, 7 Mosese Volavola, 6 Kiniviliame Salabogi, 5 Kelemete Leawere, 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Apisai Nagi, 2 Viliame Gadolo, 1 Tiko Matawalu.
Replacements:  16 Apisai Turukawa, 17 Sikeli Gavidi, 18 Sisa Koyamaibole, 19 Akapusi Qera, 20 Saiasi Fuli, 21 Julian Vulakoro, 22 Epeli Ruivadra

Referee:  Scott Young (Australia)

Canada fall in Bucharest

79th minute victory

Romania scored a try with a minute to go to beat Canada 22-20 in Bucharest, the Oaks' first-ever victory over the Canadians.

The try tied the score;  the conversion won the match.

Flank Alexandru Manta scored the try as his mastodon pack took him to and over the line.  That made the score 20-all.  There was still the conversion to come and Dan Vlad kicked it.  That was the only time that Romania led in the match but it was enough.

The match was played in ghastly conditions as the cold took over Europe.  Snow, sleet and rain fell.

Early in the second half the visitors led 20-8 but then the bog Oaks took over.  First they got a penalty try and then Manta got his.  Those 14 points were enough for the victory.

20-year-old David Spicer, playing flyhalf for Canada for the first time controlled much of the game with his tactical kicking.  Spicer nearly created a third try for Canada in the second half when he charged down a kick which centre Ryan Smith diced at.  The referee in this match had help from goal judges and Canada had to settle for a five-metre scrum.

Canada scored first when Mike Pyke goaled a penalty.  They followed it up with a concerted attack and a try by Brodie Henderson, converted by Pyke.  After seven minutes Canada led 10-0.

Romania's teenage fullback Catalin Fercu scored a try as the Romanians moved the ball from a five-metre scrum.  Flyhalf Ionut Dimofte, just 20 years of age, kicked a penalty when Canada were penalised for a scrum infringement but they got back on track when the Romanians made a mess of a Spicer chip and Morgan Williams was on hand to score.  Pyke converted to make it 17-8 at the break.

Ten minutes into the second half a Pyke penalty made it 20-8 -- and then the massive pack took over.

This was Romania' first win over Canada.  They had met twice perviously, at World Cups on both occasions -- 19-11 in Toulouse in 1991 and 34-3 in Port Elizabeth in 1995.

The scorers:

For Romania:
Tries:  Fercu, penalty try, Manta
Cons:  Vlad 2
Pen:  Dimofte

For Canada:
Tries:  Henderson, Williams
Cons:  Pyke 2
Pens:  Pyke 2

Teams:

Canada:  15 Mike Pyke, 14 Ryan Stewart, 13 Ryan Smith, 12 Ryan McWhinney, 11 Brodie Henderson, 10 David Spicer, 9 Morgan Williams (captain), 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Stan McKeen, 6 Josh Jackson, 5 Scott Hunter, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Garth Cooke, 2 Mark Lawson, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Aaron Abrams, 17 Casey Dunning , 18 Forrest Gainer, 19 Adam Kleeburger, 20 Matt Weingart, 21 Dean Van Camp, 22 Derek Daypuck

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Gabriel Brezoianu, 13 Valentin Maftei, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Ioan Teodorescu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Sorin Socol (captain), 4 Cristian Petre, 3 Petrisor Toderasc, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Petru Balan.
Replacements:  16 Marcel Socaciu, 17 Cezar Popescu, 18 Valentin Ursache, 19 Cosmin Ratiu, 20 Iulian Andrei, 21 Dan Vlad, 22 Danut Dumbrava

Referee:  Didier Mene (France)
Touch judges:  Daniel Dartigeas, Jean-Claude Bes (both France)
Goal judges:  Gines Cerezuela, Eric Chabowski (both France)
Match commissionner:  Jean-Vigier (France)

England fail to dislodge New Zealand

All Blacks weather furious England storm

England huffed and puffed but could not blow the touring All Blacks off course, going down 23-19 in an epic clash at Twickenham on Saturday.  The All Blacks now head to Edinburgh to fetch the last piece of the 'grand slam' puzzle.

It was not the way New Zealand had intended to win.  They spent the thirty-five minutes after their second try strapped to a rack and with the wheel being turned slowly but surely.  But their torturers could not find the instrument which with to crank up the pain to breaking point.

England announced their re-entry into the upper echelons of world rugby with their performance.  The pack matched New Zealand's in scrum, ruck, and maul, something no other pack has recently managed, and they made mincemeat of the vaunted New Zealand line-out in the second half.

The only aspect lacking of their game was a Dan Carter.  Carter twice tore England's backs to shreds for New Zealand's tries with his aesthetically delighting running and handling, and his decision-making was never once found lacking.

By contrast, England's backs huffed and puffed a lot, and Charlie Hodgson's distribution was magnificent all day, but Mike Tindall is fleet of neither hand nor foot enough to trouble a well-strung defensive line, and Jamie Noon doesn't have the imagination or the speed.

If England can only find a new member of the inside three-quarters blessed with the finesse of Carter, or Australia's Drew Mitchell, or Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll, or France's Frédéric Michalak, New Zealand have another rival for 2007 in France.

In the meantime, the All Blacks can revel in being the world's best team, and being likely possessors of another clean sweep of the British Isles.

That New Zealand won this game is testament to an added modicum of mental toughness that was missing from their defeat to South Africa in Cape Town earlier this year, and was possibly the missing ingredient.  A Scottish victory next week is too extraordinary to contemplate without drinking the contents of the half-bottles of Famous Grouse the SRU is currently distributing with tickets for home games.  The Grand Slam is all but complete.

England scored their one and only try through the considerably less aesthetic -- but just as exhilarating -- method of driving a line-out maul round, through, and over their opponents for the lead in the second minute.

Much as England had begun against Australia last week, so New Zealand began against England.  Carter kicked a flabby ball to touch which Cohen caught brought back infield for Charlie Hodgson to kick to the corner.

From the line-out, Matt Dawson charged down Byron Kelleher's kick and Dan Carter ushered the ball to touch with his hands a little too visibly, giving England the penalty.  Hodgson opted for touch, and the pack rewarded the adventure with a bruising drive from under which Corry emerged to claim the opening try.

New Zealand were rattled, and made a few uncharacteristic errors, not least when Rodney So'oialo tripped over his own feet when running onto a flat pass, allowing the ball to rebound off his head for an England scrum.  They also conceded three penalties during the frantic opening exchanges, where England's only transgression was an off the ball incident from Danny Grewcock.

But gradually the All Blacks found their rhythm.  Shortly before Grewcock conceded that penalty, they had made forty-odd yards from their own 22 after stealing a line-out.  Then they turned over ball from two England scrums -- with England turning over one of their own in between, and then New Zealand scored a magnificent try.

Carter was the architect with a quick step and effortless burst of acceleration between Corry and Sanderson -- whose tackle was lackadaisical to say the least -- before drawing all remaining defenders and slipping the ball under Josh Lewsey's arms to Tana Umaga for an easy 5m run-in.

Carter converted, but England were back in the lead almost immediately, with Hodgson banging over an immaculate penalty from an angle after Mills Muliaina had gone off his feet.

Lewis Moody gave away his match quota of points to restore parity again by putting his hands in a ruck, and it precipitated a ten-minute period of further All Black domination during which England gave away three more penalties.  Carter kicked the last one to put the All Blacks in the lead for the first time, and they could have had a much bigger lead before the break.

Carter once again accelerated through a gap to set Umaga, Muliaina and Tony Woodcock combining for a scintillating trademark All Black breakout, and had Doug Howlett not been tackled early by Steve Thompson, there might have been a try.  Thompson was not penalised though, and England got a scrum.

The All Blacks began the second half with a killer blow.  Carter sold a sublime dummy to all four of England's defending three-quarters and set Rodney So'oialo away.  The dreadlocked No.8 who seconds before had also claimed an up and under brilliantly during the move, was just inches short, but Woodcock and Mealamu drove over the line, Mealamu holding the ball.

Woodcock then began a run of ill-discipline that very much changed the shape of the game.  First he late tackled Hodgson, allowing the latter to pull three points back, and then he pulled down an attacking English maul to reduce his team to fourteen men, for referee Alan Lewis had seen enough ball-killing.

His replacement Neemia Tialata didn't do much better.  First he tackled a slightly battered-looking Hodgson around the jawbone to give England another three points, and then he too departed to a yellow card just as Woodcock was returning for killing the ball.

Hodgson kicked that penalty too, making it 19-23 (Carter had landed another earlier kick when Dawson had strayed offside).  Tialata and Woodcock's contribution between minutes 49 and 67 was -9 points and two sin-binnings, something that nearly cost New Zealand the game.

The second half had been -- the first five minutes excepted -- all England's.

Cynics would be tempted to say that much of it was down to numerical superiority, but the level of domination enjoyed was far too comprehensive for that.  England enjoyed 65 per cent of the second-half possession, and once within four points, hurled themselves at the black defence, which was taking longer and longer to rise from the tackles being made.

Martin Corry, Ben Cohen, Steve Borthwick, and Pat Sanderson were all prominent as the drives thundered in and the black wall shuddered, but never once was there a hint of a gap, and never once was there anything more imaginative than a sledgehammer trying to break the barrier down.

Eventually Ben Cohen was bundled triumphantly into touch, and some relieved All Blacks whooped and jumped with celebration.  New Zealand are within sight of their goal -- but so, for a long time, had been England.  Order may be restored to the Six Nations in 2006.

Man of the match:  Jerry Collins was absolutely marvellous in defence all day long.  He forced three or four turnovers, was among the first three to pretty much every single maul, tackled his heart out.  The best defensive performance in a match won by the defence.  There were other candidates, Rodney So'oialo had a great game, as did Byron Kelleher, and no New Zealand report is complete these days without a mention of Dan Carter.  For England, Charlie Hodgson was excellent, Josh Lewsey solid as a rock, and Steve Borthwick a giant in the second row.  But Collins was on another level.

Villain of the match:  The closest there is to a villain would be Chris Masoe who disappeared to the sin-bin for a pretty cynical ball kill.

Moment of the match:  Dan Carter's dummy and break for New Zealand's second try.  Absolute magic from the world's most watchable player.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Corry
Con:  Hodgson
Pens:  Hodgson 4

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Umaga, Mealamu
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 5

Yellow cards:  Woodcock (New Zealand, 47, collapsing maul), Tialata (New Zealand, 58, killing the ball), Masoe (New Zealand, 78, killing the ball)

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Matt Dawson, 8 Martin Corry (captain), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Pat Sanderson, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andrew Sheridan (Matt Stevens, 73).
Unused replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Chris Jones, 20 Harry Ellis, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Mark van Gisbergen.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Tana Umaga (captain), 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Siviatu (Joe Rokocoko, 73), 10 Dan Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher (Piri Weepu, 72), 8 Rodney So'oialo (Mose Tuiali'i, 76), 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock (Neemia Tialata, 56-66).
Unused replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 18 Jason Eaton, 22 Leon MacDonald.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)

Boks record solid win in Cardiff

Four tries to one for South Africa

South Africa, despite being reduced to 14 men for about 20 minutes, managed to record a 33-16 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.  The Boks outscored the Six Nations champions by four tries to one.

It was a strange match in many ways.  Millennium Stadium had a threadbare look and was slippery.  That did not help the players.  Wales's tight five beat the heavier South African tight five which was supposed to be the side's strength.

And then there were the two yellow cards for Percy Montgomery.  Two yellow cards equals a red card and the veteran Springbok was sent off.  His first yellow card was for lifting a player in the tackle -- a joke in the context of what happened recently in this regard.  His second yellow card was for a high tackle on Shane Williams as the little wing headed for the corner.  Both decisions were made by the touch judge.  They seemed inappropriate.  There was also a yellow card for Welsh prop Chris Horsman -- for punching, also on a touch judge's report.

It seemed to be a weekend when yellow cards became a rash.

Other than in the line-out the Welsh tight five mastered the Springboks, taking a vital tighthead five metres form their line and twice destroying the Springbok maul from line-outs close to their line.

The South Africans were better at loose forward, where Juan Smit and Schalk Burger stood out.

The jury is probably still out about the Springbok halves, two young players making their way into international rugby and obviously players of promise.

After new cap Meyer Bosman had kicked off the Springboks looked to be about to dominate, but the brave Welsh -- patchwork team and all -- fought back bravely.  They stood up to the Springboks in the mauls, won a crucial tighthead at a five-metre scrum and twice got on the outside of the rush defence to produce promising overlaps

The Springboks scored the only try of the first half, but Percy Montgomery missed two penalty kicks at goal -- one that was way wide -- and once a brilliant tackle by Martyn Williams held massive CJ van der Linde over the line.  On another occasion Jaque Fourie sped through off a short pass from Jean de Villiers, but was called back for a forward pass.

After Montgomery had goaled a penalty in the second minute and Bosman broke past Stephen Jones, the Springboks got a splendid try as they won one fast ball after another in phase after phase and De Villiers threw a long pass to his left.  Bryan Habana caught the pass and sped over for a try in the corner.

That made it 8-0.

Matfield was penalised and Stephen Jones made it 8-3.  Colin Charvis was penalised and Montgomery made it 11-3.  Montgomery was penalised for a silly tackle and Stephen Jones made it 11-6.

The Springboks scored first in the second half.  They drove a line-out on their left and Van der Linde had a charge.  Back came quick ball and long passes to the left gave Habana his second clear run at the line.  Montgomery's conversion attempt swerved off to the right and may not have reached the goal-line.

From the kick-off the Springboks were penalised and Stephen Jones made it 16-9.

The Springboks attacked bravely, but again Welsh pressure spoilt their ambitions at a five-metre scrum in midfield.

It was at this time that Montgomery was given a yellow card and Horsman one soon afterwards.

The third Springbok try had jam on it.  Habana charged down the right and kicked ahead into the Welsh in-goal.  Sonny Parker, slipping, could not control the slithering ball and Conrad Jantjes got a try right in the corner.

Montgomery off, Bosman converted from touch, in off the upright -- for his first international points.  That made it 23-9.

Montgomery came back to make it 26-9, but he had no lasting stay and was sent off for the high tackle.

At this stage the Welsh were attacking over and over.  The referee kept playing advantage after advantage as the Springboks made mindless attempts to stop the try -- which came when Keri Sweeney accepted a clever inside pass and surged over for a try close in.  Stephen Jones converted and there were seven minutes to go, enough time to set Welsh hopes soaring.

Instead the Springboks had the last say as they battered at the Welsh line and replacement lock Danie Rossouw, tackled, placed the ball over the line for the try.  Bosman converted and the final whistle went.

Man of the Match:  Gareth Thomas and for Wales was all things strong and calm and Stephen Jones in his 50th appearance for his country was again all calm efficiency.  For South Africa there were choices -- Bryan Habana who scored two and made one, big Bakkies Botha, energetic Schalk Burger and our Man of the Match -- Juan Smith on the flank who was so good in the line-out and with the ball in hand.

Moment of the Match:  Just possibly Juan Smith's hand-off of Colin Charvis.

Villain of the Match:  Resisting all temptations to go beyond the players on the field, we have to look to the two cards -- Percy Montgomery and Chris Horsman.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Sweeney
Con:  S Jones
Pens:  S Jones 3

For South Africa:
Tries:  Habana 2, Jantjes, Rossouw
Cons:  Bosman 2
Pens:  Montgomery 3

Yellow cards:  Percy Montgomery (South Africa, 52), Chris Horsman (Wales, 53)
Red card:  Percy Montgomery (South Africa, 71)

The teams:

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne (Ceri Sweeney, 65), 14 Dafydd James, 13 Gareth Thomas (captain)(Ceri Sweeney, 55-65), 12 Sonny Parker (Matthew Watkins, 68), 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper (Mike Phillips, 75), 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis (Adam Jones, 57-63), 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Chris Horsman (Adam Jones, 9-15), 2 Rhys Thomas (Mefin Davies, 70), 1 Duncan Jones.
Unused replacements:  18 Ian Gough, 19 Jonathan Thomas.

Springboks:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Conrad Jantjes, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers (De Wet Barry, 75), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Meyer Bosman, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha (Danie Rossouw, 71), 3 CJ van der Linde (Lawrence Sephaka, 75), 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Lawrence Sephaka (Os du Randt, 35).
Unused replacements:  16 Hanyani Shimange, 18 Albert van den Berg, 20 Bolla Conradie, 22 Brent Russell.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Roy Maybank (England)

Michalak conducts French blitz

Seven tries for fluid French in Nantes

France breezed their way past a muscular but clumsy Canadian resistance in Nantes on Saturday, scoring seven tries in their 50-6 win.

It is difficult to know what is Bernard Laporte's first-choice team these days, as he seems to have so many players available in each position and able to do a job.  This French team was missing several established faces, but with Frédéric Michalak pulling the strings in his own inimitable style, they looked very much a finished product, both up front and in the backs.  If and when Laporte does find the XV that are a step above the rest and manages to get them all healthy, disciplined and on form, South Africa and the All Blacks will have another rival for that rugby World Cup 'favourites' tag.

Canada, for their part, offered game resistance, and this was certainly an improvement on the 70-0 drubbing inflicted upon them by England last year.  The Churchill Cup encounters over the summer appear to be succeeding in developing the team and the players, and the Canucks should move on to Bucharest this week taking positives from this game rather than ruminating on the result.

It took France 20 minutes to score their first try, during which time Dimitri Yachvili had nosed them in front with two early penalties.  Michalak kicked a close penalty to touch, and the pack drove Julien Bonnaire over in textbook fashion.

Yachvili sliced the conversion horribly from that try, but made no mistake after a wonderful solo effort from Michalak after 25 minutes.  Michalak dummied one way, then the other, then used the acceleration that most people forget he has to slice through the gap for the try.

Michalak's opposite number Ed Fairhurst was sin-binned for a high tackle during the build-up to Michalak's try, but the Canadians began to play a little and forced their way into the French 22 three times.  Finally Mike Webb got them on the board with a penalty.

France bounced back with another terrific try, with David Marty taking an up and under, off-loading to Thomas Castaignède, who switched with Jauzion.  Jauzion then drew his man brilliantly before handing on to Marty for an easy finish.

Castaignède, clearly revelling in his re-discovered international role, capped off his return to the France XV with a cracking try one minute into the second half.  Michalak was once again the architect, looping round his three-quarters before bursting through the gap to feed Castaignède.

Derek Daypuck kept Canada faintly in touch with a further penalty, but a try by Sebastian Bruno took the French even further ahead, after Yachvili and Michalak had created a gap with a crisp one-two.

That try killed the game as a contest, and the roll of substitutions interrupted the rhythm even further.  Bonnaire notched his second try after supporting Aurelien Rougerie's clean break, and in the final move of the game, Pierre Mignoni snatched a try off the base of a scrum to bring the fifty up for France.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Bonnaire 2, Michalak, Marty, Castaignède, Bruno, Mignoni
Cons:  Yachvili 2, Michalak
Pens:  Yachvili 2, Michalak

For Canada:
Pens:  Webb, Daypuck

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Rémy Martin, 7 Thomas Lièvremont, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Jèrôme Thion (c), 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements:  16 Raphael Ibanez, 17 Olivier Milloud, 18 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Pierre Mignoni, 21 Yann Delaigue, 22 Julien Laharrague.

Canada:  15 Derek Daypuck, 14 Mike Pyke, 13 Ryan Smith, 12 John Cannon, 11 Brodie Henderson, 10 Ed Fairhurst, 9 Morgan Williams, 8 Stan McKeen, 7 Aaron Carpenter, 6 Mike Webb, 5 Mike James (c), 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Garth Cooke, 2 Aaron Abrams, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Mark Lawson, 17 Casey Dunning, 18 Forrest Gainer, 19 Josh Jackson, 20 Adam Kleeberger, 21 Matt Weingart, 22 Ryan McWhinney.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Daniel Jabase (Argentina)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

England muscle their way to victory

Cook Cup returns to Twickenham

England reclaimed the Cook Cup courtesy of a muscular 26-16 victory over Australia at Twickenham on Saturday, handing the Wallabies their seventh straight loss.

England's victory was based upon some good old disciplined forward power, something Eddie Jones just cannot find for love nor money at the moment.

Australia's scrum was smashed.  The only scrum the Wallabies had in the first half resulted in an England penalty, and that was just one of six penalties England squeezed out of the Wallaby scrum alone.  By comparison, England conceded six penalties during the whole match.

Andrew Sheridan turned in a magnificent performance not dissimilar to something Martin Johnson would once have produced.  At only 26 years old, he has a good six years left on the prop clock, and on this showing should very much be an integral part of Andy Robinson's long-term planning.  Both of his opposite numbers departed before the end of the match:  Al Baxter to a yellow card for collapsing a scrum, and Matt Dunning to a serious-looking neck injury.

The possession stats favoured England 70-30 at the end, which sounds convincing but given that information one wonders why the score was not as imbalanced.  Australia's defence was excellent, granted, but England could not turn pressure into points, which is something they will need to work on ahead of the All Blacks Test next weekend.  That Australia made so much of their meagre ration of possession is a testament to the adventure and strength of Chris Latham and Drew Mitchell at the back -- with young Mitchell once again looking very much the real deal.

"Land of Hope and Glory" boomed around the stadium tannoy at the kick-off in a dreadful attempt at creating some sort of partisan nationalist atmosphere, but in neither the rendition nor England's start to the game was there hope and glory to be found.

From the kick-off, Martin Corry dropped the ball, Charlie Hodgson missed touch, and Mark Cueto left the pitch with blood streaming from a head wound.  Chris Latham launched a dangerous counter attack from which Australia got a penalty for holding on, and Mat Rogers gave Australia an early lead.

Cueto's disappearance for a quick stitching allowed Mark van Gisbergen to win his first cap, and he played considerably better in the England shirt than he had done for Wasps in the past few weeks, but England collectively looked a little twitchy early on.

Australia looked much more composed, and twice could have had the early try.  A fabulous pass under pressure by George Smith set Drew Mitchell away down the left.  Mitchell feinted left and right, but couldn't make his mind up and was caught by an ice-cool Hodgson.

Then Chris Latham, a thorn in England's side that the men in white never quite removed, broke down the left, bursting through a Josh Lewsey tackle and handing off Mike Tindall with disdain before Hodgson once again dived to the rescue in the corner.  Australia would have had a try from the ensuing ruck, but Lewis Moody produced a truly ugly act of cynicism by not even pretending to play himself onside before tackling Tuqiri.  Moody departed to a yellow card and Rogers kicked a penalty, but there was a clear case for a penalty try.

Rogers' penalty made it 6-3 to Australia, with Charlie Hodgson having converted the first of the penalties conceded by the Wallabies at scrum-time.

From the restart after Rogers' kick, England re-gathered the ball and produced their first spell of genuinely good cohesive play, culminating in a deft Hodgson kick to the corner.  Latham cleared from the line-out ball, but could not find touch, and Australia were penalised for going off their feet.  Matt Dawson tapped quickly, but had barely caught the tap before he was tackled by George Gregan who, like Moody, didn't even pretend to retreat before bringing down the danger-man.

Gregan also departed to a yellow card -- there was a case for a penalty try here as well, although this incident was 5m further from the line -- but England looked to capitalise, and quickly did so with the opening score.

From the scrum, England ran through a simple back-row phase, and a crisp handling movement involving superb decoy running from Jamie Noon saw Ben Cohen in the corner with space to spare.

England dominated the ten minutes leading up to half-time, with all working parts of the machine running smoothly.  They might have had another try on the stroke of half-time but Latham was alert to Dawson's deft chip and got there before Mark Cueto, and it was 10-6 at the break.

The second half ran very much as the first had done.  Charlie Hodgson took the score to 13-6 with a drop goal, but Australia's willingness to attack saw England go off their feet in desperation and Rogers made it 13-9.

Hodgson extended the lead to seven again with another penalty, but England were still making too many mistakes when in control, and then they suffered a disaster.

The England line-out, which had been virtually flawless throughout, malfunctioned five metres from their own line.  Australia stole, worked it down the back-line, and although both Latham and Mitchell looked to have been initially repelled, Latham and Tuqiri's support drove Mitchell over for the try.  Rogers brought the scores level at 16-16 with the conversion.

Olly Barkley, on for a limping Hodgson, landed a 50m penalty to hand England the lead back, and then the scrum-smashing began in earnest.  Australia had already been forced to flip balls from the base in panic as England turned the screw, and when Mitchell spilled a high ball in front of England's posts, the eight in white came to the fore, hammering away at their opponents for nearly five minutes as Australia conceded a variety of penalties and handling errors.  The scrums were uncontested after the departure of Baxter and Dunning, but the England forwards had brought their opponents to their knees, and with five minutes remaining, Cueto darted through some flailing tackles for the clinching score.

Man of the match:  England prop Andrew Sheridan was magnificent.  Unstoppable in the loose and unshakeable in the tight, he turned in a truly mature international performance today.

Villain of the match:  England flank Lewis Moody and Wallaby skipper George Gregan.  Two cynical fouls denied us tries, a pet hate of ours.

Moment of the match:  Perhaps slightly obscure, but Chris Latham's early counter-attack from a missed touch clearance was magnificent, dodging three tackles and making fifty metres with some terrific strength and pace.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Cohen, Cueto
Cons:  Hodgson, Barkley
Pens:  Hodgson 2, Barkley
Drop:  Hodgson

For Australia:
Tries:  Mitchell
Con:  Rogers
Pens:  Rogers 3

Yellow cards:  Moody (off-side, 15); Gregan (not retreating ten metres, 25); Baxter (collapsed scrum, 69).

The teams:

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto (Mark van Gisbergen, 1-5), 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson (Olly Barkley, 57), 9 Matt Dawson, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Pat Sanderson, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Unused replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Chris Jones, 20 Harry Ellis.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham (Matt Giteau, 40-45), 14 Mark Gerrard (Matt Giteau, 70), 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Morgan Turinui (Lloyd Johansson, 73), 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Mat Rogers, 9 George Gregan (Chris Whitaker, 65), 8 George Smith (Scott Fava, 77), 7 Phil Waugh, 6 John Roe, 5 Nathan Sharpe (Mark Chisholm, 46), 4 Hugh McMeniman, 3 Al Baxter (Greg Holmes, 69-79), 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Matt Dunning (Tatafu Polota-Nau, 69).

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland, Alan Lewis (both Ireland)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)