Tired Welsh let Australia off the hook

A last-gasp try from Stephen Hoiles helped Australia bounce back from an early 17-0 deficit to beat Wales as anticipated on Saturday, but John Connolly's new-look team made life mighty hard for themselves in the 29-23 win.

A less weary team than the Welsh would not have let Australia off though, and despite the win, Connolly will know that his team still has a lot to prove in the second Test next week.

What a finish!  Once again the sound of the hooter produced the biggest drama of the match -- a match that nearly produced an upset of exalting proportions for the Welsh and humiliating proportions for the Wallabies.

It nearly was the greatest Welsh victory in the Southern Hemisphere since Rorke's Drift.  Written off and vilified since their arrival in Australia they stood up manfully and justified their existence and worthiness as international players.

When time was up the Welsh led.  When the final whistle went the Wallabies had won.  It was shattering.

The Welsh were defending like that Welch Regiment of old:  manful, shoulder to shoulder, Men of Harlech in their throats.  That day they won 11 VCs as the Zulus, exultant after victory at Islandhwana, flung themselves at the little garrison behind the biscuit tins.  On this day, too, they found new energy and resolve to keep the Wallabies back in their own territory.  With a little over a minute to play they led 23-22 and had a scrum in the Welsh half.

Jonathan Thomas played to replacement scrumhalf Gareth Cooper who grubbered down into the Wallaby 22.  Julien Huxley fielded the ball and hoofed it low and hard and far.  It rolled down into the Welsh 22 where Griffiths fielded it and kicked for touch, a poor clearing kick.  The line-out was on the Wallaby left.  They won it and went far right, as the hooter went to herald the end of the match.  The Wallabies came back far left with inroads made by Matt Giteau and, tellingly, by Rocky Elsom.  When they went far right Sam Norton-Knight threw a long, left-handed skip pass and there was replacement loose forward Stephen Hoiles to surge over in the corner for the try that won the match for the Wallabies.

At Rorke's Drift, one of the 11 VCs was Alfred Hook.  At Telstra Stadium one of the 22 VCs was going to be James Hook, till that try on 80 minutes 26 seconds.

What, of course, this did was earn great credit for Wales and its rugby and sound a warning alarm to the South Hemisphere countries as they prepare to welcome lambs to the slaughter.  These Welsh were not lambs.

The first half suggested that the Wallabies were going to win easily, except that the Welsh were the ones scoring the points -- against the run of play but a heap of points.  Before 20 minutes were played Wales led 17-0.  The unthinkable looked possible.

At that stage the Wallabies were rejoicing in a cornucopia of possession, but they managed to turn it into Welsh tries as their hands let them down.  It was significant that two left-hand passes by Norton-Knight helped in the scoring of Hoiles's try because it was left-handed passing that led to the two Welsh tries.

A clever kick by Drew Mitchell had settled the Wallabies into comfortable attack down on their left but then they came right and novice Norton-Knight threw a difficult -- difficult not impossible -- pass to Stirling Mortlock.  It fell on the ground and Welsh left wing Chris Czekaj snapped it up and started running down the field.  Wallabies closed in and he kicked ahead.  Giteau could not control the ball.  Hook snapped it up, weighed up his options and gave to captain Gareth Thomas who went over and eventually, helped by Gavin Thomas, scored his 38th Test try, breaking his own record in his record-breaking 93rd Test.  Hook converted.  That was some two minutes into the match.

The crowd of 40,872 settled back to watch the Wallabies attack.  Mortlock hit the upright with a kickable penalty and their handling helped the Welsh to keep them at bay.  But all the signs were that those seven points had been an aberration and the Wallabies were settling into winning.  Norton-Knight through his third awkward left-hander and then Julien Huxley, up in the line, threw another, a long one in search of an overlap.  It did not get to the overlap, for Jamie Robinson plucked it out of the air and set off downfield.  Mitchell got close but Robinson stretched away from him in his 70-metre run to the posts.  Again Hook converted.  14-0 after 15 minutes.

The Wallabies went on attacking but lost the ball in a turn-over.  Lee Byrne took an inside pass from Jonathan Thomas and raced down the middle of the field.  Mark Gerrard caught him but a penalty enabled Hook to make it 17-0 after 19 minutes.

Now it was uncomfortable for Wallaby supporters and now the Wallabies changed tack.  No longer were they playing it wide.  Now it was time for pick-n-drive.  The Welsh contingent tackled.  The Wallabies reached 13 phases and then Wycliff Palu, their main batterer, took a flipped pass from Matt Dunning and forced his way over in the right corner.  17-5 after 24 minutes.

The Wallaby camp left out some relieved breath.

Mitchell grubbered and chased and forced Byrne to run the ball out for a five-metre line-out to Australia.  The line-out was a mess but it produced a try.  Perhaps the mess disjointed the Welsh, but there was Nathan Sharpe bursting inside Robert Sidoli to score.  Mortlock converted.  17-12.

Wales had their best concerted effort just after that when they ran from a line-out and Sonny Parker got a clever pass away in the half-gap but Wales yielded a turn-over and Huxley hoofed many metres downfield.

There was drama but also a lot of untidy play.  The handling was shaky and we were back in the land of the messy scrums with resets, collapses and free kicks.  Even when the ball managed to find a way out there was a mess.

After Huxley had misjudged a rolling kick and conceded a line-out five metres from his line, the Welsh had a promising attack.  In fact their backs looked more likely to produce try-scoring breaks than the Wallabies did.  The Wallabies relied on extra men, the Welsh on straightening and stepping.  The Wallabies also had Giteau at scrum-half, a great footballer but guzzling space.

From a scrum the Welsh went wide and bashed at the Wallaby line.  Gerrard was offside and Hook made the score 20-12 after 51 minutes.

The Wallabies attacked but there was nobody to clear at the tackle/ruck.  Wales picked up but then threw the ball away.  Giteau dived on it and the Wallabies were off attacking on their left where Giteau threw a dummy towards Palu and ran round behind the posts.  20-19, and the Wallabies were back on the attack.  A penalty at a breakdown enabled Mortlock to put the Wallabies into the lead for the first time in the match, 22-20 after 61 minutes.

There were 19 minutes still to play.

From the kick-off after the penalty Wales got possession and attacked through many phases till Gareth Thomas tried a high diagonal towards the right and the Wallabies survived.  Soon afterwards they yielded a penalty in front of their posts but Hook's kick hit the upright and stayed out.

There was a loud cheer in Telstra Stadium when George Gregan came on after 65 minutes.  Giteau went to inside centre in the place of Adam Ashley-Cooper.

With eight minutes to play, from a scrum following the grossest of knock-ons by Gerrard, Hook sat back in a pocket and dropped a goal.  Wales were ahead 23-22, where they stayed till that last dramatic minute or so.

Man of the Match:  Probably the player who played most rugby was Matt Giteau.

Villain of the Match:  There was none.

Moment of the Match:  The final try by Stephen Hoiles.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Palu, Sharpe, Giteau, Hoiles
Cons:  Mortlock 3
Pen:  Mortlock

For Wales:
Tries:  Gavin Thomas, Robinson
Cons:  Hook 2
Pens:  Hook 2
Drop goal:  Hook

The Teams:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Stirling Mortlock (vice-captain), 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (c), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Dan Vickerman, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 George Smith (vice-captain), 21 George Gregan, 22 Scott Staniforth.

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Gareth Thomas (c), 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Iestyn Thomas
Replacement:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 Michael Owen, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gavin Henson

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

Samoa falls to Junior All Blacks

In a performance that made a mockery of their subordinate name, the Junior All Blacks opened their Pacific Nations Cup campaign with an emphatic 31-10 victory over Samoa in Apia on Sunday.

The visitors fielded ten full All Blacks and Rico Gear, a surprise omission from Graham Henry's mid-year squad, reminded the selector's of his skills by scoring a brace of tries.

Prop John Afoa, number eight Mose Tuiali'i and replacement Ross Filipo also scored for the New Zealanders, while David Lemi scored a consolation try for the Samoans, who beat Fiji 8-3 last weekend.

Afoa gave the New Zealanders off the mark by collecting a charged-down kick from Samoan midfielder Seilala Mapusua to score within two minutes of the start.

Gear then went in for the first of his two tries, even though his grounding looked suspect and his legs appeared in touch in Mapusua's tackle.

Ahead 12-0, the Junior All Blacks took their foot off the pedal in the searing heat, allowing the hard-hitting Samoans to gain some momentum in the pick-and-go.

However, the home side's finishing touches let them down.

Fullback Gavin Williams had only fullback Cory Jane to beat with winger Lome Fa'atau looming up on his right only to fluff that opportunity.

Bad passes let them down twice in the second half when they had the Juniors on the backfoot close to the goal line.

The visitors fought back and a try from replacement Filipo and Gear's second sealed the result.

But there was some consolation for the locals when Lemi got on the end of a poor pass from Jimmy Cowan to score.

Junior All Blacks captain Marty Holah declared himself happy with his opener, but warned his troops against complacency.

The New Zealanders romped through last year's edition of the tournament, but the introduction of Australia "A" and the forthcoming Rugby World Cup have added an extra dimension to proceedings.

"Teams like Samoa and Fiji are preparing for the World Cup now and they're getting their best players back from around the world, so naturally they're tougher," Holah told the NZPA.

"And playing these teams in the islands is as tough as they come.

"They're twice as physical at home, and it's not going to get any easier for us next week."

Australia "A" marked their entry into this six-team competition with a 60-15 win over Tonga last night and Fiji, who had lost narrowly to Samoa last week, beat Japan 30-15 in Lautoka after trailing 3-15 at halftime.

The Junior All Blacks play Fiji in Suva on 2 June, Samoa meet the Australians in Coff's Harbour on the same day.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Try:  Lemi
Con:  Williams
Pen:  Williams

For Junior All Blacks:
Tries:  Gear 2, Afoa, Tuiali'i, Filipo
Cons:  Donald 3

The teams:

Junior All Blacks:  15 Cory Jane, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Stephen Brett, 11 Scott Hamilton, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Marty Holah (c), 6 Kieran Read, 5 Greg Rawlinson, 4 Hoani MacDonald, 3 John Afoa, 2 Derren Witcombe, 1 Clarke Dermody
Replacements:  16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Campbell Johnstone, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Anthony Tuitavake, 22 Daniel Braid.

Samoa:  15 Gavin Williams, 14 Lome Faatau, 13 Anitelea Tuilagi, 12 Seilala Maposua, 11 Brian Lima (captain), 10 Loki Crichton, 9 Stephen Sooialo, 8 Alfie Tooala, 7 Ulia Ulia, 6 Joe Tekori, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Muliufi Salanoa, 17 Donald Kerslake, 18 Leo Lafaiali'i, 19 Semo Sititi, 20 Junior Polu, 21 Joshua Keil, 22 David Lemi.

Referee:  James Leckie (Australia)

Records tumble as England are humbled

South Africa produced a brutal yet clinical display to thump a plucky England side 58-10 at Bloemfontein on Saturday scoring seven tries in the process.

England, backed by many to fall to pieces from the start, held their own for the opening quarter but eventually succumbed to the power and pace of an impressive Springbok side.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with England competing for a long period before the flood gates opened to allow South Africa to score four quick fire tries.

The win, and the size thereof, has broken nearly every record in the book for South Africa v England encounters.

It was not a sweeping game of elan and panache.  In many ways it was a drab match, the dullness of the foil setting off all the more the sparkle of the tries -- seven gems by South Africa, one excellent construction by England.

South Africa were expected to win which made the match almost no-win.  Win big and you are playing against no-hopers.  Win small, and you really are not much cop.  Lose and you are flung down into the abyss of rugby degradation.  But then Wales sounded a warning with their fine display against Australia.  Could England go to Bloemfontein and do likewise?

They were not even close, this damaged team that limped into the Free State capital -- an injudicious team in the judicial capital of South Africa.

Bloemfontein complains that it seldom gets a Test.  It got one but this one did not attract much of a crowd -- just 26 000 people into the ground.  The interest was nothing like that for the Super 14 final last week.

The Springboks, too, did not really come to the party.  They led 30-3 at half-time and then made wholesale changes, turning the match into a sort of controlled match practice.  England were the first to score in the second half against a casual home side.  That seemed to get the Springboks going a bit and they scored four tries in the last dozen minutes to make the score as big as it was.

So often we have seen the big England sides outmuscle their opponents.  This time they were outmuscled.  They were not strong enough or fast enough to deal with the Springboks.  It must have been a sore afternoon for them.  And the injuries to Iain Balshaw, Andy Hazell, Pat Sanderson and Jonny Wilkinson could have done nothing to reassure them as they head to Loftus Versfeld next weekend.

For the ageing debutants Matt Cairns, Roy Winters and Darren Crompton, the pride of at last making it for England must have been tempered.

It's not that England were not brave.  They were.  They just did not have muscle enough.  There was one moment which epitomised their courage.  Big Danie Rossouw went on the charge, straight at Wilkinson.  The little flyhalf stood up the him, brought him down and in the process dispossessed him.

For the Springboks the return of Ashwin Willemse, who scored a try and made a magnificent break which should have led to a try, and action-man Schalk Burger must have been pleasing.

From the first line-out of the match, the Springboks went wide and they passed at every opportunity in the match.  They scored their first points inside two minutes when Chris Jones infringed at a tackle-ruck and Percy Montgomery goaled on a still afternoon in Bloemfontein when he goaled ten out of ten.

Right at the start the Springboks thumped into tackles.  When they had the ball they charged into the English.  When the English had the ball the Springboks thumped into them.  When they wanted to maul they drove it ahead, though not with quite the same cohesion that their Super 14 sides managed but obviously something that will come when they are together for more than just a few days.

When Andy Hazell was off-side Montgomery made it 6-0.

When the Springboks robbed England of their line-out ball, they went right, battering twice and then sending the ball wide with some splendid pressurised passing by Jean de Villiers and Willemse to send Willemse over on the right and round to the posts..  13-0 after 23 minutes.

Mathew Tait broke brilliantly for England as he had done before, but then he lost his way and when Chris Jones tried a lobbed pass to his right the ball bounced near touch on the Springboks 22 where Bryan Habana gobbled it up and went racing down the left wing for a try far out.  20-0 after 27 minutes.

Burger was penalised at a tackle and from 48 metres out Wilkinson, who has missed earlier, goaled.  20-3.

Two of the scrums in the match gave trouble.  At the second one Stuart Turner was penalised and Montgomery goaled.

England attacked and were at the Springbok 22 when the passing broke down.  Rossouw bent down, flipped the ball back through his legs and the Springboks went on a bout of netball before De Villiers suddenly went skating ahead and down the middle of the field, beating two more defenders, to score under the crossbar.  30-3, which was the half-time score.

Substitutions started with the second half and a sloppy Springbok performance alleviated only by a great break by Willemse from within his 22 which should have led to a try.

James Simpson-Daniel came on when Balshaw fell awkwardly and did serious damage to his knee.  The replacement had a good run down the left wing.  Andy Gomarsall carried it on and England were close.  South Africa were penalised in front of their posts not many metres from the goal-line.  England opted for a scrum and went right from the scrum with sweet passing to create an overlap for Simpson-Daniel who scored in the corner.  Wilkinson converted.  30-10 after 62 minutes.

At this stage the Springboks brought on Ruan Pienaar and -plonked him on the right wing with François Steyn moving in to inside centre.

Steyn made a break which Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger drove on to the England line where Burger was back to gather and score.  37-10 after 69 minutes.  It was then that Wilkinson was injured in a clash of heads.

England kicked downfield a lot.  Pienaar caught one inside his own half and went on the counter.  He accelerated through on a dummy, drew one and then sent Steyn over.  44-10 after 73 minutes.

There was something so unexpected in the next try that it had an exquisite beauty all of its own.

Montgomery came into the line and got through a gap.  He grubbered, knowing that speedster Habana was ion his left.  Habana sped through defenders but Jason Robinson was across and diving for the ball.  From behind Robinson Habana dived and with absolute concentration grabbed the ball and surfed over the line with it.  51-10 after 75 minutes.

Still it was not the end.

Butch James kicked a diagonal to the right wing where Pienaar caught it and made great ground.  He was tackled but the Springboks recycled the ball till James dummied inside and gave CJ van der Linde a great pass on the outside for a try for the big prop.  The whistle went after Montgomery's conversion.

Man of the Match: Schalk Burger who tackles more than anybody else, contests at the breakdown more than anybody else and who has improved greatly his linking, passing game.

Moment of the Match:  Every one of the tries was special but none as special as Bryan Habana's second.

Villain of the Match:  Whoever decided that these were the players to take the battering in England's cause.

The Scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Willemse, Habana 2, De Villiers, Burger, Steyn, Van der Linde
Cons:  Montgomery 7
Pens:  Montgomery 3

For England:
Try:  Simpson-Daniel
Con:  Wilkinson
Pen:  Wilkinson

The Teams:

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements:  16 Gurthro Steenkamp, 17 Gary Botha, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Francois Steyn.

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Jason Robinson (captain), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Stuart Turner, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Kevin Yates
Replacements:  16 Matt Cairns, 17 Darren Crompton, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Pat Sanderson, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Anthony Allen, 22 James Simpson-Daniel.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Derek Bevan (Wales)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Fiji bounce back to conquer Japan

Fiji turned around a 3-15 half-time deficit to trounce Japan 30-15 and go briefly second in the Pacific Nations Cup in Lautoka on Saturday.

New-found talent Taniela Rawaqa led the comeback, scoring a try and landing two conversions and two penalties in the win.

Rawaqa kicked the first points with an early penalty, but Japan took advantage of Fiji's poor communication in defence and finally broke through for a try from lock Luke Thompson.

Full-back Goshi Tachikawa scored the second try for Japan shortly before the break, with Eiji Ando converting, having already added an earlier penalty.

After Rawaqa made it 6-15 at the start of the second half, a number of Fijian substitutions swung the game completely the home team's way.

Rawaqa converted his own try in the 51st minute, and then two long trademark passing movements culminated in tries for flankers Netani Talei and Akapusi Qera.

Japan's heads dipped, and Isoa Neivua was left to seal the game in the 76th minute with a 50-metre runaway try, stepping around his opposite Kosuke Endo, with Rawaqa adding the conversion.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Rawaqa, Talei, Qera, Neivua
Cons:  Rawaqa 2
Pens:  Rawaqa 2

For Japan:
Tries:  Thompson, Tachikawa
Con:  Ando
Pen:  Ando

Last gasp Pumas snatch it from Ireland

A last-gasp Felipe Contepomi drop goal gave Argentina 22-20 victory against Ireland in Santa Fe on Saturday.

Contepomi was the man of the match even though Eddie O'Sullivan's side managed to control the Pumas captain in a first half which belied Ireland's inexperience at full-back.

Simon Best, in his first match as captain, did not disappoint with an outstanding performance.

Full-back Gavin Duffy and wing Brian Carney provided a telling influence in the early part of the game, Carney's movement surprising the hosts as the former rugby league player constantly probed Argentina's defence.

And it was Ireland who broke the deadlock with a Paddy Wallace penalty after six minutes.

A minute later Carney had his reward when he recovered the ball after a misplaced pass by Contepomi and claimed his first try for Ireland on his international debut.

Wallace slotted the conversion to put the visitors into a 10-0 lead.

Contepomi's penalty then reduced the deficit and after he and Wallace missed further kicks at goal, the Argentinian converted just before the break.

Ireland made a nervous start to the second half before Contepomi reduced the deficit to a single point.

Duffy's great kick then gave Ireland great field position and a fantastic 30-yard rolling maul eventually saw the visitors awarded a penalty try.  Wallace's conversion put them 17-9 ahead.

However, Argentina hit back through a Contepomi penalty before Hernan Senillosa went over for a try.  Contepomi's conversion put the hosts ahead for the first time in the match.

Although Duffy's penalty put Ireland ahead again with three minutes to go, Contepomi's last-gasp drop goal saw Argentina take the lead.

Victory was assured for the hosts when wing Geordan Murphy failed with an attempt at a drop goal.

The Scorers:

For Argentina:
Try:  Senillosa
Con:  Contepomi
Pens:  Contepomi 4
Drop Goal:  Contepomi

For Ireland:
Tries:  Carney, Penalty
Cons:  Wallace 2
Pens:  Wallace, Duffy

The Teams:

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Tomás De Vedia, 13 Miguel Avramovic, 12 Hernán Senillosa, 11 Francisco Leonelli, 10 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Pablo Bouza, 3 Santiago González Bonorino, 2 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements:  16 Matías Cortese, 17 Pablo Cardinalli, 18 James Stuart, 19 Genaro Fessia, 20 Lucio López Fleming, 21 Juan Fernández Miranda, 22 Horacio Agulla

Ireland:  15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Brian Carney, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Kieran Lewis, 11 Tommie Bowe, 10 Paddy Wallace, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Keith Gleeson, 6 Neil Best, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Trevor Hogan, 3 Simon Best (captain), 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Bryan Young.
Replacements:  16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Stephen Ferris, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Geordan Murphy, 22 Barry Murphy.

Referee:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Samoa kick off with rugged win

Samoa recorded an 8-3 win over Fiji in the opening match of the Pacific Nations Cup in Apia on Saturday with Alapasa Cordtz the try-scoring hero of a dour match.

Rain poured in Apia for much of the day, and thus the running rugby for which the Islanders are so celebrated was kept top a minimum.  The hits for which they are so famed were not kept to a minimum though, and a war of attrition was waged.

Samoa's pack gained the upper hand in the mud, and the try came as a direct result when Cordtz powered over off the back of a maul.

That made the score 5-3, with Fiji full-back Taniela Rawaqa having give the visitors an early lead.

Samoa controlled most of the second half but just couldn't finish the game off, and eventually, they had to rely upon the boot of Gavin Williams to extend the lead seven minutes from time.

It was a good way for Samoa to round off a national week of mourning, after last weekend's death of King Malietoa Tanufamili II, the country's leader since independence from New Zealand in 1962.

Samoa's next match is against the Junior All Blacks next Saturday in Apia, while Fiji host Japan the same day.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Cordtz
Pen:  Williams

For Fiji:
Pen:  Rawaqa

Spain too good for Czechs

Spain beat the Czech Republic 42-15 in Prague on Saturday.  The result may well mean that the Czechs, beaten in all their matches so far, are in danger of relegation from the European Nations Cup Division 1 when the competition ends next season.

Spain on the other hand, promoted at the start of the season from Division 2A, have now won two matches in the first round which may well secure their place.  Their other victory was over high-riding Georgia.

By half-time Spain led 24-10, thanks to two tries each by fullback César Sempere and scrumhalf Pablo Feijóo to which flyhalf Esteban Roqué added two conversions.

The Czechs fought back in the second half but the Spanish defence withstood the initial onslaught, except for a try by scrumhalf Pavel Syrový, and then set their backs on the attack for two more tries, one by Roqué, the other just before the final whistle by replacement forward David Hernández.

Scorers:

For Spain:
Tries:  Sempere 2, Feijóo 2, Roqué, Hernández
Cons:  Roqué 3
Pen:  Roqué

For Czech Republic:
Tries:  Krejcí, Syrový
Pen:  Vokrouhlik

Teams:

Czech Republic:  15 Tomas Nevický, 14 Václav Jursík, 13 Jan Rohlík, 12 Pavel Vokrouhlík, 11 Michal Schlanger, 10 Tomás Krejcí, 9 Pavel Syrový, 8 Jan Zíla, 7 Ladislav Vondrásek, 6 Karel Kucera, 5 Jan Machácek, 4 Robert Voves, 3 Pavel Indrák, 2 Jan Oswald, 1 Roman Suster.
Replacements:  16 Patrik Leroch, 17 Jirí Skal, 18 Jan Benda, 19 Jirí Buryánek, 20 Vítezslav Dosedla, 21 Jaroslav Tomcík, 22 Antonín Brabec

Spain:  15 César Sempere, 14 Víctor Marlet, 13 David Mota, 12 Javier Canosa, 11 Rafael Álvarez, 10 Esteban Roque, 9 Pablo Feijoo, 8 Iván Criado, 7 Juan González, 6 Alfonso Mata, 5 Sergio Souto, 4 Guillermo Bárcena, 3 Javier Salazar, 2 José Maria Bohórquez, 1 Ion Insausti.
Replacements:  16 Óscar Ferreras, 17 Diego Zarzosa, 18 Martin Aceña, 19 David Hernández, 20 Carlos Arenas, 21 Manuel Olivares, 22 Juan Cano

Referee:  Neil Patersen (Scotland)
Touch judges:  John Steele (Scotland), Peter Carruthers (Scotland)