Pumas conquer Ireland

Argentina have made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup as the top finishers in Pool D after recording a clinical 30-15 victory over Ireland in Paris on Sunday.

The result at Parc des Princes sends Ireland crashing out of the tournament and consigns hosts France to a quarter-final on foreign soil in Cardiff against New Zealand next weekend.

Argentina face Scotland in the Stade de France next Sunday, and must surely now be favourites to take a semi-final spot, most likely against South Africa.

Ireland fought gamely but Argentina's aggressive defence proved too much for the stuttering green attack.

The Pumas also managed two fine first-half tries, one from each wing, as the team proved its competence in all areas of the pitch.

Ireland went into the group eliminator needing a bonus-point victory, but only managed two tries through Brian O'Driscoll and Geordan Murphy.

Unbeaten Argentina never looked like losing, with wings Lucas Borges and Horacio Agulla claiming touchdowns, while masterly fly-half Juan Martín Hernández dropped three goals and cucumber-like centre Felipe Contepomi kicked 11 points.

And so Ireland follow Wales home, but not exactly following in red footsteps.  The Welsh were equal to Fiji in all areas of play;  Ireland came off a distinct second in all facets of play.

"It's hard to play against a side that refuses to play in their own half," lamented O'Driscoll in the wake of battle, and it's hard to argue with the man.

Argentina forced Ireland to build from deep, but never allowed them time to play the ball, let alone time to think about what to do with the thing.

The Pumas' ravenous defence gobbled up just about everything Ireland had to offer -- it would take the local gendarmerie a week just to log the number of stolen green balls.

But the remarkable truth is that Ireland didn't play that badly.  They showed good composure in the early stages of the game and glimpses of brilliance in first-phase play.

With Argentina looking slightly nervous from the off, Ireland set out their stall by sending their first penalty -- from a highly kickable spot -- into the corner.

It was a move intended to shake the hitherto unshakable Latinos.  It backfired.  Argentina managed to steal the line-out ball and clear their lines.  And with that, Ireland's main weapon was spiked.

Buoyed by their defensive efforts, the Pumas strode into Irish territory -- and there they remained for much of the match.

It was Argentina who had the first shot at goal as a moment of mindless Irish hot-potato combined with ruthless Argentine tackling to cough up an opportunity for Contepomi, but his kick at the sticks sailed wide.

The Leinster star then almost made amends by scoring after hacking on a loose ball, but his old friend Denis Hickie showed great pace to beat him to the touch-down.

Suddenly the tables had turned and the Pumas were in complete control.

Argentina plugged on, sparking up a rolling maul that almost had them over the whitewash.

That attack earned them a five-metre scrum from which Agustín Pichot picked up and went blind.  He dragged in three would-be tacklers before feeding wing Lucas Borges who scooted over to score.

Contepomi missed the conversion, but first blood had been drawn -- and Ireland's confident start added extra weight to the try.

The Irish managed to put the score to one side and responded well, with Brian O'Driscoll showing a trademark flash of brilliance that has been in short supply in France.  His raid won a penalty which O'Gara duly converted into three points, and Ireland's crusade was up and running.

But the Argentinians were in no mood to allow Irish dreams to take root.  Hernández stamped out the green seed of hope by dropping a goal in the very next phase of play.

And from there they pushed and they pushed, keeping O'Gara teetering on his dead-ball line.  Only heroic defence kept Ireland honest, but heroic defence was not on at the top of Ireland's agenda:  they still needed four tries and, with 30 minutes played, there was neither hide nor hair of a single one.

Every vague Irish skirmish across the half-way line was repelled by the ferocious Pumas, with Eoin Reddan having particular trouble with the offensive defence of the South Americans.

With patient phase-play patently not paying dividends for the Irish, it was time to turn to magic, and O'Driscoll took a peek up his sleeve.

O'Gara sent out a flat miss-pass from the back of an innocuous line-out outside Argentina's 22 and the Ireland captain meet the ball at full speed.  Argentina's flat-footed defence could not stop the runaway centre and Ireland had their first try.

"It has started!" O'Driscoll informed the Pumas as they assembled under the sticks for O'Gara's successful conversion, but the Argentinians begged to differ.

Hernández, surely an Inuit in a previous life, dropped a nonchalant long-range goal before setting up his side's second try.

After collecting his own bomb he set the Pumas loose with a wonderful backhand flip that left the Irish clawing at air.  The move was punctuated by Horacio Agulla in the right-hand corner, but not before the ball had passed through at least a dozen pairs of Argentine hands, with the impressive Gonzalo Longo delivering the final pass.

And so, at the break, Ireland were just a quarter of the way to only partial safety.  Argentina, meanwhile, were coasting to the summit of the World Cup's toughest pool.  Just two more tries would put the Irish out of their misery instantly -- perhaps it would have been a better way to go.

Ireland needed early points in the second half -- instead they coughed up a penalty that Contepomi converted into three more coffin nails.

A good-looking Irish attack had the crowd's green contingent on their feet and Murphy soon had them dancing as he slid over the whitewash for Ireland's second.

Again, it was a deft miss-pass from O'Gara to O'Driscoll that did the damage.  The Irish skipper then found David Wallace on his shoulder and the flank supplied the final pass.

O'Gara missed the conversion, but Ireland's dream began to flicker once again.  They had kippered the Pumas with two first-phase tries that came straight off the blackboard.  Could they learn from this?  Could they build on this?

Straws loom like logs to drowning men, and O'Driscoll was soon thrashing around like he was on his last lungful.  His troops duly followed suit and Argentina began to look fallible.

But only for a moment.  A long punt downfield from Hernández was met by more Argentinians than Irish, and Contepomi soon had another kick at goal which he duly dispatched.

More Argentine pressure spawned another penalty opportunity for Contepomi which he cashed in as Eddie O'Sullivan played his last card by emptying his bench onto the pitch.

When up 27-15 and with 15 minutes to play, most sides would err on the side of caution.  Not Argentina.  They fought on as if they were chasing the game, hounding the Irish off the ball at every junction.

Their lust for contact finally rubbed off on the Irish and, with ten minutes to go, they began to look menacing at the breakdown.

A green penalty was soon dispatched into the corner but Argentina's impeccable defence nipped the raid in the bud.  The Irish faithful at Parc des Princes began to murmur a mournful rendition of the Fields of Athenry.

Ireland's fans knew the game was up, but no one had bothered to inform the Pumas.  They continued to boss and bully and cajole before Hernández delivered the coup de grace in the shape of his third drop-goal.

The message couldn't have cleared.  Coming out of the 'pool of death' without a scratch was no less than the mighty Argentinians had expected -- they are after world domination.  With Scotland up next, who would bet against them going all the way?

Man of the match:  Brian O'Driscoll finally showed his class and his absence from the play-offs is blow for rugby-lovers the world over.  Paul O'Connell also finally proved his worth, and Ronan O'Gara punctuated a difficult campaign with some merit.  Meanwhile, the Argentinians were heroes to a man.  Their great strength is their collective will, but -- as always -- a few individuals stood out.  Gonzalo Longo and Rodrigo Roncero got through a heap of work, whilst Felipe Contepomi added structure and the points.  Meanwhile, Agustín Pichot, once again, proved himself to be a leader of rare ability.  But our award goes to the ice-cool Juan Martín Hernández.  The Scots will need to pin some great jailable crime on the immaculate pivot if they wish to return to Paris for a semi-final.

Moment of the match:  Ireland's two tries were beautifully executed, but we'll opt for the build-up to Horacio Agulla's try.  It was 'total rugby' at it's very best.

Villain of the match:  Perhaps a little too much shirt-pulling from the Argentinians, but we'll reserve judgement until we've studied the videos.  No award.  Yet.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Borges, Agulla
Con:  Contempomi
Pens:  Contempomi 3
Drop goals:  Hernandez 3

For Ireland:
Tries:  O'Driscoll, Murphy
Con:  O'Gara
Pen:  O'Gara

Argentina:  15 Ignacio Corleto, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Manuel Contepomi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Agustín Pichot (c), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Lucas Ostiglia, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Carlos Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Juan Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Omar Hasan, 18 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 19 Martín Durand, 20 Nicolás Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Hernán Senillosa.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan,
Replacement:  16 Rory Best, 17 Bryan Young, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Neil Best, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Gavin Duffy.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch

Boks perform in patches

South Africa rounded off their World Cup Pool A campaign with a hard-fought 64-15 win over the USA in Montpellier on Sunday.

The curate's egg was good in parts, and so was this performance.  The good parts were, in fact magnificent -- none more so than a try scored by the USA in the first half.  It may just have been the golden moment of the all the pool matches.

South Africa were well in the saddle and looked about to score another try as Fourie du Preez fired a long pass to his right.  Up stepped big, long-haired Dan Clever and intercepted the ball.  He headed downfield, veering infield, obviously lacking the lags to outstrip the scrambling Springboks but he got a pass in to rangy Alec Parker, who passed to general Mike Hercus.  Hercus then floated the best pass of the match, a long pass to his right, perfectly timed for speedster Takudzwa Ngwenya, on the right wing -- a pass that allowed him to run at speed onto the ball and the radiologist from Harare set off at speed, leaving speedster Bryan Habana for dead as he raced 52 metres to score at the posts.

It was a golden moment when the American star certainly spangled.

That was just before half-time and the Springboks led 24-10 at half-time -- not a perfect half as captain John Smit noted afterwards.  The pool leaders were sloppy, knowing that winning would be an easy thing and so expecting that scoring a try would be an easy thing.  That led to lots of individuality and lots of careless handling, perhaps exacerbated by a certain dampness on the ball.  But eventually they settled and the second half was more structured.

While the second half was more structured they also became, oddly, more prodigal.  Where in the first half they had conceded only three penalties, in the second they conceded seven -- most of them at the tackle.

The USA battled to get first-phase possession,.  Their line-outs were a mess and the scrums under great pressure but they were positive throughout and competed at the tackle and, made sure the South Africans got slow ball at the tackle/ruck, which is just as well for when they got the ball back quickly their speed and sense of purpose was too much and they scored some splendid tries.

The first try came from quick ball as they charged at the line and Du Preez sent a wicked, low bass at Schalk Burger who scooped it up and powered over.  It was a moment of great skill for the loose forward playing No.8, an unaccustomed position but approached with his usual zest.  In the first half he tended to try his through-a-brickwall tactics but was at his best when he got quick and clever passes away.

The try was, as is usual at French grounds, greeted with a trumpet blast and a cheer.

Burger was penalised at a tackle/ruck as the Eagles went on a pick-'n-go and Hercus made the score 10-3 but then Cleever, later a hero, was sent to the sin bin as he lapsed into being an habitual offender at the breakdown.

Wikus van Heerden won a turn-over and prop CJ van der Linde sent Frans Steyn running.  Over the 22 he went, beating four Eagles as he swerved to the line.  17-3 after 27 minutes.

The Springboks should have scored when they counterattacked but Burger ran too far and then passed poorly.  But when Burger peeled off from a line-out the Springboks gave Habana a small overlap which was invitation enough for a try in the corner, which Montgomery converted.  24-3 after 35 minutes.

It was after this that Ngwenya got his brilliant try.

from a scrum Jaque Fourie burst ahead, Burger and Ndungane carried it on and Habana was again over in the corner after just one minute of a more structured half for the Springboks.

When Henry Bloomfield was penalised at a tackle/ruck on the Springbok right, Du Preez tapped and the ball went wide left and then back inside where Juan Smith gave an underarm flip to CJ van der Linde and the massive prop raced over for a try.  Montgomery converted.  36-10 after 48 minutes.

The Eagles still had zest for the contest.  The Springboks took a quick throw-in not far from their line and Steyn knocked on.  The Eagles swooped and they attacked sharply till they went left and fullback Chris Wyles forced his way over through feeble tackles by Ndungane and Matfield.  38-15 after 51 minutes.

Habana chased the deep kick-off which was caught by Ngwenya and the two collided.  Their heads banged and both bled from head wounds.  Ngwenya had his strapped up like an Alamo wounded and Habana retired for the evening to be replaced by JP Pietersen who had an excellent match.

The next try came from a tighthead at a scrum.  John Smit drove well and suddenly Du Preez was darting over.  43-15.

Hooker Owen Lentz had a great run for the Eagles but Pietersen made the break that led to the next score.  The Springboks went right from a line-out.  Burger drove and then Butch James switched inside to Pietersen who raced ahead.  He gave to Steyn who popped a pressured pass to Fourie who scored.  50-15.

Hercus had a great break past Burger to set up an Eagle attack but Cleever lost the ball behind a scrum and Burger, low happier at flank, picked up and passed immediately to his left deep in Springbok territory.  Off went Pietersen and eventually Fourie got his second try, which James converted.  57-15.

The last try also came of an Eagle attack.  They grubbered and the Springboks countered.  Burger started it, Ruan Pienaar was prominent and Smith finished it off with a swerve.

Man of the Match:  Hard.  Mike Hercus was outstanding in a beaten side and so was sturdy hooker Owen Lentz.  The South African loose trio was brilliant.  Despite some lapses in judgement the Man of the Match is Schalk Burger.  Is there a more zestful player in the world?

Moment of the Match:  There were good moments but none as rich and bright and breath-taking as the try by Takudzwa Ngwenya.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.  It was well-mannered and honourable.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Burger, Steyn, Habana 2, Van der Linde, Du Preez, Fourie 2, Smith
Cons:  Montgomery 6, James 2
Pen:  Montgomery

For USA:
Tries:  Ngwenya, Wyles
Con:  Hercus
Pen:  Hercus

Yellow card:  Clever (24, USA, killing the ball)

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 François Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Wikus van Heerden, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit, 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Bobby Skinstad, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 JP Pietersen

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Philip Eloff, 12 Vahafolau Esikia, 11 Salesi Sika, 10 Mike Hercus (c), 9 Chad Erskine, 8 Dan Payne, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Owen Lentz, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 Mark Aylor, 19 Henry Bloomfield, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Valenese Malifa, 22 Thretton Palamo.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Paul Marks (Australia), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor:  Ian Scotney/Stuart Beissel

France do the job

France await the result of the Ireland v Argentina match with interest after they secured the expected bonus-point 64-7 win over Georgia in Marseille on Sunday.

Should Argentinians lose by more than seven and not score four tries against Ireland, the French will top the group, leaving the Pumas or the Irish facing New Zealand in a Cardiff quarter-final next Saturday, while France will face Scotland in the Stade de France.

From the first whistle, Les Bleus promptly established a balance of rhythm and flair with Beauxis calmly stroking over a fourth minute penalty.

And there was more early joy for the Marseille masses as Jauzion skipped through the Georgian midfield defence and duly handed the ball on to Poitrenaud to coast over, converted by Beauxis.

The star man for the hosts in the opening ten minutes was undoubtedly their fly-half, who oozed confidence and fluidity in a controlling manner.

In fact, the entire French XV adopted a disciplined attitude in the first quarter, as the Stade Francias man sent over another three more points, taking the score to 13-0.

However, the Georgians, in their tournament farewell, deserved the respect being shown after their 2007 heroics.

Beauxis extended the lead to sixteen on 24 minutes with a mammoth kick, albeit wind-assisted, and an extra seven points promptly followed when Nyanga sneaked over against the fourteen-men of The Lelos.

And with the interval fast approaching, the number ten increased his individual tally by adding his name to the try-list, capping beautiful running rugby from several of the three-quarters.

The party atmosphere continued soon after the interval when Dominici reopened the French account, claiming a pinpoint Beauxis cross-kick to score on 45 minutes.

And when Bruno crashed over on the touchline, which was beautifully converted by Beauxis, the lead was 42 with half an hour of rugby remaining.

The French formalities continued to wow the Stade Vélodrome as a deft dink over the tiring Georgian defence from Elissalde bounced kindly for Dominici's second.

The procession continued and the half century was comfortably achieved when Nallet crossed from close-range, quickly followed by Martin.

The Lelos did get their moment to savour eight minutes from time though, when substitute Maisuradze barged over from a quick-tap, bringing the scores to 59-7.

However, the match and tournament ended on a sour note for the Georgians as flank Martin found himself picked up and seemingly thrown dangerously to the floor by Machkhaneli.

But Les Bleus confidently put the icing on the cake when the impressive Bonnaire dived over late on to cap a pleasing performance for Laporte, as they claimed the maximum.

Man of the match:  A complete performance from fly-half Lionel Beauxis!  The Stade understudy for David Skrela controlled from the outset, and his territorial boot put France in all the right areas to attack.  Surely his 24-point haul now puts him in Laporte's thoughts for the quarters.

Moment of the match:  It has to be Jean-Baptiste Elissalde's delicate cross-field kick for Dominici in broken play.  The replacement scrum-half, who entered proceedings earlier than expected after a hamstring injury to Pierre Mignoni, weighed up what was in front of him and found his winger.

Villain of the match:  It was a contest played in good spirit until the tackle on Martin by Machkhaneli.  The substitute escaped a sin-binning however, as team-mate Gigauri found himself on the sidelines.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Poitrenaud, Nyanga, Beauxis, Dominici 2, Bruno, Nallet, Martin, Bonnaire
Cons:  Beauxis 5
Pens:  Beauxis 3

For Georgia:
Try:  Maisuradze
Con:  Kvirikashvili

Yellow cards:  Makgravelidze (28, Georgia, tripping), Gigauri (75, Georgia, spear tackle)

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Serge Betsen (c), 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Fabien Pelous, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 21 David Skréla.

Georgia:  15 Otar Barkalaia, 14 Besiki Khamashuridze, 13 Revaz Gigauri, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Otar Eloshvili, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze (c), 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Grigol Labadze, 6 Ilia Maisuradze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Zurab Mtchedlishvili, 3 David Zirakashvili, 2 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 1 Mamuka Magrakvelidze.
Replacements:  16 Avtandil Kopaliani, 17 Goderdzi Shvelidze, 18 Victor Didebulidze, 19 Zviad Maisuradze, 20 Giorgi Elizbarashvili, 21 Irakli Machkhaneli, 22 Malkhaz Urjukashvili.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Dave Pearson (England)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

Fiji stun Wales

Fiji have made it through to the World Cup quarter-finals after an extraordinary 38-34 win over Wales in Nantes on Saturday.

Forget Argentina's win over France earlier this month.  Forget, too, Samoa's victory over Wales in the 1991 edition of this tournament -- and the repeat performance in 1999.  Forget even France's comeback in the semi-final of 1999.  This game will go down as the greatest World Cup upset ever.  It was a classic -- sporting theatre at its very best.

As the Fijians whooped and wailed and prayed and sang at the final whistle sounded, the Welsh -- to a man -- stood motionless as the terrible truth sank in.  The side that claimed the Grand Slam in 2005 has taken the earliest exit possible from the World Cup.

Wales captain Gareth Thomas finally managed to muster a few words in the wake of defeat, likening the whole Welsh campaign to "a roller-coaster ride".  He's not wrong.

Indeed, this game was a helter-skelter in itself.  The South Sea islanders found themselves 25-3 in front before the break.  Fine work from Wales saw them steal back a 34-31 lead late in the game, and it looked as if Fijian fires had been doused.

But they summoned up the strength from the very depths of their souls and launched one final do-or-die raid that bore a try -- confirmed by video replay -- for prop Graham Dewes.

But the game showed no signs of greatness in its early youth.  Indeed, it looked like it would be another case of ruthless efficiency and professionalism subduing heart and passion.

But this time there was just too much heart -- and too much passion!

The "minnows" -- can we now please dispense with that term? -- have finally sunk their teeth into something substantial.

It was Stephen Jones who opened the scoring with a penalty for Wales in the early exchanges.

The reds then pushed on, carrying out their gameplan methodically and carefully -- territory, set-piece, territory, set-piece -- like well-drilled boy scouts.

Another penalty was soon directed at the uprights, but Jones's kick rebound off the post.

The miss seemed to trigger something in Fijian heads.  It was like an alarm clock going off -- a sudden realisation that there was a match to play -- and they bounced out of bed eager to devour the Welsh for breakfast.

Suddenly the big hits started to rain in, each heavier and more ruthless than the last.

The slight frame of James Hook was never going to hold up to the barrage and he duly turned over possession whilst under pressure from the outstanding Seru Rabeni.

Isoa Neivua took the ball up to the Welsh lines where it was recycled for the on-rushing Akapusi Qera, who crashed through two weak challenges before sliding in for the first try of the game.

The try added a couple of inches to each of the islanders, and Wales were soon stung again by an attack born in the depths of their own half.

Rabeni was again at the heart of it as he broke down the right before offloading to Vilimoni Delasau.

The Clermont wing, short on space down the right, chipped in-field and then beat both Mark Jones and Gareth Thomas with a leap fit for a salmon to regather in the in-goal area and touch down for Fiji's second try.

What had happened to the script?  Fiji were insatiable and unstoppable and Wales's fragile confidence looked shattered.

Nicky Little then landed a second long-range penalty as Wales were once again penalised for not rolling away.

Qera, already a sporting icon back home, enhanced his growing reputation further by then breaking through midfield to once again leave Wales on the rack.

The Gloucester man twice linked with Seremai Bai, and Wales could not halt the Fijian charge as lock Kele Leawere crashed over for their third try and Little's conversion opened up a 25-3 lead for Fiji.

Wales trailed by the same scoreline at half-time against Australia a fortnight ago -- they went on to loss that game soundly.  What was going through their heads?

Credit to them, then, that they steadied the ship by sucking the ball in tight.  Wales's scrum was vastly superior to Fiji's rough construction, and a push-over try to Alix Popham soon had the Welsh fans peeking out from behind their seats.

Fiji then lost Qera to the sin-bin at the stoke of half-time.  The flank was adjudged to have raised his knee as Stephen Jones closed in on a ruck, but it could be that he paid the price for several earlier incidences of somewhat rambunctious defence from the islanders.

But Hook failed to find the sticks with the ensuing penalty and the Welsh slunk into the bowels of Stade de la Beaujoire to chew on their predicament -- 25-10 down to one of the "lesser" nations and staring an early return home in the face.

Quite what happened under the stands is still unclear, but an untrained eye would have assumed that the teams simply exchanged kit during the break.

Wales, for reasons that may escape even them, eschewed their clear set-piece advantage and decided to take Fiji on at their own game.

The ploy clearly foxed the islanders.  How could their own skills be used against them -- and to such great effect?

Beautiful hands and vision lead to tries for Shane Williams, Gareth Thomas and Mark Jones.

And so for twenty glorious minutes Wales fans were allowed to dream, to mention the 1970s and their gods of the beautiful game.

And then they simply sat back.

Why?  Who knows?  The Fijians were flagging with their tongues hanging out, but Wales refused to run away over the horizon, preferring to jog slowly and let Fiji regain their breath.

Even the arrival of a fresh Welsh battalion of professional brutes from off the bench failed to stamp their authority on the shattered islanders.

In fact, Wales conspired to actually cough up the lead by conceding three kickable -- and duly kicked -- penalties.

Like so often before -- and perhaps now never again -- it was left to Martyn Williams to save Welsh bacon, and the irrepressible flank picked off Little's pass to score an intercept-try and steal back the lead.

But the final act of an engrossing drama was still to come as Dewes burrowed over in the corner.

And with that Fiji picked up their first win in nine games against Wales and advance to their first quarter-final since 1987.

Wales head home to face the music -- and it will be deafening.

Man of match:  Martyn Williams saved Welsh blushes on occasions to numerous to mention, whilst Shane Williams, Mark Jones and Alix Popham showed flashes of brilliance.  Each and every Fijian deserves credit for this performance, but we'll single out Vilimoni Delasau, Nicky Little and Akapusi Qera.  But out on his own in his personal bubble of brilliance is Seru Rabeni -- so strong in defence, so dangerous in attack.  This was the game of his life.

Moment of match:  Just too many to pick from!  We'll opt for Vilimoni Delasau's try.  One try could be considered lucky, but a second -- and one of such high quality -- allowed the Fijians to begin to believe.

Villain of the match:  Nicky Little was warned over two high tackles in quick succession, and Akapusi Qera was sin-binned for cocking a leg.  But it was Kele Leawere's late tackle on Alix Popham that made us wince the most.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Popham, Shane Williams, Gareth Thomas, Mark Jones, Martyn Williams
Cons:  Hook 2, Stephen Jones
Pen:  Stephen Jones

For Fiji:
Tries:  Qera, Delasau, Leawere, Dewes
Cons:  Little 3
Pens:  Little 4

Yellow card:  Qera (40, Fiji, raised knee in the tackle)

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 James Hook, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Alix Popham, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Thomas Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Michael Owen, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Jamie Robinson, 22 Dafydd James.

Fiji:  15 Kameli Ratuvou, 14 Vilimoni Delasau, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Isoa Neivua, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Mosese Rauluni(c), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Semisi Naevo, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Kele Leawere, 3 Jone Railomo, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Graham Dewes.
Replacements:  16 Vereniki Sauturaga, 17 Henry Qiodravu, 18 Wame Lewaravu, 19 Aca Ratuva, 20 Jone Daunivucu, 21 Norman Ligairi, 22 Sireli Bobo.

Referee:  Chris White
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh, Bryce Lawrence
Television match official:  Lyndon Bray
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie

Scotland scrap through

Scotland have made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup after a nerve-racking 18-16 win over Italy in Saint Etienne.

The bare-faced facts are there for all to see, Scotland advance as runners-up in the group and Italy are out of the World Cup by the narrowest of margins.  A losing bonus point will be of scant consolation for the Azzurri.

For a game that offered such a lucrative reward it came as little surprise that neither side were prepared to chance their arm too much.  The cascading rain did little to encourage entertaining rugby, and so it was that the game developed into trench warfare.

Italy did little to help themselves in the opening forays, gifting Chris Paterson two simple penalties in the first five minutes.  Needless to say Paterson, coming into the game with a perfect kicking record at the World Cup, eased his side into a six-point lead.

It came as something of a surprise when after eight minutes Jason White turned down a third eminently kickable penalty.  Mauro Bergamasco was sin-binned for a cynical early tackle on Simon Taylor, and it appeared that Scotland would stretch their lead further.  White sensed the chance of a more telling score It was not forthcoming, at least not for Scotland.

Despite being at a numerical disadvantage Italy were able to score the game's only try, showing acute tactical awareness.  Ramiro Pez hung a tantalising kick high into the Scottish 22 causing chaos, resulting in a spilt catch from Rory Lamont, a snaffled take from Josh Sole and a sniping try from Alessandro Troncon.

Scotland, woken from a temporary slumber by Troncon's try, began to assert a degree of control on proceedings, a David Bortolussi penalty aside.  The tactical kicking of Dan Parks was often of the highest order and coaxed his hulking forward pack into areas where they could flourish.

Maintaining possession and demonstrating controlled patience, Scotland were able to force Italy into committing needless infringements, born out of frustration rather than a lack of discipline.  Paterson continued to make a mockery of all the fuss over the quality of balls in the week by slotting two more penalties, to send Scotland in at the break with a slender 12-10 lead.

The tension was there for all to see after the break.  The kicking battle intensified as both teams reverted to ten-man rugby, eleven at best when the centres were used to forge a few extra yards.  And so a game of patience developed, neither side wanting to lose ground on the other.

Marginally better equipped to play such a game, Scotland seemed to be pulling away with yet another two Paterson penalties, but back came Italy again, through the boot of Bortolussi with two of his own three-pointers.  The first was a result of Nathan Hines' yellow card for a high tackle, the second a huge kick to put his side within one score.

That is where they would stay for the remainder of the game, as ultimately they proved they did not have what it took to break Scotland down.  In the forward exchanges they were outmuscled by Jason White and co.  And in the kicking stakes they missed touch far too often, allowing Parks the time and space to punish them for their deficiencies.

The Scottish performance was not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, but they have more than at any other stage in the tournament to build upon.  Their line out was slick, especially given the treacherous conditions and their scrum was solid enough.  In that they opted to ignore their back line it is hard to say what it was like, apart from very good at jogging up and down the field watching the forwards do battle.

Frank Hadden watched on nervously, the meaning of this game clear for all to see on his face.  His nerves will have jangled towards the end of a titanic forward battle when Bortolussi's long range penalty drifted agonisingly wide.

The hooter had sounded and Italy were in possession, knowing any score would suffice for a win.  Why then Troncon saw fit to chip the ball away is a mystery.  You would expect a player of his experience to appreciate the magnitude of the situation and opt rather to keep the ball in hand.  As it was Andrew Henderson took the pointless kick with ease and rather hurriedly made his way over the touchline to signal the end of Troncon's career and Italy's World Cup.  The scrum-half promptly burst into tears.

Scotland will now await their quarter-final fate, knowing that depending on the results of Sunday's games they may, just may, have a sniff at making the World Cup semi-finals, although one feels they lack the firepower to make any further impression in France.

Man of the Match:  A hard award to dish out after such a basic game, but some honourable nominees nonetheless.  Sergio Parisse fought tooth and nail for the Italian cause, a shame he lacked support from others.  David Bortolussi did everything in his powers but was unable to guide his team home.  Dan Parks provided his pack with favourable field position time and again.  Nathan Hines got through a bucketload of work, despite a yellow card.  But the star performer was Jason White, ever reliable in the tight and a tremendous worker around the field he was instrumental in this win.  He led with aplomb and ensured his side maintained their game plan.

Moment of the Match:  It didn't come until time was up but Troncon's kick behind the Scottish defence summed up their night.  It showed they had run out of ideas and were relying on Scottish mistakes, that were few and far between for once, to win them the game.

Villain of the Match:  It was always going to be an emotionally-fuelled affair, as several players demonstrated as they let their emotions get the better of them.  Most notable however was Alessandro Troncon's dangerously late and high tackle on Dan Parks.  In his last ever game it was an act that he will want to forget it what has otherwise been an illustrious career for club and country.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 6

For Italy:
Try:  Troncon
Con:  Bortolussi
Pens:  Bortolussi 2

Yellow cards:  Mauro Bergamasco (8, Italy, professional foul), Hines (55, Scotland, high tackle)

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Simon Webster, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Andrea Masi, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Carlo Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Valerio Bernabò, 19 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 20 Paul Griffen, 21 Roland de Marigny, 22 Ezio Galon.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes, Hugh Watkins
Television match official:  Dave Pearson
Assessor:  Bob Francis

ABs ready for Cardiff

New Zealand recorded a resounding 85-8 win over Romania on Saturday, with a welter of ominously well-finished tries showing that they are ready for whoever they may face in the Cardiff quarter-final next weekend.

Joe Rokocoko was once again in prolific form, crossing the Romanian try-line three times.  Sitiveni Sivivatu and outside centre Isaia Toeava each scored a brace.

While Graham Henry's charges weren't always clinical -- there were once again too many unforced errors from the Tri-Nations champions -- they also displayed some of their best rugby in the entire World Cup thus far.

There were areas of concern though and coach Henry would have to be foolish to deny it.  The All Blacks struggled at the restarts, regularly not collecting the ball cleanly and often squandering valuable try-scoring opportunities.  Fortunately there was an abundance of opportunities on the day.

The Oaks were very competent opponents at times and made the All Blacks work hard to retain possession, especially in the tackle situation.

Scrum-half Andy Ellis, who made the most of his rare opportunity to wear the All Black number nine jersey in this World Cup campaign, often struggled to get clean supply from his forwards.

The Romanians certainly stood their ground in the set pieces and can be proud of their solid forward play which led to their opening try in the 30th minute of the game, courtesy of hooker Marius Tincu.

However, it was once again the Romanian defensive patterns that proved costly.

Sivivatu opened the All Black account after just 37 seconds, when pivot Luke McAlister, running in his own 22, found a gaping hole in the Oaks' defence before setting up a long-distance effort for the big wing.

The signs were immediately ominous for the European minnows.  Just seven minutes later Ellis single-handedly created what was an early candidate for moment of the game, when his crisp pass found Chris Masoe, who merely need to cross the line in the 9th minute.

Rokocoko scored another just six minutes later, but it was the 17th minute Nick Evans try that really caught our attention.  The build-up to the Evans try included some enthralling interplay from loose-forwards Sione Lauaki and Jerry Collins -- some of the handling from the All Black forwards was sublime.

Sivivatu's second try, six minutes later, was just as impressive.  But following that the All Blacks seemed to lose some of their intensity.

For the first time in the match the All Black defence was tested and it failed dismally when Tincu scored for the minnows.

Periods of the second-half were very quiet for the All Blacks.  While Aaron Mauger and Toeava added their names to the score sheet early on, the team went through two ten-minute spells without even looking close to scoring.

The Romanians, who had been expected to fade by half-time were still playing with great heart and determination -- they certainly weren't going to hand the game to the All Blacks on a silver platter.

From the 57th minute to the end of the game, it was the quality All Black bench that made an impact.  Chris Jack, who came on for Keith Robinson, made a mid-field break before setting up Rokocoko's second try of the afternoon.

In between, Richie McCaw again proved to most why he was regarded as the best player in the world when he came onto the field, taking full control at the break-down.

Doug Howlett was as busy as a bee, always in the thick of things and in the last fifteen minutes the All Blacks looked very impressive -- hopefully for Henry they can carry that form into the knock-out rounds.

A further four sterling All Black tries were added in the last 14 minutes, capping another easy day at the office for Henry's men.  The tough work is only about to begin though, with the October 7 quarter-final in Cardiff -- probably against France -- looming.

Man of the match:  Andy Ellis made the most of his World Cup start, playing a significant role in at least two of the more impressive All Black tries.  His distribution was sound and he made a number of good clearances from the base of the scrum.  He is our man-of-the-match for the day.

Moment of the match:  Most of the All Black tries were absolutely superb, the best of which was the world-class 78th minute Doug Howlett score.  The All Blacks showed once again how sensational their handling can be with Brendon Leonard, Nick Evans, Conrad Smith and Aaron Mauger running great angles before setting Howlett free.  But if we were to be sentimental, the first and only Romanian try courtesy of Marius Tincu in the 30th minute was a classic display of good, solid forward play and was perhaps equally deserving of moment-of-the-match.

Villain of the match:  Sione Lauaki made a ghastly swinging-arm tackle on an opposition player in the 50th minute, and there was another one shortly before from Keven Mealamu.  Do you really need to tackle like that when leading by 40 points?

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Sivivatu 2, Masoe, Rokocoko 3, Evans, Mauger, Toeava 2, Hore, Smith, Howlett,
Cons:  McAlister 7, Evans 3

For Romania:
Try:  Tincu
Pen:  Vlaicu

New Zealand:  15 Nick Evans, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Jerry Collins (c), 5 Keith Robinson, 4 Reuben Thorne, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Doug Howlett, 22 Conrad Smith.

Romania:  15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Stefan Ciuntu, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Sorin Socol (c), 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Bogdan Balan.
Replacements:  16 Razvan Mavrodin, 17 Paulica Ion, 18 Valentin Ursache, 19 Cosmin Ratiu, 20 Valentin Calafeteanu, 21 Florin Vlaicu, 22 Catalin Robert Dascalu.

Referee:  Joël Jutge
Touch judges:  Federico Cuesta, Malcolm Changleng
Television match official:  Paul Marks
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

Wallabies hot and cold

Australia delivered a patchy performance ahead of their quarter-final with England, beating Canada 37-6 in Bordeaux on Saturday.

It took the Wallabies over an hour to stretch their lead beyond 12 points, and it was only a late brace of tries from Drew Mitchell that gave the score the dominant look.

For the large part, and in atrocious weather, the Wallabies were error-prone and disjointed, and there were several additional injuries to furrow the brow of John Connolly.

Once again a capacity crowd weathered the weather and crammed into the rain-soaked Stade Chaban-Delmas, only to take entertainment from a tide of Mexican waves.

With Australia having already sealed their place at the top of Pool B, someone forgot to tell the two-time world champions that they still had another game to play.

Connolly had fielded a second-string outfit to finish off the job, but the fringe players would have done little -- if not nothing -- to convince the coach of their worth in the knock-out stages.

England will certainly be thinking they just might be in with a chance if the men in green and gold put in another ordinary performance when the 2003 finalists meet in Marseilles on October 6.

Hats off to Canada though, who hardly gave Australia an inch with some courageous defence that contributed in slowing the ball down in contact, preventing any real flow for the Wallabies.

The Canucks inspirational work-rate around the pitch made the Australians look sloppy in all facets of the game -- it was as if they didn't want to be there.

Defeat for Canada, meanwhile, makes them the first Canadian side to return home without at least one victory in the competition.  It would have been a miracle if they had won this game and they knew it.

The Canucks were playing for pride and respect, with captain and scrum-half Morgan Williams, along with Rod Snow and Mike James, playing their last game in a Canada jersey.

It was never likely to be a match of huge intensity and there was a carnival and fun atmosphere as a brass band played, and supporters under cover of the stand threw down ponchos to those in the seats open to the rain which came down heavily.

On the field, Australia had the scoreboard ticking with the game barely a minute old, fly-half Julian Huxley kicking the penalty after Canada had infringed at a maul.

The Canadian pack, however, prides itself on their physicality and was holding its own with James and Dave Biddle, in particular, putting in big hits on the lacklustre Wallabies.

Flanker Hugh McMeniman appeared to have burrowed over for the first try after 19 minutes.  But he was adjudged by TMO Lyndon Bray to have been held up by Williams, thanks to a knee getting in the way of the ball.

When the Canadian defence was finally breached in the 24th minute it came unusually from the ball being moved swiftly from a ruck to the left wing where prop Al Baxter was on hand to take the pass and bulldoze his way over.

The play for the main part was as dull as the Bordeaux weather and Australia's second try summed up the half with the Wallabies pack grinding forward, gradually inching their way to the Canadian line before hooker Adam Freier dropped on the ball.

It was not exactly flair-filled rugby but effective, even if Huxley did miss the most routine of conversions.

The best moment of the half came on the stroke of half-time when Lote Tuqiri went darting through but his floated pass was fumbled by wing Cameron Shepherd, leaving the half-time score at 13-0.

Canada finally managed to get some points on the board soon after the restart when winger James Pritchard slotted over a penalty.

However the Canucks were guilty of handing over Australia's third try on a silver platter after a botched line-out resulted in captain George Smith scoring his simplest try of his career.

Replacement hooker Aaron Carpenter threw the ball over the head of his jumper into the hands of Smith who set up a tricky conversion for Huxley that was duly missed.

The score took the Australians 18-3 clear and gave them a measure of comfort, although Canada's riposte was swift with Pritchard's second penalty.

Connolly would have been slightly concerned when number eight David Lyons was helped off the field and later seen leaving the grounds in a wheel chair.  It was later confirmed that the Waratahs star had suffered a nasty ankle injury.

As the match wore on, the Canucks began to tire, resulting in a number of gaps opening up for the Australians;  Lote Tuqiri was guilty on a couple of occasions for going for glory instead of passing.

However, Drew Mitchell made sure of the Wallabies' next two tries that confirmed him as the sole leading try-scorer at the Rugby World Cup, with seven tries to his name.

The Force winger cashed in with his brace in as many minutes.

The first came when Mitchell collected a lofted kick by Huxley, leaving a juggle with the unkind bounce of the ball before controlling well enough to power over.

With Huxley having an awful day with the boot, Shepherd was called to take over the kicking duties and slotted the first conversion of the match.

The second Mitchell touchdown was the best try of the match with Tuqiri slicing through the Canada defence once more.

The centre finally passed the ball to a charging Chris Latham who then allowed Mitchell to twist and turn his way over for a fine five-pointer.

Tuqiri's quality was also in evidence when he again turned provider to put full-back Chris Latham in for Australia's sixth try to wrap up the game and send the winless Canadians home.

But at least the Canucks can leave with their heads held high.

Man of the match:  Morgan Williams and Mike James capped off their illustrious careers with another fine display in a Canada jersey.  Williams was responsible for two try-saving tackles in the first and second half that could have resulted in a much bigger scoreline at the final whistle.  Whoever steps in for these two players, have mighty boots to fill indeed.  Not many Australians put their hands up.  Centre Lote Tuqiri made some superb breaks but acted more like a winger and failed to put in that final pass.  Drew Mitchell was always looking for work and was rewarded with two tries for his efforts.  But our vote goes to full-back Chris Latham whose precise kicking led to three tries from a line-out.  When he wasn't kicking he was running, and this led to Mitchell's second try as well as the Wallabies' sixth and final touchdown.

Moment of the match:  Tricky this one.  One could point out either of Mitchell's tries, purely based on the fact that something was finally clicking in the Wallabies camp.  But we decided to go for Morgan Williams' try-saving tackle on Hugh McMeniman in the first half.  Williams wasn't shy expressing his issues with the match officials' calls against his team at the World Cup, and the Canucks' skipper would have been happy that one of them finally went his team's way.

Villain of the match:  The Wallabies escape this reward for their lackadaisical-seeming approach only because of a concerted effort in the final 30 minutes of the match -- just.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Baxter, Freier, Smith, Mitchell 2, Latham
Cons:  Shepherd 2
Pen:  Huxley

For Canada:
Pens:  Pritchard 2

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Cameron Shepherd, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Julian Huxley, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 David Lyons, 7 George Smith (c), 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Greg Holmes
Replacements:  16 Sean Hardman, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Rocky Elsom, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Stephen Hoiles, 21 George Gregan, 22 Matt Giteau

Canada:  15 DTH van der Merwe, 14 Justin Mensah-Coker, 13 Mike Pyke, 12 Derek Daypuck, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Morgan Williams (c), 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Dave Biddle, 6 Colin Yukes, 5 Mike James, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Rod Snow
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Mike Burak, 20 Mike Webb, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Dave Spicer

Referee:  Chris White
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh, Bryce Lawrence
Television match official:  Lyndon Bray
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie

England begin to rumble

England secured a quarter-final date against Australia on Friday with a comfortable 36-20 win over Tonga in Paris, marked by a second-half points blitz after they had trailed early on.

While Martin Corry and the rest of England will celebrate a vital win, which keeps alive their hopes of becoming the first team to successfully defending a World Cup crown, many questions remain unanswered.

To borrow a few words from a colleague:  "This wasn't winning ugly, this was winning in a Quasimodo costume".

England dominated the set pieces and they had the majority of territory and possession.

Yet it took them 60 minutes to subdue a Tongan team that until a week ago was regarded as cannon fodder.

However, the big positive -- a very big positive -- is that England have advanced to the play-offs.

The England captain, Corry, was on the button with his post-match remarks:  "We are going to Marseille".  That, indeed, was the goal.

But as he admitted, there is a lot to work on and it did take England an awful long time to break down the islanders' resistance, but they stuck to their structures -- as ugly as it may have a looked -- and came away with four tries.

Fortuitous as some of those England scores were, England showed they can grind out victories in crunch matches.

Tongan captain Nili Latu also was on the mark when he said that you can't give England an inch, because they will make you pay.

Tonga enjoyed some early territorial advantage and looked the better of the two sides, with England decidedly nervous in their execution of plays.

It was deserved when Tonga took the lead in the ninth minute through a Pierre Hola penalty.

England managed to level the scores four minutes later -- an easy Jonny Wilkinson penalty -- after the Tongans were penalised for hands in the ruck.

The first try came in the 17th minute, with powerful centre Sukanaivalu Hufanga slid over from five metres out.  The initial break came from fellow midfielder Epeli Taione, whose strong runs had been causing the England defence plenty of problems.  Hola's conversion put the Tongans back in the lead at 10-3.

However, England hit back almost immediately -- a try going to wing Paul Sackey.  But the real creativity was in the sharpness of mind from fly-half Jonny Wilkinson who -- while the Tongans expected him to take a penalty kick at goal -- suddenly put in a cross-kick where Sackey was unchallenged.  The call still went to the TMO, but he ruled a good try.  Wilkinson's conversion drifted wide and Tonga held on to a narrow lead -- 10-8.

Barkley tried to put his team back in the lead with a drop-goal in the 28th minute, but he was wide of the mark at a time when England piled on the pressure and had huge amounts of territorial advantage.

England did get returns for their period of pressure when Wilkinson slotted a drop-goal, and the England fly-half began to stamp his authority on the game.

Wilkinson stretched that lead to four points with a 36th minute penalty, as the 50/50 calls continued to go in favour of England.

And Sackey piled further misery on the Sea Eagles as a loose Tongan pass left the ball on the ground and saw the speedy Wasps wing sprint 80 metres for a soft try.  Again Wilkinson's conversion attempt drifted wide.

Tonga had one last flurry in a half in which all the good fortune and calls went England's way and Tonga looked the more creative of the two sides.  However, with no further scoring England took a nine-point lead into the break -- 19-10.

Wilkinson had a chance to score the first points after the break and put his team almost out of touch, but for the third time (almost unheard of) the England fly-half's kick drifted wide.

The penalty was the result of a very ugly-looking high-tackle by Tongan captain Nili Latu on Lewis Moody and he was certainly lucky not to have had a yellow or red card flashed at him.

In fact it was Tonga who produced the half's first points, a penalty by Hola in the 55th minute, after England were caught with hands in a ruck.

However, England again hit back almost immediately and centre Mathew Tait slid over for the third try, with the initial break by Mark Cueto causing confusion and holes in the Tongan defence -- even though the wing almost butchered the move by ignoring an overlap.

It was some quick clean-out work and neat stepping by Tait that made sure the half-chance was turned into a score.  This time Wilkinson added the conversion and at 26-13 in favour of England the Tongans looked in trouble.

England now looked to have more bounce in their step and they started to dominate both territory and possession as the Tongan defenders got back slower and slower with every phase.

And this was no more evident than when Andy Farrell, on for Olly Barkley, strolled through a hole as big as a barn door in the 66th minute to score under the uprights.  Wilkinson's conversion made it 33-13 and the game was over as a contest.

Even though England were in complete control on the scoreboard -- not to mention the 50/50 calls still going their way -- they still looked bereft of ideas on attack and it required a Wilkinson drop-goal (his second) to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

There was a late flurry by Tonga, with flank Hale T Pole sliding over in the corner in the 79th minute.  The call went to the TMO, who awarded the try.

Hola added the conversion to make it 36-20 to England, but it was obviously much too little and far too late for the Pacific players.

Man of the match:  Many will give it to England wing Paul Sackey for his two tries, centre Mathew Tait had his moments in the late stages of the second half and fly-half Jonny Wilkinson -- his three missed kicks apart -- also left his mark on the game.  However, our award goes to Tonga flank Hale T Pole -- the man who scored the match's last try, which was just reward for his tireless work on defence and attack all night.

Moment of the match:  It was without doubt Mathew Tait's try, which finally broke the Tongan resistance and sent England on their way to a very important win.

Villain of the match:  It is sad, because the Tongan captain did so much good, but Nili Latu gets this award for what was a very ugly high-tackle on Lewis Moody.  He was lucky it was only a penalty.  It is no good to keep on saying they don't intend to harm people, these tackles happen far too often and they remain illegal.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Sackey 2, Tait, Farrell
Pens:  Wilkinson 2
Cons:  Wilkinson 2
Drop goals:  Wilkinson 2

For Tonga:
Tries:  Hufanga, T Pole
Cons:  Hola 2
Pens:  Hola 2

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry (c), 5 Ben Kay, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 George Chuter, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Phil Vickery, 18 Lawrence Dallaglio, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Andy Farrell, 22 Dan Hipkiss.

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Tevita Tu'ifua, 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Epeli Taione, 11 Joseph Vaka, 10 Pierre Hola, 9 Sione Tu'ipulotu, 8 Finau Maka, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Hale T Pole, 5 Lisiate Fa'aoso, 4 Viliami Vaki, 3 Kisi Pulu, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements:  16 Ephraim Taukafa, 17 Taufa'ao Filise, 18 Maama Molitika, 19 Inoke Afeaki, 20 Soane Havea, 21 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 22 Aisea Havili.

Referee:  Alain Rolland
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert, Christophe Berdos
Television match official:  Mark Lawrence
Assessor:  Bob Francis

Georgia ice the cake

Georgia nabbed their first-ever World Cup victory on Wednesday, beating Namibia 30-0 in a sub-standard game played in pouring rain in Lens.

The Georgians played to type, wearing down the Namibians in the heavy conditions, driving hooker Akvsenti Giorgadze over in the first half before finishing the deal with ten minutes to go by sending over wing Irakli Machkhaneli.

As expected, the battle between the basement boys of the Pool began in a full-blooded manner as the two packs sized each other up.

Late alterations to the Namibian XV saw coach Hakkies Husselman include Morne Shreuder and Jurie van Tonder ahead of Tertius Losper and Eugene Jantjies at half-back.

But it was the Georgians who struck first with centre Irakli Giorgadze piercing the Namibian midfield on seven minutes -- leading to a penalty -- that Merab Kvirikashvili slotted superbly in the pouring rain.

Because of the unfortunate weather, the Lens crowd immediately realised that tries were not going to be the flavour of the evening, as handling errors tainted the early stages.

But Georgia set about making sure that wasn't the case as the impressive Malkhaz Urjukashvili sparked the first of several attacks from full-back with a mazy run.

However, the Europeans were limited to shots at the minimum three points, which Kvirikashvili managed to land at the second time of asking.

With the lead now doubled to 6-0, Georgia continued to work the simple phases as they slowly acclimatised to the dreadful conditions.

And with half-an-hour on the clock, Namibia were finally handed their first opportunity of the game thanks to a Giorgi Shkinin mistake, but the penalty drifted wide of the uprights.

Georgia made their opponents pay and, as expected, the opening try came through the forward dominance.  Aksventi Giorgadze was the final man to his feet as the lead stretched to 13-0 on 38 minutes.

After the interval the first penalty opportunity came the way of Kvirikashvili, but the number ten missed by the smallest of margins.

However, Georgia continued to flex their physical dominance as the Africans desperately defended their line for an extended period of time.

Then the possession stakes began to even out as Namibia got a foothold just after the hour.

But it was short-lived as Georgia closed out the game with another Kvirikashvili penalty and intercept tries from Machkhaneli and Kacharava to record their debut win in the World Cup.

Man of the match:  The weather had no effect on full-back Malkhaz Urjukashvili, who was a constant thorn in the Namibian side.  In a match that could probably be described as an arm-wrestle, Urjukashvili combined solidity under the high ball with some exciting, enterprising rugby.

Moment of the match:  Not many moments to savour in a dour match at the Stade Félix Bollaert!  But the bruising tackle and steal from Irakli Machkhaneli before racing away to cement the win brightened up the sodden Lens crowd.

Villain of the match:  A game played in good spirit -- no villain.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Giorgadze, Machkhaneli, Kacharava
Cons:  Kvirikashvili 3
Pens:  Kvirikashvili 3

Georgia:  15 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 14 Irakli Machkhaneli, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Giorgi Shkinin, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze (c), 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Rati Urushadze, 6 Grigol Labadze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Levan Datunashvili, 3 David Zirakashvili, 2 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 1 Goderdzi Shvelidze.
Replacements:  16 David Khinchagashvili, 17 Avtandil Kopaliani, 18 Victor Didebulidze, 19 Besso Udesiani, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 Revaz Gigauri, 22 Besiki Khamashuridze.

Namibia:  15 Eugene Jantjies, 14 Ryan Witbooi, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Corne Powell, 11 Bradley Langenhoven, 10 Morne Schreuder, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Tinus du Plessis, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 5 Heino Senekal, 4 Wacca Kazombiaze, 3 Marius Visser, 2 Hugo Horn, 1 Kees Lensing (c).
Replacements:  16 Johannes Meyer, 17 Johnny Redelinghuys, 18 Jane du Toit, 19 Nico Esterhuize, 20 Jurie van Tonder, 21 Melrick Africa, 22 Morne Schreuder.

Referee:  Steve Walsh
Touch judges:  Malcolm Changleng, Paul Marks
Television match official:  Federico Cuesta
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie

Samoan early rush enough

Samoa ended a five-match World Cup losing streak and recorded their first win at the 2007 tournament when they held out a strong, late charge from the United States to record a 25-21 win at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint Etienne, on Wednesday.

If ever there was a game of two contrasting halves, this was it.

The Samoans dominated the first 40 minutes with their fleet-footed and expansive game, scoring three tries without reply to take a 19-point (22-3) lead into the half-time break.

The US Eagles bounced back in the second 40 to score 18 points and came within a few minutes of victory.

In the end they left their charge too late and ran out of time.

As Eagles captain Mike Hercus said after the game, they have got into a habit at the World Cup of getting off to a slow start and then having to chase the game.

They now face one of the tournament favourites, South Africa, in their final pool match on Sunday and Wednesday's outing was their last realistic chance of a win in France.

The Samoans, after a series of very disappointing performances, finally showed some of their skills, especially in the first half.

"We had to front up in those first 10 to 15 minutes," captain Semo Sititi said.

"Luckily we those points and managed to hang on for the win," he added.

After a bit of early aerial ping-pong, both teams showed a willingness to play a more expansive game.

The Samoans were certainly more successful at this -- it is their natural instinct -- and after five minutes winger Lome Fa'atau went over in the right corner.  It came from a poor American line-out, turned over by Samoa, and quick hands which left too many gaps in the Eagles' defence.  Loki Crichton failed with the conversion attempt, but the Samoans were on their way.

Four minutes later the Samoans were at it again.  First Seilala Mapusua burst through the defence in midfield, before offloading to Alesana Tuilagi on the left.  The big Samoan not only knocked a tackler down, but his weight carried him over the line on the slippery surface for his team's second try.  This time Crichton added the conversion for a 12-0 lead.

The Americans, who were under pressure in the set pieces, tried their best to shut down the Samoans out wide and succeeded for long periods.

However, the Eagles simply couldn't clear their lines effectively and spent most of the time inside their own 22.

It eventually cost them as Crichton slotted a penalty in the 29th minute to make it 15-0.

The Americans finally got some reward for their efforts when captain and fly-half Mike Hercus slotted a penalty two minutes later to make it 15-3.

But the Samoans showed their dominance by scoring their third try just before the break.  It started with wing Alesana Tuilagi easily beating his marker and then setting the Pacific Islanders on their way, and it ended with lock Kane Thompson strolling over under the uprights.  Crichton's conversion made it 22-3 at the break.

The Eagles scored the first points after the break and it came soon after they were reduced to 14 men by a questionable decision by the match referee Wayne Barnes -- who sent number eight Tasi Mounga to the bin for a professional foul.

America's Zimbabwean winger Takudzwa Ngwenya easily stepped his more illustrious opponent, Alesana Tuilagi, and then broke another tackle before showing his pace by racing downfield 50 metres for a score.  Hercus' conversion narrowed the gap to 22-10.

Mounga, minutes after returning from his sin-binning, was stretchered off when he collected a forearm from Samoan flank Justin Purdie.

The Eagles continued their revival with a second Hercus penalty in the 65th minute and at 13-22 they were back in the game.

Samoa finally got back in control and after a period of pressure, Crichton slotted a penalty when the Eagles went offside -- making it 25-13 after 71 minutes and seemingly safe for the Pacific players.

Hercus slotted a 75th minute penalty and there was still some hope.

The Eagles had one last fling, with flank Louis Stanfill barging over in the 80th minute -- from a scrum five metres out.  However, as Hercus' conversion sailed wide and the final whistle went, you could see the disappointment on the American faces, realising they had left their comeback too late once again.

Man of the match:  Samoan fly-half Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu was involved in a lot of the early play-making and prop Census Johnston went on a few strong runs to come close for this award, but we are giving it to Samoan fullback Loki Crichton for an allround great performance.  He was strong on the run, elusive and sound on defence.  But it was his tactical appreciation that made the real difference in that first half when he kept the Americans pinned deep inside their own territory.

Moment of the match:  The three Samoan tries in the first half were all entertaining affairs, and the last American try was a worthy score.  But the best moment came when Eagles wing Takudzwa Ngwenya scored in the 53rd minute by showing up Samoa's famous powerhouse Alesana Tuilagi with his ability to break a tackle and also use his blistering pace.

Villains of the match:  Samoan flank Justin Purdie made an early entry into this unsavoury awards section when he decided to display the Samoans' strong appetite for thuggish behaviour -- a late tackle on Mike Hercus long after the American had kicked the ball.  The fact the he was not yellow (or even red) carded is just another prime example of the shocking inability of officials at the tournament to be even-handed in their treatment of players -- which of course also earns referee Wayne Barnes an entry into this section for not taking proper action.  Those who suggest this Englishman is a candidate to referee the final should not only take their blinkers off, but also go see a psychiatrist.  As for Tasi Mounga's yellow card early in the second half -- that earns Mr Barnes another entry for his over officious behaviour.  Silao Vaisola Sefo, the Samoan reserve hooker, made a late entry with more thuggery -- when he needlessly charge into the back of a prone player way off the ball.

The scorers:

For the United States:
Tries:  Ngwenya, Stanfill
Con:  Hercus
Pens:  Hercus 3

For Samoa:
Tries:  Fa'atau, Tuilagi, Thompson
Cons:  Crichton 2
Pens:  Crichton 2

Yellow cards:  Tasi Mounga (United States, 51 -- professional foul), Silao Vaisola Sefo (Samoa, 76 -- foul play)

The teams:

United States:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Salesi Sika, 13 Phillip Eloff, 12 Vahafolau Esikia, 11 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 10 Mike Hercus (captain), 9 Chad Erskine, 8 Tasi Mounga, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Hayden Mexted, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Owen Lentz, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 Mark Aylor, 19 Henry Bloomfield, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Valenese Malifa, 22 Albert Tuipulotu.

Samoa:  15 Loki Crichton, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Elvis Seveali'i, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 9 Junior Polu, 8 Alfie Vaeluaga, 7 Justin Purdie, 6 Semo Sititi (captain), 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Leo Lafaiali'i, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Kas Lealamanua.
Replacements:  16 Silao Vaisola Sefo, 17 Naama Leleimalefaga, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Ulia Ulia, 20 Steve So'oialo, 21 David Lemi, 22 Lolo Lui.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes
Touch judges:  Hugh Watkins, Mark Lawrence
Television match official:  Dave Pearson
Assessor:  Bob Francis

Japan claw Canada back

Neither Japan nor Canada will come away from the World Cup with a win, after they fought out a thrilling 12-12 draw in Bordeaux on Tuesday.

Well, that's not strictly true -- Canada could yet claim a win against Australia.  But for both teams this was a do-or-die affair, and the finale was every bit that tense.

Japan took an early lead with a brilliant individual try from Kosuke Endo in the first half, but Canada's pack fought their way into the game and tries from hooker Pat Riordan and an opportunist score from wing DTH van der Merwe were enough to seal the deal, or so it seemed.

Japan rallied, and spent the final ten minutes plugging away at the Canada line, with Koji Taira scoring the crucial try four minutes into injury time, and Shotaro Onishi landing a nerveless conversion to claim a share of the spoils in one of the games of the tournament.

It was always going to be a close encounter between these two sides desperate to end their winless World Cup campaign on a high.

With Canada still to face the might of the Wallabies on Saturday -- for the Cherry Blossoms, it was a last throw of the dice as they would ultimately bid farewell to their loyal fans in France.

Japan's next stop should be the craps table in Las Vegas if they are going to continue throwing the dice as well as they did against the Canucks.

However, no betting man would have predicted this result -- especially with Canada winding down the clock with mere seconds remaining and a seven-point intact.

Japan had fought back admirably after Van der Merwe's converted try in the 65th minute, and the crowd could sense they were in for something special with ten minutes left until full-time.

The Cherry Blossoms bashed their way towards their opposition's tryline on several occasions, but were unable to breach the committed Canadian defence.

Hats off to the Canucks for never giving an inch as the Japanese used every means possible through their forwards and the backs to only fall just short of the chalk dust.

Japan went left, right and even down the middle -- but the Canadian brick wall stood strong.

Canucks' centre Dave Spicer did well to stay on his feet in his tackle on a Japanese runner who failed to release the ball, and duly won his side a crucial penalty -- one would have thought a match-winning one with the celebrations already taking place amongst the players.

Wing James Pritchard -- responsible for Van der Merwe's touchline conversion -- slammed the ball into touch and the game, as it seemed, was all but won by Canada.

However, a sliced kick from lacklustre fly-half Ryan Smith just outside his own 22 enabled Japan one last line-out and, with that, one last shot at snatching a draw.

With time officially up on the clock, the ball was thrown to the reliable Luke Thompson who put in a towering display in the line-outs for Japan throughout the match.

Again the forwards, like a lawnmower, powered their way up the pitch until full-back Go Aruga had no other option to put in a chip and chase for Taira.

The bounce favoured Canada skipper Morgan Williams who slapped the ball over the deadball line, crashing into the advertising board in the process.  Referee Jonathan Kaplan called for the TMO Joël Jutge to make the call.

With four minutes already into injury time, It was decided that Williams had deliberately taken the ball out of play and a penalty was rewarded to Japan.  Again, the Cherry Blossoms were handed another lifeline to pull off an improbable draw.

This time however, the Canada defenders were spread to their limits as Bryce Robins fired a long pass to his right for Taira to beat the last man in defence and dive over to send the crowd into raptures.

The result helped Japan avoid their 14th successive defeat in World Cups, and denied Canada the chance to maintain their record of posting a win in every tournament for which they have qualified.  Unless, as we said, they beat Australia

Even though far too many unforced errors from both sides made the first half a dire affair, Japan still managed to dominate in all facets of play from the kick-off.

Canada were quite literally shut out in the first 40 minutes of shuddering hits from the Japanese that forced the Canucks into making life extremely difficult for themselves.

The Canada backline was non-existent with Smith providing little, if not any, direction to his backs.

His opposite number Robins on the other hand made amends from his shocker against Wales with a more telling display all round.

Endo scored his blistering try with a solo run to the line, with ten minutes of the game gone, after the Japanese had won the ball from a Canadian line-out.

Onishi missed the conversion attempt, however, and Japan then had to withstand long spells of pressure from Canada's forwards before reaching half-time 5-0 ahead.

Canada came out firing after the break and it seemed the tables had turned with the Japanese now putting themselves under immense pressure from a more determined Canucks outfit.

The pressure finally told in the 49th minute when Canada hooker Pat Riordan, who earlier was sent to the sin bin, barged over the line.

Smith missed the conversion kick and Canada then had a try disallowed by the TMO when Williams tried to touch down his own kick ahead.

Williams set up Canada's try in the 65th minute when he opted for a tap penalty and lobbed a kick to the unmarked Van der Merwe out on the left and the winger went over.

Man of the match:  Japan are blessed with dynamic wingers and Kosuke Endo had another fine run on the right touchline for his team.  It's a shame this will be the last time we will see the Toyota Blitz winger quite literally blitz his way around defenders at this Word Cup.  Centre Shotaro Onishi saved the day with his match-leveling kick in the 84th minute and was instrumental on attack as well as defence.  For Canada, veteran lock Mike James showed some valuable experience throughout and was key to Canada's lift in the second half.  But our vote goes to one of Japan's forwards who's surname could be mistaken for that of an Irishman.  In fact, he's neither -- New Zealand-born flanker Philip O'Reilly was the driving force behind Japan's brutal attack on the Canucks' line and wore the defence thin with bulldozing runs every chance he was given.  The no-nonsense Cherry Blossom led from the front in first-time tackles that left a couple of Canadians clutching their ribs afterwards.

Moment of the match:  The final conversion kick of the game of course!

Villain of the match:  The stamp on a Japanese player by hooker Pat Riordan was uncalled for.  But the Canucks will no doubt point their finger at referee Jonathan Kaplan's watch for allowing four minutes into full-time that culminated in the thrilling draw.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Riordan, Van der Merwe
Con:  Pritchard

For Japan:
Tries:  Endo, Taira

Yellow card:  Riordan (37, Canada, stamping)

Canada:  15 Mike Pyke, 14 Dth van der Merwe, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 Dave Spicer, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ryan Smith, 9 Morgan Williams (c), 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Colin Yukes, 5 Mike James, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Rod Snow
Replacements:  16 Mike Pletch, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Scott Franklin, 19 Josh Jackson, 20 Mike Webb, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Justin Mensah-Coker

Japan:  15 Go Aruga, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Shotaro Onishi, 11 Christian Loamanu, 10 Bryce Robins, 9 Tomoki Yoshida, 8 Takuro Miuchi (c), 7 Philip O'Reilly, 6 Hare Makiri, 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Tomokazu Soma, 2 Yuji Matsubara, 1 Tatsukichi Nishiura
Replacements:  16 Taku Inokuchi, 17 Ryo Yamamura, 18 Luatangi Samurai Vatuvei, 19 Hajime Kiso, 20 Chulwon Kim, 21 Koji Taira, 22 Hirotoki Onozawa.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges:  Lyndon Bray, Bryce Lawrence
Television match official:  Joël Jutge

Portugal prove a point

Portugal left the World Cup with heads held high and a consolatory bonus point after Romania beat them 14-10 in Toulouse on Tuesday.

It was a game for the purist, one full of passion and commitment from all involved.  It was not to be the Portuguese swansong many had hoped for but it was further evidence of their emergence in the world game.  So, too, was it a marvellous display of brute strength from Romania, packed full of desire, right to the last.

Ultimately it came down to one last play.  Portugal trailed by four points and had the ball on their line.  Their scrum creaked under immense pressure but the possession was secured and suddenly images of one last hurrah, an epic try to finish the fairytale, flashed through the minds of thousands.  As it was three phases later the ball trickled into touch and Romania raised their arms in victory.

Portuguese players lay strewn, disconsolate in defeat, yet with so much to be proud of, so much to remember from a special journey.  The sight of Vasco Uva, the injured captain, embracing his brother and cousin symbolised the unity within their ranks.  They may be gone from the World Cup but they will live on in the memory for many a year to come.

For so long it looked as if they would muster the energy from the depths of their bodies to hold on for what would have been a remarkable victory.  Romania and their bludgeoning forwards had other ideas, and eventually their muscular approach took its toll.  The manner in which they first mauled and then hammered at the Portuguese defence was relentless and hugely effective.

The Oaks signaled their intent from the off, starting at a breakneck speed, but their skills could not quite keep up with their legs.  Much of what they created was spoilt by little errors, else Portugal could have been put to the sword early and painlessly.  As it was they grew in stature with every thrust they repelled, and slowly they played themselves into the game.

They even afforded the crowd some moments of magic, demonstrating attacking dare to clear their lines rather than simply booting the ball to safety.  António Aguilar first danced on his own line and then exploded away with a weaving run much to the delight of a packed out Stade Municipal.  For all their early dominance Romania presented Portugal with the simplest of opening tries.

Portuguese forays into Romanian territory were rare, and it was on their first visit to the Oaks' 22 from which they scored.  Razvan Mavrodin was a little trigger happy at the line out which resulted in a rather surprised João Uva gaining possession.  He surged for the line but was repelled, not so Joaquim Ferreira who forced his way over to a deafening roar.

And so the rearguard effort began.  Romania proceeded to thrust time and again into Os Lobos' 22, and each time they were met by an army of red shirts.  The defence was not pretty but it was effective, and somehow they held on until half-time, a chance to gather themselves for one last effort.

Frustration mounted in the second half as Romania failed to find their rhythm, demonstrated by Cristian Petre's reckless kick at the head of Ruben Spachuck.  Lucky for both parties concerned it missed, but something tells you this will not be the last you hear of the matter.  Let it not detract from the events of the final thirty minutes, for the intrigue was only to deepen.

Fresh legs were introduced to the Romanian pack, and how they needed this new lease of life.  Sorin Socol and Marius Tincu came to the fore and slowly but surely their influence took its toll.  The Portuguese line was under siege by this stage and it was only a matter of time before they cracked.

The Portuguese pack had been primed with a series of telling drives by Romania, and eventually their resolute defence crumbled as Marius Tincu ploughed over the line for a converted try that levelled the game at seven a piece.

The sands of time were trickling away and Portugal were looking jaded, but with eleven minutes to go they were given a fresh lease of life.  A penalty, given away by Socol allowed Gonçalo Malheiro to edge his side back in front.  Cue the final ten minutes of pressure, the final ten minutes that shattered a Portuguese dream and delighted a Romanian team intent on winning at least one game in France.

Romania reverted to type, laying the platform for the decisive try with a mighty drive to within inches of the line.  They came at Portugal like banshees, yet those tired and battered bodies clad in red gave every last ounce to defend their lead, their very dreams depended on it.

The mind was strong but the body was tired and could not manage to hold on as Alexandru Manta was driven over for the winning score.  The relief was etched on every Romanian face, the despair equally so on those from Portugal.

So we bid a very fond farewell to Portugal, and in doing so we thank them for what they have given to this World Cup.  They came as rank underdogs and leave as heroes to so many.  Romania now, for their reward, will trudge into one more battle, against the All Blacks.  Fitting then that they took their win here as this is where their World Cup effectively ends too.

Man of the Match:  For Romania their forward pack was mighty impressive, none more so than captain Ovidiu Tonita.  And in Iulian Dumitras they had a player who with one simple swing of his boot could change defence into attack.  But it was the Portuguese who impressed that little bit more.  From one to twenty-two they fought for a win that was agonisingly out of their reach.  It is a double award here, to João Uva and Diogo Coutinho who were the heartbeat of the team.  They worked themselves to a standstill in both attack and defence, fighting for every last scrap of possession and never once faltering in their task.

Moment of the Match:  Having withstood so much pressure you could sense the pendulum swing to Romania's favour when Marius Tincu scored.  From there on it Portugal were up against it and could not quite turn their dream into reality.

Villin of the Match:  In a game that meant so much to so many it is with regret that we must hand this award out.  But for his petulant lash out with the boot it goes to Cristian Petre.  There was simply no need for it and he will be lucky to escape the citing officer.

The scorers:

For Portugal:
Try:  Ferreira
Con:  Pinto
Pen:  Malheiro

For Romania:
Tries:  Tincu, Manta
Con:  Calafateanu, Dumbrava

Portugal:  15 Pedro Leal, 14 António Aguilar, 13 Federico Sousa, 12 Diogo Mateus, 11 Miguel Portela, 10 Duarte Cardoso Pinto, 9 José Pinto, 8 Tiago Girão, 7 João Uva, 6 Diogo Coutinho, 5 Gonçalo Uva, 4 David Penalva, 3 Ruben Spachuck, 2 Joaquim Ferreira (c), 1 Rui Cordeiro.
Replacements:  16 João Correia, 17 Juan Manuel Muré, 18 Paulo Murinello, 19 Salvador Palha, 20 Luis Pissarra, 21 Gonçalo Malheiro, 22 Pedro Carvalho.

Romania:  15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Catalin Nicolae, 13 Ionut Dimofte, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Catalin Fercu, 10 Dan Dumbrava, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita (c), 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Alexandru Tudori, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Cosmin Ratiu, 3 Bogdan Balan, 2 Razvan Mavrodin, 1 Cezar Popescu.
Replacements:  16 Marius Tincu, 17 Paulica Ion, 18 Sorin Socol, 19 Florin Corodeanu, 20 Lucian Sirbu, 21 Florin Vlaicu, 22 Gabriel Brezoianu.

Referee:  Paul Honiss
Touch judges:  Simon McDowell, Carlo Damasco
Television match official:  Kelvin Deaker
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

ABs cruise past Scotland

New Zealand gave some shreds of hope to their fellow World Cup aspirants with a stuttering 40-0 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Take a glance at the final score and you would automatically assume that New Zealand produced a clinical display to account for a valiant Scotland.  You would, however, be severely mislead, for in reality this was a frustratingly poor game, with only a few glimpses of genius.

It was always going to be a rearguard effort from Scotland, especially after Frank Hadden opted to rest the bulk of his first-choice side, and a disintegrating set-piece hardly made matters easier for them.  The writing was on the wall from as early as the fifth minute when Richie McCaw cruised over untouched from an attacking scrum.

But the platform the All Blacks needed was not forthcoming, or at least they were not willing to take the necessary steps to build it.  It was clear they were the superior side, yet the nature of their rugby, at times, suggested they were over-confident.  For the regularity at which they wasted possession was ill-befitting of their lofty status.

Handed the easiest pool in the World Cup, and with two particularly easy wins already, you could not blame New Zealand for approaching this game as if it was actually going to be a test of their ability.  They treated it, for the most, as if it was a game were they could ill afford to gamble on kickable penalties.  Although the disdain showed by the crowd on those occasions when McCaw requested Dan Carter to kick penalties, rather than show some adventure, suggests that even the Scottish fans were not pleased with the safety-first style.

Given the approach, Graham Henry will be a wee bit concerned that his men failed to fully impress.  A near total domination of territory and possession, and only six tries to show for their efforts will not please the 'Three Wise Men', for at least a further six went begging via elementary errors.

McCaw alluded to the fact that a second-string Scottish side would give them more of a challenge than a tired first-choice team, he couldn't have been further from the truth.  The scrum was a non-contest, Scotland were simply destroyed, so much so that they dreaded not gaining advantage from the countless All Black errors.

Credit then to Dave Callam who was nothing short of heroic in his efforts at the base of the scrum.  That he was able to get back to the gain line more often than not is testament to his ability, for his fellow forwards showed no such resolve at the initial set-piece.  Scotland coach Frank Hadden will need to work wonders on the scrum before the Italy game, else it could be a repeat performance in an altogether more important game.

It was not as if the rest of their game was much better either, and the unlucky injury to Chris Paterson may actually have been a blessing in disguise.  For before he departed the fray it was quite clear his kicking was out of sorts.  Two penalty kicks in the opening quarter failed to find touch, an inexcusable crime at this level, and three clearance kicks sliced carelessly off the side of his boot did little to redeem him.

Perhaps the only significant event of a lacklustre first half was Doug Howlett's try, the first of two on a special day for the Auckland wing.  The try itself was as easy as they come, Leon MacDonald drawing the last defender before sending Howlett in from ten metres out.  What the try signified though was far more important.

Having scored a hat-trick against Italy, Howlett had drawn level with the great Christian Cullen as the joint leading try-scoring All Black of all time.  His 15th minute effort here taking him out all on his own.  A second try late in the game ensured he will have more than a fighting chance of making it to fifty before the World Cup is over.

A Carter penalty early in the second half was followed up by a searing break from Luke McAlister, straight from the re-start no less, suggested as if New Zealand were finally clicking into gear.  The knock-on deep in the Scottish twenty two with numbers on either side confirmed that this was going to continue to be a distinctly average game.

Continued Scottish infringements deep in their own territory seemed as if they would allow New Zealand to pull away with the game.  But they were equalled by constant All Black errors, hardly the sign of a team who are billed as favourites.  It would seem that the relative ease of their pool could well be their downfall later in the tournament -- a display like this against either France or Australia and they will be waiting another four years, at least, before they win the World Cup again.

Two of the last three tries were a result of Scottish exhaustion, while one came from their own mistake, allowing Carter to race away.  With only two conversions from six attempts, and a pretty shocking all-round display from the fly-half it seems as if New Zealand are starting to wobble slightly.  Maybe, just maybe, the prospect of a quarter-final against France is starting to play on their mind.  After all they are a team who are clearly under done.

As for Scotland they go forward to their vital clash with Italy with nothing from this game.  Most of those given a chance to prove themselves failed miserably.  Saint Etienne could well prove to be the scene of another frustrating Pool C encounter.  Or maybe Scotland and Italy could surprise us and finally give this pool a game of note.

Man of the Match:  The main candidate from Scotland comes in the form of David Callam.  He was given no platform at the scrum and yet produced a back-foot display that came close to perfection.  That he then still found the energy to make himself known in the loose, not to mention his relentless tackling, is a wonder.  However his efforts were in vain, and rightly so this award goes to a New Zealander.  Leon MacDonald looked to be the best on the field before he went off injured, and so the award goes to Doug Howlett, and not just for his two tries.  He worked hard in both attack and defence and his efforts merited the two record-breaking scores he claimed.  New Zealand will need him to continue in the same rich vein if they are to make it all the way to Paris on October 20.

Moment of the Match:  Scotland knew they would need to start well, and so an early Richie McCaw try did little for their cause.  From then on in it was an uphill battle they were destined to lose.

Villain of the Match:  With the amount of frustration on display it was a wonder tempers did not boil over.  Credit then to all involved for sticking to the game.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  McCaw, Howlett 2, Kelleher, Williams, Carter
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 2

New Zealand:  15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Chris Masoe, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Reuben Thorne, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Nick Evans, 22 Isaia Toeava

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Chris Paterson, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Callam, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Scott Murray (c), 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Craig Smith, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Jim Hamilton, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Rob Dewey.

Referee:  Marius Jonker
Touch judges:  Paul Marks, Dave Pearson
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie