Ireland stutter past USA

London Irish captain Bob Casey scored his first Test try for Ireland in a 27-10 win over the USA on an afternoon of few highlights for Declan Kidney's side in Santa Clara, California.

The Grand Slam champions, missing a host of first-choice players due to the Lions tour and Leinster's Heineken Cup success, finished off their two-match tour of North America with an uninspiring victory over the USA Eagles.

Casey barged over off a 13th-minute lineout maul to hand Ireland an early lead, which they boosted to 13-0 in first-half injury-time when new centre Ian Whitten finished off a breakaway attack.

But the US, who included six debutants in their starting line-up, were very keen to impress new coach Eddie O'Sullivan and they proved sticky opponents for an off-the-boil Ireland.

A lot of their good work was undone by a very poor place-kicking display from their number ten Mike Hercus, who missed four kickable penalties.

Referee Chris White awarded the tourists a penalty try, 13 minutes into the second half, to almost put the game beyond the Americans' reach.

But, inspired by replacement out-half Ata Malifa, they launched a spirited fightback.  Malifa dropped a goal and then set up centre Roland Suniula for a converted try.

With the gap down to 20-10 and both sides tiring, Ireland needed a final score to secure their second tour win and they got it when replacement scrum-half Eoin Reddan freed up tour captain Rory Best for a muscular burst to the line.

More than 10,000 spectators packed into the Buck Shaw Stadium to watch the Eagles takes on Ireland for the first time since they met at Lansdowne Road in 2004, when current Lion Tommy Bowe marked his debut with a try in a 55-6 home win.

O'Sullivan, who was in charge of Ireland back then, is beginning afresh as Eagles coach now and he said he was "honoured" to take on his native country, and his successor as Ireland coach Declan Kidney, in his first match at the helm.

Kidney's new-look squad had failed to fire in last weekend's 25-6 defeat of Canada and it was thought that with an extra week's training and the team largely unchanged -- Mike Ross came in for Tom Court in the front row -- they would muster a much better display.

The early signs were positive with Best marshalling an impressive lineout and Casey and Mick O'Driscoll pressuring the American set piece into errors, but Ireland were never able to build on that.

Ian Keatley missed an early penalty chance before O'Driscoll picked up a loose ball at an American ruck and almost put his Munster colleague Ian Dowling over for a try.

Off a subsequent penalty, Ireland engineered a lineout maul which the Eagles could not cope with and Casey emerged from under a pile of bodies after being shunted over the line.

Keatley missed the conversion but was able to fire a left-sided penalty through the posts on 24 minutes, as Ireland continue to struggle to put phases together.

Ireland were lacking accuracy around the pitch but so too were American hooker Chris Biller, who had a nightmare time in the lineout, and Hercus.

The former Sale Shark missed penalty efforts after 30, 34 and 35 minutes to let Ireland off the hook for some poor discipline.

The home side paid the price for a failure to find touch from Hercus late in the first half when Keatley spotted a mismatch in midfield and ghosted through the gap before Whitten took it on to dive over for his second try in as many games.

Keatley's missed conversion left it at 13-0 in Ireland's favour but the try gave the Irish some encouragement for the second period.

Still, it was the US who took the initiative on the restart.  But that good work was undone when Hercus missed his fourth penalty chance and another powerful lineout maul, with Casey and Tony Buckley to the fore, handed Ireland a penalty try which Keatley converted.

The Irish management tried to inject some pace to their game, with Eoin Reddan and debutant Denis Hurley coming on, but O'Sullivan's side were beginning to show their potential.

A turnover and quick break through the middle from Suniula showed have led to a try.  Malifa settled for a drop goal, amid groans from the crowd.

Even better followed when Malifa ran past replacement Court in midfield and looped a pass out for the supporting Suniula to skip past Darren Cave's last-ditch tackle and crash over the line.

However, the Leinster-bound Reddan then hit Malifa with a strong tackle, his pack duly supplied turnover ball and the scrum-half spun a quick pass out for Best to burrow his way over from close range.

The scorers:

For USA:
Try:  Suniula
Con:  Malifa
Drop:  Malifa

For Ireland:

Tries:  Casey, Whitten, Penalty try, Best
Cons:  Keatley 2
Pen:  Keatley

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Kevin Swiryn, 13 Junior Sifa, 12 Roland Suniula, 11 Justin Boyd, 10 Mike Hercus, 9 Mike Petri (capt), 8 Nic Johnson, 7 Peter Dahl, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 John Van Der Giessen, 3 Will Johnson, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Joe Welch, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 Courtney Mackay, 19 JJ Gagiani, 20 Tim Usasz, 21 Ata Malifa, 22 Alipate Tuilevuka.

Ireland:  15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Barry Murphy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Bob Casey, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Mike Ross.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Ryan Caldwell, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Niall O'Connor, 22 Denis Hurley.

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Assistant referees:  Greg Garner (England), Dave Smortchevsky (Canada)

Wales conquer Canada

Wales held off a stiff Canadian challenge on Saturday to beat the Canucks 32-23 in a one-off Test in Toronto on Saturday.

An under-strength Wales side, featuring only five players with more than 10 international caps and two debutants in Scarlets pair Jonathan Davies at centre and Daniel Evans at full-back, came from 6-0 down after 14 minutes to lead 16-9 at half-time and then shipped an early second-half try before regaining their composure to run out winners.

It was another hard-fought victory against a side which had troubled the Welsh at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff last November before eventually going down 34-13.

The margin was closer this time, with Wales failing to withstand early Canada pressure and going behind early to two penalties from full-back James Pritchard.

Wales found their rhythm and struck in the 17th minute when wing Chris Czekaj went over for the opening try.

Scrum-half Gareth Cooper kicked over the top and when Canada wing Sean Duke came under pressure from centre Andrew Bishop, he spilled the ball to Czekaj in the corner, leaving the Wales wing to scoop up the ball and run over.

Fly-half Dan Biggar slotted home the conversion and added a penalty soon after as Canadian lock Mike Burak was sin-binned following an infringement at a ruck as Wales took a 10-6 lead.

Biggar added another after 27 minutes and restored the seven-point advantage with his fourth successful kick of the opening half after Pritchard kicked his third to leave Wales leading 16-9 at the break.

Dwayne Peel replaced Cooper at scrum-half for the start of the second half but it was Canada who started brightest.  A loose pass from Robin Sowden-Taylor inside the home side's half fell into Canadian hands, allowing Nanyak Dala to carry the ball into Welsh territory before finding scrum-half Ed Fairhurst who took out full-back Evans with a pass to Duke for the try.

Pritchard converted and the sides were level again at 16-16.

Again Wales took time to find their feet but when they did they looked impressive as wing Tom James collected a high ball deep in his own half and broke through to the Canadian 22.

Biggar nearly touched down in the corner only for a saving tackle from Duke.  The ball went back along the Welsh line and James popped up on the left to earn his reward with his first try for Wales.  Biggar converted and added another penalty and Wales were back in front, 29-16.

The tourists allowed Canada back into it on the hour when, to the delight of the 8,450 crowd, Fairhurst finished off a great move from former All Black Kieran Crowley's side with a try, Pritchard converting to bring the score to 29-23.

Wales grafted for the remainder of the game and thought they had a try when substitute front row Gareth Williams appeared to burrow over the line in the 72nd minute, only for a video review to disallow the score.

Wales still added points as Australian ref Matt Goddard brought the play back for a penalty in front of the posts which Biggar converted for the final score of the game.

Wales next travel to Chicago for a Test next Saturday against the USA.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Duke, Fairhurst
Cons:  Pritchard 2
Pens:  Pritchard 3

For Wales:

Tries:  Czekaj, James
Cons:  Biggar 2
Pens:  Biggar 6

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Sean Duke, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Kleeberger, 7 Adam Carpenter, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Luke Tait, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Pat Riordan (capt), 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Mike Pletch, 17 Doug Wooldridge, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Matt Evans, 21 David Spicer, 22 Phil Mack

Wales:  15 Daniel Evans, 14 Tom James, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Dafydd Jones, 5 Deiniol Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 John Yapp, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones,
Replacements:  16 Gareth Williams, 17 Craig Mitchell, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Sam Warburton, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Jonathan Spratt.

Referee:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Rob Debney, Chris Draper (USA)

Barbarians hold on at Twickenham

England were taught a harsh first-half lesson in running rugby on Saturday as the Barbarians held on for an 33-26 victory at Twickenham.

It proved the perfect send-off for Martin Corry and Josh Lewsey to English rugby as Martin Johnson's youthful side shipped five tries -- including two for the former red rose wing Iain Balshaw.

The hosts were outclassed for much of the game by a Barbarians team boasting seven former All Blacks and a total of 632 international caps.

Although Johnson should have the likes of Mark Cueto and Ben Kay available for next Saturday's first Test against Argentina, he will have major concerns over the state of England's flimsy defence heading up to Old Trafford.

Corry and Lewsey were key figures as the Barbarians opened a 14-0 lead with tries from Balshaw and Chris Jack before Ben Foden -- one of six players making his first senior England start -- produced a strong finish to score in the corner.

The Barbarians surged clear after the interval with embarrasing ease as Rocky Elsom and Gordon D'Arcy touched down either side of Balshaw's second try.

Jordan Turner-Hall, Tom May and Matt Banahan notched debut tries as the Barbarians wilted and England hit back in the closing stages to avoid a record defeat and regain some pride.

But England were too far behind and in the end they were mere consolation scores on a day reserved for the retiring World Cup-winning duo of Corry and Lewsey.

Both players head for Australia with the Barbarians tonight.  For Corry it was a victorious end to his English career after missing out on Leicester's Guinness Premiership triumph a fortnight ago.

And as Lewsey left the field to a standing ovation he would have been justified to feel as though a point had been proved to Johnson, who made it clear earlier this season that his England career was over.

The Wasps centre created the opening try with a deft kick in behind the England defence and although Balshaw was offside it was not spotted by the officials and he scooped up the loose ball to score.

After an uninspiring start, including a missed penalty from Goode, that sparked England into action.

Armitage sliced through the Barbarians defence and Goode almost creating a try for himself with a neat chip over the top only to be denied by a finger-tip interception by Justin Marshall.

Jamie Noon scorched around the outside of Glenn Jackson but he was felled just short of the line as the Saracens fly-half recovered well to catch him with an excellent tap-tackle.

But in defence England were disorganised and that allowed the Barbarians' more enterprising approach to pay dividends.

Jack galloped over in the corner and Ben Blair converted to open a 14-0 lead after Corry's barnstorming run through the middle.

England responded positively and finally worked a breakthrough after 33 minutes when Danny Care and Chris Robshaw combined to send Foden over in the corner.

The versatile Northampton back, playing today on the right wing, is renowned more for his pace and footwork than his power but he held off two tacklers after latching onto Robshaw's inside pass to score in the corner.

Johnson made one change at the interval with May replacing Noon in midfield but the second half was barely two minutes old when England were ripped apart again.

The rampaging Elsom, who is heading back to Australia after helping Leinster win the Heineken Cup, burst onto a pass from the brilliant Blair and outpaced Nick Easter to score.

Blair missed his first conversion attempt of the afternoon but was soon presented with another touchline opportunity after Balshaw touched down for his second try.

D'Arcy was given the freedom of Twickenham by some more weak England defence and hooker Schalk Britz sent the Biarritz-bound winger ghosted over untouched.

This was now embarrasing and it got worse.  Lewsey danced around both Louis Deacon and Steve Borthwick before supplying the scoring pass to D'Arcy, who sauntered under the posts.

Armitage, whose class at full-back stood out despite the failings of those around him, saved England the ignominy of conceding a 50-metre to a hooker when he executed a brilliant last-ditch tackle to haul Britz into touch just as the South African reached for the line.

England managed to avoid a record defeat with a glut of three tries in quick succession as the Barbarians began to tire in the closing stages.

All three were created by kicks from Goode, who picked out Turner-Hall, May and then Banahan as England closed to within one score with five minutes remaining.

Lewsey was given a rousing farewell as he was replaced Mike Catt in what could also prove to be the veteran fly-half general's final big-match appearance at Twickenham.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Foden, Turner-Hall, May, Banahan
Con:  Goode 3

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Balshaw 2, Jack, Elsom, D'Arcy
Con:  Blair 4

England:  15 Delon Armitage (London Irish), 14 Ben Foden (Northampton), 13 Jamie Noon (Newcastle), 12 Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), 11 Matt Banahan (Bath), 10 Andy Goode (Brive), 9 Danny Care (Harlequins), 8 Nick Easter (Harlequins), 7 Lewis Moody (Leicester), 6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), 5 Louis Deacon (Leicester), 4 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, capt), 3 David Wilson (Newcastle), 2 Dylan Harltey (Northampton), 1 Tim Payne (Wasps).
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson (Brive), 17 Nick Wood (Gloucester), 18 Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), 19 Steffon Armitage (London Irish), 20 James Haskell (Wasps), 21 Paul Hodgson (London Irish), 22 Tom May (Newcastle).

Barbarians:  15 Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues & New Zealand), 14 Doug Howlett (Munster & New Zealand), 13 Josh Lewsey (London Wasps & England), 12 Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster & Ireland), 11 Iain Balshaw (Gloucester Rugby & England), 10 Glen Jackson (Saracens), 9 Justin Marshall (Saracens & New Zealand), 8 Rocky Elsom (Leinster & Australia), 7 Serge Betsen (London Wasps & France), 6 Jerry Collins (Toulon & New Zealand), 5 Chris Jack (Saracens & New Zealand), 4 Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers & England, captain), 3 Greg Somerville (Gloucester Rugby & New Zealand), 2 Schalk Brits (Stormers & South Africa), 1 Clarke Dermody (London Irish & New Zealand).
Replacements:  16 Sebastien Bruno (Sale Sharks & France), 17 B J Botha (Ulster & South Africa), 18 Paul Tito (Cardiff Blues), 19 Phil Waugh (Waratahs & Australia), 20 Chris Whitaker (Leinster & Australia), 21 Mike Catt (London Irish & England), 22 Ratu Nasiganiyavi (Waratahs).

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match officials:  Brian Abrahams (England), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Ed Morrison (England)

Ireland see off Canada

Declan Kidney's new-look Ireland side began their tour of Canada with an unconvincing 25-6 victory in Vancouver.

The success was comfortable enough thanks to tries from Barry Murphy, Ian Whitten and Tony Buckley -- however, the lack of their Lions players and those of Heineken Cup winners Leinster did not help their cause.

The tourists led 7-3 at the interval thanks to Murphy's penalty, which was converted by Ian Keatley -- who had missed an early penalty by some distance.

But James Pritchard kicked his second penalty following the resumption to move Canada to within a point of Ireland and lift their hopes of an unexpected success.

However, Ireland took control of the game with another penalty from Connacht fly-half Keatley, followed by tries from debutant Whitten and Buckley.

Canada hooker Adam Kleeberger was sin-binned on the hour for a professional foul and Keatley took advantage with the penalty.

And the tourists moved further clear soon after the hour mark when Danny Cave sent Ulster team-mate and fellow debutant Whitten clear for a third try.

Buckley wrapped up the scoring when he surged over in the corner following a pass from Ulster team-mate Peter Stringer, although Keatley was off target with his conversion attempt.

Kidney's men are next in action on May 31, when they take on the United States in California.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Pens:  Pritchard

For Ireland:
Tries:  Murphy, Whitten, Buckley
Cons:  Keatley
Pens:  Keatley

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Dean van Camp, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 David Spicer, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Chauncey O'Toole, 5 Mike Burak, 4 Tyler Hotson, 3 Scott Franklin, 2 Pat Riordan (c), 1 Kevin Tkachuk
Replacements:  16 Andrew Tiedemann, 17 Luke Tait, 18 Jebb Sinclair, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Sean Michael Stephen, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Ander Monro.

Ireland:  15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Barry Murphy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Bob Casey, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Tom Court.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Mike Ross, 18 Ryan Caldwell, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Niall O'Connor, 22 Denis Hurley.