Australia 53 Argentina 6

Fullback Chris Latham scored four tries as the world champions Australia kicked off their international season with a 53-6 win over Argentina at Ballymore.

The Queensland faithful had come to say farewell Tim Horan and David Wilson, two of Queensland and Australia's greatest players of the past decade.  But by the end, the Ballymore crowd saluted a new hero in four-try fullback Chris Latham.

Latham turned on a superb exhibition of fullback play as the Wallabies clinically destroyed the South Americans 53-6 in a mere stroll at Queensland Rugby Union headquarters.

Latham, Australia's Super 12 player of the year, bedazzled the Pumas' defence with his flair, panache and deception, and showed what a great support-player can achieve when his nose follows the ball.

Latham opened the scoring after just 22 seconds and was still at it in the shadows of full-time, when he crossed for his fourth and the Wallabies' final try.

But despite the Australians' impressive opening, Argentina almost struck back immediately when the forwards surged across the tryline, only to see their efforts disallowed by the video referee.  Horan then forced to make a try-saving tackle on Pumas centre Diego Giannantonio just millimetres from the line.

The Pumas continued to trouble the Australians in the early skirmishes, showing a considerable amount of dash and flair.  But the green and gold defence held on.

New flyhalf Jose Cilley, stepping in for unavailable match-winner Gonzalo Quesada, had a horror match, missing two easy kicks in front of the posts and suffering the ignominy of having a clearing kick charged down by marauding Wallaby flanker Matt Cockbain inside his own quarter.  As memorable as the match was for Latham, it will be an evening Cilley won't forget in a hurry either, albeit for different reasons.

Scottish referee Jim Fleming earned his keep, sending three Argentines to the sin-bin, the first being winger Octavio Bartolucci, who earned the ire of the crowd when he dumped Latham as the Wallaby fullback leapt high to defuse a bomb.  Bartolucci was fortunate not to receive a red card.

In Bartolucci's absence Joe Roff scored a try in the left-hand corner, when Daniel Herbert busted the Pumas' midfield.  The Reds' centre held up the ball for a straight-running Latham, who spun wide to Horan.  Horan gave the final pass to Roff who scampered across the line untouched.

Five minutes later, Herbert scored after great leadup work by Latham and eighthman Jim Williams.  But on a touch judges report, the try was disallowed and instead Cilley landed a simple penalty goal to bridge the gap to seven points.

But from the ensuing kickoff, the Pumas forwards suffered an embarrassing lapse in concentration when they didn't contest possession on the assumption the ball wouldn't reach 10 metres.  It did, and Roff streaked away like a startled rabbit before feeding replacement Mark Connors, looming up on his inside.  Australia 15 Argentina 3.

The Wallabies then had another try disallowed when Fleming called Connors back for a forward pass from Latham.  But touch judge Paddy O'Brien gave the Australians some respite when he advised Fleming of foul play by Puma skipper Lisandro Aribizu and winger Diego Albanese on Wallaby halfback George Gregan.  The duo was lucky to escape with a caution and Australia went to the break ahead by 15-3.

The Australians continued the second half in the same vein as the first, when eighthman Jim Williams showed his excellent support skills to score twice in the space of seven minutes for a handy 25-6 lead.

Argentina's nightmare continued when Cilley missed another simple place kick at goal, then in rapid succession, front rowers Martin Scelzo and Fernando Diaz were despatched to the sin bin for reckless rucking and a professional foul respectively.

Further tries to Roff and three more to Latham completed the scoring on an inspiring evening that three Reds will never forget.

Horan and Wilson bowed out in fine style, while 24 year-old Latham was the shooting star in a superb season-opening team performance.

While there's always room for improvement, coach Rod Macqueen should be a happy man.

Man of the match:  Brilliant Reds fullback Chris Latham just couldn't do anything wrong.  On a golden evening he not only scored four superb tries but he also carved the Pumas' defence apart at will and tormented them with his fancy feet and explosive speed.  A real crowd pleaser, Latham has the skill to become one of Australia's greatest fullbacks.

Moment of the match:  The cacophony of noise generated by the crowd for departing veterans Tim Horan and David Wilson.  Crammed to its 20 000 capacity, Ballymore provided the perfect backdrop for two of the most talented and humble footballers the state has produced.

Villain of the match:  Argentina's indiscipline saw three players despatched to the sin bin and it could have been worse as the South Americans lost the plot and their heads as the scoreline extended beyond their reach.  Coach Loffreda has a job on his hands to get his team up for the second international at Canberra in seven days' time.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Richard Harry, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Fletcher Dyson, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 David Wilson, 8 Jim Williams, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Tim Horan, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Mark Connors, Rod Kafer, Jason Little, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Sam Cordingley, David Lyons

Argentina:  1 Fernando Diaz Alberdi, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Martin Scelzo, 4 Alejandro Allub, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Jose Cilley, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Diego Giannantonio, 14 Octavio Bartolucci, 15 Felipe Contepomi
Reserves:  Agustin Canalda, Julio Garcia
Unused:  Hugo Dande, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Juan Fernandez Miranda, German Llanes, Facundo Soler

Attendance:  18216
Referee:  Fleming j.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 4, Roff J.W.C. 2, Williams R.W. 2, Connors M. 1
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 4

Argentina
Pen K.:  Cilley J.L. 2

Tonga 0 New Zealand 102

The All Blacks celebrated their first outing of the century with a century of points, overwhelming Tonga 101-0 in a glittering performance at North Harbour Stadium, Albany, on Friday night.

It was a magical start to Wayne Smith's international coaching career, as the rejuvenated All Blacks ran in 15 tries and produced a quality of rugby which electrified the fans and devastated the opposition.

The defeat was the heaviest in Tonga's history, surpassing their defeat at the hands of England during RWC'99, and only the fourth time the Tongans have been shut-out since 1924.

It was a sensational night for debutantes, with lock Troy Flavell picking up three tries before half-time, replacement fullback Doug Howlett scoring twice in the second half and substitute number eight Filo Tiatia also dotting down.

It didn't seem possible that Tony Brown could maintain his test average of 31 points a game, but he sure did, compiling 32 points, including a try.

He was in such vintage form that the All Black management left their top-ranking first-five Andrew Mehrtens untroubled on the reserves bench for the full 80 minutes.

New skipper Todd Blackadder, chuffed with the outcome, said the players had studied the World Cup game against Tonga (when the All Blacks laboured to a 45-9 win) and were determined to get on the front foot from the start.

They sure did.  The All Blacks were ahead 29-nil after 19 minutes, 48-nil in front at half-time and hit the century mark with two minutes left on the clock.

"It's only a start," said Blackadder, never one to get too carried away.  "We're not kidding ourselves, there are tougher matches ahead.  But tonight we'll celebrate because this was a great team effort."

"We wanted to go out and get on the front foot, both with the ball and in defence, and I think we did that.  But it was only one step.  We've got a long way to go.  We respected Tonga but we wanted to play for 80 minutes."

He said the new management and the introduction of new players meant the game felt like everyone had been making their first appearance.

Beleaguered Tongan captain Elisi Vunipola could only admire the All Black effort.

"Their fitness came out on top from the start and they were a yard in front of us, that was the game," he said.

Flavell was the toast of the North Harbour crowd in the first half, marking his All Black debut in sensational style with the team's first try in the sixth minute and two more in the 34th and 38th minutes.

His second was an absolute knockout.  Suddenly operating in midfield, he burst between two startled defenders and nonchalantly ran around the fullback to dive across beside the posts.

Howlett had an even more stunning entry into the All Black scene.  Entering the action at half-time as a replacement for Christian Cullen, who'd twinged a hamstring, Howlett sprinted 50 metres to dot down behind the posts a mere 26 seconds after the restart.

The All Blacks played fabulous rugby.  The backs flourished because the forwards kept powering up the middle, committing the Tongans, who must have thought they were caught up in a black tornado.

Out back, it was great to see players like Cullen, Alama Ieremia and Tana Umaga bursting on to passes, something seriously absent from the All Blacks' game throughout the World Cup campaign.

While Flavell probably merited the player of the night trophy because of his three tries, Umaga was no less impressive, shattering the Tongan defence every time he handled the ball.

Centre Ieremia was unrecognisable as the ponderous individual at the World Cup.  He was all aggression and thrust and forced countless turnovers with his punishing tackles.

Justin Marshall was mighty at halfback, Brown the perfect general at flyhalf, Pita Alatini dazzling on his feet at second-five, Jonah Lomu dynamic on the wing (committing up to five players every time he handled the ball) and Cullen a dynamo at fullback.

Up front, the Tongans were completely overwhelmed, but a shadow of the side that had held the All Blacks to 16-9 half-time score at the World Cup in Bristol eight months earlier.

Hooker Mark Hammett continued his outstanding form of the Super 12, props Craig Dowd and Greg Somerville created the go-forward that was so important, Blackadder did the hard graft, Reuben Thorne was unrivalled at the back of the lineout and the loosies plus Flavell had a ball.

Only a series of forward passes, which cost probably four tries, marred an otherwise classic performance by the All Blacks.

The Scots, who would have watched the game from New Plymouth, must be wondering what on earth's in store for them at Dunedin next Saturday!

Man of the Match:  It could easily go to Tana Umaga for the chaos he caused among the Tongan defence every time he received the ball, but sentimentally it has to go to lock Troy Flavell who in his test debut scored three tries, equalling the New Zealand test record for a forward.

Villain of the match:  None of those.  It was an amazingly trouble-free match.  No yellow or red cards, hardly any penalties at all really.

Moment of the match:  Had to be Troy Flavell's second try when he made like a centre, exploding through the Tongan defence and leaving the forlorn fullback stranded as he raced on to the goalposts.  Quite a night for the kid from North Harbour, really.

The Teams:

Tonga:  1 Ngalu Taufo'ou, 2 Fe'ao Vunipola, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 Isi Fatani, 5 Ben Hur Kivalu, 6 Jonathan Koloi, 7 Henry Saafi, 8 Va'a Toloke, 9 Doug Havea, 10 'Elisi Vunipola, 11 David Tiueti, 12 Siua Taumalolo, 13 Sam Alatini, 14 Semi Taupeaafe, 15 Tauna'holo Taufahema
Reserves:  Ta'u Fainga'anuku, Latiume Maka, Loni Manako, Sione Tuipulotu
Unused:  Feleti Fakaongo, Fakataha Molitika, 'Epafasi Ta'ufo'ou

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Mark Hammett, 3 Craig Dowd, 4 Troy Flavell, 5 Todd Blackadder (c), 6 Josh Kronfeld, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Taine Randell, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Tony Brown, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Alama Ieremia, 14 Tana Umaga, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Doug Howlett, Filo Tiatia, Kees Meeuws, Anton Oliver, Scott Robertson
Unused:  Byron Kelleher, Andrew Mehrtens

Attendance:  20000
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Troy Flavell 3, Tana Umaga 2, Doug Howlett 2, Alama Ieremia, Christian Cullen, Mark Hammett, Todd Blackadder, Josh Kronfeld, Filo Tiatia, Justin Marshall and Tony Brown
Conv:  Tony Brown 12
Pen K.:  Tony Brown 1

Canada 18 South Africa 51

In East London, South Africa unveiled their new-look rugby with a scintillating 51-18 win over Canada on Saturday night.

Yet while the Waverley Park thrashing kicked off a tough international season for the Boks in fine style, the lessons learned were few against a Canadian side where guts were plenty but options few.

The local fans, witnessing their first Springbok Test in these parts, were given a prime display of running rugby, as Andre Vos' charges kept their promise to entertain after a disappointing finish at last year's World Cup.

The win eclipsed the 20-0 scoreline in the only other game between these two sides and gave the Boks some much needed confidence ahead of next week's Test against England in Pretoria.

However, where the Boks were expecting a tough, physical match, they found none.  Canada's transformation into a running side has left them bereft of physical presence up front to unsettle their more fancied opponents.

The Boks powered up to a 27-3 lead in as many minutes as they stunned the Canadians with controlled running rugby.  Dynamo Breyton Paulse, already a household name in the Western Cape became a folk legend in the Eastern Cape when he sprinted down three quarters of the field to open the scoring untouched by any red jersey.

His opening try was followed by another 10 minutes later before the Boks added two more through Robbie Kempson (a drive close to the line) and Robbie Fleck.

The Boks, however, were guilty of a bit too much elaboration and allowed the Canadians to capitalise on their mistakes.  Al Charron dived over in the first half, with Winston Stanley crossing in the second to give the scoreline a decent ring to it.

In all, six Boks crossed for eight tries, although the scoreline could have been greater if Braam van Straaten's kicking was more on target.

Andre Vos added a try to his CV in his first game as captain but a lot of work still needs to be done to refine the playing style.

The Boks have begun in style, but unless a number of their mistakes are ironed out, the going will be much tougher against England next weekend, and the points scored will mean nothing at all.

Man of the match:  In a losing cause Canadian No.9 Morgan Williams proved just why everyone around the world is raving about him.  He wasn't afraid to take the likes of Andre Venter and Krynauw Otto on and was always looking to spark something for the visitors.  An argument can also be made for Cats skipper Rassie Erasmus or Stormers flyer Breyton Paulse.

Moment of the match:  When new Bok skipper Andre Vos crashed over for a try in his former hometown.  It was just reward for the likeable captain and capped off a satisfactory performance for him in his new role.

Villain of the match:  Considering what happened the last time South Africa played Canada -- this match was a rather tame affair!  But, Springbok centre Robbie Fleck, who was devastating on attack, spoilt a good night out with a silly trip on Morgan Williams.  It wasn't necessary in the context of the match.

The teams:

Canada:  1 John Thiel, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 Kevin Tkachuk, 4 Alan Charron (c), 5 John Tait, 6 Dan Baugh, 7 Ryan Banks, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Mark Irvine, Ed Knaggs, Duane Major
Unused:  Gregor Dixon, Nick Milau, Harry Toews

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Selborne Boome, 5 Krynauw Otto, 6 Johan Erasmus, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  John Smit, Thinus Delport, Corne Krige, Willie Meyer, Japie Mulder, Chester Williams
Unused:  Dan Van Zyl

Attendance:  12000
Referee:  Alan Lewis (Irl)

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Charron A.J. 1, Stanley W.U. 1
Conv:  Stewart D.S. 1
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 2

South Africa
Tries:  Barry De W. 1, Fleck R.F. 2, Kempson R.B. 1, Montgomery P.C. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Vos A.N. 1
Conv:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 4
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 1

Ireland 83 United States 3

Center Mike Mullins scored a hattrick of tries as Ireland swamped the United States 83-3 in the second match of their American tour here Saturday.

Halfback Guy Easterby added two tries in his first international for the Irish.  His brother Simon Easterby and Geordan Murphy also had two tries as Ireland posted a national record 13 tries.

Consistently splitting the US defense, hard-running Mullins crossed the American line once in the first half and twice in the second.  The Young Munster center was named man of the match for his efforts.

"It was good to get a big win after last week's disappointment against Argentina," Mullins said.  "The forwards played very well today."

US coach Duncan Hall tried to offer his players some encouragement in the wake of the disaster, which was played out before a ground record crowd of 5,200 Manchester's Singer Park.

"I told the team Ireland payed us a compliment by continuing to play rugby after building a big lead," said Hall, the former Australian international who signed a two-year contract to guide the US in February.  "We'll have to get some rest and then pull back together quickly before we go down to play the Island teams."

Ireland rolled to a 31-3 halftime lead, scoring five tries to Grant Wells' lone penalty goal for the hosts.

Simon Easterby scored just minutes into the game for Ireland, but Wells countered with a three-pointer before fullback Geordan Murphy and Mullins opened the floodgates with converted tries at 17 and 19 minutes, making the count 19-3.

Again scoring in rapid succession, Guy Easterby and Malcolm O'Kelly scored at 28 and 31 minutes, respectively, as the backpedaling American defense was consistently outnumbered.  In a typical sequence, the US looked to have stopped Ireland several times on Easterby's score, only for supporting Irish players to continue the downfield run.

Unlike last week's 34-25 comeback win over Canada, when the US racked up 27 points in the second half, this week's contest grew more one-sided over the second 40 minutes.  Mullins sandwiched tries at 42 and 48 minutes around a Paul Wallace score, all three converted by Ronan O'Gara to make the count 52-3.  Ireland's goalkicker finished with 12 points, connecting on six of 11 attempts.  Replacement David Humphreys converted one of two attempts.

Ireland scored five more tries down the stretch, while the US twice failed to convert strong scoring opportunities into points.

Ireland meet Canada next week in Toronto to complete their three-match tour, while the United States are idle until a July 1 Pacific Rim championship match against Fiji.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Paul Wallace, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Justin Fitzpatrick, 4 Jeremy Davidson, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Eric Miller, 9 Guy Easterby, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Tyrone Howe, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Mike Mullins, 14 Jimmy Topping, 15 Geordan Murphy
Reserves:  Bob Casey, David Humphreys, Marcus Horan, Kevin Maggs, Frankie Sheahan, Andy Ward
Unused:  Peter Stringer

United States:  1 Ray Lehner, 2 Robbie Flynn, 3 John McBride, 4 Philippe Farner, 5 Matt Kane, 6 Kort Schubert, 7 Don Younger, 8 Dave Hodges (c), 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Grant Wells, 11 Andre Blom, 12 Phillip Eloff, 13 Juan Grobler, 14 Malakai Delai, 15 Kurt Shuman
Reserves:  John Burke, Joe Clayton, Tom Kelleher, Kirk Khasigian, Link Wilfley
Unused:  Ryan Fried, John McGeachy

Referee:  Thomas c.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Easterby S.H. 2, Easterby G. 2, Humphreys D.G. 1, Mullins M.J.M. 3, O'Kelly M.E. 1, Topping J.A. 1, Wallace P.S. 1, Murphy G.E.A. 2
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 1, O'Gara R. 8

United States
Pen K.:  Wells G. 1

Canada 25 United States 34

The USA overcame a 13 point half time deficit to defeat Canada 34-25 in the 2000 Epson Cup at Manchester, NH, vaulting the eagles to first place in the Pacific Rim tournament.

It was physical Canadian side that dominated the scrums and loose play in the first half, but the boot of Eagles flyhalf Grant Wells made all the difference on the day, scoring 14 points on four conversions, a penalty and an injury time dropgoal.

Eagles coach, Australian Duncan Hall, was impressed by his young squad's turnaround, but admits he was a little bit suprised that they pulled it off.

"To turn around a 13 point deficit at halftime in a test match is pretty tough, against one of your major opponents ... forever," said Hall, who was at the helm for only his second match.

Hall would not single out one person on the side that really stepped up and took control, preferring to heap his praise on the team effort.  But the play of captain Dave Hodges did garner perhaps a little bit of extra praise as he noted the play of the Brigend 8 man, who came off three times for treatment to a broken nose.

"He's a great leader, and it's fantastic to have him in the team, and as captain," he said.

The Eagles opened the scoring at the 7 minute mark with fullback Kurt Shuman diving under the posts from a pass at the base of a ruck.  Hall converted for the 7-0 lead.

Canada responded with hooker Harry Toews rumbling across from five metres which flyhalf Scott Stewart converted to even the score at 7 eleven minutes in.

Canada had troubles with both their throw ins and some of the rulings by Samoan referee Anetere'a Aiolupotea, resulting in a number of turnovers by the Maple Leafs.

Despite that Scott Stewart kicked penalties of 33 and 45 metres as well as converting a Nik Witkowski try to take a 20-7 lead into the locker room.

According to Canada coach Dave Clark, who once coached his eagles counterpart, the score should have been a lot higher, but missed opportunities were to blame.

Choosing his words carefully the disappointed Australian said, "We should have been far more precise in the first half.  Instead of it being 20 points in the first half it should have been 37 or 47.  Of course we had enough ball to do that."

He added that facing the wind in the second half didn't help.  "We would turn the ball over to them, we did that in the first half, and they put the ball behind us."

The US comeback started following a Ryan Banks try off a ramble up the sideline that he touched down in the corner.  Stewart missed the conversion and that is when the floodgates opened.

Tries by replacements Robbie Flynn(hooker) and prop Joe Clayton, both converted by Wells made the score 25-24 USA, and memories of the '99 Epson Cup victory by the Eagles began to flood back to the Canadians.

The crowd chanted USA as outside centre Juan Grobler scored a try under the posts in the 73rd minute (Wells converted) following a Canadian penalty and ensuing maul to give the Eagles a 6 point buffer.

Canada pressed well into injury time with one sequence going at least ten phases of recycled ball with no way of solving the tight American defence.  Then US wing Malakai Delai kicked through twice on looping passes to wing Fred Asselin and cleared the ball down to the Canadian five metre line.  A knock on by Canada in front of their posts gave the Eagles a scrum, which Wells used to slot an easy 17 metre drop goal to cement the victory.

Captain Dave Hodges was not happy with the way his squad played in the first half, saying "I thought we had a really disappointing first half.  I thought their forwards definitely won it.  They took it to us time and time again, crossing the gain line.

"I felt that that was one of the major things that if we could shore that up, not give the 50/50 pass, and just play simple rugby."

Canada now get on a plane for 20 hour flight to South Africa to take on the Sprinkboks in a week's time, while the USA stay in Manchester to await Ireland for one off test June 10th.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Garth Cooke, 2 Harry Toews, 3 Duane Major, 4 Alan Charron (c), 5 John Tait, 6 Dan Baugh, 7 John Hutchinson, 8 Ryan Banks, 9 Nick Milau, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Gregor Dixon, Ed Knaggs, Phil Murphy, Kevin Tkachuk, Jason Verstraten

United States:  1 Ray Lehner, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 John McBride, 4 Philippe Farner, 5 Tom Kelleher, 6 Kort Schubert, 7 Don Younger, 8 Dave Hodges (c), 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Grant Wells, 11 Andre Blom, 12 Phillip Eloff, 13 Juan Grobler, 14 Malakai Delai, 15 Kurt Shuman
Reserves:  John Burke, Joe Clayton, Robbie Flynn

Referee:  Aiolupotea a.

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Banks R. 1, Toews H. 1, Witkowski N. 1
Conv:  Stewart D.S. 2
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 2

United States
Tries:  Clayton J. 1, Flynn R. 1, Grobler J. 1, Shuman K.D. 1
Conv:  Wells G. 4
Pen K.:  Wells G. 1
Drop G.:  Wells G. 1

Tonga 26 Japan 25

Tonga overhauled a six-point deficit in the second half to beat defending champions Japan 26-25 in the Pacific Rim rugby championship on Saturday.

"We expected a very fast game from the Japanese team," said Tonga's captain Elisi Vunipola, after his team's first win in the six-team round robin competition, following defeats in their first two games.

"What we have improved from the last two games is the team's discipline.  "I think our discipline has improved a little bit, although we gave away a few penalties in the second half.  We can improve for the next game," he said.

Flanker Kisione Ahotaeiloa put Tonga 5-0 ahead with a long solo run after Epafasi Taufoou intercepted a poor Japanese pass.  Taunaholo Taufahema converted to make it 7-0.

Scrum half Sioeli Nau scored a converted try in the 22nd minute, with right winger Aisea Kaufusi adding another three minutes later.

The Japanese side, who had also lost their first two games, to Fiji and the United States, put their first points on the board via the boot of Toru Kurihara, kicking two penalties in the 14th minute and in injury time at the end of the first half.

The Japanese got off to a flying start in the second half as tries by scrum half Mamoru Ito in the 44th minute, followed in quick succession by Kurihara in the 54th and left winger Terunori Masuho in the 61st minute had the Tongans floundering.

However, leading 25-19 in the 67th minute, Kurihara's 10-minute penalty for offside turned the game, as the Japanese temporarily lost their shape.

Tonga seized the opportunity as Benhur Kivalu's try to make it 24-25 was gleefully converted by Taufahema, securing Tonga's first victory by just one point.

"This win is very important to our chances for the championship," said Tongan coach Tuivaita Ueleni.

Meanwhile, Japan's head coach Seiji Hirao said:  "It was a very close game, although we couldn't win in the end.  We have two more games, I hope we will be able to win (them)."

Japanese team captain Masuho said:  "I feel our young players are improving game by game.  We are just struggling to win a game.  We lost our concentration when Kurihara was penalized, because of a lack of communication."

Japan will take on Samoa next Saturday in an away game, while Tonga will face Samoa at home on June 24.

The Teams:

Tonga:  1 Ta'u Fainga'anuku, 2 Latiume Maka, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 Isi Fatani, 5 Ben Hur Kivalu, 6 Feleti Fakaongo, 7 Kati Tu'ipulotu, 8 Kisione Ahota'e'iloa, 9 Sioeli Nau, 10 'Elisi Vunipola (c), 11 'Aisea Havili, 12 David Tiueti, 13 'Epafasi Ta'ufo'ou, 14 Solomone Matangi, 15 Tauna'holo Taufahema
Reserves:  Christopher Hala'ufi, Viliami Ma'asi, Fakataha Molitika, 'Epeli Taione

Japan:  1 Toshikazu Nakamichi, 2 Shin Hasegawa, 3 Kohei Oguchi, 4 Naoya Okubo, 5 Hiroyuki Tanuma, 6 Masahiro Kurokawa, 7 Hiroshi Sugawara, 8 Kazuya Koizumi, 9 Mamoru Ito, 10 Syotaro Oonishi, 11 Terunori Masuho (c), 12 Hideki Nanba, 13 Akira Yoshida, 14 Michinori Oda, 15 Toru Kurihara
Reserves:  Yasuhiko Iwama, Takuo Kawasaki, Takeshi Nozawa, Yuji Sonoda

Referee:  Kuklinski b.

Points Scorers:

Tonga
Tries:  Ahota'e'iloa K. 1, Havili A. 1, Kivalu D.B.H. 1, Nau S. 1
Conv:  Taufahema T. 3

Japan
Tries:  Ito M. 1, Kurihara T. 1, Masuho T. 1
Conv:  Kurihara T. 2
Pen K.:  Kurihara T. 2

Fiji 17 Samoa 31

Samoa kicked off their Pacific Rim campaign with a 31-17 win over a passionless Fiji at Apia Park Saturday.

Tanner Vili opened the scoring for the Samoans in the first minute with a penalty, followed soon after by the first try of the match as a neat interception by Filemu saw Trevor Leota feeding winger Lome Faatau with an in-pass for an easy touchdown.

Nicky Little replied with a penalty for the Fijians, but a Samoan scrum towards the end of the half saw Tom Curtis scramble over from close in to put the Samoans ahead 15-3 at half-time.

Fiji arrived here full of confidence, having won both their games in the Pacific Rim tournament.

In contrast, Samoa were playing their first game of the tournament with a youthful team that coach John Boe called an "unknown quantity" after nine first choice players withdrew due to overseas contractual commitments.

Yet it was the inexperienced Samoans who looked the more assured and better organised team in the first half, particularly in defence.

Commanding midfield performances from Vaaiga Tuigamala and Too Vaega made it difficult for the Fijians to feed their wingers, with Marika Vunibaka seeing little of the ball.

"I was very pleased because the game was won through courage and passion and that was what we had to do to keep out an extremely good Fijian side," said John Boe.

Samoa extended their lead early in the second half through tries by Semo Sititi after a strong drive by Trevor Leota, followed shortly by Isaac Feaunati striding over after Fiji mis-cued a lineout throw-in to the back close to their tryline.

Down 25-3 in the last quarter, Fiji rallied themselves for an effort which saw them swing the Samoan defence down both flanks before Isaia Rasila powered through unchallenged.

A drive saw captain Simon Raiwula score a consolation try, but he was disappointed that such ball retention had been so sporadic during the match.

"We didn't retain the ball and that was why we lost," said Raiwula.  "You can't really put your game together if you are not retaining possession," he said, referring to several incidents where the ball had been spilled in the tackle.

The Fijians also showed a decided lack of commitment, only rallying briefly when the game was out of reach.  "I think they played with a lot more authority than we did right throughout the game," said Fiji coach Greg Smith.  "I thought they were a 20-point better team than we were," he said.

Asked whether the crisis in Fiji affected his players psychologically, Smith said, "I wouldn't use that as an excuse."

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Paula Biu, 2 Isaia Rasila, 3 Joeli Veitayaki, 4 Emori Katalau, 5 Simon Raiwalui (c), 6 Sailosi Naiteqe, 7 Jope Tuikabe, 8 Inoke Male, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Norman Ligairi, 12 Saimoni Rokini, 13 Kameli Tilalati, 14 Marika Vunibaka, 15 Jonetani Waqa
Reserves:  Peniasi Damu, Alifereti Doviverata, Sirilo Lala Ragata, Jolame Nadolo, Ilaitia Tuisese

Referee:  Iwashita s.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Rasila I. 1, Raiwalui S.V. 1
Conv:  Little N.T. 2
Pen K.:  Little N.T. 1

Argentina 34 Ireland 23

The touring Ireland side, seeking to settle an old score with their World Cup conquerors, went down fighting to Argentina 32-25 in an international friendly oin Buenos Aires.

Warren Gatland's men led three times in the second half as they attempted to heal that old wound inflicted by the Pumas in Lens, France, last winter.

But the Irish wilted late on, and tries from Northampton prop Martin Scelzo and right-wing Octavio Bartolucci saw Argentina, under new coach Marcelo Loffreda, run out relatively comfortable winners.

Ireland's left-wing Justin Bishop and centre Rob Henderson both crossed after the break as the lead see-sawed between the sides, and Ireland led 18-17 when fly-half David Humphreys -- having missed three conversions and a penalty -- finally landed a penalty.

But Ireland, who will complete their three-Test tour with matches against the USA and Canada, faded badly.

Pumas fly-half Gonzalo Quesada missed an early conversion attempt after full-back Ignacio Carleto had claimed the opening try but then found his range to contribute 19 points with five penalties and two conversions.

Argentina made the early running, and the Irish had to ride their luck.

Malcolm O'Kelly charged down an attempted dropped goal by Quesada.  Then swift handling left right-wing Bartolucci with a clear run to the line only for the referee to blow up for crossing and award a penalty to the tourists.

The Pumas broke the deadlock in the 14th minute with a try from full-back Carleto.  The Irish scrum, under increasing pressure, was turned -- and Pumas captain and scrum-half Agustin Pichot took a short pass from number eight Gonzalo Longo before delivering an inch-perfect kick to the corner where Carleto touched down.

Quesada missed with the conversion.

Ireland stunned the Pumas by drawing level with an O'Kelly try in the 21st minute.  A powerful drive from number eight Anthony Foley stretched the home defence, and the towering St Mary's College lock O'Kelly took advantage to power over from close range.  Humphreys was off target with his attempted conversion.

Ireland conceded a 25th-minute penalty on their 10-metre line.  But Quesada's kick was right of the posts, and the fly-half was way off target with a drop-goal attempt.

Five minutes from the break Quesada dropped Pichot's pass in his 22, and an infringement in the ensuing ruck gave Humphreys a straightforward chance to kick the tourists ahead from in front of the posts -- but he missed to the left.

Quesada landed a penalty from just outside the Irish 22 to give the Pumas an 8-5 lead.

Ireland regained the lead seven minutes into the second half with a sparkling try created by right-wing Shane Horgan and scored by Bishop.

Horgan appeared in the line outside Humphreys and punched a big hole in the Pumas' defence before off loading to full-back Peter McKenna who sent Bishop over in the corner.

Humphreys was off target with the conversion, but Ireland were ahead for the first time at 10-8.

But their lead was shortlived as Quesada landed a penalty to edge the Pumas back in front 11-10.

Unruffled Ireland swiftly regained the initiative with Henderson storming over for a try in the corner with the home defence in tatters.

Humphreys again failed to tag on the extra two points, but the Irish led The Pumas were inches away from reclaiming the lead minutes later.  Carleto burst past McKenna and forced his way over the line but he had put a foot in touch and the score was ruled out.

Quesada pulled the Pumas back to within a point with his third penalty and kicked a fourth 10 minutes from time to give the hosts a 17-15 lead.

But with seven minutes remaining the Irish were awarded a penalty in front of the posts and, having missed three conversions and a penalty, Humphreys finally broke his duck to kick Ireland ahead again at 18-17.

But then Ireland wilted as the Pumas prepared for the kill.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Mauricio Reggiardo, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Martin Scelzo, 4 Alejandro Allub, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Gonzalo Quesada, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Juan Fernandez Miranda, 13 Eduardo Simone, 14 Octavio Bartolucci, 15 Ignacio Corletto
Reserves:  Manuel Contepomi
Unused:  Agustin Canalda, Jose Cilley, Fernando Diaz Alberdi, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, German Llanes, Lucas Ostiglia

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Anthony Foley, 8 David Wallace, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Shane Horgan, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Justin Bishop, 15 Peter McKenna
Reserves:  Mike Mullins, Justin Fitzpatrick, Ronan O'Gara, Andy Ward
Unused:  Bob Casey, Simon Easterby, Frankie Sheahan

Attendance:  25000
Referee:  Watson a.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Bartolucci O. 1, Corletto I. 1, Scelzo M. 1
Conv:  Quesada G. 2
Pen K.:  Quesada G. 5

Ireland
Tries:  Henderson R.A.J. 1, O'Kelly M.E. 1, Bishop J.P. 2
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 1

Fiji 47 Japan 22

Despite the mounting political crisis at home, Fiji gave their country something to cheer about by beating defending champions Japan 47-22 in the opening game of the Epson Cup Pacific Rim at the Chichibu Stadium, Tokyo.

"We came here with the mission to play rugby.  There's no point worrying about what's going on at home," said Fiji's captain Simon Raiwalui, whose team was the only country to have beaten Japan last season.

Fiji needed only a minute to open the scoring, with half-back Mosese Rauluni receiving a pass from Saimoni Rokini just in front of the Japanese goal line for a try, converted by stand-off Nicky Little.

Although penalties from Keiji Hirose kept Japan in touch, a try from Saimoni Rokini on his debut put Fiji in the lead.  However, a try from promising wing Daisuke Ohata ten minutes before the break narrowed the gap to leave the home side trailing by just nine points at half-time.

After Japan conceded another try three minutes into the second half through veteran lock Katalau, they fought back.

An offside by the visitors enabled stand-off Keiji Hirose to reduce the deficit to 17-30 in the 48th minute and then Ohata got his second try of the game, his eleventh in 19 international appearances, 10 minutes later to make it 22-30.  But that completed the scoring for the Japanese.

With ten minuties remaining Fiji's Jonetani Waqa intercepted a stray Japanese pass to sprint home for a converted try.  Then just two minutes later Lauluni, Sirilo Lala, Kameli Tilalati, Katalau and Waqa all combined in a slick passing exchange for Jope Tuikabe to touchdown two minutes later to put the game beyond the reach of the home side.

"I stressed to my players at half time that we have to take the initiative in the early part of the second half.  However Japan played some outstanding football in the second half," said Fiji's head coach Greg Smith.

"The game was a lot closer than the score indicates.  Had they been able to score another try when they were making nice penetrative runs, the game could have gone either way.

"However, we came back and were able to break the line and scored a couple of outstanding tries, which really consolidated the victory for us," added Smith.

Next Saturday, Fiji will take on Tonga in Suva, while Japan will play the United States in Osaka.

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Paula Biu, 2 Isaia Rasila, 3 Joeli Veitayaki, 4 Emori Katalau, 5 Simon Raiwalui (c), 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 7 Sailosi Naiteqe, 8 Inoke Male, 9 Mosese Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Saimoni Rokini, 12 Sirilo Lala Ragata, 13 Kameli Tilalati, 14 Imanueli Tikomaimakogai, 15 Jonetani Waqa
Reserves:  Seremaia Bai, Peniasi Damu, Bill Gadolo, Alipate Naqaya, Seru Rabeni, Jope Tuikabe, Ilaitia Tuisese

Japan:  1 Toshikazu Nakamichi, 2 Shin Hasegawa, 3 Masahiko Toyoyama, 4 Naoya Okubo, 5 Karl Todd, 6 Masahiro Kurokawa, 7 Hiroshi Sugawara, 8 Yasunori Watanabe, 9 Yuji Sonoda, 10 Keiji Hirose, 11 Terunori Masuho (c), 12 Hideki Nanba, 13 Akira Yoshida, 14 Daisuke Ohata, 15 Koji Fukuoka
Reserves:  Kazuya Koizumi, Toru Kurihara, Kohei Oguchi, Syotaro Oonishi, Hiroyuki Tanuma

Referee:  Tuisila m.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Katalau E.S. 2, Rauluni M. 1, Rokini S. 1, Tuikabe J. 1, Waqa J. 1
Conv:  Little N.T. 4
Pen K.:  Little N.T. 3

Japan
Tries:  Ohata D. 2
Pen K.:  Hirose K. 4

England 13 Scotland 19

Stand-off Duncan Hodge shattered England's Grand Slam dreams as Scotland beat the inaugural Six Nations champions 19-13 at Murrayfield to lift the Calcutta Cup with their first win of the 2000 season.

Hodge scored a converted second-half try and four penalties to snatch victory from Clive Woodward's men, who had already secured the Championship after their closest challengers Ireland had lost to Wales.

England led 10-9 at the interval with number eight Lawrence Dallaglio scoring a try coverted by Jonny Wilkinson after 23 minutes but the visitors struggled to break out of their own half in the second period in which they only added three points through a Wilkinson penalty, his second of the match.

Defeat was a bitter blow for England who were denied the Grand Slam by Wales last season and who fell to Scotland at the final hurdle in 1990 when a late Tony Stanger try denied the overwhelming favourites.  "It was a day for strong men and my players showed who they were," coach Ian McGeechan, who had also been in charge of the 1990 team, said.

"They had to play out of their skins and they did.  They didn't let England settle and the English didn't let them to," he added.

Skipper Andy Nicol was overwhelmed by the spirit of the team which battled through against the odds to secure their first Championship win this campaign:  "It's unbelievable, really.  The effort everyone put in there was huge.  A lot of hard work has gone in this season -- and to win this after 10 years was a bit special.

After the game, England coach Clive Woodward said:  "It feels exactly like 1999 (when Wales beat England to end their Grand Slam hopes) -- I cannot say anymore than that."

The ferocity of Scotland clearly upset England from the start with Welsh referee Clayton Thomas desperately trying to control a contest which threatened to boil over at times.  Although the home side's tackling was fierce skipper Nicol's ditribution was poor and kept England on the offensive.

Wilkinson failed with a 14th minute penalty chance after Scotland had gone over the top at a ruck, and within a minute Duncan Hodge had missed too, after Austin Healey was penalised for not releasing.

Scott Murray, Lawrence Dallaglio and Steve Brotherstone were all talked to after two more scraps broke out close to the England line and, after another Thomas lecture, Hodge stepped up to put the home side in front with a 20 metre penalty.

Nicol did well to smother a Catt chip which rolled into the post, but it came at the cost of a five-metre scrum as he was bundled over his own line.  Dallaglio then broke from the scrum, sprinted round the blind side, shrugging off Nicol and outpacing the covering Scottish loose forwards.  Wilkinson landed the conversion.

Scotland's resistance was beginning to weaken, and James McLaren's high tackle on Mike Tindall not only cost another three points from Wilkinson, but also the home side the services of their inside centre for 10 minutes as he visited the sin bin.

More indiscipline from Murray prevented the home side from exerting some welcome attacking pressure on England after Glenn Metcalfe had dragged Matt Perry into touch inside the visitors' half.  But for all their errors, Scotland had succeeded in unsettling their opponents back-row and consequently their fluid style of play.

Hodge reduced the gap with his second penalty five minutes before the interval to give McLaren a welcome return after his brief interlude.  But then Scottish full-back Chris Paterson fumbled a Wilkinson kick within a metre of his own line to set up another barrage of England attacks.

However, despite at least five close-range drives, the home defence held firm, won a penalty then broke swiftly downfield where Paterson was hauled into touch by Healey.

Aother England infringement saw Hodge pull the gap back to a single point with the last kick of the half.  Conditions worsened during the interval, rain sweeping across the stadium, and there was no reprieve for England as Scotland established a territorial foothold.

A slippery ball and greasy surface made things hazardous for both teams, contributing towards narrowing the perceived gap in class, but as the clock ticked on, so England grew increasingly anxious.

Woodward replaced left wing Ben Cohen with exciting Bath youngster Iain Balshaw approaching the hour mark.  Before he could make a contribution though, Scotland regained a lead they'd lost almost 40 minutes earlier.  Hill was punished for killing the ball, and Hodge stepped up to put his side 12-10 in front as the horror vision of Wembley last April began featuring in every English mind.

Six minutes from time, Scotland again laid siege to England's try-line, and flanker Jason White magnificently got his hands on possession, giving Hodge a simple task of touching down.

Hodge then converted to give England a mountain to climb.  Although Wilkinson gave them hope when he slotted a short-range 78th-minute penalty, Scotland held on for a famous victory.

The Teams:

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Garath Archer, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson (c), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Joe Worsley, Iain Balshaw
Unused:  Neil McCarthy, Andy Gomarsall, Alex King, Trevor Woodman

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Steve Brotherstone, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Richard Metcalfe, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Jason White, 8 Martin Leslie, 9 Andy Nicol (c), 10 Duncan Hodge, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 James McLaren, 13 Gregor Townsend, 14 Craig Moir, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Gordon McIlwham, Stuart Reid
Unused:  Gavin Scott, Alan Bulloch, Stuart Grimes, Bryan Redpath, Graham Shiel

Referee:  Thomas c.

Points Scorers:

England
Tries:  Dallaglio L.B.N. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 1
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 2

Scotland
Tries:  Hodge D.W. 1
Conv:  Hodge D.W. 1
Pen K.:  Hodge D.W. 4

France 42 Italy 31

An unconvincing France ended their five match home losing streak here on Saturday at the Stade de France beating a game and gutsy Italian side, who had their oldest player 35-year-old Valter Cristofoletto sent-off, 42-31 in their final Six Nations match.

The French, who only went into the break 20-17 ahead thanks to a dubious try by Thomas Castaignede which appeared to be touched down over the deadball line, outscored their visitors by five tries to four while the Italians retiring fly-half Diego Dominguez kicked 11 points and did a lap of honour to celebrate his farwell international.

Cristofoletto, who had already been sinbinned in the first-half, was given his marching orders in the 62nd minute by Argentine referee Pablo Deluca after he stamped on legendary Moroccan-born backrower Abdelatif Benazzi and left in shame to catcalls from the hostile home crowd.

Benazzi, who had been dropped to the bench because coach Bernard Laporte claimed he was anonymous against the Irish a fortnight ago, paid the Italians back bigtime with a try a minute later taking scrum-half Aubin Hueber's reverse pass and touching down -- Dourthe failing for the first time to convert.

With the Italians tiring and outnumbered Alain Penaud, who had a mainly unconvincing afternoon on his first start since 1997, ran in his second try of the afternoon and with Dourthe converting took the score to 42-17.

The Italians, though, showed tremendous spirit and scored their third try when Nicola Mazzucato burst through the French defence and touched down under the posts -- which Dominguez converted for 42-24.

Italian captain Alessandro Troncon the added a final try after some dreadful French errors and Dominguez added the conversion to bring down the curtain on his great career.

French captain Fabien Pelous, a member of the Grand Slam sides of 1997 and 1998, gave the French vital early momentum in the second-half touching down and with Dourthe landing an exceelent conversion from out on the right touchline they grabbed a 10-point lead 27-17.

The faultless Dourthe added a penalty to extend their lead further.

Dominguez missed with a kickable drop-goal three minutes into the match and from France's counter-attack Thomas Castaignede, restored to fullback, looked certain to score a try but slipped and knocked the ball forward.

The French went ahead on 10 minutes when Dourthe, who also had been recalled after recovering from a fractured cheekbone, slotted over a penalty in front of the posts.

Dominguez, who made his debut against France back in 1991, went close to scoring a try for Italy as after sustained pressure from the visitors he was tackled short of the line and knocked the ball on as he was twisting to touch it down.

However, the diminutive Argentinian-born fly-half was not to be denied and levelled the match with a drop-goal just after the quarter-hour mark.

The Italians impressive early pressure paid-off with a deserved try five minutes later as centre Luca Martin picked up the loose ball and ran it in under the posts, Castaignede failing to bring him down, and Dominguez converted to give them the lead while the French crowd never the most faithful bunch of supporters whistled and jeered their side.

The Italians almost grabbed another try a minute later after the French had kicked straight into touch from the kick-off for the second time but Dominguez's clever chip over the top was booted over the deadball line by Castaignede with Nicolas Mazzucatto bearing down on him.

Dominguez' French counterpart Penaud, by contrast, had had a very shaky start to the match but broke through scrum-half Alessandro Troncon's tackle 25 metres out and ran the ball in despite Matt Pini's despairing effort to tackle him -- Dourthe converted to level the match.

Within minutes, however, Troncon had made up for the error by selling a dummy to the French defence and took the ball in from three metres out, after some great play by Bergamasco, and while Dominguez was converting, to take the score to 17-10, French captain Fabien Pelous was reading the riot act to his bedraggled looking team.

The French reduced the gap when Dourthe converted a penalty after a foul by Cristofoletto, who was sinbinned for his troubles -- in an all action period of play former Wallaby fullback Pini produced a try saving tackle on French winger Daniel Bory but then Castaignede "scored" his try, Dourthe converting, to douse the Italians hopes.

The Teams:

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Marc Dal Maso, 3 Franck Tournaire, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous (c), 6 Lionel Mallier, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Thomas Lievremont, 9 Aubin Hueber, 10 Alain Penaud, 11 Philippe Bernat-Salles, 12 Richard Dourthe, 13 Emile Ntamack, 14 David Bory, 15 Thomas Castaignede
Reserves:  Abdelatif Benazzi, Pieter De Villiers, Cedric Heymans, Raphael Ibanez, Hugues Miorin, David Venditti
Unused:  Christophe Laussucq

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi, 3 Tino Paoletti, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Andrea Gritti, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Walter Cristofoletto, 8 Andrea De Rossi, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Nicola Mazzucato, 12 Luca Martin, 13 Nicolas Zisti, 14 Cristian Stoica, 15 Matt Pini
Reserves:  Denis Dallan, Wim Visser, Carlo Orlandi, Salvatore Perugini
Unused:  Matteo Mazzantini, Aaron Persico, Andrea Scanavacca

Attendance:  77000
Referee:  Deluca p.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Benazzi A. 1, Castaignede T. 1, Penaud A. 2, Pelous F. 1
Conv:  Dourthe R. 4
Pen K.:  Dourthe R. 3

Italy
Tries:  Martin L. 1, Mazzucato N. 1, Troncon A. 2
Conv:  Dominguez D. 4
Drop G.:  Dominguez D. 1

Wales 23 Ireland 19

Wales beat Ireland 23-19 in their Six Nations Championship clash at Lansdowne Road with substitute and world record points scorer Neil Jenkins scoring two late penalties to snatch victory.

Victory for the Welsh handed England the Six Nations championship crown.

England can secure the Grand Slam in the inaugural Six Nations Championship should they beat Scotland in the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Wales ran in two tries through Nathan Budgett and Stephen Jones, who also added two conversions and a penalty, before withstanding a late Irish onslaught.  Winger Shane Horgan scored Ireland's only try with fly-half Ronan O'Gara successful with four penalties and a conversion.

Ireland had been looking to celebrate four successive championship victories for the first time since their Grand Slam winning team of 1948.

Scott Gibbs made his international comeback for Wales in the Six Nations finale.

The British Lions centre, who has not played for Wales since last November's Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat by Australia, came in as a late replacement for club-mate Mark Taylor.

Taylor failed to recover from the leg injury he sustained playing for Swansea last weekend.

Wales, whose coach Graham Henry denied he was playing mind games with the Irish over Gibbs' possible inclusion, had delayed announcing their final team until just before the kick-off.

The Welsh had won six times on their previous eight visits to Dublin but they were up against a buoyant Irish who had triumphed in their three previous games.

Wales also included Colin Charvis, despite the Walsall-born flanker becoming embroiled in the eligibility row that cost them the services of New Zealand's Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson.

The Irish started brightly playing with a strong wind behind them and were awarded a penalty after four minutes when Welsh loosehead Peter Rogers dropped the scrum.  Fly-half O'Gara was on target from the 22 line just left of the posts to give Ireland a 3-0 lead.  Obstruction by the Welsh forwards in the lineout six minutes later gave O'Gara the opportunity to kick a further three points with the visitors struggling to make ground.

But the 23-year old fly-half failed after 12 minutes with his third attempt.

Welsh fly-half Stephen Jones had the opportunity to reduce the deficit moments later but kicking into a howling wind his strike failed to hit the target.

Wales were beginning to grow in confidence despite early home pressure and against the run of play raced in front after 19 minutes.

Neath winger Shane Williams was finally able to show the speed that has made him the team's find of the season.

Williams outpaced Horgan as he chased a hopeful chip ahead into Irish territory, forcing his opposite number to concede a penalty after impeding him close to the line.

Wales went for the line-out, from which Andrew Moore caught the ball and found flanker Nathan Budgett who was bundled over by his team-mates for the try.

It was the Ebbw Vale player's maiden score in his only second appearance in a Welsh shirt.  Jones converted to give his side a 7-6 advantage.

The score settled the Welsh and they attacked the Irish with real purpose.

The visiting pack started to dominate and provided the backs with plenty of ball.  And Wales capitalised on another act of Irish indiscipline when Jones struck a penalty before the interval.

Ireland were caught napping after 46 minutes when Jones receives a pass from Gareth Thomas to streak in under the posts as Wales threatened to run riot.  Jones converted to make it 17-6.  But O'Gara cut Ireland's lead to eight points after 49 minutes with another penalty as Ireland clawed their way back.

And Horgan brought the home crowd to life eight minutes later crashing over to put Ireland right back into the hunt.  O'Gara was on target with the kick to reduce Wales lead to a point.

Ireland then sensationally took the lead with a quarter of an hour to go when O'Gara struck his fourth penalty after the Welsh were caught offside.

But Wales rallied in the closing stages and Jenkins, a second half replacement for Stephen Jones, hit another three-pointer with six minutes to go as Wales edged ahead.

Two minutes later the Cardiff points-machine struck again to give Wales a four point advantage and despite suffering a late Irish barrage the Welsh held on for a deserved victory.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Peter Rogers, 2 Garin Jenkins, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Colin Charvis, 8 Geraint Lewis, 9 Rupert Moon, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Allan Bateman, 13 Scott Gibbs, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Dafydd James, Neil Jenkins, Robin McBryde
Unused:  Richard Smith, Spencer John, Emyr Lewis, Martyn Williams

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Simon Easterby, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Jeremy Davidson, David Humphreys, Andy Ward
Unused:  Guy Easterby, Justin Fitzpatrick, Kevin Maggs, Frankie Sheahan

Attendance:  40000
Referee:  Cole a

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Budgett N. 1, Jones S.M. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 2
Pen K.:  Jenkins N.R. 2, Jones S.M. 1

Ireland
Tries:  Horgan S. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R. 1
Pen K.:  O'Gara R. 4

France 25 Ireland 27

David Humphreys, who missed a last-minute opportunity in the 1999 Five Nations championship to beat the French, kept his nerve on Sunday and landed a late penalty to give Ireland their first win in Paris since 1972.

The Irish ran out 27-25 winners in their Six Nations match at the Stade de France.  In a pulsating match in which Ireland trailed for most of it, the visitors ran in three tries, all by centre Brian O'Driscoll, to just one for the French -- Gerard Merceron kicking 20 of their points.

Merceron, who showed no sign of nerves despite his inexperience at this level, kicked a beauty of a penalty from the left touchline to extend France's lead to 16-7 after they had gone in 13-7 up at the break.  The Irish looked set to go further behind a minute later as Emile Ntamack, who had had a jittery afternoon at fullback, caught Ronan O'Gara's up-and-under and released Abdelatif Benazzi, who slipped veteran hooker Marc dal Maso free with the try line beckoning.

But Irish winger Dennis Hickie came from nowhere to tackle him two metres short of the line.  In a repeat of the beginning of the first half, the French had all the play and Merceron again put over a penalty after the Irish had stopped the ball from being released.

Not to be deterred, the Irish rebounded strongly.  O'Driscoll seized on a fine pass by fellow centre Rob Henderson and ran in from 10 metres out in the 57th minute.  With O'Gara converting that put them within five points of the hosts.

However, the game looked to have turned decisively for France when experienced lock Paddy Johns became the first Irish player to be sinbinned in the tournament as he took out Lassucq right in front of the posts.  Merceron converted the penalty.

Despite being a man down Ireland got back to within five points when substitute Humphreys slotted over a penalty.  The Irish kept on giving away needless penalties and Merceron once again made them pay with another penalty from in front of the posts to take the score to 25-17.

But the visitors, showing a spirit that had been sorely lacking in their opening match against England, refused to lie down and O'Driscoll showed his predatory instincts when he picked up a loose ball and ran it in under the posts.

French coach Bernard Laporte would not have been impressed by Ntamack not even making an effort to get to O'Driscoll.  Two minutes later and Humphreys faced his monent of truth, taking it with aplomb as he converted the penalty to give Ireland the lead.  Merceron had given the French a deserved lead in the fifth minute with a penalty as the Irish were rocked back on their heels by some outstanding backplay.

The 26-year-old fly-half, a member of the Montferrand team that won the European Shield last season, added another penalty minutes later as the Irish desperately tried to stem the French attacks.  The Irish rallied and at last broke into French territory pinning the French back and got due reward in the 24th minute when O'Driscoll took a pass from lock Malcolm O'Kelly and touched down under the posts, his third try of the tournament and one which O'Gara converted.

However, the French replied in kind five minutes later as scrum-half Christophe Lassucq scored after taking a quick freekick from three metres out, though it was Bernat-Salles' stunning break through the centre which created the platform for the 26-year-old to score his first try for his country.

In a wonderful flowing period of play, Ireland came within inches of scoring another try but French captain Fabien Pelous put in a crashing tackle on flanker Kieron Dawson just short of the line.

Pelous, a member of the 1997 and 1998 Grand Slam sides, put in an even more memorable tackle five minutes later as he took down his Irish counterpart Keith Wood in full flow, leaving the usually unbreakable Irishman stunned on the ground.

Winger David Bory was denied a try within a minute of his debut when after another flowing move, inspired by the recalled Philippe Bernat-Salles coming in off his right wing, referee Peter Honiss ruled it out for a forward pass.

The loss ended France's chances of winning this season's title, while Ireland's remain flickering.

The Teams:

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Marc Dal Maso, 3 Franck Tournaire, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous (c), 6 Abdelatif Benazzi, 7 Arnaud Costes, 8 Thomas Lievremont, 9 Christophe Laussucq, 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Philippe Bernat-Salles, 12 Cedric Desbrosse, 13 Stephane Glas, 14 David Bory, 15 Emile Ntamack
Reserves:  Franck Belot, Pieter De Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Lionel Mallier
Unused:  Aubin Hueber, Alain Penaud, David Venditti

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Simon Easterby, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Kevin Maggs, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  David Humphreys, Paddy Johns, Andy Ward
Unused:  Simon Easterby, Mike Mullins, Justin Fitzpatrick, Frankie Sheahan

Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Laussucq C. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 1
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 6

Ireland
Tries:  O'Driscoll B. 3
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 1, O'Gara R. 2
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 2

England 59 Italy 12

The England steamroller flattened overmatched Italy at the Stadio Flaminio, winning 59-12 to set up a Six Nations Grand Slam showdown with Auld Enemy Scotland at Murrayfield on April 2.  Coach Clive Woodward's players ran in eight tries, five of them to wingers Austin Healey and Ben Cohen, with five conversions, two penalties and a drop goal to make it four out of four in this the first Six Nations tournament.

Italy, in their second home match of the season, could only muster two tries and a conversion as they battled hard to reproduce the inspirational form that propelled them to victory over Scotland six weeks ago.

The English were given an early shock from the Italian gladiators who led 7-6 after 28 minutes only for a penalty try for a high tackle on winger Austin Healey to turn the tide with the Italians down to 13 men due to two players being sinbinned.

Thereafter England moved into top gear and the back division, spearheaded by an inspired Healey, tore gaping holes at will in an outpaced Italian defence.

"You can see how Scotland got beat down here.  They really rattled us early on," said Woodward.

"It was a great test match and I am just pleased we do not have to come here for a couple of years.  Italy are a credit to the Six Nations," he added.

Woodward paid glowing credit to hat-trick man Healey, saying he gave the England back division "a massive attacking source".  Comparing this year's side to that of last year which fell at the final hurdle to Wales, Woodward said his players were now "more ruthless with our decision making".

"We can't wait to meet up again a week on Tuesday to prepare for the Scotland game." Skipper Matt Dawson also praised Italy for "making it frantic early on." "But we finished superbly in the second half," he added.

England entered the renovated 30,000-capacity Roman stadium as prohibitive favourites after thumping Ireland and Wales and scraping past France 15-9 in their three previous games.  Those results have turned the tide for Woodward, who was pilloried after England's World Cup quarter-final collapse against South Africa in November and who just six weeks ago was widely perceived to be living on borrowed time as coach.

But both Woodward and Dawson had warned against complacency against an Italian side who have proved to be poor travellers since the Scotland game -- conceding 107 points against Wales and Ireland.  Italy's Kiwi coach Brad Johnstone made four changes to the side embarrassed at Lansdowne Road, but two of them had been due to injuries to key players.  England made their first personnel change of the tournament with Darren Garforth replacing the injured Phil Vickery at tight-head prop.

Stand-off Jonny Wilkinson opened the match with two penalties for England under warm, spring-like conditions as the Italians struggled to control their emotions after the two big losses to Ireland and Wales.  But a sudden counter-attack in the eighth minute brought a barrelling try for winger Luca Martin, converted by prolific stand-off Domingo Dominguez and suddenly England were back on their heels.

The Italians could have gone further ahead after 20 minutes but Dominguez astonishingly missed from under the posts with a penalty.

The penalty try after 28 minutes signalled the end of the Italian flurry with flanker Neil Back dropping a goal after 32 minutes and Dawson scoring a fine individual try after tapping two quick penalties in the 36th minute.

England snuffed out any embers of Italian hopes early in the second period with Healey running in three tries in nine minutes, the second a remarkable solo effort from just inside the Italian half, chipping on to outpace full back Corrado Pilat for his 10th try for his country.

Healey then chipped ahead for Cohen to score in the corner after 61 minutes before the Italians finally replied with a scrappy try for winger Christian Stoica.

Further tries from Cohen and Dawson were the icing on the cake for classy England.

They now head from the most southerly Six Nations outpost to the most northerly, in search of the two points against Scotland that will assure them of the first Six Nations Grand Slam.

Italy have another tough assignment with an away match against the French in Paris.  Johnstone said his side had been much improved on the Ireland game which proved to him that Italian rugby had a bright future.

"The English changed their style of play in the second half and we did not change our style of defence to suit," he said.

Only over-confidence could prevent England from winning the Grand Slam, he added.

The Teams:

England:  1 Darren Garforth, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Jason Leonard, 4 Garath Archer, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson (c), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Neil McCarthy, Martin Corry, Andy Gomarsall, Alex King, Joe Worsley, Trevor Woodman, Iain Balshaw

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi, 3 Tino Paoletti, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Andrea Gritti, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Walter Cristofoletto, 8 Andrea De Rossi, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Luca Martin, 13 Nicolas Zisti, 14 Cristian Stoica, 15 Corrado Pilat
Reserves:  Massimo Cuttitta, Aaron Persico, Giacomo Preo
Unused:  Matteo Mazzantini, Orazio Arancio, Carlo Orlandi, Andrea Scanavacca

Attendance:  30000
Referee:  Lewis a

Points Scorers:

England
Tries:  Dawson M.J.S. 2, Healey A.S. 3, Cohen B.C. 2, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  King A.D. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 4
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 2
Drop G.:  Back N.A. 1

Italy
Tries:  Martin L. 1, Stoica A. 1
Conv:  Dominguez D. 1

Wales 26 Scotland 18

Wales beat Scotland 26-18 at the Millennium Stadium to give their under-pressure coach, New Zealander Graham Henry a win he desperately needed.

The build-up to this match had been dominated by the dropping of New Zealand-born players, Brett Sinkinson and Shane Howarth from the Wales side after doubts were raised about their eligibility.

But it was two native Welshmen, winger Shane Williams with two tries and fly-half Stephen Jones, with an excellent kicking display, who guided Wales to their second Six Nations win of the season.

The defeat leaves last ever Five Nations champions Scotland without a win after four matches and favourites for the wooden spoon when they face England, on course for a Grand Slam, at Murrayfield in two weeks time.  The opening exchanges were a clear sign of the lack of quality in both teams.  Wales had the lion's share of possession but a lack of quick ball meant the Scotland defence could cover Wales' early attacks.  When Scotland did have the ball basic handling errors let them down.

Wales took the lead when fly-half Jones, playing in place of the injured Neil Jenkins, kicked an eighth minute penalty after Scotland had strayed offside.

Neath winger Williams, whose pace raised spirits in the home crowd every time he received the ball, burst forward in the ninth minute but he was well-tackled by opposing winger Glenn Metcalfe.

Scotland equalised when fly-half Duncan Hodge coverted an easy penalty chance from 15 metres out in the 24th minute after Wales were offside.  Hodge was extremely unlucky to see a 34th minute penalty attempt from 49 metres hit the left post and five minutes later, when Wales were offside again, his effort from 40 metres out hit the right upright.

Just before the end of the half, Wales scored the try their first-half dominance deserved.  Jones kicked ahead, centre Allan Bateman followed up with a kick of his own and Williams won the race for the touch-down in the 37th minute.

Jones converted and in first-half injury time his 40 metre penalty, after Scotland lock Stuart Grimes was offside, gave Wales a 13-3 lead at the interval.  But it was Scotland, perhaps inspired by coach Ian McGeechan's half-time talk, who started the second period the stronger.  In the 46th minute they came back into the game with a try.  Gregor Townsend, playing his 50th international for Scotland, sent a well-timed pass to full-back Craig Paterson.

He was held up just short of the line but from the resulting ruck, flanker Martin Leslie dived over.  Hodge converted and Scotland had reduced the deficit to 13-10.  Jones and Hodge then exchanged penalties to leave Wales 16-10 ahead.

Then in the 63rd minutes Wales scored the game's decisive try.  Williams, reacting sharply, took a quick lineout, after Scotland had cleared.  He exchanged passes with Gareth Thomas and the ball was moved to the right.  With the defence sucked in the ball was moved back left to Williams, who finished what he started with a fine try.

Scotland's Metcalfe was sin-binned for a late tackle on 71 minutes after team-mate, lock Budge Pountney, had been held up just short of the line by good Wales team defence.

With three minutes remaining Townsend marked his 50th international with a try, the ball bouncing off his thigh before he touched down.  Referee David McHugh of Ireland, consulted with English touch judge Steve Lander, before correctly awarding the score.

Scotland couldn't make the most of several minutes of injury-time and Wales hung on for a vital win.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Peter Rogers, 2 Garin Jenkins, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Colin Charvis, 8 Geraint Lewis, 9 Rupert Moon, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Allan Bateman, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Matt Cardey
Unused:  Alix Popham, Richard Smith, Jason Strange, Dafydd James, Spencer John, Robin McBryde, Martyn Williams

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Steve Brotherstone, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Stuart Reid, 9 Andy Nicol, 10 Duncan Hodge, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 John Leslie (c), 13 Gregor Townsend, 14 Craig Moir, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Gordon Bulloch, Dave Hilton
Unused:  Alan Bulloch, Cameron Mather, Bryan Redpath, Doddie Weir

Referee:  Mchugh d.t.m.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Williams S.M. 2
Conv:  Jones S.M. 2
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 4

Scotland
Tries:  Leslie M.D. 1, Townsend G.P.J. 1
Conv:  Hodge D.W. 1
Pen K.:  Hodge D.W. 2

Scotland 16 France 28

Two late tries from French flanker Olivier Magne helped France limp to a 28-16 victory over Five Nations champions Scotland in the Six Nations clash.

Magne's double ensured the formbook was vindicated in a match where an undisciplined France looked for a long time as if they were determined to help the Scots to their first ever Six Nations win.

Stewards at Murrayfield had been put on alert to confiscate any cockerels that French fans might smuggle into the stadium but for a long time it appeared that headless chickens might cost France the match as the Scots took the lead after half-time with France down to 13 men after two first-half sin-binnings.

Montferrand's Magne admitted that Bernard Laporte had not been happy at the interval.

"In the first-half the sin-binnings cost us very dear," admitted Magne.  "Bernard was not happy.  Playing with 13 men is an unacceptable handicap.  We must be careful.  Against a stronger team it would have cost us the match."

Of his tries Magne, an injury doubt for this match, said:  "It was no big deal.  Emile (Ntamack) was very nice to pass to me (for the first try) because he could have scored himself."

For the second he said:  "I anticpated it well and Emile set me up again."

France's hopes of the Six Nations title were dealt a severe blow when they lost to England a fortnight ago but most pundits expected them to easily see them brush aside the Scots who were abysmal in their two previous outings against Italy and Ireland and were being tipped to replace the last ever Five Nations Trophy on the mantelpiece with the Wooden Spoon at the end of the season.

But a combination of Scottish pride and French indiscipline contrived to produce a tight encounter.

Scotland's Kenny Logan had already missed a penalty before France took the lead after 11 minutes with a converted try.

The Scottish side looked like caving in against French pressure and conceded a penalty 10 metres from the line.  The French chose to run it and the Scottish defence was again looking hopelessly inadequate as the visitors extracted maximum advantage.

Even the normally ponderous prop Christian Califano had the chance to show his ball-playing skills as he played the ball along the line where it eventually reached full-back Thomas Castaignede who crossed the line before touching down near the posts.

Castaignede, back at fullback after being blamed by some for the 15-9 defeat by England after an indifferent performance as stand-in flyhalf, had all the time in the world to score and even had hooker Marc Dal Maso outside him if needed with no Scottish defender in sight.

Gerald Merceron converted before a brief Scottish rally.

Logan reduced the deficit with a penalty but another Merceron kick -- this time a penalty -- restored the French advantage to seven points with the score 10-3 after 20 minutes.

But Scotland came perilously close to scoring after half an hour when the French held up a surge from the Scottish forwards on the line.  Flanker Budge Pountney touched down but was correctly penalised by English referee Steve Lander for a blatant double movement.

Had Pountney bided his time there was plenty of support and his colleagues were clearly unhappy with his rash move as the French cleared their lines from the subsequent penalty.

France produced some typical flowing passing movements but then their eternal Achilles heel indiscipline, which new coach Bernard Laporte has vowed to stamp out, allowed Scotland to narrow the gap.

First Emile Ntamack was sin binned for 10 minutes and full-back Chris Paterson, who had taken over kicking duties from Logan who had missed another kick, popped over the penalty.

Then Jean Daude was also banished temporarily to the touchline for a high challenge leaving the French down to 13 but this time Paterson squandered the kick.

The French held on to half-time 10-6 to the good but knew that they would still be two men down when the match resumed.

And the Scots wasted no time in taking full advantage when they were awarded a penalty in the second minute of the second period.

Not surprisingly given their numerical advantage they chose to run it and scrum-half Andy Nicol touched down under the post, leaving the conversion a formality for Paterson.

Scotland now led 13-10.  But Ntamack returned and with the French still a man down Merceron levelled the score with a penalty.

Laporte, who had fielded a patched-up team, changed his formation with Thomas Lievremont, Arnaud Costes, Pieter De Villiers and Raphael Ibanez coming into reinforce the struggling visitors.

Finally restored to full strength the French again started to exert pressure and David Venditti failed to collect the ball for what would have been a simple try after an inaccurate pass by Christophe Dominici.

The game went into the final quarter deadlocked at 13-13 but the French were looking the more likely with the elusive Dominici held up by Paterson just short of the line.

Finally the Scots yielded the try with France's talismanic flanker Olivier Magne touching down from a pass by Ntamack after a chipped kick from Christophe Laussucq but the conversion was missed.

Paterson reduced the margin to 18-16 with another penalty and France had just less than 10 minutes to hang on.

But any doubts as to the final result were ended when the same combination gave France breathing space.  Again Ntamack played the scoring pass while Magne this time cantered behind the posts, leaving Merceron this time to add the two extra points.

That silenced the Murrayfield crowd and a Merceron penalty further assuaged French nerves.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Steve Brotherstone, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Doddie Weir, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Stuart Reid, 9 Andy Nicol, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 John Leslie (c), 13 James McLaren, 14 Kenny Logan, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Stuart Grimes, Dave Hilton, Duncan Hodge, Cameron Mather
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge, Jamie Mayer, Steve Scott

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Marc Dal Maso, 3 Franck Tournaire, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Jean Daude, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Sebastien Chabal, 8 Fabien Pelous (c), 9 Christophe Laussucq, 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Emile Ntamack, 12 Thomas Lombard, 13 David Venditti, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Thomas Castaignede
Reserves:  Arnaud Costes, Pieter De Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Thomas Lievremont, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde
Unused:  Cedric Desbrosse, Aubin Hueber

Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Nicol A.D. 1
Conv:  Paterson C.D. 1
Pen K.:  Logan K.McK. 1, Paterson C.D. 2

France
Tries:  Castaignede T. 1, Magne O. 2
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 3

France 28 Scotland 16

Two late tries from French flanker Olivier Magne helped France limp to a 28-16 victory over Five Nations champions Scotland in the Six Nations clash.

Magne's double ensured the formbook was vindicated in a match where an undisciplined France looked for a long time as if they were determined to help the Scots to their first ever Six Nations win.

Stewards at Murrayfield had been put on alert to confiscate any cockerels that French fans might smuggle into the stadium but for a long time it appeared that headless chickens might cost France the match as the Scots took the lead after half-time with France down to 13 men after two first-half sin-binnings.

Montferrand's Magne admitted that Bernard Laporte had not been happy at the interval.

"In the first-half the sin-binnings cost us very dear," admitted Magne.  "Bernard was not happy.  Playing with 13 men is an unacceptable handicap.  We must be careful.  Against a stronger team it would have cost us the match."

Of his tries Magne, an injury doubt for this match, said:  "It was no big deal.  Emile (Ntamack) was very nice to pass to me (for the first try) because he could have scored himself."

For the second he said:  "I anticpated it well and Emile set me up again."

France's hopes of the Six Nations title were dealt a severe blow when they lost to England a fortnight ago but most pundits expected them to easily see them brush aside the Scots who were abysmal in their two previous outings against Italy and Ireland and were being tipped to replace the last ever Five Nations Trophy on the mantelpiece with the Wooden Spoon at the end of the season.

But a combination of Scottish pride and French indiscipline contrived to produce a tight encounter.

Scotland's Kenny Logan had already missed a penalty before France took the lead after 11 minutes with a converted try.

The Scottish side looked like caving in against French pressure and conceded a penalty 10 metres from the line.  The French chose to run it and the Scottish defence was again looking hopelessly inadequate as the visitors extracted maximum advantage.

Even the normally ponderous prop Christian Califano had the chance to show his ball-playing skills as he played the ball along the line where it eventually reached full-back Thomas Castaignede who crossed the line before touching down near the posts.

Castaignede, back at fullback after being blamed by some for the 15-9 defeat by England after an indifferent performance as stand-in flyhalf, had all the time in the world to score and even had hooker Marc Dal Maso outside him if needed with no Scottish defender in sight.

Gerald Merceron converted before a brief Scottish rally.

Logan reduced the deficit with a penalty but another Merceron kick -- this time a penalty -- restored the French advantage to seven points with the score 10-3 after 20 minutes.

But Scotland came perilously close to scoring after half an hour when the French held up a surge from the Scottish forwards on the line.  Flanker Budge Pountney touched down but was correctly penalised by English referee Steve Lander for a blatant double movement.

Had Pountney bided his time there was plenty of support and his colleagues were clearly unhappy with his rash move as the French cleared their lines from the subsequent penalty.

France produced some typical flowing passing movements but then their eternal Achilles heel indiscipline, which new coach Bernard Laporte has vowed to stamp out, allowed Scotland to narrow the gap.

First Emile Ntamack was sin binned for 10 minutes and full-back Chris Paterson, who had taken over kicking duties from Logan who had missed another kick, popped over the penalty.

Then Jean Daude was also banished temporarily to the touchline for a high challenge leaving the French down to 13 but this time Paterson squandered the kick.

The French held on to half-time 10-6 to the good but knew that they would still be two men down when the match resumed.

And the Scots wasted no time in taking full advantage when they were awarded a penalty in the second minute of the second period.

Not surprisingly given their numerical advantage they chose to run it and scrum-half Andy Nicol touched down under the post, leaving the conversion a formality for Paterson.

Scotland now led 13-10.  But Ntamack returned and with the French still a man down Merceron levelled the score with a penalty.

Laporte, who had fielded a patched-up team, changed his formation with Thomas Lievremont, Arnaud Costes, Pieter De Villiers and Raphael Ibanez coming into reinforce the struggling visitors.

Finally restored to full strength the French again started to exert pressure and David Venditti failed to collect the ball for what would have been a simple try after an inaccurate pass by Christophe Dominici.

The game went into the final quarter deadlocked at 13-13 but the French were looking the more likely with the elusive Dominici held up by Paterson just short of the line.

Finally the Scots yielded the try with France's talismanic flanker Olivier Magne touching down from a pass by Ntamack after a chipped kick from Christophe Laussucq but the conversion was missed.

Paterson reduced the margin to 18-16 with another penalty and France had just less than 10 minutes to hang on.

But any doubts as to the final result were ended when the same combination gave France breathing space.  Again Ntamack played the scoring pass while Magne this time cantered behind the posts, leaving Merceron this time to add the two extra points.

That silenced the Murrayfield crowd and a Merceron penalty further assuaged French nerves.

The Teams:

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Marc Dal Maso, 3 Franck Tournaire, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Jean Daude, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Sebastien Chabal, 8 Fabien Pelous (c), 9 Christophe Laussucq, 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Emile Ntamack, 12 Thomas Lombard, 13 David Venditti, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Thomas Castaignede
Reserves:  Arnaud Costes, Pieter De Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Thomas Lievremont, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde
Unused:  Cedric Desbrosses, Aubin Hueber

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Steve Brotherstone, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Doddie Weir, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Stuart Reid, 9 Andy Nicol, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 John Leslie (c), 13 James McLaren, 14 Kenny Logan, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Stuart Grimes, Dave Hilton, Duncan Hodge, Cameron Mather
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge, Jamie Mayer, Steve Scott

Attendance:  67500
Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Castaignede T. 1, Magne O. 2
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 3

Scotland
Tries:  Nicol A.D. 1
Conv:  Paterson C.D. 1
Pen K.:  Logan K.McK. 1, Paterson C.D. 2

Ireland 60 Italy 13

Ireland strolled to a record 60-13 victory against Italy at Lansdowne Road here on Saturday, only their second win in the past five meetings with their opponents, to stay joint-second in the Six Nations table with France, behind all-conquering England.

Warren Gatland's men carried on from where they left off after the previous record 44-22 trouncing of Scotland, putting six tries past the bewildered Italians to stay in the hunt for the inaugural championship after France beat Scotland 28-16 and England defeated Wales 46-12.

Ireland captain Keith Wood led the way with the first try, followed by winger Shane Horgan (2), flanker Keiron Dawson, centre Brian O'Driscoll, and full-back Girvan Dempsey.

Fly-half Ronan O'Gara also added an Irish-record 30 points with the boot as Ireland put on an exhibition for referee Derek Bevan's final international.

O'Gara beat Paul Burke's previous record of 24 points set against Italy at Lansdowne Road in 1997.

Ireland never looked likely to slip to defeat against a side that had become a bit of a bogey team for them and they eclipsed their biggest win of 31-15 in 1988 by some margin.

Italy's points came from a try by number eight Andrea de Rossi, and eight points from kicker Diego Dominguez.

After starting the tournament with a surprise defeat of Five Nations champions Scotland, Italy's challenge faltered as they slipped to defeat against Wales, with whom they are locked on two points in the table, ahead of bottom-placed Scotland.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Simon Easterby, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Mike Mullins, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Rob Henderson, Dion O'Cuinneagain, Justin Fitzpatrick
Unused:  Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Paddy Johns, Frankie Sheahan

Italy:  1 Massimo Cuttitta, 2 Alessandro Moscardi, 3 Tino Paoletti, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Andrea Gritti, 6 Wim Visser, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 8 Andrea De Rossi, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Luca Martin, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Juan Francescio, 15 Matt Pini
Reserves:  Marco Rivaro, Giuseppe Lanzi, Salvatore Perugini, Giacomo Preo, Laurent Travini
Unused:  Giampiero Mazzi, Carlo Orlandi

Attendance:  40000
Referee:  Bevan w.d.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Dawson K. 1, Dempsey G. 1, Horgan S. 2, O'Driscoll B. 1, Wood K.G.M. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R. 6
Pen K.:  O'Gara R. 6

Italy
Tries:  De Rossi A. 1
Conv:  Dominguez D. 1
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 2

Wales 12 England 46

England smashed Wales 46-12 at Twickenham to keep alive their hopes of winning the first ever Six Nations Grand Slam and extend Wales' losing streak at the home of English rugby to six matches.

England ran in five unopposed tries, from hooker Phil Greening, wing Ben Cohen and a back-row hat-trick for Neil Back, Richard Hill, and Lawrence Dallaglio to stay ahead in the championship with three straight wins.

England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson added 21 points to eclipse Neil Jenkins' three penalties and a drop goal as England celebrated prop Jason Leonard's 80th cap, only bettered in an England shirt by winger Rory Underwood.

Wales' were led by David Young, who broke Graham Price's 42-cap record for a Welsh prop.

But any hopes of repeating the Scott Gibbs-inspired 32-31 victory of last year were shattered by another heavyweight performance from England's pack, inspired by man-of-the-match Greening, allied to a potent back line always looking to attack the spaces.

England last achieved a Grand Slam of championship victories in 1995, but with wins already against Ireland and France and with tournament newcomers Italy and wooden-spoon candidates Scotland left to play, the favourites are on course to prove that the World Cup quarter-final elimination was only a blip in their development.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Peter Rogers, 2 Garin Jenkins, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Craig Quinnell, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Colin Charvis, 7 Brett Sinkinson, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Neil Jenkins, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Allan Bateman, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Shane Howarth
Reserves:  Ian Gough, Spencer John, Barry Williams
Unused:  Matt Cardey, Geraint Lewis, Richard Smith, Stephen Jones

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Garath Archer, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson (c), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Martin Corry
Unused:  Neil McCarthy, Andy Gomarsall, Alex King, Joe Worsley, Trevor Woodman, Iain Balshaw

Attendance:  73500
Referee:  Fleming j.m.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Conv:  Jenkins N.R. 3
Pen K.:  Jenkins N.R. 1

England
Tries:  Back N.A. 1, Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Greening P.B.T. 1, Hill R.A. 1, Cohen B.C. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 3
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 5

France 9 England 15

England produced a courageous performance on Saturday to beat France 15-9 in their Six Nations Championship match at the Stade de France.

England now look on course to finally reward coach Clive Woodward with a major title.

In a hard and gritty match, with England at one stage down to 13 men, both sides failed to score a try with England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson scoring all his team's points, taking his total to 206 in internationals, while French fullback Richard Dourthe kicked three penalties.

France pressured the England line late in the game without finding a way through.  "We knew coming here to the Stade de France that it was going to be very tough -- and that we'd have to give 110 percent," said elated but exhausted England captain Matt Dawson.

The French, who were given no room to play with their traditional flair, were shattered at the end.

Backline ace Christophe Dominici said:  "We're very disappointed as we worked hard to try and overcome them, but the tournament's not lost.  We've still got matches coming up against Scotland and Ireland and Italy.  We're going to have to go away now and come up with something different to what we did here today against this English team." Dourthe, who was given the kicking responsibility after the withdrawal of Christophe Lamaison on Monday, got France to within three points of the English within six minutes of the start of the second-half, kicking two penalties.

The English, who looked to be tiring after a sterling first-half when they had given as good as they got against a much-larger pack, started to make standard errors with Mike Catt ruining a try scoring opportunity when England had an overlap by serving a hospital pass out to winger Ben Cohen.

However, another French infringement, this time by the increasingly rattled scrum-half Fabien Galthie, gave England more breathing space as Wilkinson slotted the penalty between the posts from right in front of goal.

The French then came under a period of sustained pressure during which coach Bernard Laporte's demand for discipline and fair play was sorely tested.  Flanker Olivier Magne was extremely fortunate not to become the second French player to be sinbinned when he punched lock Garath Archer.

Laporte must have been steaming, however, when replacement Serge Bettsen was yellow-carded only a minute after coming on for foul play and Wilkinson converted the penalty to restore England's nine-point lead with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining.

With Laporte throwing on former captain Raphael Ibanez and Pieter de Villiers to bolster his tiring pack, England started to lose their edge and Dourthe landed another penalty to make it 15-9 with eight minutes to go.

Dourthe, making his 24th test appearance, was left red-faced and on his backside when he slipped taking a much easier chance a minute later after England lock Simon Shaw was given a yellow card.

Wilkinson, who tackled like a lion, had opened the scoring with a penalty in the 13th minute after persistent pressure forced the French into an infringement.

English winger Austin Healey almost forged a try out of nothing coming in off his wing to burst through the French centres but delayed his pass to hooker Phil Greening too long and was tackled five metres short of the line.

Wilkinson then added another penalty from 35 metres out halfway through, although the French sparked into life pouring on the pressure close to the England line but scrum-half Fabien Galthie was denied a try when the ball was ripped out of his arms as he crossed the line.

The French did finally look to have got on the scoreboard when Thomas Lombard touched down after a magical weaving run by Christophe Dominici, but Australian referee Stuart Dickinson ruled it out for what appeared to be a marginal forward pass.

Dickinson fell further out of favour with the French when he sin-binned massive French lock Olivier Brouzet for tripping flanker Richard Hill -- Wilkinson coolly converting the penalty to rack up 200 points in just 16 internationals.

The 20-year-old missed a far easier opportunity on the stroke of halftime but his chances in the second half were more limited as the French dominated territorially without being able to break through.

In the end, it was a victory that England merited.  "The English were stronger than us today," admitted French forward Olivier Magne.  "We were lacking strength.  We've got work to do."

The Teams:

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Marc Dal Maso, 3 Franck Tournaire, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Legi Matiu, 6 Abdelatif Benazzi, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Fabien Pelous (c), 9 Fabien Galthie, 10 Thomas Castaignede, 11 Emile Ntamack, 12 Thomas Lombard, 13 David Venditti, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Richard Dourthe
Reserves:  Serge Betsen Tchoua, Pieter De Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Thomas Lievremont
Unused:  Cedric Desbrosses, Stephane Glas, Christophe Laussucq

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Garath Archer, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson (c), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Iain Balshaw
Unused:  Neil McCarthy, Andy Gomarsall, Alex King, Joe Worsley, Trevor Woodman

Attendance:  78000
Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

France
Pen K.:  Dourthe R. 3

England
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 4