New Zealand 13 England 15

England finally laid to rest their Antipodean travel sickness as they beat the All Blacks in their own back yard in Wellington, the boot of fly-half Jonny Wilkinson being the difference in a 15-13 victory which saw them bolster their status as the top-ranked team in the world.

A host of missed penalties from All Black first five-eighth Carlos Spencer cost his side dear in the Westpac Stadium wind, while the reliable Wilkinson mastered the elements to send over all but one of his five penalty attempts from far and wide.

It was the spectacle that rugby fans the world over had been waiting for, and while the heavy-handed approach of Australian referee Stuart Dickinson may have sucked much flow out of the game, lovers of forward play and sporting endeavour will have lapped up the fiery feast on show.

Four penalties and a drop-goal from Wilkinson saw the English home, although the critics may well make much of the fact that the tourists again relied on the boot of their youthful talisman, while the All Blacks crafted the only try of a tight and nervy game.

It was fullback Doug Howlett who scored it midway through the second half, but the dye had been cast by then after Spencer's horror show with the boot, the Blues No.10 hitting over two penalties and a conversion, but sending a series of vital penalties wide of the uprights.

Whether or not All Black coach John Mitchell can afford to persist with the supremely-talented ball-player in such a tight match must surely now be up for discussion, although despite drifting in and out of the match, he did weave his magic on occasion with ball in hand.

But the story of this match will be the steely English defence, which survived a 10-minute period in the second half with only 13 men on the field after the sin-binnings of back rowers Neil Back and Lawrence Dallaglio for killing the ball.  Despite coming under siege on their own line, the rearguard did not buckle, as the hosts failed to score a single point during that key spell.

New Zealand dominated the line-outs and made some sound breaks, but their speedy backline were starved of ball, debutants Ma'a Nonu and especially Joe Rokocoko consigned to mere bystanders for much of the game, as lock Chris Jack and openside Richie McCaw came to the fore.

In a keen English pack they had able adversaries, with Martin Johnson and Steve Thompson putting in massive performances, while Dallaglio and wing Ben Cohen were also among the standouts.

In the swirling wind, England pressured right from the kick-off, with Spencer having his clearance charged down by Ben Kay near his own line, but that was as near as the English were to come to the whitewash in the opening 40 minutes, as the hosts set up camp in the England half.

An early English foray into All Black territory down the left reaped rewards however when Wilkinson kicked his first penalty from out wide, negotiating the wind well to give his side the lead.

Opposite number Spencer erred from his first attempt moments later in a tense atmosphere, before composing himself to strike his second one over -- this after the ball had fallen over twice, eating into his allotted 60 seconds.

In a half littered with penalties -- mainly against the defending visitors -- the All Blacks hogged the ball in an attempt to strangle the English resolve, but some stout defending, especially in the backs, kept the hosts at bay, despite Ralph and Howlett both coming close down the left and right wings respectively.

A striking facet was the ease with which Chris Jack and Ali Williams got the better of Martin Johnson and Ben Kay in the early line-outs, with some wayward throwing by England's powerful hooker Steve Thompson not helping his side's cause as they searched for some degree of equilibrium in the possession stakes.

Despite New Zealand dominating territorially, England did have one or two breaks into the opposing half, and after Reuben Thorne was judged to have held Kyran Bracken after a tackle, Wilkinson beat the elements and drilled a massive penalty over from the right touchline, claiming a 6-3 lead despite his side being almost entirely on the back foot.

A last-ditch clearance from wing Jason Robinson again saved England as Spencer broke down the right after a Justin Marshall pick-and-go from the base of the scrum, but with five minutes left in the opening half Spencer levelled the scores with a penalty after Neil Back crossed the off-side line on the 22, right in front of his own posts.

And the hosts would have gone into the interval with a 9-6 advantage had Spencer not fired wildly right of the posts with a late penalty after Bracken failed to roll away from the tackle, but he missed, sending the teams in at 6-6.

But where Spencer had failed, Wilkinson succeeded, sending over his third penalty in the opening exchanges of the second half to take the lead for his side after Jack had not released the ball in a tackle, a booming penalty bissecting the posts as punishment for his indiscretion.

Jack was again in the thick of things as he spectacularly charged down a Wilkinson clearance in the England 22, but the covering Mike Tindall defused the ball in the dead ball area.

And just when the game looked like it might be developing as a contest, referee Dickinson reduced the English to 13 men with the sin-binnings of Back and Dallaglio in quick succession for killing the ball -- Back's offence in the New Zealand 22, while Dallaglio's was an altogether more cynical effort right under his own posts, after a quick All Black counter-attack which should have developed into a try.

Despite the constant barrage of attacks, the English defence miraculously held firm with two men down, No.8 Rodney So'oialo going closest as he crossed the line but was judged by TMO Peter Marshall to have made a double movement.

Back to their full compliment of players, the English pressured up front, and Wilkinson nudged them six points clear with a superbly-taken penalty into the wind from the right touchline, judging the gale to perfection.

Moments later, after some serious pressure and a series of rucks in the New Zealand 22, he dropped back into the pocket and struck a drop-goal with his right foot, as his side played an advantage from an earlier penalty.

Just when it looked like the Jonny Wilkinson show might send England further away from the home side, the All Blacks registered the only try of the match, Spencer showing brilliant vision from halfway to spot that England did not have a fullback.

His long and high kick was chased by fullback Howlett, who -- despite possibly being in an off-side position at the time of the kick -- was always the favourite to beat the retreating Dallaglio to the loose ball, Caleb Ralph also in close attendance.

Spencer converted, and the tension was palpable for the remaining 20 minutes as England hung on by three points, refere Dickinson struggling to exert authority at the contact area as he awarded a string of penalties against both sides, sapping the match of flow as the respective forwards battled for their cause.

But with 10 minutes left on the clock, Spencer was presented with a golden chance to seal the game, his penalty being bludgeoned heavily to the left of the posts in a passage of play which told the story of this match.

Wilkinson too finally showed that he is human with a late miss from the halfway line, but having survived a nervy last few moments, England held on for a historic win.

Does this now mean that the world rugby tide is changing?  Does the north now rule the roost?

While that might still be a bone of contention after such a tight see-saw match, one thing is for sure, the English have proved that they have grit aplenty, while the All Blacks' skill out wide still poses a definite danger to any side on the planet.

Bring on the World Cup!

Man of the match:  Despite Jonny Wilkinson's masterclass with the boot, this -- like the Grand Slam win in Dublin in March -- was one for the forwards, and there was no more exemplary a leader than captain Martin Johnson, with the Leicester lock's massive defence being vital during their spell with 13 men.  Steve Thompson and Lawrence Dallaglio also battled well, but Johnson gets our vote.  On the All Black side, Richie McCaw exerted his usual big influence, while lock Chris Jack was magnificent in the line-outs, stealing English ball on a number of occasions.

Moment of the Match:  The 10-minute spell of solid defence when England were down to 13-man was the segment on which ths game hinged.  They held out, and the rest is history.

Villain of the Match:  A blatantly cynical killing of the ball at a ruck under his own posts from England No.8 Lawrence Dallaglio saw him rightly binned for the professional foul.  Some whistle-happy play from referee Stuart Dickinson also sees him as a contender, but Dallaglio's deliberate intent was plain for all to see, so he gets the vote.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Doug Howlett, 2 Anton Oliver, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Richard McCaw, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Rodney So'oialo, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Caleb Ralph, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Doug Howlett
Reserves:  Keven Mealamu, Jerry Collins, Steve Devine, Mils Muliaina
Unused:  Daniel Carter, Brad Thorn, Carl Hoeft

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Graham Rowntree, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Jason Robinson, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Phil Vickery, Joe Worsley
Unused:  Andy Gomarsall, Paul Grayson, Dorian West, Steve Borthwick

Attendance:  37500
Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1
Conv:  Spencer C.J. 1
Pen K.:  Spencer C.J. 2

England
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 4
Drop G.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Australia 30 Wales 10

There is a maxim that says "a good big one will always beat a good little one".  It is certainly what happened at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney, when the Wallabies beat Wales by 30-10, outscoring them by five tries to one in the process.

Let us give credit where credit is due.  The Welsh valiantly tried to stay in touch and even though their execution was poor, they played some really good rugby at times.  There is hope for the Six Nations Wooden Spoonists at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

But on the day, Australia were simply too quick, too strong and far too efficient for the Welsh tourists.

Wales created chances, but they often failed to put the last touches to promising moves.  The Wallabies, on the other hand, showed that they can create points out of almost nothing.

Wales made all the early play in the match and strung together some very impressive phases.  But their execution let them down badly and they wasted a number of chances.

In fact, in the first 15 minutes Australia were forced to make 30 tackles, whereas the Welsh needed to make only 17 tackles -- showing the dominance, in terms of possession, that the tourists enjoyed up till then.

And the first two tries of the match -- both going to Rugby League convert Wendell Sailor -- were totally against the run of play.

In the ninth minute Sailor picked up a loose ball inside his own in-goal area, after the Welsh were hot on the attack and then turned the ball over.  Sailor darted passed two very meek attempted tackles and then sprinted the full length of the field to score.

The next try also came from turnover ball, with fullback Chris Latham darting down the right-hand touchline, beating the defence with pure pace.  When the cross-cover eventually caught up with him, he put a kick ahead, while Sailor arriving just ahead of captain George Gregan to collect the ball and flop over for his second try.

Fly-half Elton Flatley, who missed both earlier conversions, then landed a penalty in the 17th minute to make it 13-0 in favour of the Wallabies.

The Welsh finally got some reward for their efforts on the quarter mark when fly-half Stephen Jones, who generally had a good game, landed a penalty to narrow the gap to 13-3.

But Latham's pace made the Welsh defenders look very pedestrian when he sprinted over in the left-hand corner in the 24th minute, with a brilliant run rounding off some great Australian phase-play.  Flatley missed his third kick (out of four attempts on the night) and the 18-3 margin was the lead the Wallabies took into the break.

Flatley had an early attempt to stretch his team's lead after the break, but his penalty from 25 metres out and almost right in front, bounced off the upright and the Welsh were able to clear their line.

Amazingly, it was the Welsh who opened the scoring in the second half.

It came from a line-out close to the Wallaby line, with the Welsh forwards driving and then setting up a ruck.  Some efficient phase-play then sucked in the defenders and the space opened out wide where centre Jamie Robinson went over for Wales's first try.

Jones added the conversion to narrow the gap to 18-10 after 54 minutes.

But the Wallabies hit back almost immediately and it was hooker Jeremy Paul who went over for Australia's fourth try.  It came from a line-out, with Toutai Kefu running at the Welsh defence to set up a ruck.  Quick ball to Gregan saw him off-load to Paul, who drove over.

Joe Roff took over the goal-kicking, but he too hit the upright as the Wallaby lead moved to 23-10.

The final nail in the Welsh coffin came with just 10 minutes to go, when replacement inside centre Nathan Grey went over after some more efficient Wallaby play.  From a scrum the Wallabies went right, where they set up a ruck and Gregan got some quick ball to the backs.  When Grey got his hands on the ball he beat some tired tacklers with good stepping and scored the fifth try.

This time Roff slotted the conversion and the score moved to 30-10 -- which was also the final scoreline.

Man of the Match:  This is a close call between Wallaby winger Wendell Sailor, who finally showed why he was so highly-rated in league, and Australia's fullback Chris Latham, who often carved up the Welsh defence with his quick bursts on the outside.  But we give it to Sailor for his two tries and a much improved all-round work rate.

Moment of the Match:  Australia certainly scored some fine tries and even Wales's solitary try was a well-constructed effort, but our vote goes to the opening score of the match -- Wendell Sailor's first try in the ninth minute.  Picking up a loose ball inside his own in-goal area, he raced the length of the field the break the Welsh hearts.  It showed just how dangerous he can be with ball in hand.

Villain of the Match:  No yellow or red cards and nothing serious to report.  No candidates.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 David Giffin, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Elton Flatley, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Steve Kefu, 13 Morgan Turinui, 14 Wendell Sailor, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, Nathan Grey, Daniel Heenan, Chris Whitaker, Ben Darwin, Daniel Vickerman, Lote Tuqiri

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Iestyn Thomas, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Martyn Williams (c), 8 Colin Charvis, 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Jamie Robinson, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Tom Shanklin, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Mefin Davies, Alix Popham, Chris Wyatt
Unused:  Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel, Ceri Sweeney, Ben Evans

Attendance:  63688
Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 1, Sailor W.J. 2, Paul J.A. 1, Grey N.P. 1
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 1
Pen K.:  Flatley E.J. 1

Wales
Tries:  Robinson J. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 1
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 1

South Africa 29 Scotland 25

The Springboks managed a hollow 29-25 victory over Scotland at Durban's ABSA Stadium, but it could have been so different had the home team not launched a spirited fightback in the final quarter of the match against the adventurous Scots.

Scotland dominated the first 60 minutes of the match and will be kicking themselves all the way to Johannesburg for throwing away a match they deserved to win.

As was the case at Murrayfield last year it was more a case of the Boks making their opponents look like world-beaters on the day, but credit must go to Bryan Redpath and his men for taking their try-scoring chances.

The visitors had at one stage outscored their hosts by three tries to nothing as they gave the South Africans a lesson in playing as a unit on attack, with their blanket-like defence also giving the Boks no room to move in.

The Boks, on the other hand, seemed incapable of tackling, allowing the Scottish runners oodles of space on attack.  To add to their woes they were unable to hold onto the ball as they made a huge amount of handling errors in the first 60 minutes.  And, when they did hold onto the ball, their awkward body positions made them easy-pickings for the fired-up Scotland defenders.

With just 20 minutes remaining, Scotland held a 25-12 lead, with all SA's points having come from the boot of their fly-half Louis Koen.  Scotland's points, on the other hand, had come from two converted tries, one unconverted try and two penalties, silencing the moderate SA-heavy crowd at the ABSA Stadium.

But a try from experienced winger Stefan Terblanché in the 61st minute saw the Boks begin a comeback, with Koen's conversion narrowing the scoreline to 25-19.

Another Koen penalty took the scoreline to 25-22 as the Boks began to hold onto the ball, forcing Scotland to commit more defenders and just a few minutes later the home team forced another penalty, giving Koen the chance to level the scores.

Amazingly, the usually clinical Koen missed the relatively simple kick at goal, with the ball hitting the left-hand upright and falling into debutant Hendrik Gerber's hands.

Gerber went to ground and although his support was slow to get there, he had done enough to secure possession.  Koen was the first man there, he fired the ball out to acting fly-half Victor Matfield, who in turn threw out a long ball to Trevor Halstead, thumping a would-be tackler Glenn Metcalfe out of the way en route to the tryline.

Koen nailed the tricky conversion and at 29-25 the Scots had to score a try to regain the lead they had held since the 14th minute of the match.

In the end it was not to be for Scotland as they launched a massive raid on the Bok goalline, only for the SA defence to hold up well around the fringes under trying circumstances.

Scotland forced a string of penalties from close-in, with the Boks also having to survive the last 30 seconds of the game without their skipper Joost van der Westhuizen, who was yellow-carded for a professional foul.

Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli was disappointed with his overall team's showing, but was at pains to stress that the win -- after three successive losses in November last year -- was all that mattered.

Perhaps somebody should point out that this same Scotland team suffered huge losses to England, Ireland and France during the 2003 Six Nations, with eight-point home wins over Wales and Italy their only success.

Man of the match:  From the Springbok side Louis Koen gets a mention here, simply because of his 19-point haul, with the rest of our contenders all coming from the Scottish side.  Locks Scott Murray and Nathan Hines were superb, No.8 Simon Taylor showed why he is a British and Irish Lion, Redpath led his side well and wing Chris Paterson showed plenty of skill on attack and composure when kicking at goal.  In the end, Planet Rugby's vote goes to Nathan Hines, for a commanding line-out showing and a rousing performance in the loose, just edging out his second row partner Scott Murray.

Moment of the match:  Paterson's try in the 47th minute was a beauty, with wing Kenny Logan and centre Andy Craig doing excellent work in the build-up.  But our moment was Koen's penalty miss in the 72nd minute, which saw the ball rebound into Hendrik Gerber's hands before eventually ending up over the tryline and in Trevor Halstead's hands.  Before Halstead's try the score was at 25-22 in Scotland's favour.  The penalty would have tied the scores and given Scotland the chance of kicking a penalty to win.  Instead the converted try had the Scots playing catch-up for the final few heart-stopping moments.

Villain of the match:  The entire Springbok team until the 60th minute.  They played like a bunch of amateurs until they finally got their act together thanks to tries from Terblanché and Halstead, and, of course, two conversions from Koen.  There would have been hell to play had they lost to Scotland ...

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Richard Bands, 2 Danie Coetzee, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Bakkies Botha, 6 Hendrik Gerber, 7 Wikus Van Heerden, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen (c), 10 Louis Koen, 11 Ashwin Willemse, 12 Trevor Halstead, 13 Andre Snyman, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 15 Ricardo Loubscher
Reserves:  Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, Juan Smith, Selborne Boome, Robbie Kempson, Cobus Visagie
Unused:  Craig Davidson, Gcobani Bobo

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Gavin Kerr, 4 Nathan Hines, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Andrew Mower, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Kenny Logan, 12 Andrew Craig, 13 Andrew Henderson, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves:  Jon Petrie, Martin Leslie, James McLaren, Robbie Russell
Unused:  Michael Blair, Gordon McIlwham, Gordon Ross

Attendance:  37528
Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Terblanche C.S. 1, Halstead T.M. 1
Conv:  Koen L.J. 2
Pen K.:  Koen L.J. 5

Scotland
Tries:  Paterson C.D. 1, Craig A. 1, White J.P.R. 1
Conv:  Paterson C.D. 2
Pen K.:  Paterson C.D. 2

Australia 45 Ireland 16

Australia made an impressive, and winning start to their 2003 international season when they smashed Ireland by 45-16 at the Subiaco Oval in Perth.  It was the kind of opener coach Eddie Jones and their millions of fans would have hoped for.

With Australia set to host the Rugby World Cup in October and November, they showed that they will be a force and a powerful one at that on their home grounds.

As would be expected from the first match of the season there were problems, certainly enough of them.  But they are the kind of problems coach Eddie Jones would be able to iron out quite easily in the weeks and months ahead.

Discipline, especially early on, was a problem against an Irish team that showed plenty of grunt.  While the Australian line-outs also left more questions than answers, the Aussies' scrumming was solid.

Continuity improved as the game wore on, suggesting that even inside the first 80 minutes of the year the Wallabies were already beginning to settle.  And their newcomers -- such as the centre combination of Steve Kefu and Morgan Turinui -- also showed they are a force to be reckoned with in the future.

But the early exchanges certainly belonged to the Irish, who kept the ball in hand very well and also tested the Australian defence out wide.  They were rewarded for their early dominance when captain David Humphreys slotted a penalty in the fourth minute for a 3-0 lead to the visitors.

In those early stages, especially the first 10 minutes, the Wallabies simply turned the ball over far too often.  Every time they came within striking distance they just coughed up possession.

But they did eventually get some hint of continuity going and after 15 minutes the Wallabies put their first points on the board.

It came through some handy picking-and-driving from the Australian forwards.  No.8 Toutai Kefu and lock Nathan Sharpe were prominent in this department, with Kefu making good ground.  Captain and scrum-half George Gregan picked his moment perfectly and when the gap opened he darted over for a try.

Elton Flatley added the conversion to put Australia into the lead -- 7-3.

But the Australian mistakes continued to come, with prop Pat Noriega the villain -- giving away the first three penalties going against his team, all for boring in on his opponent in the scrums.

The Irish continued with their ball-in-hand approach and often took it wide, trying to find a weakness in the Australian defence.

They certainly seemed better at keeping control of the ball and in the 30th minute they were rewarded for their effort when left-wing John Kelly went over for his team's first try.  It came after several phases, where they took it from one side to the other, kept switching direction and probing.

With the Irish runners coming at pace and from depth, it was Humphreys who eventually found a gap, only half a gap, and then put the men out wide away.  The self-same Humphreys added the conversion to put the Irish back in the lead.

But the Wallabies hit straight back.

They got the ball from the kick-off and it went quickly to Flatley, who dummied and then sprinted through a huge gap to go over for his team's second try.  He added the conversion of his brilliant individual try to put Australia back in the lead at 14-10.

Ireland managed to narrow the gap to just one point, when Humphreys slotted a penalty in the 34th minute.  This made it 14-13, which was also the score at the break.

Before the break the Irish had enjoyed 53 percent of the possession and an even bigger share (54 percent) of the territory -- but it did not show on the scoreboard.

The early exchanges of the second half certainly belonged to the Wallabies, as they started to take control of proceedings, with a 43rd minute penalty by Flatley stretching the lead to 17-13.

Ten minutes later the Wallabies went further ahead, after Irish fullback Girvan Dempsey was yellow-carded for a professional foul.  It was centre Steve Kefu who scored, a well-orchestrated try from a set-piece scrum, with Gregan making the early running and giving to Flatley, who put Kefu into the gap and over for the score.

Flatley again added the conversion for a 24-13 lead.

Ronan O'Gara, who replaced his skipper at fly-half at half-time, slotted a penalty in the 56th minute to narrow the gap to 24-16.

But after this it was all Australia, as Gregan and Flatley started to dictate terms behind a pack of forwards that also managed to limit their mistakes and turnovers.

With more ball to play with, the next score for the Wallabies came soon -- in the 61st minute.  It was a great little chip-and-chase from Gregan, after he received the ball from Toutai Kefu, which saw the captain score his second try.  Flatley, who had a faultless kicking performance, added the conversion for a 31-16 lead.

The next score was in the 65th minute, when the Irish -- hot on the attack -- lost control of the ball.  Fullback Chris Latham grabbed the ball and out-sprinted the lacklustre Irish, running all of 80 metres for his try.

The sixth and last Australian try should not have been awarded, with Welsh referee Nigel Williams awarding a penalty try to Australia for what he deemed an offence by an Irish player on Flatley.  Replays showed clearly that Flatley had, quite legally, used his shoulder to push the Irish defender out the way and simply tripped over his own feet.

It was one of a number of questionable decisions made by the Welsh match official on the day, but could not detract from what was an outstanding start to the year for the Wallabies.

Man of the Match:  A number of the Wallaby backline players put their hands up for this award.  Captain George Gregan (two tries and a solid service at the base of the scrum) was in the front of the queue and fly-half Elton Flatley (100 percent kicking record and great decision making) also followed closely.  But our award goes to centre Steve Kefu, who started a Test for the Wallabies for the first time and was outstanding on both defence and attack -- showing clearly that he has lost none of the endowment which saw him win his only previous cap as a replacement back in 2001.

Moment of the Match:  There were five outstanding Wallaby tries (the penalty try should not have been awarded) and Gregan's moment of magic (chip and chase), must come close.  But we go for Ireland's only try in the 30th minute.  John Kelly's score came after a period in which Ireland showed how dangerous they can be when they get their hands on the ball -- carrying it forcefully with the forwards and backs, cleverly changing direction and eventually wearing the otherwise rock-solid Australian defence down.  It was a great international try worthy of all the accolades it gets.

Villain of the Match:  We are tempted to give it to the rather pedantic Welsh referee Nigel Williams, but Irish fullback Girvan Dempsey got yellow-carded for a professional foul and he sneaks the award.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 David Giffin, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 David Lyons, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Elton Flatley, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Steve Kefu, 13 Morgan Turinui, 14 Wendell Sailor, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, Nathan Grey, Chris Whitaker, Ben Darwin, Daniel Vickerman, Phil Waugh, Lote Tuqiri

Ireland:  1 Reggie Corrigan, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Marcus Horan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Keith Gleeson, 7 Alan Quinlan, 8 Victor Costello, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys (c), 11 James Topping, 12 Kevin Maggs, 13 Geordan Murphy, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Emmet Byrne, Paul O'Connell
Unused:  Guy Easterby, Tyrone Howe, Eric Miller, Paul Shields

Attendance:  40000
Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Latham C.E. 1, Flatley E.J. 1, Gregan G.M. 2, Kefu S. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Flatley E.J. 6
Pen K.:  Flatley E.J. 1

Ireland
Tries:  Kelly J.P. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 2, O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Japan 27 United States 69

The USA Eagles recorded a 69-27 win over Japan at the Matthew J Boxer Stadium in Balbao, San Francisco, opening their Super Powers Cup campaign in the best way possible.

With the half-time score at 17-all, the home team opened the floodgates in the second period, outscoring the visitors by 62-10, thanks to eight second-half tries, with the USA scoring just two tries in the second stanza.

USA inside centre Kain Cross scored a hat-trick of tries on the day, while South African-born left wing Riaan Van Zyl and fullback Link Wilfley weighed in with a brace of tries each.

Fly-half Mike Hercus converted seven of his team's 11 tries for a points-haul of 14.

Japan scored just four tries, with wing Daisuke Ohata opening his side's account with a well-taken try within the first 10 minutes, taking his tally to 27 tries in only 27 appearances.

The "Cherry Blossoms" found themselves ahead by 17-5 at one stage in the first half, after a try from Japan's fly-half Soshi Fuchigami, but tries from Cross and Van Zyl saw the teams go into half-time on level terms.

This will be the USA's last home match of 2003 and clearly the World Cup in Australia is very much in mind after the USA's strong performances in beating Spain in répechage.

Next month the USA plays Canada and England in the Churchill Cup, both matches in Vancouver.  In July the Eagles play the USA in a Superpowers Cup match.  In August it takes part in the Pan-American Championship in Buenos Aires, along with Argentina, Canada and Uruguay.

Japan have played this year against Sri Lanka and the Arabian Gulf, both matches producing big victories.  In addition they have spent time acclimatising in Australia where they beat Queensland "A" before losing to them, the Brumby Runners and Sydney.

The Eagles and Japan find themselves in Pool B -- alongside France, Scotland and Fiji -- at the Rugby World Cup later this year, with the teams set to meet in Gosford on Monday, October 27.

The Teams:

Japan:  1 Shin Hasegawa, 2 Masaaki Sakata, 3 Masahiko Toyoyama, 4 Kouichi Kubo, 5 Adam Parker, 6 Naoya Okubo, 7 Takuro Miuchi (c), 8 Takeomi Ito, 9 Wataru Murata, 10 Soshi Fuchigami, 11 Daisuke Ohata, 12 Hideki Namaba, 13 George Konia, 14 Yohei Shinomiya, 15 Tsutomu Matsuda
Reserves:  Lautangi Vatuvei, Toru Kurihara, Yuji Sonoda
Unused:  Masao Amino, Yasunori Watanabe, Masato Yamamoto, Reuben Parkinson

United States:  1 Dan Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Mike MacDonald, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Dave Hodges (c), 6 Conrad Hodgson, 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Mike Hercus, 11 David Fee, 12 Kain Cross, 13 Phillip Eloff, 14 Riaan Van Zyl, 15 Link Wilfley
Reserves:  Mark Griffin, Tasi Mo'unga, Cayo Nicolau, Shaun Paga, Mose Timoteo, Jacob Waasdorp
Unused:  Kimball Kjar

Attendance:  1852
Referee:  Kuklinski b.

Points Scorers

Japan
Tries:  Fuchigami S. 1, Ohata D. 1, Shinomiya Y. 1, Konia G.N. 1
Conv:  Fuchigami S. 2
Pen K.:  Fuchigami S. 1

United States
Tries:  Cross K. 3, Fee D.W. 1, Mo'unga F. 1, Nicolau C. 1, Timoteo M.A. 1, Wilfley L.M. 2, Van Zyl R. 2
Conv:  Hercus M. 7

Awesome England clinch Grand Slam

England buried the ghosts of past Grand Slam failures to seal their first championship clean sweep since 1995 with an emphatic win over Ireland at Lansdowne Road.

The mishaps at Wembley, Murrayfield and Dublin two years ago were consigned to history as Clive Woodward's side swept to victory in commanding fashion.

An early try from Lawrence Dallaglio and second-half scores from Mike Tindall, Will Greenwood (2) and Dan Luger proved more than sufficient to douse the Irish fire.

Jonny Wilkinson added 15 points from two drop goals, three conversions and a penalty to secure England's 12th-ever Grand Slam.

Victory was built on a rock-solid defence, which resisted every Irish effort to unhinge it as the powerful visiting pack ground their opponents into submission.

The home side could only manage a first-half penalty and drop goal from David Humphreys, as England reeled off 29 unanswered second-half points.

Aiming for a first Grand Slam in 55 years, Ireland were quickest out of the blocks.

Humphreys fell inches short with a penalty attempt from inside his own half, but they capitalised on their early pressure in the fifth minute.

Steve Thompson's wayward line-out throw was seized on by Keith Gleeson and taken on by Marcus Horan, and with England conceding a penalty, Humphreys landed a smart drop goal.

But the visitors responded with interest and were ahead within three minutes.

A wheeled Irish scrum allowed Richard Hill to pressurize Peter Stringer, Matt Dawson pounced and his break released Dallaglio to dive over unopposed under the posts.

Wilkinson converted for a 7-3 lead, but Ireland refused to be cowed and slashing breaks from Brian O'Driscoll and the dangerous Geordan Murphy tested England's defence.

Humphreys failed to convert the pressure with a bad penalty miss after 17 minutes, and another Murphy counter broke down when the full-back failed to release Denis Hickie.

Humphreys did reduce the arrears with a 40m penalty when England were penalised at a scrummage, but the visitors started to dominate possession.

Josh Lewsey showed his confidence with an inside-outside break and Wilkinson stretched the lead to 10-6 with a right-footed drop goal just before the half-hour.

He repeated the trick in first-half injury time to give England some breathing space as the frenetic pace continued unabated.

Hill and Matt Dawson both departed for running repairs in the first period, with Graham Rowntree also forced off before the interval, to be replaced by Trevor Woodman.

Wilkinson appeared to have followed suit as he clutched his notoriously fragile shoulder on the resumption, only to regain his feet and thump over what looked a sumptuous drop goal.

But the score was ruled out for an earlier offence on the advice of a touch judge, and Ireland remained within a converted score.

Wilkinson was forced off after 54 minutes, with Paul Grayson pitched into the fray, but returned seven minutes later just as Grayson was converting Tindall's match-clinching try.

Again the forwards did the hard yards, before Grayson and Greenwood created space for the Bath centre to barge his way through the remaining cover on an angled run.

Dallaglio was held up short as England went for the kill, but instead it was Greenwood who was bundled over by his pack after 65 minutes.

Wilkinson added a penalty 10 minutes from time and Greenwood intercepted Murphy's pass to stroll over for his second in injury time.

England's superiority was confirmed as Dan Luger added a final flourish with a fifth try, Wilkinson adding the extras to spark the red rose celebrations.

The scorers:

Ireland 6:
Pens:  Humphreys
Drop goals:  Humphreys

England 42:
Tries:  Dallaglio, Tindall, Greenwood 2, Luger
Cons:  Wilkinson 3 Grayson
Pen:  Wilkinson
Drops:  Wilkinson 2

Ireland:  Ireland: G Murphy (Leicester), J Bishop (London Irish), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), K Maggs (Bath), D Hickie (Leinster), D Humphreys (Ulster), P Stringer (Munster), M Horan (Munster), S Byrne (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), G Longwell (Ulster), V Costello (Leinster), K Gleeson (Leinster), A Foley (Munster).
Replacements:  F Sheahan (Munster), J Fitzpatrick (Ulster), P O'Connell (Munster), A Quinlan (Munster), G Easterby (Llanelli), R O'Gara (Munster), G Dempsey (Leinster).

England:  Josh Lewsey (Wasps), Jason Robinson (Sale), Will Greenwood (Harlequins), Mike Tindall (Bath), Ben Cohen (Northampton), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle vice-captain), Matt Dawson (Northampton), Graham Rowntree (Leicester), Steve Thompson (Northampton), Jason Leonard (Harlequins), Martin Johnson (Leicester, captain), Ben Kay (Leicester), Richard Hill (Saracens), Neil Back (Leicester), Lawrence Dallaglio (Wasps)
Replacements:  Dorian West (Leicester), Trevor Woodman (Gloucester), Danny Grewcock (Bath), Joe Worsley (London Wasps), Kyran Bracken (Saracens), Paul Grayson (Northampton), Dan Luger (Harlequins).

Scotland edge fierce Italy

Scotland gave coach Ian McGeechan the perfect Six Nations send-off with a hard fought but entertaining victory over Italy on Saturday.

The former Lions coach, who began his home championship career as centre for Scotland in 1973, retires at the end of the season.

And the Scottish team made sure he left Murrayfield smiling, thanks to tries from Jason White, James McLaren, Kenny Logan and Chris Paterson.

Italy hit back through Mirco Bergamasco, Ramiro Pez and Scott Palmer but the home side held out to secure fourth position in the Six Nations table.

The Azzurri started superbly and touched over with less than five minutes on the clock.

Alessandro Troncon made the best of some quick recycled ball inside the Scotland 22 and Bergamasco's strong run gave the home side a quick reality check.

Pez failed with the extras, before the two fly-halves swapped penalties.

Scotland finally found their composure and when Bryan Redpath opted to take a quick free-kick on the Italy 10 metre line, White powered over taking most of the visiting defence with him.

At 8-8 and with an inspired Logan cutting the visitors to shreds, it was no surprise when McGeechan's team finally grabbed the lead.

Another Logan run sent Italy backwards and Gregor Townsend's long, floated pass gave McLaren space to grab his fifth international try.

Paterson's second penalty lifted Scotland eight points clear, but a moment of genius from Pez caught the Scottish defence sleeping.

A show of the ball from the Rotherham number 10 was enough to send him underneath the posts and his conversion cut the deficit to just one point.

With both sides willing to play some free-flowing rugby in the afternoon sun, Logan improved on his already impressive performance just before the break.

Taking a quick tap penalty the Wasps veteran burst through four Italian tackles for a vital try that Paterson improved on in front of the posts.

Try-scorer White limped off after the break to be replaced by Ross Beattie, as Italy started to dominate possession.

For 10 minutes the visitors bombarded the Scotland line and they were rewarded with a straightforward penalty in front of the posts.

The five-point deficit set up an intense final quarter.

But when Simon Taylor released Paterson after striding away superbly from the back of the scrum, it secured some vital breathing space.

Paterson did well to finish off the move with a delicate chip and chase and then slotted the conversion but the 12 point lead did not last long.

As they have done all season, Italy finished the match on top and with just 10 minutes to go replacement back-rower Palmer strode over for the visitors' final seven pointer.

With the match in the balance, Paterson added his third penalty in injury time to dampen Italy's hopes and ultimately relegate them to fifth place in the championship table.

The scorer:

Scotland 33:
Tries:  White, McLaren, Logan, Paterson
Con:  Paterson (2)
Pen:  Paterson (3)

Italy 25:
Tries:  Bergamasco, Pez, Palmer
Con:  Pez (2)
Pen:  Pez (2)

Scotland:  G Metcalfe, C Paterson, J McLaren, A Craig, K Logan, G Townsend, B Redpath (capt), T Smith, G Bulloch, B Douglas, S Murray, N Hines, J White, S Taylor, A Mower.
Replacements:  R Russell, G Kerr, S Grimes, R Beattie, M Blair, G Ross, K Utterson.

Italy:  M Bergamasco, P Vaccari, A Masi, G Raineri, D Dallan , R Pez, A Troncon (capt), A Lo Cicero C Festuccia, R Martinez, C Bezzi, M Giacheri, A De Rossi, A Persico, M Phillips.
Replacements:  F Ongaro, L Castrogiovanni, S Dellape, S Palmer, M Mazzantini, G Peens, N Mazzucato.

France complete Wales whitewash

Wales were condemned to their first Six Nations whitewash after being outclassed by Bernard Laporte's side in the Stade de France.

The men in red had a bright opening 20 minutes and took the lead with a superb Gareth Thomas try.

But the French forwards gradually gained the upper hand, allowing scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili to direct the show and kick 18 points.

Thomas Castaignede, Vincent Clerc and Frederic Michalak ran in tries for the home side as they secured their first win over Wales at the stadium, and handed the visitors their first wooden spoon in eight years.

Wales tore into the French in the first 20 minutes, showing the confidence garnered from their undefeated record in two previous games at the Stade de France.

A France knock on in the third minute was run back from deep in Wales' half, Craig Morgan and Iestyn Harris combining well on the left.

Colin Charvis drove on from quick recycled ball and the ball was spun out for Thomas to convert the overlap on the right, Stephen Jones sending the conversion wide.

Wales were inches away from adding a second try in the sixth minute, Morgan catching opposite number Aurelien Rougerie sleeping following a Stephen Jones kick, outsprinting him, but failing to ground the ball.

It took until the second quarter for the French to settle, but then the visitors' line-out woes creeped back into their game and Gethin Jenkins came under presure on the tighthead of the scrum, gifting Bernard Laporte's side territory and possession.

Welsh tackling was heroic, but the constant pressure had to tell.  From a forward drive in the 27th minute the ball was sent back to Castaignede and the Saracens centre cut back on the angle to score under the posts, Yachvili converting.

The young scrum-half added a penalty, but Jones missed his third kick of the half to leave the score 10-5 at the break, much to the displeasure of the expectant home crowd.

France exploded out of the blocks in the second period, a Xavier Garbajosa break taking them to the Welsh line.

Borderline defence that toyed with the sin bin and a Raphael Ibanez knock-on restricted the home team to just another Yachvili penalty.

Five minutes later another French forward drive led to recycled ball being spun slickly through the backs, reaching Vincent Clerc whose nifty footwork saw him over on the right for a converted try.

Yachvili added another penalty before Colin Charvis was sin binned n the 65th minute for coming in from the side of a ruck.

The French forwards seized the chance to drive into 14-man Wales before delivering a try on a plate to fly-half Frederic Michalak.

France coasted for the final 15 minutes, looking as they have through much of this Six Nations - barely out of first gear as they ease towards the World Cup.

Their pragmatic approach yielded a late penalty in front of the posts by Yachvili, leaving the crowd baying for more tries.

The scorers:

France 33:
Tries:  T Castaignede, V Clerc, F Michalak
Cons:  D Yachvili (3)
Pens:  Yachvili (4)

Wales 5:
Try:  G Thomas

TEAMS

France:  C Poitrenaud (Stade Toulousain), A Rougerie (Montferrand), T Castaignede (Saracens), D Traille (Pau), X Garbajosa (Stade Toulousain), F Michalak (Stade Toulousain), D Yachvili (Biarritz), J-J Crenca (Agen), R Ibanez (Castres), S Marconnet (Stade Français), F Pelous (Stade Toulousain, capt), O Brouzet (Montferrand), S Betsen (Biarritz), O Magne (Montferrand), I Harinordoquy (Pau).
Reps:  J-B Rue (Agen), O Milloud (Bourgoin), D Auradou (Stade Français), P Tabacco (Stade Français), J-B Elissalde (Stade Toulousain), G Merceron (Montferrand), V Clerc (Stade Toulousain).

Wales:  R Williams (Cardiff), C Morgan (Cardiff), M Taylor (Swansea), I Harris (Cardiff), G Thomas (Bridgend), S Jones (Llanelli), D Peel (Llanelli), I Thomas (Llanelli), M Davies (Pontypridd), G Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Sidoli (Pontypridd), G Llewellyn (Neath), C Charvis (Swansea), M Williams (Cardiff, capt), D Jones (Llanelli).
Reps:  M Madden (Llanelli), S Williams (Northampton), G Thomas (Bath), G Cooper (Bath), M Watkins (Llanelli), G Williams (Bridgend), T Shanklin (Saracens).

Ref:  Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)

France punish passionate Italy

France demolished Italy in a free-flowing game in Rome to finally show some of the form they were expected to display in this year's RBS Six Nations championship.

Tries from Serge Betsen, Damian Traille (2), Aurelien Rougerie (2), Frederic Michalak and Thomas Castaignede punished the Italians, who spent most of the first hour on the back foot.

Scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili enjoyed a superb day with the boot to finish the match with a personal tally of 18 points.

The home side did hit back through tries from Ramiro Pez, Mirco Bergamasco, Aaron Persico and Matthew Phillips.

But despite looking the better side for much of the second period were ultimately left with too much to do.

Italy struggled to gain any meaningful possession early on and the few scraps they did win were quickly turned over by an impressive French back-row.

The visitors opened the scoring after just three minutes when Traille fed Betsen who ran over for the first five pointer.

Yachvili added the extras and grabbed a further three points when Italy were penalised for hands in the ruck deep inside their 22.

At 10-0 down, John Kirwan's side looked helpless against a ferocious French onslaught.

But if the New Zealander thought it could not get any worse, Traille proved him immediately wrong with a quickfire double to punish some woeful Italian defending.

Two conversions and a late first-half penalty took Yachvili's total to 14 points before Aurelien Rougerie added France's fourth thanks to some strong running from number eight Imanol Harinordoquy.

Seconds later, Michalak added yet another after Olivier Magne charged down a poor Paolo Vaccari clearance.

With half-time approaching, Pez grabbed a consolation try after a superb individual break, but even his conversion could do little to dent an impressive French lead.

Any thoughts Italy had of regrouping were instantly dispelled when Castaignede scorched over seconds after the break.

Yachvili slotted his sixth conversion to push his side two points shy of their half-century, before Italy finally found some form.

For the best part of 10 minutes France struggled to get their hands on the ball and Bergamasco rewarded Italy's perseverance with his side's second try.

At 48-15 down there was never any doubt of an upset, but it did not stop the Azzurri from hitting back again when Persico grabbed a third for his side almost immediately from the re-start.

Pez's kick pushed his side up to 22 points -- before Rougerie ran over to ease the defending Six Nations champions past the 50-point mark.

Italy had impressed in the second-half, after a poor opening period and were not to be denied the last word, however.

With seconds remaining Philips exploited space on the blind side from a scrum on the French 10-metre line.

But depite their fightback they had let themselves down in the opening-half -- as they did against Twickenham -- a fact that will not be lost on Kirwan in the build-up to their final game against Scotland.

The scorers:

Italy 27:
Tries:  Pez, Bergamasco, Persico, Phillips
Pen:  Pez
Conv:  Pez (2)

France 53:
Tries:  Betsen, Traille (2), Rougerie (2), Michalak, Castaignede
Pen:  Yachvili (2)
Conv:  Yachvili (6)

Italy:  M. Bergamasco, Mazzucato, Vaccari, Raineri, Dallan, Dominguez, Troncon, Lo Cicero, Festuccia, Martinez, Bezzi, Giacheri, De Rossi, Persico, Phillips.
Replacements:  Ongaro, Castrogiovanni, Dellape, Palmer, Mazzantini, Pez, Masi.

France:  Poitrenaud, Rougerie, Castaignede, Traille, Garbajosa, Michalak, Yachvili, Crenca, Ibanez, Marconnet, Pelous, Brouzet, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoqui.
Replacements:  Rue, Milloud, Auradou, Tabacco, Elissalde, Merceron, Clerc.

Referee:  Nigel Williams (Wales)

England sweep Scotland aside

England booked their Six Nations Grand Slam decider against Ireland in Dublin with a hard-fought win over a passionate Scotland at Twickenham.

It was not a performance to send their fans home in raptures but 18 points from the boot of Jonny Wilkinson and tries from Josh Lewsey, Ben Cohen and Jason Robinson (2) proved enough to maintain England's date with destiny.

Scotland, for their part, performed valiantly, but they never looked able to out-wit a well organised England defence at a stadium in which they have failed to register a try since 1999.

England never managed to set Twickenham alight.  But with all eyes on Dublin, they will be happy enough to have reached the final game of the championship unscathed.

The home side ran up a quick six point lead, courtesy of sloppy Scottish defending and Wilkinson made no mistake with the resulting penalties.

Already under pressure, Scotland received a double blow when they lost two players for some dreadfully cynical play in as many minutes.

Andrew Mower was the first to see the yellow card after a high tackle on Lewsey.  Seconds later, number eight Simon Taylor was sent on his way for a wayward tackle on Mike Tindall.

Struggling in the set piece and two men down, Bryan Redpath was handsomely rewarded for a superb darting run with a penalty outside England's 22.

Paterson brought his side back within three points and from the re-start Robinson did his bit to even things up numerically, when he became the third player sent to the bin for another high tackle -- this time on winger Kenny Logan.

A fine touch-line kick from Paterson levelled the scores.

But it also prompted England's best move of the half, allowing Lewsey to grab his third try in two games when the Scottish defence finally ran out of men in the left-hand corner.

At 13-6 down, Scotland may have been behind on the scoreboard, but led by Tom Smith and Gordon Bulloch they constantly broke the gain-line and put England on the back foot.

Another Paterson penalty reduced the arrears to just four points before Wilkinson replied from in front of the posts to end an action-packed 40 minutes.

If England stuttered in the first half, they came out roaring in the second.

Ten minutes of pressure resulted in a Scottish scrum deep in their 22 and when Redpath made a mess of his attempted clearance Cohen touched over for his easiest try of the season.

Wilkinson made no mistake with the conversion and added another three to his tally virtually from the re-start when Scott Murray was penalised for offside.

With the scoreline reading 26-9 England looked more at ease.

And when Jason Robinson extended the lead with a blistering midfield run to outpace a flagging Scottish defence, Clive Woodward even opted to give Wilkinson a well deserved rest.

The Newcastle captain, who slotted his final conversion with well-practised ease, was replaced by veteran Paul Grayson, making his first start for England since 1999.

In one last push, Scotland pressed hard to force England onto the back foot, only to concede yet another seven points when Matt Dawson released Robinson inside the Scottish 22.

With only the line in front of him, the Sale flyer duly touched down for his second and Grayson's conversion pushed England three points short of their previous record before the whistle was blown.

The scorers:

England 40:
Tries:  Lewsey, Cohen, Robinson (2)
Con:  Wilkinson (3), Grayson
Pens:  Wilkinson (4)

Scotland 9:
Pens:  Paterson (3)

Teams:

England:  Lewsey, Robinson, Greenwood, Tindall, Cohen, Wilkinson, Dawson, Rowntree, Thompson, Leonard, Johnson, Kay, Hill, Back, Dallaglio.
Replacements:  Regan, Woodman, Grewcock, J. Worsley, Gomarsall, Grayson, Luger.

Scotland:  G. Metcalfe, Paterson, McLaren, Craig, Logan, Townsend, Redpath, T. Smith, Bulloch, Douglas, Murray, Hines, White, Mower, Taylor.
Replacements:  Russell, G. Kerr, Grimes, Beattie, Blair, G. Ross, Utterson.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland).

Irish pip Wales in thriller

An injury-time drop goal by replacement Ronan O'Gara kept Ireland's Grand Slam hopes alive at the Millennium Stadium.

The Irish looked to have blown their chances of a mouth-watering decider against England when Wales fly-half Stephen Jones flashed over a drop goal of his own in a pulsating final few minutes in Cardiff.

But O'Gara, showing immense coolness under pressure, won the day for the visitors with a vital three points inside 30 seconds of the restart.

Wales will take the plaudits for outscoring Ireland by three tries to two, but Steve Hansen's men remain bottom of the Six Nations table with one game left.

The game began as frenetically as it finished, but it was Ireland who nudged ahead after six minutes thanks to a penalty from David Humphreys.

The first try of the game came on 15 minutes, when Jones broke through from open play to scrambled over in the corner.

Jones added the touchline conversion, but within five minutes Humphreys had cut the lead to one point with his second penalty.

Humphreys pushed Ireland ahead in the 27th minute with his third penalty after another Welsh indiscretion in front of their posts.

But the visitors were not allowed to get into any sort of rhythm, with Wales playing the only decent rugby on show in the early exchanges.

Ireland finally wrestled free from the Welsh manacles in first-half injury time.

Brian O'Driscoll and Leo Cullen made tentative attempts to break through before Geordan Murphy swivelled past his defender to put flanker Keith Gleeson over in the left-hand corner.

Gleeson's second try immediately after the restart after Anthony Foley charged down a clearance kick by Tom Shanklin.

But Wales struck back on 52 minutes with a great try.

Good work by Colin Charvis and Rhys Williams allowed flanker Martyn Williams to go over for his first try for his country, with Jones adding the conversion.

O'Driscoll almost crossed before Ireland went further in front when Humphreys rifled over his fourth penalty to make the score 22-14.

Back came the home side again, with Gareth Thomas claiming his 29th try for Wales, with Jones slotting the conversion to make it a one-point game.

Jones saw a 47-metre penalty just drift wide of the right-hand upright.

But he made no mistake with a drop goal two minutes into injury time.

The kicks looked as though it had given Wales a morale-boosting victory, but Irish substitute O'Gara broke Welsh hearts with his last-gasp kick.

The scorers:

Wales 24:
Tries:  S Jones, M Williams, G Thomas
Dg:  S Jones
Cons:  S Jones 3

Ireland 25:
Tries:  Gleeson 2
Dg:  O'Gara
Pens:  Humphreys 4

Teams:

Wales:  R Williams (Cardiff), M Jones (Llanelli), M Taylor (Swansea), T Shanklin (Saracens), G Thomas (Bridgend), S Jones (Llanelli), G Cooper (Bath), I Thomas (Llanelli), J Humphreys (Bath, capt), G Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Sidoli (Pontypridd), G Llewellyn (Neath), C Charvis (Swansea), M Williams (Cardiff), D Jones (Llanelli).
Replacements:  M Davies (Pontypridd), M Madden (Llanelli), S Williams (Northampton), G Thomas (Bath), D Peel (Llanelli), I Harris (Cardiff), M Watkins (Llanelli).

Ireland:  G Murphy (Leicester), J Bishop (London Irish), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), K Maggs (Bath), D Hickie (Leinster), D Humphreys (Ulster), P Stringer (Munster), M Horan (Munster), S Byrne (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), L Cullen (Leinster), A Quinlan (Munster), K Gleeson (Leinster), A Foley (Munster).
Replacements:  F Sheahan (Munster), J Fitzpatrick (Ulster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), E Miller (Leinster), G Easterby (Llanelli), R O'Gara (Munster), J Kelly (Munster).

Referee:  Steve Lander (England).

England overpower brave Italy

England strolled to a six-try RBS Six Nations victory over Italy at Twickenham despite defending for most of the match.

Clive Woodward's side extended their winning streak at headquarters to 20 games, and stayed on course for a Grand Slam decider with Ireland on 30 March.

England raced to a 33-0 lead within 20 minutes but went into their shells as the plucky Italians dominated possession for over 50 minutes.

The home side scored tries through Josh Lewsey (2), Steve Thompson, James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall and Dan Luger.

But in a chaotic start to the second half they lost fly-half and captain Jonny Wilkinson with a sore shoulder and his replacement Charlie Hodgson with a leg injury.

Italy scored a second-half consolation try through full-back Mirco Bergamasco but despite their possession, coach John Kirwan's side were never likely to trouble the Six Nations favourites.

England set off at a blistering pace and within two minutes they had put full-back Lewsey over in the left corner from an attacking lineout on the right.

Wilkinson converted and the home side soon scored again after opting to kick for touch from a penalty.

Number eight Lawrence Dallaglio and scrum-half Matt Dawson both sniped for the line before hooker Thompson squeezed over.

Italy were shellshocked and England came again inside three minutes when the backs combined to send over wing Simpson-Daniel after a perfectly timed pass from Lewsey.

Wilkinson was again spot on with the extras and before Italy knew what was happening, England's Lewsey had made it four tries.

The Wasps player broke a tackle in midfield and motored 40 yards, teasing Bergamasco in the process, to score just to the left of the posts, which Wilkinson converted.

Italy had still barely touched the ball but England went over for a fifth try on 20 minutes through centre Tindall, who took an inside pass at pace from Lewsey to roar over.

But despite a 33-0 deficit, Italy dominated the rest of the half and went close through Aaron Persico and Bergamasco.

Two minutes after the break England lost Wilkinson, who went off with a sore shoulder, to be replaced by Hodgson.

But the Sale fly-half was in turn injured, ushering in 20-year-old Leicester centre Ollie Smith, with Will Greenwood switching to number 10 and former captain Dallaglio taking charge.

Italy continued to attack, with England seemingly content to defend phase after phase.

Kirwan's side were eventually rewarded for their attacking efforts with a try in the corner from Bergamasco on the hour.

But after defending since the 20th minute, England scored a sixth try through Luger after a slick break from Smith.

And despite a merry-go-round of replacements, England were able to keep Italy at bay for the rest of the match without troubling the visitors' line themselves.

The scorers:

England 40
Tries:  Lewsey (2), Thompson, Simpson-Daniel, Tindall, Luger
Cons:  Wilkinson (4), Dawson

Italy 5
Tries:  Bergamasco

Teams:

England:  Lewsey, Simpson-Daniel, Greenwood, Tindall, Luger, Wilkinson, Dawson, Rowntree, Thompson, Morris, Grewcock, Kay, J. Worsley, Hill, Dallaglio.
Replacements:  Regan, M. Worsley, Shaw, Sanderson, Bracken, Hodgson, Smith.

Italy:  M. Bergamasco, Mazzucato, Vaccari, Raineri, Dallan, Pez, Troncon, De Carli, Festuccia, Martinez, Bezzi, Giacheri, De Rossi, Persico, Phillips.
Replacements:  Ongaro, Castrogiovanni, Bortolami, Palmer, Mazzantini, Peens, Masi.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Scots punish woeful Wales

In a game that had been billed as a wooden spoon play-off, Scotland finally found their RBS Six Nations feet to bury Wales with a dominant forward display.

The defeat leaves Steve Hansen's heavily-criticised Wales side facing games against Ireland and France to restore some pride from a miserable campaign.

A powerful performance from Scotland's front five, coupled with dynamic displays from Simon Taylor, James White and Andrew Mower in the back row, was just enough to give the home side the much-needed victory.

The Welsh did rally in the second half -- and claimed two consolation tries at the death -- but it was a case of too little too late.

Scotland opened the scoring in the fifth minute when wing Chris Paterson slotted over a penalty after an infringement by Welsh prop Ben Evans.

Their slender lead took on a more substantial look when Scottish prop Bruce Douglas drove over following good work from the home pack.

Although it is unlikely to feature in many Six Nations highlights packages, Douglas' try was, nonetheless, the first Scotland had managed this year.

Paterson added the extras to make it 10-0 after 15 minutes.

Welsh fly-half Stephen Jones trimmed this lead by three points with a penalty of his own, but this was only temporary respite as Scotland immediately claimed their second try of the season.

Once again it was a forward who crossed the line, this time the impressive Taylor.  Paterson converted to make it 17-3 after 20 minutes.

But this sparked the Welsh into life and they scored a wonderful try of their own when scrum-half Gareth Cooper touched down after a flowing passage of play.

Jones converted to make it 17-10, but Paterson knocked over a penalty just before the interval to stretch Scotland's lead to double figures once more.

Paterson kicked his third penalty immediately after the restart to give the hosts a significant 23-10 margin before the game slipped into a 30-minute stalemate.

Wales pushed and probed -- creating a number of half chances -- but Scotland were able to soak up the pressure without too much difficulty.

The home side's only wobble came when centre James McLaren was sin-binned for a professional foul with 10 minutes remaining.

Wales, fortified by the arrival of Iestyn Harris from the bench, passed up kickable penalties and poured forward in search of a second try.

But the Scots held out, and Paterson, who was perfect with the boot, capped his day with an opportunist try when Rhys Williams made a mess of a Tom Smith grubber kick.

With the game lost, Wales claimed two injury-time tries through Mark Taylor and Williams.

But these consolation efforts were at least 10 minutes too late to alter the result or save their season.

The scorers:

Scotland 30:
Tries:  Douglas, Taylor, Paterson
Cons:  Paterson 3
Pens:  Paterson 3

Wales 22:
Try:  Cooper, Taylor, Rhys Williams
Con:  Jones 2
Pen:  Jones

Scotland:  G. Metcalfe, Paterson, McLaren, Utterson, Logan, Townsend, Redpath, T. Smith, Bulloch, Douglas, Murray, Grimes, White, Mower, Taylor.
Replacements:  Russell, G. Kerr, Hines, Petrie, Blair, G. Ross, Craig.

Wales:  K. Morgan, R. Williams, Taylor, Shanklin, G. Thomas, S. Jones, V. Cooper, I. Thomas, G. Williams, Evans, Sidoli, S. Williams, D. Jones, M. Williams, G. Thomas.
Replacements:  M. Davies, Jenkins, Llewellyn, Charvis, Peel, Harris, Watkins.

Referee:  Pablo Deluca (Argentina)

Heroic Ireland edge out France

Ireland confirmed their Grand Slam potential with a hard-fought 15-12 win over France in the RBS Six Nations at Lansdowne Road.

Twelve points from the boot of fly-half David Humphreys and an opportunistic drop-goal from Geordan Murphy edged out the French, whose points all came from Francois Gelez penalties.

But it was Ireland's incredible defence which won the game as they endured a torrid final five minutes with France throwing everything at them.

Murphy gave Ireland the ideal start with a sweetly-struck drop-goal in the opening minute.

The full-back demonstrated his astute rugby brain after a poor pass from scrum-half Peter Stringer left him no option but to go for the posts.

With a strong wind swirling around the ground, both sides initially struggled to put phases of play together before France sprung to life with a series of rolling mauls deep in Ireland's 22.

But a knock-on from hooker Raphael Ibanez with the line at his mercy cost them dear.

Another period of sustained French pressure was relieved where Malcolm O'Kelly intercepted Dimitri Yachvili's pass and sprinted 50 metres upfield to clear the danger.

Humphreys -- winning his 50th cap -- put Ireland further ahead on 10 minutes with a well-judged penalty, but Gelez's 15th-minute reply cut the lead to three points.

Ireland, kicking away possession needlessly, were grateful for Gelez's missed penalty in the 25th minute.

Humphreys extended his side's lead with another penalty after half an hour.

Kevin Maggs' powerful running and Brian O'Driscoll's dancing feet in the Irish midfield started to give the home side the advantage as the half developed.

Gelez spurned an opportunity to cut the defecit with another miss as half time approached.

And Humphreys quickly showed his opposite number how to do it with an excellent three-pointer from halfway.

Deep into first-half injury time Ireland survived a scare with Gelez's drop-goal attempt causing havoc after rebounding off the post, and it took an outstanding tackle from O'Driscoll on the line to deny Olivier Magne.

France started the second half with real attacking intent and Stringer's brave tackle on the rampaging Imanol Harinordoquy was vital.

With the rain starting to fall, Gelez punished Ireland for going offside with a penalty on 46 minutes

Five minutes later, Humphreys surprisingly missed in front of the posts as the conditions continued to deteriorate.

A superb break from Magne put Ireland under severe pressure and they were only saved by Keith Gleeson's tackle.

With the tension clearly getting to the players, both sides increasingly relied on bombarding the full-backs with high balls -- but both Murphy and Clement Poitrenaud dealt with the threat well.

After coming through a difficult ten-minute spell of sustained defending, Ireland began to exert some pressure of their own and Humphreys held his nerve with another penalty on 69 minutes.

Two minutes later though, Gelez's penalty again cut the lead to just three points.

After Ireland went desperately close to scoring a match-winning try, Humphreys left the crowd gasping when his penalty struck the post.

From the rebound, France nearly went the length of the pitch but last-ditch defending from Stringer and Hickie saved the day for Ireland.

The scorers:

Ireland 15:
Pens:  Humphreys 4
Drop goal:  Murphy

France 12:
Pens:  Gelez 4

Ireland:  Murphy, Kelly, O'Driscoll, Maggs, Hickie, Humphreys, Stringer, Horan, S. Byrne, Hayes, Longwell, O'Kelly, Costello, Gleeson, Foley
Replacements:  Sheahan, Fitzpatrick, Cullen, A Quinlan, G Easterby, O'Gara, Henderson

France:  Poitrenaud, Rougerie, Garbajosa, Traille, Clerc, Gelez, Yachvili, Crenca, Ibanez, Marconnet, Pelous, Brouzet, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoqui
Replacements:  Rue, Califano, Auradou, Chabal, Barrau, Merceron, Castaignede.

Referee:  Andre Watson (South Africa)

France cruise past Scotland

France bounced back from their defeat by England in the opening round of the Six Nations with an emphatic victory against Scotland.

The French were always in control and although they only produced their best in bursts it was enough for them to run in tries through Fabien Pelous, Clement Poitrenaud, Damien Traille and Aurelien Rougerie.

Fly-half Francois Gelez, who missed two penalties that would have given France victory against New Zealand in November, was in much better form as he kicked the rest of France's points.

Scotland tried to keep going for the 80 minutes but they were out-gunned from one to 15 and all they had to show for their efforts was a solitary Chris Paterson penalty, leaving them rock bottom of the Six Nations table.

Gelez and Paterson swapped penalties in the early stages before France put together the first threatening attack of the match.

A flowing move gave 20-year-old full-back Poitrenaud room to move down the Scottish left and his pass saw Vincent Clerc flying for the corner.

It took a great cover tackle from Kenny Logan to prevent the try, but the Scots were then harshly penalised to give the French great field position.

They kicked for the corner and then drove from the lineout, with Pelous burrowing over for the try.

Gelez missed the conversion but he then added two penalties to take the French into a 14-3 lead after half an hour.

Scotland were struggling to put their opponents under pressure, and apart from two excellent breaks by Logan and replacement scrum-half Mike Blair, they rarely cut through the French defence.

Despite over-elaborating at times the French were well in control and Gelez slotted his fourth penalty right on half-time to give them a 17-3 lead.

Within two minutes France were out of sight.

Once again the speedster Clerc sliced down the Scottish left and when he was tackled Poitrenaud was on hand to cross out wide.

Gelez' conversion made it 24-3 but Scotland came to life and two Paterson kicks ahead had the French scrambling to prevent the visitors from scoring.

The Scots mounted a period of sustained pressure but they could not score and France suddenly erupted on to the attack.

Betsen's take and drive from a lineout set them on their way and they finished off in exquisite style, with Traille taking Gelez's chip on the full before diving over under the posts.

Gelez' conversion took the French over the 30-point mark.

Scotland nearly scored their first try in the 2003 Six Nations after Gregor Townsend kicked through, but Kevin Utterson knocked on with the line at his mercy.

It was the hosts who had the last word, with giant wing Rougerie soaring high to claim a Dimitri Yachvili cross-kick in injury time.

Gelez added the conversion as France confirmed that they are in a different league to the struggling Scots.

The scorers:

France 38
Tries:  Pelous, Poitrenaud, Traille, Rougerie
Cons:  Gelez 3
Pens:  Gelez 4

Scotland 3
Pen:  Paterson

France:  Poitrenaud, Rougerie, Garbajosa, Traille, Clerc, Gelez, Galthie, Crenca, Ibanez, Marconnet, Pelous, Brouzet, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoqui.
Replacements:  Rue, Califano, Auradou, Chabal, Yachvili, Merceron, Castaignede.

Scotland:  G. Metcalfe, Paterson, Townsend, Utterson, Logan, Laney, Redpath, T. Smith, Bulloch, Douglas, Murray, Grimes, Leslie, Mower, Taylor.
Replacements:  Scott, G. Kerr, White, Petrie, Blair, G. Ross, Craig.

Referee:  Peter Marshall (Australia)

England ease past battling Welsh

For 40 minutes they looked anything but the best side in the world, but England finally came good in the second half as they cruised to victory in Cardiff.

In the first half a combination of English mediocrity and Welsh fervour meant it was the hosts who left the field more upbeat, despite trailing 9-6.

However, in the second half England stopped relying on the boot of Jonny Wilkinson for their points, got some structure in their game and ran in tries through Will Greenwood and Joe Worsley.

Debutant fly-half Ceri Sweeney kicked nine points for Wales, and although it was never likely to be enough once the English machine eventually clicked into gear, Wales at least saved face after last weekend's humiliation by Italy.

England struggled to get their hands on the ball in the opening stages and Wales took the lead through a 40m penalty from Sweeney.

A penalty and marvellous drop goal from Wilkinson nudged England into the lead before English indiscipline handed Sweeney the chance to level the match at 6-6 after 24 minutes.

At this point Wales were more than proving a match for the much-vaunted visitors, and although another excellent Wilkinson drop goal nudged England back into the lead, Wales should have been ahead at the break.

Mark Taylor brushed aside Charlie Hodgson's feeble tackle and raced clear with two men outside him, but with a try looking a formality Taylor held on and the chance was lost.

Sweeney then missed a kickable penalty on the half-time whistle which would have levelled the scores after Phil Christophers, only just on as a replacement for Jason Robinson, was sin-binned for an early tackle.

Despite their late frustration Wales would have been far happier than England, who had failed to produce anything like the fluidity they showed in the November internationals.

With Wales buzzing around them like flies England's discipline was poor and they trooped off at half-time to the sound of cheers from a disbelieving Welsh crowd.

The half-time talk must have done the job because England came out playing a much more structured and controlled game.

Will Greenwood powered through a couple of tissue paper tackles for the first try after a multi-phase move, with Wilkinson converting, and England were on their way at 16-6.

Wales then lost Steve Williams to the bin as their defence began to fray around the edges and replacement Joe Worsley powered over under the posts for a converted try.

After the English flurry the scoring tailed off again, with Sweeney and Wilkinson trading penalties as the game went off the boil.

Although England will be happy enough with the victory, Wales ended the match the stronger and will be delighted to have avoided more yet embarrassment.

The scorers:

Wales 9:
Pens:  Sweeney 3

England 26:
Tries:  Greenwood, J Worsley
Cons:  Wilkinson 2
Pens:  Wilkinson 2
Drop goals:  Wilkinson 2

Wales:  K. Morgan, R. Williams, Taylor, Shanklin, G. Thomas, Sweeney, G. Cooper, I. Thomas, Humphreys, Evans, S. Williams, Sidoli, D. Jones, M. Williams, G. Thomas.
Replacements:  G. Williams, Jenkins, Llewellyn, Charvis, Peel, Harris, Watkins.

England:  Robinson, Luger, Greenwood, Hodgson, Cohen, Wilkinson, Bracken, Rowntree, Thompson, Morris, Johnson, Kay, Hill, Back, Dallaglio.
Replacements:  Regan, M. Worsley, Grewcock, J. Worsley, Gomarsall, Christophers, Simpson-Daniel.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

Ireland cruise past Italy

Ireland managed what had proved beyond Wales last week when they secured a comfortable victory over Italy in Rome to keep their Grand Slam bid on target.

The Italians confirmed their progress with some bright moments but Ireland always looked a class above the hosts.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll scooted over for his 18th international try to break Brendan Mullin's long-standing try record as the Irish ran in five tries in total.

Italy's solitary try came from Dennis Dallan, but they showed enough to confirm that the victory over Wales was no fluke.

Italy started in adventurous mood but they lacked penetration and Ireland forced the first real chance after 15 minutes.

They kicked a penalty into the corner and when Victor Costello was held up just short from the line out, Peter Stringer burrowed over from the base of the ruck.

David Humphreys had struggled with his kicking from hand but he slotted the conversion and added a penalty 10 minutes later to take Ireland into a 10-0 lead.

The Irish pack impressed against the Scots last week and they again looked a solid unit as they began to put the squeeze on the hosts.

A rumbling maul set up great field position and the Irish scored their second try of the match when Keith Gleeson sent John Kelly over in the corner.

The Italians hit back almost immediately when Diego Dominguez slotted a simple penalty after O'Driscoll made a rare error.

O'Driscoll nearly atoned with a brilliant run down the touchline, and although the Irish could not get up in support of their captain, a Humphreys penalty gave them an 18-3 lead.

Dominguez missed an easy penalty either side of the half-time whistle and the Italians fell further behind when Humphreys hit the line at pace and raced over untouched from the hosts' 22.

The fly-half could not add the conversion and, after Italy had replaced the out-of-sorts Dominguez with Ramiro Pez, the Italians scored their first try of the game through powerful wing Dallan.

Pez converted and at 23-10 it looked as though Italy might come back, but Ireland reasserted their superiority.

O'Driscoll knifed over for a converted try to break Mullins' record and although Pez slotted a penalty for Italy, Ireland had the final word as Humphreys converted Geordan Murphy's sparkling try.

The scorers:

Italy 13
Tries:  Dallan
Pens:  Dominguez, Pez

Ireland 37
Tries:  Stringer, Kelly, Humphreys, O'Driscoll, Murphy
Cons:  Humphreys 3
Pens:  Humphreys 2

Italy:  Vaccari, Ma Bergamasco, Stoica, Raineri, Dallan, Dominguez, Troncon, De Carli, Festuccia, Martinez, Bezzi, Bortolami, De Rossi, Persico, Phillips.
Replacements:  Moretti, Castrogiovanni, Giacheri, Palmer, Queirolo, Pez, Mi Bergamasco.

Ireland:  Murphy, Kelly, O'Driscoll, Maggs, Hickie, Humphreys, Stringer, Corrigan, S. Byrne, Hayes, Longwell, O'Kelly, Costello, Gleeson, Foley.
Replacements:  Sheahan, Horan, Cullen, A. Quinlan, G. Easterby, Burke, Henderson.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)

Italy defeat woeful Wales

Italy won only their second Six Nations game ever when they defeated a dismal Wales side in the Rome sun on Saturday.

The Italians, led by playmaker Diego Dominguez, destroyed the Welsh pack and starved Steve Hansen's men of any possession.

Tries from Giampiero De Carli, Carlo Festuccia and Matthew Phillips proved too much for a side who always looked second best.

Tom Shanklin, Steve Williams and Dwayne Peel touched over for the visitors.

But it was never going to be enough against an Italian team who last tasted Six Nations success against Scotland in 2000.

With Wales struggling to get their hands on the ball, John Kirwan's side were unlucky not to surge ahead in only the second minute, thanks to a powerful run by Christian Stoica.

A last ditch Rhys Williams tackle instead forced a five metre scrum, but Italy were not denied a second time when De Carli charged over for the game's opening score.

Dominguez's kick pushed his side into an early and deserved 7-0 lead.

Relief came quickly for Wales, however, when good work from Gareth Thomas and Shanklin allowed the Northampton second row to run in for his second international try.

With seven minutes on the clock, both sides had scored a point a minute, before Shanklin and Thomas combined again.

A half break by the Bridgend centre gave the Saracens favourite the opportunity to show his considerable pace - and he did not disappoint with a blistering 50 metre run.

Harris slotted the extras, before the home side hit back immediately through a short-range try from Festuccia, again converted by Dominguez.

Both fly-halves then swapped penalties before the Stade Francais veteran pushed his side into a slender but ominous half-time lead with a well taken drop goal from in front of the posts.

Wales were dealt a double blow in the second-half as Mefin Davies and lock Williams both left the field.

Italy again started brightly and it was no surprise when they grabbed their third try of the match.

Allesandro Troncon made the most of a loose ball from a Welsh scrum and New Zealand-born Phillips strode over to secure a straightforward seven pointer.

At 27-17 up, the Azzurri began to dictate the game and when Dominguez slotted his second drop goal with just minutes remaining, it dealt a hammer blow to Wales's chances.

A late try from Dwayne Peel cut the deficit to just eight points.

But coach Steve Hansen will have to perform a miracle to avoid anything but embarrassment when they line up against favourites England in Cardiff next week.

The scorers:

Italy 30
Tries:  De Carli, Festuccia, Phillips
Conv:  Dominguez 3
Pens:  Dominguez 2
Drops:  Dominguez 1

Wales 22
Tries:  Williams, Shanklin, Peel
Conv:  Harris 2
Pens:  Harris 1

Italy:  P Vaccari (Calvisano), Mauro Bergamasco (Treviso), C Stoica (Castres/Fra), G Ranieri (Calvisano), D Dallan (Treviso), D Dominguez (Stade Francais/Fra), A Troncon (Treviso, capt), G De Carli (Calvisano), C Festuccia (Gran Parma), R Martinez (Treviso), C Bezzi (Viadana), M Bortolami (Padova), A De Rossi (Calvisano), A Persico (Viadana), M Phillips (Viadana).
Reps:  A Moretti (Calvisano), S Perugini (Calvisano), M Giacheri (Rotherham/Eng), S Palmer (Treviso), J Manuel Queirolo (Dax/Fra), R Pez (Rotherham/Eng), Mirco Bergamasco (Padova).

Wales:  R Williams (Cardiff), M Jones (Llanelli), T Shanklin (Saracens), L Davies (Llanelli), G Thomas (Bridgend), I Harris (Cardiff), D Peel (Llanelli), I Thomas (Llanelli), M Davies (Pontypridd), B Evans (Swansea), R Sidoli (Pontypridd), S Williams (Northampton), M Owen (Pontypridd), M Williams (Cardiff), C Charvis (Swansea, capt).
Reps:  G Williams (Bridgend), G Jenkins (Pontypridd), D Jones (Llanelli), G Thomas (Bath), G Cooper (Bath), C Sweeney (Pontypridd), M Watkins (Llanelli).

Ref:  Joel Jutge (France)

Wilkinson makes France pay

England gained revenge for last year's Paris nightmare as they launched their Six Nations campaign with a surprisingly comfortable victory over France at Twickenham.

A sparkling try from the dynamic Jason Robinson and a 20-point haul from the impeccable boot of Jonny Wilkinson fully vindicated their billing as odds-on favourites.

Reigning champions France did outscore their hosts on the try count with flanker Olivier Magne, full-back Clement Poitrenaud and centre Damien Traille all breaching the red rose defence.

But a dominant performance from the England pack laid the foundations for the first step on another probable Grand Slam crusade.

Whether England can go that elusive extra step this year remains to be seen, but they maintained the momentum of autumn victories over the southern hemisphere's big three.

Two French tries in the final quarter sparked a few late nerves, but the home side held out with few alarms.

England started in confident fashion, Robinson taking a line-out to himself in the first minute before dancing past three French tacklers on a mazy run.

Then Dan Luger brought the capacity crowd to its feet when he pierced the French defensive line, only to be penalised for holding on to the ball in the tackle.

France proceeded to dominate possession but it was England who opened the scoring after 13 minutes when Wilkinson punished some French pushing at the line-out with a long-range penalty.

His kick landed on top of the crossbar and dropped apologetically over, but if that was a touch of good fortune, England's luck swiftly turned.

Charlie Hodgson, taking the ball at first receiver, saw his clearing kick charged down by the alert Magne and the flanker beat Wilkinson to the loose ball to dive over.

Gerald Merceron converted to put France 7-3 up, but England were back in front by the 28th minute courtesy of two more superbly-struck penalties from Wilkinson.

Merceron badly miscued a shot at goal that should have regained the lead for the visitors, and England lost centurion prop Jason Leonard to injury in the 33rd minute.

But sparked by the irrepressible Robinson, England laid siege to the French line before the interval.

Hodgson almost redeemed his earlier error with a neat break only to spurn a try-scoring chance when he failed to spot Will Greenwood on his shoulder.

But the pressure finally told when the French defence fell offside in midfield and Wilkinson dispatched his fourth penalty for a 12-7 interval lead.

Lawrence Dallaglio came off the bench just three minutes into the second half to replace Lewis Moody, and hooker Mark Regan appeared as a temporary prop when Graham Rowntree suffered a head cut.

But the changes failed to disrupt England's rhythm and after concerted pressure on the French line, Greenwood's well-timed pass sent Robinson in under the posts after 48 minutes.

Wilkinson's fifth penalty of the afternoon extended the lead to 22-7 just before the hour, and the stand-off nonchantly dropped a goal minutes later to seemingly leave England cruising.

But France finally found their attacking spark 14 minutes from time, profiting from quick ruck ball to send Poitrenaud over in the right corner.

But Merceron missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty attempt, and despite Traille crossing in the right corner, England held out in a full 12 minutes of injury time.

The scorers:

England 25
Try:  Robinson
Conv:  Wilkinson 1
Pens:  Wilkinson 5
Drop:  Wilkinson 1

France 17
Try:  Magne, Poitrenaud, Traille
Conv:  Merceron

England:  J Robinson, D Luger, W Greenwood, C Hodgson, B Cohen, J Wilkinson, A Gomarsall, J Leonard, S Thompson, J White, M Johnson (capt), B Kay, L Moody, N Back, R Hill.
Replacements:  M Regan, G Rowntree, D Grewcock, L Dallaglio, N Walshe, P Christophers, J Simpson-Daniel.

France:  C Poitrenaud, A Rougerie, X Garbajosa, D Traille, V Clerc, G Merceron, F Galthie (capt), J-J Crenca, R Ibanez, C Califano, F Pelous, O Roumat, S Betsen, O Magne, I Harinordoquy.
Replacements:  J-B Rue, S Marconnet, D Auradou, S Chabal, D Yachvilli, F Gelez, T Castaignede.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

Ireland rout sorry Scots

Ireland sealed a historic victory against Scotland on Sunday, winning at Murrayfield for the first time since 1985.

The Irish rarely looked troubled by a Scottish side devoid of creativity in their back division, as they raced to their most emphatic win at the home of Scottish rugby.

David Humphreys rattled off 26 points for the visitors but it was Brian O'Driscoll who was the chief tormentor for the Scots.

The Irish captain regularly picked gaps in the opposition defence and, although he failed to get on the score sheet, his telling run produced Denis Hickie's opening try.  Geordan Murphy and Humphreys scored the game's other tries.

Ireland were the more assured throughout the game, except for a nearly disastrous hiccup with the first move of the match.

A Hickie defensive kick was charged down but Andrew Mower knocked the ball forward in the resulting melee over the try line.

After surviving the scare, the Irish found themselves in front after eight minutes against the run of play courtesy of a Humphreys penalty, his first of two in the half.

Despite Ireland's lead, Scotland came closest to crossing the line first but were halted by the faintest of tap tackles by Peter Stringer on Glenn Metcalfe.

The opening try finally came in some style after an intelligent break by O'Driscoll in the 27th minute.

The Irish captain found the pace to outfox the Scots before being brought down just short of the line with his side's first real attacking opportunity.

Stringer was on hand to recycle the ball to Hickie who forced his way over.  Humphreys added the conversion.

A Gordon Ross penalty straight after the restart, cancelled out by a similar Humphreys effort, seemed to give Scotland the wake-up call required.

From looking sluggish, they produced 10 minutes of telling attacks which were continually fended off.  In the end, the Scots had to settle for a second penalty.

With the Scottish risking all in attack, Ireland were biding their time to launch a counter offensive, which came from replacement Murphy in the 65th minute.

Against the run of play, the Leicester wing hacked the ball forward and sprinted 70 yards for the game's second try.

With that the Scots completely capitulated, Hickie producing the overlap to send Humphreys through for his score five minutes later.

By then, the game had long finished as a contest.

The scorers:

Scotland 6
Pens:  Ross 2

Ireland 36
Try:  Hickie, Murphy, Humphreys
Conv:  Humphreys 3
Pens:  Humphreys 5

Scotland:  G. Metcalfe, Logan, Craig, Laney, Paterson, G. Ross, Redpath, T. Smith, Bulloch, Douglas, Murray, Grimes, Leslie, Mower, Taylor.
Replacements:  Scott, G. Kerr, Hines, Beattie, Blair, Townsend, Utterson.

Ireland:  Dempsey, S. Horgan, O'Driscoll, Maggs, Hickie, Humphreys, Stringer, Corrigan, S. Byrne, Hayes, Longwell, O'Kelly, Costello, Gleeson, Foley.
Replacements:  Sheahan, Horan, Cullen, A. Quinlan, G. Easterby, Burke, Murphy.

Referee:  Andrew Cole (Australia)

Scotland 36 Fiji 22

Scotland followed up their record and historic win over South Africa a week ago, by beating Fiji 36-22 at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.  Centre Andy Craig sealed the win for his country by scoring three tries in a somewhat disappointing game.

The match, although not particularly spiteful, still produced three yellow cards for illegal play.

The first was dished out to Fijian flanker Sisa Koyamaibole, who plays his club rugby for Toyota-Shokki in Japan, when he was sin-binned by South African referee Mark Lawrence for repeated infringements at the rucks and mauls.

Then four minutes from time Fijian captain and hooker Greg Smith, as well as Scottish flank Martin Leslie were given 10 minutes in the sin bin each for their part in a punch-up.

Although the game at times showed promise of developing into a highly entertaining affair, all too often play seemed to break down -- either through a combination of solid defence and poor handling, or some cynical tactics.

But the Scottish hat-trick hero, Craig, probably summed the game up best when trying to explain why Scotland disappointed.  "After (the 21-6 win over) South Africa it was always going to be difficult to get up to that level again," he said.

However, he expressed satisfaction of having scored his first hat-trick for his country.

Scotland had a somewhat fortunate 18-12 lead after a first half in which neither side truly stamped their authority on proceedings.

Craig opened the scoring the eighth minute for Scotland, with Brendan Laney adding the conversion for a 7-0 lead.  This was followed by two Joseph Narruhn penalties, in the 14th and 19th minutes, before two Laney penalties restored the seven point lead after 24 minutes.

Craig picked up his second try in the 29th minute, after some patient build-up work by Scotland, before the ball eventually went wide.

Narruhn added two more penalties to close the gap to 18-12 at the break.

Scotland were given a rude awakening in the 50th minute when Api Naevo went over, after the Fijians countered from a Scottish mistake.  At 18-17 a surprise seemed on the cards.

Then in the 57th minute followed one of those weird and rare occurrences.  Fiji was penalised for having 16 men on the field -- with a substitute having come on before the injured player, who was being treated on the field, had left the playing area.

The Laney penalty kick made it 21-17 to Scotland.

Laney scored a try four minutes later from a great move, but the try was only awarded after consultation with the video referee.  He missed the conversion, but the gap had by then opened to 26-17.

Craig scored his third try in the 73rd minute, when he came up in support after Moffat was caught just before the Fijian line.  Another failed conversion, but Scotland was looking comfortable at 31-17.

Norman Ligairi restored some pride with a late try, after substitute Weisale Serevi cut through the Scottish backs but lock Stuart Grimes added the final nail with a try four minutes into injury time for a 36-21 win.

Man of the match:  It has to go to the hat-trick hero Andy Craig.  He did what most good backline players are supposed to do, finish off promising moves.

Moment of the match:  Probably Norman Ligairi's try, even though it had no affect on the outcome of the match.  It was the try of the match, scored in typical Fijian fashion.

Villain(s) of the match:  The three yellow card offenders -- Sisa Koyamaibole, Greg Smith and Martin Leslie.  Repeated offences and punch-ups spoil the game for all.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Simon Taylor, 8 Jon Petrie, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Chris Paterson, 12 Brendan Laney, 13 Andrew Craig, 14 Nikki Walker, 15 Ben Hinshelwood
Reserves:  Stuart Moffatt, Nathan Hines, Gordon Ross, Graeme Beveridge, Martin Leslie, Steve Scott
Unused:  Dave Hilton

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Isaia Rasila, 4 Apisai Naevo, 5 Simon Raiwalui, 6 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Alfi Mocelutu Vuivau, 8 Seta Tawake Naivaluwaqa, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Joseph Narruhn, 11 Fero Lasagavibau, 12 Seremaia Bai, 13 Epeli Ruivadra, 14 Norman Ligairi, 15 Atonio Nariva
Reserves:  Waisale Serevi, Bill Gadolo, Emori Katalau, Kele Leawere, Viliame Satala
Unused:  Paula Biu, Isaac Mow

Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Laney B.J. 1, Craig A. 3, Grimes S.B. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 3

Fiji
Tries:  Ligairi N. 1, Naevo A. 1
Pen K.:  Narruhn J. 4

France 35 Canada 3

France's skipper and scrumhalf Fabien Galthié led his team to victory over Canada at the Stade de France in Paris, with right-wing Vincent Clerc running in two second-half tries to round off a record 35-3 victory.

After leading 13-0 at the break, the home team never looked like losing in a steady Paris drizzle.

However, the second-half belonged to greenhorn right-wing Vincent Clerc, who scored two of Les Bleus' four tries after the break.  David Bory and Damien Traille got the other two.

Left-wing Bory, who scored the first try of the match, and his Montferrand team-mate Gerald Merceron, who played at flyhalf and kicked 13 points, must have put a smile on the face of coach Bernard Laporte, who re-called the duo after France's 30-10 win and 20-20 draw against South Africa and New Zealand in the past fortnight respectively.

The visitors had their fair share of possession, but they failed to produce the goods with the ball in had as the French defence was just too strong.

The Canadians started the game well, enjoying territorial advantage in the first five minutes, but they could not break the sturdy French defence.

The French, however, showed that they can attack when flanker Olivier Magne made a good break deep into the Canadian half before offloading to centre Damien Traille for a converted try as the home team surged even further ahead at 22-0.

But the denouement of the game belonged to Clerc, surely one of the more exciting young prospects in the world today, as he scored twice to put the result beyond any doubt.

For his first try, the speedy winger left his opposite number Fred Asselin for dead as he raced away from 30 metres out.

Merceron missed the conversion, but Asselin's day turned even more sour when Irish referee David McHugh showed him a yellow card for a high tackle on French centre Thomas Castaignede.

With the Canadian winger out of the way, Clerc touched down for his second try after a superb move that saw skipper Fabien Galthié, Traille and Castaignède handle the ball before the 21-year-old sprinted through for a converted try.

Canada's only points came from the boot of flyhalf Bobby Ross, who kicked a late penalty in his 50th cap for the Canucks.

The Teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Vincent Clerc, 12 Thomas Castaignede, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  David Auradou, Xavier Garbajosa, Jean-Baptiste Rue, Sebastien Chabal, Francois Gelez, Sylvain Marconnet, Dimitri Yachvili

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 John Thiel, 4 Mike James, 5 John Tait, 6 Ryan Banks, 7 Alan Charron, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 John Cannon, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Jamie Cudmore, Marco Di Girolomo, Ed Fairhurst, Mark Lawson, Kevin Tkachuk, Adam Van Staveren
Unused:  Jared Barker

Referee:  Mchugh d.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Clerc V. 2, Bory D. 1, Traille D. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 2, Traille D. 1
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 3

Canada
Pen K.:  Ross R.P. 1