Wales too much for 14-man Scotland

Murray sent off in Cardiff

Wales kick-started their Six Nations campaign with a comfortable 28-18 victory Scotland at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday.

But the game will be remember for the dismissal of Scotland lock Scott Murray who kicked out after being late-tackled by Ian Gough.

Murray, the first Scottish player to be red-carded in a Test match since 2002, departed after just 22 minutes, with New Zealand referee Steve Walsh also sin-binning Gough for a late tackle on Murray.

The Scots, cock-a-hoop after beating tournament favourites France last weekend, battled bravely following the loss of their lock but could not stay in touch.

It was a satisfactory Welsh response to their 47-13 drubbing against England at Twickenham last Saturday.

Wales attempted to produce their renowned wide game, and with scrum-half Dwayne Peel the architect of those confident attacking efforts, Scotland were ultimately run to a standstill.

Scotland's defeat means England -- who visit Murrayfield when the tournament resumes on February 25 -- are Six Nations leaders by two points, and now the only team who could clinch a Grand Slam this season.

Wales, meanwhile, will travel in confident mood to Dublin, where Ireland await in a fortnight.

What a first half!  What drama!  You could watch many, many halves of Test rugby without seeing one of those incidents, but here we had a penalty try and a sending off in the first half.  A red card, no less, with a yellow card limping behind it.

The sending off will be the big talking point as Scott Murray becomes just the second Scot in 135 years to be sent off playing for Scotland.  Nathan Hines, also a lock got in before him.

The penalty try came after just five minutes of play, the sending off after 21 minutes.

The outcome was pretty well decided then but it went on with lots of passing, lots of lateral running, some enjoyable tries and lots and lots of substitutions.  Eventually it was a game that lost its way and ended with two tries to Scotland in the last minute or so to make the score flattering.

The Wales penalty try came early.  It started with a great break by Matthew Watkins at centre.  He threw a brilliant pass to his right but Mark Jones was tackled into touch, giving Scotland a line-out five metres from their line.  They over threw it and Michael Owen accepted their gift and Wales battered.  The ball became unplayable and back they went for a five-metre scrum.

The scrum was reset three times and then Gavin Kerr was penalised for not binding in the scrum

Wales, who had the shove on in the scrum, opted for another scrum.  Again they shoved ahead and again Scotland were penalised as the scrum collapsed.  This time Bruce Douglas was the player singled out.

Wales opted for another scrum and this time they shoved at speed, and Jason White and Simon Taylor detached to get to the ball, and the referee decided that at that scrum a try was probable and awarded a penalty try.

The sending off was a moment of utter silliness by two experienced players.  The ball was going away from a line-out.  Scott Murray passed it to his left.  Long after he had passed it Ian Gough of Wales tackled him from behind.  It was late.  Murray ended on his back.  His feet were free of Gough, his legs bent upwards, and from that position jerked backwards with his boots into Gough's face.  The referee saw it.

He gathered the players with their captains and said, pointing to each player as he mentioned him as "you":  "Under the laws of the game, this man [Gough] tackled this player [Murray] late.  Unfortunately for you [Murray], you [Murray] retaliated and struck out and kicked him [Gough] in the head.  I have no option.  You [Murray] are red-cared and you [Gough] are in the sin bin.  Penalty against you [Murray]"

A medic is at that stage attending to Gough's face.  Murray, remarkably calm, leans in, touches Gough and says that he had not intended to kick him.

It was a sad moment but the Scots got on with the game and nothing untoward happened again in the match.

Doubtless the plethora of substitutions made by Scotland was to keep the energy of the seven forwards up and, to their credit, they were not again pushed about as they were in those opening scrums on their line.  Indeed, when they had a five-metre scrum against them in the second half they were able to wheel the scrum and win a put-in for themselves.

After the penalty try, the Scots worked their way back into he game.  Bruce Douglas had an astonishing burst for a prop down the left, smashing into a determined tackle by Gareth Thomas.  When Wales were off-side Paterson goaled a penalty to make the score 7-3 after 18 minutes.

Haldane Luscombe was off bleeding and Lee Byrne came on.  He went to fullback with Gareth Thomas moving into the centre.  he was in the centre as Wales attacked right, then left and were going right again in the face of the spread Scottish defence.  The Welsh captain chipped on an incline to his right, burst ahead and caught the kick and raced over under the posts.  Stephen Jones converted again.  In fact he converted each of Wales's four tries.

Just before half-time Paterson goaled a second penalty to make the score 14-6 at the break.

The second half was entertaining but somehow it had an air of unreality.  The sending off stayed close to the thoughts and yet Wales, a man up, did not really assert their authority as though some form of guilt or sportsmanship inhibited them.  They did not seek domination.  Maybe Scottish resolved kept them from domination.  The result was many passes, lots of the passing lateral.

Andy Henderson broke for Scotland and they threatened the Welsh line but Robert Sidoli brought off a great tackle on Ali Hogg and the move fizzled out with a pass that went into touch.

Wales's third try started when Scotland were on the attack.  Dan Parks chipped but running back Matthew Watkins caught the ball and claimed the mark in front of his posts.  He tapped, ran and passed to his right, and suddenly Mark Jones was scorching down the right wing.  He kicked long and low ahead where Paterson fielded the ball, but Luscombe swung him into touch for a line-out to Wales seven metres from the Scottish goal-line.

Scotland may well have been expecting a catch and maul but instead Owen played the ball straight down to Peel and the scrumhalf set his men going on the left.  Gareth Thomas drove strongly at the posts.  The ball came back to Peel who darted and then played inside to Sidoli who plunged over for the try.  21-6 with 26 minutes to play.

Peel had a big hand in the last Welsh try.  Paterson tried to ruin a kick back but, tackled, lost the ball forward.  Owen was there to pop the ball to Stephen Jones who gave to Peel.  The brilliant scrumhalf beat two defenders before giving Gareth Thomas a clear run to the line.  Over he went in the left-hand corner.

The benches which had been emptying now emptied as the match's formalities were played out.

Not quite, for the Scots are brave.  When Martyn Williams was penalised for a trip in front of the Welsh posts, Chris Cusiter tapped and darted close to the line.  The ball came back to Sean Lamont who took three defenders out in a muscular drove and then Gordon Ross flung the ball out to Hugo Southwell on his right and the fullback scored far out.  Paterson's conversion hit the woodwork and stayed out.

From the kick-off Wales went on a busy attack down the right and then came back left with a long pass, followed by a longer pass which Paterson accepted and ran three-quarters of the length of the filed for a try at the posts.  He converted his try, and the final whistle went.

It was a memorable match for the great resurgence of Wales after the battering of Twickenham, but is more likely to be remembered and enter history as the match in which a great forward was sent off the field.

Man of the Match:  Many Scots were energetic and brave, including Mike Blair, Ali Hogg and Bruce Douglas.  Perhaps their best player was Sean Lamont who has a great work rate and great confidence.  But Wales had outstanding players of their own -- Duncan Jones, Robert Sidoli, Gareth Tomas and Matthew Watkins and our Man of the Match Dwayne Peel with so much energy and effective skill.

Moment of the Match:  A black moment -- the sending off of Scott Murray.

Villain of the Match:  Scott Murray obviously and bracketed with him Ian Gough who provoked the untoward retaliation.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Penalty Try, G Thomas 2, Sidoli
Cons:  S Jones 4

For Scotland:
Tries:  Southwell, Paterson
Con:  Paterson
Pens:  Paterson 2

Yellow card(s):  Gough (Wales) -- late tackle, 21
Red card(s):  Murray (Scotland) -- retaliation, 21

The teams:

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (captain), 14 Mark Jones, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Mefin Davies, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Gareth Delve, 19 Adam M Jones, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Lee Byrne.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Ben McDougall, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Jon Petrie, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Gordon Ross, 22 Simon Webster.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Eric Darrière (France)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

England made to sweat by Italy

Rome scoreline flatters the visitors

England recorded their first away win for two years in the shape of a 31-16 victory over Italy at Stadio Flaminio in Rome on Saturday -- but their heroic hosts gave the RWC-holders a major scare.

England's three previous Six Nations trips to Rome had seen them average 51 points a time, but Italy are made of sterner stuff these days and they briefly enjoyed a 9-7 advantage through two drop-goals and a penalty from fly-half Ramiro Pez.

The scoreline tells a far more flattering story than the witnesses.  England struggled to the win -- they were behind with 28 minutes remaining -- and only won by virtue of those old chestnuts, fitness and power.

Italy managed something nobody considered they might do:  they improved on last week's performance.  They will have to be careful, soon we will be expecting them to play like this.

The blue-shirted defenders -- led by a fabulous performance from Sergio Parisse -- swarmed all over the English runners and never gave them the vaguest bubble of breathing space.  The scrum -- some 6 kg per man lighter, held up all game, and the statistic that stands out the most for the Italian pack is the number of times England tried to catch-and-drive a try, and the number of times they succeeded:  9 attempts, 0 successes.  Outside the forwards they had done their homework as well -- Tom Voyce was marshalled by three tacklers every single time he had the ball.

When they had the ball, they moved it gamely left and right with a belief that no Azzurri Six Nations team has ever shown before.  The forwards were happy to charge forward to make the hard yards and create the space.

It wasn't just enthusiastic bluster either.  Ramiro Pez was found wanting in defence by Charlie Hodgson late in the game, but his control and decision-making with the ball was spot on for just as much time as Hodgson's was.  The centres crashed well into their opponents, and the supporting forwards made it near-impossible for England to disrupt the ball.

Less streetwise teams than England would have conceded more tries, but Italy still lack a game-breaker out wide.

England?  They were clinical, composed, and painful at times.  By the hour mark they had finally run down their counterparts, and then a three-quarter movement yielded a sumptuous try.  Yet even for the final minutes they refused to spread the ball any further than the centres or the forward runners coming off Hodgson's shoulder.

You can argue that it was in respect of the danger Italy posed, but England had already boh sliced their opposition open and worn them down.  Hodgson eventually started running on his own, such was his frustration.

It is not as if the close runner tactic was mightily effective, and a team more seasoned than the Italians would have negated it for the full eighty minutes.  England will need something more imaginative to beat Scotland in a fortnight's time.

The close runners -- Grewcock, Borthwick, and Moody were the chosen trio -- were the feature of the opening twenty minutes, with England enjoying most of the possession.  Italy tackled out every opportunity England could create, and should have taken the lead with a penalty after ten minutes, but Pez hit the upright.

Italy could also have taken the lead shortly before, when a fine set of passes through the three-quarters sent Ludovico Nitoglia on his way to the line.  Nitoglia backed himself -- a reasonable decision -- but he needed to make the ball available and ofload when he was tackled.  He did not, and Ongaro was left to flap his arms in frustration.

Between 15 and 25 minutes, England enjoyed near-total dominance.  They had a sequence of three penalties close to the Italian line, and with the scrum not making yards, opted to catch and maul every time.  Italy's forwards dug their studs into the turf and held off drives for fully five minutes in a magnificent display of defence, and eventually forced England into conceding a penalty themselves, after England's final drive had been ruled held up in-goal by the video referee.

Finally, England broke through though, with Tindall crashing through the 10/12 gap for the opening score after 27 minutes.  Hodgson converted.

Where Italy may concede they made a tactical error was in the choice not to contest England's defensive line-outs.  Pez, Canale, and Cristian Stoica all placed raking kicks down into England's 22, but the English were allowed to clear virtually unopposed.

Eventually Pez slotted a penalty after 33 minutes, and the percentage kicks paid off even more when a tapped penalty in England's half took Pez to within range, and he dropped a goal two minutes before the break.

The cheers that greeted that were nothing to the cheers that broke out as Italy took the lead two minutes into the second half.  A dreadful mistake by Danny Grewcock at the kick-off gave Italy an attacking scrum, the ball was moved wide twice, crashed up the middle once, and Pez dropped another goal to make it 9-7.  At that moment more than any though, the lack of a line-breaker in Italy's attack was glaring.  They really should have been thinking of a try.

England then rumbled into another spell of forward crashing by the Italian line, but still the blue wall held firm, and all Andy Robinson's men could show for ten minutes of pressure was another Hodgson penalty.

Matt Dawson came onto the pitch after 55 minutes, and his first touch was a scoring pass.  Joe Worsley led a charge into Italy's 22, Dawson found Hodgson on the short side, and Hodgson scored under the posts with a searing break.  His conversion made it 17-9.

Then the England bench entered the fray, and took control against the tiring Azzuri.  Stoica was left isolated from a deep Hodgson clearance and conceded a penalty which Hodgson smacked against the upright.  From the drop out, Hodgson again found Pez exposed on his outside and broke superbly, but there was no supporter and the move broke down.

With 13 minutes remaining, England scored a fabulous try, which begged to be encored against the cramping Italians.  Tindall found Cohen on his inside, the Northampton winger stormed through the line and timed his pass to Mark Cueto perfectly.  Hodgson's conversion was spot on, making it 24-9.

Still England crashed dully, and still the Italians were happy to stand their ground and soak up the pressure -- in the second half alone they made three times as many tackles as the English.  Had England moved the ball, they could have given the scoreline a cruel look, but there was simply nothing offered.  Italy waited and tackled and waited, and then seized on their chance.

Canale finally broke away, paused for his support brilliantly, Mirco Bergamasco came on a tight angle and broke the two tackles for the try that was the most just of rewards.

16-24 would have been a fair scoreline, but Italy paid for adventure in the final play of the game when James Simpson-Daniel picked up a dropped ball to coast home unopposed.  Hodgson made it 31-16 with the final kick of the game.

Man of the match:  For England, Charlie Hodgson stood out for his adventure, and Joe Worsley and both locks were superb driving forward.  For Italy, Ramiro Pez delivered a mature performance and the props stood up admirably against their illustrious counterparts, but for an all-round powerful, driving, tackling, and courageous performance Sergio Parisse gets our vote for man of the match.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Mirco Bergamasco
Con:  Pez
Pen:  Pez
Drops:  Pez 2

For England:
Tries:  Hodgson, Tindall, Simpson-Daniel, Cueto
Con:  Hodgson 4
Pen:  Hodgson

The teams:

Italy:  15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Antonio Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Carlo Del Fava, 20 Silvio Orlando, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Rima Wakarua.

England:  15 Tom Voyce, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry (c), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andy Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Lawrence Dallaglio, 20 Matt Dawson, 21 Andy Goode, 22 James Simpsn-Daniel.

Referee:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ireland fail to catch fickle French

Irish stumble out of the slips

France exorcised their Scottish demons by recorded a bizarre 43-31 victory over Ireland in Paris on Saturday, racking up six tries before their guests mounted a brave but late response.

The French seemed on course for a resounding victory as they opened up a 43-3 lead over the error-prone Irish.

Ireland rallied to touch down through Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy, Donncha O'Callaghan and Andrew Trimble in the second half but France had done enough.

Cédric Heymans and David Marty scored two tries apiece for France after Aurelien Rougerie had justified his recall by starting what, for an hour, looked like being a rout in the third minute.

The afternoon started badly for Ireland as Rougerie found space to touch down out wide and Olivier Magne, also restored to the side, added a second after eight minutes.

Marty charged down a kick to claim his first and a poor Geordan Murphy pass allowed Heymans to intercept and add another before the interval.

Heymans claimed his second five minutes after the restart and Marty made it 43-3 three minutes later.

Ireland scored what seemed a consolation as O'Gara found his way in by the posts on 56 minutes but D'Arcy followed him over four minutes later.

O'Callaghan then forced his way over from close range and Trimble set up a remarkable finish with another moments later.

Despite further pressure, it was all too late for Ireland, however, and France held on.

France made a blistering start with Ireland pushed back at two consecutive scrums but there was worse to come with their line breached in just the third minute.

The second buckling scrum saw the ball released to the backs where Tommy Bowe's missed tackle on Heymans created an overlap which Rougerie finished in the right corner.

Brian O'Driscoll made a couple of darting runs as Ireland searched for an immediate reply and scrum-half Peter Stringer almost wriggled over before being shoved back.

But their good work was undone when France ran in their second try thanks to the vision of Heymans whose quickly taken 22 drop-out found acres of the space on the left.

Denis Leamy and Geordan Murphy covered across but the ball bounced cruelly and fell to the onrushing Frédéric Michalak who supplied the scoring pass to Magne.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde added the two points and the problems continued for Ireland when one promising move ended with openside David Wallace running out of space with no support.

By the 18th minute Ireland looked dead and buried as France had extended their lead to 19 points after David Marty charged down Ronan O'Gara's clearance, gathered and touched down.  Elissalde converted.

Ireland looked to bring in Shane Horgan off the wing as often as possible and the tactic worked with the Leinster winger frequently crossing the gain-line.

But they were often losing the ball at the breakdown with France's back row gaining ascendancy in the loose.

O'Driscoll lost the ball in the tackle as Ireland probed down the left touchline, allowing France to clear their lines, while Geordan Murphy and Gordon D'Arcy sent two passes into touch, squandering valuable possession.

O'Gara booted Ireland off the mark with a penalty but Elissalde replied in kind, and it was not long before France had extended their lead with a fourth try.

O'Sullivan will be furious with the manner in which it was scored as Murphy floated a loose pass to no-one in particular and the impressive Heymans easily intercepted and romped home.

Elissalde booted the extras to give France a 29-3 interval lead which Ireland had no hope of overcoming given their desperate lack of direction in attack.

France began the second period as they had the first, and Marty worked Heymans into the corner for a simple run-in in the 44th minute and Elissalde rubbed salt into the Ireland's wounds by kicking the conversion.

Just when Ireland thought it could not get any worse it did three minutes later when O'Gara kicked the ball straight at Marty who caught and dashed over the whitewash from 20 yards out.

Murphy provided some inspiration as the Irish went close to crossing, breaking from deep before the ball found Wallace via D'Arcy only for the Munster openside to be tackled five metres short.

The visitors maintained the pressure by launching waves of attacks and eventually the French defence collapsed with O'Gara scampering home and the converting his own try.

Ireland hit back again in the 70th minute with D'Arcy finishing a break from Stringer but a raft of substitutions had left France looking disjointed.

Donncha O'Callaghan barged over and O'Gara converted to slash the deficit to 43-24 and there were a few worried faces when O'Driscoll set up Ireland's fourth try for Andrew Trimble.

But they could not add to the score in the last 10 minutes as relieved France held out for the victory.

Man of the match:  Ireland were awful in the first half and sublime in the second.  France were sublime in the first half and awful in the second.  Given the bizarre circumstances, it's hard to know where this award should be thrust.  Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy and Paul O'Connell all put in brave showings but their lack of cohesion in the early stages rules them out of contention.  David Marty and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde sparkled for France, but it was the old warhorse from London Irish who caught the eye -- Olivier Magne.  And they say he's passed it ...

Moment of the match:  France's opening blitz will live long in the memory -- and so will Fabien Pelous's face of incredulity as the final whistle ushered in a chorus of jeers from the French crowd.  There's no tougher crowd then Paris!

Villain of the match:  Could it be the receptionist at Ireland's hotel?  The visitors clearly didn't receive their wake-up call.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Heymans 2, Magne, Marty 2, Rougerie
Cons:  Elissalde 5
Pen:  Elissalde

For Ireland:
Tries:  Trimble, O'Gara, D'Arcy, O'Callaghan
Cons:  O'Gara 4
Pen:  O'Gara

The teams:

France:  15 Christophe Dominici, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 David Marty, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez, 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Sébastien Bruno, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Benjamin Boyet, 22 Ludovic Valbon.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Reggie Corrigan.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Rmon Best, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Roy Maybank (England)

Scotland stun France -- and the world

France battered into submission

Scotland tore up the form books at Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon, recording an astonishing 20-16 victory over France to get their Six Nations campaign off to the best possible start.

Northampton Saints wing Sean Lamont grabbed both of his side's tries as the resurgent Scots recorded a famous victory in front of a jubilant home crowd.  But it would be wrong to single out one man from what was a splendid team effort.

The Scots, led by 50-cap winning skipper Jason White, believed they could shock the traditionally slow-starters, especially after giving them a scare on the opening day of the last campaign in Paris, but precious few outside the Scotland camp shared this view.  After all, France arrived in Edinburgh as tournament favourites -- and departed black and blue and bowed.

It is a game played with mind and heart as well as sinew and skill.  It is an oval ball.  It is unpredictable.  That's why rugby football is a great game.  That's why this match as such a thriller.  And what a turn-up for the books.

Before the match there was a moment's silence for Guy Basquet, the former French international who played a remarkable 33 Tests for France as a No.8.  He had died in Agen on 31 January.  The silence was broken with the firing of a cannon.

Back to the match, and all bets were on France.  Never mind their injuries, they were still favourites to win the whole Six Nations, let alone this match against the also-ran Scots.  An hour and a half later their ambitions were in tatters.  It was back to the Eighties for France and their bête noire at Murrayfield.  They lost there seven times in succession between 1980 and 1992.

When Jean-Batiste Elissalde missed the conversion of Sébastien Bruno's late try it left France needing a try to win and just three minutes to do it in.  They did not look remotely like doing so as the confident Scots clamped down on them again.  In the end a four-point margin of defeat flattered the French.

The Scots played second fiddle only in the scrums -- but then the French had only five put-ins in the whole match because the Scots were not nearly as error-prone as the French were.  But the French did manage that rare rugby feat -- a tighthead.

The line-outs were generally sloppy and the French may have been better off here.  But the Scots were certainly much better at the tackle.  They cleaned out well and provided quick ball.

They were also better with ball in hand, especially their passing in the tackle.  There was hardly a Frenchman who did not make a handling error.

No doubt the French missed Yannick Jauzion in the centre.  He broke his toe and the French brought Ludovic Valbon to inside centre where he looked right out of his depth.  It must have been a nightmare afternoon for him as he wandered about in uncertainty, gave no direction to his backs at all, knocked on and ran across the field.  Surprisingly he played the whole of the match.

But most of all there was a great difference in the levels of confidence.  France started with insouciance enough but gradually it flagged until they looked planless.  On the other hand the confidence level of the Scots rose.  Their heads were up, their eyes were glinting and their hearts fearless as they rushed to tackle the jittery French.

That France was so close at the end may have been due to good fortune and the obvious virtues of the few -- Cédric Heymans, Florian Fritz, Rémy Martin and Yannick Nyanga.

That said, the try count was still two-all.

The Scots ended the half 13-3, which flattered France.  France had started with their usual calm elan but the Scots were unyielding.  There was just under two minutes before the first whistle went, when Hugo Southwell kicked the ball into touch.  It was another two minutes before the next whistle went, a penalty when Cédric Heymans use his hands in a ruck.  It was played at a great pace, as was the whole half on cropped Murrayfield.

The first crack in French composure came when Dan Parks hoisted an up-and-under into the French 22.  Under pressure, Nicolas Brusque fumbled and Marcus di Rollo dived on the ball.  Suddenly the Scots were attacking but, with a four-against-two overlap, Jason White ran on a diagonal.  Dimitri Szarzewski felled White and the French won a turn-over to clear.  In fact France won three vital turn-overs in the half when they were in trouble -- and they were in lots and lots of trouble.

A line-out to Scotland became a maul where Szarzewski was penalised.  It was kickable but the Scots tapped.  Their brave intentions were an anticlimax in a mess.

But the Scots got the score they so richly deserved.  They battered on the right and then came left with an overlap.  Sean Lamont checked and straightened inside Frédéric Michalak and past Pieter de Villiers for a try at the posts.  Paterson converted and the Scots were in a well-deserved 7-0 lead after 11 minutes.

Florian Fritz broke but the pass to Brusque was forward.  Mike Blair had a break and Gavin Kerr was there to bound on with it.  Paterson then goaled a penalty at a tackle.  10-0 after 20 minutes.

Blair broke and gave to Paterson who chipped.  Christophe Dominici was penalised for an early tackle and Paterson kicked the goal.  13-0 after 32 minutes and France looked right our of it.

France did get some attaching going but met Scottish aggression on defence and capitulated for Michalak to try a drop, which missed.

On the stroke of half-time Bruce Douglas was penalised and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde goaled to make the score 13-3.

After five minutes of the second half, Scotland got their second try -- an astonishing try.  A long kick down the left by Hugo Southwell, who must surely have had his best match ever for Scotland, resulted in a line-out on the French 22.  On the French 22.  It is worth noting.  Scotland won the line-out, made a maul and scored a try.

Those are the simple facts until they actually sink in.

The Scottish forwards had taken on the powerful French pack, which had none of the excuses of injury that the backs had, and beat them.  In this maul they licked them.  They marched the maul down 22 metres and there was big wing Lamont to plunge, stretch and score.  Paterson converted to make the score an incredible 20-3.

France's try came five minutes later and was a brilliant moment of interpassing that went down the right with Fritz running well and then came back to the left.

Two on two, Heymans sold a little dummy to fix the Scots and then sent Julien Bonnaire over in the left corner.  Elissalde's conversion came back off the bar.  That was an important strip of wood in the scheme of the match.

Dan Parks tried a drop and missed.  Paterson missed his easiest penalty of the afternoon, but still the Scots led 20-8 and the clock was plodding along as if covered with treacle.

With 20 minutes to go Andrew Henderson tackle high and Elissalde goaled easily.  20-11.

But Scotland kept the ball with many passes.  The French dropped the ball with fewer passes.

With three minutes to go, France scored a copy of their earlier try with lots of interpassing before going wide to the left.  This time replacement No.8 Thomas Lièvremont was the one to sell a little dummy and pop a pass to replacement hooker Bruno on his inside for a try in the left corner.  The conversion was wide.

With a tense minute and a half to play, France got the ball inside their own 22 and Heymans hoisted a kick into touch.  The French did not get possession again.

The Scots won the line-out and played keep-ball until, with half a tense minute left, France were penalised at a tackle-ruck.  It was kickable, but intent on limiting French options, Paterson kicked the ball out for another Scottish line-out, deep in French territory.

France's only hope was to win the line-out.  The Scots won it, and replacement scrum-half Chris Cusiter kicked the ball into touch.  The referee did a bit of tense checking and then blew the final whistle for euphoria to break out all over the field and in the stands as the blue and white flags of St Andrew took on colourful life, all over Edinburgh and all over Scotland.  And coach Frank Hadden allowed himself a smile -- a gentle, satisfied smile.

And in the royal box, with a courteous bow, the president of the French Rugby Federation, tall Bernard Lapasset, shook the hand of the patron of the Scotland Rugby Union, the Princess Royal, and gave her a congratulatory thumbs up.

The Scots had had trouble selling tickets for the match.  There must be many a Scot who would regret not being there and be beating his way to a source of tickets for the next match, when the Sassenachs come north on February 25.

Man of the Match:  There were only Scottish candidates -- 22 of them, but if you whittled it down you would mention Hugo Southwell, clever Chris Paterson, two-try Sean Lamont, all-round scrum-half Mike Blair and the tackling of the forwards.  The forwards really laid the victory on and so you would look for your man of the match there, and our man-of-the-match is veteran lock Scott Murray, so good in the line-outs, so unwaveringly strong when making a tackle, and so clever with the ball in hand.

Moment of the Match:  That maul -- that second half maul that shunted the might of France 22 metres for the try.  The first score of the second half was going to be vital and Scotland did it with that remarkable maul.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody -- why taint such a memorable day of rugby?

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Lamont 2
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pens:  Paterson 2

For France:
Tries:  Bonnaire, Bruno
Pens:  Elissalde 2

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Marcus Di Rollo (Simon Webster, 28), 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont , 10 Dan Parks (Gordon Ross, 64), 9 Mike Blair (Chris Cusiter, 55), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain) (Jon Petrie, 73), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Alastair Kellock (Scott MacLeod, 75), 3 Bruce Douglas (Craig Smith, 41) , 2 Dougie Hall (Scott Lawson, 63), 1 Gavin Kerr.

France:  15 Nicolas Brusque (Guillaume Bousses, 78), 14 Christophe Dominici, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Ludovic Valbon, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Dimitri Yachvili, 80), 8 Julien Bonnaire (Thomas Lièvremont, 73), 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Rémy Martin, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Pieter De Villiers (Olivier Milloud, 64), 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (Sebastian Bruno, 66) , 1 Sylvain Marconnet
Unused replacements:  18 Lionel Nallet, 21 Benjamin Boyet.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker, Steve Walsh (both New Zealand)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Muscular England unseat the champions

Welsh come unstuck at Twickenham

England laid down an oversized marker in the shape of a 47-13 victory over Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.

England had opened a healthy 15-3 lead courtesy of tries from Mark Cueto and Lewis Moody before Martyn Williams hauled Wales to within five points by the interval.

But the hosts turned the screw in the second period as they ran in four more tries -- including a choice effort from Lawrence Dallaglio in his return to England duty after 17 months in "international retirement".

Wales, the reigning Six Nations champions, were dethroned with a bump.  The first half was all right in the sense that they were still fighting back against those who would take their place, but in the second half the coup d'etat was complete as the massive, cohesive, determined English kept them under house arrest.

Wales wanted to be lively.  They wanted to run and do clever things, but England kept them corralled in their own half for all but seconds of the second period.

England were too strong.  They scrummed better, their line-outs were more secure and they won many turn-overs at tackle time when even their props looked hungrier and better skilled.

The first half flew by at a great rate as England did strong things as Wales tried to do mercurial things.  Wales started well but the defence was solid and organised and eventually snuffed them out for all but one delicious moment.  Wales helped the defence by kicking when in promising positions.

There was a significant bit of accidental head-bashing early in the half.  Centre Matthew Watkins of Wales and flank Joe Worsley of England bashed bodies and heads and went off to have bleeding stanched.

Two things then happened -- Dallaglio came on and immediately won two line-outs at No.2, the balding head rising high, the powerful body all evident.

The other happening was that Gareth Thomas moved up to centre and Lee Byrne went to fullback.

From a line-out on their right England spread the ball and there was Jamie Noon cutting back inside Gareth Thomas.  On his outside, that is his left, came right-wing Cueto cutting on a straight line and then curving outwards as a right wing would tend to do.  Around Shane Williams he sped for an excellent try which Charlie Hodgson converted.  7-0 after 14 minutes.

When Steve Thompson, in a frogman outfit though the field was dry and firm, baulked at a line-out, Wales opted for a six-metre scrum.  Harry Ellis went off-side and Stephen Jones made it 7-3.

Josh Lewsey left the field clutching his right shoulder and was replaced by Tom Voyce.

Soon afterwards Shane Williams had space down the left wing, darted ahead and then chipped.  The ball grubbered its way into the in-goal area but Ben Cohen got to the ball first and knocked into touch-in-goal for a drop-out which Wales neglected and ended conceding a penalty which Hodgson goaled 10-3.

Harry Ellis broke sharply with characteristic speed and opportunism.  Martin Corry was there to help and Mark Jones conceded a penalty which England turned into a five-metre line-out.

England mauled, and Colin Charvis and Michael Owen were penalised for pulling the maul down.

On advantage Hodgson kicked a high diagonal to his right but Gareth Thomas beat Cohen for the ball and the referee went back to the penalty.

England made another five-metre line-out and mauled.  Initially Wales resisted well but then England regrouped, brought the focal point to the tight and drove at speed for a try by Lewis Moody with vigorous help from Andy Sheridan and Matt Stevens.  15-3 after 31 minutes.

England looked in charge but Wales did not look like a beaten side.

Hodgson slewed a kick off his boot and Wales won a line-out towards the back.  Dwayne Peel suddenly burst inside Moody and gave to Martyn Williams close by.  The ginger-haired flank cut inside Tom Voyce and powered past Hodgson for an excellent try, which Stephen Jones converted.

England looked certain to score a try but Steve Borthwick could not hang onto a high pass.  His effort was impeded by an early tackle from behind by Robert Sidoli who was penalised.  Again England went for the five-metre line-out.  This time they were less cohesive and Wales resisted.  England charged from a ruck and Colin Charvis conceded the penalty which Hodgson then goaled.  18-10.

When Tindall, with an overlap to his right, cut and lost possession backwards, Matthew Watkins latched onto it and Wales had its best attacking period of the afternoon as forwards and backs mixed up with snappy passing.  Wales's reward was a penalty which Stephen Jones goaled.  18-13.  England were on top but there was no sign that Wales were about to fall apart.

From the kick-off after that penalty Martyn Williams played Lewis Moody in the air and the referee sent him to the sin-bin.  Disintegration was about to set in.

Hodgson goaled the resultant penalty.  21-13, but from now on Wales were active tackling bags.

When Shane Williams cleared badly, England attacked and had a double overlap which they squandered with a long skipped pass which drew three defenders into position.  But a try had to come.

England peeled around the front of a line-out on their right and then went left.  Voyce was close.  They went left again to give Tindall a simple flop to score the try.  26-13.

Martyn Williams came back.  His absence had "cost" eight points but a lot more in the impetus of the match.

England began making changes.  In one Dallaglio came on for Corry.

England attacked and Hodgson went on a left incline towards the posts.  Wales defended really well and won a turn-over.  Owen tried to start an attack from his own line but his pass to Mark Jones was forward.  This gave England a five-metre scrum.  They turned it a bit towards their right which gave Dallaglio, at No.8, a pick and run with only frail-looking Stephen Jones in his path.  The imperious Englishman drove over the Welshman and scored.  Dallaglio was back in town.  Hodgson converted.  33-13 with 8 minutes left.

Substitutes came bounding onto the field as England started to have fun.

They put a Wales scrum under pressure and the ball went backwards from Owen's hands for Matt Dawson to snap it up and sprint 15 metres to score a try which Andy Goode converted.

The replacements were in the money.

England attacked exuberantly, throwing the ball about from left to right until Voyce took an inside pass from Goode to score behind the posts.  Goode converted and the final whistle went.  Replacements had scored 19 of the last 21 points.

Man of the Match:  England had a lot of fun on the afternoon.  Charlie Hodgson made a lot of it happen but the victory was really up front where those big men were simply too strong -- Steve Borthwick and Danny Grewcock, captain Martin Corry and props Andy Sheridan and Matt Stevens.  Those five form our collective man-of-the-match.  The best of the Welsh was Dwayne Peel.

Moment of the Match:  Jamie Noon's unexpected break that sent Mark Cueto skating on an arc for his try.

Villain of the Match:  If Wales flank Martyn Williams really did do the nasty on Lewis Moody, he deserved the yellow card and deserved to be the villain-of-the-match for he did his side a grave disservice.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Voyce, Dallaglio, Dawson, Tindall, Moody, Cueto
Cons:  Hodgson 2, Goode 2
Pens:  Hodgson 3

For Wales:
Try:  M Williams
Con:  S Jones
Pen:  S Jones 2

Yellow card(s):  M Williams, Wales -- block/ barge, 52

The teams:

England:  15 Josh Lewsey (Tom Voyce, 20), 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson (Andy Goode, 75), 9 Harry Ellis (Matt Dawson, 75), 8 Martin Corry (Lawrence Dallaglio, 63), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley (Lawrence Dallaglio, 6-12), 5 Danny Grewcock (Simon Shaw, 72), 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson (Lee Mears, 63), 1 Andy Sheridan (Julian White, 68).

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins (Lee Byrne, 6-17), 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel (Gareth Cooper, 65 (Lee Byrne, 78)), 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis (Alix Popham, 72), 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough (Adam M Jones, 10-19, 65), 3 Adam Jones (Gethin Jenkins, 59), 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Unused replacements:  16 Mefin Davies, 21 Nicky Robinson.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)

Ireland subdue effervescent Azzurri

O'Gara puts the boot in

Ireland got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start courtesy of a 26-16 victory over Italy at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

But the Italians can return home with their heads held high -- they outplayed their hosts in an number of areas of play and produced the only moments of inspiration in a largely forgettable opener to the 2006 Six Nations.

Ireland probably ended the match relieved that their stuttering effort was enough for victory;  Pierre Berbizier may well have ended the match proud of his men as a new expansiveness came to the Italians on attack and a greater resolution as they rushed to tackle.

Half-time came with the scores locked at 10-all, a score which did not entirely flatter Ireland as they had had the attacking edge against an Italian side which from the start was expansive and creative.

Ireland levelled the scored moments before half-time when little Ramiro Pez was penalised for a late tackle in a passing movement and sent to the sin-bin.  The referee said it was the third late tackle by Italy though only one had been penalised previously, when the referee spoke to Marco Bortolami.

Moments before the sin-binning of Pez, Bortolami had himself been the victim of an unpleasant use of the boot by Brian O'Driscoll, which provoked Italian ire.

There had been a tackle/ ruck and Bortolami had dived in.  O'Driscoll came down with his boot on the middle of Bortolami's back/ side.  It was not a rucking movement at all.  The referee spoke briefly to O'Driscoll and Bortolami but stayed with the penalty against the Italian.  That penalty led to a line-out and the passing movement in which Pez was penalised.  An amount of Italy ruefulness was understandable.

In fact, the business of using the boot on a player without trying to ruck the ball was a source of anger for the Italians.

O'Driscoll used his boot on Mirco Bergamasco and then later in the match Denis Leamy really annoyed the Italians when he used his boot close to Paul Griffin's head.  Ireland were not penalised but Martín Castrogiovanni was for punching as the went to help his player.  That penalty was followed by another which O'Gara used to make the score 26-16.

Italy had good support at enthusiastic Lansdowne Road with several in curly blue wigs, and there was plenty of them to enjoy as Italy attacked.

They started running with good work by Gonzalo Canale and Cristian Stoica who came in from fullback.  Italy looked to have the edge in the scrums and Ireland lost its first two line-outs.

When Italy mauled from a line-out near the Irish line, the Irish defence coped easily.

From a line-out just inside the Irish half, Italy went right and then changed direction to go left.  Pez sent through a grubber which caused Anthony Horgan problems.  Ludovico Nitoglia tackled the big Irish wing who got up with the ball and was penalised.  Pez goaled.  3-0 after 13 minutes.  At that stage Italy had had 68 percent of possession and over 60 percent of territorial advantage.

Ireland then had two excellent moments, one on the left and then one on the right, which they followed with a try.

First a long pass from a scrum sent Geordan Murphy racing.  He gave to Tommy Bowe who was tackled out five metres from the Italian line.  Ireland next went right with Horgan speeding down the right wing where he was tackled into touch five metres from the Italian line.

Italy shortened the line-out and threw to the back but up rose immense Paul O'Connell rose up and grabbed the ball in front of Sergio Parisse.  Ireland mauled and when they fell over the line Jerry Flannery had scored the try which O'Gara converted.  7-3 to Ireland after 27 minutes.

Two minutes later Italy were back in the lead with a splendid try.  With a dinky dummy Pez cut between O'Gara and D'Arcy and raced down the middle of the field.  He passed to his left to Mirco Bergamasco who got over the line for the try near the posts, which Pez converted.  10-7 after 29 minutes.

Just before the break O'Gara goaled the penalty which put his side on level terms.

Early in the second half Italy attacked and had a goalable penalty but tapped and ran.  Wing Pablo Canavosio, playing scrumhalf which is his more usual position, was close and then Mirco Bergamasco was close, but Ireland were penalised when Simon Easterby came in the side at the tackle/ ruck.  Griffin took the kick because Pez was still in the sin-bin and with a wide curve he goaled it.  13-10 to Italy.

Soon afterwards O'Gara kicked his third diagonal for Bowe.  Practice makes perfect, and the ball landed in Bowe's hands.  The wing cut inside Stoica and scored in Mauro Bergamasco's tackle, with some queries about his grounding of the ball.  O'Gara goaled.  17-13 and from then on Ireland stayed ahead.

O'Gara goaled a penalty with an in-off and then Pez goaled one when Marcus Horan, struggling in the scrums, was penalised.  20-16 with 18 minutes to go.

Two more penalties by O'Gara ended the scoring but the Italians came closest to a try.  Canale went on the loop and kicked ahead but a touch-and-go failure to gather five metres from the Irish line gave the Irish a scrum.  At that stage Ireland were leading 23-16.

Man of the Match:  For Italy, Fabio Ongaro had a good match at hooker and so did loose forward Sergio Parisse with a zig-zag hairdo but the best of the Italians was lively, energetic, hirsute Paul Griffin.  For Ireland, Gordon D'Arcy got better and better and Geordan Murphy looked for every opportunity to run.  But our man-of-the-match was Paul O'Connell who made such a difference in the line-outs and everywhere else.

Moment of the Match:  That diagonal from Ronan O'Gara to Tommy Bowe was fun but predictable.  Our moment-of-the-match was the dummy and break by Ramiro Pez that led to Italy's try.

Villain of the Match:  Ramiro Pez got the yellow card but the boot men on the Irish side may well deserve a finger pointed their way.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Flanery, Bowe
Cons:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 4

For Italy:
Try:  Mi Bergamasco
Con:  Pez
Pens:  Pez 3

Yellow card(s):  Pez, Italy -late tackle, 38

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly (Donncha O'Callaghan, 62), 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Unused replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Italy:  15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco (Aaron Persico, 62), 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain) (Carlo Del Fava, 26-32, 69), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto (Martin Castrogiovanni, 70), 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Unused replacements:  16 Carlo Antonio Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Rima Wakarua.

Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)

Boks fail to match fancy France

Les Bleus go through November unbeaten

France underlined their growing stature with an elegant 26-20 victory over South Africa at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.  It was performance full of verve and cunning that left the touring Springboks looking decidedly flat-footed.

South Africa were, until late in the game, better in the scrums.  And they were better in the line-outs.  But the French tackled better, protected the ball better at the tackle and contested the tackle more than the Springboks did.

There was also a big difference at halfback where the French had strong, lively, varied, accurate Jean-Baptiste Elissalde at scrum-half and mercurial Frédéric Michalak at fly-half.  This was a far more effective pairing than the Springbok rookies of Meyer Bosman and Michael Claassen.  Mind you, that the French were much better in the post-tackle contest made life easier for their halves and harder for the South African halves.

France scored three tries to two -- one a brilliant counterattack, one an intercept and one a moment of clever opportunism off a messed line-out and a brilliant cut after a line-out.

It took France three minutes to score and ten minutes later they were leading 15-0.  They started running on the damp field in front of a full-house of spectators.

Their first try looked so simple.

Bok fullback Percy Montgomery did not find touch, but the ball went a long way downfield.  Aurélien Rougerie caught the ball and started running.  The first tackler stopped him and then the game burst asunder for Yannick Nyanga, who had already had a wonderful charge at the start of the match, came charging on his outside and down the touch-line.  He played inside to sturdy Dimitri Szarzewski.  Off the hooker went, short legs pumping as Bakkies Botha tried to haul him in.  Jean-Baptiste Elissalde converted to make it 7-0.

Montgomery missed a regulation penalty soon afterwards but when the Springbok backs moved the ball right somewhere near the half-way line, France scored.  Jaque Fourie was going right but turned the ball inside in an attempt to pass to Schalk Burger.  Frédéric Michalak darted in, grabbed the ball and raced away as Jean de Villiers gained on him, but the French fly-half did enough to squeeze over in the corner.

When Bok skipper John Smit was penalised for charging, ball under one arm, with his left elbow in front and right into the throat of the French captain Jérôme Thion, the touch judge pointed it out and Elissalde made it 15-0.

Later in the half, Thion was forced to leave the field and was replaced by Grégory Lamboley.

Montgomery got the Springboks on the board with a penalty goal just before half-time, making the score at the break 15-3.

When Bosman and Claassen created a mess early in the second half, Elissalde made it 18-3, and it did not look that there was any way back for the Springboks or any way that they would score a try.  But they did.

They did it when Claassen got a messed ball from a line-out and decided to burst forward and suddenly Bakkies Botha was charging for the line.  The touch judge seemed to be putting his flag up but then pulled it down and signalled to the referee that Botha had not been out.  Montgomery converted from far out.  18-10.

It did not take the French long to put things right.  From a scrum well in from touch they worked an 8-9 going left.  Elissalde slid a grubber behind Montgomery and Habana and Rougerie, big and powerful ran onto the ball, cutting inside two tacklers to score.  23-10.

Bosman kicked a long penalty for South Africa and Michalak one for France, 26-13.

When Cédric Heymans knocked on a harmless up-and-under near his line, the Springboks had a chance but the French defence was aggressive, the Springboks careless with the ball.  Smit dropped it and suddenly the French were footing free.  The next stoppage, a line-out, was well within the Springbok 22.

But the Springboks got back to within winning distance when Fourie took a sweet pass from Bosman as De Villiers ran to distract.  The big centre cut clean through and scored at the posts without a hand laid on him.  26-20 with five minutes left.  But it was the French who controlled the remained of the match.

Man of the match:  It's hard to find a Springbok who played consistently well unless it was, again, Bakkies Botha.  But the French had candidates in Aurélien Rougerie who set up a try and scored a try, lively Thomas Castaignède, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and our man-of-the-match Yannick Nyanga who carried the ball so well, contested the tackle so effectively and tackled in deadly fashion.

Moment of the match:  An intercept is always exciting and it was a long run for Frédéric Michalak but for sheer sweetness we have chosen as our moment-of-the-match the cut and try by Jaque Fourie -- perhaps the one moment of South African creativity.

Villain of the Match:  South African skipper John Smit for his elbow into Jérôme Thion.  At best it was reckless.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Szarzewski, Rougerie
Cons:  Michalak
Pens:  Elissalde 2, Michalak

For South Africa:
Tries:  Botha, Fourie
Cons:  Montgomery 2
Pens:  Montgomery, Bosman

The teams:

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Rémy Martin, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jèrôme Thion (captain), 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Sébastien Bruno, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Thomas Lièvremont, 20 Pierre Mignoni, 21 Yann Delaigue, 22 Pepito Elhorga.

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Breyton Paulse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Meyer Bosman, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Gary Botha, 17 Eddie Andrews, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 De Wet Barry, 22 Conrad Jantjes.

Referee:  Scott Young (Australia)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland, Alan Lewis (both Ireland)
Television match official:  Roy Maybank (England)

England weather moody clash

Mistakes litter England's play in victory over Samoa

England recorded a largely shapeless 40-3 victory over Samoa on Saturday -- a game marred by an ugly incident that saw Lewis Moody became the first England player to be sent off at Twickenham.

Moody received his marching orders after landing a volley of punches on Alesana Tuilagi, his Leicester team-mate, during a mass brawl late on the game -- not that the big Samoan wing was entirely blameless, he too saw red.

Moody reacted to Tuilagi's dangerous tackle which up-ended England wing Mark Cueto in mid-air and which sparked the ugly fracas which saw several other players flailing fists.

It puts a question mark over the future of the firebrand Moody, who had already been suspended for six weeks this season for punching.  And it completely overshadowed a two-try performance from Wasps wing Tom Voyce which had propelled England to their biggest win over Samoa.

Charlie Hodgson, Harry Ellis and Tom Varndell, on his debut, also posted touchdowns in a scrappy and frustrating encounter which had been something of an anti-climax following last week's epic against New Zealand.

The brawl understandably overshadowed the rugby.

But if this was an experiment to identify more creativity behind England's formidable pack then it was only a limited success.

True, the result was never really in doubt and England won at a canter against a Samoan side full of vim and vigour but lacking in technique and discipline.  But the five players who Robinson experimented with at the start earned mixed reviews.

Scrum-half Ellis was feisty and sharp around the base of the scrum and his try was the best of the match.

Bath's Matt Stevens, replacing Phil Vickery at prop, slotted seamlessly into England's front five, while Leicester second-row Louis Deacon -- making his international debut -- dropped his first catch from the kick-off but did well enough at the line-out without suggesting he will ever come close to emulating the feats of his Leicester mentor Martin Johnson.

James Simpson-Daniel, winning his eighth cap and in the problem position at centre, must have felt under the most pressure.  And, in truth, he conjured little imagination before being replaced by Olly Barkley at half-time, certainly not suggesting he is the answer to England's lack of creativity.  But by far the most promising was the work of Voyce.

As it was, Hodgson got the scoreboard ticking with a penalty after seven minutes, which was quickly cancelled out by an effort from Samoan fly-half Tanner Vili.

There was lots of huff and puff about England's work, lots more power from the forwards but too much of the early action was scrappy and disjointed.

Hodgson, however, settled Robinson's side with another penalty following Samoan ill-discipline at the scrummage, although it came at a cost.  Andrew Sheridan, England's so-called "Superman" against Australia and who was giving Samoa's Census Johnston a torrid time, was forced to leave the field after 20 minutes with an ankle injury.

It was a blow but it did allow former Leicester star, New Zealand-born Perry Freshwater, to make his debut at the age of 32.

When England's first try came after 23 minutes from Wasps wing Tom Voyce, however, it was a cracking combination of forward momentum and three-quarter opportunism.

England's pack sent the Samoans reeling at a touchline maul and when the ball spilled clear the ubiquitous Lewis Moody was first to pounce.

The flank flicked up the ball and fed scrum-half Harry Ellis, who slipped it to Mike Tindall and then to Voyce, who charged over with the panache which made him the Premiership's leading try-scorer last season.

It was England's most penetrative action in a scrappy first half which was most notable for a wonderful 50-metre break and kick forward by Samoan centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu which required a try-saving piece of work from full-back Josh Lewsey.

Still, the 16-3 half-time scoreline was a fair reflection of England's superior possession and territory.

The second half saw the introduction of Bath hooker Lee Mears, making his debut in place of Steve Thompson and Olly Barkley taking over from Simpson-Daniel as Robinson continued to run his eye over the men in waiting.

It was Voyce, however, who popped up yet again to show he has that invaluable knack of being in the right place at the right time.

Again the touchdown came courtesy of more forward domination, England camping out on the Samoan line before Ellis popped out a pass to Hodgson.  Another slick pass to Voyce and the wing scythed through the gap to score with a confidence bordering on nonchalance.

Leicester's Tom Varndell was rewarded with his debut but Samoan ill-discipline meant they were soon down to 13 men.  Prop Justin Va'a went to the sin-bin for constant infringement and Vili followed him after a dangerously high tackle almost decapitated Mark Cueto.

By this time the game was long over as a serious contest, a Hodgson try in the corner having eased England well clear and a darting, meandering run from Ellis ended with a diving touchdown to put some gloss on the work which had gone before.

But then came the Tuilagi tackle which sparked a brawl which shamed rugby and which Twickenham will want to forget.

Man of the match:  There was some powerful running from Samoan strongmen Sailosi Tagicakibau and Lome Fa'atau whilst Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu showed that Samoa's future is in good hands -- on the pitch, at least.  There were not too many stand-out performances from the English -- their backs looked like they only just been introduced to one another prior to the game ... over several beers in the Cardinal Vaughan.  Steve Borthwick was perhaps the pick of the forwards, and Moody looked in fine fettle before his attack on his fellow Tiger.  Tom Voyce took his tries well, Charlie Hodgson put together some nice touches, as did his halfback partner Harry Ellis who was probably the best performer in a poor encounter.

Moment of the match:  It was nice to see several new faces make their Test debut, and great to see Tom Varndell score in his first England game.  But all those moments are eclipsed by the incidents that spawned the two red cards.

Villain of the match:  There were plenty of ugly moments and there are two winners of this dubious gong.  Alesana Tuilagi's challenge on Mark Cueto was reckless to say the least, but he wins this award for the fact that he chose to follow that up with a punch on the injured party!  Lewis Moody's reaction was also unforgivable, he takes a share in these spoils.  Monday morning's training session at Welford Road will be very interesting indeed!

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Voyce 2, Hodgson, Ellis, Varndell
Cons:  Hodgson 3
Pens:  Hodgson 3

For Manu Samoa:
Pen:  Vili

Yellow card(s):  Va'a (Samoa) 65, collapsing the scrum;  Vili (Samoa) 68, dangerous tackle.

Red card(s):  Moody (England) 75, fighting;  Tuilagi (Samoa) 75, dangerous tackle.

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 James Simpson-Daniel, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry (captain), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Pat Sanderson, 5 Lewis Deacon, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andy Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 James Forrester, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Tom Varndell.

Manu Samoa:  15 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tanner Vili, 9 Steven So'oialo, 8 Daniel Farani, 7 Leo Lafaiali'i, 6 Semo Sititi (captain), 5 Pelu Taele-Pavihi, 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Loleni Tafunai, 17 Kas Lealamanua, 18 Paul Tupai, 19 Jonathan Faamatuainu, 20 Garrick Cowley, 21 Anitele'a Tuilagi, 22 Lolo Lui.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Rob Dickson, Malcolm Changleng (both Scotland)
Television match official:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Ireland subdue rugged Romania

Trimble claims a brace of tries

Ireland ended their November series with a compressive 43-12 victory over Romania at Lansdowne Road on Saturday but it wasn't quite the performance Irish fans had been hoping for.

It was sunny but cold in Dublin as the wind came down the field from the North Terrace, still desolate following the fire a while ago.

It was a strange match, possibly with more credit to the persistent Romanians than for the Irish who won well, but thanks only to their speed away from the pack.  The Irish pack was beaten.  Three times the Romanians were over the line but the television match official was unable to confirm a try and once teenager Catalin Fercu was tackled right at the cornerpost.

Romania, with "O'Neills" on their backs presumably because of a sponsorship and not covert Irish inclinations, played with the awkward wind and were leading until just after 20 minutes when Ireland got their first try.

Until then Ireland had been ponderous and their handling clumsy.  They had lost two line-outs on their own throw and were finding the bashing of the heavy Romanians troublesome.

The Oaks had the first chance to score as they bashed in phase after phase, getting closer to the Irish line till their scrum-half, the experienced Petre Mitu lobbed a kick over into the Irish in-goal.

They ended the half with a similar bit of mindlessness.  On half-time they attacked with many phases from a line-out till young fly-half Ionut Dimofte kicked the ball out for half-time.

At close quarters the Romanians were certainly the match of the Irish but it was a different story when there were chances to run with the ball.

As if a switch had been thrown, Ireland ran into the lead when they were trailing 6-3.  The best of the Irish runners were Geordan Murphy, the wings Shane Horgan and Tommy Bowe and the outside centre Andrew Trimble who had been so impressive against Australia the previous week.

The first try came when Murphy broke between the Romanian props in midfield and played to his right to Trimble who came racing through and on and over the line for a try, which captain David Humphreys converted.

Humphreys told the world how he wanted his side to play when twice he opted for scrums from penalties in midfield, and then he tapped and ran a penalty within his own half.

Penalties were a problem for the Oaks.  They conceded ten in the half to four by Ireland.  For the ninth big Alexandru Manta earned a yellow card at a tackle and went off to reappear for the start of the second half.  Things were better in the second half when the penalty count was 7-3 in favour of Romania!  But that was generally a much better half for the Oaks.

Ireland got a second try when Manta was resting.  They went through many phases until, as they went right, Neil Best burst through to score.

That made it 17-6 at half-time.  The Romanians were to come out to play into the wind.  They looked done.

Done they may have looked but their resolve was not.  They were better as the bog men battered again and again at the Irish in a half in which they had four five-metre scrums.

Romania had an early chance when a clearing kick by Humphreys was charged down but Murphy saved and then Ireland got a gift try.

Humphreys launched an up-and-under which Fercu dropped.  Ireland took the ball as the Romanians stood aside to avoid conceding a penalty, virtue which they may have regretted as Trimble scored his second try off an inside pass by Bowe.

Mitu kicked two penalties to make the score a respectable 24-12 but again Ireland got a present of a try as they played the blindside and, up against the touch-line, Johnny O'Connor ran past Ovidiu Tonitu who patted him on the back.  O'Connor scored with a gymnastic celebration.

It was after this that the Romanians attacked and attacked again near the cornerflag on the Irish right till they made a gross error -- passing to their backs.  From a five-metre scrum they ended with a line-out 15 metres from their line and Geordan Murphy was strong in Csaba Gal's tackle to score.  Humphreys converted from far out.  38-12.

Again the Oaks battered at the line, and again a mistake gave Ireland a try.

Denis Leamy won a fishy turn-over which became a scrum to Ireland which became a free kick.  Leamy took the tap and raced some 50 metres down the field.  The Irish went left and replacement fullback Girvan Dempsey surged over for the try.  Ronan O'Gara missed the conversion.

Ireland had one more chance to score a try but red-capped Fercu hauled Horgan in from behind and then won a turn-over to save for his side.

Romania ran once out of defence and hooker Marius Tincu had a long, strong run but it all fizzled out at the end.

Man of the Match:  For Romania it would have to be a forward and probably burly prop Petru Balan.  For Ireland it had to be a back and a choice of one of those outside backs -- Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Shane Horgan and our man-of-the-match Geordan Murphy.

Moment of the Match:  That high kick, chase, catch and dart by young Catalin Fercu that so nearly brought a try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody -- all good, clean fun.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Trimble 2, N Best, O'Connor, Murphy, Dempsey
Pens:  Humphreys
Cons:  Humphreys 5

For Romania:
Pens:  Mitu 4

Yellow card(s):  Manta, 35 -- killing the ball

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 David Humphreys (c), 9 Kieran Campbell, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Neil Best, 5 Leo Cullen, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Simon Best, 2 Shane Byrne, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 John Hayes, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Simon Easterby, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Girvan Dempsey.

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Gabriel Brezoianu, 13 Ionut Tofan, 12 Valentin Maftei, 11 Ioan Teodorescu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Petre Mitu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Petre Cristian, 4 Sorin Socol (captain), 3 Petrisor Toderasc, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Petru Balan.
Replacements:  16 Cezar Popescu, 17 Marel Socaciu, 18 Costica Mersoiu, 19 Cosmin Ratiu, 20 Lucian Sirbu, 21 Csaba Gal, 22 Dan Vlad.

Referee:  Andrew Cole (Australia)
Touch judges:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales), Peter Allen (Scotland)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

Italy beat Fiji in Monza

Two tries to one

Italy beat Fiji 23-8 before 12 000 lively, singing spectators in the slippery snow at Stadio Brianteo in Monza north of Milan on Saturday afternoon.

The snow fell as the teams ran out onto the cold field not far from the Alps.  The teams stood in the falling snow for the anthems on a white field, the men from the warm Pacific their legs bare to the elements.  Then in theri white jerseys on the white field they did their wardance, the cibi.  Their replacements sat in a shed huddled in large blackets like mediaeval monks at matins.

The lines on the field were marked in a reddish colour, that became pinkish.  It may have been a good idea to have had a red ball as well, as the white one was not always obvious.

Italy were never behind in the match and never looked like losing the match but it was only in the last ten minutes that they made the victory safe.

Both sides tried to run with the ball, Italy more so than the Fijians because they had a lot more ball to run with.  The Azzurri's pack was dominant throughout.  They destroyed the Fijian scrum and had by far the better of the line-outs.  Italy took five Fijian line-outs, the Fijians none of the Italians'.  Fiji spent much of the slithery afternoon under pressure.

Flyhalf Ramiro Pez kicked a penalty which Seremaia Bai, blowing on his hands to warm them, equalled to make the score 3-all after eight minutes.  That was the half-time score.

Not that the half was without life.  Fiji's Kameli Ratuvou had a good run, Mirco Bergamasco made a clean break in midfield and from a tapped free kick burly Norman Ligairi ran some 50 metres from near his own line.  Fiji once threatened as they chased a kick but Ludovico Nitoglia came across from the left wing to the right wing to save for Italy.

There were also two yellow cards just before the break.  Lock Kelemete Leawere, who was penalsied four times apart from this action, played a man from the side when he did not have the ball, and Sergio Parisse, the Italian No.8, stuck an angry shoulder into the big Fijian.  The referee sent both to the sin bin.  It was the nearest the match came to producing an untoward incident.

Italy relied heavily on the pack and it paid off soon after the restart when they turned a penalty into a line-out and drove a fast maul over the Fijian line for hooker Fabio Ongaro to plunge to ground for the try.  Pez converted.  10-3.

Pez then kicked two more penalty goals to make it 16-3.  After a run by Nitoglia Italy attacked and mauled and scrummed their way to the Fijian line, taking scrums instead of penalties as they did regulalrly in the half.  But, vitally, they failed to control the ball, and captain Mosese Rauluni saved for Fiji.

Ratuvou had a good run down the left wing and was close to scoring as the Fijians went on their best attack of the match.  They actually got over the line with a maul but the television match official was unable to confirm the grounding for a try.  But from the ensuing scrum inside centre Seremia Bai grubbered into the Italain in-goal where right-wing Mosese Luveitasau skied in for the try.  16-8.

With ten minutes to go, Pez side-footed a grubber into the Fijian in-goal where Mirco Bergamasco, playing outside centre, copied the Fijians and went skiing in for a try, converted by Pez.

In the last bit of the match the Fijians got more ball and handled well but the Italian defence held.

Man of the Match:  For Fiji Norman Ligairi was strong, defended well and thumped booming kicks with his right boot.  Marco Bortolami ruled the line-outs, Paul Griffen was as enegertic and effective as ever and Ludovico Nitoglia had moments of great skill.  Our Man of the Match is Italian flyhalf Ramiro Pez whose handling of the ball was remarable, his judgement and control exceptional and his kicking at goal successful with five out of six on that slippery field.

Moment of the Match:  There were two, the one a carbon copy of the other - Seremaia Bai's grubber for Mosese Luveitasau's try and Ramiro Pez's grubber for Mirco Bergamasco's try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody really.  Even the two yellow cards were of a pale and innocent hue.

The president of the Italian Federation Giancarlo Dondi said afterwards:  "What I saw of Italy today pleased me.  They had a will to win and did so despite the snow-covered field."

Coach Pierre Berbizier said:  "It was important to come back after the defeat by the Argentinians in Genoa last weekend The squad got it right.

"In the second half we gradually changed our gameplan to fit in better with the playing conditions."

Captain Marco Bortolami said:  "We are pleased to have beaten a team ranked above us on the world rankings."

The Fijian coach, Wayne Pivac, said of the conditions:  "We are not used to playing in such conditions but we also made some stupid errors that allowed Italy to take advantage through their strong pack.

The Fijian captain Mosese Rauluni said:  "We made too many mistakes.  The weather did not help us.  I play in England so that the weather today was not new but many of my team-mates had not seen snow before."

Scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Ongaro, Mirco Bergamasco
Cons:  Pez 2
Pens:  Pez 3

For Fiji:
Try:  Luveitasau
Pen:  Bai

Teams:

Italy:  15 Ezio Galon, 14 Samuele Pace, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Carlo Del Fava, 3 Martin Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Matias Aguero
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Carlos Nieto, 18 Valerio Bernabò, 19 Maurizio Zaffiri, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera 22 Rima Wakarua.

Fiji:  15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Mosese Luveitasau, 13 Epeli Ruivadra, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Kameli Ratuvou, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Mosese Rauluni (captain), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Aca Ratuva, 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 5 Kelemete Leawere, 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Apisai Nagi, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Josese Bale
Replacements:  16 Bill Gadolo, 17 Sikeli Gavidi, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Kiniviliame Salabogi, 20 Mosese Volavola , 21 Aporosa Vata, 22 Maleli Kunavore

Referee:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Daniel Jabase (Argentina)
Television match official:  Eric Darrière (France)

Wales pip Wallabies in thriller

Wales end a difficult month on a massive high

Much-maligned Wales dug deep into their reserves -- both physically and metaphorically -- and produced a stunning rear-guard 24-22 victory over Australia at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

It was a cracking game, the most open of the November Tests so far, and it culminated in an absorbing and triumphant finale.  For there was plenty riding on the outcome of this match, and the final result -- and the manner of defeat -- may well toll the bell for Eddie Jones and George Gregan.

Wales ran and spun and passed as Mike Ruddock's team does like no other, and the bigger and brasher Australians stretched the Welsh resolve to the limit with an enthralling never-say-die spirit.

Shane Williams was back to his inimitable best -- at one point he made Drew Mitchell look simply ridiculous with a jink -- and Australia's effort was carried for the large part on the strength and endurance of old heads Chris Latham and Lote Tuqiri

But Wales held on, and the result will give them a significant mental buck ahead of their next match:  the trip down the M4 to Twickenham in the Six Nations.

The first half was a lesson to all watching in maximising the use of possession.  Australia had only 40 per cent of the ball in the first forty minutes, yet scored one superb try and could have had at least two others.

Wales, by contrast, frittered away their 60 per cent share with some unimaginative wide passes and pedestrian midfield charges into the Australian line.  It was very pretty, but, two occasions excepted, it was very ineffective.  Wales won the possession 60-40 but lost the half 6-7 on points.

Conversely, Wales lost the second-half possession 44-56 but won it 18-15 on points.  It's not what you have, it's how you use it, and Wales seem much better when feeding off stolen possession than when they actually create their own platform.

The first half was also a lesson in set piece play; out of the sixteen line-outs (eight apiece) and six scrums (three apiece), only one was fluffed by team with the ball.  There were no turnovers by either team, and the only statistical imbalance was the seven penalties conceded by Australia to Wales' five.

The game loosened up in the second half as the teams tired and the foragers were given more time, and it was three turnovers that led to Australia's downfall, along with the crumbling of their scrum and their game discipline.

The first ten minutes of the match belonged solely to Wales -- they had a staggering 90 per cent of the territory in that time -- yet they emerged from the period of dominance only 3-0 ahead, courtesy of Stephen Jones, and then fell prey to a superb try.

Mat Rogers was the architect, looping round Morgan Turinui to take a return pass and then straightening at speed to break the Welsh backs.

Gareth Thomas had him marked, but Tuqiri was on the inside shoulder to take the scoring pass, which 74,000 voices called forward.  The one voice that counted didn't, and Tuqiri went in under the posts after thirteen minutes.

The try heralded a brief spell of Australian dominance.  George Smith broke from the restart, and then another sweeping back move sent Mitchell away, but Dafydd James covered with a superb tackle.

James rescued his team again three minutes later with a ball-and-all try-saving tackle on Phil Waugh which prevented him off-loading to Mitchell, and three minutes after that he smashed Mitchell when chasing an up and under, which led to Wales' most promising move of the half.

From Chris Horsman's recovery of the spilled ball, Martyn Williams broke the line, and had his pass struck Jones' hand and not the forearm, the fly-half would have been home.

Thomas escaped the potential consequences of a silly knock-on on his own 22, and the Welsh built up a real head of steam, taking the ball up to the Australian line through fifteen phases of possession.  Horsman stood on the back of the ruck poised for the final burst, and then dropped the ball.

The rest of the first half meandered a little after that, but the first warning signs of fatigue in the Australian scrum were shown when David Fitter brought a scrum down two minutes before the break.  Stephen Jones landed the penalty to make it 6-7.

Australia stole what ought to have been a significant advantage immediately from the start of the second half.  Thomas, who did not have a game to remember, hesitated on a kick to the corner by Latham, long enough for the chasing Tuqiri and Mitchell to close down Williams.

Williams was caught, the ball was turned over, and after half-breaks from Latham and Tuqiri, Nathan Sharpe made the final few hard yards for the try.  Rogers converted for a 6-14 lead.

Wales stormed back though, first through Williams, who was just bundled into touch by Latham, and then poaching a line-out five metres form the Australian line.  The ensuing scrums yielded three penalties as Fitter and Dunning buckled, and the last penalty was signalled under the posts for a seven-pointer.

Wales were back in the game, and then took the lead with a simply magnificent try.  Colin Charvis turned over Australian ball on his own 22, and the Welsh ran the ball wide to Shane Williams, who showed signs all match of returning to form.  Williams grubbered ahead, Thomas did brilliantly to gather and keep the ball available under Turinui's tackling arms, and Williams left Tuqiri for dead on his way to the line.  Jones failed to land the conversion, but Wales were good value for the 18-14 lead.

The try was closely succeeded by the exit of George Gregan, who was not even on the pitch for sixty minutes this time.  Chris Whitaker came on and added some much-needed zip to the distribution, and neither result nor performance will have done much to offset the pressure currently on Australia's record-breaking captain.

Jones extended the lead two minutes after the Williams try for a 21-14 scoreline, and the penalty count for the second half as the hour mark in the match passed was 4-0 to Wales.

Finally, the Wallabies got a penalty for Rogers to land and bring the Wallabies back to within four, but Jones extended the lead again two minutes later.  24-17 with 15 minutes to go.

Twice Lote Tuqiri -- by some distance the pick of the Australian players -- broke as Australia upped the pace.  Once he was shackled by the heroics of James, and once his pass to the overlapping Gerrard was handed to the floor by the retreating Watkins.

Finally a Tuqiri break told, with the converted centre once again going through the revolving door offered to him by Sonny Parker, before delivering a sweet grubber for Latham to run onto ten minutes before the end.  Rogers' conversion was pulled wide though and 24-22 the score remained.

The final ten minutes were a fitting climax to a superb game.  Wales were magnificently disciplined under pressure, and the Wallabies earnest in their endeavour.  But twice the Welsh stole ball in the final two minutes, once through Robert Sidoli, who looked up, saw 70m of open turf in front of him, baulked at the idea and opted to kick the ball clumsily to touch.

Then in the final minute, Charvis put the seal on his fantastic display by stealing ball immaculately and giving it to Williams to kick it out triumphantly and end the game -- a fitting end for the nippy little winger, whose try, side-steps and running signified the return of the Welsh wizard to his magical best.

Man of the match:  Shane Williams gets a mention for his running game, Dafydd James for some sterling defence, and Lote Tuqiri for a brilliant all-round display of running and tackling.  But Colin Charvis was the key to the turnovers upon which the Welsh second-half revival was based.  A great performance from an old head to inspire his team to victory.

Moment of the match:  Shane Williams' jink around Drew Mitchell.  Genius.  Williams' try was a joy to behold, but for an individual moment at the highest level, there has been no better this November.

Villain of the match:  Impossible to find one, the match was a credit to both teams and the referee.

The scorers:

For Wales
Tries:  S Williams, Penalty Try
Con:  S Jones
Pens:  S Jones 5

For Australia:
Tries:  Tuqiri, Sharpe, Latham
Cons:  Rogers 2
Pen:  Rogers

The teams:

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (c), 14 Dafydd James, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Mefin Davies, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Lee Byrne.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Morgan Turinui, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Mat Rogers, 9 George Gregan (c), 8 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 John Roe, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Hugh McMeniman, 3 David Fitter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Scott Fava, 20 Chris Whitaker, 21 Lloyd Johansson, 22 Wendell Sailor.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

All Blacks complete formalities

Clean sweep complete after win in Edinburgh

New Zealand recorded a controlled 29-10 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, a result that plonks the cherry on the top of an absolutely sumptuous season.  The All Blacks whitewashed of the Lions, triumphed in the Tri-Nations and have now completed the "grand slam" -- wins over all four Home Unions.

But bless Scotland!  They certainly made a match of it and actually had the better of the second half which ended 7-7 but a half in which Scotland had far and away the better chances to score.

They could, as in the first half, have banged kicks at goal but instead looked to get tries -- and just before the end that did just that.  The Scots were set on handling the ball.  That did not let them down but their kicking did.

By the end of the first half, with the All Blacks leading 22-, the writing on the wall would have said "big New Zealand victory".  But that was not the case and New Zealand spent most of the half on the defence.  They conceded penalties -- eight of them, three by Angus MacDonald, their scrum let up and their line-outs were less sure.  But the New Zealand defence was still so strong.

In the first half Scotland used a five-metre line-out to drive a maul over the line for what may well have been a try but the match officials could not see that it really was a try, and Scottish hopes may well have faded but to their credit they tries it again and again -- six times in the second half in the hope that practice would make perfect, but this New Zealand side is resilient.  When they did get their try it was an exquisite moment and no more than what the Scots deserved.  They had put great effort into scoring a try.

The very start to the match looked ominous for the Scots as New Zealand caught the kick-off and sent Joe Rokocoko racing 50 metres or so.  But Scotland opened the scoring when Dan Parks kicked a penalty.  But as the half wore on, the Scots were worn down.  Their line-outs became rickety and their scrum frail.  It made it all the harder to explain the Scottish resurgence in the second half.

The All Blacks made mistakes.  Tana Umaga was guilty of two gross knock-ons when tries beckoned.

But then tries beckoned whenever the All Blacks decided to run.

Come half time at cold, not-full Murrayfield New Zealand led 22-3.  It was going to be a tough second half for the Scots, a rewarding one for a New Zealand team which was not their best team.

Rico Gear got two tries for New Zealand, one in each half.  Piri Weepu made the first one when he went blind and grubbered.  The television match official confirmed that Gear had indeed grounded the ball fairly.  That made it 5-3.

The second try was brilliant -- All Blacks at their best as they picked up a dropped Scottish pass and came down the right from well inside their own half, went left and came back right before scoring going left through Evans who brushed aside Jason White's tackle to run round behind the posts.  He converted.  12-3.  The nmumbers of the players who handled tells the story of all-out All Black attack -- 14 -> 12 -> 15 -> 9 -> 10 -> 4 -> 9 -> 3 -> 5 -> 6 -> 5 -> 9 -> 10 -> 12 -> 9 -> 8 -> 13 -> 2 -> 9 -> 10, who scored.

An Evans penalty made it 15-3.

The third try was a great All Black moment.  Hugo Southwell kicked the ball out, the crowd applauded and New Zealand scored.  Well inside his 22, Nick Evans broke.  He seemed to be held but instead he was speeding down the field.  Through quick phases the ball went till it came to tall James Ryan who juggled and juggled and juggled again and left Sione Lauaki to juggle once and score.  Evans converted.  22-3.

Both sides made many changes as the half wore on but by and large it was Scotland who did better and could have scored a try of great brilliance had Sean Lamont had Gear or Rokocoko speed.  The Scots ran from near their own line and there was Lamont big, quick and nifty bursting down the field but Umaga hunted him down.  The Scots managed to keep the ball going but there was nobody on hand to keep it going at speed off Lamont.

Because New Zealand were pinned in their own half for much of the half their try had to be a long-distance affair.  They broke out and there they were again with that confident handling and endless support.  The great moment in the move was when replacement lock Jason Eaton acted like a classy centre, straightening dummying and giving Gear a perfect pass for his second try.  Leon MacDonald, on at fly-half for Evans, converted.

Scotland's try, inevitably, came from close in.  he attacked down in the corner on their left and replacement fly-half Phil Godman slid a perfect grubber on a diagonal in behind the charging defenders.  Replacement, blue-capped Simon Webster won the race for the ball his hands stretching out to get the touchdown, as the TMO conformed.  Paterson hurried to kick the conversion , doubtlessly because the Scots wanted to score again.  They did not, but in losing a match they won lots of success.

Man of the Match:  Piri Weepu was strong and good and Chris Jack was energetic and effective, but our man-of-the-match is the Scottish wing Sean Lamont -- so strong and daring, unfazed by the might of the army in front of him.

Moment of the Match:  There was James Eaton's pass to Rico Gear, there was James Eaton's pick-up off the ground.  There was that first run by Joe Rokocoko and there was the powerful run by Sean Lamont.  But our moment of the match was the juggling act that preceded Sione Lauaki's try, a passage of play that seems to encapsulates this crop of ABs -- they are able to craft silk purses out of pigs' ears.

Villains:  None.  It was not a day for villains, this special day of Grand Slam.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Webster
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Paterson

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Gear 2, Evans, Lauaki
Cons:  Evans 2, MacDonald
Pen:  Evans

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain), 5 Stuart Murray, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Simon Webster.

New Zealand:  15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Tana Umaga (captain), 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Angus MacDonald, 5 James Ryan, 4 Chris Jack, 3 John Afoa, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Mose Tuiali'i, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Leon MacDonald, 22 Ma'a Nonu.

Referee:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), George Clancy (Ireland)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)