Australia flex their muscle against Fiji

Australia recorded a comfortable 49-0 victory over a spirited Fiji on Saturday at the Subiaco Oval in Perth led by a Lote Tuqiri brace on his return to the Wallabies side.

These 80 minutes of Rugby Union, classified as making up a full match of Test rugby, did no favours for the sport concerned, nor for sport itself.

It did not look like Test rugby, the players did not play with the urgency and vigour normally associated with the top flight of one of humanity's proudest sports, and neither did the commentary nor crowd display the passion traditionally given to an international clash.

The Wallabies, never showing any real cohesion nor skill, cantered to an absolute cake-walk of a victory, over a Fijian side looking like the poor son that professionalism forgot.

Tuqiri, the star of the match, and a Fijian-born Australian, has just come off the back of a three-week speed training programme in the midst of the international season.

The fact that, in the midst of professionalism, the low quality of a so-called top 15 side in the world, Fiji, have to come up against an opposition with that amount of backing behind them, is laughable.

What is also laughable is the poor performance of Australia, who have none of the setbacks that the Fijians can claim.

The Fijians looked like a nation that sees no real domestic competition, and does not play together much at all.

They showed glimpses of competitiveness in the opening exchanges, with the brave play of scrumhalf Moses Rauluni, and skipper and number eight Alifereti Doviverata poking some holes in the inside channel, but they simply do not possess the skill and accuracy at the phase interchange to stay in the game with any decent opposition.

The Australians, meanwhile, were clearly aiming for a larger degree of control in their game.

That endeavour, however, was poorly executed.

Their forward drives off the lineout are weak and lacking intent, and the loping passes of Matt Dunning and Phil Waugh gave the impression of a training game.

Early on, their scrum appeared to be heading for trouble, but after the Fijians were blown up for early hits, they over-compensated with a lack of a hit at all, and the Australians gained the ascendancy.

With complete dominance in all phases of the game, the Wallabies shut Fiji out completely, and, from that position, the fact they did not score at will, speaks volume for the trouble in which Australian rugby finds itself.

The Wallaby backs showed a desire to play the ball wide, with Julian Huxley and the new centre combination of Adam Ashley-Cooper and Scoot Staniforth showing penetration and go-forward early on, running good lines.  In fact the centres probably were the only players of Australia who came out with any credibility.

Stephen Larkham was strangely loose, and, while he did some good things, he also caused a lack of congruency amongst his outside backs.

It was a break of Ashley-Cooper that opened the first points of the game, when he fed Staniforth to go over for the first try

After kicking the conversion and then a penalty -- which then gave way to some mostly poorly aimed attempts -- Huxley made the next break, to then double off Drew Mitchell for another try in the same corner.

Lote Tuqiri marked his comeback with a run off Staniforth's inside shoulder to go over after that, and from then on, the Wallabies spent their time fumbling towards the Fijian line off the back of their mistakes and scoring when they managed to put a penetrative move together.

They attempted a greater foward-oriented game, but that simply does not befit them.

The halfbacks must be of concern to the Wallabies -- Gregan showed why many critics say he does not break enough (he simply is not an attacking force) while Larkham is showing an ineptitude in connecting with his inside centre.

It must be said however that these two legends of the game do not have the same thirteen players around them as in their heydey, when the Wallabies possessed the nuance and verve to all run the right lines of their two playmakers at nine and ten.

The Fijians did their best to defend a side they simply were unequipped to play against, and, at various times, they went offsides in that bid to simply stay in the game.

Ultimately, this wasn't a genuine game of rugby, and the fans and the game and the wider rugby community is the poorer for it.

Man of the match:  He scored three tries, and for that reason alone, Lote Tuqiri is our Man of the Match.

Villain of the match:  When there is no battle, there ceases to be villainy.  One is tempted to name the yellow-carded Henry Qiodravu, tighthead prop of Fiji, but one can hardly blame him for doing his best to stop the one-way traffic.

Moment of the match:  The final whistle put an end to the debacle, and for that it must be merited.

The Scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Staniforth 2, Tuqiri 2, Huxley, Larkham, Norton-Knight, Ashley-Cooper
Cons:  Huxley 3
Pen:  Huxley

Yellow Card:  Henry Qiodravu -- Fiji (38th minute -- killing the ball)

The Teams:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Scott Staniforth, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (vice-captain), 8 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Mark Chisholm, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Stephen Hoiles, 19 George Smith, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Sam Norton-Knight, 22 Stirling Mortlock

Fiji:  15 Marika Vakacegu, 14 Mosese Luveitasau, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Isoa Neivua, 10 Jo Tora, 9 Moses Rauluni, 8 Alifereti Doviverata (captain), 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Apolosi Satala, 5 Kele Leawere, 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Henry Qiodravu, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Graham Dewes.
Replacements:  16 Bill Gadolo, 17 Apisai Turukawa, 18 Wame Lewaravu, 19 Tomasi Soqeta, 20 Vitori Buatava, 21 Jack Prasad, 22 Taniela Rawaqa.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Mark Lawrence (Scotland)
Television match official:  Jonathon White (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Andrew Cole (Australia)

Springboks outgun gutsy Samoans

Showing too much pace and power the Springboks withstood an early onslaught and a late rally to race away to a 35-8 victory over Samoa in their one-off test at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, on Saturday.

The Boks outscored the Pacific tourists by five to one.

After South Africa's successes in the Super 14 and in the two Tests against England, people had begun to talk of South African rugby in tones of awe.  Awe turned to awful on this breezy Saturday afternoon at lively Ellis Park when the Samoans came to play.

Now they must view the Springboks through different eyes, frowns relaxed.  The Australians must feel an upsurge of hope and the New Zealanders will be brimming with confidence.  They must be licking their lips at the prospect of playing in Cape Town next week and in Durban the week after that.

In the vogue of recent times this Springboks side would be labelled "weakened" or "understrength" but there was still supposed to be a lot of talent about to do better than that.  The second half bordered on disgrace.

The line-outs were good and the scrummaging excellent but that is where it stopped.  For the rest the Samoans were the ones who kept the ball far better and generally played with greater zest.  They coped with close-in mauls especially well.

The match may well have had more meaning for them and their captain, wise in the world of rugby, Semo Sititi, and their coach, the great Michael Jones, were at pains to than the South African people and South African rugby for giving them this chance to prepare for the World Cup.  Sititi said:  "It was lekker for us.  Baie dankie."

Jones said:  "We are proud of our warriors."

Both men thought that they were on track in their preparations for the World Cup.

Samoa had a horrible time in the scrums.  They were penalised four times and had Justin Va'a sent to the sin bin, as the referee did his best to keep scrumming legal and safe.  They lost two scrums against the head.  The irony was that they were heavier than the Springbok pack but their cohesion and technique were not good enough.  They also did not quite have the speed of the Springboks outside of the forwards, relying on Tuilagi power to get anywhere and it was not enough, for the Springboks can tackle.

The Samoans did their war dance, the manu, before the kick-off which added to the festive nature of the afternoon, for there had been many colourful dancers to precede them.

The islanders then kicked off and took over the first part of the match as they dominated territory and possession and went through phase after phase.  But two penalties in quick succession put the Springboks ahead.  The second was a bit of gratuitous silliness as Sititi took aim and stamped on the back of Albert van den Berg's knee.  Derick Hougaard goaled that.

But the Springboks battled at the kick-off and when Luke Watson was penalised, Gavin Williams kicked the penalty.  Look at Gavin Williams and your heart swells with happy memories for his father is Bryan Williams one of the legends of New Zealand rugby, one of the best wings of all time.

The first scrum of the match came after 12 minutes.  It was a Samoan ball but Va'a was immediately penalised.  6-3.

A penalty gave the Springboks a five-metre line-out.  They threw deep to Skinstad, who was a great source of clean ball.  Still airborne he played the ball back towards the fonts of the line-out into the arms of John Smit and the captain, playing his 45th consecutive Test, just got to the line for the try.  This was the only try Hougaard converted.

After the Springboks had shoved the Samoans into pressure at a scrum, enterprising Enrico Januarie intercepted and played inside where Watson and Danie Rossouw carried it on down the right.  Back the ball went left and eventually Wayne Julies lobbed a long pass over to JP Pietersen who had an easy passage to the line.  18-3 after 24 minutes.

The Springboks were close on the left when it seemed that Waylon Murray had to score.  In this hectic period of attack which included penalties and line-outs, the Samoan scrumhalf Steven So'oialo was sent to the sin bin after the referee had warned his side, penalised for the seventh time, that they were not helping the game along at all.

The Springboks' third try came from a Samoan error.  They overthrew at the line-out and Skinstad was up quickly to fall on the ball and secure possession.  The Springboks went left and Frans Steyn dummied and got past two tacklers to score in the corner.

Moment after So'oialo had returned from the sin bin, Va'a replaced him.  Sin bins were not all that profitable for the Springboks.  They scored five points while So'oialo was there and none at all while Va'a was off.

Half-time came with the Springboks leading 23-8 and one wondered if the sleeping giant would waken to full life in the second half.  This was not to be as he snuggled down and waited for the final siren.

Afterwards Jake White, the coach, who was not pleased with the effort, mentioned injuries as a fact contributing to the poor fare dished up..  Ashwin Willemse did not reappear after half-time, and during the half Enrico Januarie, Luke Watson and Wayne Julies needed replacing.

The second half started promisingly enough when Januarie broke and with Skinstad free on his outside chose to dummy and die.  That was when he was injured and replaced by Ruan Pienaar.

The Samoans now enjoyed great advantage in territory and possession so that when South Africa scored two tries in six minutes it was against the run of play for the other 30 minutes of the half.  After all the Samoans were oh-so close when Lome Fa'atau went for the corner but stuck a foot out in Waylon Murray's tackle.

The first came when Danie Rossouw won a turn-over in his own half and the Springboks spun the ball left where Pietersen swept through a gap and played to Pedrie Wannenburg who ran over a Samoan on his way to scoring.

The second came when the Springboks attacked from a line-out on their left.  They went right where Percy Montgomery an in his 83rd Test, dummied close to the line and beat two defenders to score far out.  He took over the kicking and goaled, the first South African to reach 700 points in Test rugby.

That made the score 35-3 with 216 minutes to play.

Samoa played during those 16 minutes, and after Skinstad had been sent to the sin bin they scored a try.  After many phases they went from left to right and a long pass sent to the right sent sturdy Anitelela Tuilagi racing for the corner as Wannenburg covered.

No wonder Jones and Sititi were proud afterwards.  Their "boys" certainly did not give up.

Man of the Match:  Hard -- and not because there is an embarrassment of riches.  But in the end for resolute defence, sensible direction and two brilliant try-bearing passes we have chosen Wayne Julies.

Moment of the Match:  Even harder.  In fact too hard.

Villain of the Match:  Kane Thompson was silly to grab Johan Ackermann around the neck, to which Ackermann -- understandably -- objected, but their was no villainy in the incident.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Smit, Pietersen, Steyn, Wannenburg, Montgomery
Cons:  Hougaard, Montgomery
Pens:  Hougaard 2

For Manu Samoa:
Try:  Anitelela Tuilagi
Pen:  Williams

Yellow cards:  Steven So'oialo (Samoa, 28 -- repeated infringements, hands in at ruck), Justin Va'a (Samoa, 39 -- repeated infringements, dropping the scrum), Bobby Skinstad (South Africa, 74 -- professional foul, hands in ruck)

Teams:

South Africa:  15 Frans Steyn, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Wayne Julies, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Bob Skinstad, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Gary Botha, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Percy Montgomery.

Samoa:  15 Gavin Williams, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Anitelela Tuilagi, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Loki Crichton, 9 Steven So'oialo, 8 Semo Sititi (c), 7 Justin Purdie, 6 Daniel Leo, 5 Filipo Levi, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Muliufi Salanoa, 17 Donald Kerslake, 18 Iosefa Tekori, 19 Alfie Vaeluaga, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Elvis Sevealii, 22 David Levi.

Referee:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Touch judges:  Hugh Watkins (Wales), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Ed Murray (Scotland)

Argentina keep their winning record intact

Argentina ran out comfortable winners by beating an ill-disciplined Italian outfit 24-6 at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, keeping their unbeaten home record this season intact.

The Azzurri front row didn't have enough to compete with the ever-impressive Pumas scrum, thus denying the visitors' backline little ball to play with.

Argentina, however, made sure the obscene amount of possesion was converted into points as they outscored their opposition by two tries to nill.

In what was expected to be a dire encounter between two teams missing a number of their star players, turned out to be a robust Test that kept the packed stadium in raptures for the most part of the match.

It was a trial game for both teams leading up to the World Cup more than anything, but the only players really putting their hands up were those from the home side.

The Italians failed to get enough phases going to really put any pressure on the Pumas, who's forwards did an outstanding job up front to starve the Azzurri backline of any possession of the ball.

The Pumas however made sure they turned their possession they maintained throughout the match into points in every opportunity they were allowed by the visitors.

The home team played with a lot more urgency than Italy and were handling the rugby ball like a hot potato as they used the width of the field to great effect.

This of course meant the Italians were left to do the majority of the tackling on a humid afternoon that eventually would take it's toll as the Pumas wore their opposition down with their hard running at impressive angles.

The Azzurri certainly showed plenty of commitment though, but as the match wore on in the second half -- the commitment turned into frustration, the frustration turned into penalties and the penalties turned into points for the Argentineans.

Referee Lyndon Bray had his hands full at scrum time with the Italian front row picking up more penalties for their ill-discipline than anywhere else on the pitch.  Italy captain and prop Andrea Lo Cicero pushed Bray's patience to the limit and was soon seeing yellow in the third quarter of the match after receiving one warning too many.

In fact the men in blue were forced to play with only fourteen men on the field for the last 20 minutes of the match after flanker Josh Sole was also handed a yellow card ten minutes before his skipper was watching from the sidelines.

The Pumas managed two tries in the first half thanks to wing Francisco Leonelli and full-back Federico Serra in the 25th and 31st minute respectively.

Serra also had a satisfactory day with the boot after kicking four penalties and converting his own try.  His first points of the afternoon came three minutes from kick-off after the Italians were penalised for roaming offside.

Argentina were always going to be favourites heading into this match after winning a Test series against Ireland two-nill on their home track.

Even though a whopping nine changes were made from the team which finished off the Irish last weekend, the quality of their play looked as if no adjustments had been made to the line-up at all.

Leonelli's try proved to be the turning point in the match as before the winger scored -- both sides looked very even.

But after outside centre Martín Gaitán went on an impressive dart into open space, the Azzurri defenders were forced to scramble back in defence.  The support play did well to recycle the ball quickly enough for skilled prop Omar Hasan to take play up further before throwing a fine pass to Manuel Contepomi, who in turn drew the opposition and put in the final pass to send Leonelli diving over in the corner.

It was thought that Contepomi had released the final pass too early, but Leonelli showed superb pace to help him over for the five-pointer.  Serra's conversion attempt was unlucky to hit the upright.

Serra would have better luck just minutes later when scrum-half Nicolás Fernández Miranda put in a wicked box-kick after the restart that saw the bounce nearly beat David Bortolussi on his own goal line.  Winger Horacio Agulla chased well and dragged the Italy full-back over the goal-line for a five meter scrum.

The ball went wide after a shaky scrum, but a lovely long pass to Serra saw the number 15 step inside Azzurri wing Kaine Robertson for an excellent try for Argentina.

This time the conversion was more successful and the Pumas held a handy 15-0 lead.

Bortolussi made up for his earlier blunder by securing the first points for the visitors after the home team were blown for offside, but Serra made sure if his side retained their fifteen-point lead after nailing a 45 meter penalty on the stroke of half-time.

That left the score at 18-3 in favour of the Pumas at the break.

The second half would prove to be a half the visiting Italians would care to forget after literally handing the match to Argentina on a silver kicking tee.

Bortolussi got his team off to a good start with an early kick at goal, but two yellow cards resulted in the two penalties the Pumas needed to seal the game and the Italians can count themselves lucky it wasn't more.

The match soon turned into a frustrating stop-start encounter that was jeered on by the crowd who wanted to see more running and certainly more tries been scored.

Alas it wasn't to be and Argentina could at least lift their heads high for a game well played, whilst the Italians will be happy to get to the airport as soon as possible.

Man of the Match:  Pumas number eight Juan Manuel Leguizamón.  This player shows great promise for the future by the way he commits himself to all facets of play.  His work-rate around the pitch is exhausting to watch.

Moment of the Match:  Francisco Leonelli's try was a relief for Argentina and their home support.  It was also the turning point in the match as from then on the Pumas never seemed to take their foot off the gas -- whilst the Italians couldn't get their boot off the brake.

Villain of the Match:  Perhaps the entire Italian front row for giving tons on penalties away and causing far too many restarts that made the colourful crowd and everyone else watching the game very restless.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Leonelli, Serra
Cons:  Serra
Pens:  Serra 4

For Italy:
Pens:  Bortolussi 2

Yellow cards:  Sole, 45min (Argentina), Lo Cicero 65min (Argentina)

The teams:

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Alessio Galante, 12 Cristian Stoica, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Christopher Burton, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Roberto Mandelli, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero (captain)
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Silvio Orlando, 21 Paul Griffen, 22 Ezio Galon

Argentina:  15 Federico Serra, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Martín Gaitán, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 11 Francisco Leonelli, 10 Marcelo Bosch, 9 Nicolás Fernández Miranda, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand (captain), 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 3 Omar Hasan, 2 Pablo Gambarini, 1 Pablo Henn
Replacements:  16 Eusebio Guiñazú, 17 Santiago González Bonorino, 18 Rimas Álvarez, 19 Martín Schusterman, 20 Nicolás Vergallo, 21 Juan Fernández Miranda, 22 Tomás De Vedia

Referee:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Aussies to face Kiwis in decider

Australia 'A' will play the Junior All Blacks in the decisive match of the Pacific Nations Cup next week, after the Australians eased past a hopelessly outclassed Japan -- winning 71-10 at the Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville on Saturday.

The Junior All Blacks had earlier kept their 100 percent record intact with a 39-13 win over Tonga.

The two results mean Australia remain in second place in the competition, one point behind the Junior All Blacks, who it plays in Dunedin next Saturday.

Scrum-half Josh Holmes scored a hat-trick of tries for Australia 'A' on Saturday, while centre Ryan Cross claimed a double.

Goal-kicking winger Clinton Schifcofske finished with a personal haul of 26 points from one try, nine conversions and one penalty goal.

The unbeaten Australians trailed 10-7 early in their encounter with Japan, but scored 64 unanswered points in the 10-tries-to-one mauling.

Despite a lack of early possession, Japan held a narrow lead midway through the first half, before the class of Australia's outside men put the result beyond doubt.

The Australians scored 10 tries to one, and in the process, showed some promising signs in both attack and defence ahead of their blockbuster clash against the Junior All Blacks next Saturday.

Fly-half Berrick Barnes orchestrated several of the team's tries while 19-year-old Force flanker David Pocock was awarded man-of-the-match honours.

Australia A converted early pressure into points in the seventh minute with a David Pocock break allowing Ryan Cross to score the first five-pointer of the match.

The Japanese hit back soon after with an 11th minute penalty goal, before a converted try against the run of play to Bryce Robins, saw Japan take a shock 10-7 lead after 16 minutes.

A Clinton Schifcofske penalty-goal levelled the scores at 10-10 after 20 minutes before a brilliant solo try to Ryan Cross, his second, triggered a four-try-blitz which saw Australia A take a 36-10 lead into the break.

The nine-minute rampage included a try to Schifcofske in the 30th minute, before Holmes crossed twice in as many minutes on the back of some Berrick Barnes brilliance.

It was much of the same to start the second-half when a pin-point Berrick Barnes kick found Force winger Haig Sare, after just four minutes.

Holmes notched up his hat-trick soon after on the back of a deft Peter Hewat chip and chase to bring up the Australians' half-century to lead 50-10.

Replacement prop Salesi Ma'afu was sent to the sin-bin midway through the second-half when he retaliated to a stray Japanese boot, but in his absence front-row counterpart Gareth Hardy finished some enterprising attack to cross in the 66th minute, which Schifcofske converted to lead 57-10.

Ma'afu redeemed himself sides in the 72nd minute with a try of his own, before replacement fly-half, Kurtley Beale, finished the 71-10 rout with a solo effort in the final minute of the match.

The scorers:

For Australia A:
Tries:  Holmes 3, Cross 2, Schifcofske, Sare, Hardy, Ma'afu, Beale
Cons:  Schifcofske 9
Pen:  Schifcofske

For Japan:
Try:  Robins
Con:  Ono
Pen:  Ono

Red card:  Salesi Ma'afu (Australia -- second yellow card)

Teams:

Australia A:  15 Peter Hewat, 14 Clinton Schifcofske, 13 Junior Pelesasa, 12 Ryan Cross, 11 Haig Sare, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Josh Holmes, 8 Jone Tawake, 7 David Pocock, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Will Caldwell, 4 Alister Campbell (captain), 3 Troy Takiari, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Hardman, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Julian Salvi, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Gene Fairbanks, 22 Kurtley Beale.

Japan:  15 Bryce Robins, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Koji Taira, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 Kousei Ono, 9 Yuki Yatomi, 8 Hare Makiri, 7 Takamichi Sasaki (captain), 6 Hajime Kiso, 5 Tsuyoshi Sato, 4 Takanori Kumagae, 3 Ryo Yamamura, 2 Mitsugu Yamamoto, 1 Masahito Yamamoto.
Replacements:  16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Tomokazu Soma, 18 Hitoshi Ono, 19 Glen Marsh, 20 Koichi Ohigashi, 21 Shotaro Onishi, 22 Go Aruga.

Referee:  James Bolabiu (Fiji)

Pratichetti`s hat-trick sinks Uruguay

Italy wing Matteo Pratichetti scored a hat-trick as the Azzurri topped plucky Uruguay 29-5 at Gran Parque Central in Montevideo on Saturday.

Pratichetti's three tries saw Italy romp to a 22-0 lead by the 44th minute.

Uruguay, incorporating young players into its squad after failing to make the World Cup, attacked throughout but couldn't break through until the 77th minute for a try by fullback Matias Arocena.  But Italy finished with a fourth try in injury time.

Fullback Chris Burton, one of two new Italy caps to start along with centre Enrico Patrizio, notched 14 points.

His only penalty started off Italy, but it couldn't score again until the 40th minute when Pratichetti went over in his left corner.

The wing was over again a minute into the second half, with Burton's conversion.

Three minutes later Pratichetti completed his hat trick again near the flag, and Burton converted from touch for 22-0.

Uruguay lock Juan Alzueta was yellow-carded in the 55th minute but Italy couldn't take advantage.

Back with its full complement, Uruguay was consoled with a try near time by Arocena, whose conversion hit the post.

Replacement prop Matias Aguero scoring the final converted try.

Italy flies to Mendoza on Sunday to play Argentina next weekend.

Argentina have claimed back-to-back victories over Ireland following a 22-20 win in Santa Fe and 16-0 victory in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

The scorers:

For Uruguay:
Try:  Arocena

For Italy:
Tries:  Pratichetti 3, Aguero
Cons:  Burton 3
Pen:  Burton

Canada storm to victory over USA

Canada capitalised on some desperate USA defending to storm to a 52-10 victory in the Churchill Cup Bowl final at Twickenham.

The Eagles repeatedly missed first-up tackles and paid the price by leaking seven tries in a disappointingly one-sided clash between the north American rivals.

Sean-Michael Stephen and Morgan Williams ran in a brace each while David Spicer, Adam Kleeberger and Dan Pletch also punished the hapless US Eagles, with James Pritchard completing all seven of his kicks at goal.

Contests between the sides have generally been close but Saturday's meeting bore more resemblance to Canada's 56-7 triumph in a World Cup qualifier last August Prop Mike MacDonald barged his way over in the eighth minute to get the USA off to a promising start but after that it was all one-way traffic until winger Salesi Sika crossed in injury time.

MacDonald's touch down rewarded the Eagles' early ambition as they opted to kick a penalty into touch when three points were on offer and scored from the ensuing catch and drive.

Canada replied with a 15th minute try after a magnificent break from winger Justin Mensah-Coker had done the initial damage.

The Albi back offloaded at the right time with the ball going through the hands of Spicer and Craig Culpan before finding man of the match Stephen who crashed over.

Stephen was piercing the USA's defence at will, setting off on one long-busting run after breaking from the back of a scrum, and Pritchard slotted a penalty to signal Canada were in full control.

They extended their lead in the 36th minute when a long miss pass from Ryan Smith sent the impressive Mensah-Coker into space and he found Spicer on his inside shoulder with the Victoria centre coasting over.

Canada continued to rack up the points with considerable help from some fragile defending with former Saracens scrum-half Williams scampering over.

Stephen was still punching holes in the USA's defence and he claimed his second try just six minutes after the interval with Williams then completing his brace.

Kleeberger was next up to breach the whitewash, again barging through some feeble tackles, and Dan Pletch completed Canada's score rout by rounding off an eye-catching move -- before USA winger Salesi Sika ran in an injury-time try.

The scorers:

For USA:
Tries:  MacDonald, Sika

For Canada:
Tries:  Stephen 2, Williams 2, Spicer, Kleeberger, Pletch
Cons:  Pritchard 7
Pens:  Pritchard

US Eagles:  15 Francois Viljoen, 14 Chris Wyles, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Albert Tuipulotu, 11 Sika Salesi, 10 Malifa Valenese, 9 Kjar Kimball, 8 Louis Stanfill, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Mark Aylor, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Hayden Mexted, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Mark Crick, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Mike French, 18 Inaki Basauri, 19 Dan Payne, 20 Tasi Mounga, 21 David Williams, 22 Vaha Esikia.

Canada:  15 Mike Pyke, 14 Justin Mensah-Coker, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 David Spicer, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ryan Smith, 9 Morgan Williams, 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Stan McKeen, 5 Colin Yukes, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Scott Franklin, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Josh Jackson, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Dean van Camp.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Roy Maybank (England), Bob Mullis (England)
Television Match Official:  Geoff Warren (England)

Wallabies outstrip Wales in Brisbane

In a dour game that highlighted the mismatches of all the Tests of the weekend, Australia proved too much for a fighting but weak Welsh side, downing them 31-0 to claim the James Bevan Trophy in Brisbane on Saturday.

Wales were out to avenge last weekend's last-minute defeat to Australia were they threw away a 17-point lead and allowed Stephen Hoiles to snatch victory for the Wallabies with the last move of the match.

Australia, for their part, vowed to shake free the rust that had weighed them down in Sydney.

Well, a win's a win and this one was quite comfortable, but nothing on display at the Suncorp Stadium could be described as polished steel.

Perhaps we expected too much from this match.  The drama in Sydney stood out like a brilliant beacon amid the mire of mediocre mid-year "Test" matches, and Brisbanites were expecting a fitting sequel.

What they witnessed was a negative, listless performance from both sides -- a game more suited to a pre-season selectorial joust best played behind closed doors.

The crowd let their feelings be known as the Wallabies trooped off at half-time, booing in protest of the poxy 6-0 scoreline.

The crowd's disdain, a veritable barbecuing during the interval and the introduction of the evergreen George Gregan all led to a marked improvement from the Wallabies in the second half.

Suddenly the gaps began to open up and the use of turnover possession became more instinctive.

It seem to dawn on the Australians that their speedster had the edge on their counterparts and unanswered tries from Digby Ioane, Drew Mitchell and Julian Huxley duly followed.

Welsh misery was compounded by the sight of Chris Czekaj and Jamie Robinson being carried from the pitch in obvious agony, the latter with a serious injury that could see him miss the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

A tentative start was punctuated when Stephen Larkham ushered Nathan Sharpe through a gap in midfield.  The big lock kept the ball alive, and although Stirling Mortlock ran out of turf, the Wallabies suddenly looked alive.

The attack tweaked Welsh nerves and they coughed up a penalty for a collapsed a scrum in the shadow of their posts.  Mortlock struck the place-kick sweetly to draw first blood after 12 minutes.

Wales should have responded in kind through James Hook two minutes later, but his attempt drifted wide from 35 metres and in front of the posts.  The visitors then blew another chance as Jones delayed a pass to Czekaj.

After 19 minutes Wales again found themselves waiting and watching as Mortlock lined up a shot at goal, this time after the visitors fell offside just outside their 22 and the centre did his captain's job by hitting the target.

Six minutes later the night went from bad to worse for Wales and Czekaj in particular as a tackle by hooker Stephen Moore ended with the Cardiff Blues wing appearing to suffer a dislocated kneecap, much to the horror of the crowd as the moment was replayed on the big screens.

After Robinson also departed injured in the 35th minute, Ceri Sweeney came on and the reshuffled back division had Henson at full-back, skipper Gareth Thomas on the wing and Hook at inside centre to accommodate the Dragons fly-half.

As half-time approached, referee Paul Honiss brought the rival skippers together and expressed his frustration, telling them to buck their ideas up because up to that point, "it was all negative".

No-one could argue with that assessment on a Test match that had largely been a skill-free zone in the opening half and the crowd clearly agreed as they booed the teams off at the break.

The Wallabies introduced Gregan at the restart and with the benefit of a dominant scrum, the hosts began to show their true colours.

First Sharpe and Huxley combined to send Digby Ioane racing away for his debut try four minutes into the second period and while Mortlock could not convert, his penalty 13 minutes later after Nathan Brew's high tackle on Matt Giteau, who had moved to centre, provided the cushion his side needed to let rip.

As the shackles came off, Mitchell showed his paces to round Michael Owen and dash 50 yards to the line and despite some brave efforts in attack from the visitors, they were unable to match the Wallabies' new-found zip and zest.

Huxley proved his value to the cause by copying Mike Phillips's chip-and-chase example.  Except that in the Wallaby full-back's case it paid off in spectacular fashion as he gathered to claim a superb solo score.

Mortlock converted Mitchell and Huxley's touchdowns to take his side 31-0 ahead with 16 minutes remaining and that is how it remained as Wales suffered a 2-0 Test series defeat.

Man of the match:  James Hook's star continues to rise, he was the only Welshman who looked capable of shaking the Wallabies during the second half.  A number of Wallabies shone in the final stages -- all feeding off the magnificence of George Gregan.  Stirling Mortlock was his usual busy self, and Drew Mitchell roused the crowd from their slumber on a number of occasions.  But our award goes to the tireless Wycliff Palu who put the Welsh on the backfoot and kept Australia's attacks ticking over by resuscitating moribund move after moribund move

Moment of the match:  Surely the introduction of George Gregan.  Try as they might to plan for life without him, the Wallabies are beginning to learn that he is utterly irreplaceable.

Villain of the match:  All good clean (if slightly boring) fun, no award.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ioane, Mitchell, Huxley
Cons:  Mortlock 2
Pens:  Mortlock 4

For Wales:
Tries:
Cons:
Pens:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Digby Ioane, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Phil Waugh, 21 George Gregan, 22 Mark Gerrard

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (c), 14 Chris Czekaj, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Aled Brew, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Michael Owen, 3 Ceri Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements:  16 Chris Horsman, 17 Richard Hibbard, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 20 Andy Williams, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gavin Henson.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Television match official:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)

Samoa edged out in Coffs Harbour

Australia A recorded a second successive IRB Pacific Nations Cup victory by edging out Samoa 27-15 in Coffs Harbour on Saturday.

Australia A led by as much as 17 points in the second half, but had to withstand a Samoan comeback that saw them score two tries in quick succession to bring the deficit back to five points at 20-15.

A final-minute try by Kurtley Beale flattered the home side in a match that was closer than the final scoreline would indicate.

The win means Australia A moves onto nine points for the competition, just one behind the Junior All Blacks, who disposed of Fiji 57-8 earlier on Saturday to maintain a perfect record after two rounds.

Australia A started strongly and built an early buffer on the back of some Samoan ill-discipline, wing Clinton Schifcofske piloting two long-range penalty attempts through the uprights for a six-nil lead after 13 minutes.

But despite dominating the opening stages it wasn't until midway through the half that the Australians would convert pressure into points, Tatafu Polota-Nau touching down for his side's first try off a rolling maul in the 26th minute.

Schifcofske converted for a 13-nil lead.

Samoa hit back with a penalty goal two minutes later to make it 13-3, which was the score into half time.

Just before the break the home side was dealt a blow with Lachie Turner suffering a shoulder injury that would result in him playing no further part in the match.

The injury will be assessed upon arrival in Townsville on Sunday.

The second half began slowly for the Australians with Samoa showing renewed enthusiasm after the break, the visitors upping the tempo in attack.

However their exuberance would come back to haunt them, Australia A replacement Dean Mumm scoring while the Samoans had a player in the sin bin for punching.

Mumm's strike was converted by Schifcofske to give the Australians the upper hand at 20-3.

But Samoa was far from done, hitting back with an unconverted try to prop Justin Va'a in the 58th minute of play.

Lock Kane Thompson then steamrolled his way over the line to set up a grandstand finish, Australia A's lead cut to 20-15 with just over ten minutes of play remaining.

Samoa surged again but were held at bay by the Australia A defence, while a series of skewed lineout throws also hurt the men in blue.

Australia A also lost man of the match Schifcofske to the sin bin for a late hit with three minutes remaining however it would ultimately not prove a hindrance.

In the end the final say went to Australia A, replacement fly-half Kurtley Beale toeing through a dropped ball to score next to the posts in the final minute of the match.

Beale's touchdown was converted by Peter Hewat, taking the final score along to 27-15 in favour of the Australians.

Australia A relocate to Townsville on Sunday to prepare for next week's clash with Japan at Dairy Farmer's Stadium.

"It wasn't a great performance," Australian coach Laurie Fisher told AAP

"We had plenty of ball in the first half and didn't do a whole lot with it.  We were a bit untidy in our work.

"I think we lost the desire to take the ball forward in the second half.

"They came out and put some heat on in the second half and were quite robust.

"We had the chance to have the game really closed out, but we were a little bit headless in the things we did."

The scorers:

For Australia A:
Tries:  Polota-Nau, Mumm, Beale
Cons:  Schifcofske 2, Hewat
Pens:  Schifcofske 2

For Samoa:
Tries:  Justin Va'a, Thompson
Con:  Williams
Pen:  Williams

Springboks pull away from brave England

The Springboks, after trailing at half-time, powered past an English side that had put up a brave fight, winning 55-22 in Pretoria on Saturday.

The English managed only three points in the second half, whilst the Springboks' physicality and pace were to prove too much, as they ran in six tries.

Before the match at packed Loftus Versfeld there were colourful dancers -- all the fun of the fair, a great folk feast.  But that first half was no waltz for the Springboks as they bumbled about, doing their best to help England avoid embarrassment and ended trailing 19-17 at the break.

In Bloemfontein the Springboks had had a good first half and a great finish.  They scored seven tries.  In Pretoria they had a good second half and some great finishing.  They scored eight tries.

In both matches England scored just one try.  That their scoreboard looked better was part of the Springbok bungle.  The CJ van der Linde-Jonny Wilkinson combination gave England their first nine points.  Then Bryan Habana was penalised and sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on -- and that made 12 points.  Add to that the passing as the Springboks spread across the field in a chain and threw the ball towards one another.  Pierre Spies shuffled sideward and flipped the ball outwards -- and Dan Scarbrough intercepted and raced off over the half-way line to the Springbok posts.  That was the try that gave England the lead at the break.

The Springboks were noticeably sharper in the second half when Ruan Pienaar came into scrum-half.  He got into position more quickly and his passing was much quicker and more accurate.  Mind you, by then the game was up for England.

South Africa scored more points than England and yet there was a sense in which England were the victors.  They showed how pride and determination can still turn matches.  They were not in the Springboks' class as players but they swarmed about, tackling with a frenzy, competing at the breakdown with intent.  Their intent defence is what gave them a winning chance in the first half, but only in the first half.  And some of their players proved their great worth, especially loose forwards Ben Skirving and Nick Easter.  If the Springboks had scored more points than they did justice would not have been done to the bravery of the England effort.

The first kick-off of the match looked ominous for England.  Easter knocked it on and Roy Winters played it to concede a penalty.  Percy Montgomery's kick was straight enough but short.  In fact if South African kicking had been 100 per cent as it was in Bloemfontein they would have scored more points than they did in Bloemfontein.

Montgomery's next kick, when Matt Stevens was penalised for handling in a ruck, was successful and South Africa led 3-0 after four minutes.

But the very first scrum collapsed and CJ van der Linde was penalised, one of two penalties against South Africa at the scrum.  Wilkinson goaled.  3-3 after 9 minutes.  England could have taken the lead but Wilkinson missed a chance when Akona Ndungane was penalised for holding on at a tackle.

The Springboks conceded two penalties and a free kick at scrums and actually lost a scrum against the head.  They also lost two line-outs in the first half.  That was not the way to establish forward dominance.

South Africa did not look like breaking the English defence till they got a freakish try.  The ball from a tackle/ruck was slow and Januarie lobbed it down towards the England line with Montgomery in hot pursuit.  The perverse ball bounced -- backwards over the head of Montgomery and into the arms of Januarie who scored.  10-3.

Van der Linde was penalised at a tackle.  10-6.

Ndungane set up the position for the first try of the match.  He raced away on an overlap, chipped and chased.  Mike Brown knocked on, which gave the Springboks a five-metre scrum.  They shoved England back.  Spies drove and then Burger swooped in low to score.  Montgomery converted from the right corner.  A complacent people said, the big victory is on its way.

Overconfidence has ever been the besetting sin of South African rugby and it looked as if it would again teach the lesson of humility and respect.

Van der Linde was penalised at a ruck.  17-9.  Habana was penalised for a deliberate knock-on.  17-12.  Scarbrough intercepted and Wilkinson converted.  19-17 to England.

Habana's yellow card evoked Loftus anger but his action of hitting his left hand at the ball was certainly not of somebody trying to catch the ball as England raced into a good position to score a try.

The second half was different.  Suddenly the Springboks upped the tempo.  They got quick ball at the tackle and distributed quickly, running sharply and at pace till after several phases lock Victor Matfield sent lock Bakkies Botha over for a try.  22-19 to South Africa.

Bryan Habana came back from the sin bin to loud Loftus cheers.

When Schalk Burger tackled Skirving without using his arms, Wilkinson made it 22-22.  Three tries to one, but 22-22.

Two minutes later Spies again showed us his magic.  In the first half he went blind from a scrum and with little room to manoeuvre broke away from two Englishmen.  He went one better.  The Springboks were attacking but England seemed to have all bases covered when suddenly Spies burst and strode and accelerated and swerved past four would-be tacklers to score under the bar.  29-22.

Now it was hard for England.

It was harder still two minutes later when Skirving passed to his right and Habana, inside his 22, accepted the gift and raced off 80 metres to score the try that Loftus Versfeld loves.  Montgomery converted and in two minutes the Springboks had scored 14 points,.

They could have had more as they bashed at the England line with just a bit better judgement but when Montgomery came racing in to take a short pass from Januarie they got one and led 43-22 with 15 minutes to play.

They could have had another when John Smit broke down the short side and sent Juan Smith running free but he opted to kick ahead with Januarie paddling up on his inside with a free run to the line.

Habana's second try was a gem.  He ducked under two and started weaving.  Faced with Nick Abendanon he feinted inside and went outside and gave the new England cap from Johannesburg no chance of getting within touching distance.

There was time in the last six minutes for one more as Bob Skinstad burst ahead and gave to Spies who skipped and strode and went off to score his second try, which Butch James converted.

Man of the Match:  There were two obvious candidates -- the two two-try men, Bryan Habana and Pierre Spies.  Spies played for 80 minutes, Habana for 70.  Spies's contribution was non-stop.  Our Man of the Match is Pierre Spies.

Moment of the Match:  Hard in a match of nine tries but it would be fair to call it a deadheat between Pierre Spies' first try and Bryan Habana's second try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Januarie, Burger, Botha, Spies 2, Habana 2, Montgomery
Cons:  Montgomery 5, Steyn
Pen:  Montgomery

For England:
Try:  Scarborough
Con:  Wilkinson
Pens:  Wilkinson 5

Yellow card:  Bryan Habana (South Africa, 39th minute, intentional knock-down)

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Replacements:  16 Gary Botha, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Bobby Skinstad, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Ashwin Willemse

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jamie Noon, 13 Mattew Tait, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Dan Scarbrough, 10 Jonny Wilkinson (captain), 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Nick Easter, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Roy Winters, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Kevin Yates.
Replacements:  16 Andy Titterell, 17 Stuart Turner, 18 Dean Schofield, 19 Chris Jones, 20 Sean Perry, 21 Anthony Allen, 22 Nick Abendanon.

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Derek Bevan (Wales)

Japan stun Tonga in Australia

Japan have pulled off a surprise 20-17 win over Tonga in Coff's Harbour in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday.

Japan winger Kosuke Endo's try late in the first half set the Cherry Blossoms on their way, and lock Hitoshi Ono's try on the hour mark had Japan 20-7 in the lead.

John Kirwan's side may have been outscored by three tries to two, but Japan's discipline at the breakdown coupled with a powerful forward performance paved the way for a deserved victory, their first-ever in the competition.

Tonga did stage a late comeback, but were frustrated in the tackle area and had two players sin-binned during the second half to hamper chances of pulling off victory.

Isileli Tupou scored the opening try for Tonga but Japan led 20-7 late in the match after Endo and Ono had scored.  Two tries in the final 15 minutes narrowed the gap to three points but Japan held on to win.

Japan's victory elevates John Kirwan's side to fourth in the standings ahead of Tonga who are yet to record a win in this year's tournament.

The scorers:

For Tonga:
Tries:  Tupou, Tongauiha, Lilo
Con:  Apikota

For Japan:
Tries:  Endo, Ono
Cons:  Ando 2
Pens:  Ando 2

Tonga:  15 Sione Fonua, 14 Aisea Havili Kaufusi, 13 Hudson Tangpuiha, 12 Isileli Tupou, 11 Seti Kote, 10 Fangatapu Apikotoa, 9 David Palu, 8 Samiu Vahafolau, 7 Nili Latu, 6 Hale T-Pole, 5 Sione Kalamafoni, 4 Tevita Tanginoa, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Toma Toke.
Replacements:  16 Patrick Toumoua, 17 Makoni Finua, 18 Tei Mulu Kaufusi, 19 Naisa Sikaiu, 20 Sikalele Ahoafi, 21 Lisiate Tafa, 22 Vunga Lilo.

Japan:  15 Goshi Tachikawa, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Bryce Robins, 12 Shotaro Onishi, 11 Christian Loamanu, 10 Eiji Ando, 9 Tomoki Yoshida, 8 Takuro Miuchi, 7 Hare Makiri, 6 Yasunori Watanabe, 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Tomokazu Soma, 2 Yuji Matsubara, 1 Tatsukichi Nishiura.
Replacements:  16 Mitsugu Yamamoto 17 Ryo Yamamura 18 Takanori Kumagae 19 Takamichi Sasaki 20 Yuki Yatomi 21 Yuta Imamura 22 Hirotoki Onozawa

Junior All Blacks run riot in Suva

The Junior All Blacks laid down a firm statement of intent for the Pacific Nations Cup by thrashing Fiji 57-8 in Suva on Saturday.

The New Zealand pack was far superior to the opposition, destroying the Fijians at scrum-time and nicking throw after throw at the line-out.  The Fijians were left with no ball at all.

It was a worying reminder of the gulf between the full-time professionals and the Fijians who are rarely together, and playing part-time domestically.  What scale will the mis-matches be at the rugby World Cup?

New Zealand's forward supremacy provided a steady supply of ball to a dangerous set of three-quarters to give the Junior All Black a 29-3 lead, with the bonus point already assured.

Casey Laulala was the first on the scoresheet after just seven minutes, capitalising on 12 phases of picking and driving by the pack.

When Rico Gear tore away down the left after 20 minutes, the support once again got the ball out quickly enough for scrum-half Andrew Ellis to score.

A scrum shoved against the head after half an hour gave quick turnover ball for Cory Jane to get his try, side-stepping the last three defenders superbly, and then another powerful scrum gave Mose Tuiali'i space to kick wide for Gear to dot down.

Tuiali'i opened the scoring again just after half-time, visibly sapping the Fijian spirit, and the home pack then conceded a penalty try, before Scott Hamilton and tane Tuipulotu rounded off the scoring.

Fiji's consolation score came from centre Gabiriele Lovobalavu, but it was little cause for cheer for the home team.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Try:  Lovobalavu
Pen:  Buatava

For the Junior All Blacks:
Tries:  Laulala, Ellis, Jane, Gear, Tuiali'i, penalty try, Hamilton, Tuipulotu
Cons:  Donald 4, Brett 3
Pen:  Donald.

All Blacks overcome brave French

New Zealand notched up five tries to beat France 42-11 in what was an average performance from the hosts with Les Bleus showing plenty of courage throughout the match at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

Winger Sitiveni Sivivatu and centre Aaron Mauger bagged a brace of tries each to help make the scoreline a respectable one.

If you were a New Zealand supporter who believed in a scoreline, you would have found beating France 42-11 satisfying.  You believed that the All Blacks always started the Test season slowly, you would have been comforted.  If you counted tries, five to one against France was pleasing.  If you were an ardent believer in the power of scrumming, you would have had your faith confirmed.  But in truth there was not a lot else that was satisfying or comforting.

New Zealand were playing against an untried French combination of grandfathers and grandsons, cobbled together in less than a week and arriving in distant New Zealand on Tuesday, which made a bit of a mockery of claims that New Zealand were rusty because they had had little time to prepare.

New Zealand were not threatened at all in a match in which they dominated possession from line-outs, scrums, tackle/rucks and penalties.  They dominated territory to the extent of 77 per cent, and yet they at no stage looked fluent.

Partly it was the fault of New Zealand handling on an Auckland night.  But partly it was the great commitment of the French on defence as they kept bringing All Black icons crashing to earth.

Two of the icons -- Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw -- were kept off for the second half, Carter with a sore ankle and McCaw with a bruised thigh.  Eventually both sides used all their replacements and France may have had the worst of the injuries.  Jean-Philippe Grandclaude was helped off early in the match and a wobbly Pascal Papé late in the match after a long delay for injury.

In fact there were several delays for injury in the match, several for long and sloppy scrums and a couple for long examinations by a careful television match official.

After operatic anthems and a violent haka, before a pleasing crowd of 41,500, Benjamin Boyet kicked off for France.  Despite a plethora of possession and territory the All Blacks did not find scoring easy and got their first try only after 29 minutes -- a well constructed try, in fact the best constructed of the five tries.

The All Blacks scored first when debutant Grégory Le Corvec was off-side and Daniel Carter kicked a goal.  after seven minutes.  Carter was hurt and so Piri Weepu kicked the next goal.  6-0 after 10 minutes.

France got close enough for Boyet to kick a penalty when Reuben Thorne was penalised at a tackle.  That was the only penalty conceded by the All Blacks in the first half.  (The penalty count for the match was 12-4 in the favour of the All Blacks.)

The try came from a scrum on the New Zealand right.  Carter, as he was being tackled, played inside to Joe Rokocoko who burst and gave to Isaia Toeava who gave Aaron Mauger a clear run to the posts.  13-3 as Carter converted.

Just before half-time Carter, going left, chopped right and Sitiveni Sivivatu ran onto the ball, footing ahead.  There was poor defence by Thomas Castaignède and the ball ended in the French in-goal.  The TMO took a long, long, restless time deciding that it was a try.  Weepu converted and the score at the break was 20-3.

Nick Evans started the second half in Carter's place and started sharply.  In fact he had an excellent half, always causing problems for the French defence.

He kicked a penalty but then, when Ali Williams was penalised for a high tackle, Boyet kicked one.  23-6 after 44 minutes.

From now on the All Black pack shattered the French scrums.  From one such shatter Chris Masoe set the All Blacks running and Sivivatu was close.  In fact he was over but was penalised in the process.

The All Blacks stayed on the attack, taking scrums for penalties.  Weepu did tap one and was tackled by Boyet who was sent to the sin bin for doing so before retreating properly.  The All Blacks did some stamping on Papé here and there was an upsurge of emotion.

From the five-metre scrum Evans slid a left-footed grubber into the French in-goal but Toeava failed to ground the ball, as the wise TMO advised.  That led to a five-metre scrum for France which the All Blacks destroyed.  This led to a try by Sivivatu off a slap-on that looked decidedly forward.  28-6.

France had their only chance to attack in the match and scored a try.  Their attack consisted of two diagonal kicks which would qualify as foot passes.  Castaignède gave the first to his right and then when they went left Olivier Magne gave one to his left into the New Zealand in-goal where debutant Jean-François Coux scored despite being tackled early by Rokocoko.  28-11 with 21 minutes to play.

The fourth New Zealand try did not come from one of their pressure situations on attack but from far out as they started to counter from their own 22.  They kicked ahead and caught Castaignède in possession.  Rodney So'oialo forced the turn-over and off they went right where Sivivatu handed speeding Mauger a sweet pass and the centre cut clean through for an untrammeled run to the posts.  35-11 with 17 minutes to play.

At this stage Boyet returned from the sin bin.

The last New Zealand try started with a gross error by France.  Mauger kicked into the 22 where right wing Benjamin Thiéry caught a mark.  He started to kick and then stopped.  The All Blacks were in quickly.  The kick void, New Zealand had a scrum six metres out and attacked going right where So'oialo forced his way through Arnaud Mignardi and Nicolas Durand to score a try which Evans converted.

The All Blacks could have had one more when Rokocoko burst downfield on the right and passed inside to Brendon Leonard.  It was a high pass and the replacement half-back could not hold on for what could well have been a try on debut.

Man of the Match:  Often maligned, often disciplined, Ali Williams had a great match.  He was part of the All Blacks' possession domination and also found time to run with purpose on several occasions.  He is our Man of the Match.

Moment of the Match:  A tackle -- Sébastien Chabal's thumping tackle on Chris Masoe that left the strong All Black groggy.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody really worth mentioning.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Mauger 2, Sivivatu 2, So'oialo
Cons:  Carter 2, Evans 2
Pens:  Carter, Weepu, Evans

For France:
Tries:  Coux
Pens:  Boyet 2

Yellow cards:  Boyet (France, 52min, dangerous tackle)

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Reuben Thorne, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Rodney So'oialo, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Nick Evans, 22 Ma'a Nonu.

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Jean-Francois Coux, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 11 Benjamin Thiéry, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Gregory Le Corvec, 5 Pascal Papé (captain), 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Sebastian Bruno, 1 Christian Califano.
Replacements:  16 Raphaël Ibañez, 17 Franck Montanella, 18 Olivier Olibeau, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Mickael Forest, 21 Nicolas Laharrague, 22 Ludovic Valbon

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Matt Goddard (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Canada storm to victory over USA

Canada capitalised on some desperate USA defending to storm to a 52-10 victory in the Churchill Cup Bowl final at Twickenham.

The Eagles repeatedly missed first-up tackles and paid the price by leaking seven tries in a disappointingly one-sided clash between the north American rivals.

Sean-Michael Stephen and Morgan Williams ran in a brace each while David Spicer, Adam Kleeberger and Dan Pletch also punished the hapless US Eagles, with James Pritchard completing all seven of his kicks at goal.

Contests between the sides have generally been close but Saturday's meeting bore more resemblance to Canada's 56-7 triumph in a World Cup qualifier last August Prop Mike MacDonald barged his way over in the eighth minute to get the USA off to a promising start but after that it was all one-way traffic until winger Salesi Sika crossed in injury time.

MacDonald's touch down rewarded the Eagles' early ambition as they opted to kick a penalty into touch when three points were on offer and scored from the ensuing catch and drive.

Canada replied with a 15th minute try after a magnificent break from winger Justin Mensah-Coker had done the initial damage.

The Albi back offloaded at the right time with the ball going through the hands of Spicer and Craig Culpan before finding man of the match Stephen who crashed over.

Stephen was piercing the USA's defence at will, setting off on one long-busting run after breaking from the back of a scrum, and Pritchard slotted a penalty to signal Canada were in full control.

They extended their lead in the 36th minute when a long miss pass from Ryan Smith sent the impressive Mensah-Coker into space and he found Spicer on his inside shoulder with the Victoria centre coasting over.

Canada continued to rack up the points with considerable help from some fragile defending with former Saracens scrum-half Williams scampering over.

Stephen was still punching holes in the USA's defence and he claimed his second try just six minutes after the interval with Williams then completing his brace.

Kleeberger was next up to breach the whitewash, again barging through some feeble tackles, and Dan Pletch completed Canada's score rout by rounding off an eye-catching move -- before USA winger Salesi Sika ran in an injury-time try.

The scorers:

For USA:
Tries:  MacDonald, Sika

For Canada:
Tries:  Stephen 2, Williams 2, Spicer, Kleeberger, Pletch
Cons:  Pritchard 7
Pens:  Pritchard

US Eagles:  15 Francois Viljoen, 14 Chris Wyles, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Albert Tuipulotu, 11 Sika Salesi, 10 Malifa Valenese, 9 Kjar Kimball, 8 Louis Stanfill, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Mark Aylor, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Hayden Mexted, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Mark Crick, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Mike French, 18 Inaki Basauri, 19 Dan Payne, 20 Tasi Mounga, 21 David Williams, 22 Vaha Esikia.

Canada:  15 Mike Pyke, 14 Justin Mensah-Coker, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 David Spicer, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ryan Smith, 9 Morgan Williams, 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Stan McKeen, 5 Colin Yukes, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Scott Franklin, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Josh Jackson, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Dean van Camp.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Roy Maybank (England), Bob Mullis (England)
Television Match Official:  Geoff Warren (England)

Tired Welsh let Australia off the hook

A last-gasp try from Stephen Hoiles helped Australia bounce back from an early 17-0 deficit to beat Wales as anticipated on Saturday, but John Connolly's new-look team made life mighty hard for themselves in the 29-23 win.

A less weary team than the Welsh would not have let Australia off though, and despite the win, Connolly will know that his team still has a lot to prove in the second Test next week.

What a finish!  Once again the sound of the hooter produced the biggest drama of the match -- a match that nearly produced an upset of exalting proportions for the Welsh and humiliating proportions for the Wallabies.

It nearly was the greatest Welsh victory in the Southern Hemisphere since Rorke's Drift.  Written off and vilified since their arrival in Australia they stood up manfully and justified their existence and worthiness as international players.

When time was up the Welsh led.  When the final whistle went the Wallabies had won.  It was shattering.

The Welsh were defending like that Welch Regiment of old:  manful, shoulder to shoulder, Men of Harlech in their throats.  That day they won 11 VCs as the Zulus, exultant after victory at Islandhwana, flung themselves at the little garrison behind the biscuit tins.  On this day, too, they found new energy and resolve to keep the Wallabies back in their own territory.  With a little over a minute to play they led 23-22 and had a scrum in the Welsh half.

Jonathan Thomas played to replacement scrumhalf Gareth Cooper who grubbered down into the Wallaby 22.  Julien Huxley fielded the ball and hoofed it low and hard and far.  It rolled down into the Welsh 22 where Griffiths fielded it and kicked for touch, a poor clearing kick.  The line-out was on the Wallaby left.  They won it and went far right, as the hooter went to herald the end of the match.  The Wallabies came back far left with inroads made by Matt Giteau and, tellingly, by Rocky Elsom.  When they went far right Sam Norton-Knight threw a long, left-handed skip pass and there was replacement loose forward Stephen Hoiles to surge over in the corner for the try that won the match for the Wallabies.

At Rorke's Drift, one of the 11 VCs was Alfred Hook.  At Telstra Stadium one of the 22 VCs was going to be James Hook, till that try on 80 minutes 26 seconds.

What, of course, this did was earn great credit for Wales and its rugby and sound a warning alarm to the South Hemisphere countries as they prepare to welcome lambs to the slaughter.  These Welsh were not lambs.

The first half suggested that the Wallabies were going to win easily, except that the Welsh were the ones scoring the points -- against the run of play but a heap of points.  Before 20 minutes were played Wales led 17-0.  The unthinkable looked possible.

At that stage the Wallabies were rejoicing in a cornucopia of possession, but they managed to turn it into Welsh tries as their hands let them down.  It was significant that two left-hand passes by Norton-Knight helped in the scoring of Hoiles's try because it was left-handed passing that led to the two Welsh tries.

A clever kick by Drew Mitchell had settled the Wallabies into comfortable attack down on their left but then they came right and novice Norton-Knight threw a difficult -- difficult not impossible -- pass to Stirling Mortlock.  It fell on the ground and Welsh left wing Chris Czekaj snapped it up and started running down the field.  Wallabies closed in and he kicked ahead.  Giteau could not control the ball.  Hook snapped it up, weighed up his options and gave to captain Gareth Thomas who went over and eventually, helped by Gavin Thomas, scored his 38th Test try, breaking his own record in his record-breaking 93rd Test.  Hook converted.  That was some two minutes into the match.

The crowd of 40,872 settled back to watch the Wallabies attack.  Mortlock hit the upright with a kickable penalty and their handling helped the Welsh to keep them at bay.  But all the signs were that those seven points had been an aberration and the Wallabies were settling into winning.  Norton-Knight through his third awkward left-hander and then Julien Huxley, up in the line, threw another, a long one in search of an overlap.  It did not get to the overlap, for Jamie Robinson plucked it out of the air and set off downfield.  Mitchell got close but Robinson stretched away from him in his 70-metre run to the posts.  Again Hook converted.  14-0 after 15 minutes.

The Wallabies went on attacking but lost the ball in a turn-over.  Lee Byrne took an inside pass from Jonathan Thomas and raced down the middle of the field.  Mark Gerrard caught him but a penalty enabled Hook to make it 17-0 after 19 minutes.

Now it was uncomfortable for Wallaby supporters and now the Wallabies changed tack.  No longer were they playing it wide.  Now it was time for pick-n-drive.  The Welsh contingent tackled.  The Wallabies reached 13 phases and then Wycliff Palu, their main batterer, took a flipped pass from Matt Dunning and forced his way over in the right corner.  17-5 after 24 minutes.

The Wallaby camp left out some relieved breath.

Mitchell grubbered and chased and forced Byrne to run the ball out for a five-metre line-out to Australia.  The line-out was a mess but it produced a try.  Perhaps the mess disjointed the Welsh, but there was Nathan Sharpe bursting inside Robert Sidoli to score.  Mortlock converted.  17-12.

Wales had their best concerted effort just after that when they ran from a line-out and Sonny Parker got a clever pass away in the half-gap but Wales yielded a turn-over and Huxley hoofed many metres downfield.

There was drama but also a lot of untidy play.  The handling was shaky and we were back in the land of the messy scrums with resets, collapses and free kicks.  Even when the ball managed to find a way out there was a mess.

After Huxley had misjudged a rolling kick and conceded a line-out five metres from his line, the Welsh had a promising attack.  In fact their backs looked more likely to produce try-scoring breaks than the Wallabies did.  The Wallabies relied on extra men, the Welsh on straightening and stepping.  The Wallabies also had Giteau at scrum-half, a great footballer but guzzling space.

From a scrum the Welsh went wide and bashed at the Wallaby line.  Gerrard was offside and Hook made the score 20-12 after 51 minutes.

The Wallabies attacked but there was nobody to clear at the tackle/ruck.  Wales picked up but then threw the ball away.  Giteau dived on it and the Wallabies were off attacking on their left where Giteau threw a dummy towards Palu and ran round behind the posts.  20-19, and the Wallabies were back on the attack.  A penalty at a breakdown enabled Mortlock to put the Wallabies into the lead for the first time in the match, 22-20 after 61 minutes.

There were 19 minutes still to play.

From the kick-off after the penalty Wales got possession and attacked through many phases till Gareth Thomas tried a high diagonal towards the right and the Wallabies survived.  Soon afterwards they yielded a penalty in front of their posts but Hook's kick hit the upright and stayed out.

There was a loud cheer in Telstra Stadium when George Gregan came on after 65 minutes.  Giteau went to inside centre in the place of Adam Ashley-Cooper.

With eight minutes to play, from a scrum following the grossest of knock-ons by Gerrard, Hook sat back in a pocket and dropped a goal.  Wales were ahead 23-22, where they stayed till that last dramatic minute or so.

Man of the Match:  Probably the player who played most rugby was Matt Giteau.

Villain of the Match:  There was none.

Moment of the Match:  The final try by Stephen Hoiles.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Palu, Sharpe, Giteau, Hoiles
Cons:  Mortlock 3
Pen:  Mortlock

For Wales:
Tries:  Gavin Thomas, Robinson
Cons:  Hook 2
Pens:  Hook 2
Drop goal:  Hook

The Teams:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Stirling Mortlock (vice-captain), 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (c), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Dan Vickerman, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 George Smith (vice-captain), 21 George Gregan, 22 Scott Staniforth.

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Gareth Thomas (c), 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Iestyn Thomas
Replacement:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 Michael Owen, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gavin Henson

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

Samoa falls to Junior All Blacks

In a performance that made a mockery of their subordinate name, the Junior All Blacks opened their Pacific Nations Cup campaign with an emphatic 31-10 victory over Samoa in Apia on Sunday.

The visitors fielded ten full All Blacks and Rico Gear, a surprise omission from Graham Henry's mid-year squad, reminded the selector's of his skills by scoring a brace of tries.

Prop John Afoa, number eight Mose Tuiali'i and replacement Ross Filipo also scored for the New Zealanders, while David Lemi scored a consolation try for the Samoans, who beat Fiji 8-3 last weekend.

Afoa gave the New Zealanders off the mark by collecting a charged-down kick from Samoan midfielder Seilala Mapusua to score within two minutes of the start.

Gear then went in for the first of his two tries, even though his grounding looked suspect and his legs appeared in touch in Mapusua's tackle.

Ahead 12-0, the Junior All Blacks took their foot off the pedal in the searing heat, allowing the hard-hitting Samoans to gain some momentum in the pick-and-go.

However, the home side's finishing touches let them down.

Fullback Gavin Williams had only fullback Cory Jane to beat with winger Lome Fa'atau looming up on his right only to fluff that opportunity.

Bad passes let them down twice in the second half when they had the Juniors on the backfoot close to the goal line.

The visitors fought back and a try from replacement Filipo and Gear's second sealed the result.

But there was some consolation for the locals when Lemi got on the end of a poor pass from Jimmy Cowan to score.

Junior All Blacks captain Marty Holah declared himself happy with his opener, but warned his troops against complacency.

The New Zealanders romped through last year's edition of the tournament, but the introduction of Australia "A" and the forthcoming Rugby World Cup have added an extra dimension to proceedings.

"Teams like Samoa and Fiji are preparing for the World Cup now and they're getting their best players back from around the world, so naturally they're tougher," Holah told the NZPA.

"And playing these teams in the islands is as tough as they come.

"They're twice as physical at home, and it's not going to get any easier for us next week."

Australia "A" marked their entry into this six-team competition with a 60-15 win over Tonga last night and Fiji, who had lost narrowly to Samoa last week, beat Japan 30-15 in Lautoka after trailing 3-15 at halftime.

The Junior All Blacks play Fiji in Suva on 2 June, Samoa meet the Australians in Coff's Harbour on the same day.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Try:  Lemi
Con:  Williams
Pen:  Williams

For Junior All Blacks:
Tries:  Gear 2, Afoa, Tuiali'i, Filipo
Cons:  Donald 3

The teams:

Junior All Blacks:  15 Cory Jane, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Stephen Brett, 11 Scott Hamilton, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Marty Holah (c), 6 Kieran Read, 5 Greg Rawlinson, 4 Hoani MacDonald, 3 John Afoa, 2 Derren Witcombe, 1 Clarke Dermody
Replacements:  16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Campbell Johnstone, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Anthony Tuitavake, 22 Daniel Braid.

Samoa:  15 Gavin Williams, 14 Lome Faatau, 13 Anitelea Tuilagi, 12 Seilala Maposua, 11 Brian Lima (captain), 10 Loki Crichton, 9 Stephen Sooialo, 8 Alfie Tooala, 7 Ulia Ulia, 6 Joe Tekori, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Muliufi Salanoa, 17 Donald Kerslake, 18 Leo Lafaiali'i, 19 Semo Sititi, 20 Junior Polu, 21 Joshua Keil, 22 David Lemi.

Referee:  James Leckie (Australia)

Records tumble as England are humbled

South Africa produced a brutal yet clinical display to thump a plucky England side 58-10 at Bloemfontein on Saturday scoring seven tries in the process.

England, backed by many to fall to pieces from the start, held their own for the opening quarter but eventually succumbed to the power and pace of an impressive Springbok side.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with England competing for a long period before the flood gates opened to allow South Africa to score four quick fire tries.

The win, and the size thereof, has broken nearly every record in the book for South Africa v England encounters.

It was not a sweeping game of elan and panache.  In many ways it was a drab match, the dullness of the foil setting off all the more the sparkle of the tries -- seven gems by South Africa, one excellent construction by England.

South Africa were expected to win which made the match almost no-win.  Win big and you are playing against no-hopers.  Win small, and you really are not much cop.  Lose and you are flung down into the abyss of rugby degradation.  But then Wales sounded a warning with their fine display against Australia.  Could England go to Bloemfontein and do likewise?

They were not even close, this damaged team that limped into the Free State capital -- an injudicious team in the judicial capital of South Africa.

Bloemfontein complains that it seldom gets a Test.  It got one but this one did not attract much of a crowd -- just 26 000 people into the ground.  The interest was nothing like that for the Super 14 final last week.

The Springboks, too, did not really come to the party.  They led 30-3 at half-time and then made wholesale changes, turning the match into a sort of controlled match practice.  England were the first to score in the second half against a casual home side.  That seemed to get the Springboks going a bit and they scored four tries in the last dozen minutes to make the score as big as it was.

So often we have seen the big England sides outmuscle their opponents.  This time they were outmuscled.  They were not strong enough or fast enough to deal with the Springboks.  It must have been a sore afternoon for them.  And the injuries to Iain Balshaw, Andy Hazell, Pat Sanderson and Jonny Wilkinson could have done nothing to reassure them as they head to Loftus Versfeld next weekend.

For the ageing debutants Matt Cairns, Roy Winters and Darren Crompton, the pride of at last making it for England must have been tempered.

It's not that England were not brave.  They were.  They just did not have muscle enough.  There was one moment which epitomised their courage.  Big Danie Rossouw went on the charge, straight at Wilkinson.  The little flyhalf stood up the him, brought him down and in the process dispossessed him.

For the Springboks the return of Ashwin Willemse, who scored a try and made a magnificent break which should have led to a try, and action-man Schalk Burger must have been pleasing.

From the first line-out of the match, the Springboks went wide and they passed at every opportunity in the match.  They scored their first points inside two minutes when Chris Jones infringed at a tackle-ruck and Percy Montgomery goaled on a still afternoon in Bloemfontein when he goaled ten out of ten.

Right at the start the Springboks thumped into tackles.  When they had the ball they charged into the English.  When the English had the ball the Springboks thumped into them.  When they wanted to maul they drove it ahead, though not with quite the same cohesion that their Super 14 sides managed but obviously something that will come when they are together for more than just a few days.

When Andy Hazell was off-side Montgomery made it 6-0.

When the Springboks robbed England of their line-out ball, they went right, battering twice and then sending the ball wide with some splendid pressurised passing by Jean de Villiers and Willemse to send Willemse over on the right and round to the posts..  13-0 after 23 minutes.

Mathew Tait broke brilliantly for England as he had done before, but then he lost his way and when Chris Jones tried a lobbed pass to his right the ball bounced near touch on the Springboks 22 where Bryan Habana gobbled it up and went racing down the left wing for a try far out.  20-0 after 27 minutes.

Burger was penalised at a tackle and from 48 metres out Wilkinson, who has missed earlier, goaled.  20-3.

Two of the scrums in the match gave trouble.  At the second one Stuart Turner was penalised and Montgomery goaled.

England attacked and were at the Springbok 22 when the passing broke down.  Rossouw bent down, flipped the ball back through his legs and the Springboks went on a bout of netball before De Villiers suddenly went skating ahead and down the middle of the field, beating two more defenders, to score under the crossbar.  30-3, which was the half-time score.

Substitutions started with the second half and a sloppy Springbok performance alleviated only by a great break by Willemse from within his 22 which should have led to a try.

James Simpson-Daniel came on when Balshaw fell awkwardly and did serious damage to his knee.  The replacement had a good run down the left wing.  Andy Gomarsall carried it on and England were close.  South Africa were penalised in front of their posts not many metres from the goal-line.  England opted for a scrum and went right from the scrum with sweet passing to create an overlap for Simpson-Daniel who scored in the corner.  Wilkinson converted.  30-10 after 62 minutes.

At this stage the Springboks brought on Ruan Pienaar and -plonked him on the right wing with François Steyn moving in to inside centre.

Steyn made a break which Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger drove on to the England line where Burger was back to gather and score.  37-10 after 69 minutes.  It was then that Wilkinson was injured in a clash of heads.

England kicked downfield a lot.  Pienaar caught one inside his own half and went on the counter.  He accelerated through on a dummy, drew one and then sent Steyn over.  44-10 after 73 minutes.

There was something so unexpected in the next try that it had an exquisite beauty all of its own.

Montgomery came into the line and got through a gap.  He grubbered, knowing that speedster Habana was ion his left.  Habana sped through defenders but Jason Robinson was across and diving for the ball.  From behind Robinson Habana dived and with absolute concentration grabbed the ball and surfed over the line with it.  51-10 after 75 minutes.

Still it was not the end.

Butch James kicked a diagonal to the right wing where Pienaar caught it and made great ground.  He was tackled but the Springboks recycled the ball till James dummied inside and gave CJ van der Linde a great pass on the outside for a try for the big prop.  The whistle went after Montgomery's conversion.

Man of the Match: Schalk Burger who tackles more than anybody else, contests at the breakdown more than anybody else and who has improved greatly his linking, passing game.

Moment of the Match:  Every one of the tries was special but none as special as Bryan Habana's second.

Villain of the Match:  Whoever decided that these were the players to take the battering in England's cause.

The Scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Willemse, Habana 2, De Villiers, Burger, Steyn, Van der Linde
Cons:  Montgomery 7
Pens:  Montgomery 3

For England:
Try:  Simpson-Daniel
Con:  Wilkinson
Pen:  Wilkinson

The Teams:

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements:  16 Gurthro Steenkamp, 17 Gary Botha, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Francois Steyn.

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Jason Robinson (captain), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Stuart Turner, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Kevin Yates
Replacements:  16 Matt Cairns, 17 Darren Crompton, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Pat Sanderson, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Anthony Allen, 22 James Simpson-Daniel.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Derek Bevan (Wales)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Fiji bounce back to conquer Japan

Fiji turned around a 3-15 half-time deficit to trounce Japan 30-15 and go briefly second in the Pacific Nations Cup in Lautoka on Saturday.

New-found talent Taniela Rawaqa led the comeback, scoring a try and landing two conversions and two penalties in the win.

Rawaqa kicked the first points with an early penalty, but Japan took advantage of Fiji's poor communication in defence and finally broke through for a try from lock Luke Thompson.

Full-back Goshi Tachikawa scored the second try for Japan shortly before the break, with Eiji Ando converting, having already added an earlier penalty.

After Rawaqa made it 6-15 at the start of the second half, a number of Fijian substitutions swung the game completely the home team's way.

Rawaqa converted his own try in the 51st minute, and then two long trademark passing movements culminated in tries for flankers Netani Talei and Akapusi Qera.

Japan's heads dipped, and Isoa Neivua was left to seal the game in the 76th minute with a 50-metre runaway try, stepping around his opposite Kosuke Endo, with Rawaqa adding the conversion.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Rawaqa, Talei, Qera, Neivua
Cons:  Rawaqa 2
Pens:  Rawaqa 2

For Japan:
Tries:  Thompson, Tachikawa
Con:  Ando
Pen:  Ando

Last gasp Pumas snatch it from Ireland

A last-gasp Felipe Contepomi drop goal gave Argentina 22-20 victory against Ireland in Santa Fe on Saturday.

Contepomi was the man of the match even though Eddie O'Sullivan's side managed to control the Pumas captain in a first half which belied Ireland's inexperience at full-back.

Simon Best, in his first match as captain, did not disappoint with an outstanding performance.

Full-back Gavin Duffy and wing Brian Carney provided a telling influence in the early part of the game, Carney's movement surprising the hosts as the former rugby league player constantly probed Argentina's defence.

And it was Ireland who broke the deadlock with a Paddy Wallace penalty after six minutes.

A minute later Carney had his reward when he recovered the ball after a misplaced pass by Contepomi and claimed his first try for Ireland on his international debut.

Wallace slotted the conversion to put the visitors into a 10-0 lead.

Contepomi's penalty then reduced the deficit and after he and Wallace missed further kicks at goal, the Argentinian converted just before the break.

Ireland made a nervous start to the second half before Contepomi reduced the deficit to a single point.

Duffy's great kick then gave Ireland great field position and a fantastic 30-yard rolling maul eventually saw the visitors awarded a penalty try.  Wallace's conversion put them 17-9 ahead.

However, Argentina hit back through a Contepomi penalty before Hernan Senillosa went over for a try.  Contepomi's conversion put the hosts ahead for the first time in the match.

Although Duffy's penalty put Ireland ahead again with three minutes to go, Contepomi's last-gasp drop goal saw Argentina take the lead.

Victory was assured for the hosts when wing Geordan Murphy failed with an attempt at a drop goal.

The Scorers:

For Argentina:
Try:  Senillosa
Con:  Contepomi
Pens:  Contepomi 4
Drop Goal:  Contepomi

For Ireland:
Tries:  Carney, Penalty
Cons:  Wallace 2
Pens:  Wallace, Duffy

The Teams:

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Tomás De Vedia, 13 Miguel Avramovic, 12 Hernán Senillosa, 11 Francisco Leonelli, 10 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Pablo Bouza, 3 Santiago González Bonorino, 2 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements:  16 Matías Cortese, 17 Pablo Cardinalli, 18 James Stuart, 19 Genaro Fessia, 20 Lucio López Fleming, 21 Juan Fernández Miranda, 22 Horacio Agulla

Ireland:  15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Brian Carney, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Kieran Lewis, 11 Tommie Bowe, 10 Paddy Wallace, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Keith Gleeson, 6 Neil Best, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Trevor Hogan, 3 Simon Best (captain), 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Bryan Young.
Replacements:  16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Stephen Ferris, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Geordan Murphy, 22 Barry Murphy.

Referee:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Samoa kick off with rugged win

Samoa recorded an 8-3 win over Fiji in the opening match of the Pacific Nations Cup in Apia on Saturday with Alapasa Cordtz the try-scoring hero of a dour match.

Rain poured in Apia for much of the day, and thus the running rugby for which the Islanders are so celebrated was kept top a minimum.  The hits for which they are so famed were not kept to a minimum though, and a war of attrition was waged.

Samoa's pack gained the upper hand in the mud, and the try came as a direct result when Cordtz powered over off the back of a maul.

That made the score 5-3, with Fiji full-back Taniela Rawaqa having give the visitors an early lead.

Samoa controlled most of the second half but just couldn't finish the game off, and eventually, they had to rely upon the boot of Gavin Williams to extend the lead seven minutes from time.

It was a good way for Samoa to round off a national week of mourning, after last weekend's death of King Malietoa Tanufamili II, the country's leader since independence from New Zealand in 1962.

Samoa's next match is against the Junior All Blacks next Saturday in Apia, while Fiji host Japan the same day.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Cordtz
Pen:  Williams

For Fiji:
Pen:  Rawaqa

Spain too good for Czechs

Spain beat the Czech Republic 42-15 in Prague on Saturday.  The result may well mean that the Czechs, beaten in all their matches so far, are in danger of relegation from the European Nations Cup Division 1 when the competition ends next season.

Spain on the other hand, promoted at the start of the season from Division 2A, have now won two matches in the first round which may well secure their place.  Their other victory was over high-riding Georgia.

By half-time Spain led 24-10, thanks to two tries each by fullback César Sempere and scrumhalf Pablo Feijóo to which flyhalf Esteban Roqué added two conversions.

The Czechs fought back in the second half but the Spanish defence withstood the initial onslaught, except for a try by scrumhalf Pavel Syrový, and then set their backs on the attack for two more tries, one by Roqué, the other just before the final whistle by replacement forward David Hernández.

Scorers:

For Spain:
Tries:  Sempere 2, Feijóo 2, Roqué, Hernández
Cons:  Roqué 3
Pen:  Roqué

For Czech Republic:
Tries:  Krejcí, Syrový
Pen:  Vokrouhlik

Teams:

Czech Republic:  15 Tomas Nevický, 14 Václav Jursík, 13 Jan Rohlík, 12 Pavel Vokrouhlík, 11 Michal Schlanger, 10 Tomás Krejcí, 9 Pavel Syrový, 8 Jan Zíla, 7 Ladislav Vondrásek, 6 Karel Kucera, 5 Jan Machácek, 4 Robert Voves, 3 Pavel Indrák, 2 Jan Oswald, 1 Roman Suster.
Replacements:  16 Patrik Leroch, 17 Jirí Skal, 18 Jan Benda, 19 Jirí Buryánek, 20 Vítezslav Dosedla, 21 Jaroslav Tomcík, 22 Antonín Brabec

Spain:  15 César Sempere, 14 Víctor Marlet, 13 David Mota, 12 Javier Canosa, 11 Rafael Álvarez, 10 Esteban Roque, 9 Pablo Feijoo, 8 Iván Criado, 7 Juan González, 6 Alfonso Mata, 5 Sergio Souto, 4 Guillermo Bárcena, 3 Javier Salazar, 2 José Maria Bohórquez, 1 Ion Insausti.
Replacements:  16 Óscar Ferreras, 17 Diego Zarzosa, 18 Martin Aceña, 19 David Hernández, 20 Carlos Arenas, 21 Manuel Olivares, 22 Juan Cano

Referee:  Neil Patersen (Scotland)
Touch judges:  John Steele (Scotland), Peter Carruthers (Scotland)

Lelos smash Czechs in Tblissi

Georgia beat the Czech Republic 98-3 in the Boris Paichadze National Stadium in Tblissi on a sunny Easter Saturday with a temperature of 18° and 10 000 people to watch.

The Lelos had been expected to win but the size of the victory is staggering as professionals crushed amateurs.  By half-time they already led 57-0.

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Mchedlishvili, Dadunashvili 3, Maisuradze, Urjukashvili, Shkinin, Giorgadze, Urjukashvili 2, Jimsheladze, Eloshvili, Kacharava, Khamashuridze, penalty try
Cons:  Kvirikashvili 9

For Czech Republic:
Drop:  Krejci

Teams:

Gorgia:  15 Pavie Jimsheladze, 14 George Shkinin, 13 Malkhaz Urjukasvhvili, 12 Irakli Giogarze, 11 Besik Khamashuridze, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseriidze, 8 Besarion Udesiani, 7 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 6 Ilia Maisuradze, 5 Zurab Mchedlishvili, 4 Viktor Didebulidze, 3 Avtandil Kopaliani, 2 David Dadunashvili, 1 David Gasviani.
Replacements:  16 George Jgenti, 17 Mamuka Magrakvelidze, 18 Shalva Sutiashvili, 19 Vakhtang Akhvlediani, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 David Kachrava, 22 Otar Eloshvili

Czech Republic:  15 Jan Rudolf, 14 Tomas Nevicky, 13 Pavel Vokrouhlik, 12 Jaroslav Tomcik, 11 Michal Schlanger, 10 Tomas Krejci, 9 Viteslav Doselda, 8 Karel Kucera, 7 Vlastimil Madry, 6 Tomas Veniger, 5 Miroslav Nemecek, 4 Martin Dlouhy, 3 Pavel Indrak, 2 Jan Oswald, 1 Roman Suster.
Replacements:  16 Jan Zacharias, 17 Jiri Skall, 18 Jan Benda, 19 Martin Mensik, 20 Pavel Syrovy, 21 Michal Jirman, 22 Lukas Howner

Referee:  Jean Cristophe Gastou (France)
Touch judges:  Jean-Michel Schutz (France), Jean-Luc Gonzales (France)
Match commissionner:  Gilbert Juillet (France)