England reduced to zero

South Africa have shredded England's World Cup ambitions, inflicting a humiliating 36-0 World Cup defeat upon the English in Paris on Friday.

While the Springboks were tactically adept, and their execution and discipline spot-on, the focus will be on England.

It is rare to see any international team beaten to zero, and for the full eighty minutes England constructed not one meaningful scoring chance.  When Jason Robinson leaving the pitch in the second half, England's lone inspiration went with him, and it is difficult to see where any other may come from.

England were lucky.  They did not deserve much more than nil, but they were lucky South Africa did not get several more points.  England were outplayed.  South Africa outplayed the World Champions in this pool match.

It was decertified as "only a pool match" but it was a lot more for it decided -- barring catastrophe or miracle -- that South Africa have perhaps an easier time in the knock-out matches.  England are now left to gather their strength to play Samoa who gave South Africa a harder time than they did.

Afterwards England captain Martin Corry said:  "It's a big blow for us." What was obvious from it was that the World Champions will not be World Champions in November.

The Springboks were nearly faultless.  They were stronger than England, better organised than England and faster in everything than England who looked clumsy.  Playing alternating flyhalves proved a silly idea and destroyed any hope England may have had of playing with their backs.  Even when they were close to the South African line they did not look like scoring a try.

Nothing epitomised England's incapacity more than when they won a tighthead at a scrum and scrumhalf Shaun Perry kicked the ball out on the full opposite the place where they won the scrum.

Apart from the three tries they scored South Africa had another three excellent chances to score tries.  In fact it was inexplicable that they did not score one of them.

England were better at the scrums.  There their game stopped.  Their line-outs were adequate -- two lost, two skew.  But it was at the tackle that they were beaten.  The Springboks won turn-over after turn-over, one of which produced JP Pietersen's first try.  The Springboks were able to make headway when they had the ball, England simply could not.

The Springboks emptied their bench.  They gave all their players a chance to have a run to savour the moment.  They were that comfortable in victory.  England had some forced replacements.  Brave Jason Robinson, England's only star, went off bleeding when a hamstring shot him down.  Jamie Noon went off on a stretcher, and there was a lot of blood spilled.  The trenches were tough on the warm French night.

Andy Farrell kicked off.  (Was he really the England flyhalf, because that is how he often played which may well make him the biggest flyhalf in the history of rugby football!)  Almost immediately England were under pressure.  The South Africans had five throw-ins to line-outs in the first four minutes as England battled to contain the pressure.  The fifth line-out produced the first try.

The Springboks caught and mauled.  The mastodon moved in a slow plod and suddenly the match exploded into life as Fourie du Preez got the ball out and quickly off to JP Pietersen who went racing down the right touch-line.  He passed inside to Du Preez who stumbled but got a perfect pass inside to Juan Smith who raced over for a try while two team-mates were there to do in like manner if given the chance.  Percy Montgomery converted, taking his tally of Test points to 799 on a perfect night in Paris when he kicked impeccably -- off the tee that is for he had two poor dropped goal attempts.

Back the Springboks came and when Matt Stevens was penalised at a tackle Frans Steyn kicked a long penalty goal to make the score 10-0.

After the Springboks had fumbled and England kicked through, there was a period of England territorial dominance.  It was not threatening dominance, just being in a better position but when it broke South Africa could have score -- should have scored.

England were penalised and quick-thinking Fourie du Preez hoofed the ball straight down the middle of the field.  Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana gave chase.  Fourie got the ball and looked certain to score till Josh Lewsey tackled him at the line and lost the ball forward.  A wiser man would have popped a pass to Habana who would have scored the simplest of tries.

South Africa settled down to attack.  Montgomery missed two drop attempts and Steyn another.

Robinson produced an electric moment when he marked, tapped and raced down the middle of the field darting, accelerating away.  But there was nothing to do anything with that moment of brilliance.

When Stevens was off-side at a tackle/ruck Montgomery made it 113-0.

Then came another great try.  Wikus van Heerden, the best ball poacher on the field, won a turn-over in brilliant fashion deep in Springbok territory.  The Springboks seemed about to make a mess of this gift when suddenly Du Preez picked up the ball and went racing down the field with an astonishing turn of speed.  He drew Robinson perfectly and passed to Pietersen on his right and the wing who had made the first try scored the second.  Montgomery converted and at half-time the Springboks led 20-0.

The match was won.

The match won, the Springboks consolidated in the second half, content to take points on offer and make sure that England's nil stayed intact, the first side to score nil in a World Cup match in 2007.

Montgomery goaled again to make it 26-0, and England made several changes, none of which had an impact on the game.

England had a five-metre line-out after the touch judge reported Du Preez for some perceived infringement in the air -- a silly decision, but they did not really look like scoring, and now the Springboks were content to pass the ball even in their own 22.

The Springboks got on the attack on their right but were not convincing as they bumbled their way left when suddenly Du Preez picked up the ball and went racing off to his right.  Three English players looked on in wonder as he slid amongst them and sent Pietersen over for his second try.  33-0.

Three tries and three times Du Preez had played a major role.

Now it was time to be jolly.  The Springboks could have scored as they ran out of their own 22 and Rossouw had the ball with men inside.  But he opted to kick and the ball rolled out.  Then they swept on the right and looked certain to score but Paul Sackey knocked on a pass from André Pretorius deliberately and was penalised for it.  Montgomery goaled and the scoring ended.

Man of the Match:  Despite the heroics and skill of Jason Robinson, the Man of the Match would be a South African.  You could start at 15 and go to 1, but there were especially great performances from Wikus van Heerden, Victor Matfield, John Smit, captain for the 49th time, Butch James with some judicious kicks, Frans Steyn, who was great in the tackle amongst other things, JP Pietersen who had by far his best match in a Springbok jersey, Percy Montgomery who was equalling Joost van der Westhuizen's record of 89 caps and our Man of the Match Fourie du Preez in one of the greatest exhibitions of scrumhalf play in the history of the game.  It seems that there is nothing he cannot do.

Moment of the Match:  As a call to sympathy it would have been the injury to Jason Robinson but really it was the vision, speed and skill of Fourie du Preez's break to set up the first try by JP Pietersen.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Smith, Pietersen 2
Cons:  Montgomery 3

Pens:  Steyn, Montgomery 3

England:  15 Jason Robinson, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Paul Sackey, 10 Mike Catt, 9 Shaun Perry, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Martin Corry (captain), 5 Ben Kay, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 George Chuter, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Steve Borthwick, 19 Lewis Moody, 20 Andy Gomarsall, 21 Peter Richards, 22 Mathew Tait.

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 François Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Wikus van Heerden, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Brendon Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Bob Skinstad, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Wynand Olivier.

Referee:  Joël Jutge
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker, Carlo Damasco
Television match official:  Simon McDowell
Assessor:  Ian Scotney

Tonga grab four-pointer

Tonga made a successful start to their World Cup on Wednesday, beating the USA 25-15 in Montpellier to give others in Pool A food for thought.

With Tonga leading 13-3 at half-time, the main difference between the two teams was speed to the breakdown, but the Islanders may look back on the fumbles that cost them a host of try-scoring opportunities and reflect that the win ought to have been more handsome.

The Sea Eagles had flown out of the blocks and within a mere 80 seconds opened the scores after a brutal, yet controlled driving maul saw Toulouse loose forward Finau Maka crash over.

And they continued their early dominance in the searing French heat as the Eagles were caught offside by referee Stuart Dickinson, allowing Pierre Hola to extend the lead to ten.

But the USA, who had given England such a torrid contest last Saturday, began to feel their way into the game as the Sea Eagles dropped their guard.

Peter Thorburn's side started to control possession but struggled to make inroads into the Tongan defence, as several slack kicking options from captain Mike Hercus hindered the Americans.

And it ultimately cost the Eagles as Tonga's physical presence forced them to hold on at the breakdown, with Hola piercing the uprights again.

With the score now stretched to 13-0, the US continued to feel the tackling intensity of their opponents, as they struggled to progress to within 20 metres of Tonga's line.

But their industrious efforts were rewarded after a late challenge gifted Hercus a simple penalty to reduce the lead back to ten on 32 minutes.

With half-time nearing, the tempo of the game increased dramatically as play spread from end-to-end.

Chris Wyles sparked a USA attack from deep inside his 22, racing 40 metres downfield.  The full-back then handed the ball on to flank Todd Clever, who continued the surge en route for the Tongan line.  But last-ditch tackling, notably from Vungakoto Lilo rescued the Islanders.

The second period opened just as frantically with the USA setting up camp deep inside Tongan territory.  And strong work from the Eagles pack saw hooker Owen Lentz believing he'd scored.  Dickinson went to the TMO Mark Lawrence, but the video proved inconclusive with no try awarded.

But America continued to threaten and deservedly squeezed over in the corner when Leeds Carnegie prop Mike MacDonald stretch for the line, bringing the scores to 8-13.

However, Tongan skipper Nili Latu handed his side some breathing space just as the Eagles were imposing themselves on the proceedings.  The flank punctured a hole in the American defence, which led to winger Joseph Vaka diving over wide out.

A grandstand finish had looked to be in the offing though, when Louis Stanfill barged over, but substitute Viliami Vaki immediately responded for the Tongans, keeping the Eagles at arm's distance.

Man of the match:  A tough call as the States dominated the second period, but Tongan flank Hale T Pole's efforts stood out for the Islanders.  Part of the impressive Sea Eagles' back-row, T Pole was a solid line-out option and also defended admirably for the attacking Maka and Latu.

Moment of the match:  A pulsating start to Tonga's World Cup campaign.  Excellent work from the forwards saw Finau Maka cross in less than two minutes.

Villain of the match:  The final member of the Tongan back-row trio, captain Nili Latu.  An apparent clenched fist from the flank when going into a tackle may have repercussions for Quddus Fielea's Pool hopes.  However, USA's Alec Parker's hair pull on lock Paino Hehea came close.

The scorers:

For Tonga:
Tries:  Maka, Vaka, Vaki
Cons:  Hola 2
Pens:  Hola 2

For USA:
Tries:  MacDonald, Stanfill
Con:  Hercus
Pen:  Hercus

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Tevita Tu'ifua, 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Epeli Taione, 11 Joseph Vaka, 10 Pierre Hola, 9 Soane Havea, 8 Finau Maka, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Hale T-Pole, 5 Paino Hehea, 4 Lisiate Fa'aoso, 3 Kisi Pulu, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements:  16 Ephraim Taukafa, 17 Toma Toke, 18 Viliami Vaki, 19 Lotu Filipine, 20 Sione Tu'ipulotu, 21 Isileli Tupou, 22 Aisea Havili.

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Salesi Sika, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Vahafolau Esikia, 11 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 10 Mike Hercus (c), 9 Chad Erskine, 8 Henry Bloomfield, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Owen Lentz, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 Hayden Mexted, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Valenese Malifa, 22 Albert Tuipulotu.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert, Christophe Berdos
Television match official:  Mark Lawrence
Assessor:  Bob Francis

Fijians struggle to fly

Fiji, like many others, got their World Cup off to a successful but stuttery start on Wednesday, beating Japan 35-31 in a pulsating clash in Toulouse.

After a dull first half, the second half thrilled as Fiji threatened to pull away, but Japan bounced back time and time again to set up a grandstand finish, that had the crowd standing on their seats as Japan nearly pulled off what would have been a memorable victory.

Only Wales, who scored 37 points in defeat against New Zealand in Australia four years ago, have scored more in World Cup history and lost.

That's not to say this match won't be remembered -- far from it in fact.  Once you take out the diabolical first half, the spectators would have left knowing they got their full value for money.

The conditions demanded a running game of rugby, and with a side like Fiji taking centre stage at the Municipal Stadium -- where Toulouse have thrilled so often -- it was disappointing to see a first half wasted on so many errors from both sides.

With Japan taking most of the initiative on attack, it was their annoying inability to finish off their moves with the ball constantly finding the ground rather than the player.

Both sides had to rely on their kickers to get any form of points on the board with Fiji's Nicky Little having a tremendous day with the boot, while Japan's Shotaro Onishi can also hold his head high.

Little, Fiji's most-capped player, became the 12th man to pass 600 points in international rugby when he opened the scoring with a fourth minute penalty -- but little else went right for his side.

With only nine points scored and 30 minutes gone on the clock, the crowd were getting restless.  Where were these Flying Fijians everyone had come to see?

All credit to Japan though, who managed eight turnovers from Fijian ball and kept the Islanders under immense pressure that resulted in nine handling errors.

It was unfortunate then that the first try came against the run of play after a faulting Japan scrum ended with dynamic Fiji flanker Akapusi Qera pouncing on a loose ball and racing 60 metres to score under the posts.

Japan captain and number eight Takuro Miuchi and scrum-half Tomoki Yoshida were the guilty parties on that occasion.

Little slotted the simplest of conversions and it looked as if Fiji would go into the break four points up with the score standing at 6-10.

However, Fijian flyer Vilimoni Delasau was caught with a rather high tackle on his opposite number and given a yellow card for his efforts.  Onishi capitalised on the penalty and kicked a fine goal that took Japan into the break trailing by just one point.

Japan got the second half off to a good start, continuing where they left off the first 40 minutes with another penalty goal to Onishi who kept his 100 per cent kicking record in tact.

The Japan flags in the stadium were waved with less enthusiasm after Qera again was on hand to score his second try of the afternoon thanks to a fine break by captain and scrum-half Mosese Rauluni.

The Fiji skipper showed great skills to snap up the ball from a wheeled scrum from a Japan put in and made several hard yards before throwing a superb pass to Isoa Neivua.  The left wing drew his man well and passed a simple inside ball to a supporting Qera who went over again untouched for the converted try.  12-17 to the Fijians.

Any thoughts of Fiji taking control of this match were ruled out almost immediately when the Cherry Blossoms showed some brilliant character to bounce back and touch down with a fine try of their own.

Attacking just outside the Fiji's 22, New Zealand-born lock Luke Thompson found himself with the ball at inside centre and took it upon himself to play like one when he threw a lovely dummy to race unopposed for a converted try under the sticks.

That took Japan back into the lead with the scoreline reading 19-17.

The see-saw battle continued when Little kicked another penalty to re-capture the lead at 19-20 in the 54th minute.

Another break down the right hand touchline by Rauluni caught the Japanese napping and were only jolted wide awake after robust centre Seru Rabeni stretched out to score Fiji's third try.  The conversion was missed, but Fiji were now beginning to pull away.

Or were they?

Japan's never-say-die attitude would eventually reap rewards when prop Tatsukichi Nishiura sumo-wrestled himself over the Fiji tryline from a powerful maul off an attacking line-out.  Japan failed with their conversion, Onishi's first miss of the night but Japan were now trailing 24-25.

The Fijians showed they have muscle in their forward ranks too when lock Kele Leawere -- who ironically plays his club rugby in Japan -- touched down for the Islanders' four-try bonus point.  Little was more accurate with this conversion this time round and the score now read 24-32 with nine minutes remaining.

The lead was extended further with another Little penalty -- though don't let the name confuse you, it was a massive kick.

With two minutes left on the clock and the game all but won for the Islanders, Japan scored a dramatic try after again showing off some good skill and strength in a rolling maul.  With the forwards' charge halted just inches from the line, Thompson took on two Fiji defenders to crash over for his second try of the match.

Onishi converted to set up an edge-of-your-seat finale.

Japan only needed a try to win and with time up on the clock, had to keep the ball in play and in hand.  Fiji had their chances to kick the ball out and end the game, but they failed to find touch and Japan had another lifeline.

After an agonising 24 phases of play -- it could have been more, but at this stage we lost count -- Japan just couldn't break the Fiji's white wall of defenders.  Referee Marius Jonker was playing five minutes into injury time and both sides were running on empty.

Eventually, a wayward pass was kicked on and duly gathered by a Fijian defender who ended the day's play by launching the ball into the stands.

Nearly all the players flopped to the ground out of breath from what was yet another thrilling game of rugby.  What a shame there could only be one winner.

Man of the match:  Although it wasn't a pleasant opening 40 minutes, the second half was a fine display of passion and commitment from everyone on the pitch.  But there can only be one winner.  For Japan, inside centre Shotaro Onishi kept his team in the hunt throughout the game with his pinpoint kicks at goal.  Luke Thompson kept the forwards on top with his great work in the line-outs as well as in the driving mauls -- and let us not forget his brace of tries.  For Fiji, the half-back combination of Nicky Little and Mosese Rauluni was always going to be critical on Fiji's outcome of this match and both certainly didn't disappoint.  But our vote goes to the giant loose forward who runs like a wing and is as strong as a prop.  Take a bow Akapusi Qera who proved yet again how valuable he is to the Islanders' cause.

Moment of the match:  This has to be the last five minutes of the match that can be best described as ...  intense!

Villain of the match:  Fiji wing Vilimoni Delasau got what he deserved for his high tackle on Kosuke Endo.  But the real villain was the Fiji player who ended the game!

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Thompson 2, Nishiura
Cons:  Onishi 2
Pens:  Onishi 4

For Fiji:
Tries:  Qera 2, Rabeni, Leawere
Cons:  Little 3
Pens:  Little 3

Yellow card:  Delasau (Fiji, 39, high tackle)

Japan:  15 Go Aruga, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Shotaro Onishi, 11 Kosuke Endo, 10 Bryce Robins, 9 Tomoki Yoshida, 8 Takuro Miuchi (c), 7 Philip O'Reilly, 6 Hare Makiri, 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Tomokazu Soma, 2 Yuji Matsubara, 1 Tatsukichi Nishiura
Replacements:  16 Taku Inokuchi, 17 Ryo Yamamura, 18 Takanori Kumagae, 19 Ryota Asano, 20 Yuki Yatomi, 21 Koji Taira, 22 Hirotoki Onozawa

Fiji:  15 Kameli Ratuvou, 14 Vilimoni Delasau, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Isoa Neivua, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Mosese Rauluni(c), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Semisi Naevo, 5 Wame Lewaravu, 4 Kele Leawere, 3 Henry Qiodravu, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Graham Dewes
Replacements:  16 Vereniki Sauturaga, 17 Jone Railomo, 18 Netani Talei, 19 Aca Ratuva, 20 Jone Daunivucu, 21 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 22 Norman Ligairi

Referee:  Marius Jonker
Touch judges:  Paul Marks, Federico Cuesta
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng
Assessor:  Stuart Beissel

Italy uproot tough Oaks

Italy grabbed a 24-18 win from their match against Romania in Marseille on Wednesday, but there was precious little else for Azzurri fans to crow about.

Immediately after Japan and Fiji had served us a reminder of how to play the game, both Italy and Romania spent 80 minutes showing us how not to.

The early runnings pointed to Italy redeeming their opening round humiliation, but that hope was short lived as the game rapidly descended into an error-ridden affair.  Even Italy's opening try came from a Romanian error.

Having secured the ball from the base of the scrum, Romania proceeded to gift the ball to Ramiro Pez who drew the last defender, allowing Santiago Dellape to cross in the corner.  That was to be the second row's last action in the game, having injured himself in the act of scoring he was promptly replaced.

Italy came into this tournament harbouring serious quarter-final ambitions, on this display they don't deserve to be anywhere near the knockout stages.  Their back line was devoid of ideas and when they did attempt to conjure something it invariably failed to trouble what was a mediocre Romanian defence.

Romania's biggest downfall, aside from constant handling errors, was their total lack of discipline.  When you concede sixteen penalties at this level you can not honestly expect to win, although the wayward boot of David Bortolussi ensured they were often let off for their infringements.

Bortolussi did manage one successful effort at goal, to give his side an eight-point cushion they would not surrender for the remainder of the half.  For their part Romania wasted two kicks at goal, Iulian Dumitras missing with two long-range chances.

Despite an increase in scoring the second half, in all honesty, was just as bad as the first.  However the Romanians did manage to rid their game of errors long enough to score two tries.  The first was from robust open-side Alexandru Manta, and even that was a total mess.

Having been driven over the line by his fellow forwards Manta managed to drop the ball before grounding it.  Luckily for him it went backwards before he applied downward pressure and, with the help of the TMO, the try was awarded.

Five minutes of inept rugby later and again Romania scored, this time courtesy of hard-working hooker Marius Tincu.  Although one does wonder that if had Italy bothered to tackle he would have been stopped a good twenty metres short.  As it was Mirco Bergamasco, in flapping his arms about in what we can only assume was an attempted tackle, waved the hooker through and had the decency to point the way to the line.

Leading by four points against an Italian side who were getting progressively worse you would have fancied Romania to go on and cause an upset.  But nine penalties in the remaining half an hour put paid to any chance they had.  Four in as many minutes led to a yellow card for Manta, and whilst he was cooling his heels Italy asserted some sort of dominance on the game, albeit through a penalty try.

Tony Spreadbury may have been a little hasty to head for the posts after the Romanian scrum buckled under pressure, but given the manner in which they had infringed prior to the set-piece he had every reason to do so.

Sadly, the remainder of the game failed to deliver anything of note, other than the fact Ramiro Pez kicked three penalties, with opposite number Ionut Dimofte replying with two of his own to secure a losing bonus point for Romania.

A comedy of errors would be the most apt way of describing this game.  But at this level of competition the regularity of basic errors and mindless infringements was anything but funny.  Italy, on current form, can at best hope for a third-placed finish, whilst Romania can only hope for a win over Portugal, rather than expect.

Man of the Match:  It is hard to distinguish who was the best of a very bad bunch, as that is what we had here.  In the end, despite a fair few infringements, this award goes to Romanian hooker Marius Tincu.  Italy's lack of tackling may have made him look better than he was, but to his credit he worked tirelessly and was always on hand to do the dirty work.

Moment of the Match:  The final whistle, need we say more?

Villain of the Match:  A collective award here goes to the Romanian forwards, who despite endless warnings and reminders from Spreadbury, continued to give away needless penalties and ultimately cost their side a chance of winning.  Lock and captain Sorin Socol especially needs to have a look at his behaviour.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Dellape, Penalty try
Con:  Pez
Pens:  Pez 4

For Romania:
Tries:  Manta, Tincu
Con:  Dimofte
Pens:  Dimofte 2

Yellow card:  Manta (51, Romania, repeated infringements)

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Marko Stanojevic, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Santiago Dellape', 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Valerio Bernabo', 19 Manoa Vosawai, 20 Alessandro Troncon, 21 Ezio Galon, 22 Roland de Marigny.

Romania:  15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Catalin Fercu, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Sorin Socol (c), 3 Bogdan Balan, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Petrisor Toderasc.
Replacements:  16 Razvan Mavrodin, 17 Cezar Popescu, 18 Cosmin Ratiu, 19 Alexandru Tudori, 20 Valentin Calafeteanu, 21 Ionut Tofan, 22 Dan Vlad.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury
Touch judges:  Bryce Lawrence, Lyndon Bray
Television match official:  Kelvin Deaker
Assessor:  Tappe Henning

Pumas wear Georgia down

Argentina ground out a rugged 33-3 victory over Georgia in Lyon on Tuesday, patiently eroding spirited resistance from their opposition to notch the win, iced with a bonus-point in the final minute.

The Pumas have something of an inferiority complex when it comes to their standing on the world stage, but on Tuesday they looked like fully paid-up members of the Six Nations club.  In other words, they struggled to put away a minnow that thought itself a piranha.

But unlike their "illustrious" European peers, the Pumas managed to extract themselves from the mire of a 6-3 lead at the break by absorbing the pressure, keeping cool and tweaking tactics.

Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda had expressed his disappointment at the schedulers who handed them two games in the space of five days, and France's conquerors did look decidedly flat in the early stages of the game.

Argentina captain Agustín Pichot, who was down to start the game, gave way to Nicolás Fernández Miranda at the eleventh hour in a vivid illustration of the difficulties that a short turnaround can cause a team.  The Stade Français star strained a muscle in his right leg in the clash with the French, and decided not to risk the game at Stade Gerland.

But blaming fatigue on Argentina's early woes would be disingenuous.  The giant Georgian forwards, coupled with the big boot of fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili, caused the Pumas all sorts of problems, and their defence gobbled up serving after serving of Argentine beef.  Meanwhile, their unheralded backline seemed almost immune to the spells cast by Juan Martín Hernández and Felipe Contepomi.

Georgia took a leaf out of Argentina's book by exploding into the tournament, forcing the South Americans to spill the kick-off.  A red tide swept the Pumas backwards and they were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty for off-side and Kvirikashvili stepped up to claim the first points of the evening -- much to the delight of the crowd, whose chants of Allez les rouges rang through the night air.

Felipe Contepomi replied moments later with a penalty of his own and Argentina, slowly but surely, gradually started to assert their authority on proceedings.

Yet with little luck to be had out wide, the Pumas decided to tunnel for the line.  But a huge multi-phased attack of mauling came to nought and only served to inspire the Georgians and the neutrals in the crowd.

It is to the immense credit to the Lelos that the scoreboard attendant's third and final task of the half did not come until the 35th minute -- and it was only to add three more points to Contepomi's account for a rare Georgian infringement.

A lovely move through the hands on the brink of the break seemed to convince the Pumas that the answer to their problems lay out wide, and the lock was finally broken early in the second half after Hernández and Contepomi both wriggled through half-gaps before sending Lucas Borges over the line for the first try of the game.

Georgia subsequently attempted to spread their own wings, but their good intentions weren't quite commensurate with their skill levels.  The Pumas pounced on a spilt ball in midfield and Borges was soon across the whitewash for his second.

So the Pumas had two tries in the bag and two more to score in 20 minutes against tiring opponents for that all-important bonus point.  Easy, right?  Don't you believe it -- the Georgians picked up their game yet again and laid siege to the Argentine lines, turning over ball and chasing down long grubbers with speed and purpose.

The Pumas absorbed the pressure and Georgia finally began to fade as the minutes ticked down to single figures.  A rare missed tackle then allowed Patricio Albacete through for an easy try and the hunt for that bonus point was afoot.

Argentina attacked and attacked again, but the brave Georgians hung on as if they were protecting a slender lead.

But Hernández's clever pass out of a double-tackle opened the door to Federico Martín Aramburu, and the wing bagged that vital fifth point with the last move of the game.  So Argentina take the spoils, but the honours -- in the true sense of the word -- go to the Lelos.

Man of the match:  If this award could be won on effort alone it would surely go to a Georgian.  Besso Udesiani, at the base of the scrum, gave his all and made his presence felt all over the field, and wing Irakli Machkhaneli was a solid in defence as he was eager in attack.  Mario Ledesma had another great game for Argentina, as did ice-cool Felipe Contepomi, but the man who finally broke Georgia's resolve was Juan Martín Hernández -- so clever, so confident!

Moment of the match:  So many lovely moments from the Georgians, all stemming from their determination not to roll over and die.  We'll opt for their heroic break out of defence early on the second half that almost knocked the wind out of Argentina's sails.  How the crowd loved it!

Villain of the match:  Georgia lock Mamuka Gorgodze looked keen to pocket this gong by staging a fight or two, but no one seemed keen to indulge him.  But who would?  The man's a giant!  No award.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Borges 2, Albacete, Aramburu
Cons:  Contempomi 2
Pens:  Contempomi 3

For Georgia:
Pen:  Kvirikashvili

Argentina:  15 Ignacio Corleto, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Federico Martín Aramburu, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Nicolás Fernández Miranda, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 3 Santiago González Bonorino, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Omar Hasan, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Martín Schusterman, 20 Hernán Senillosa, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Federico Serra.

Georgia:  15 Pavle Jimsheladze, 14 Irakli Machkhaneli, 13 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Besiki Khamashuridze, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze, 8 Besso Udesiani, 7 Grigol Labadze, 6 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Ilia Zedginidze (c), 3 David Zirakashvili, 2 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 1 David Khinchagashvili.
Replacements:  16 Goderdzi Shvelidze, 17 Avtandil Kopaliani, 18 Victor Didebulidze, 19 Zviad Maisuradze, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 Revaz Gigauri, 22 Giorgi Shkinin.

Referee:  Nigel Owens
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson, Simon McDowell
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch

Wales down brave Canucks

Wales got their World Cup trail off to a fine start on Sunday, beating Canada 42-17 in Nantes on Sunday, although they had to fight to do it.

Canada led 17-9 after five minutes of the second half, and it was the introduction of Gareth Thomas and Stephen Jones that steadied the Welsh ship, with the Welsh running in five tries thereafter.

However it was the first half that really got the Welsh fans needing manicures at half-time after chewing their nails to the bone.  Not even Nostradamus himself could have predicted Canada going into the break with a three-point lead after a well-structured game of rugby from the Canucks.

The game started off with a minute's silence for the passing of former Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) president and honorary life vice-patron Sir Tasker Watkins who died at the age of 88.

Wales did nothing to prove their critics wrong after their poor results leading up to the World Cup left them in the bad books.  It was as if Wales felt all they needed to do was turn up.

But how wrong they were, as Canada took it upon themselves to make a go of it and try pull off what would have been the tournament's second major upset in the space of three days.

Canada showed no signs of nerves and played a more controlled game of rugby with their big pack of forwards keeping the subdued Wales pack guessing with thundering rolling mauls from all over the park.

Wales never seemed to have a game-plan and relied on Canada to make the errors before launching any decent attack of their own.

The problem was Canada weren't making any mistakes and took play to the Welshmen -- be it from clever kicks from fly-half Andre Monro, or little bursting runs from wing DTH van der Merwe and full-back Mike Pyke.

It was the constant hustle and bustle of the Canucks that kept Wales so unsettled.  It also counted against Canada though, whose over eagerness resulted in four penalties against them, of which three were turned into points by fly-half James Hook.

With Wales boasting a generous 9-0 lead after 20 minutes played on the stadium clock, the game looked to be slowly drifting away from Canada.  The capacity crowd also had nothing spectacular to cheer about.

However that was all about to change as the remainder of the half was painted red -- with Wales sporting a dark grey kit, it's obvious they were not the ones in possession of the paintbrush.

Canada mounted an attack just outside the Wales' 22m line with twelve impressive phases of play that ended with lock Jamie Cudmore eventually finding a small gap in the wall of grey defenders.  The ref was right on the spot to award the first try of the match.

The touchline conversion was just pushed wide by wing James Pritchard, but Canada were at least on the board.

Van der Merwe nearly made it try number two for Canada, but failed to hang on to a sneaky interception.  Instead it was centre Craig Culpan who showed everyone how it's done when snatching a Hook pass near his own line and racing 90 metres to score.

It was unfortunate for Wales, who had launched their first real attack and had a try just begging to be scored with a five-man overlap to the left.  But Culpan showed good initiative and had the legs to outrun Hook to the corner flag.

Pritchard's conversion was successful this time round and Canada were applauded off the field as they went into the changing rooms 12-9 ahead.

Canada started the second half with the same confidence and verve as they did the first, with captain Morgan Williams marshalling his forwards to the Wales line yet again.

The nippy scrum-half then made an American Football-style dive over the ruck to score the third try for Canada.  The conversion missed yet again, but the Canucks held an impressive 17-9 lead.

It didn't come as a surprise when Wales coach Gareth Jenkins made two big substitutions, replacing James Hook and Kevin Morgan with Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas respectively.

It was at that moment that the tables had turned for Wales as Sonny Parker immediately was sent into a gap by Jones for the side's first touchdown -- much to the relief of the players and their fans.

Jones made the simple enough conversion and Wales were already just one point adrift from Canada.

Winger Shane Williams had an interesting next few minutes as a comedy of errors plagued the Ospreys winger.  First he had a clean break with players on either side facing a clear run to the line.  Instead, he fumbled the ball and tripped with not even a feather touching him.

The second try-scoring opportunity was blown just moments later after a casual dive for the corner ended in Van der Merwe taking his opposite number out into touch.

However it was the Canucks seeing red after a simple pass for a clearance kick was dropped by Pyke on his line.  Towering Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones seized the loose ball and fell over the line for only his second try for Wales.

Jones converted to give Wales the lead once again with 57 minutes of the match already played.

Shane Williams was then on hand to make up for his earlier two blunders to score two tries of his own.  The first coming off a Tom Shanklin break -- he never put a foot wrong all afternoon -- and the second from some genius play from Gareth Thomas.

All of a sudden the lead had stretched out to eighteen pints with Wales looking a lot happier with a 35-17 scoreline.

Another replacement that had an influence in the turning of this match was veteran flank Colin Charvis who was rewarded for his efforts with a superbly worked try of his own.  Again it was Stephen Jones who was responsible for setting everything up after slipping an inside pass to Charvis, who still had a lot of hard yards to make up.

Wales looked a completely different outfit and more tries could have been scored if it weren't for some wandering hands from the Canadians spoiling play.

However it was Canada who again took control in the last ten minutes as they continued to bash away at the Wales line.  Hats off to the Welsh defence though, who never gave the Canucks an inch.

Though the final scoreline will suggest an impressive victory for Wales -- the coaching staff will be very concerned leading up to their clash with Australia.  In fact, make that Fiji as well.

Man of the match:  For Canada, hats must be tipped to captain Morgan Williams and the entire Canada forward pack for their impressive march towards the Wales' tryline, which led to two tries.  For Wales, replacements Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas were instrumental in playing Wales back into a better sounding tune.  Prop Gethin Jenkins was the pick of the Welsh pack, who really gave it his all in all facets of play.  But it was Tom Shanklin who never put a foot wrong from start to finish in the midfield.  The well-built centre wreaked havoc every time he touched the ball and kept the Canada defenders on their toes.  it was no surprise then that nearly all the breaks came from this man -- and all of them led to tries.

Moment of the match:  With the odds packed up against them, it has to be the intercept try by Craig Culpan at the stroke of half-time.  Not only did it put the Canucks in an unexpected lead -- put also was a way of showing everyone watching that Canada were not just here to make up the numbers.

Villian of the match:  Not a single punch thrown or any foul play that could have led to a yellow or red card.  In all -- a super game of rugby.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Parker, Wyn Jones, S.Williams 2, Charvis
Cons:  S.  Jones 4
Pens:  Hook 3

For Canada:
Tries:  Cudmore, Culpan, Williams
Con:  Pritchard

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin,12 Sonny Parker, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Dwayne Peel (c), 8 Alix Popham, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Michael Owen, 19 Colin Charvis, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Gareth Thomas

Canada:  15 Mike Pyke, 14 Dth van der Merwe, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 Dave Spicer, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Morgan Williams (c), 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Dave Biddle, 6 Jamie Cudmore, 5 Mike James, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Rod Snow
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Mike Burak, 20 Colin Yukes, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Ryan Smith

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Springboks rampant!

South Africa warmed up for their clash with England on Friday in fine style, putting Samoa to the sword 59-7 and eight tries to one in Paris.

On this evidence, England's reign as world champions is over.  In fact, they appear to be heading for their earliest exit in their RWC history -- both sides on display at Parc des Princes looked eminently capable of seeing off Brian Ashton's troops.

Yes, the scoreline suggests that Samoa were taken to the cleaners, but it doesn't tell the full story.  The islanders stood toe-to-toe with the South Africans for much of the first half, only buckling after the Boks engaged their brains and put together a dazzling 10-minute blitz early in the second half.

In terms of pure strength and ability, there was very little between these two sides.  But South Africa have two weapons that the Samoans can only dream of deploying:  olympian fitness and the whitewash-seeking missile that is Bryan Habana who scored four of his side's eight tries.

With all respect to Samoa, this game was all about South Africa laying down their RWC credentials for all the world to see.

So what will the likes of the All Blacks, Australia and Argentina make of the performance?

Like this great city itself, there's plenty of beauty and elegance to be seen in South Africa's game -- but also odd pockets of chaos and decay.  At times during this game they allowed the lowly Samoans to dictate terms and seemed unable to decide on fitting tactics.

That a XV boasting 609 Test caps needed a neophyte like Francois Steyn to steady the ship -- for that is what the youngster did -- will give Bok boss Jake White pause for thought.  Perhaps it's time he bid some of his older chums au revoir.

Still, job done.  And plenty for the Republic to smile about -- and the confidence of South Africa's second-half showing allows for dreams to be dreamed.

Samoa made the worst possible start by knocking on in the shadow of the sticks.  South Africa attacked the narrow side and a high tackle from Semo Sititi gifted Percy Montgomery his first kick at goal, and the veteran made no mistake.

South Africa came straight back from the re-start and Samoa impinged once again, coughing up a penalty for straying off-side.  Montgomery duly doubled his account.

Samoa had a chance to answer back moments later when Schalk Burger was pinged for tackling an airbourne catcher, but Gavin Williams's kick at the sticks sailed wide.

Moments later, another languid swing of Montgomery's boot punished Samoa for failing to roll away from the tackle, and it looked like we were in for an all too predictable afternoon.

But the Samoans suddenly decided that they'd had enough of watching Monty's action and started hitting the green line at pace and with immense power, with big Danie Rossouw seen going backwards for the first time in recorded history after Henry Tuilagi lined him up on the fringe.

With the Boks busy adjusting to the new threat, Samoa turned from brawn to brains and worked Williams through the tiniest of gaps in the midfield.  The centre, son of New Zealand great Bryan, couldn't believe his luck as he found himself in the clear and scampered home for the try and conversion.

The score invigorated the Samoans and brought the neutral fans squarely behind their cause.  The Boks looked stunned.  Wasn't this supposed to be their party?  Their nerves began to morph into handling errors, penalties and needless niggle.

Instead of going back to the safety and obvious supremacy of their pack, the South Africans decided to put width on the ball, but their efforts lacked the rapier wit of their increasingly confident opponents.

Not for the first time, it was left to Habana to save South African bacon with a moment of sheer individual brilliance.

The Boks worked a nondescript ball down the narrow side before Jaque Fourie popped up to set Habana free.  The little speedster set off on a mazy run peppered with feints and dummies, deciding to go it alone, almost in disdain of his hitherto butter-fingered brethren.  It was a good decision:  he shook off a number of tackles before crashing over the whitewash for an unconverted try.

The score seemed to knock the brains back into the South Africans after over twenty minutes of mindless rugby, and they were soon camped on the blue line with their big forwards sucking -- vampire-like -- at Samoa's reserves of strength.

With the defence drawn in and fading fast, Fourie du Preez decided to take it wide, and Montgomery was on hand to cut a diagonal to the line with the last move of the first half.

And so the Boks went to the break with a sudden 21-7 lead and breathing a collective sigh of relief.  It was as if they had just learned an important lesson:  water is the best thing to use when fighting fire, not, as the old maxim would have us believe, more fire.

But Samoa would not go gently into that good night.  There they were, celebrating a try in the first minute of the second half after Joe Tekori dived over the green line from the base of a ruck.  But referee Paul Honiss adjudged the islanders had been off-side at the breakdown and did not award the try.

The injustice of it all sparked another menacing raid from them men in blue.  The South Africans found themselves pinned to their line once again, and things went from bad to worse as Jean de Villiers was forced to depart with an arm injury.

It was Francois Steyn, De Villiers's replacement, who broke the siege with a beautiful step-and-go that left the Samoans scattered in his wake as he made his escape from his 22 and into the green yonder.

Former France star Thomas Castaignède, a man who knows something about talent, recently surmised that "the gods of rugby had been present at the birth of Francois Steyn".  He's not far wrong:  the youngster's second touch of the ball -- a deft delayed pass -- opened a hole in Samoa's lines and allowed Fourie through for a try.

Suddenly South Africa were in complete control and passes began to go to hand.  A nice phase of interpassing between the forwards paved the way for Montgomery's second and the Boks had clear water.

Another moment of individual class saw Habana collect his second moments later, and the game was won -- all in the space of a 10-minute spell of intelligent rugby.

With the result in the bag, the game -- like the Samoans -- lost its energy and petered out to its inevitable conclusion.  But not before Habana claimed his third and fourth tries, both courtesy of that dazzling speed.

With the Samoans dead on their feet, JP Pietersen -- anonymous for much of the match -- popped up to punctuate proceedings with an easy try of his own.

Across town, a certain group of Englishmen will now need to be coaxed out from behind the sofa.

Man of the match:  To a man, Samoa were brave and passionate, with Henry Tuilagi and Gavin Williams the pick of the crop.  That South Africa's recovery coincided with the arrival of Francois Steyn is no coincidence, but how can we ignore the brilliant Bryan Habana?  More than a game-break, this guy can speed away with this whole tournament.

Moment of the match:  Bryan Habana's first two tries will live long in the mind, but we'll opt for Brian Lima's entry to the game -- and to the annals of rugby history.  "The Chiropractor" becomes the first player to participate in five World Cup tournaments.  He sullied the fairy tale moments later with what appeared to be a shoulder-charge on André Pretorius, but he still deserves his moment in the limelight.

Villian of the match:  Plenty of niggle and a few handbags were swung, but let's call it passion -- it was intense but not underhand.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Habana 4, Montgomery 2, Fourie, Pietersen
Cons:  Montgomery 5
Pens:  Montgomery 3

For Samoa:
Try:  Williams
Con:  Williams

The teams:

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Wikus van Heerden, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Francois Steyn.

Samoa:  15 David Lemi, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Gavin Williams, 12 Jerry Meafou, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 9 Junior Polu, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Semo Sititi (c), 6 Daniel Leo, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Joe Tekori, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Tanielu Fuga, 17 Kas Lealamanua, 18 Alfie Vaeluaga, 19 Justin Purdie, 20 Elvis Seveali'i, 21 Loki Crichton, 22 Brian Lima.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Ireland's call a whisper

Ireland got their World Cup off to an ignominious start on Sunday, as the men in green laboured to a 32-17 win over Namibia in Bordeaux.

The Irish got off to a decent start, with tries by Brian O'Driscoll and Andrew Trimble, but Namibia's pluck got them to within ten points with a quarter of an hour remaining, as Ireland's foot slipped off the accelerator.

Eddie O'Sullivan's side had wanted to send a statement to fellow Pool elites Argentina and France, but a disjointed performance followed Scotland and Wales' offerings earlier in the day.

And now it seems there is a mountain of work to be done before the fast approaching Les Bleus test later this month.

Ireland had raced out of the blocks when returning talisman O'Driscoll spotted a gaping hole behind the Namibian defence.  The centre's delicate chip and gather saw him touch down on his back to open the scores.

And then Ireland's intentions were cemented to the Bordeaux crowd.  A kickable penalty for O'Gara was pushed into the corner -- with Pool D point's difference obviously vital -- as the Irish set-piece chanced their arm.

But the tough Namibians were up to the challenge and withheld the early onslaught.  In doing so, wing Ryan Witbooi introduced himself to the soon to be retired Denis Hickie with a stinging tackle.

After receiving treatment, the Irish veteran then had a guilt-edged chance to put his name on the score sheet on 15 minutes.  But maybe not fully recovered from the earlier tackle, he spilled the ball unopposed.

However, it didn't take long for Ireland to utilise their pressure and realise that three points is better than none as O'Gara slotted a penalty to extend the lead to ten.

And it was the number ten who created the Triple Crown holder's second try.  O'Gara posed to dab a penalty into the left corner, but then changed his shape and picked out Andrew Trimble on the opposite wing with an inch-perfect cross-field kick to dive over.

O'Gara was unsuccessful in adding the extras.

But an additional five points soon followed on 31 minutes when sustained pressure in the tight exchanges ultimately saw Simon Easterby stretch out to extend the lead to 20, with the conversion drifting wide.

Then, on the stroke of half-time the Irish were penalised for holding on at the breakdown and the "neutrals" cheered Emile Wessels' 40-metre penalty over the posts, bringing the score to 20-3.

Obviously, O'Sullivan had words to say during the interval and it was immediately taken onboard as the Irish pack set about putting the squeeze on their counterparts.

And the pressure soon told on 46 minutes when, after consecutive infringements at a close-range scrum, referee Joel Jutge plunged for a penalty try, which O'Gara duly chipped over.

However, the confidence continued to ooze out of the team ranked 24th in the world.

And on the hour, the impressive Witbooi raced through a gap between props Horan and Hayes on the Irish 22, bringing the crowd to their feet.  The winger subsequently offloaded to the supporting flank Jacques Nieuwenhuis, who crashed over.

Wessels' excellent conversion reduced the arrears to 27-10, but the Africans were not done there.

Two minutes later, the continuity of Namibia proved too much for a shell-shocked Ireland.

With their tails well and truly up, Heini Bock kicked down the left touchline for centre Piet van Zyl to hack on and gather over the whitewash.  Game on at 27-17, following Wessels' fine extras.

Ireland continued their iffy display entering the contest's closing stages with numerous handling errors.

But they finished with a late score out wide when replacement hooker Jerry Flannery squeezed over to seal the hard-earned win and send the Irish top of the "Pool of Death".

Man of the Match:  Winger Ryan Witbooi was a constant thorn in Ireland's side.  His ferocious early tackle on Denis Hickie set the mood for that contest, as the Leinster man seemed not at the races for the remainder of the game.  The Namibian's pace and quick-thinking also led to Nieuwenhuis' score.

Moment of the Match:  The return of BOD was always going to be crucial to Ireland's Pool progress, and his healing power was even more necessary on Sunday.  His chip-and-chase on five minutes demonstrated his game-breaking ability as he opened Ireland's account.

Villain of the Match:  Maybe slightly harsh on the retiring Hickie, but the speedster struggled to hold a pass in the Bordeaux evening sky.  One to forget!

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  O'Driscoll, Trimble, Easterby, Penalty try, Flannery
Cons:  O'Gara 2
Pen:  O'Gara

For Namibia:
Tries:  Nieuwenhuis, Van Zyl
Cons:  Wessels 2
Pen:  Wessels

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Neil Best, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy.

Namibia:  15 Tertius Losper, 14 Ryan Witbooi, 13 Bratley Langenhoven, 12 Piet van Zyl, 11 Heini Bock, 10 Emile Wessels, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Jacques Burger, 7 Heino Senekal, 6 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 5 Nico Esterhuize, 4 Wacca Kazombiaze, 3 Jane du Toit, 2 Hugo Horn, 1 Kees Lensing (captain).
Replacements:  16 Johannes Meyer, 17 Johnny Redelinghuys, 18 Michael MacKenzie, 19 Tinus du Plessis, 20 Jurie van Tonder, 21 Lu-Wayne Botes, 22 Melrick Africa.

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Paul Marks (Australia)
Assessor:  Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)

Scotland gain patchy win

Scotland managed to gain all five points from their first Pool C match against World Cup debutantes Portugal on Sunday, in a 56-10 win.

Those who expected Portugal to wilt under the pressure of a side with significantly more World Cup experience than them were sorely mistaken.  Right from the anthems the signs pointed to a rousing display, full of courage and passion from the Portuguese.

Os Lobos positively belted their anthem out, while Scotland went about theirs in an altogether more sombre manner.  That was reflected in the way they played for large periods.  They did eventually run away with the game, but the performance will be of concern to coach Frank Hadden.

The early stages of this intriguing affair were dominated by Scotland, but too many basic errors cost them dear.  Many expected the floodgates to open early, but despite an early brace of neatly taken tries from the impressive Rory Lamont, Scotland found the going tough.

The opening try demonstrated Lamont's power, while his second was a show of his pace, having fended off the last defender to race away.  Both tries were converted and it seemed Scotland would kick on and rack up an impressive score.  But Portugal had other ideas, despite a third Scots try, from hooker Scott Lawson after a clever cross field kick by Dan Parks.

With the majority of the crowd firmly behind Portugal they were brought to life with the most popular score of the evening.  The crafty Duarte Cardoso Pinto, who impressed throughout, was able to free his arms in contact to find Pedro Carvalho who somehow squeezed his way over.  The joy of the Portugal players was unbridled and the score was no less than they deserved.

Conceding a try straight from the re-start showed the frailty of this Portuguese side, Rob Dewey the benefactor, and again all signs pointed to Scotland finally getting into their stride.  But again, back came the plucky Portuguese, and again they were rewarded again for their efforts.  With Jason White being a little over eager to break from a defensive scrum he afforded Pinto another shot at goal.  Again the little fly-half slotted the points.

A series of penalties, four in as many minutes, from Portugal resulted in a yellow card for João Uva as referee Steve Walsh finally lost patience.  The fact they did not concede a single point whilst a man down is a testament to their spirit, although some of the rugby played by Scotland in the same period was truly woeful.

Looking more relaxed with the ball in hand, and making their first time tackles count, Portugal frustrated Scotland for close to twenty second-half minutes.  Yet, as expected, their legs began to tire, and Scotland found the going somewhat easier as they added four tries in the closing quarter.

But Portugal were not without their chances during this period, the most notable wasted by Carvalho, who dropped the ball with a three-man overlap begging.  As it was they would fail to trouble the scorers again, not for the want of trying.

What will have pleased Tomás Morais is that his side did not simply gift Scotland tries.  Each and every second-half try was a result of concerted pressure, with the Portuguese back row prominent in defence, and captain Vasco Uva playing the game of his life.

If Scotland harbour serious quarter final ambitions they will need to play with more structure and less wild abandon than they did here.  Too often they tried to force the issue, not to mention failing to execute the basics of passing.  On several occasions they lost all momentum in their attacks through poor passing as players had to check their runs to take passes behind them.

Having played two warm-up games and spent the last three months together as a squad there is no excuse for such rudimentary errors.  Credit must go to the manner in which Portugal hounded the Scots;  their defence was tenacious, if what a little scrappy at times.

For Scotland the main objective was achieved, a bonus point victory, but they will leave for Edinburgh with much to ponder.  Portugal on the other hand emerge from a gruelling encounter with much credit and more than a few admirers of their passionate style.

Man of the match:  Whilst Rory Lamont impressed with a two-try performance this award goes to Portugal.  Despite a heavy defeat in their World Cup debut they had several star performers.  The best of them was captain Vasco Uva, who never stopped working in both attack and defence and was the epitome of the manner in which Portugal approached this game.  A superb display which inspired his team mates to follow suit.

Moment of the match:  Call us sentimental but it has to be Carvalho's try, the first ever by Portugal in Rugby World Cup history, and a much deserved one at that.

Villain of the match:  Nothing out of sorts from anybody, a good clean game.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  R.  Lamont 2, Lawson, Dewey, Parks, Southwell, Brown, Ford
Cons:  Parks 5, Paterson 3

For Portugal:
Try:  Carvalho
Con:  Pinto
Pen:  Pinto

Yellow card:  João Uva (Portugal -- 39th minute, repeated team infringements)

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Portugal:  15 Pedro Leal, 14 David Mateus, 13 Federico Sousa, 12 Diogo Mateus, 11 Pedro Carvalho, 10 Duarte Cardoso Pinto, 9 José Pinto, 8 Vasco Uva (c), 7 João Uva, 6 Juan Severino Somoza, 5 David Penalva, 4 Gonçalo Uva, 3 Ruben Spachuck, 2 Joaquim Ferreira, 1 Rui Cordeiro.
Replacements:  16 Juan Manuel Muré, 17 João Correia, 18 Paulo Murinello, 19 Diogo Coutinho, 20 Luis Pissarra, 21 Pedro Cabral, 22 Miguel Portela.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Marius Jonker (South Africa), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  Dave Pearson (England)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

ABs canter past Azzurri

New Zealand beat Italy surprisingly easily in their opening Pool C clash in Marseille on Saturday, recording a 76-14 victory in blistering heat.

There was so much hope that Italy would equal, and maybe even surpass, the passion shown by Argentina on Friday.  That was until New Zealand totally destroyed them with a near perfect opening twenty-minute salvo.

The only mistake, if it can even be called that, came when the penultimate pass in the sweeping move that led to Doug Howlett going over for his first of three tries, reached Leon MacDonald on the bounce.  That aside New Zealand were imperious and, in stunning fashion, shrugged off any suggestions that they make take a little time to get going in France.

It was, in fact, the Azzurri who were slow out of the blocks.  It will be of small consolation that they did eventually get going, and when they did they frustrated the All Blacks for concerted periods.

However by that time the game was gone, and so too was their pre-tournament confidence.  They will do well to put this annihilation behind them and re-group in time to begin their assault on a quarter-final spot, and on preparation for that match against Scotland.

When they were unable to put the shackles on a rampant All Black side they were exposed with a striking regularity.  New Zealand showed hunger in every aspect of their game, from Richie McCaw feverishly working away at the breakdown, to the outside backs chasing Dan Carter's fine array of clever kicks.

It took barely ninety seconds for the opening try, McCaw taking the honours and adding a second just four minutes later.  The tries continued to flow as Italy failed to make any impression on the game, aside from giving away needless penalties, which in fairness probably reflected their frustration.

The main concern for Graham Henry, as half-time approached, will be the nature in which his side looked to play too much rugby.  As if they needed reminding of the dangers of such a style it came with an intercept try.  Marko Stanojevic was the benefactor of a hopeful pass and galloped away to the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

Whatever was said to the Italians at half-time sparked them into life, as for the opening ten minutes of the half they not only contained New Zealand but caused them several problems when on the attack.  It did help they had a numerical advantage, Carl Hayman earning the indignity of the tournament's first yellow card.  In fairness he was lucky to escape with that having connected cleanly with a punch.

Normal service was soon resumed however with a flurry of tries, two of which brought about a new All Black record.  Doug Howlett's second and third tries sent him to the top of the all-time top try-scorers in All Black history, equalling the record held by Christian Cullen.

Having opted against meaningless warm-up games, Graham Henry will be delighted at the manner in which his side went about business.  He was even afforded the luxury of utilising his full bench with more than a quarter of the game remaining.

Despite the defeat Pierre Berbizier will be able to take some positives from the game.  For one, the Italian set piece was solid, and on occasion their scrum overpowered their counterparts'.  But it will be the open play aberrations that will have concerned Berbizier the most.

On countless occasions they allowed New Zealand to offload in the tackle, and more often than not such moves ended in tries.  A stark contrast to the Italy we saw in the Six Nations and their warm-up games.  Scotland will have had more than an eye on proceedings here.

The fact Mirco Bergamasco managed to score a messy try late on will be of scant consolation for Italy, and you could sense the sighs of relief as Wayne Barnes brought this non-contest to an end.

Man of the match:  With such a scoreline it will come as little surprise that this award goes to an All Black, but which one.  Dan Carter looked to be nearing his best again, both Ali Williams and Chris Jack were prominent throughout, as too was the entire back row.  Yet it was Leon MacDonald, a late addition to the side who set the pulses racing.  Solid at the back and electric in attack, his performance was near faultless.

Moment of the match:  This came after just ninety seconds when Richie McCaw was offered a clear run to the line.  This was to set the tone for the rest of the game as far as Italy and their defence, or lack of, was concerned.

Villain of the match:  In a game where attacking rugby was the order of the day this award is shared.  Firstly Carl Hayman for his punch on Salvatore Perugini.  And then Perugini himself for taking out Ali Williams in the air.  No need for either incident.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  McCaw 2, Howlett 3, Muliaina, Sivivatu 2, Jack, Collins 2
Cons:  Carter 7, McAlister 2
Pen:  Carter

For Italy:
Try:  Stanojevic, Mirco Bergamasco
Con:  Bortolussi, De Marigny

Yellow cards:  Hayman (New Zealand, 42, punching), Perugini (Italy, 62, taking out the player in the air)

New Zealand (revised):  15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Mils Muliaina, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Chris Jack ,3 Carl Hayman 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Anton Oliver, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Chris Masoe, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Aaron Mauger, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi.  14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Marko Stanojevic, 10 Roland de Marigny, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Valerio Bernabò, 19 Manoa Vosawai, 20 Paul Griffen, 21 Gonzalo Canale, 22 Ezio Galon.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Christophe Berdos (France), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Television match official:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assessor:  Ian Scotney (Australia)

Wallabies trample Cherry Blossoms

Australia hit the 2007 World Cup running on Saturday, with a comprehensive 91-3 win over Japan in their Pool B clash in Lyon.

After weathering an initial Japanese storm, the Wallabies' backs began to tick over, building on the abrasive work of their pack, and in the second half they clicked into top gear, running in a welter of tries.

Australia hit the 2007 World Cup running on Saturday, with a comprehensive 91-3 win over Japan in their Pool B clash in Lyon.

After weathering an initial Japanese storm, the Wallabies' backs began to tick over, building on the abrasive work of their pack, and in the second half they clicked into top gear, running in a welter of tries.

The conditions at the Stade Gerland spelt trouble for the Cherry Blossoms, with sunny skies and not a hint of wind meaning the Wallabies would run at them at every opportunity they were given.

And boy did they run.  The opportunities were eventually handed to Australia on a silver platter as they gobbelled up a whopping thirteen tries in a record victory over Japan.

It was always going to be one way traffic for the men in green and gold, but they certainly didn't get the start they wanted as Japan pulled out all the stops in an exhilarating opening quarter.

So much so, that it took the two-time rugby world champions ten whole minutes to register their first points in the 2007 tournament -- and was thanks to a Stirling Mortlock penalty kick at that.

Japan played like true Kamikaze warriors, putting their bodies on the line in defence and taking huge hits on attack.  John Kirwin's side stayed in touch for most of the first half but were never a real threat.

Far too much possession was aimlessly kicked away, and because of this led the Wallabies to counter-attack and put themselves in handy try-scoring positions.

Having not played a Test match in seven weeks, Australia were always going to be a bit rusty going into this game.  Some passes failed to go to hand and on a couple of occasions -- passes slipped out of hands too.  But once the Wallabies found their rhythm, they oozed class in every facet of play.

The turning point came after a powerful 22 metre drive led to lock Nathan Sharpe powering over in the 18th minute -- it took that long for Australia to notch up their first try.  Mortlock slotted his first of seven successful conversions for Australia.

The first half belonged to Mortlock's boot, Rocky Elsom's brace of tries and Japan's never-say-die attitude that eventually led to rookie Kosei Ono nailing a 40m penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Even though a monstrous 61 tackles were missed by the Japanese, Australia could still only muster up a 23-3 lead going into the break.

The half-time oranges in France must be filled with something spectacular as the group of Australians that came marching out in the second spell put in a performance the fans were expecting from them.

Nothing could stop the Wallabies in the next 40 minutes which must have felt like 40 hours to Japan.

The floodgates opened from the re-start as Elsom burst his way through two would-be defenders for his hat-trick, showing some good pace on the way to the line too.

Even though Japan played a more running game in the second, it was a high up-and-under kick launched on Chris Latham that ended in Adam Ashley Cooper dotting down for the backline's first try of the match.

Latham picked up a brace himself -- the second coming off some classy soccer skills that ended in the veteran full-back winning a foot race to the line.

The Wallabies never once took their foot off the gas or even bothered to re-fuel their charging engine as more tries were run in one after another.

Even promising youngster Berrick Barnes got in on the action for Australia, scoring a brace of tries on debut.

Australia coach John Connolly will happy with the impact his replacements also had on the match, with Drew Mitchell putting in a tremendous performance that led to a brace of tries to the Western Force winger.

The only issue Connolly will have a sleepless night over was an injury picked up by winger Mark Gerrard who was helped off the field not long after going on as a replacement.

Other than that, the Wallabies have got their 2007 World Cup campaign off with a bang and -- based on their second half performance -- look to be a serious contenders for the trophy.

For Japan, it's back to the drawing board.  But at least the worst is over.

Man of the match:  Always a tough one to call from scorelines of this big margin.  Though before we point out the nominations in the Australia camp, a mention must go to number eight Hajime Kiso and scrum-half Yuki Yatomi of Japan.  Kiso was very impressive in the line-outs and the scrums for the Cherry Blossoms -- a task that was always going to so tough, yet made so easy by his courageous play.  Yatomi linked with Kiso well and was a little thorn in the Wallabies side whenever he spotted a gap.  For Australia, flank George Smith and number eight Wycliff Palu were everywhere.  Stirling Mortlock and Drew Mitchell were the pick of the backs, but our vote goes to Rocky Elsom.  The hard-working flank not only picked up a hat-trick of tries, but carried the ball with distinction and was full of enterprising play from start to finish.

Moment of the match:  One could pick any one of the thirteen tries from the rampant Australians.  But we going to go for the loudest cheer -- and that came from the young Japan rookie Kosei Ono when he stepped up and nailed a tricky penalty to give his country their only points in the match.

Villain of the match:  Nobody.  A couple of pushing and shoving here and there, but a match played in good spirit.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Sharpe, Elsom 3, Ashley-Cooper, Latham 2, Barnes 2, Mitchell 2, Smith, Freier
Cons:  Mortlock 7, Giteau 3
Pens:  Mortlock 2

For Japan:
Pen:  Ono

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Matt Giteau 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (vc), 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith (vc), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Berrick Barnes, 21 Drew Mitchell, 22 Mark Gerrard.

Japan:  15 Tatsuya Kusumi, 14 Tomoki Kitagawa, 13 Koji Taira, 12 Nataniela Oto, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Yuki Yatomi, 8 Hajime Kiso, 7 Takamichi Sasaki (c), 6 Yasunori Watanabe, 5 Luatangi Samurai Vatuvei, 4 Takanori Kumagae, 3 Ryo Yamamura, 2 Taku Inokuchi, 1 Masahito Yamamoto
Replacements:  16 Yuji Matsubara, 17 Tomokazu Soma, 18 Hitoshi Ono, 19 Hare Makiri, 20 Tomoki Yoshida, 21 Yuta Imamura, 22 Kosuke Endo

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

England fail to convince

England won their opening World Cup match against the USA 28-10 in Lens on Saturday, but there were few positives to take from the performance, and disturbingly, not even a try bonus point.

Job done!  That is about the only good thing one can say about England's opening match.

England captain Phil Vickery was the first to admit that, judging by this performance, his team will have a tough time defending the World Cup crown they won in Australia four years ago.

And Vickery's suggestion that the England changing room wouldn't be the happiest place in the world was closer to the truth he realised.

Others would use far stronger language to describe England's performance.

Leading 21-3 at half-time, despite a jittery first half, they looked home and dry.  But England failed to push home the advantage they enjoyed in the set pieces and the second half ended with the teams each scoring just seven points.

Despite going up 28-3 in the 49th minute, the English ended up producing a second-half performance that can only be described as unadulterated horse manure.

Yes, it was that poor.

The English pack was clearly superior -- stealing a number of American throws at line-outs and they also had the American scrum under constant pressure.

However, the Eagles managed to compete with the English at the breakdown and also matched them in the physical exchanges.

What must be most concerning to England coach Brian Ashton is that his team failed to turn their superior forward power into scores on the board -- not withstanding stand-in fly-half Olly Barkley's at times sublime moments and slick play.

The Eagles, who looked the more structured of the two teams, showed they can compete at this level.

However, a lack of experience -- which saw them often taking the wrong option -- resulted in a number of golden opportunities being squandered.

The first scoring opportunity came in the sixth minute, with Olly Barkley slotting a penalty from 25 metres out after the Eagles backline drifted offside.

The Eagles were level two minutes later after England were penalised when an attempted maul went pear-shaped.  Mike Hercus' penalty kick wasn't as well struck as that of Barkley, but it counted for the same number of points.

England should have been reduced to 14 men, possibly even permanently, after captain Phil Vickery kicked out at Eagles centre Paul Emerick.  However, referee Jonathan Kaplan and his fellow match officials conspired to miss the blatant trip and Vickery was allowed to play on.  He may well face a visit from the citing officer.

The English certainly did not have it all their own way, but they managed to open up a gap on the scoreboard, largely through the rub of the green rather than the performance on it.

Barkley slotted penalties in the 21st and 31st minutes -- the second coming after Eagles centre Vahafolau Esikia was yellow carded for repeated infringements.

This also highlighted the inconsistencies by the match officials, as Esikia was certainly guilty of a lot less than Vickery and another dangerous tackle by England wing Jason Robinson.

England soon made their numerical advantage count, with Barkley using his boot to pass the ball right across the field to Jason Robinson on the left wing -- who went over with no defender near him.  Barkley's conversion attempt drifted wide, but at 14-3 England started to look like a team in command.

They scored once more, on the stroke of half-time, this time some great handling putting Barkley over for the second try -- as the Eagles struggled to plug all the gaps, being a man down.  Barkley slotted the conversion to give his team a 21-3 lead at the break.

But the scoreline belied the fact that England looked more like wilting roses than the marauding machine that won the Webb Ellis trophy four years ago.

Nine minutes into the second half the English stretched their lead even further -- with flank Tom Rees driving over from a quick tap-'n-go.  The call first went to the TMO, as the English loose forward went over in a heap of bodies, but the call came back that the try was good.  The conversion by Barkley made it 28-3 and the match was effectively over as a contest.  All that remained was a half hour for England to get that crucial fourth try.

The Americans kept plugging away and England's efforts continued to disappoint.

And when England were reduced to 14 men in the 74th minute, the Eagles scored their first try of the tournament -- replacement prop Matekitonga Moeakiola barging his way over from a close-in penalty.  Hercus' conversion made it 28-10 to England.

The US Eagles certainly finished the stronger of the two teams, although with time running out they were again reduced to 14 men -- after centre Paul Emerick was yellow carded for a spear tackle on Barkley.  Emerick, too, may join Vickery in the citing officer's dock.

The game ended with the Eagles taking away a moral victory and England four points on the standings, when five had been mandatory.

England's pack beefed around enough to suggest that South Africa should still face England as their crunch match.  On the strength of this performance, England might now be more worried about Samoa.

Man of the match:  The pre-match spotlight was firmly on him and our award goes to England fly-half Olly Barkley, who showed there is life after Jonny Wilkinson.  Barkley had some really great patches in the game, including a number of sharp breaks.

Moment of the match:  This has to go the flank Tom Rees' try in the 49th minute, the score which finally put the game beyond the brave Americans.

Villains of the match:  The first half alone produced two England candidates -- captain Phil Vickery for his trip on Emerick and Jason Robinson's awful tackle on an opponent.  The match officials also deserve an dishonourable mention in this department, since they conspired to miss these blatant acts of foul play.  Eagles centre Paul Emerick made a late entry into the ranks with a dangerous tackle on Barkley.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Robinson, Barkley, Rees
Cons:  Barkley 2
Pens:  Barkley 3

For USA:
Try:  Moeakiola
Con:  Hercus
Pen:  Hercus

Yellow cards:  Esikia (USA, 29, repeated infringements), Dallaglio (England, 73, professional foul), Emerick (USA, 79, dangerous tackle)

England:  15 Mark Cueto, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Jason Robinson, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Shaun Perry, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 George Chuter, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Martin Corry, 19 Lewis Moody, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Andy Farrell , 22 Mathew Tait.

United States:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Salesi Sika, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Vahafolau Esikia, 11 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 10 Mike Hercus (c), 9 Chad Erskine, 8 Henry Bloomfield, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Owen Lentz, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Blake Burdette, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 AN Other, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Valenese Malifa, 22 Albert Tuipulotu.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Pumas tear up the script

Argentina have won the opening game of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, beating hosts France 17-12 in the Stade de France on Friday in a scrappy but thrilling match.

"We exist".  That is what General Agustín Pichot said after Argentina's famous victory over France at Stade de France, a victory to turn the 2007 World Cup on its head.

What a famous victory -- and a deserved one.  For one thing they scored the only try of the match, and France, apart from a long sequence of sterile batterings at the Puma line early in the second half, did not really look like scoring a try.

Before the match when the anthems were sung, the Argentinians looked overwhelmed with emotion while the French looked composed, not quite insouciant but nearly.  The match was the reverse.  The Pumas played with structure and cool urgency while the French composure came apart at the seams.  The Pumas' emotions had direction while France's perceived composure crumbled into nervousness.

The Pumas chased everything while the French often regarded the game with languid interest.  The Pumas piled into every tackle/ruck with a reckless will to disrupt and make difficult.  The French were better in the line-outs and the maul.  That is what held most promise of a try.  The French were able to win the crucial line-outs and the vital scrums, but that was only an occasional burst of effort on their part.  The Pumas' effort did not abate.

The Pumas kicked a lot and they chased but they also tackled a lot -- 127 times to France's 66.  They certainly tackled.  And when they could not quite get there they reached out and tapped an ankle.  The French gave the impression of fear.

The French experiment of playing Cédric Heymans at fullback was not a success.  Having two excellent wings did not help when time and again handling failed the French in the face of Puma pressure.  The French were jittery from start to the frantic finish.

This is just the second time that the hosts have lost the opening match.  The previous time was in 1991 when England lost to New Zealand.  Oddly enough England made the World Cup final, New Zealand did not.

Argentina dominated the first half and ended it leading 17-9.  Good though the position was, it did not quite do justice to their dominance.  From the time France kicked off to start the match, Argentina were on top.  Their avowed intent was to get points on the board.  Juan Martín Hernández tried a left-footed drop and missed.  He tried a right-footed drop and David Skrela charged it down.  More drop attempts were to follow in the match -- all five in the match missed.

After the second drop Pieter de Villiers was penalised for holding on at a tackle and Felipe Contepomi goaled.  3-0 after four minutes.

Two minutes later France managed to get close enough for Skrela to level the scores when Juan Fernandez Lobbe was penalised at a tackle.

The first serious bit of running came from Felipe Contepomi when he cut back to the blindside and darted ahead.  Heymans was penalised and again Felipe Contepomi goaled brilliantly.  6-3 after nine minutes.

France ran themselves out of trouble but the Pumas scrambled in defence and clung on to Frenchmen who seemed to give up.  When Pichot intercepted a pass from Imañol Harinordoquy to Rémy Martin at the base of a scrum, Argentina increased their pressure.  When Ignacio Corleto kicked and caught an up-and-under the Pumas again attacked.  They had a five-metre scrum but the French pack destroyed their scrum and won the ball.

Dominici was penalised at a tackle and from an acute angle Felipe Contepomi goaled yet again.  9-3 after 23 minutes.

The next score was the only try.  Corleto hoofed and Damien Traille caught brilliantly and broke clear.  He gave to Martin and France looked to be on their way to score till Martin passed to his right.  There was little Horacio Agulla.  He had come off his wing to meet the French attack and gratefully accepted Martin's pass.  Agulla ran and gave to Manuel Contepomi who gave to Corleto who raced past two French defenders on a long diagonal for a try without a hand laid on him.

Felipe Contepomi's conversion attempt from about 10 metres in from touch hit the upright and stayed out.  Later in the second half one wondered if that bit of wood would not prove the Pumas' undoing.  14-3 after 27 minutes.

France managed to get some possession after this and Skrela burst well to put them on an attack whose only fruit was a penalty goal when Rodrigo Roncero infringed at a tackle.  Felipe Contepomi steadied the ship with a penalty from just inside his own half, straight in front of the posts.  On the stroke of half-time Skrela goaled a third penalty when Juan Fernandez Lobbe was penalised for an uncertain infringement.

The second half -- all 40 minutes of it -- produced just one score -- a penalty by Skrela when Rimas Alvarez, who had replaced Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe in the first half, was penalised for going in at the side of a maul.

France had started the half running and their running was promising and produced more ball for them, but it rather fizzled out except for sporadic outbursts.  They also produced a massive maul that went over 20 metres down the field and set up the siege to the Pumas' line which came to nothing when they let the backs have the ball and Dominici was penalised for holding on.

There could have been more points in the half but first Skrela and then Frédéric Michalak missed easy penalties at goal.  But then Corletto had a run away and they could have scored had he got his pass up to Felipe Contepomi's hands.

With just two minutes left the reliable Felipe Contepomi missed one shot at goal and then, with time expired, he missed one from straight in front which galvanised the French into action from behind their own line, but still the Puma defence held until the final whistle went, signalling an outpouring of glee from all Argentina.

The Pumas exist all right as a force in world rugby and as an energetic force in this World Cup.  It was a great moment for Argentinian rugby.

Afterwards Pichot was calm and took time out to thank the French people who "took us in as their sons" and helped them to develop as such a special team.  Coach Marcelo Loffreda stressed the need for cool heads.  Raphaël Ibañez, captain of France, looked bewildered.

All of France was bewildered.

Man of the Match:  There was a team full of Puma candidates but there is no doubt that for his generalship, for the pressure he kept on the French and for the cool head he has the man of the match was Agustin Pichot

Moment of the Match:  The intercept by Horacio Agulla and the run by Ignacio Corleto for the only try of the match.

Villain of the Match:  None of the players was a villain, even though at times must have been trying.

The scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Skréla 4

For Argentina:
Try:  Corleto
Pens:  Felipe Contempomi 4

France:  15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Damien Traille, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 David Skréla, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Imañol Harinordoquy, 7 Rémy Martin, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (captain), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Sébastian Chabal, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Thierry Dusautoir, 21 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 22 Frédéric Michalak.

Argentina:  15 Ignacio Corleto, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Manuel Contepomi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Lucas Ostiglia, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Santiago Gonzalez Bonorino, 18 Rimas Alvarez, 19 Martín Durand, 20 Nicolás Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Hernán Senillosa.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)