France pull a fast one on Ireland

France's renaissance as a free-running force took root in Paris on Saturday as they raced to an absorbing 26-21 victory over Ireland, but an unexpected Irish comeback in the second half had French hearts in French mouths.

Ireland were on the ropes after Vincent Clerc's powered home with a hat-trick of tries in the first half.

The visitors then responded magnificently with a penalty try, a touchdown by David Wallace and a Ronan O'Gara penalty -- his third of the game.

But with France's forwards crumbling before their eyes, Ireland ran out of time to complete what would have been an amazing comeback.

France attacked Geordan Murphy's wing mercilessly from the off and their ruthless streak paid off with the Leicester back exposed on two occasions.

Clerc was the beneficiary and needed no second invitation to raise his strike rate to 20 tries from 30 caps.

It was the pacy Toulouse wing, possibly the best player in Europe on current form, who broke Irish hearts with his injury-time winner at Croke Park in last year's Six Nations.

That score effectively denied Ireland the Grand Slam and Clerc was equally predatory in the rivals' pool game at the World Cup, plundering a brace of tries as France prevailed 25-3.

Cédric Heymans also crossed in Paris on Saturday while Jean-Baptiste Elissalde kicked seven points to put France in the driving seat -- until their second-half implosion.

France coach Marc Lièvremont replaced prop Lionel Faure and hooker Dimitri Szarzewski with William Servat and Julien Brugnaut early in the second half and their scrum disintegrated as a result.

Ireland, kept in touch by the kicking of Ronan O'Gara who finished with 11 points, took full advantage as the confidence drained from their opponents.

They dominated the forward battle after the interval, forcing a penalty try with a string of big scrums before David Wallace finished a drive from his pack.

Heading into the final quarter Ireland looked capable of registering a first win in Paris since 2000 but France escaped by the skin of the teeth.

The spirited performance will have eased the pressure on coach Eddie O'Sullivan, who has been heavily criticised since the World Cup, but France were undoubtedly the architects of their collapse.

It was an astonishing finish that contrasted markedly with Ireland's first-half woes.

Lame tackling saw Aurélien Rougerie waved through in the fourth minute, the Clermont winger taking a quick tap close to his line and breaking through.

He slipped through three tackles before being caught by the cover but openside Thierry Dusautoir was at the breakdown in a flash and Ireland infringed.

Jean Baptiste Elissalde pushed the simple chance wide and France's ominous opening continued with Cédric Heymans almost smashing his way over.

A dashing break from Andrew Trimble halted the early French assault, however, with some slick interchange ending when Wallace was pounded into the turf by Szarzewski.

Ireland created an overlap on the right that full-back Girvan Dempsey wasted with a delayed pass as France met their opponents' flourish with some ferocious defence.

Keeping the ball to good effect, the Irish continued to make inroads only to be outmuscled at a breakdown and pay a heavy price.

In a move that evoked memories of Clerc's try in the World Cup group game, Elissalde side-footed the ball onto the right wing where only Denis Leamy was stationed.

Blindside flanker Leamy did not have the legs to outpace Clerc to the ball and he galloped.

Elissalde converted and Ireland's woes deepened four minutes later when Clerc completed his double.

Murphy drifted off his wing to tackle David Skrela even through the Irish cover had lined him up and seeing the overlap, the Stade Français fly-half supplied the scoring pass to Clerc.

Ireland responded to the early setback with an encouraging passage of play that was ruined by an ill-judged long pass from Brian O'Driscoll and a poor handling error by O'Gara.

A pair of O'Gara penalties reduced the deficit to 12-6 but in the 37th minute Clerc's sensational afternoon just got better.

Toulouse team-mate Heymans created the space with an arched run before handing Clerc a routine finish.

Dazzling footwork swept O'Driscoll into space in the 46th minute but the Ireland skipper was alone and France were able to turn the ball over

There was more than a hint of luck about France's fourth try as Elissalde's chip through deflected off O'Driscoll and through his legs into the path of Heymans.

Only Dempsey and O'Gara were covering back but the full-back showed them a clean pair of heals and Elissalde converted.

Ireland struck back in unusual circumstances by pulverising France at a series of five-metre scrums and referee Nigel Owens awarded a penalty try that was improved by O'Gara.

The French pack had gone to sleep, caving in for a second time in the 62nd minute when openside David Wallace powered over from close range.

Buoyed by their ongoing success up front, Ireland continued to pound away and made huge inroads into the back-pedalling French.

A long-range penalty from O'Gara slashed the deficit to 26-21 and when Reddan broke free French hearts were in their mouths.

Ireland surged ahead and looked set to land the decisive blow but Heymans swept back to cover a Rob Kearney chip and Les Bleus were saved.

Man of the match:  Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan will be pleased with the collective will his side showed in the second half, and there was also moments for Ireland to cheer in the first half -- luck just didn't seem to go their way.  If we must pick out an Irish individual it would be Jamie Heaslip who grew in stature as the game progressed.  The boy could well be around for the long run.  It was a bit of a mixed bag from the locals, with Fulgence Ouedraogo and his lifters gaining plaudits after destroying Ireland's set-piece.  Meanwhile, the blue back-three were excellent, perhaps almost too good as the rest of the side seemed to start to simply expect tries towards the end.  France coach Marc Lièvremont is making a name for himself as a bold selector, and French scribes will undoubtedly relish the chance to quiz him over his decision to drop Vincent Clerc for the game, only reinstating him after Julien Malzieu was ruled out injured.  With three tries and more gas than the North Sea, the Toulouse flyer is our man of the match -- again!

Moment of the Match:  Plenty of fine counter-attacking from France, and the last few edge-of-the-seat moments will live long in our memory.  But we'll opted for David Skrela's cheeky nutmegging of Brian O'Driscoll that lead to France's last try -- art trumping muscle ...  it seemed to sum up the day.

Villain of the Match:  Not much to moan about in this one -- all good, clean fun: no award.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Heymans, Clerc 3
Cons:  Elissalde 3

For Ireland:
Tries:  Penalty Try, Wallace
Cons:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 3

France:  15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 David Marty, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 David Skrela, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Arnaud Méla, 3 Lionel Faure, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Nicolas Mas.
Replacements:  16 William Servat, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Loïc Jacquet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Anthony Floch.

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Geordan Murphy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Andrew Trimble, 11 Rob Kearney, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Bernard Jackman, 1 Marcus Horan. 
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Simon Easterby, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Shane Horgan.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Wales subdue Scots in Cardiff

Wales made it two Six Nations wins out of two courtesy of a free-flowing 30-15 victory over Scotland at Millennium Stadium on Sunday, but the boys of blue had the measure of the heroes of Twickenham for much of the game.

So Warren Gatland's revival of Wales continues, and -- as a consequence -- Scotland's dismal slump goes from bad to worse.  That Scotland were within a score of taking the lead until the final fifteen minutes owes more to Welsh indiscipline than to their own creative play -- as in all honesty they created little of note.

On the other hand, Wales created plenty yet were unable to convert their chances, seemingly leaving Twickenham last week with a touch of England's yips.  So much so that Gatland's hand was forced with twenty minutes to go, at which point he hauled off James Hook and Mike Phillips for the more recognisable half-back pairing of Dwayne Peel and Stephen Jones.

To many it may have seemed Gatland was panicking, not so.  For while Hook and Phillips thrive on the open spaces they can sometimes lack the direction required to tighten a game up.  There was no such problem for Jones and Peel who, within eight minutes of their arrival, had secured the game for Wales.

Long before the arrival of the under-pressure Scarlets duo, Wales -- whilst playing a flowing style of rugby -- were, through their own ill discipline, allowing a distinctly average Scotland side to remain in the game.  Chris Paterson's metronomic boot ensuring Wales never really got out of sight.

Frank Hadden will have serious concerns over the lack of creative spark in his side:  only one clean line-break in 80 minutes highlighting the magnitude of his problems.  But for Paterson's five penalties it would have been a total rout.  With little else available to Hadden it is difficult to see where Scotland go from here.

Both sides were committed to playing an open game, and thus it ebbed and flowed from the moment Dan Parks got the game going.  Sadly for Scotland though their inadequacies from last week were still there for all to see, resulting in a fragmented game at times.

Wales, trailing to the first of Paterson's penalties, hit back in stunning fashion as Shane Williams rounded off a fine move stemming from a Scotland error.  Hugo Southwell's poor chip was gathered by the robust Phillips who set the platform for a sweeping move.  With Scotland in disarray Henson and Hook created the space for Lee Byrne to free Shane Williams out wide.  A customary side-step from the little wing allowed him to scorch over, with Hook adding the extras.

The rest of the half was a fairly drab affair as both sides came up with an unusual number of schoolboy errors.  Scotland showed some character to hold out whilst down to fourteen men -- Nathan Hines cooling his heels for a reckless backhander on Lee Byrne -- and managed to head into the break just four points adrift.

Again Paterson pegged Wales back early in the second half, reducing the deficit to just one point, before Hook eased Welsh nerves with a try of his own.  It was the Cardiff Blues duo of Martyn Williams and Jamie Roberts who created the space, and despite a poor pass from Adam Jones, Hook was able to gather the ball on the bounce before dancing past Euan Murray to go over in the corner.

Still Wales were unable to take full control on the game as again Paterson chipped away at their lead, two more penalties bringing Scotland back to within two points.  It was at this stage Gatland had seen enough and sent Peel and Jones in to rescue a game that was in danger of passing Wales by.

Ten minutes later the Scarlets duo had guided Wales into a winning position, aided by a dazzling second try from Shane Williams -- the legitimacy of which will be debated long into the Cardiff night.  Jones slotted a simple penalty before releasing Williams on a scorching run, although his foot appeared to graze the touchline before he grounded the ball.  Not so, said the TMO.  Mark Cueto will have been watching, wishing he was afforded the same leniency at the World Cup.

With the game as good as over, Jones added the final nail in the Scottish coffin with a superb long range penalty, condemning Hadden's men to a second straight defeat.  They rallied late on but were unable to breach the Welsh line, the ball finally being turned over after a barrage of close attacks were repelled by some stout Welsh defence.

As to where Scotland go from here is anyone's guess, although at this rate it is looking like a second consecutive Wooden Spoon.  Wales, on the other hand, are two from two and looking like a side returning to form -- they are just 80 minutes from a Triple Crown.

Man of the Match:  For Scotland Chris Paterson was the only player to emerge with any real credit, his boot proving as effective as ever despite being under used in recent weeks.  But it is hardly surprising this award goes to a Welshman, of which their were several to choice between.  Gavin Henson is on his way back to his best and in Jamie Roberts Wales have a real talent.  The big Cardiff Blues wing was full of aggressive running and looked totally at home in his first international.  But it was his Cardiff Blues team-mate Martyn Williams who won our vote.  As is often the case Williams was ever-present, mixing it in the tight and loose to great effect.  A tremendous all round display from the man they call 'Nugget'.

Moment of the Match:  Without a doubt it was Shane William's second try, for it came at a time when Scotland were still within a chance.  The moment Carlo Damasco, the TMO, awarded a controversial try and Scotland were dead and buried.

Villain of the Match:  There was nothing of note but this one goes to Nathan Hines for his unnecessary back hand on Lee Byrne.  Hats off to Byrne for taking it on the cheek and not playing up for the cameras.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Williams 2, Hook
Cons:  Hook 2, S Jones
Pens:  Hook, S Jones 2
Drops:

For Scotland:
Pens: Paterson 5

The Teams:

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Jamie Roberts, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Deiniol Jones, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Sonny Parker.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 7 John Barclay, 8 Kelly Brown, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Graeme Morrison, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Assessor:  Jim Bailey (Wales)

Lelos in big win over Lobos

Georgia beat Portugal 31-3 in the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Vake on Saturday, to move to the top of the European Nations Cup, the "Six Nations B". They have the same number of points as Russia but have a better points' difference.

Standings, with matches played match points and points' difference

1 Georgia 5 - 13, 131
2 Russia 5 - 13, 80
3 Spain 6 - 12, 23
4 Romania 5 - 11, 71
5 Portugal 5 - 9, -28
6 Czech Republic 6 - 6, -277

Georgia play Romania this weekend.

Georgia scored five tries to nil in this convincing win on a cold but fine day. Both sides had much weakened teams because the match had had to be twice rescheduled because of unrest in Georgia and some players were not released by their clubs.

Portugal had just five players who went to the 2007 World Cup.

The Lelos won the game up front as their forwards dominated.

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Katcharava, Khamashuridze, Dadunashvili, Guigauri, Bassilaia;
Cons:  Qiassashvili, Kvirikashvili 2

For Portugal:
Pen:  Cabral

Teams:

Georgia:  15 Irakli Qiassashvili, 14 Irakli Chkhikvadze, 13 David Katcharava, 12 Rezo Guigauri, 11 Bessik Khamashuridze; 10 Meko Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abusseridze (captain), 8 Dimitri Bassilaia, 7 Rati Urushadze, 6 Shalva Sutiashvili, 5 Kakha Uchava, 4 David Datunashvili, 3 David Kubriashvili, 2 Levan Dadunashvili, 1 Goderdzi Shvelidze
Replacements:  16 Irakli Natriashvili, 17 Anton Peikrishvili, 18 George Chkhaidze, 19 Zviad Maissuradze, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 Lasha Malaghuradze, 22 Otar Barkalaia

Portugal:  15Vasco Gaspar, 14 Aderito Esteves, 13 Hugo Melo, 12 Francisco Mira, 11 Gonçalo Foro; 10 Pedro Cabral, 9 Magalhaes, 8 Tiago Girão, 7 Antonio Duarte, 6 Juan Severino, 5 Sebastião Cunha, 4 Eduardo Acosta, 3 Juan Murré, 2 João Correia (captain), 1 Rodrigo Aguiar
Replavcements:  16 Gustavo Duarte, 17 Diogo Fialho, 18 Manuel Sommer Ribeiro, 19 Francisco Fragateiro, 20 Lourenço Kadosh , 21 Bernardo Duarte, 22 Diogo Miranda

Referee:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Touch judges:  Roberto Orlandini (Italy), Gianluca Bonacci (Italy)

France dampen Scottish hope

A new-look French team kicked their Six Nations defence off with a disjointed 27-6 victory over a below-par Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Any hope Scotland had of winning this game seemed to evaporate as Dan Parks's kick-off sailed straight into touch, it really didn't get much better than that for a frustrated Scotland side.  There was plenty of endeavour but little sustenance to back it up, instead it was a performance that was ruined by basic errors and a lack of control.

Frank Hadden picked a Scotland side based on form, only to witness his side form an inferiority complex that ensured their game failed to get out of first gear.  Any brief bright spells, and there were precious few at that, were brought to premature ends with basic errors.  As the game wore on the frustration grew, although it was there from the outset.

How Andrew Henderson escaped a red card is beyond belief, a head-butt on Damien Traille after Vincent Clerc's first try went unpunished despite being seen by the video referee.  Given a reprieve for his misdemeanour he failed to make the most of it, lacking the cutting edge Scotland so desperately needed to unlock an organised French defence.

Much was made of the inclusion of Parks over Chris Paterson but the truth was Parks failed to justify his selection.  Two fine long kicks from hand and a snap drop-goal aside, he looked average and when it mattered most he was unable to bring Scotland back into the game, although to be fair to him he received little help from those around him.

Popular consensus pointed towards a new-look French team, containing four new caps and a further three players with less than ten caps apiece, struggling to settle early on thus allowing Scotland to control early exchanges.  The chance would have been a fine thing for Scotland, as in reality France looked dangerous from the off, opting to run from deep and reveal their attacking intent.

It may not have always gone to plan for France but due to endless Scotland errors they had ample chances to get it right.  And when they did get it right it was devastating, Vincent Clerc and Cédric Heymans linking superbly to create the opening try for Clerc.  There was a suggestion of a forward pass in the score but that did little to detract from a fine move.

When Traille added a penalty a few minutes later Parks's fourth-minute drop goal was a fading light of Scottish hope.  The Scottish horror show took a turn for the worse with little more than a quarter of the game gone, paving way for Julien Malzieu to score on debut.

Malzieu seized the ball to take a quick penalty and promptly kicked ahead, a kick that seemed a little naive as both Rory Lamont and Parks seemed to have it covered.  Lamont ran straight past the ball and Parks's attempted hack only resulted in a miss-kick and the ball bouncing into the unsuspecting Malzieu's hands.  The look of utter surprise on his face said it all as he trotted in under the posts.

To say the game was as good as up at such an early stage would be a bold statement, yet the truth was it was.  Fourteen points down and with nothing to suggest they had enough in the tank to raise their game, despite Parks landing a penalty on the half-hour mark, Scotland were dead and buried.

France have, in the past, been guilty of taking their foot of the gas and the same can be said of their performance here, although one may point to the wealth of new faces as a contributing factor.  When Marc Lièvremont looks back at the video he will see there is plenty to be done, but at the same time he will see the basis of a team that could win a Grand Slam.

François Trinh-Duc was protected as much as possible but he still showed enough to warrant another start next time out, as did the industrious Fulgence Ouedraogo who quietly went about his business.  It was never going to be a polished French display, there were too many factors preventing it.  But it gives Lièvremont and his troops a starting point to build upon.

What it gives Scotland is a rude awakening, they are simply a one-dimensional team.  In trying to play a wide game they often just shovelled the ball across the field failing to fix defenders and ultimately running out of space.  They now have six days to turn things around before heading to Wales, a nation high on confidence, and knowing that it can only get better.

Man of the Match:  Up front William Servat was busy and always willing to carry the ball forward, Thierry Dusautoir was tireless in his work, without ever really finding top gear and Loïc Jacquet looked impressive.  But it was behind where France were at their best and in particular Vincent Clerc.  He bagged two tries for his efforts but it was his overall work rate and endeavour that saw him pose such a threat to Scotland.

Moment of the Match:  In a game Scotland believed they could win Vincent Clerc's first try seemed to suck the life out of them.  Looking to establish themselves early on Scotland were never able to recover from Clerc's try and simply had no answer once behind, which will be a major worry for Frank Hadden.

Villain of the Match:  Scotland centre Andrew Henderson took this award for his head-butt on Damien Traille.  He may have escaped punishment on the pitch but he can expect a date with a judicial committee in the very near future.  Totally unnecessary and could yet prove very costly.

The Scorers:

For Scotland:
Pen:  Parks
Drop goal:  Parks

For France:
Tries:  Clerc 2, Malzieu
Cons:  Elissalde 2, Skrela
Pens:  Traille 2

The Teams:

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Dave Callam, 7 John Barclay, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Hugo Southwell.

France:  15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 David Marty, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Loïc Jacquet, 4 Lionel Nallet (c), 3 Julien Brugnaut, 2 William Servat, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements:  16 Nicolas Mas, 17 Dimitri Szarzewski, 18 Arnaud Mela, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 David Skrela, 22 Aurélien Rougerie.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match official:  Chris White (England)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Ireland struggle to subdue Italy

Ireland kicked off their Six Nations campaign with a 16-11 over Italy at Croke Park on Saturday, but the hosts' slipshod performance will fail to soothe fans eager to exorcise memories of the World Cup.

But any subsequent Irish autopsy must take into account a fine performance from the visitors.

Italy's set-piece work was exemplary and their physicality at the breakdown bullied the Irish out of the game.  Adrift 10-3 at the break, they rallied to win the second half by a fair distance.

The Croke Park clash certainly wasn't a good advertisement for Irish rugby and Ireland's full redemption will have to wait a little while longer -- relief will have to do for now.

After an encouraging start, the hosts were left hanging on for dear life after a late rally from the visitors so nearly resulted in one of the biggest upset of the tournament's 125 year history.

The muted reception they received from their own fans at the final whistle told much of the hard work that lies ahead for Eddie O'Sullivan and his team.

At the conclusion of O'Sullivan's 74th match in charge, and with one ear already on the chopping block, his 79th match -- against England on the final weekend of the tournament -- might just be his last.

In a game which reminded one of the Six Nations clashes of yore, both sides scrapped and scrapped and despite a stranglehold on possession and territory in the opening half, Ireland failed to make use of their try-scoring chances -- Nick Mallett's troops were tackling everything in sight.

After a nervous opening, O'Sullivan's charges began to loosen up and began stretching the Italy defence with Ronan O'Gara's cross-kicks proving too much to handle for the visitor's back three.

Barnstorming breaks by Girvan Dempsey and Geordan Murphy saw Ireland stride deep into the Italian half, and a repeat of the eight-try 51-24 win in Rome a year ago looked on the cards.

However, with the try-line in sight, misjudged kicks and mistimed passes led to Italy breathing a sigh of relief while the 72,000 strong home crowd were left breathing a sigh of frustration.

Even more so when an early turnover offered Ireland another chance to launch a counter-attack and they responded superbly with Denis Leamy and O'Gara slipping through gaps close to the breakdown.

Brian O'Driscoll was on his own when the ball was spun right but a clever chip by the Ireland skipper sent Italy scrambling backwards and flanker Josh Sole was on hand to avert the danger when Andrew Trimble came up with the ball.

Sole's try-saving tackle was then countered with a stray boot by scrum-half Pietro Travagli on Leamy and the resulting penalty from O'Gara nudged Ireland ahead 3-0 with twelve minutes gone on the clock.

The hosts then surged to a 10-0 lead when O'Gara landed another crossfield kick, this time into the hands of Trimble, who rode Mauro Bergamasco's tackle before offloading to Dempsey, who sped home for a fantastic opening try.

O'Gara added the extras to take him to 400 points in the Six Nations and the home team finally looked to have their mojo back.

Mallett was quick to make the necessary changes and struggling wing Pablo Canavosio was given his marching orders after one missed tackle too many.

Ireland also were forced into a sudden replacement when Gordon D'Arcy left the field clutching his wrist after clashing awkwardly with Andrea Masi in another one of the pivot's sniping runs.

In obvious discomfort, D'Arcy stumbled from the pitch with Rob Kearney slotting on the wing and Trimble switching to inside centre.

With ten minutes of the half still left to play, Italy stepped up a gear and for the first time in the match set up an attacking line-out five metres from the Irish try-line.

However, Biarritz lock Santiago Dellape was caught throwing a punch on the floor as Italy's discipline began to slip and was shown a yellow card for his actions.

But far from buckling in the face of Dellape's absence, the Azzurri continued to attack and even produced a penalty through David Bortolussi on the stroke of half-time which left Ireland in front with a 10-3 lead.

The second-half saw Ireland start on the front foot but they ruined several promising positions with simple errors.  Veteran prop John Hayes hardly looking like an 80-cap international as he spilled the ball from a simple pass.

Matters got worse when in the 48th minute flanker Simon Easterby was yellow-carded by referee Jonathan Kaplan giving the Italians renewed hope.

Easterby was not to return as the highly regarded Israeli-born number eight Jamie Heaslip replaced him.

Bortolussi, whose late penalty miss against Scotland in the World Cup cost his side a place in the last eight, failed to make the Irish pay for another infringement when he sent his penalty wide from the halfway line with just under half an hour to go.

However, the Irish seemed to be sparked by this and produced some of their better rugby with O'Gara's chip over the defence being collected brilliantly by O'Driscoll.

After Reddan's pass had been deliberately knocked forward by an Italian defender O'Gara added a penalty to make it 13-3.

The Italians, though, were not cowed and with an hour to go pulled to within five points as Sergio Parisse was credited with a try after much deliberation, the Italian scrum having forced their way over the line.

Bortolussi failed to convert and the difference between the two kickers was illustrated as O'Gara gave the hosts some breathing space with a penalty to make it 16-8 with 15 minutes remaining.

The lead was reduced to five points with 10 minutes left as Bortolussi converted an easy penalty.

A first and surprising missed kick from O'Gara failed to calm the nerves of home fans but Ireland did enough to stop an Italian resurgence and now travel to France under more pressure than before.

Man of the match:  Italy pack can hold their heads high after a solid display in the line-out caused all sorts of trouble for their hosts.  Mauro Bergamasco and captain Sergio Parisse were also tremendous in the loose and put in the majority of Italy's tackles.  For Ireland, Ronan O'Gara -- a different player to the unsettled one at the World Cup -- deserves a pat on the back for his tactical kicking that always kept the opposition backline guessing.  But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to single out the genius display at scrum-half by the young and talented Eoin Reddan.  His first start in a Six Nations match and certainly not his last.  Full of running, full of ideas and Eddie O'Sullivan full of you-know-what for replacing the star of the match with ten minutes of the game remaining.

Moment of the match:  In a match where far too many scoring chances were left begging like a dog outside a butcher's shop, it comes as no surprise then that the highlight of the match come from one of the only two tries scored.  O'Gara's clever chip over the Italian defence for Girvan Dempsey's try takes the cake.  It brought back happy memories of what the men in green used to bring to the game and gave their fans a glimmer of hope of Ireland's much talked about redemption -- sadly this wasn't to be.

Villain of the match:  Two players from opposing sides -- one more deserving of his time-out than the other.  Slap on the wrist for Simon Easterby for his professional foul in the second half that was perhaps a little harsh on the flank.  And a slap in the face for Santiago Dellapé, whose punching extravaganza after his team finally made it within touching distance of Ireland's try-line in the first 40 minutes of the match.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Dempsey
Con:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 3

For Italy:
Try:  Parisse
Pens:  Bortolussi 2

Yellow card(s):  Dellapé (Italy) -- punching, 29; Easterby (Ireland) -- playing the ball on the deck, 49

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Andrew Trimble, Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Geordan Murphy, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus HoranReplacements:  16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Jamie Heaslip, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Rob Kearney

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Pablo Canavosio, 10 Andrea Masi, 9 Pietro Travagli, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellapé, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero

Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Tommaso Reato, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Andrea Marcato, 22 Ezio Galon

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

"New" Romanians smash Portugal

Romania took a brand new team to Portugal and beat the Lobos 23-5 in Lisbon in a European Nations Cup match on Saturday.  It is a promising result for the Oaks, a shattering one for the Lobos.

When the two teams met in the Rugby World Cup, the Oaks, with all their foreign players, eked out a 14-10 victory over Portugal.  Now, with a team almost entirely made up of home-based players and in Portugal, the Romanians have come up with this substantial victory.

At half-time Romania led 6-3.  Gonçalo Malheiro opened the scoring for Portugal with a penalty after two minutes but then Romania goaled two through flyhalf Dan Dumbrava, who was forced to leave the field injured just before half-time.

Early in the second half lock Valentin Popirlan scored a try.  Fullback Florin Vlaicu took over the kicking from Dumbrava and goaled the conversion and then a penalty.  Replacement wing Catalin Descalu scored the second try.

The Romanians were greatly pleased and encouraged by the victory.

Scorers

For Romania
Tries:  Popirlan, Dascalu
Cons:  Vlaicu 2
Pens:  Dumbrava 2, Vlaicu

For Portugal
Try:  Foro
Pen:  Malheiro

Teams

Portugal:  15 Pedro Leal, 14 António Aguilar, 13 Frederico Sousa, 12 Francisco Mira, 11 Gonçalo Foro, 10 Gonçalo Malheiro, 9 Luís Pissarra, 8 Tiago Girão, 7 Vasco Uva, 6 Diogo Coutinho, 5 Gonçalo Uva, 4 Eduardo Acosta, 3 Cristian Spachuk, 2 João Correia, 1 Juan Murré.
Replacements:  16 Rodrigo Aguiar, 17 Duarte Figueiredo, 18 Juan Severino, 19 António Sarmento, 20 José Pinto, 21 Pedro Cabral, 22 Diogo Gama

Romania:  15 Florin Vlaicu, 14 Gheorghita Bigiu, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Vlad Dan, 11 Stefan Ciuntu, 10 Danut Dumbrava, 9 Iulian Andrei, 8 Costica Mersoiu (captain), 7 Mihai Macovei, 6 Stelian Burcea, 5 Valentin Popirlan, 4 Alin Marcel Coste, 3 Radu Basalau, 2 Marcel Mihalache, 1 Nicolae Nere
Replacements:  16 Flavius Dobre, 17 Bogdan Zebega, 18 Cosmin Ratiu, 19 Vasile Rus, 20 Ciprian Caplescu, 21 Ionut Dimofte, 22 Catalin Dascalu

Referee:  Tim Hayes (Wales)
Touch judges:  David Bodilly (Wales), Mike Bethell (Wales)
Match commissioner:  Yves Bressy (France)

Springboks rule the world!

South Africa have been crowned rugby world champions after they beat England 15-6 in a tense and attritional Final at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.

There were no tries, but nobody had expected a try-fest.  The game went completely to the form books, with the two teams smashing into each other rather than cutting through.

It was so tense, so close.  There was a beauty in that tension as there was heroism in the intensity of two teams who played to become world champion with every fibre of their beings and with the complete focus of their minds and hearts.

Eventually, the final whistle gone, South Africa captain John Smit, smiling broadly but as composed as he always is, could say of the effort that had gone into the four years' preparation:  "It's been worth every second of it."

Jean-Pierre Rives, the Inspirational former captain of France, and his son eventually brought the World Cup to the podium.  Syd Millar, the chairman of the IRB, handed out the medals and then the players shook hands with dignitaries such as Bernard Lapasset, the president-elect of the IRB, Gordon Brown, the prime minister of Great Britian, Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, and Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, who wore a Springbok tracksuit top.

Sarkozy was handed the little gold cup by Millar and presented it to John Smit who called President Mbeki over and together they fulfilled every South African's dream of lifting the World Cup in victory.

There were long banners in South Africa's colours and scintillating fireworks.  The Springboks lifted President Mbeki up onto their shoulders where he gleefully brandished the cup aloft.  And then they went skipping about Stade de France, showing off the Webb Ellis Cup while South Africans cheered in Paris and many other cities and dorps about the world.

Throughout the length and breadth of South Africa shouts resounded that were part joy and part relief because, heavens, it was close.  Car horns blared, toasts were drunk, cheering and laughter broke out, revelry was on the cards -- it was the biggest national party since 26 June 1995.

History did a bit of self-repetition.  No side that had lost in the pools, as England had, has won the World Cup.  No side has won the cup back-to-back as England could have done.  South Africa has now won two finals.  In neither did the Springboks or their opponents score a try.

South Africa won and paid tribute to England.  England lost and paid tribute to South Africa.  It was an honourable contest between two honourable teams.

Each side had one real chance to score a try and each side failed.  England came closer when Mathew Tait broke and Mark Cueto had a chance in the left corner, but as Danie Rossouw dived in desperation, the Englishman's left foot just clipped the touch-line.  England had to settle for a penalty goal instead.

That was in the second half, much the better half for England as South Africa rarely got out of their half, for England dominated possession and, as a result, territory.

The first half increasingly belonged to South Africa.  Just before half-time Francois Steyn burst ahead and they battered at the England line, Rossouw close off a five-metre scrum.  South Africa settled for a penalty goal instead.

England were unrecognisable from the mediocre team of 36 days before when they lost 36-0.  This time they gave as good as they got and were beaten but not vanquished -- not at all.

There were some surprising features in the game.  The England scrum was nothing like the dominant force it had been against Australia and in fact they lost a scrum to the wheel.

Their line-out was poor as they lost six throws to Victor Matfield and his fellow poachers.  That the Springboks did so well at the line-out made their persistent failure to kick the ball out all the more incomprehensible.

There were two dominant features in the match -- kicking high and bashing close.  Both sides kicked a lot, without producing tries.  Both sides bashed a lot without a great deal of gain.  In fact the best maul of the match came when England drove one up via their centres.

The two breaks that nearly brought tries both came in the centres, the first when Steyn broke through Mike Catt and the second when Tait broke through Steyn.

Considering the amount of slogging the two teams did at each other, manners were excellent and penalties few -- just 12 in the match, 7-5 to South Africa.

England did not have the lead at any time in the match.  The Springboks scored first when Tait's red boots slipped and he held on.  Percy Montgomery kicked the penalty that gave South Africa a 3-0 lead after six minutes.

South Africa were in trouble when Andy Gomarsall kicked and up-and-under and JP Pietersen dropped it.  Bryan Habana then brought off a brilliant, scything tackle on Paul Sackey but satisfied with that he stayed on top of the England wing and conceded a penalty.  Jonny Wilkinson goaled.  3-all.

Lewis Moody was penalised for a surreptitious trip and Montgomery made the score 6-3 after 15 minutes.

Soon afterwards their was a significant miss.  Wilkinson dropped for goal from a favourable position and missed.  Late in the second half he tried again, and missed.

They were both kicks one would have expected him to get.  They were the only two drops he tried though in the second half of the second half one could well have expected him to drop at goal as England had a plethora of possession without really making headway towards the goal-line.

After Steyn's break and South Africa's pressure on their line, Montgomery goaled a penalty and the Springboks went into the break leading 9-3.

England made a change for the second half with Matt Stevens taking over from Phil Vickery.  Eventually England would empty their bench where South Africa made only one real change -- Wikus van Heerden for Rossouw with just nine minutes to go.

Two minutes into the second half, off an awkwardly bouncing ball, Tait slipped Steyn and raced straight down the middle of the field, stopped only by a brilliant tackle by Matfield on the South African line.

In desperation, Schalk Burger was illegal, but the referee played advantage till Cueto tried to squeeze in at the corner, a decision referred to the television match official who took a long time before advising that Cueto's foot had been in touch before he grounded the ball, as was clearly the case.

The referee then went back to the penalty against Burger, and Wilkinson made the score 9-6.  In the next 38 minutes England did not score again.

Steyn again provided impetus as he thrust powerfully at the England midfield.  He was tackled but Martin Corry conceded a penalty at the tackle, presenting Montgomery with a straightforward kick at goal.  12-6 after 50 minutes.

There was a nasty moment when Toby Flood chased a bouncing ball into the Springbok in-goal and shoved Montgomery in the back, sending the fullback over the advertising boards and into a television camera.  Flood was apologetic but Montgomery was hurt.

Shortly afterwards, Ben Kay was penalised for obstruction and from just inside the England half young Steyn drove over a penalty goal of great length and accuracy.  He had missed with a long kick in the first half -- not by much -- but this one was perfectly on course.  That made the score 15-6 with 18 minutes to go, an important kick as it was forcing England to score twice to win.

England played most of the rugby at that time with South Africa using Montgomery, Steyn and Butch James to kick them back.

Then the time wore on and the Springboks mauled and bashed from a line-out and then, after Gomarsall had knocked on, they bashed from a scrum until the time dipped over 80 minutes and Fourie du Preez hoofed the ball into touch and started the winners' festivities.

Colin Mabey, an engraver, started working on the Webb Ellis Cup, digging South Africa's name into the gold of the base.

England formed a circle which Brian Ashton addressed with fervour.  South Africa formed a circle and prayed.

With fervour and prayer over, the prizegiving took place with fireworks and colour and banners and confetti.  What a moment, and what a fine end to a fine tournament.

Man of the Match:  Every player who went onto the field deserves praise, from huge, battering Andy Sheridan and little, nippy Andy Gomarsall of England, from delicate Percy Montgomery to robust Bakkies Botha of South Africa, but if we have to choose one it would be Victor Matfield of South Africa for making England's line-outs so haphazard, for the try-saving tackle on Mathew Tait and for the best diagonal kick of the match.  He is such a skilled giant.

Moment of the Match:  The telling moment was Danie Rossouw's desperate dive that did just enough to keep Mark Cueto from scoring a try which may well have won the World Cup.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody.  It was a match without malice.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens:  Montgomery 4, Steyn

For England:
Pen:  Wilkinson 2

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Francois Steyn, 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 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Johannes Muller, 19 Wikus van Heerden, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Wynand Olivier.

England:  15 Jason Robinson, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Mark Cueto , 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 George Chuter, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Lawrence Dallaglio, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Dan Hipkiss.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Pumas pummel French again

Argentina confirmed their best ever performance at a World Cup when they recorded their second win over the French at the 2007 version of this global showpiece -- a 34-10 win at Parc des Princes, Paris, on Friday.

It also means Puma captain Agustín Pichot finished his career on a winning note and can now possibly slip into retirement content that under him the team scaled its greatest heights ever.

The same goes for coach Marcello Loffreda, who moves on to coach Leicester Tigers.

They played all right.  After their defeat in the semi-final Agustín Pichot declared the Pumas' World Cup was over.  It certainly was not over.  They came back at Parc des Princes to beat France as they have never beaten them before and scored five tries in the process.

The Pumas had 35 per cent of the ball and scored five tries to one.  That figure alone tells a story -- an indictment of France and praise for the resilience and concentration of the Pumas as they tackled again and again -- 113 times in the 80 minutes to France's 50 times.

If there was 50-50 ball, the Pumas won it, and they made France suffer.

The last time France played at Parc des Princes they suffered a record defeat at the hands of the Springboks.  Back to Parc des Princes, and they suffered another record defeat.  On both occasions their fans were vocally disgruntled.  France will not want to come back to Parc des Princes again.

France had chances galore, but, just as the All Blacks against them had got stuck in a pick-and-drive groove, so France tonight got stuck in a mauling groove.  The Pumas have no fear for teams who want to maul against them.  In the first half France had four five-metre line-outs from which they mauled -- in vain.  They had three tapped penalties from five metres out, from which they mauled -- in vain.

All they won in the match was the penalty count.  They conceded only five penalties, none in the second half, while the Pumas conceded 13 overall.

It was the most cantankerous match of the World Cup, and the silly emotion started in the first minute.  Just before half-time it got worse and the Puma lock Rimas Álvarez Kairelis and the French hooker Raphaël Ibañez were sent to the sin bin -- Alvarez for repeated infringement by his team, Ibañez for using his boot on Alvarez.  That ended Ibañez's match.  His last act on an international field of play may have been to fling his waterbottle petulantly in the direction of the touch judge who had reported him.  He was interviewed after the match and was not in generous mood either, warning the Pumas that the French would get them next time.

The blood between the two sides seemed bad, even after the final whistle when the Pumas were exuberant, the French sore.

Fortunately for the game, the second half was better mannered.

France started the match running the ball.  They looked for opportunities to counter-attack, mainly through the dashing play of Clément Poitrenaud who was the only French player to emerge with his reputation enhanced.

Three things happened in this time of French dominance.  First French handling was wobbly.  Second the Pumas tackled and contested the post-tackle.  It did not matter who had to tackle, he did it.  If prop Rodrigo Roncero had to tackle wing Aurélien Rougerie, he did so.  Third, the Pumas looked to run whenever possible even when well back in their own territory.

For all their territory and possession all France had to show for it in the whole of the first half was a penalty after 17 minutes which gave them a short-lived lead.  The penalty was for the second of four infringements by Patricio Albacete.  France's lead lasted three minutes.  The Pumas got into French territory and Jérôme Thion was the one with the guilty hands.  Felipe Contepomi kicked the goal.  3-all.

France came back.  Frédéric Michalak, who did not have much of a game, kicked a high up-and-under, which Ignacio Corleto fumbled but the Argentinians scrambled and cleared.  Twice France looked certain to score tries but twice they were pulled back for forward passes.  France had their three five-metre line-outs at this stage which produced mauls and heaps of players squirming on the ground like earthworms.  They broke with this for a high diagonal by Michalak for tall Aurélien Rougerie but the blond wing knocked on.

Instead the Pumas scored.  They broke out of the French stranglehold and went left, then right, then back left.  Hooker Alberto Vernet Basualdo charged ahead for the line.  He was tackled but the Pumas got the ball back and Pichot took a step to his left and then passed to Felipe Contepomi who burst between Yannick Nyanga and Imanol Harinordoquy for a try far out.  Felipe Contepomi converted.  10-3 to the Pumas after 28 minutes.

But somehow one expected the French machine to get more and more oiled and to start running in tries.  That certainly did not happen.

Juan Martín Hernández dropped at goal but the ball bounced back off the upright.  The Pumas got the ball off France when the French were careless at a tackle/ruck and Basualdo snapped up the ball and charged towards the French line.  There in that heap, veteran prop Omar Hasan got the ball down for a try which the TMO confirmed.  Felipe Contepomi converted.  17-3 after 31 minutes.

It was astounding.

The French mauled to the Argentinian line but were stopped and went wide left for Christophe Dominici, and they had their series of three tapped penalties in a period of bad temper.  But it all turned to dross for France as the Pumas tackled and tackled.

The French started the second half with another maul from a line-out as if this was going to be their salvation.  Instead, when Poitrenaud broke out of deep defence and raced down the field, one would have thought that this was really the way to go.  It was not the way they went.

Instead the Pumas scored the try of the match -- a great try.  The start was innocuous, it seemed.  Rougerie chipped and Felipe Contepomi knocked the ball back to Ignacio Corleto.  The burly full-back beat at least four Frenchmen and then passed inside to Manuel Contepomi who managed to control the high ball on the Puma left.  They went right.  Albacete had a hand in it and then Hernández threw the best pass of the 2007 Rugby World Cup -- a long one with the left hand and Federico Martin Aramburu stepped inside to score.  22-3 to Argentina after 53 minutes.

The Pumas lost Juan Manuel Leguizamón to the sin bin for a tackle that knocked Sébastien Chabal flat.  The tackle was judged to be high and with the shoulder.  Chabal stayed down,.  looking seriously wounded.  But as soon as Leguizamón was on his way to the sin bin the Caveman recovered rapidly and fully.

Now France were playing against 14, and the Pumas scored again!

France were attacking and Roncero won a turn-over.  The Pumas sent the ball wide to the left where Horacio Agulla got away from his man before giving to Corleto on the half-way line and the full-back raced down the field for a try in the corner.  27-3 with 15 minutes to play.

Soon after this Poitrenaud started the running, Harinordoquy had a strong run and Chabal a short charge before France went left and Poitrenaud cut through for a try which Lionel Beauxis converted.  27-10 with 12 minutes to play.

Rémy Martin spilt the ball far forward in a tackle near the half-way line.  Marcos Ayerza picked up and the Pumas set off again.  Felipe Contepomi broke and Leguizamón strode ahead.  He was tackled but the ball came back quickly to Hernández who surged through to the line.  Back the ball came and Felipe Contepomi plunged over for the try which he converted.

The Pumas were close to scoring yet again as Leguizamón strode down the field but that effort died on the touch-line.  They went even closer soon after that and were right on the French line.  They had a five-metre scrum but that broke apart and eventually the final whistle went.

And so the Pumas had the joy of collecting their bronze medals from Dr. Syd Millar, the chairman of the IRB.  They had been where no Argentinian team had been before and in the process proved that their 17-12 win at Stade de France six weeks ago was no fluke.  They have now won six of their last seven encounters with France, but none as convincingly as this one in the French capital.

Man of the Match: Clément Poitrenaud was France's only candidate but there were several Argentinian candidates -- Roncero Rodrigo, Gonzalo Longo, Ignacio Corleto, Agustín Pichot, Juan Martín Hernández amongst them -- which suggests that we are getting close to making the whole team the man of the match, which is not a bad call at all, but if we singled out just one it would be clever Felipe Contepomi.

Moment of the Match:  The pass from Hernández which ended in a try by Federico Martin Aramburu.

Villain of the Match:  There were three yellow cards, but it seems that perhaps, sentiment aside, the man who most deserved censure was Raphaël Ibañez.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Poitrenaud
Cons:  Beauxis
Pens:  Elissalde

For Argentina:
Tries:  F Contepomi 2, Hasan Jalil, Aramburu, Corleto
Cons:  F Contepomi 3
Pens:  F Contepomi

Yellow cards:  Raphaël Ibañez (France, 40 -- foul play), Rimas Álvarez Kairelis (Argentina, 40 -- repeated offences), Juan Manuel Leguizamón (Argentina, 63 -- foul play)

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 David Skrela, 12 David Marty, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Imañol Harinordoquy, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (captain), 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements:  16 Sebastian Bruno, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Sébastien Chabal, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Pierre Mignoni, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Vincent Clerc.

Argentina:  15 Ignacio Corleto, 14 Federico Martin Aramburu, 13 Manuel Contepomi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Gonzalo Longo Elía, 7 Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 3 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Marcos Ayerza, 17 Eusebio Guiñazu, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 20 Nicolás Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Hernán Senillosa.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Springboks to face England

South Africa will meet England in the 2007 Rugby World Cup final after a comfortable 37-13 win over Argentina in the second semi-final in Paris on Sunday.

The tension is over for a little while.  We have two finalists.  For the winning semi-finalists there is the serious preparation for the grand final on Saturday as Rugby World Cup 2007 reaches its climax.  For the losing semi-finalists there is the drudge of the third-place play-off.

Argentina captain Agustín Pichot said it afterwards:  "For us the World Cup is over."  Next Friday's match clearly means little to them after this defeat.  But heavens, they had made a fight if it, the Pumas' best-ever performance at the World Cup and after their early try in the second half it looked as if it could have been even better.

South Africa's victory in the semi-final was an odd one.  At the end you were left wondering what they had done to win the match.

The obvious answer is that they had taken their chances.  Four of those chances led to tries.  In fact there were even three more chances to score tries which were squandered.  For the rest they were not all that impressive.

The scrums were a disaster until Juan Martín Scelzo went off injured.  While he was there the Springbok front row simply could not handle the Pumas and Agustín Pichot used the advantage in the shove to give Danie Rossouw and Fourie du Preez a miserable time at the back of the dilapidated Springbok scrum.

The tackle area, too, was sloppy as indeed it had been against Fiji.  The support for the ball-carrier and the protection of the ball were poor, and the Pumas won many turnovers.

South Africa did not cope well with high kicks and until late in the second half were out-mauled by the Pumas.

Then, too, the Springboks who had generally been parsimonious in the matter of penalties during the World Cup suddenly gave away 14 (to 10) on the evening.

Oh, their line-outs were excellent.  The line-outs kept them in the game.  The Pumas won the first five line-outs without any competition from the Springboks while Victor Matfield, the wiliest line-out man in the world, sussed them out.  Then the Springboks got involved and the Pumas lost seven line-outs and threw one in skew.  The Springboks were so much better at the line-out that their reluctance to kick the ball out at times was surprising.

All of that said, the Pumas did not look like scoring a try apart from the one which they got, which John Smit afterwards attributed to a lack of concentralion on his side's part.

It was not as if the Springboks created much.  Bryan Habana's first try when Schalk Burger won a turn-over was created and they did well to capitalise on a gross knock-on by Juan Martín Hernández for Danie Rossouw's try.  On both these occasions skilful handling was the key.

Their best creation -- all their own work, did not result in a try when Frans Steyn pushed ahead going right and the Springboks came back left for Habana to go over in the corner but they were called back for a forward pass.

Two tries from intercepts!  They were neither of them hard luck but rather clever positioning.  After the match the Puma coach Marcelo Loffreda rued his side's errors.  "We made a lot of errors and paid a high price for them."

The Springboks must be the best poachers in the world.

The first try was an intercept.  The Pumas had started the game well and clever Felipe Contepomi threw a long pass to his left -- straight to Du Preez who raced down the field on a diagonal to his left to score a try which Montgomery converted.  7-0 after 7 minutes.  There was nothing flukey about the try.  Du Preez, a clever player, was in position waiting for the ball.

There was a lot of kicking early on, a lot of it inexplicably poor.  Hernández dropped at goal from in front.  It was a bad kick.  He, Montgomery and Du Preez -- all three excellent kickers -- had trouble kicking with the ball out of hand.  Was it that Stade de France was a bit slippery?  Was it the problem with the balls?

When John Smit was penalised for obstruction on Pichot, captain on captain, when the Springbok looked more sinned against than sinning, Felipe Contepomi kicked the penalty.  Later persuaded the referee to allow him a change of balls -- an odd situation at a top ground so late in the top rugby tournament of the world.  The referee allowed the change of balls and Contepomi missed the kick.

Almost immediately after this score, Manuel Contepomi was penalised at a tackle/ruck and Montgomery who had an immaculate evening of goalkicking, made the score 10-3.

When Steyn was penalised for holding on at a tackle, Felipe Contepomi made the score 10-6 after 29 minutes.

Then came Habana's first try, and it was thrilling.  On the Springbok right Schalk Burger won a clever turn-over and the Springboks got quick passes going to Habana inside the Springbok half.  He took off, lithe as a cheetah, chipped, gathered and raced over for a try that had taken him 55 metres to score in the blink of an electric eye.  Montgomery converted.

The Springboks had a chance when the Pumas were careless under a Montgomery up-and-under and JP Pietersen was off on the way to scoring but Rossouw was penalised for a needless shove in the back as the ball came down.

On the stroke of half time, not particularly under pressure, Hernández knocked on.  He knocked a long way on and Steyn gathered the ball.  Under pressure he got the ball away to Jaque Fourie, Burger gave a great pass to Rossouw and the big man thundered over.  Montgomery converted and the half-time whistle went with the Springboks leading 24-6, which seemed surprising as the Pumas had dominated territory and possession.

When James did not find touch from inside his in-goal early in the second half the Pumas countered and kicked the ball out not far from the Springbok line.  The South Africans easily won the line-out and then marched the ball up.  As happened with several of their mauls the Pumas managed to insinuate themselves into their ranks and won the ball.  Suddenly Mario Ledesma was bursting for the line.  Back the ball came and the Pumas went wide to the left.  Manuel Contepomi with a man outside of him, cut inside Pietersen who slipped and he dived over.  The TMO had a hard time before advising the referee that a try had been scored.  Felipe Contepomi converted.  24-13.

It looked promising for the Pumas but they were not destined to score again in the match.  They had a chance soon afterwards when the Springboks were off-side at a kick but Felipe Contepomi missed the shot at goal.

The Springboks had two chances after this.  First there was the forward pass to Habana and then Rossouw looked set to score but Habana was penalised for being a little way ahead of Fourie's kick.

When Pichot was offside at a scrum, Montgomery made it 27-13 and then when Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe played Du Preez when he did not have the ball Montgomery made it 30-13.

The last try was again a bit of poaching.  The Pumas were attacking and going right.  Hernández threw a long pass but Habana snatched it out of the night air and, smiling with great contentment, raced over 70 metres down the field for a celebratory dive under the bar.  Montgomery converted.

There were a few minutes left.  Substitutes came pouring on, the game became a bit bad tempered and eventually the final whistle ended the affair.  In those fractious few minutes Juan Smith was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Hernández, to be followed by Felipe Contepomi for a back handed slap into Bismarck du Plessis's eye.

Man of the Match:  Agustín Pichot and Juan Martín Scelzo made life difficult for the Springboks.  Scelzo went off in the first half.  Had he stayed he would have been a really strong candidate as he gave his side their best chance of winning.  For the Springboks there were the flanks, Juan Smith and Schalk Burger -- smashing into the Pumas, looking to use whatever ball they could get their hands on.  But our man of the match was Bryan Habana for two excellent, long-range tries, adding glitter to the city of many glittering lights.

Moment of the Match:  Any of the four tries the Springboks scored but above all Bryan Habana's first try.  There was nothing lucky about the bounce of the ball.  It did not matter where it bounced.  Habana was simply going to score.

Villain of the Match:  There were two yellow cards for Juan Smith and Felipe Contepomi.  Felipe Contepomi probably deserved it more for he had just been spoken to for losing his head and then he, a surgeon, lost it even more with a bit of silly petulance.  There should also be a communal award for all those players who gave the referee advice.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Du Preez, Habana 2, Roussouw
Cons:  Montgomery 4
Pens:  Montgomery 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Manuel Contempomi
Con:  Felipe Contempomi
Pens:  Felipe Contempomi 2

Yellow cards:  Smith (South Africa, 78, high tackle), Felipe Contempomi (Argentina, 79, punching)

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 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Os du Randt. 
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Bob Skinstad, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Wynand Olivier.

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 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Lucas Ostiglia, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Carlos Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Juan Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero. 
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Omar Hasan, 18 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 19 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 20 Nicolás Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Alain Lewis (Ireland), Chris White (England)
Television match official:  Tony Spreadbury (England)

England's dream lives on

England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson kicked a late penalty and drop-goal to put England through to the World Cup Final with a 14-9 victory over France in Paris on Saturday.

Much as France put paid to New Zealand a week ago, so England sucked in France's territorial and possessional superiority and kept within striking distance before capitalising on two late incidences of French indiscipline to sink the nails into the hosts' coffin at the Stade de France.

England scored a try through Josh Lewsey in the opening moments of the game, but from there on in it was a tense rearguard effort of note.

One good win can be written off as good fortune, but not two.  Make no mistake, England are now back.  They might not be playing the most beautiful rugby, and the errors are still there in abundance, but no other side in recent history has shown so much heart.

The ghost of Henry V always accompanies meetings between these two sides, but never has the tenuous link seemed as real as it did today.

Here were France's dashing musketeers being put to the sword by England's honest yeomen -- a band of brothers, with blood fet from fathers of war-proof, fighting against the odds.

France summoned up the spirit of 1999 last week by coming from behind to beat the All Blacks, tonight they starred in a repeat of that semi-final of 2003.  England contained French fire and punished them for each of their few indiscretions.  It was as simple as that.

England's starting line-up, for a change, was unchanged -- and what a change no changes can make!  They showed a level of cohesion not seen since their heroics in the last edition of this tournament, and with it came belief -- even at moments when France looked to be in complete control.

That collective will allowed them to keep the door to the Final open despite France's various attempts to bolt it closed.

Despite the years of dross and the enduring deficiencies behind the scrum, England are nothing if not experienced.  They know what it takes at this level, and the unwarranted composure they showed whilst chasing the game seemed to unnerve the French in the last quarter.

England were full of surprises from the start.  A beautiful box-kick from Andy Gomarsall in the second play of the game sat up in the corner and France's makeshift full-back Damien Traille hesitated, slipped, then looked on in horror as Lewsey plucked the ball from the air before barging over him to score.

Wilkinson failed to add the extras, but all eyes were on France coach Bernard Laporte up in the stands -- was this Crazy Bernie's fault?  Was it wise to pick a centre as the last line of defence?  The inquest starts here.

Strangely, England didn't choose to add extra pressure on Traille in the wake of his mistake, and France showed good composure by hitting back with a penalty to Lionel Beauxis (England over the top), and they followed that up by stealing England's first line-out.

But a charge-down from Mark Regan -- of all people -- then led to a white scrum on the blue line and England reasserted their set-piece dominance with a huge shove.  The strength of the thing actually worked against the visitors, with the raid dying as the ball squirted out untidily.

Again, France put the setback to one side and struck back with ball in hand, with their dynamic flanks to the fore in attack.

The sustained period of pressure, albeit devoid of structure, gave England pause for thought and the errors began to creep into their game.

A collapsed scrum was blamed on Andrew Sheridan and Beauxis stepped up to claim the lead with his second successful kick at goal.

But Les Bleus were then forced to make an unscheduled change as Fabien Pelous limped from the field.  Sébastien Chabal is no mean replacement, but the early loss of Pelous's calming influence was to have a large bearing on proceedings.

France duly coughed up a penalty as Serge Betsen entered the ruck from the side, and Wilkinson chanced his luck from a full sixty yards out.  The shot at goal was wide and the dead-eyed marksman -- having also missed with an ambitious drop-goal -- had his third miss of the game.  It did not look like it would be his day.

France continued to push, but with both sets of half-backs failing to impose order, the game was defying either side's claims of ownership.  Half-time arrived with the game poised at 6-5 and fans of every hue did not know whether to sulk or sing.  All that money for all those tickets, but no one could bear to look.

England made an incisive start to the second half, but Dan Hipkiss -- on for the injured Lewsey -- soon knew he was in the game when he was forced to dash back to field a hacked-on ball in his own 22.

With a dangerous moment nipped in the bud, England conspired to gift the French another three points by coming in at the side, and Beauxis gladly accepted the offer.

Hipkiss was soon in on the action once again as his trademark step-and-go spilt the French defence after Lewis Moody charged down an overly elaborate chip from Yannick Jauzion.  France clearly didn't expect such panache from the white backline and duly conceded a penalty as they scrambled back.

Wilkinson laid his tee in the turf before questioning the ball handed to him by the ballboy.  The insinuation was that the tendered projectile was not a matchball.  Another was proffered and the England fly-half dispatched it over the crossbar.  Whether it was down to the pressure inside the ball or in Wilkinson's head is a moot point, what mattered was that the men in white were again just one point behind the hosts.

Laporte than played his joker by sending Frédéric Michalak into action, and the mercurial Frenchman soon put the wind up the English by pulling the trigger on a drop goal, but his effort stumbled drunkenly to the left and England breathed again.

England then also looked to their bench, bringing on Matt Stevens and Joe Worsley for Phil Vickery and Moody.  The message was clear:  it was time to stamp out French fire with fresh rosbif.

French territory began to turn white and Wilkinson was soon in a position to drop a goal, but it came off the upright.

Robinson then changed the point of attack by cutting a sublime angle up the middle, but tenacious French defence thwarted the advance.

The pendulum then swung yet again, and France gave England a dose of their own medicine by rolling an immaculate maul into the visitors' half.  Now it was England's turn to defend, and they did just so with gusto.

With the white wall refusing to yield, Michalak began sending nine-iron shots over the obstacle, attempting to chip away at England's confidence.

Traille than joined in, sending a crossfield kick across to the left.  Julien Bonnaire was there and tapped back expertly to Vincent Clerc in space.  A desperate tap-tackle from Worsley brought the wing down.  Chabal took the ball on, but the big man was swallowed by a white wave just short of the line.

Both sides were now battered and battling to keep their lungs in, but France were looking a little less uncomfortable.  With ten minutes to play, they had the lead, the momentum and the territory.

But England just would not take the hint.  With the game ebbing away from them, Robinson, with fifty caps to his name, knew what was needed.  He hit the line at speed, wriggling with all his might, winning the all-important inches before France coughed up a penalty in panic as Dimitri Szarzewski brought him down with a high tackle.

Wilkinson stepped up as French heads went down.  It was a sitter and he made no mistake.

With six minutes to play and now two points behind, France needed composure but the pressure got to Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and touch-judge Marius Jonker spotted unbecoming use of an elbow at a ruck.

The ensuing penalty was dispatched to touch and the maul was duly formed.  England's gnarled pack would have stayed glued together for a year, but Gomarsall begged the big men to hand over the ball after he spotted Wilkinson dropping into the pocket.  The offer was just too good to pass up.  The ball was served up on a plate and England had their five-point lead.

France threw everything at the final two minutes of the game, attacking all points of the white lines, but to no avail:  England stood firm.

England will now have to wait until Sunday to hear whether they will meet South Africa or Argentina in next week's Final.

But that wait won't be too uncomfortable.  In the words of Kenny Rogers, their new cheerleader, this might yet be the year of the real thing.  Remarkable.

Man of the match:  France's loose forwards did their best under trying circumstances, but the hosts were simply smothered out of the game by England's frenzied in-your-face approach.  It's hard to pick out individuals from an England side that showed such collective will.  Jason Robinson and Andy Gomarsall were outstanding and Jonny Wilkinson recovered from a slightly dicey start to secure the win.  But we'll hand a group gong to England's pack for their ferocity, hunger and pride.  Lads of life, imps of fame -- a bunch of lovely bullies!

Moment of the match:  Josh Lewsey's try will live long in the memory, but the turning point was surely Joe Worsley's tap-tackle on Vincent Clerc.  Things might have turned out very differently had he not made contact.

Villain of the match:  Bernard Laporte will undoubtedly feel the heat for some of his selections, and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde deserves a reprimand for his indiscretion late in the game, but both men have got enough misery on their plates at the moment.  We'll resist the urge -- no award.

The scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Beauxis 3

For England:
Try:  Lewsey
Pens:  Wilkinson 2
Drop goal:  Wilkinson

The teams:

France:  15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 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 Sébastien Chabal, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Frédéric Michalak, 21 Christophe Dominici, 22 Clément Poitrenaud.

England:  15 Jason Robinson, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (captain), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan. 
Replacements:  16 George Chuter, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Lawrence Dallaglio, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Dan Hipkiss.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Television match official:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

SA stumble past Fiji

South Africa became the first team into next Sunday's second semi-final after a remarkable 37-20 win over Fiji in Marseille on Sunday.

Fiji showed flashes of the form which put paid to Wales early on, but rarely looked like being able to overwhelm the South Africans in the same physical manner, and the Springboks waited with discipline and patience for their opportunities, which they then took ruthlessly.

Ho, ho, ho.  It was nearly early Christmas in Fiji as even the coconuts must have been dancing on the palms when big Ifereimi Rawaqa burst for the South African corner with the score 23-20 to the Springboks and it seemed that the weekend of upsets would throw up the grandfather of all upsets.

Instead there was slight, young JP Pietersen falling back, making a tackle, turning the big man over and into touch-in-goal as Bakkies Botha dived in to help.

That was the seminal moment in the South African World Cup.  It set South Africa on the way to life in the semi-finals of the World Cup and ended Fiji's thrilling challenge.  After that the shambling Springboks pulled themselves together and played as they probably should have played from the start, putting muscular pressure on the Fijians down near their own line.

As New Zealand had been duped into playing the way they should not have played against France the day before, so South Africa played most of the match the way they should not have against Fiji, creating a looseness which the Fijians turned to profit.

Fiji did lots of things cleverly and well.  Their scrums were quick and efficient, until the last few of the match.  They were considerably better at kick-offs, showed greater respect for the ball at the tackle/ruck and they handled far, far better.  Uncharacteristically, the Springboks' tackling was feeble, they were shaky under kick-offs, their handling was erratic and they were careless at the tackle/ruck if the ball did not come away immediately, reducing star scrum-half Fourie du Preez to rattled mediocrity.

It was their third match against Islanders at this World Cup and one would have thought that the Springboks would have learnt.  Experience, it seems, is not always a good teacher.

After the Fijians had done their war dance and the trumpet-and-cheer had sounded, James kicked off and in a matter of minutes four significant things had happened which would be repeated in the match -- the Springboks had mauled well and Fijians collapsed it, there was a gross, unpenalised high tackle and Percy Montgomery missed a kick at goal.

The Springboks had intended using the maul.  Given a fair chance it stood them in good stead and produced three tries.  The first high tackle was a neck-clamp by Semisi Naevo on Bryan Habana.  There were several more from the Fijians in the match.  Juan Smith of South Africa was the one penalised and after Pietersen had scored a try on advantage Seru Rabeni was sent to the bin for one whose ingredients were lateness, armlessness and height, on Butch James.  Apart from the penalty attempt, Montgomery missed two first-half conversions, the second an atempt that went swinging off far from the uprights.  Montgomery was following on other great goal-kickers.  On Saturday Stirling Mortlock, Jonny Wilkinson and the French each missed two penalty kicks at goal and Luke McAlister missed a conversion which one would have expected him to goal.

As New Zealand had done on Saturday, South Africa led 13-3 at the break, after scoring two tries.

Their first score was a 50-metre penalty by Frans Steyn.  He was straight in front and he kicked the ball straight over.  3-0 after 9 minutes.

Soon afterwards Montgomery came into the line as the Springboks went left and they were battering at the line with Smith close.  They got quick ball at the tackle and Du Preez fed Jaque Fourie who scored easily in the left corner.  8-0 after 13 minutes

Smith had a great break but the Fijians were the ones to score next when Bakkies Botha was penalised for an air tackle in a line-out.  Seremaia Bai, an economical goal-kicker in the Montgomery mould but even more relaxed, goaled.  8-3 after 24 minutes.

For some reason the Springboks seemed to have great faith in a grubber.  Danie Rossouw, Du Preez and Steyn did it to poor effect.

South Africa seemed certain to score when they went wide to the left but Vilimoni Delasau and Akapusi Qera combined to stop Burger close to the line -- Delasau with his arm around Burger's neck.

The Springboks mauled for the line but Ifereimi Rawaqa and hooker Sunia Koto hauled the maul down.  The Springboks kicked the penalty out and from the line-out mauled again and this time they drove John Smit over for a try.  13-3 after 35 minutes.

The Fijians started the second half running and put lots of pressure on the careless South Africans.  When Habana held on in a tackle, Bai had an easy kick at goal to make the score 13-6 after 43 minutes.

The Springboks had a good passing movement going right and running straight until Victor Matfield handed the ball infield to JP Pietersen who scored.  This time Montgomery converted.  20-6 after 51 minutes and Rabeni was in the sin-bin for his indiscretion.

Down to 14 men, the Fijians proceeded to score 14 points while the orchestra in the ground played the haunting African tune, Wimowey.  It was not just the lion that was sleeping.  The Springbok went on the doze as well.

The Fijians went this way and that through phases that seemed to make no advance until the ball went left to Delasau near the half-way line and just in from touch.  The big wing galloped, chipped over Montgomery's head into the in-goal.  He left Fourie for dead as he raced after the ball and scored far out.  Bai stroked the conversion over and the score was 20-13 after 56 minutes.

From the kick-off the Fijians attacked again.  Full-back Norman Ligairi broke out.  From the tackle lively Mosese Rauluni burst ahead past Schalk Burger.  The Fijian captain gave to burly wing Sireli Bobo who powered over in Du Preez's tackle.  Bai converted.  20-20 after 58 minutes.

The Springboks were rattled.  They were even more rattled when Fiji attacked again after Rawaqa was penalised at a maul and Monty had made it 23-20 with 18 minutes to play.  Back came the Fijians going right and a grubber forced the Springboks to concede a five-metre scrum.  Rabeni, back on the field, knocked on at the line and the Springboks survived but when Bai missed a drop from in front he ignored a huge overlap to his right which must surely have produced a try.

It was after this that they attacked left and Pietersen's tackle saved his side from an early flight home.  That was with 14 minutes to go.  In four minutes Fiji had had three chances to score.

Then the Springboks started playing the Fijians into their own territory down on their right and putting pressure on line-out, scrum and tackle.  With Burger at number eight, they mauled from a scrum and Smith burst over far out.  Montgomery converted.

Fourie had a great run down the middle of the field and then James failed with a drop but in his failing the ball was touched by a Fijian and this produced a five-metre scrum and lots of pressure.  In the pressure there were also some silly moments of emotional upset.

From the first scrum the Springboks shoved at the line but Burger lost the ball in picking up as Wame Lewaravu dived into him.  They then destroyed the Fijian scrum but Du Preez nudged the ball forward in trying to score.  Again they destroyed the Fijian scrum, and when the Islanders were penalised the Springboks scrummed again.  Time was ebbing away and eventually the Springboks went left where James forced his way over for a try which Montgomery converted.

The final whistle went and the beaten Fijians formed a tight-knit prayer circle.  They had certainly played as a tight-knit team.  Captain Rauluni said afterwards:  "I'm proud of my boys.  I asked them to give their all and they gave it for their country, their family and their friends."

He had reason to be proud.

The Springboks had their semi-final berth but could not have found the exercise satisfying.  Have they been away from home for too long? Is the long World Cup a chance for the Northern sides to improve while the Southern sides start fraying at the edges?

Man of the Match:  The Fijian captain Mosese Rauluni was wonderful, energetic, decisive and skilful, a scrum-half with sound judgement.  Vilimoni Delasau was always a handful and big Sisa Koyamaibole played with commitment.  One player stood out amongst the bumbling Springboks -- the main man in the line-out, the best of the tacklers, a great runner with the ball, the player who made the biggest contribution to victory, Springbok flank Juan Smith, our Man of the Match.

Moment of the Match:  We have a choice between the aesthetically pleasing and the functional -- Sireli Bobo's try and JP Pietersen's tackle and our Moment of the Match, because it mattered so much, was JP Pietersen's tackle.

Villain of the Match:  Seru Rabeni, though his absence seemed to galvanise his team-mates.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Fourie, Smit, Pietersen, Smith, James
Cons:  Montgomery 3
Pens:  Steyn, Montgomery

For Fiji:
Tries:  Delasau, Bobo
Cons:  Bai 2
Pens:  Bai 2

Yellow card:  Rabeni (50, Fiji, late tackle)

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 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements:  16 Gary Botha, 17 Gürthro Steenkamp, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Wikus van Heerden, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Wynand Olivier/André Pretorius.

Fiji:  15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Vilimoni Delasau, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Seru Rabeni, 11 Sireli Bobo, 10 Seremaia Bai, 9 Mosese Rauluni (captain), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Semisi Naevo, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Kele Leawere, 3 Henry Qiodravu, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Graham Dewes.
Replacements:  16 Bill Gadolo, 17 Jone Railomo, 18 Aca Ratuva, 19 Wame Lewaravu, 20 Jone Daunivucu, 21 Waisea Luveniyali, 22 Gabiriele Lovobalavu.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Pumas make history

As if beating the hosts in their own back yard and topping the Pool of death wasn't enough, Argentina booked their place in the World Cup semi-finals for the first time on Sunday, with a clinical 19-13 win over Scotland.

Argentina's forward presence was too much for the Scots, and the steady stream of penalties eked out by the Pumas was enough for Felipe Contepomi to give his team a commanding lead, which they never once looked like relinquishing, even when Scotland rallied late on.

Yet despite that fleeting spectre of another upset, the reality was that after three courses of gourmet nosh this weekend, we were served up suet pud in Paris.

Argentina have spoken at length about their role as leaders of rugby's "non-aligned movement", but at Stade de France they were the exact mirror image of haughty new tournament favourites, South Africa.

Like the Boks earlier in the day, the Pumas seemed to take the challenge of their unfancied opponents rather lightly.  The energy they heaped all over France and Ireland was replaced by lethargy.  Felipe Contepomi and Juan Martín Hernández, great players though they are, acted a wee bit too cool at times.  They allowed a very average performance from Scotland to rattle them, and they failed to bolt the door they had closed as early as half-time.  Has the hype gone to their heads?

Indeed, had it not been from a snail-like start from Scotland, coupled with their litany of unforced errors, the Pumas might have gone the way of Australia and New Zealand.  Fiji would have made the Pumas pay for such nonchalance.

But a win is a win -- and at this stage of proceedings it is all that is needed.  Next up is the Boks, and one would wager that both sides will now pull up their socks and pay the opposition the proper heed.

Yet it could have been so different.  It seemed that the Pumas would bare their claws at every opportunity after Hernández pulled the trigger on a drop-goal as early as the tenth second of the game.

But the game soon meandered into a wilderness of ponderous Argentine bombs and poor Scottish handling.

The Scots actually drew first blood after Mike Blair was taken out in the air whilst fielding one of Hernández's many garryowens.  Dan Parks -- Scotland's long-range marksman -- stepped up to slot the penalty.

Felipe Contepomi then brought his side level after a rare run from Hernández ended with a high tackle from big Nathan Hines.

Rory Lamont then got in a muddle whilst fielding yet another long ball.  He made no attempt to escape the onrushing Pumas and it could well be that his call for "mark" was not heard by referee Joël Jutge, who ruled that Scotland had infringed at the ensuing breakdown.  Contepomi stepped up to add injury to insult.

So, with the game approaching middle age and the crowd growing nostalgic for "Super Saturday", the Pumas had finally secured the lead.  A slender one, yes, but it was soon too grow fat.

This time the Scottish blunder came from Parks who dithered as he shaped to clear his lines.  The little pivot was soon eclipsed by the giant frame of Gonzalo Longo who not only charged down the kick but beat Sean Lamont to touch down for Argentina's only try of the game.  Contepomi added the extras and the South Americans were suddenly sitting on a 13-3 lead.

Scotland's travelling contingent of fans desperately needed a lift, and it duly appeared in the shape of Chris Paterson placing his trusty tee in the grass.  The sinister salute with the left arm, the languid sweep of the right leg, and Scotland had narrowed the gap.

With the Bank of Paterson now open for business, Scotland looked a little more confident and punctuated the first half by bullying the Argentinians off a scrum.  It's an event normally only illuminated by the light of a blue moon, and it gave a hint of what was to come later in the game.

Scotland made a change at the break by introducing Andrew Henderson, but the old errors continued and Contepomi soon added another three points to his account after the Scottish forwards conceded a penalty in the shadow of their own posts.

With the game ebbing from their grip, Scotland changed tack.  They were now pushing their big forwards at Argentina's half-backs and soon began to winkle out penalties and scrums from the increasingly scrappy South Americans.

Scotland's big backs had also recovered from a listless first-half and began to make inroads with some boisterous running.

But Hernández was also growing in stature and he kept the Scots honest by pinning them back at every opportunity, following up on one such territorial snatch by slotting a drop-goal.

The repetitive sucker-punches were taking a toll on the Scots and the dark blue bench was duly emptied onto the field in an attempt to revive fortunes.

And what an impact the cavalry made!

Suddenly Scotland were alive.  A fantastic break down the middle of the pitch by Craig Smith put the Pumas in reverse.  The support arrived and the same men who seemed unable to catch a cold in the preceding hour put together a string of dare-devil passes.  Big Kelly Brown got on to the end of one and tip-toed down the left touchline before finding Chris Cusiter on his inside, and the scrum-half was over for the try.

Paterson stepped up to slot his 17th consecutive shot at goal -- he hasn't missed in this tournament -- and out of nowhere we were heading to heart-attack territory for the fourth time in two days.

Argentina looked to up their game but they were shaken -- Contepomi and Hernández both now looked capable of dross.

Scotland sensed the swing of the pendulum and grabbed on with both hands.  France hasn't witnessed such blatant disregard for the good and the great since the storming of the Bastille, and it looked like more rugby royalty would soon be swinging from the scaffold.

But the Scots could not rid themselves of their unforced errors, and the opportunity to sneak into the last four went up in smoke with a lost line-out on Argentina's line.

Man of the match:  Mike Blair, Andrew Henderson and Chris Cusiter all added impetus to Scotland's quest, but all trailed in the wake carved by Craig Smith.  Juan Martín Hernández had another fine game, but blew hot and cold.  Gonzalo Longo impressed once again (there's surely now no way back for Juan Manuel Leguizamón) but our man of the match is the evergreen Mario Ledesma -- a cross between an energetic puppy and an old carthorse.

Moment of the match:  Very few moments stand out, but we'll go for Scotland's try -- out of nowhere it delivered the prospect of an upset.

Villain of the match:  Some niggle here and there but nothing too nasty.  No award.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Cusiter
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Parks, Paterson

For Argentina:
Try:  Longo
Con:  Contempomi
Pens:  Contempomi 3
Drop goal:  Hernandez

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

Argentina:  15 Ignacio Corleto, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Manuel Contepomi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Agustín Pichot (c), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Lucas Ostiglia, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Carlos Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Juan Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Omar Hasan, 18 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 19 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 20 Nicolás Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Hernán Senillosa.

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Television match official:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)