Wales left rueing missed chances

New Zealand continued their 55-year hold over Wales on Saturday, winning 29-9 at the Millennium Stadium.

After surviving a Welsh first-half onslaught, the All Blacks came out after the break tighter, more controlled, and with a new tactic.  They had a plan B, while the Welsh were caught short.

Ma'a Nonu's try midway through the second half sealed the deal for the All Blacks, who will surely now claim another Grand Slam in Twickenham next Saturday.  Meanwhile, the Welsh welcome Australia next week, knowing they will need to both vary their game and find a keener cutting edge if they are to prevail.

We had a thriller on our hands even before the kick-off.  New Zealand did their 'Kapa o Pango' haka, which they tend to reserve for the bigger occasions, and the Welsh stood in a line.  They remained standing in a line after the haka had finished.  The All Blacks remained in formation as well.  If looks could kill, not a soul on either side would have survived the eyeballing and nor would Jonathan Kaplan, who shuffled with the match ball into the space between the two teams almost innocently, like a six-year-old wandering into a business meeting whilst unwrapping a sweet.

Kaplan tried to get New Zealand to break rank.  The All Blacks declined.  Kaplan turned to the Welsh, who also declined.  Someone had to break, and in the end it was New Zealand who moved away earlier, to the delight of the home fans.  Round one to the Welsh -- which would have pleased the onlooking Joe Calzaghe.

The first half belonged to the Welsh as well.  They won the penalty count 6-5, had an edge in the scrums, and conceded fewer turnovers.  All four flankers on the day were outstanding, but Martyn Williams was the best.  Again that qualifier though:  in the first half.  The All Blacks went off at half-time 9-6 behind, analysed their faults, and came out after the break tighter, more controlled, and with a new tactic.  They had a plan B, while the Welsh were caught short.

The technical groundings of both coaching teams were evident.  Both sides spent long periods in possession, keeping the ball away from the marauding opposition.  Both defences held up in their different ways, New Zealand stringing men out across the park and trying to get numbers to each breakdown, the Welsh rushing up and hassling.  Both sides exuded control on the ball, and calmness off it.  It was a fine game of pure rugby.

But New Zealand prevailed, on account of their ability to take the chances presented to them and a terrific performance from the pack, a yard faster than their counterparts in the second half and twice as disciplined (the penalty count was 6-2).  It could have been that they read the game better as well as being quicker, but the sheer numbers of black shirts to red at times was phenomenal.  Wales never had a chance in the second half.

The home side started with their usual enthusiasm, and had earned a 3-0 lead before New Zealand had even touched the ball when Nonu high tackled Williams.

New Zealand claimed their own restart and marched through the phases, but conceded another penalty in their determination to break the red wall.

This marked Wales' best spell.  Ryan Jones and Williams combined at a line-out to break into the All Black 22 but the support numbers let them down.  Shane Williams nearly wriggled away, and his tackler was penalised for not rolling away to enable Jones to give his side a 6-0 lead.

With ball in hand, New Zealand passed as flat as possible, using Brad Thorn and Ali Williams in the middle as battering rams.  Once the timing of the passing and running had aligned properly, New Zealand got a head of steam up and made good ground.  They earned a penalty for Carter when Martyn Williams went in the side of a ruck, and Carter should have equalised moments later after Matthew Rees repeated the offence, but instead his kick thumped the post.  6-3 to Wales, and a quarter of the game gone.

Wales continued to threaten more with ball in hand.  Shane Williams' deft reverse pass nearly had Stephen Jones home -- instead Jones landed a penalty to make it 9-3 after Tony Woodcock killed the ball -- and Lee Byrne made a scintillating break followed by an asinine no-look pass which gave the ball away.

All the chances to Wales so far, but no breakthrough.  Instead Carter made it 9-6 with the final kick of the first half.

He made it 9-9 with almost the first kick of the second half as Williams was once again caught offside, and the tide turned.  The All Blacks thundered into breakdowns in defence, and began bringing Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu off the wing, as well as kicking turnover ball into space behind the Welsh.  All three tactics worked brilliantly.  The Welsh lost their ball, struggled to cope with retreating, and found the extra pace and power in the middle too much to cope with.

New Zealand's scrum upped its game as well.  Jimmy Cowan was clearly feeding for much of the game and was nicked for it a couple of times, but for the rest it gave his pack some good go-forward ball.  The Welsh ended up enduring a series of 5m scrums on their line which they did survive -- including a TMO call -- but at the cost of too much energy.

Eventually Nonu crossed after several waves of pressure to give New Zealand the lead, and Carter extended the gap to more than two scores with a penalty on 64 minutes, and even further with another penalty on 75 minutes.

Wales tried a couple of final bursts, a couple of maverick attempts to notch a score and salvage something.  Instead the black shirts washed over a ruck, the ball was turned over, and Jerome Kaino crashed over the line.  Wales' wait goes on.

Man of the match:  Martyn Williams played well in the first half, but faded in the second.  Lee Byrne was a constant threat, and Alun Wyn Jones stood out from the Welsh pack for a superb defensive work-rate.  On the All Black side, Joe Rokocoko's threat was ever-present, Tony Woodcock's pushing immense, and Richie McCaw his usual self at the breakdown.  But Rodney So'oialo was the biggest terror for the Welsh in loose and tight.

Moment of the match:  A break by Joe Rokocoko in the second half that eventually led to the try.  It was a new weapon in the All Black arsenal, one too many for Wales to cope with.

Villain of the match:  Tempting to give it to Jonathan Kaplan for breaking up the pre-match eyeballing!  But the players might never have moved ... so no award.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pens:  S. Jones 3

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Nonu, Kaino
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 5

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 John Yapp, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 James Hook/Dan Biggar, 22 Andrew Bishop.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Tony Woodcock, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements:  16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor:  Paul Bridgman (England)

Boks edge Scots

South Africa came back from 10-nil down at half-time to salvage a 14-10 victory over Scotland in an extremely close-fought battle at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The world champions were pushed all the way by the a Scotland team that weren't afraid to take them on physically and almost caused the first upset of the November Test session.

A 56th minute try from replacement centre Jaque Fourie brought South Africa back into the game after Nathan Hines scored on the stroke on half-time to give the home side a deserved lead.

It is not the policy of this website to throw mud at the referee, but the question must be asked if there still is place for Dave Pearson's "School Headmaster" style of officiating in the modern game.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the game was characterised by frustration from both sides concerning the penalties given away at the breakdown.

Pearson's interpretation of what was a penalisable offence for going off one's feet was clearly not in sync with what the Springboks felt constituted winning a rucking battle (i.e. pushing an opponent back and to ground).

Scotland too were to be frustrated and captain Mike Blairs exasperated comment to the ref in the second half -- "We don't know what you want from us"- seemed to sum the situation up.

It must be said that the visitor's discipline was not up the standard their coach would have desired and they had clearly not taken the IRB's directive to referees to be stricter at the breakdown to heart.

With South Africa's penalty count at the breakdown in the first half reaching double figures almost every attack made by the world champions ended with the home fly-half having a chance to kick for touch or the posts.

The first half firmly belonged to Scotland.  They took the game to their visitors, who made far to many errors with ball in hand, notably losing the ball upon impact on a number of occasions and knocking-on when not under pressure (three times in the first six minutes alone.)

The Scots on the other hand were making their tackles count and the passes stick.  The home side dominated the opening stages and took the lead just before the half-an-hour mark thanks to a penalty from Phil Godman.  The lead could have been even more had Dan Parks, on as a blood replacement for Godman, not missed two previous attempts at goal.

The home side were also dominant at scrum time as the Bok set piece fell apart when Bismarck du Plessis was forced off inside the first five minutes.

The question on the lips of every South African regarded the game plan Peter de Villiers team would employ:  Would they the repeat the 'kick it back no matter what' style of a week earlier of would we see a return to the 'run it from everywhere bravado' of the Tri-Nations.

All were hoping for a sensible balance, but with the Scots enjoying the lion's share of territory and possession the men in green and gold were unable to establish any sort of meaningful attacking pattern.

The Boks played very direct rugby, but with the breakdown battle not going their way, they only scared the hosts when Jean de Villiers managed to slip through the defensive curtain out wide or when Conrad Jantjes made a clever chip ahead.

Scotland's forwards were rewarded for making the hard yards when Hines crashed over next to the posts with the break just seconds away.

One tries to avoid using the old cliché of "a game of two halves", but the opening minutes of the second period certainly made it look like it would be the case.

The Boks cleaned up their act and the penalty tide turned against the Scots.  Jean de Villiers was once again the home side's inspiration on attack and his break in the 43th minute set up the platform for the Boks to finally get on the scoreboard via a penalty from Ruan Pienaar.

Pienaar doubled his tally shortly thereafter as the Boks started to take control of the game as their loose forwards made their presence felt.

De Villiers was again involved when they took the lead.  Adrian Jacobs took the ball to the advantage line before passing to his fellow player-of-the-year nominee.  De Villiers drew two defenders before timing his pass to Fourie out wide to perfect.  Fourie, on for Bryan Habana, made giant leap for the line which turned out to be the Boks' biggest step toward victory.

Pienaar slotted another penalty to extend the lead to four points and set up a grandstand finish as Scotland threw the kitchen sink at the Springbok defence, which, so desperate to keep the their hosts at bay, where guilty of losing their shape a bit as they chased the ball carrier.

Peter de Villiers, who questioned the wisdom of his replacements last week, made the bold move of bringing Francois Steyn on for his namesake.  Steyn's massive boot was put to good use to keep the visitor's at bay.

Goodman missed an easy penalty with five minutes left on the clock, forcing the Scots to go a for a try that would not come, despite laying siege to the Springbok try-line in the dying minutes.

Man of the match:  Nathan Hines was immense for the home side, as was Mike Blair.  Tendai "the Beast" Mtawarira gained five metres every time he carried the ball, but stalwart flank Juan Smith produced his best performance in a Test this year.  He was huge in defence and was at his barnstorming best with ball in hand

Moment of the match:  Jaque Fourie's try.  The Springboks came close on a number of occasions but when Fourie finally breached the whitewash, you got the feeling it would be Springboks day after all.

Villain of the match:  No fisticuffs to report.

The Scorers

For Scotland:
Try:  Hines
Con:  Godman
Pen:  Godman

For South Africa:
Tries:  Fourie
Pens:  Pienaar 3

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Rory Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (c), 8 Ally Hogg, 7 John Barclay, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobson.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Matt Mustchin, 19 Scott Gray, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Hugo Southwell.

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Brian Mujati, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Frans Steyn, 22 Jaque Fourie.

Venue:  Murrayfield
Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (England), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

All Blacks are half way there

New Zealand weathered an intensely contested opening half of rugby before comfortably overcoming Ireland 22-3 to continue on their autumn Grand Slam road at Croke Park on Saturday.

On the back of a long-winded Tri-Nations trophy triumph and Hong Kong sealer against the Wallabies, the Kiwis had demonstrated their contrasting physical and mental state to the north at Murrayfield seven days ago, but it was not the case here during the early exchanges as a packed stadium made life tough for its visitors.

Despite the scene being set for centre Brian O'Driscoll's 50th appearance as Ireland captain, the opposing blacks were ultimately not in a charitable mood as history failed to change at this special arena that had earlier drowned out the pre-game haka.

Past results were certainly against Declan Kidney's side, who had only managed to claim a 10-10 draw against their superior opponents in 1973 during the recent rugby era.

And as is their wont, the All Blacks' clinical edge eventually struck the relevant blows in sealing round two of their autumn quest -- but it took them until the second half to find their form with Ma'a Nonu and Brad Thorn following up a penalty try.

The early exchanges were, as expected, conducted in a furious manner with fresh-faced Luke Fitzgerald running well post an uncharacteristic Daniel Carter penalty miss.

Yet it was the even more international unknown in Tomas O'Leary who brought the crowd to their feet with a flick for the corner on sixteen minutes.  Kidney had brought in the scrum-half for extra speed and grit around the breakdown area and his opening effort seemed to encourage O'Driscoll to follow his nine's kicking example on the other flank soon after.

Surprisingly though with 24 minutes flying past in the blink of an eye, the contest remained locked at 0-0 with Carter missing successive kicks, this time from number eight Jamie Heaslip's infringement under the posts -- were the omens with Ireland?

Well maybe not as the Cantabrian master finally made his own luck at the third time of asking just a minute later with three simple points pushing the Kiwis ahead.

That did not dampen the hungry Irish spirits in the slightest however, as they immediately went downfield hunting a response, only to be thwarted by Mark Lawrence's whistle.  But the southern official quickly endeared himself to the crowd soon after by changing his mind at a separate incident by penalising wing Sitiveni Sivivatu for a high-tackle on the covering Rob Kearney.

Both playmakers continued to endure below-par first periods and if O'Gara had not been unsuccessful with a long-range penalty on 38 minutes to level matters, his evening may have looked even bleaker than it eventually concluded.

There was controversy in the capital on the half's final whistle though, as a grubber towards the corner saw Richie McCaw have the ball deliberately patted into touch by Tommy Bowe, who found himself sent to the sin-bin before Lawrence awarded a penalty try -- the extras added by Carter.

However, New Zealand's numerical advantage was short-lived upon their return to the field as prop Tony Woodcock landed a punch on Rory Best that left Lawrence pondering which colour card to choose.  The South African opted for the less severe punishment but it failed to slow down the Kiwi charge as Nonu and Rokocoko combined for a sublime five points that widened the gap to fourteen.

There was arguably no way back for Ireland from that point as Paul O'Connell's limp summed up how the final 25 minutes were heading.  The momentum was certainly with the All Blacks as this time Carter's swagger came to the fore, finding lock Thorn to stride over with the scores and stadium volume going in very differing directions.

From then on it was all New Zealand as their attacking master-class stole the limelight and was a pleasure to watch for a short period.  However, both sides seemed to concede the inevitable result in the end as the Test disintegrated into a flat final quarter as coach Henry gathered his belongings for preparation ahead of next week's trip to Cardiff.

Man of the match:  While his team-mates took approximately half the contest to find their rhythm, wing Sitiveni Sivivatu was superb from the outset.  The Waikato man's running power and style that seems to stand up the tackler led to several good things in the All Blacks' victory.  A mention for Joe Rokocoko as he continues his rehabilitation and also Ma'a Nonu at centre as they both played their part in the second period.

Moment of the match:  The swagger was certainly found at Croke Park following Graham Henry's half-time talking to and the try from Ma'a Nonu was classic New Zealand rugby.  The Wellington second five spread the ball to his wing who ghosted through the tiring defence before handing the ball smartly to the looping distrubutor which started the ball rolling.

Villain of the match:  Maybe it has to be wing Tommy Bowe for an end-of-half attempt at the hand of god that ultimately cost his side seven points and a player for ten minutes.  Maybe a slightly harsh call though as the All Blacks second-half performance was always waiting in their locker!

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pen:  O'Gara

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Penalty, Nonu, Thorn
Con:  Carter 2
Pen:  Carter

Yellow card:  Tommy Bowe (Ireland) -- Deliberate hand on 40 minutes, Tony Woodcock (New Zealand) -- Punch on 43 minutes

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Rob Kearney, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Stephen Ferris, 19 Shane Jennings, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Keith Earls.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
Television match official:  Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch

England pay the penalty against Australia

Australia brought England crashing back to earth with a humbling 28-14 victory at Twickenham on Saturday.

In the end Australia had to do little more than apply pressure on England, knowing that sooner or later the English would concede a penalty.  The rest was down to Matt Giteau's boot, as he slotted six penalties and a conversion to ensure England left HQ with little more than they arrived with.

Coming into the game on the back of a promising victory over the Pacific Islands, there was a real hope that England could build on that foundation;  sadly it was not to be.  If it wasn't penalties it was turnovers, and if it wasn't turnovers it was poor kicking.  But when England look back on this they will rue a missed chance.

Until Australia scored their only try, after seventy minutes, the game was there for the taking.  The only problem was that England lacked the composure to take it for themselves, and instead did everything in their power to gift it to Australia.

Prior to Ashley-Cooper going over out wide England had marshalled the Australian attack with something approaching comfort.  Yet when it really mattered, when the game was poised on the proverbial knife-edge, England came up horribly short.

The game started in a bizarre fashion, two early Giteau penalties thrown in amongst some helter-skelter rugby.  Both sides threw caution to the wind and threw the ball around, giving the impression this was something of a celebration game.  Australia soon knuckled down and began to ask questions of England's defence.

Answers were readily available as England looked hungry in defence, repelling the likes of Stirling Mortlock and Ryan Cross with relative ease.  And then, as if by magic, England began to construct passages of play that displayed plenty of intent.  But, as was the case throughout, an error of some kind always cost them.

In fact it was Delon Armitage who opened England's account, sending over a hesitant drop-goal after twenty minutes.  Again Australia reverted to their tried and trusted method of forcing England into mistakes, and soon enough Giteau had clipped over two more penalties and Australia suddenly had a platform from which to build.

Credit to England for ensuring their guests didn't pull away, at least not yet anyway, as they hit back with a telling strike of their own.  A series of five yard scrums eventually saw Nick Easter driven over by his fellow forwards.  Inexplicably Cipriani missed the easiest of conversions, but at least England were back in the game at half-time.

The second half started brightly for England.  Twice they went through ten phases but, ultimately, twice they came away with nothing.  The first was due to a rather harsh penalty, but the second can only be blamed on Cipriani's foolish decision to go for a drop kick.  With numbers outside of him the erratic fly-half fluffed the simplest of kicks.

Cipriani did manage to gather himself to send over a timely penalty, giving England the lead for the first time, albeit fleetingly.  No sooner had they put their noses in front than Andrew Sheridan coughed up a poor penalty at a scrum, which Giteau sent over.  By the time Giteau kicked his sixth penalty, two minutes later, you got the impression England were fading.

England continued to give away penalties, allowing Mortlock to have a long range effort -- no surprise to see it sail through with yards to spare.  The ghost or#f Marseille laid to rest?

From there England were chasing the game and Australia were able to wait patiently for their chance to kill it off.

It came, with ten minutes to go, and Ashley-Cooper's try wrapped up what turned into a comfortable win for Robbie Deans' men.  He will want to see them attack a little more next week, but it's another win and another step in the right direction.

England?  Well one thing is for sure, there is a lot of work to be done before South Africa arrive next week.  The problem today seemed to be mental rather then physical, for time and again they bossed the contact area, only to see all the hard work wasted with needless penalties.

We must accept the fact their side is in it's early stages, and given time they will begin to resemble something more like a team.  There were some fine individual displays, but as a whole England were well below par here.

Man of the match:  For England Danny Cipriani showed moments of magic, but for each there was something equally as bad, and Danny Care was full of running as always.  A mention too for man-of-the-moment Delon Armitage, who didn't set the world on fire but did enough to warrant a third run out next week.  However, the award goes to Matt Giteau, who not only kicked six penalties, but kept Australia going forward throughout.  All the talk was of his opposite number but in the end Giteau was the one who won the day.

Moment of the match:  This has to go to Adam Ashley-Cooper's try as it ended this game as a contest.  Rightly or wrongly England were still in with a sniff at 21-14, but when the Wallaby full-back sauntered over, complete with a grin that would make a Cheshire cat proud, it was curtains for Martin Johnson's men.

Villain of the match:  Nothing to report.

The Scorers:

For England:
Try:  Easter
Pens:  Cipriani 2
Drop goal:  Armitage

For Australia:
Try:  Ashley-Cooper
Con:  Giteau
Pens:  Giteau 6, Mortlock

The Teams:

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 James Haskell, 20 Michael Lipman, 21 Harry Ellis, 22 Toby Flood.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Wycliff Palu, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Digby Ioane.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Brian Stirling

Islanders' discipline costs again

France eased to a 42-17 win over the Pacific Islands on Saturday, but the match was marred by an appalling challenge on Jean-Baptiste Elissalde by Napolioni Nalaga, which saw the Fijian sent off and Elissalde stretchered off unconscious.

The Islanders started the game with confidence, clearly believing that tempo and physicality might rattle the French.  It yielded two early penalties for Seremaia Bai, sandwiching one by David Skrela.

The two Bai goals also sandwiched the lone danger moment of a nervy opening, when Elissalde's clever dart saw Banoit Baby held a hair's breadth short.

France soaked up the enthusiastic but limited movements of the Islanders, and set their stall out to grind their opposition down.  They were clearly dominant in the tight set pieces, especially the scrum, and merely sat back for long periods waiting for their chance.

Then came a moment of utter madness and high unpleasantness.  The monster-sized Napolioni Nalaga lined up Elissalde from a long way away and was unflinching in his run and hit on the diminutive scrum-half, even though Elissalde had long since cleared the ball.  Elissalde was still receiving emergency treatment on the pitch long after Nalaga had been given his marching orders for the thoroughly disgusting tackle.

Skrela missed the penalty that followed, but it took France only six more minutes to press home their advantage, with Dimitri Szarzewski popping up on the end of two pieces of glorious acceleration from Cerdic Heymans and Julien Malzieu.

The Islanders' heads went down, and Elissalde's replacement Sebstien Tillous-Bordes scored the second just before the half-hour, passing to Heymans on the blind side and then looping to take a switch pass and round off a superb move.  Skrela converted both quick-fire tries for a comfortable 17-6 cushion.

After a brief and breathless passage of play where both teams opted to run everything, the Islanders shut their game down at the end of the first half and were remarkably good at it, squeezing out two more penalties for Bai to make it 17-12 at the break.

The match lost much of its intensity after the break, and especially after Heymans had scored France's third courtesy of a quick handling move sparked by Thierry Dusautoir.

Skrela landed two more penalties as the French kept the pressure on up front, and the final ten minutes was marked with a flurry of scoring.

Louis Picamoles took his first pass, off Tillous-Bordes, to score with ten minutes to go, and then Maxime Médard scored his first international try after a break by Damien Traille.  Skrela converted both.

Epi Taione scored a consolation try for the Islanders, barging Imanol Harinordoquy over the line.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Szarzewski, Tillous-Bordes, Heymans, Picamoles, Médard
Cons:  Skrela 4
Pens:  Skrela 3

For the Pacific Islands:
Try:  Taione
Pens:  Bai 4

Red card:  Nalaga (Pacific Islands, 18, dangerous tackle)

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Benoît Baby, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 David Skrela, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Imanol Harnordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Lionel Nallet (c), 4 Romain Millo-Chluski, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements:16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Benoît Lecouls, 18 Sébastien Chabal, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Alexis Palisson.

Pacific Islands:  15 Gavin Williams, 14 Napolioni Nalaga, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Epi Taione, 11 Vilimoni Delasau, 10 Seremaia Bai, 9 Mosese Rauluni (cap), 8 Nili Latu, 7 Sisa Koyamaibole, 6 Hale T-Pole, 5 Kele Leawere, 4 Paino Hehea, 3 Kisi Pulu, 2 Tanielu Fuga, 1 Kas Lealamanua.
Replacements:  16 Sunia Koto, 17 Census Johnston, 18 Filipo Levi, 19 Viliami Vaki, 20 Sililo Martens, 21 Kameli Ratuvou, 22 Seilala Mapusua

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Pumas do the job in Turin

Argentina went some way to reclaiming their place in the IRB top four with a 22-14 win over Italy in the Stadio Olimpico in Turin on Saturday.

It was Argentina at the best they have been since the World Cup.  The pack fought doggedly, and the backs ran into what little space they were afforded effectively.

Italy huffed and puffed, but still lack that little edge of sophistication required to unlock defences, and a necessary degree of patience when they don't have the ball.

Felipe Contempomi gave Argentina the lead with a 55m penalty after Mauro Bergamasco had late-tackled Gonzalo Tiesi, a tackle for which the volatile flanker was lucky not to be yellow-carded.

Andrea Marcato, who had another promising game at fly-half, replied for the Italians, but two further kicks from Contempomi saw Argentina in 9-3 ahead at the break.

Otherwise it was a turgid first half, ruled mostly by the boot and the ongoing niggle in the front row which Chris White tried valiantly to deal with but never quite managed to get the players to listen.

Neither side retained the ball terribly well, leading to a lot of knock-ons and balls buried under piles of bodies, followed by scrums that invariably needed a couple of resets.

Contempomi extended the lead to 12-3 just after the break, after a very harsh call for a high tackle on Mario Ledesma, but Marcato kept his side in the game with a long-range drop goal that had the stadium rocking.

The key moment came in the 50th minute.  Juan Martin Hernandez was given a whiff of space behind the Italian back-line and "The Magician" was off, chasing and regathering his chip before offloading to Rafael Carballo who steamed home.  Contempomi converted from under the posts to give his side an 19-6 lead.

Marcato replied with another penalty, but the Pumas, content with their cushion, shut up shop effectively and closed out a useful win, with Contempomi landing a late penalty to complete it.

Italy did cross the whitewash in the final move of the game though, through Andrea Masi.  It had no effect on the result, but it could yet affect the Pumas' IRB rankings.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Masi
Pens:  Marcato 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Carballo
Con:  Contempomi
Pens:  Contempomi 5

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Andrea Marcato, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Salvatore Perugini, 19 Tommaso Reato, 20 Pietro Travagli, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Luke Mclean.

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Federico Martin Aramburu, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Rafael Carballo, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 6 Martin Durand, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Alvaro Galindo, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Agustin Figuerola, 21 Santiago Fernandez, 22 Horacio Agulla.

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  David Changleng
Assessor:  Michel LamoulieLamoulie

Wales fluff their lines in victory

Wales put paid to Canada 34-13 at the Millennium Stadium on Friday.  That's it.  Ireland's 55-0 romp this was not, nor was it a performance from a second string indicative of a lively new generation coming through.  Welsh fans will have to wait a while before they can have cause for optimism as the Irish currently do.  Canada's might not though.

Before we tear the Welsh apart ...

Canada came and fulfilled all they had promised.  They made a mockery of the Irish media idiots who labelled them a joke last week, with some sterling defensive organisation and no end of disciplined enthusiasm at rucks and mauls.

The back row swarmed, the second row jumped well, the backs held their lines and watched their men.  They were very weak in the scrums, where professional training gives a far bigger edge than in the backs, but they were not a joke.  There was plenty of rugby intelligence on display to go with the heart, plenty of evidence that any lessons needed to be learned from last week had been learned, and plenty of names to watch out for the future.  Scotland must beware.

It was going wrong for Wales long before the kick-off.  They took to the field in some revolting yellow shirts, justified on the basis of being the colour of the flag of St. David, but which had absolutely naff all to do with any national rugby colour and everything to do with some soccer-crazed marketeer's drive to pull in a bit of extra coin.

Fortunately for the game's integrity, Wales' first display in yellow was so poor that people will not exactly be rushing out to buy the kit to cherish the memory.  Hopefully it can now be abandoned as a failed experiment.  "The kit or the team?"  I hear you ask.  Well ...

Wales led 10-6 at half-time, and that was flattering.  The second phase attack pattern was as precise as a scattering of squirrels fleeing a firework.  Anyone fortunate enough to get the ball simply charged ahead with the power of a locomotive but the effectiveness of a sponge.  Canada, their physicality and readiness for battle clearly underestimated, soaked it all up almost bemusedly and quietly cleared their lines.

From the stats of the first half, Wales should have been light years ahead.  Canada lost three out of six scrums, three out of eight line-outs, and conceded seven penalties.  That's 13 phases of set-piece ball, much of it turnover ball at that, and doesn't even include the scrums and line-outs the Welsh earned themselves.  It also doesn't bear out the superiority of the Welsh scrum, which was a stone heavier per man and squeezed the Canadian unit accordion-style at times in the first half.

Instead of light years ahead, Wales were ahead courtesy of one bright spark, when Leigh Halfpenny tore down the right, before straightening, ducking, weaving inside, and then driving two opponents over the line for a brilliant solo try.

Prior to that, there were six knock-ons in the first ten minutes, an inexcusable penalty count for a team so obviously stronger, and some terrible squandering of possession.  The backs' running lines were flatter than a GI's haircut, and frequently less aesthetic.  Decision-making will be high on the Gatland post-match review.

Also high on the list will be a look at James Hook's knee injury that forced the fly-half off the pitch after 20 minutes.  A bad night could get really ugly there.

James Pritchard gave Canada the lead after ten minutes, with Dafydd Jones caught going into a ruck on the side and Pritchard landing an easy penalty.

Wales finally broke through a stubborn defence after 25 minutes when full-back Morgan Stoddart squeezed over in the corner after collecting a pass from Tom Shanklin.  It ought to have been a catalyst, but the indiscipline and poor decision-making continued to haunt the Welsh, and they paid a further three-point penalty on the half-hour.  Then came Halfpenny's solo, and then half-time.

Martin Johnson goes on about winning ugly, and for most of the second half, Wales did just that.  Two more tries came until the final minute, both of them penalty tries as the Canadian front row cracked under the strain.  But there was still nothing the Welsh could offer anywhere else.

Canada replacement fly-half Ryan Smith gave his side a welcome reward for their endeavour with an intercept try from Dan Biggar's flat pass, but Wales did finish with a flourish:  Jamie Roberts breaking the line and linking with Dwayne Peel for Halfpenny to score a cracker under the posts.

Man of the match:  Leigh Halfpenny was excellent on the rare occasions the ball got that far, Martin Roberts had a solid debut and up front, John Yapp ruled every scrum.  Canada lock Josh Jackson had a terrific game in tight and loose, and James Pritchard mopped up anything that broke through the Canadian defence.  But for his defensive effort in the loose and line-out, Canuck flanker Adam Kleeberger gets the award.

Moment of the match:  Leigh Halfpenny's tries.  Both of them superb.

Villain of the match:  The Welsh kit designer.  You know who you are.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Stoddart, Halfpenny 2, Penalty try 2
Cons:  Biggar 3
Pen:  Biggar

For Canada:
Try:  Smith
Con:  Pritchard
Pens:  Pritchard 2

Wales:  15 Morgan Stoddart, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Mark Jones, 10 James Hook, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Ryan Jones (c), 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Dafydd Jones, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 John Yapp,
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Eifion Roberts, 18 Alun-Wyn Jones, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Dan Biggar, 22 Jamie Roberts.

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Bryn Keys, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Josh Jackson, 4 Tyler Hotson, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan (c), 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Mike Pletch, 17 Frank Walsh, 18 Mike Burak, 19 Sean Michael Stephen, 20 Morgan Williams, 21 Matt Evans, 22 Dean Van Camp.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Matt Goddard (Australia), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Jim Fleming (Scotland)

All Blacks too good for Scotland

New Zealand cruised home to a comfortable 32-6 victory over an error-prone Scotland outfit at a wet Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday.

It was a mixed performance by the All Blacks who scored two first half tries to lead 18-6 at the break against the home side who produced their trademark passion, particularly up front.

New Zealand produced plenty of polish at times to trouble the Scots and also gutsed out many awkward moments, as the pace and power of the visitors proved too much for a courageous but limited and error-ridden Scotland team.

The All Blacks will also have left the ground content with the refereeing effort of controversial whistleman Wayne Barnes who produced a display full of authority as he policed the breakdowns hard.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry had opted to keep his powder dry for the tougher Tests that lie ahead by naming a line-up featuring three debutants and twelve changes from the side that started last weekend's Bledisloe Cup win over Australia in Hong Kong.

That had led to the Scots kicking off with high hopes of taking advantage of the relative inexperience of their opponents line-up to end their 103-year wait for a victory over their visitors.

But the new-look All Blacks mixed some brilliant attack and resolute defence to get the Grand Slam under way with a patchy but encouraging performance that was more than enough to see off Scotland.

The heavy defeat was a significant blow to Scotland coach Frank Hadden's hopes of gaining some momentum in the November Tests after a disappointing Six Nations earlier this year.

The drawn series in Argentina earlier this year was an encouraging step in the right direction but this was arguably Scotland's best chance to enjoy success against New Zealand in the professional era, given Henry's 'experimental' selection.

The Scots received a frenzied welcomed from a crowd of 50,000 and then a minute's silence in honour of Remembrance Day was broken by an air force helicopter hovering over the stadium.

The Haka got a rapturous reception and finished with rival locks Ali Williams and Nathan Hines in a face-off close to halfway.  The All Blacks came in behind Williams who eventually won the stare-down.

Things started promisingly enough for the hosts with skipper Mike Blair breaking the line to send Chris Paterson on a run that was halted, illegally by All Black flanker Adam Thomson, under the posts.

Paterson duly dispatched the ensuing penalty but Scotland's advantage was handed back immediately when centre Nick de Luca was sin-binned for kicking the ball away in a ruck.

New Zealand pivot Stephen Donald landed the penalty goal to level the scores at 3-3 with five minutes barely up on the clock.

With Scotland down to fourteen men, Keven Mealamu's men quickly made use of their numerical advantage when a precise cross-field kick from Donald was collected by winger Anthony Tuitavake.

He shrugged off the desperate tackle of Paterson to touch down and Donald converted a well-struck sideline conversion to give the visitors a 10-3 lead.

Paterson and Donald traded further penalties before New Zealand lock Anthony Boric robbed the ball from the Scots near halfway.

The ball was quickly swung down the line and centre Richard Kahui stabbed a grubber into open space behind the Scottish defence and while he, Tuitavake and centre Ma'a Nonu charged through close to the line, it was scrum-half Piri Weepu who picked up the ball to score.

A rare penalty miss by Paterson did not help the home side's cause but hooker Ross Ford's storming run through the All Blacks midfield triggered their first period of sustained pressure.

Some desperate defending saw lock Boric sent to the sin-bin but New Zealand weathered the storm, with the help of Scotland wing Sean Lamont, who kicked at clean air after his own forward chip had left him with a clear run at the line.

Just before half-time, Isaia Toeava suffered a shoulder injury and he was replaced at the break by Cory Jane, who made his mark immediately as he sent a kick down the centre of the field.

Scotland let the ball bounce and it was Kahui who raced through to take the ball and then clear out to run 35 metres for the try.

Donald converted to make it 25-6 and to rub further salt into Scotland's wound, Lamont -- playing his first game for his country this year -- injured his hamstring while chasing Kahui and had to be replaced by Hugo Southwell.

The game was now extremely disjointed and a rare piece of good enterprising play saw rookie number eight Liam Messam break Scotland's line and offload to Jane -- only for the replacement full-back to knock on with the line at his mercy.

Instead, the fourth came six minutes from the end with Boric making amends for his first-half indiscretion, crashing up the middle to score between the posts.

The victory will further raise expectations that the All Blacks can repeat their Grand Slam tour of 2006.

Man of the match:  Stephen Donald was much more in control and directed play well while the untried loose forward combination of Adam Thomson, Kieran Read and Liam Messam proved sound and spirited against their more experienced rivals.  But our vote goes to Richard Kahui who had a fine performance slipping the defences several times but also making some telling tackles.

Moment of the match:  Take your pick from all four of the All Blacks tries -- each one of them a masterpiece in their own right.  But we're going for a lighter side of the match when Dan Carter came off the bench to finish the game at ... wait for it ... scrum-half!  Is there anything this man can't do?

Villain of the match:  Two yellow cards from both camps, but it was Edinburgh centre Nick De Luca's misdemeanour that was more costly for his team after such a good start to the match.  Thirteen points in total in his absence and Scotland never recovered.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Tuitavake, Weepu, Kahui, Boric
Cons:  Donald 2, Carter
Pens:  Donald 2

Yellow cards:  De Luca (Scotland, 2 min), Boric (New Zealand, 30 min)

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (c), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 John Barclay, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobson,
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Matt Mustchin, 19 Scott Gray, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Hugo Southwell.

New Zealand:  15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Anthony Tuitavake, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Adam Thomson, 6 Kieran Read, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (c), 1 Jamie Mackintosh.
Replacements:  16 Corey Flynn, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 Riche McCaw, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Daniel Carter, 22 Cory Jane.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Wallabies pushed to the limit

A 72nd minute try from debutante Quade Cooper saved Australia from humiliation as the Wallabies edged out Italy 30-20 at Stadio Euganeo in Padova on Saturday.

Up against a super-motived Azzuri side, Robbie Deans' side were pushed to the very limit and only secured victory in the dying minutes.  The scoreline read 20-20 with ten minutes on the clock after the teams swapped ends deadlocked at 14-all.

Australia looked lethargic and unimaginative and were punished for making endless unforced errors -- kicks went out on the full, passes went to ground and line-out throw-ins went astray as the home side hussled and muscled their lacklustre visitors.

The tourists will be thanking their lucky stars for a faultless kicking effort from replacement fly-half Matt Giteau, who contributed five penalties and two conversions in his 65 minutes on the park.

The Italian pack was at it's awesome best, giving the Wallabies all kinds of trouble in the set pieces and tight exchanges.  Nick Mallet will continue to say his prayers for a world-class fly-half and one or two more quality back-line players, as the Italians just lacked a little firepower to truly trouble the Wallaby defences out-wide.

How much Australia's disappointing display had to do with their long trip from Hong Kong just six days ago we'll never know but Deans' troops will need to make a massive improvement if they hope to succeed on the other side of the channel.

The men in blue must be commended for playing to their strengths and generally giving their much-fancied opponents the hurry-up whenever Australia were in possession, forcing the men in gold to make a mountain of errors.

The first twenty minutes gave the impression that Italy might be in for a very long afternoon.  Stirling Mortlock and Timana Tahu were breaking through the Italian line in mid-field almost at will.

With Berrick Barnes alternating between sending the ball straight up in the air and chipping it through, the Italian pack were being made to turn on their heals far more often than they would have liked.

Mortlock put Australia ahead after just two minutes with an easy penalty, but Italy fly-half Andrea Marcato leveled the scores a few minutes later.

As expected, it was the visitors who would be first to strike.  The crowd were up in arms when Marcato was bumped of the ball in mid-air by Barnes -- from the lose ball the Wallabies sent the ball wide quickly, Tahu broke the line before providing Lachie Turner with a deft one-handed off-load.  The flying wing did the rest from 10 metres out and the Azzuri looked in trouble.

Despite being deprived of any meaningful possession in the opening exchanges the locals stayed in touch as Marcato reduced the gap to two when Australia were blown up for hanging on.

Referee Bryce Lawrence lashed the Aussies at the rucks all game, whether it was for sticking their hands where they didn't belong, or holding on for too long.

An injury to Berrick Barnes after a quarter of an hour did not bode well for the rest of Australia's tour as Giteau was forced to enter the fray in his place.  The Wallaby replacement fly-half kicked a penalty to make the score 6-11, but the home side had started clawing their way into the game.

After a tentative start, Marcato was clearly growing in confidence and slotted drop from nowhere before Italy truly threw the cat amongst the pigeons.

Marcato linked up with full-back Andrea Masi who hit the line with pace before committing Adam Ashley-Cooper to the tackle and timing his offload to wing Mirco Bergamasco to perfection.  Bergamasco flew over and put the home side ahead.

Giteau drew the scores level in the 28th minute with another penalty and the teams headed for the change rooms all-square.

The second half was a story of frustration for Australia as the Italian pack rumbled forward.  Mortlock punting the ball directly into touch while on attack seemed to sum the afternoon up for the men in gold.

Giteau slotted two penalties to give Australia what seemed like a healthy lead before Brive fly-half Luciano Orquera, on for Marcato, kicked six points of his own to set up a grandstand finish.

Italy's hopes faded however when Cooper emerged clear after a dummy run by Phil Waugh left the Italian defence wrong-footed.  The Azzuri were up in arms as it looked like Mortlock had obstructed Sergio Parisse as Cooper scored untouched.

Giteau added the conversion and another penalty two minutes from time to seal the deal

Man of the match:  If Italy had created the surprise, Sergio Parisse and Marco Bortolami would have been made honorary presidents.  The Australian back-line looked more dangerous with Barnes playing fly-half, but Matt Giteau's performance from the kicking tee saved his team.

Moment of the match:  There could only be one.  Quade Cooper's try was like manna from heaven for Australia.

Villain of the match:  No argie-bargie to report.
The Scorers

For Italy:
Tries:  Mirco Bergamasco
Pens:  Marcato 2, Orquera 2
Drop:  Marcato

For Australia:
Tries:  Turner, Q. Cooper
Cons:  Giteau 2
Pens:  Mortlock, Giteau 5

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Andrea Marcato, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Tommaso Reato, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Giulio Toniolatti, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Matteo Pratichetti.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Timana Tahu, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Hugh McMeniman, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 Matt Dunning, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Wycliff Palu, 19 David Pocock, 20 Matt Giteau, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

France emerge victorious in kick-fest

France were the victors in a frustrating encounter in Marseilles on Saturday, beating rivals Argentina 12-6 in a game that was dominated by the boot.

After their last encounter, a fiery Argentinean victory at the World Cup, all the signs pointed towards an equally ferocious meeting, with plenty of attacking rugby.  The reality was quite different, yes there was niggle in the game, but the physical edge was lacking somewhat.

Couple that with the fact that some of the best running rugby players in world rugby had an obsession with kicking and you soon get a flavour of the game.  Needless to say it was a frustrating spectacle, leaving one's mind boggled at the thought of just how frustrating it was to play in the game, and lacked any fluidity.

Really, the game can best be summed up by one startling fact - it took France fifty minutes to go through an attack that lasted more than six phases.  Nearly every other attack, from both sides, culminated in a kick, and most of the kicks were aimless.

It is difficult to judge either side on this outing, other than to say they both need to scrub up on their kicking out of hand.  A light rain ensured the scrums, which had promised to be a tasty spectacle, materialised into nothing more than a squelching pile of bodies - although Argentina did manage to poach a couple against the head.

As one would expect with so many naturally talented footballers on display, there were moments of brilliance that gave the spectator a jab in the ribs to rouse them from their slumber.  But no sooner had one's waning hope of some decent rugby fluttered a little than a knock-on or ill-advised kick ensured it dozed off once more.

Felipe Contepomi fluffed a simple chance to give his side the lead early on, after Dimitri Szarzewski went in off his feet at the breakdown, but he pushed his kick well wide of the uprights.  As it was David Skrela slotted a drop goal moments later to give the hosts the lead.

With the game becoming increasingly fragmented, not helped by both sides' insistence on kicking any possession inside their own half, scoring chances became something of a rarity.  So much so that when Argentina were awarded a penalty just shy of the half hour mark, it was no surprise that Contepomi stepped up to level the scores.

It didn't take France long to restore their lead, less than sixty seconds to be precise.  Argentina opted to run the kick-off back, only to see Bernardo Stortoni penalised for holding on.  Skrela, rather carelessly, put his kick in off the upright from straight in front.  Nevertheless France had their narrow lead back.

A third penalty moments later, this time from a booming long range Benoit Baby effort, extended that lead further and France suddenly started to come out of their shells.  However another needless penalty at the breakdown put an end to their attacking sortie, as Contepomi clipped their lead back to three points going into half time.

Any prospects of an improved second half performance soon faded as both sides continued where they had left off.  But for a searing break from Maxime Médard ten minutes in the game would have been completely void of action.

The only points of the half came from, you guessed it, the boot as Skrela added another penalty with four minutes to go.  Argentina rallied for a moment, but their charge for victory fizzled out, much as their status in world rugby has since the world cup.

In that neither side will have learnt much from this game, rendering a near pointless exercise, it will be intriguing to see how they fare over the coming weeks.  We all know they both have the ability to play devastating rugby, which gives rise to the theory they simply nullified each other here, but they need to step it up for all occasions.

Man of the Match:  It's difficult to pick anyone from such a messy game, but France's Louis Picamoles was a rare bright spot.  Every time he had the ball he caused problems, several times he bowled defenders out of his path as he marauded forward.  Sadly he had little support in his quest.

Moment of the Match:  Sad to say but the final whistle was a relief, as this was a truly abysmal Test match.  If the fly-halves were not kicking then knock-ons and needless penalties were ruining the game.  We had looked forward to this game for so long, but when it finally arrived it failed to deliver in the slightest, unless that is you tuned in to watch France play Argentina at football.

Villain of the Match:  This award goes to the respective team tacticians who decided the best way to win a game of rugby was by kicking the ball away at every possible occasion.  We are meant to be, under the ELVs, be watching a more exciting brand of rugby, someone needs to remind these two sides how to score tries.

The Scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Skrela 2, Baby
Drop goal:  Skrela

For Argentina:
Pens:  Contepomi 2

The Teams:

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Benoit Baby, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 David Skrela, 9 Jean Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Lionel Nallet (c), 4 Romain Millo Chluski, 3 Benoit Lecouls, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Sebastien Chabal, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Alexis Palisson.

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Francisco Leonelli, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Álvaro Galindo, 6 Martín Alberto Durand, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 3 Juan-Pablo Orlandi, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Agustín Figuerola, 21 Federico Martín Aramburú, 22 Rafael Carballo.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television match official:  Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)

Ireland make light work of Canada

Ireland brushed aside Canada 55-0 in front of a delighted Thomond Park crowd on Saturday, although heavy rain put pay to the open game many had expected to see.

Much like England earlier in the day Ireland were beginning life under a new coach, and looking to put an average year behind them, and just like England, they did enough to suggest that there is plenty still to come without ever really convincing.

Despite the bleak conditions Ireland showed plenty of adventure.  And if they are capable of stepping it up ahead of next week's Test, they could be on their way to rediscovering the form of 2006 -- back-to-back victories over South Africa and Australia proving their worth.

There is a long way to go before that, but for now the signs are good.

The writing was on the wall as early as the third minute, Keith Earls making the perfect start to his Ireland career with a strong run to finish a sweeping move.  Earls has been in superb form for Munster this season, and with his first touch in an Ireland shirt he crossed for a memorable score.

Canada did little to help themselves in the early exchanges, giving away several needless penalties -- the third of which Ronan O'Gara slotted over to consolidate Earls' opening try.  With Ireland running the show, mainly through some slick back play, it was no surprise to see them add a second try soon enough.

In fact, such was Ireland's dominance, the only surprise was the nature of the try.  James Pritchard seemed to have an O'Gara grubber covered but a half-hack from Earls saw the ball skid into the in-goal area and Rob Kearney was the quickest to react.  But no sooner had Ireland settled than the heavens opened and suddenly the game was for more fragmented.

True to the conditions, which called for an increase in tight play, Ireland's third try came from a powerful Jamie Heaslip drive off the base of a five metre scrum.  Heaslip's drive served to reiterate the fact Ireland had the ability to dominate in any area of the game, be it in the tight or playing rugby with ball in hand.

A fourth try belied the conditions, after Luke Fitzgerald made a telling break that forced the Canadian defence to cough up yet another penalty.  From there it was all down to Eoin Reddan's vision -- spotting Kearney on his own out wide -- and his weighted kick found the Leinster man with ease.  Although not as much ease with which O'Gara slotted his touchline conversion.

Tommy Bowe's try completed the first half action, and, just in case there was any doubt, put the result past Canada.  What will please Kidney is the manner in which his forwards created the try with some meaningful driving, which allowed Bowe to switch the angle and cruise over.

With a host of changes at the break from both sides, the second half was slow to get going.  But once Ireland found their rhythm again they began to demonstrate the gulf in class, although their inability to press home a telling advantage will be of concern.

The home fans broke into a rousing version of Fields of Athenry on the hour, but it did little to lift the players.  With the game meandering along with no real purpose Ireland were able to run their bench, which in turn did little for the fading consistency of the game.

It took a moment of individual brilliance from Bowe, breaking the defensive line before offloading to David Wallace, who streaked over to lift the mood of those drenched in the stands.

There were two more tries, and it was perhaps fitting that Ireland saved their best until last.  Some fine inter-play between Kearney, Bowe and David Wallace afforded Alan Quinlan the luxury of strolling over to bring the fifty up.  And then Shane Horgan made a fine run before sending Bowe over for his second.

All in all Ireland coach Declan Kidney will be pleased with what he saw here, albeit the bulk of what was good came in the first half, and will have plenty to build on ahead of more challenging tests.

As for Canada this was a challenge they were not prepared for, and if they are to ever improve as a side they will need more exposure to such class opponents, as anything less and they will continue to languish at the level they are currently at.

Man of the Match:  Ronan O'Gara did everything you could ask of your fly-half, and was superb with the boot.  But it was Keith Earls and Rob Kearney who stood out the most for Ireland, and but for rain we may have seen a lot more of them.  The duo have time on their side, which will please Ireland, and have the potential to develop into quality Test players.  A mention also for Tommy Bowe who was full of running and created havoc on a few occasions.

Moment of the Match:  This has to be Keith Earls' try, for two reasons.  The first being that from the moment Ireland scored the game was only ever going to produce one outcome.  And what a way for one of Ireland's form players to mark his debut, a try inside two minutes.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing that merits such a ghastly award.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls, Kearney 2, Heaslip, Bowe 2, D.Wallace
Cons:  O'Gara 5, P.Wallace
Pen:  O'Gara

Ireland:  15 Keith Earls, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Robert Kearney, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements (From):  16 Rory Best, 17 John Hayes, 18 Alan Quinlan, 19 David Wallace, 20 Paddy Wallace, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Shane Horgan.

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Bryn Keys, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Sean Michael Stephen, 5 Josh Jackson, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan (c), 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements:  16 Mike Pletch, 17 Frank Walsh, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Morgan Williams, 21 Matt Evans, 22 Phil Mackenzie

Referee:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

Springboks limp past dominant Welsh

South Africa kept their almost perfect record against Wales intact as they dramatically held on for a 20-15 win at Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

The tourists' impressive one defeat in 23 matches against their hosts that has stretched over 104 years was ultimately clung to on the day -- but it was by no means a performance of world champions as Wales set up camp in opposition territory for large parts of the second half.

The Springboks' recent summer whitewash headlines against the Grand Slam holders was always going to become chip paper in Cardiff's autumn air with the hosts able to call upon such names as Lee Byrne and tireless flank Martyn Williams as they looked to right some wrongs.

And the latter's British and Irish Lions hopes would surely have not gone unnoticed by key personnel on either side of 2009 tour agendas as he looked assured at the back.

Pre-game, set-piece and physicality was always going to be crucial in the victor's direction and with powerful Messrs Andy Powell and Pierre Spies on show in the capital, collisions were also predicted to be aesthetically fierce.

Yet in the early exchanges, it was the usual comically and irritating suspects named Bismarck du Plessis and Bakkies Botha who warmed up referee Alain Rolland's whistle and the predominantly red-shirted crowd of home spectators.

As mentioned, the opening possession was with the tourists and when slick handling from Victor Matfield and Schalk Burger led to centre Adrian Jacobs crossing within six minutes -- the Webb Ellis champions looked like they meant business.

That early cushion was swiftly extended to ten points just two minutes later as the first quarter breakdown battle continued to favour the visitors -- the perfect settling start for fly-half hopeful Ruan Pienaar.

The Sharks utility man was in commanding form from the outset as smart positional play steered his team-mates into the more dominant territorial positions with Wales struggling for a foothold.

That was until 27-year-old Cardiff Blues debutante Powell announced himself on the international stage with a timely rampaging run from halfway, which ultimately lifted the northern side's spirits.

Soon after though, a missed opportunity from the tee from Stephen Jones proved a temporary setback for Wales before consolation came through a timely shift in momentum.

As they would have set out to do, Warren Gatland's men finally managed to change the point of attack and keep the Springboks chasing with threats appearing through Shane Williams and company.

And their chance to reduce the arrears subsequently followed when the youthful Leigh Halfpenny opened his international account -- not with five points however -- as the wing slotted a penalty while Jones received treatment.

But with Butch James watching with his friends in the crowd, it was Peter de Villiers fresh-faced calm pivot who was once again on target three minutes before the interval, extending the scores back to 3-13 before Halfpenny was found wanting in response, albeit from 56 metres.

South Africa returned from the dressing rooms without the brute force of substituted Botha who arguably did what was asked on his injury comeback.  But in the rangy Andries Bekker they possessed serious height and mobility for the second period, which opened at quite a pace.

Firstly, a loose pass from green possession found the confident Halfpenny, who combined with Tom Shanklin to break 60 metres downfield with Spies chasing back in the nick of time -- the crowd stirred.

And just ten minutes into the final forty, the ten-point gap seemed to be heading in only one direction as Wales threw on attacking threats Dwayne Peel and James Hook at half-back.

Not so though, as within 20 seconds of emerging from the bench, fly-half Hook was found out by the intelligent Jean de Villiers who read the expansive shift of tactics.

The man from Western Province rushed up in an umbrella defensive line to cut off the attempted pass to be found by the new man for a 70-metre stroll to stem the fearsome Welsh tide.

Hook made amends on 57 and 59 minutes with a couple of penalties that brought the scores to 9-20, but crossing the whitewash was surely going to be the only tonic for a shock revival in Cardiff.

Coach De Villiers must have sensed that it was to be a holding on job for the final quarter as the volume and pressure increased dramatically -- not helped by substitute Jaque Fourie's almost immediate sin-binning for going off his feet close to his line.

Subsequently, the tempo continued to rise as Wales ate away at a fast reducing lead with another pair of penalties leaving South Africa searching desperately for much-needed ball that just wasn't coming.

With five minutes remaining the possession statistics continued to elude the Springboks, who were in a desperate frame of mind that will encourage Scotland ahead of next week's second autumn Test.

Man of the match:  Both new Welshmen on debut can be proud of their efforts on home soil but in Cardiff Blues number eight Andy Powell, Wales seem to have finally unearthed a power runner that ultimately counteracted the strength of Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger.

Moment of the match:  Had this opportunistic passage not occurred then the result may have gone in a distinctly different direction.  Thrown onto the field in an attempt to improve Wales' attacking options with ball in hand, James Hook's introduction saw him immediately throw a wide and wild pass that Jean de Villiers looked to have seen coming before the Osprey had.  The Stormers intercept and cruise to the line proved the vital score in the final whistle.

Villain of the match:  You've guessed it, Bakkies Botha!  The muscular lock was at his irritating best as he got in the faces of the opposition, not least when he laid a cheap hit on Ian Evans early on.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pen:  Halfpenny, Hook 4

For South Africa:
Tries:  Jacobs, De Villiers
Con:  Pienaar 2
Pen:  Pienaar 2

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 James Hook, 22 Andrew Bishop.

South Africa:  15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Brian Mujati, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Frans Steyn, 22 Jaque Fourie.

Referee:  Alan Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), George Clancy (Ireland)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Paul Bridgman (England)

Improving England take care of Islanders

England began life under Martin Johnson with a 39-13 victory over a plucky Pacific Islands side at Twickenham on Saturday.

Danny Cipriani, in only his second Test, collected nineteen points -- a try, three conversions and two penalties -- as England eventually pulled away from a Pacific Islands side who tested England's defence on more than one occasion.

Given that this was the first game under Martin Johnson, we were not expecting a masterpiece that flowed with an ease so dearly sought by the top sides and their coaches.  However, if the glimpses of brilliance are to go by Johnson and his cohorts could be on to something, clearly Brian Smith's desire to attack has seen his players show more adventure in eighty minutes than England ever saw under Brian Ashton.

There were foundations for a performance of note, sadly in the first half errors and penalties cost England when they looked most likely to score.  Instead they had to rely on two moments of magic -- sadly for England sandwiched in between was a Pacific Islands try that Cipriani will be in a hurry to forget.

Delon Armitage was a shining light at the back, taking to Test rugby like the proverbial duck to water, and had more than a hand in England's first try.  Clean line-out ball saw Danny Care slip through a weak tackle and set England rolling towards the line.  As England exploited the space Armitage timed his entry into the line to perfection before throwing an audacious pass over his shoulder to a flying Paul Sackey.  With Cipriani adding the extras England looked to be settling into the game.

Less than a minute later they were stood under their own posts ruing a poor Cipriani clearance kick -- his only blot on the copy book -- that Seru Rabeni pounced on for one of the easiest tries he will ever score.  Whilst the nature of the try was not what the Islanders had in mind it was nothing less than they deserved for an enterprising start to the game.

Strangely the game began to drift, as England twice went through twelve phases -- looking impressive in doing so -- only to see the hard work wasted with lapses in concentration from players you would expect better of.

It took Danny Care's splendid vision -- and a horrendous missed tackle from Vilimoni Delasau -- to spark the England backs into life, and how they reacted to the smallest chance to stretch their legs.  Wide it went to Ugo Monye, deep in his own twenty-two, and after bumping off Delasau's feeble effort, he opened his legs and set England on their way to a stunning counter-attacking try.  It was finished by Cipriani, Monye suffering the indignity of eventually being caught by a prop, but it showed England are slowly shaking off Ashton's shackles.

The second half started in fine fashion, England playing with plenty of intent -- despite the heavy rain -- and testing the Islander's defence.  In the end it cracked with Nick Kennedy cutting back against the grain to score a well taken try on debut.  As in the first-half England failed to kick on, once again settling back into their old habits that Johnson and co. have worked so hard to eradicate.

By the time Lee Mears added a fourth try with just ten minutes to go the game, as a contest, was as good as over.  The Islanders, with a raft of replacements on the field, lost all shape and reverted back to what they knew best -- running rugby at all costs.

It was their undoing as Sackey added a second, benefiting from turnover ball deep inside the Islander's twenty-two.  As for the Islanders, we got what we expected -- a direct and physical approach with plenty of adventure thrown in for good measure.

And whilst this was not vintage England the signs are there that Johnson can mould a team capable of winning at all costs, with the added bonus of some "sexy rugby" when the hard work has been done up front.

The tests that lie ahead will prove a lot more difficult, and they will be punished for the slightest of errors, but on the whole this was a vastly improved England from the one that came back from New Zealand earlier in the year.

Man of the Match:  Making your Test debut is usually about settling into the side and getting to grips with the increased intensity of the rugby.  Not if your name is Delon Armitage.  The London Irish full-back, who was not even in Martin Johnson's original plans, announced himself on the international stage with a superb performance.  There was an air of Chris Latham about him as he climb highest on every occasion to collect towering kicks, and an ease in his running that saw him create the first try.  The test for Armitage now is to deliver to this standard on a regular basis, easier said than done with the big three Southern Hemisphere sides lying in wait.

Moment of the Match:  Surely this award has to go to Danny Care's quick tapped penalty that lead to England's second try.  It showed both Care's Sevens vision coming to the fore, but also the new belief England have in trusting their ability.  And with the likes of Monye, Armitage and Sackey lurking out wide why not chance your arm from time to time.  Hats off to Brian Smith for unearthing England's hitherto dormant attacking potential.

Villain of the Match:  Hats off to both sides for staying focused on the rugby.  Nothing untoward to report here.

The Scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Sackey 2, Cipriani, Kennedy, Mears
Cons:  Cipriani 4
Pens:  Cipriani 2

For Pacific Islands:
Try:  Rabeni
Con:  Hola
Pens:  Hola 2

The Teams:

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Dan Cipriani, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Nick Kennedy, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Phil Vickery, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 James Haskell, 20 Michael Lipman, 21 Harry Ellis, 22 Toby Flood.

Pacific Islands:  15 Kameli Ratuvou (Fiji), 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau (Samoa), 13 Seru Rabeni (Fiji), 12 Seilala Mapusua (Samoa), 11 Vilimoni Delasau (Fiji), 10 Pierre Hola (Tonga), 9 Mosese Rauluni (Fiji), 8 Finau Maka (Tonga), 7 Nili Latu (Tonga), 6 Semisi Naevo (Fiji), 5 Kele Leawere (Fiji), 4 Filipo Levi (Samoa), 3 Census Johnston (Samoa), 2 Aleki Lutui (Tonga), 1 Justin Va'a (Samoa).
Replacements:  16 Sunia Koto (Fiji), 17 Kisi Pulu (Tonga), 18 Hale T Pole (Tonga), 19 George Stowers (Samoa), 20 Sililo Martens (Tonga), 21 Seremaïa Bai (Fiji), 22 Epi Taione (Tonga).

Referee:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assessor:  Dennis Immelman (South Africa)

All Blacks re-assert their superiority

New Zealand wrapped up the 2008 Bledisloe Cup series 3-1 on Saturday, coming back from 14-6 down to beat Australia 19-14 in Hong Kong.

Australia made the early running, but New Zealand's patience paid off in the second half as their forwards -- helped somewhat by some lenience at the breakdown -- dominated the ball and starved Australia's dangerous backs of any possession.

This was absolutely no classic.  It gave the Honkers faithful a few moments to wow about, but by and large the ball spent too much time up in the air and too little time in the hand.

The fact that the pitch was not really conducive to aggressive scrumming didn't help, certainly not Australia, whose struggles at the set piece were compounded by the rickety and slippery surface, and produced a steady stream of penalties to the All Blacks.

Both sides set their stall out in the first half, with Australia banking on acceleration at every possible moment, and New Zealand opting to hoof anything in their own half into the other half and then follow it up in rigid and watertight defensive fashion.  Discipline did win the All Blacks the day in the end -- they conceded only one penalty in the first half to Australia's seven -- but it was the accuracy of the field positioning by the entire XV that ensured Australia struggled to quicken the game up as they would have liked.

Of course, early in a game acceleration of possession is no problem.  Australia scored two excellent first-half tries despite a dearth of possession, but undermined their superior attacking play with a succession of penalties for a myriad of offences.  Dan Carter nailed three of them, none particularly easy.  Any Australian transgression was punished, while New Zealand gave nothing to punish.

But did they really give nothing?  New Zealand have often been described as cheats for certain breakdown tactics, which is a harsh call.  You play what you can get away with.  But at times in the second half there were so many players diving off their feet into rucks, aiming for thin air, that you could imagine much of the midweek training taking place around the edges of a swimming pool.

At other times, support players would not step over the tackler and tacklee to create the ruck, but stand lateral to the men on the ground, basically, hanging round the side.

It widened the "gate", but it also looked suspiciously like a tactic to block Australians coming in from the open side.  Is block overstating it?  I've never seen the positioning that pronounced before, so it had to create some sort of function, and widening the gate would normally be counter-productive.  Certainly, wherever the player would stand, he would not be coming in through the gate ... it is a moot point whether the ruck was formed or not sometimes, but at others, it clearly was, in which case, the man was either offside or coming in from the side.  Potentially both.

Anyway, back to the positive stuff.  Drew Mitchell claimed both tries, and his first was a gem.  Having pressured Stephen Donald and Hosea Gear off the ball, Australian forwards bashed the ball up six phases on the left, before Matt Giteau took the ball at pace into the 10-12 channel and popped it up expertly for Mitchell on a straight line to crash over under the posts.

Carter reduced the gap to 7-6 with two penalties, but then came Mitchell again, after excellent quick distribution by Luke Burgess gave George Smith enough time to slip away a flat scoring pass in the left-hand corner.  Giteau converted with elegance for a 14-6 lead, but Carter quickly replied with his third penalty for a ruck infringement for a 14-9 half-time scoreline.

Graham Henry said at half-time that his team had been "out-passioned", and the All Blacks certainly came out with more zip in the second half -- in all areas of the game, not just the dives into the rucks.

It reaped instant dividends, with a quick handling movement exploiting a six on five overlap for a try from Sitiveni Sivivatu.  Carter's radar went on the blink though, and it was tied at 14-14.

Not much happened after that.  Australia's pack buckled almost as readily as the playing surface, and attempts to redress the imbalance by driving before the put-in were quickly halted by referee Alan Lewis.  The All Blacks were dominant at the ruck, for reasons detailed above, meaning Luke Burgess could not speed the game up as he had done so well in the first half.

It was only a matter of time before the breakthrough came, and it fell to Richie McCaw to deliver the coup de grace, with Sivivatu's lobbed pass a moment of rare magic in an ordinary game.  New Zealand shut up shop thereafter disturbingly effectively, which is perhaps the aspect that the home nations should pay most attention to.  That and some aggressive rucking.

Man of the match:  Luke Burgess stood out for Australia in the early part of the match before the All Blacks cut off his supply of ball, and Sitiveni Sivivatu was the pick of New Zealand's backs.  But for an all-round contribution, look no further than Rodney So'oialo's all-chasing, all-harrying, all-tackling display.

Moment of the match:  Matt Giteau's swerving run and switch with Drew Mitchell for the opening try capped off a fine minute of high-speed rugby.

Villain of the match:  Ali Williams nearly worked himself into this one, but pulled his punch on Stephen Moore in the nick of time.  No award.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Sivivatu, McCaw
Pens:  Carter 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Mitchell 2
Cons:  Giteau 2

New Zealand:  15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Dan Carter, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Greg Somerville, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Ma'a Nonu, 22 Cory Jane.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Phil Waugh, 19 David Pocock, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Lachie Turner.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  George Clancy (Ireland), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Bob Francis (New Zealand)

All Blacks retain their crowns

New Zealand have retained their Tri-Nations trophy and the Bledisloe Cup after beating Australia 28-24 in a scintillating rugby encounter at Suncorp Stadium, that will go down as one of the all-time classics.

The All Blacks piled on 21 unanswered points in a match-defining seventeen-minute spell during the second half, after trailing 17-7, to clinch the winner-takes-all contest.

The result means New Zealand hang on to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Tri-Nations title as well as holding a 2-1 lead in the Bledisloe Cup series, with a final game in Hong Kong scheduled for November 1.

The Wallabies were going in search of their first Tri-Nations title since 2001 and looked to be on course to end that drought when they led 10-7 at the half-time break, but it wasn't to be.

New Zealand built their challenge on tackle point dominance, patient defence and an accurate kicking game.  They excelled in all these facets of play and the Wallabies were reacting to the All Blacks rather than imposing themselves on their visitors for the bulk of the Test.

The hosts did, however, exceed expectations at the set phases, excelling on their own line-out ball and troubling the visitors on theirs, while also achieving parity at scrum time -- and this kept them in the game.

Australia fly-half Matt Giteau had a solid platform from which to orchestrate play, but he struggled initially, kicking poorly and often passing the ball behind those on his outside halting any momentum they had built up.

He wasn't helped by the fact that his side were being dominated at the tackle point and subsequently the breakdowns, ruining the quality of service he received.

But the Wallabies remedied their flaws as the match wore on, committing more cleaners to the rucks and Giteau's potency was amplified, seen by the fact that he was prominent in both their tries either side of half-time.

New Zealand pivot Dan Carter controlled the game well when in possession, blending midfield bombs with good tactical kicks, sniping breaks and good distribution.  His cause was aided by some very efficient ruck cleaning, which ensured he received quick ball.

The Wallabies had the better of the opening exchanges with the first seven minutes of the match played exclusively in All Blacks territory.

But the hosts failed to turn pressure into points -- Giteau had the first shot at goal in the fourth minute but failed to convert from 43 metres out.

The visitors finally got their hands on the ball in enemy territory and took almost immediate advantage when full-back Mils Muliaina crossed untouched in the 11th minute.

Some quick thinking from scrum-half Jimmy Cowan off a short-arm penalty put the Wallabies on the back foot and quick hands was all that was needed from New Zealand who made Australia pay for not numbering up in defence.

Carter's conversion made it 7-0 the visitors' way with 15 minutes played.

A string of costly errors and poor skill execution kept the Wallabies scoreless despite enjoying the bulk of possession.

Australia's best opportunity came on the 20-minute mark but again failed to trouble the scoreboard attendant as Wycliff Palu ignored two unmarked men on his outside to bomb an almost certain try.

The Wallaby number eight was unable to make ammends after limping off with a medial ligament injury which may cost him his place in the end-of-season tour.

Australia finally had something to show for their efforts when Giteau slotted a penalty goal from close range after All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was penalised for being offside at the breakdown.

Australia continued to ask questions for the remainder of the half but had to wait until after time had expired to post their first five-pointer of the contest.

A clever Giteau cross-kick found Peter Hynes on the right wing who delivered a clever one-touch pass inside to a streaming Adam Ashley-Cooper who showed tremendous footwork on his way to the tryline.

Giteau's sideline conversion handed the hosts a 10-7 half-time lead.

It took just five minutes for the Wallabies to strike in the second stanza when lock James Horwill barged over on the back of some brilliant lead-up work from Giteau.

The Wallabies playmaker danced through the All Blacks defensive line before linking with replacement forward Richard Brown who was grassed within touching distance of the line.

Giteau finished the job from the ensuing phase drifting across field before throwing the final pass for the charging Horwill for the converted try to extend to a ten-point lead.

New Zealand's response was swift as Conrad Smith found space to send loosehead prop Tony Woodcock in for his side's second try -- Carter's sideline conversion cut the deficit to three points with half an hour to play.

Having denied a sustained attack from the Wallabies, the All Blacks reclaimed the lead in the 62nd minute when Sitiveni Sivivatu found replacement scrumhalf Piri Weepu for the converted try and a 21-17 advantage.

The All Blacks continued to carve up the Wallabies defence, a sustained attack allowing Carter to run around Stirling Mortlock and then bounce off an attempted shoulder charge by Ryan Cross to score the clincher with 12 minutes left.

Victory -- along with the Tri Nations trophy and Bledisloe Cup -- appeared all but assured for Graham Henry's men.

But in a finish worthy of the occasion, a bustling try from former Rugby League star Cross and a last-minute attack by Australia, had the hosts inside the visitors quarter on the last play of the game.

However, the Wallabies couldn't produce the dream finish most of the 52,328-strong crowd had hoped for.

The All Blacks were forced to defend well after the siren had sounded before the turnover finally came and Weepu booted the ball into the stands to claim a famous victory.

Man of the match:  There were heroes all over the park.  Richie McCaw and Dan Carter served up their class once again, but others played lead roles too.  Both half-backs Jimmy Cowan and Piri Weepu had big games, Conrad Smith was a colossus in midfield, Richard Kahui rock solid on his wing, while up front Rodney So'oialo and Jerome Kaino had strong matches.  Tony Woodcock shook off a head knock to produce another memorable Test and Ali Williams and Brad Thorn gave it everything.  A team award to the All Blacks.

Moment of the match:  Tough one to call in a match that had it all.  But Ryan Cross' late strike ensured a dramatic finish that will long be remembered by all who witnessed it.

Villain of the match:  A fantastic spectacle played in a gentlemanly manner.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ashley-Cooper, Horwill, Cross
Cons:  Giteau 3
Pen:  Giteau

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Muliaina, Woodcock, Weepu, Carter
Cons:  Carter 4

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock (c), 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Richard Brown, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Drew Mitchell.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa/ Neemia Tialata, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert, Mark Lawrence
TMO:  Johann Meuwesen