France fail again in Argentina

Argentina came from behind to snatch a dramatic 23-20 win over France in the first game of their two-Test series at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in C�rdoba on Saturday.

The visitors looked to have their first victory on Argentine soil since 1998 wrapped up until Pumas wing Manuel Montero burst clear in the 77th minute to score the winning try.

France led 14-13 at the end of a scrappy first half thanks to a try from Louis Picamoles but their advantage should have been a lot larger after the visitors left eleven points by wayside with some below-par kicking.

Indeed, les Bleus will harbour a number of regrets as they produced far more on attack than their hosts and were never seriously threatened on defence.  But the tourists were their own worst enemies, committing a plethora of unforced errors and failing to close out a game that was well within their reach.

In typical fashion, Argentina used their tried-and-tested spoiling tactics to frustrate the French while Felipe Contepomi kept the scoreboard ticking with his trusty boot.

It wasn't pretty and penalties were in abundance.  It took just three minutes for the first three points to be scored via France scrum-half Morgan Parra.

Los Pumas struck back immediately when wing Belisario Agulla intercepted a careless pass from Francois Trinh-Duc to race home untouched.

Contepomi added the extras but another Parra penalty left the scores at 7-6.  The French were happy to keep kicking at goal — despite the jeers from the raucous crowd — but Parra's third shot from the tee drifted wide, as did a drop from Florian Fritz.

The French were looking dangerous with ball in hand.  The current trend in French rugby to continually look for sucker-punch three-pointers instead to pushing for tries is a source of immense frustration.

Contepomi missed from inside his own half but Parra had no such problems when the Pumas failed to roll away (again) and the scrum-half gave France a two-point lead in the 22nd minute.

The stop-start nature of the clash saw the hosts move straight back in front though as Contepomi found the mark two minutes later.

Les Bleus replied with a fantastic try.  Full-back Brice Dulin bust clear only to be stopped two metres short.  Trinh-Duc's cross-field kick found Yoann Huget, who flipped it back to Picamoles volleyball-style and no one was going to stop the charging number eight from scoring.

Parra missed the conversion and another relatively easy penalty, meaning Contepomi was able to cut the gap to just a single point on the stroke of half time.

The French opened a seven-point gap as Parra found the mark soon after the restart before adding another three pointer when Pumas flank Tomas Leonardi was sent to the sin bin for a blatant offside when France were in full flight.

Les Bleus were unable to make their numerical advantage count however and Contepomi was again on target to leave the scores at 20-16 going into the final quarter.

Frederic Michalak had came on for Trinh-Duc as the French went in search of the killer blow.  Indeed the winning score would come from a move initiated by Michalak, but for the wrong team.

The Toulon-bound playmaker made a darting run into the Pumas 22 but Fulgence Ouedraogo was unable to hang onto the offload.  The ball was snapped up by the men in white and quickly sent out to Montero, who turned on the afterburners and sprinted 70m to score.

France had a late tilt at the Pumas defence but the game ended — appropriately — with yet another French knock-on.

The rematch is next Saturday in Tucaman.

Man of the match:  What would Argentina do without Felipe Contepomi?

Moment of the match:  Huget's pass inside to set up Picamoles was classic but it was outdone by Montero's try which sent the C�rdoba crowd wild.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Agulla, Montero
Cons:  Contepomi 2
Pens:  Contepomi 3

For France:
Try:  Picamoles
Pens:  Parra 5

Yellow cards:  Leonardi (Argentina — 53rd min — cynical offside)

Argentina:  15 Roman Miralles, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Joaquin Tuculet, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tomas Leonardi, 7 Tomas De la Vega, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Benjamin Macome, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Bruno Postiglioni, 1 Eusebio Guinazu.
Replacements:  16 Andres Bordoy, 17 Pablo Henn, 18 Rodrigo Bruno, 19 Rodrigo Baez, 20 Tomas Cubelli, 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 22 Facundo Barrea.

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Jean Marcellin Buttin, 13 Wesley Fofana, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Yoann Huget , 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra , 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoan Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape (c), 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yvan Watremez.
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Romain Taofifenua, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Maxime Machenaud, 21 Frederic Michalak, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

Venue:  Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, C�rdoba
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Boks seal series in Johannesburg

South Africa became the third nation from the south to prematurely wrap up their series after they edged England 36-27 in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Victory means that the third and final international between these two sides — at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium next week — is now a dead rubber.

It was a deserved win for the Boks as a first-half onslaught had journalists scrolling through the record books.  It looked that worrying for England.

But credit to England as they rallied in the second 40 minutes, with scrum-half Ben Youngs' brace of tries acting as the catalyst to the visitors' cause.

From the kick-off it seemed it was the season for giving on Youth Day in South Africa as England gave their hosts five points on a silver platter when a ball went straight through the scrum on the visitors' five-metre.  Spotting the vacant ball on the blindside was Willem Alberts, who backed up last week's man-of-the-match effort by opening matters on four minutes.  But they could not make it 7-0 as Morne Steyn's kicking misery continued.

England had touched the ball only twice — and one of those times was from the kick-off — when the Springboks crossed again to cap a nightmare start for Stuart Lancaster's men.  This time it was the brute force of hooker Bismarck du Plessis that did the damage, as he carried three tacklers with him towards the uprights.  After confirmation from Television Match Official Iain Ramage, the try was easily converted by Steyn to make it 12-0 on nine minutes.

Promoted fly-half Toby Flood did put England on the board after Youngs was held back getting to a breakdown by flank Marcell Coetzee.  But it only papered over the cracks in the leaky defence, which didn't take too long to be breached for a third time.  On this occasion it was from a remarkable 17 phases from the hosts that saw the bruising Alberts and Eben Etzebeth getting the go-forward ball before Francois Hougaard capitalised from five out.

Steyn's conversion made it 22-3 with 20 minutes on the clock and with the altitude factor expected to come into play in the second 40, the prospect of an English comeback seemed unlikely.  That was until a quick tap from Youngs on halfway led to right wing Chris Ashton breaking the line before he fed Flood in support.  The ten's extras to his score had pulled Lancaster's men back to within twelve points before Steyn smartly sent over a drop-goal.

And that was how it stayed going into the break as the Springboks' 4/1 price to win the Rugby Championship suddenly looked rather generous.  It was a half of physicality and intelligence that in truth left England shell-shocked and needing the ten minutes to think.

Steyn got things ticking again on 47 minutes to make it 28-10 before the so-called altitude factor was set to kick in.  However, England quashed such predictions as they sparked a spell that silenced Coca-Cola Park, with two tries from Youngs bringing them within seven.

Flood continued the surge with a further three points on 65 minutes as — like earlier in the day in Christchurch and Melbourne — it seemed there would be another June Test that was going down to the wire.  But this time would it finally be a northern nation smiling at full-time?

It would not.  South Africa dug deep and a virtuoso try from JP Pietersen ended England's hopes as he first broke clear from his own ten-metre up to England's 22 — beating several attempted tacklers — before finding himself unmarked on the right wing following a couple of ensuing phases.  That critical score pushed the Boks up to a 36-27 advantage with seven minutes remaining in Johannesburg and South Africa ultimately prevailed to make it 2-0.

Man-of-the-match:  The official award went to JP Pietersen following his critical try and general workrate.  However, we take our hat off to young lock Eben Etzebeth as he showed what quality and promise he has in the Springbok jumper.  In just his second Test, he carried superbly and proved he has a bright future in the green and gold.  Bismarck du Plessis was also his menacing self while England's stand-out was Ben Youngs.

Moment-of-the-match:  It came on 73 minutes just when England looked like they might be on their way to a remarkable come-from-behind win.  Step forward JP Pietersen, who went from his own half up to the English 22 before popping up on the right wing for the clincher.

Villain-of-the-match:  Nothing much from what we could see.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Alberts, B du Plessis, Hougaard, Pietersen
Con:  M Steyn 2
Pen:  M Steyn 3
Drop:  M Steyn

For England:
Tries:  Flood, Youngs 2
Con:  Flood 3
Pen:  Flood 2

South Africa:  15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morn� Steyn, 9 Fran�ois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandr� Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Bjorn Basson.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 11 David Strettle, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 Alex Goode.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Steve Walsh (Australia), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Harris wins it for Wallabies

Australia's replacement pivot Mike Harris killed off Wales' hopes of keeping their Test series alive after slotting a last-gasp penalty kick to steal a 25-23 win in Melbourne.

It was a sad case of close but no cigar for the Welsh who came within seconds of winning Down Under for the first time in 43 years and set up a series decider.

However, Harris — on for Berrick Barnes — was called upon to provide the killer blow for the Wallabies after a maul was ruled to have been dragged down and Australia's New Zealand-born super sub didn't disappoint.

The defeat left a devasted Wales outfit once again reflecting on a golden chance gone begging in a thrilling encounter that saw the lead change hands nine times as the match went down to the wire.

The visitors showed their trademark fighting spirit at Etihad Stadium but the loss meant a series victory for Australia, who took out the first Test in Brisbane last week.

Wales got off to a the perfect start, launching a sustained attack after just three minutes which ended when wing George North side-stepped past Wycliff Palu and Rob Simmons to touch down.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked the easy conversion but the hosts went on to have the better of the half and Barnes kicked a pair of penalties to reduce their deficit to 7-6.

The diminuitive fly-half then made a crucial break on the stroke of half-time after slicing through a large gap between Sam Warburton and Ashley Beck, before coolly finding Rob Horne on his shoulder and the centre cruised over the line.

Barnes added the extras to make it a seven-pointer and the Welsh trailed 13-7 at the break.

However, the tourists once again started the better of the two sides after Ashley Beck and Jonathan Davies combined to show off their soccer skills by hacking the ball downfield when Will Genia's pass went astray.

Beck hit the deck, but Davies got a favourable bounce and calmly collected the ball near the line to score.  Halfpenny once again added the extras and Wales were back in front (13-14).

Barnes booted a pair of three-pointers either side of a Halfpenny penalty and Australia were clinging to a 19-17 lead, but they then lost wing Cooper Vuna to the sin-bin for tackling Halfpenny in the air.

The Welsh full-back kicked the resulting penalty to put his side up 20-19 but the Wallabies went straight onto the attack and Barnes made it 22-20 when Wales infringed at a ruck.

The see-saw battle continied when the reliable Halfpenny was on target once again when Ben Alexander was penalised at a scrum 13 minutes from time before Barnes — who had been struggling with a leg injury — then put a kick wide of the posts with six minutes left.

But the Wallabies got another chance when, with the 80 minutes having elapsed, Richard Hibbard infringed at a driving maul, and Harris calmly stepped up to drill a tricky penalty straight through the uprights.

Man of the match:  For Wales, Leigh Halfpenny kept his side in the hunt thanks to a flawless kicking display and perhaps would've been awarded this gong had Wales won.  However, the official man of the match award went to new dad Berrick Barnes and it's hard to argue against it.  Australia's number ten set up the Wallabies' only try of the match and contributed 17 points before being replaced.

Moment of the match:  We're pretty sure every pub in Wales now have a picture of Mike Harris on the bullseye of their dartboards following the replacement's match-winning kick in extra time.

Villain of the match:  Mike Harris — we were looking forward to seeing the series head into a decider next weekend!  But we won't hold it against you ... too much.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Horne
Con:  Barnes
Pens:  Barnes 5, Harris

For Wales:
Tries:  North, Davies
Cons:  Halfpenny 2
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Cooper Vuna, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dave Dennis, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Nic White, 21 Anthony Fainga'a, 22 Mike Harris.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)

Carter drop breaks Irish hearts

Ireland turned up the heat in freezing conditions to push New Zealand all the way, before eventually succumbing to a 22-19 defeat in Christchurch on Saturday.

With the scores level at 19-19 and one minute remaining in the match, All Blacks pivot Dan Carter broke Irish hearts with a last-gasp drop goal to win the game and the series.

It was a valiant effort from the visitors, who led the world champions by one point (9-10) at half-time, but were left playing catch-up following an early try to Aaron Smith two minutes after the break.

But the men in green managed to claw their way back and when All Blacks full-back Israel Dagg was yellow-carded in the 72nd minute, Ireland were presented with a golden opportunity to retake the lead from 49m out.

However, Jonathan Sexton's attempt had the direction but not the distance as the ball fell agonisingly short.  From there the hosts put themselves into a position to set up Carter for the match-winning drop.

His first attempt off his right boot, however, clipped an Irish hand and sailed wide.  But Carter wouldn't miss the second attempt, and this time - off his left foot - sent the ball between the sticks.

Jubilation for the All Blacks, heartbreak for the brave Irish.

Declan Kidney's troops had promised they would up the intensity after being run off the park a week ago and they were certainly true to their word as the visitors - roared on by dozens of Irish fans - threatened to snaffle their first-ever Test win over the All Blacks in their 26th attempt.

Ireland supporters would have been choking on their Guinness after looking at the scoreboard to see the visitors 10-0 ahead in the opening quarter of the match thanks to an early try from Conor Murray and the boot of Sexton.

Ireland made the most of an early line-out close to New Zealand's line with brilliant effect, mauling the ball superbly before Murray - despite having no blindside support - made a dart to get the ball over for the try.  Sexton added the conversion and nine minutes later he added his first penalty.

The All Blacks were able to put their first points on the board through a Carter penalty in the 21st minute.  As in the first Test, Ireland went off the boil when the game headed into the second quarter and as New Zealand's intensity grew, the home side forced errors at the breakdown.  This allowed Carter to add two more three-pointers that closed the gap even further.

The number ten had a chance to put his team in front on the stroke of half-time, but his fourth penalty attempt didn't have the legs and allowed Ireland to head into the half-time sheds 10-9 ahead.

That lead lasted just two minutes after the resumption before Smith grabbed his first Test try after a burst from Sonny Bill Williams.  Williams crashed into the Ireland pack and as the All Blacks piled in, their livewire scrum-half was driven over the line for the try that Carter duly converted.

Any thoughts that the floodgates might open as they did in Auckland seven days ago, were dispelled as Ireland rallied with Sexton adding his second penalty in another strong attacking period that had the All Blacks scrambling to make try-saving tackles.

But with that storm weathered, the momentum again swung the other way and Carter's fourth penalty extended New Zealand's lead to 19-13.

Ireland then came back with two more Sexton penalties levelling the scores to set up a dramatic finale.

Pressure mounted on New Zealand as Adam Thomson joined Kieran Read on the injured list, leaving them only two specialist loose forwards.  Dagg's sin-binning for a late charge on Rob Kearney didn't help matters either for the hosts.

But at 19-all and a man down, the All Blacks rallied one last time and fittingly, Carter - a Canterbury local - was there to hold his nerve and seal the outcome.

Man of the match:  For New Zealand, Dan Carter was obviously the man of the moment thanks to his match-winning drop-goal.  But it's hard to look past the gallant Irish who silenced their critics with a superb effort that came within fractions of the most famous Irish win in history against the world champions.  And it's for that reason why we've opted for a collective award to the entire Ireland team.

Moment of the match:  With 40 seconds of the match remaining, it has to be Carter's winning drop goal.

Villain of the match:  Israel Dagg's brain implosion that so nearly cost his team defeat.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Try:  A Smith
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 4
Drop:  Carter

For Ireland:
Try:  Murray
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 4

Yellow card:  Dagg, 72 mins (New Zealand, foul play)

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Declan Fitzpatrick, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Simon Zebo.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

Visser double sinks Fiji

Scotland's Dutch-born winger Tim Visser scored two tries on debut as the tourists beat Fiji 37-25 on Saturday.

Visser's second try in the 77th minute clinched Scotland's win after Fiji had come from 27-11 down in the 45th minute to trail by only two points, 27-25, with 15 minutes remaining.

Fly-half Greig Laidlaw scored a try, kicked four conversions and three penalties to keep Scotland in front, ensuring they avoided a repeat of their 51-26 loss to Fiji in Suva in 1998.

Scotland overcame hot and humid conditions at Lautoka's Churchill Park and a display of typical backline brilliance from Fiji to post a second win on their southern hemisphere tour after beating Australia 9-6.

In six meetings between the teams, Scotland has won on five occasions and Fiji only once.

Scotland was able to control the match through strong set-piece play and an accurate kicking game guided by Laidlaw.  Fiji showed vulnerability under the high ball and was pressured at scrums, conceding a penalty try from a scrum collapse in the 23rd minute.

The penalty try and tries to Visser and Laidlaw allowed Scotland to take a 24-11 lead to half-time and the tourists expanded that to 27-11 with a Laidlaw penalty in the 45th minute.

Fiji rushed back into the match through the middle of the second half with tries to Waisea Nayacalevu in the 48th minute and Metuisela Talebula in the 65th.  Fly-half Jonetani Raululu converted Talebua's try on debut to cut the lead to 27-25 as the hosts looked like overwhelming the Scots.

Laidlaw eked out the lead to 30-25 by kicking his fourth penalty, then the fast and powerful Visser touched down for the second time to ensure Scotland escaped with a win.

Scotland next plays Samoa in Apia while Fiji faces Tonga next Saturday in the final match of the Pacific Nations Cup.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Domolailai, Nayacalevu, Talebula
Cons:  Ralulu 2
Pens:  Ralulu 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Laidlaw, Visser 2, Penalty try
Cons:  Laidlaw 4
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

Fiji:  15 Isimeli Koniferedi, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Wereniki Goneva, 12 Aloisio Buto, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Jonetai Ralulu, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Malakai Ravulo, 6 Iliese Ratuva, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisai Naikatini, 3 Setefano Somoca, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Jeremaia Yanuyanutawa.
Replacements:  16 Tuatpati Talemaitoga, 17 Waisea Daveta/Graham Dewes, 18 Josefa Domolailai, 19 Kelepi Ketedromo, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Kameli Ratuvou, 22 Metuisela Talebula.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Max Evans, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 John Barclay, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (c), 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Sean Lamont.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Burton gives Canucks the boot

Italy fly-half Kris Burton kicked 20 points to help guide his team to a 25-16 win over Canada in Toronto on Friday.

In a bruising encounter, the Australian-born pivot slotted six penalties and a conversion to overturn a 13-9 half-time deficit and hand the visitors victory.

Canada, who edged the United States 28-25 last week, have now lost four consecutive times to the Italians.

The hosts looked solid for much of the match against an underwhelming Italian team that had an advantage in the scrum but failed to make it pay until the final quarter of the game.  Outmanned in the scrum, the Canadians ultimately paid the price for a high penalty count and an accurate kicker.

Canada full-back James Pritchard kicked three penalty goals and converted Conor Trainor's first-half try after the winger scooped up a loose ball lost by Italian scrum-half Tito Tebaldi and scored the lone touchdown of the first half under the posts to put Canada ahead 13-6 on the way to a 13-9 half-time edge.

A Burton penalty pulled Italy within a point (13-12), before the Six Nations outfit took the lead for good thanks to Tommaso D'Apice's try in the 50th minute off a driving maul.  Burton added the conversion for a 19-13 advantage.

Pritchard pulled Canada closer with a penalty kick, but Burton added two more three-pointers, the last with less than eight minutes remaining.

Pritchard then missed his first kick in the 75th minute that allowed the visitors to hang on for their first win on tour, after losing to Argentina last week.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Try:  Trainor
Con:  Pritchard
Pens:  Pritchard 3

For Italy:
Try:  D'Apice
Con:  Burton
Pens:  Burton 6

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Conor Trainor, 13 DTH Van der Merwe, 12 Mike Scholz, 11 Phil Mackenzie, 10 Matt Evans, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Mike Pletch, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Tiedemann, 17 Tom Dolezel, 18 Jon Phelan, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Edward Fairhurst, 21 Liam Underwood, 22 Ciaran Hearn.

Italy:  15 Alberto Benettin, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Andrea Pratichetti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Antonio Pavanello, 4 Joshua Furno, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Tommaso D'Apice, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Lorenzo Romano, 18 Marco Fuser, 19 Mauro Bergamasco, 20 Edoardo Gori, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Referee:  David Pearson (England)

England put 50 on SA Barbarians

England's midweek team were made to work hard for their 54-26 win over the SA Barbarians South selection at GWK Park in Kimberley on Wednesday.

Wing Christian Wade scored a hat-trick while number eight Thomas Waldrom got a brace in what was a hot-and-cold effort from the tourists.

What may have upset Stuart Lancaster about the performance against their lower tier opponents were the lapses in concentration that allowed the hosts to cross the whitewash on four occasions.

The tourists' flakiness in defence saw them exposed in only the third minute when number eight Jacques Engelbrecht barged his way over.

Waldrom then did well to cross before Wade also got over as the midweek team looked to make a statement ahead of the second Test in Jo'burg.

George Lowe — named as a late replacement for David Strettle — then popped up on the shoulder of team-mate Jordan Turner-Hall to put England into a commanding 27-5 lead, but the Baa-Baas replied before half-time when Hannes Franklin scored while James Haskell was in the bin.

The second-half half saw scores traded when Leicester's Waldrom went over from the base before the pace of EP Kings wing Norman Nelson pulled the home side back into matters.

But when Graham Kitchener replied soon after and Wade went over for his second on the hour mark in the midst of a scoring frenzy that led to Ntabeni Dukisa and Danny Care getting in on the act, the final say was left to Wade, who slipped the tackle on his wing for a treble.

The scorers:

For SA Barbarians South:
Tries:  Engelbrecht, Franklin, Nelson, Dukisa
Con:  Watts 3

For England:
Tries:  Waldrom 2, Wade 3, Lowe, Kitchener, Care
Con:  Hodgson 4
Pen:  Hodgson 2

SA Barbarians South:  15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Kempie Rautenbach, 12 Wayne Stevens, 11 Norman Nelson, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Boela Abrahams, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Shaun Raubenheimer, 6 Mpho Mbiyozo, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Nolan Clark, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Hannes Franklin, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements:  16 Clemen Lewis, 17 Dean Hopp, 18 Ben Venter, 19 Zandre Jordaan, 20 Ntando Kebe, 21 Ricardo Croy, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa.

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 George Lowe, 13 Anthony Allen, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 James Haskell, 5 George Robson (capt), 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements:  16 Tom Youngs, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Nick Abendanon.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (RSA)

Wales hang on in Canberra

Six Nations champions Wales were made to work for an unconvincing 25-15 win over the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium on Tuesday.

In the only mid-week match of Wales' tour Down Under, the visitors held off a spirited Brumbies side that threatened a second-half comeback after trailing the Welsh 19-6 at half-time.

The Jake White-coached Brumbies managed to reduce the deficit to 19-15, but James Hook — who contributed 15 points for his team — struck two late penalties to give Wales their first victory of the tour.

The tourists made 14 changes from the side that lost to the Wallabies 27-19 in Saturday's first Test, and Hook was quickly to work in his favoured position as he crossed for an early try.

The Perpignan star then combined with Ashley Beck to send Justin Tipuric for another, and Wales looked comfortable in a 19-6 half-time lead once Alun Wyn Jones had barged over for a third.

The second half belonged to the Brumbies, and skipper Zac Holmes booted a trio of penalties that hauled the hosts to within four points.

But a pair of late Hook replies steadied the ship and ultimately secured Wales their second win over the Brumbies in four outings since 1978.

The scorers:

For Brumbies:
Pens:  Holmes 5

For Wales:
Tries:  Hook, Tipuric, A.Jones
Cons:  Hook 2
Pens:  Hook 2

Brumbies:  15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Cam Crawford, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Andrew Smith, 11 Kimami Sitauti, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Colby Faingaa, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Ben Hand (c), 4 Leon Power, 3 Scott Sio, 2 Anthony Hegarty, 1 Ruaidhri Murphy.
Replacements:  16 Siliva Siliva, 17 JP Pradaud, 18 Dylan Sigg, 19 Fotu Auelua, 20 Beau Mokoputo, 21 Tom Cox, 22 Jesse Mogg.

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Aled Brew, 10 James Hook, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Aaron Shingler, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 3 Rhodri Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Alex Cuthbert.

Referee:  Ian Smith

Canada edge past USA

Canada got their June Test campaign off to a winning start with a 28-25 victory over the USA Eagles at Queen's University's Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday.

New Canada skipper Aaron Carpenter scored the winning try in front of 7,521 fans in an end-to-end clash that saw both sides touch down three times.

The goal-kicking of Canada full-back James Pritchard proved the difference between the North American rivals as he slotted five from six for 13 points while Carpenter was named man-of-the-match for his inspiring performance.

It could have gone either way in a match riddled with errors on both sides.  However, poor tackling and handling errors would mark the Eagles' demise in an otherwise hard-fought encounter.

Canada scored first in the fourth minute when Matt Evans was able to dummy and run straight through the U.S. defence from 22 metres out, scoring near the posts.  James Pritchard converted to make it 7-0 Canada.

The U.S. replied four minutes later from a scrum 45 metres out when Chris Wyles received a nifty pass from Paul Emerick, pinned his man, and put debutant Luke Hume into space for a try in the corner.  Will Holder's kick missed the conversion from out wide and it was 7-5 Canada.

Canada struck right back with a try from Ciaran Hearn, who exposed an overlap in numbers out on the wing.  Pritchard made the touchline conversion to increase the lead to 14-5.

Two penalties kicked by the Americans and one by the home side meant the gap closed to 17-11.

In the 30th minute James Paterson then inserted himself in the 9-10 channel, and Holder offloaded inside to Paterson who hit the gap at full pace.  With the successful conversion, the U.S took the lead from the first time, 18-17.

Canada had the last say in the half when the U.S. conceded a penalty in the 34th minute.  Pritchard kicked three more points to return the lead to Canada, 20-18 at the break.

The second period would be much slower with both teams trying to sort out the issues of the first half, but it was Canada who enjoyed most of the possession for the opening 20 minutes.

Pritchard extended the lead to 23-18 shortly after the restart

Canada dealt the killer blow when Luke Hume attempted to find touch from deep in his own territory.  D.T.H. van der Merwe countered with a swerving run before finding Carpenter, who scored in the corner after outrunning the cover defence.

The U.S. came back hard in the dying minutes and the Canadian defence held until the 78th, when flanker Scott Lavalla barged over near the posts.

"It was a tough game and a real nail-biter at the end, but we were happy to take the win," stated Canada head coach Kieran Crowley after the game.

"We gave up silly penalties and gave them free yardage," Crowley added.

"That had us playing frantically and the U.S. made us pay for it.  But it was a win in a test match and we're happy for that."

"We played in peaks and valleys and had some rusty moments," commented U.S. coach Mike Tolkin.

"Like Canada, we are just getting back together for the first time.

"We will be looking for improvements over the next few games."

Canada face Italy in a rare night game at Toronto's BMO field on Friday while the Eagles now move to Glendale, Colorado where they will take on Georgia at Infinity Park on June 16.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Evans, Hearn, Carpenter
Cons:  Pritchard 2
Pens:  Pritchard 3

For USA:
Tries:  Hume, Paterson, Lavalla
Cons:  Holder 2
Pens:  Holder 2

Yellow card:  O'Toole (Canada — trip)

Canada:  15 James Pritchard , 14 Sean Duke, 13 D.T.H. van der Merwe, 12 Mike Scholz, 11 Ciaran Hearn, 10 Matt Evans, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter (C), 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Jason Marshall, 17 Tom Dolezel, 18 Jebb Sinclair, 19 Tyler Ardron, 20 Kyle Armstrong, 21 Phil Mackenzie, 22 Jeff Hassler.

U.S.A:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 James Paterson, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Will Holder, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (C), 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Scott Lavalla, 5 Brian Doyle, 4 Louis Stanfill, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:  16 Derek Asbun 17 Shawn Pittman 18 Tom Katzfey 19 Taylor Mokate 20 Shaun Davies 21 Roland Suniula 22 Colin Hawley

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Pumas humble Italy

Argentine rugby took a significant step forwards on Saturday as a second-string Pumas side handed Italy a 37-22 drubbing in San Juan.

The tourists were expected to run out easy winners but Argentina — without most of their best players — put on an impressive display of depth to run four tries past the near full-strength Azzurri.

The result will come as massive boost to Argentine confidence ahead of their two-Test series against France starting next week and, perhaps more importantly, their debut in the Rugby Championship in August.

Argentina led 13-10 at the end of a largely uneventful first half but stepped up the tempo in the second period to leave the visiting Italians shell-shocked.

Veteran playmaker Felipe Contepomi finished the game with personal tally of 22 points — including a try — to send a reminder to coach Santiago Phelan that there is still life left in his old legs.

The only other Puma to start the game with more than 15 caps to his name, prop Rodrigo Roncero, also chipped in with a try in his last Test series.

A slow start to game saw Contepomi cancel out an early penalty from Italy pivot Kristopher Burton, but the 21st-minute sin-binning of Julio Farias-Cabello paved the way for the Azzurri to go 10-3 in front with a converted penalty try.

Los Pumas responded however with Tomas Leonardi crashing over to put the hosts ahead at the break.

Contepomi continued to be accurate with his boot as he added another penalty at the start of the second half, but Italy hit back with a try from Edoardo Gori after 53 minutes to close the deficit to three points.

The Pumas soon pulled away though, with Roncero, Leonardo Senatore and Contepomi all touching down.

Mauro Bergamasco grabbed a late consolation score for Italy, which Riccardo Bocchino converted, but it was too little too late.

Italy must now regroup before facing Canada next Saturday.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Leonardi, Roncero, Senatore, Contepomi
Cons:  Contepomi 4
Pens:  Contepomi 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Penalty try, Gori, Bergamasco
Cons:  Burton, Bocchino
Pen:  Burton

Yellow card:  Farias-Cabello (Argentina — 20th min — cynical offside)

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Gabriel Ascarate, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Agustin Gosio, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore 7 Tomas Leonardi, 6 Genaro Fessia, 5 Julio Farias-Cabello, 4 Benjam�n Macome, 3 Francisco Gomez-Kodela, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Nahuel Tetaz-Chaparro, 18 Santiago Guzm�n, 19 Tomas De La Vega, 20 Tomas Cubelli, 21 Manuel Montero, 22 Roman Miralles

Italy:  15 Luke Mclean, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Alberto de Marchi.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Lorenzo Romano, 18 Joshua Furno, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Tito Tebaldi, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Venue:  Estadio del Bicentenario, San Juan
Referee:  Jerome Garces

First blood to South Africa

South Africa landed the first blow in their three-Test series with England as a strong second-half showing saw them win 22-17 in Durban on Saturday.

Tries from Morne Steyn and Jean de Villiers did the damage after the turnaround as the visitors struggled to repeat their impressive opening.

It was a deserved win for the Springboks however as they recovered well from a disappointing half that saw the sides go in with six points apiece.

England began in a cool fashion and looked comfortable in possession, taking all the correct options in the opening ten minutes.  Ben Youngs was assured at the base while Dan Cole was hungry and Tom Johnson got through a great deal of carrying work as the Boks played second fiddle.

The visitors were rewarded for their efforts too as South Africa debutant Eben Etzebeth failed to roll away after a Cole carry.  Consequently, Owen Farrell was able to send over the first points of the series from 40 metres out in the seventh minute.

But that sparked the Boks into life and it was their battering ram, Willem Alberts, who was creating the go-forward, resulting in Morne Steyn drawing his side level with fourteen minutes gone.

There was definitely a chess match feel to the action.

At 3-all the game began to pick up in pace as the likes of Ben Morgan and Chris Ashton made inroads through the heart of the Springbok defence.  And Morgan's powerful surge — after a lovely late pass from Johnson — led to Marcell Coetzee offending.  Farrell slotted it.

Pictures of the home coaching box illustrated the pressure on new coach Heyneke Meyer, who seemed worried about how his charges were fronting up in his first game at the helm.  He wouldn't have to wait long for a reply though as England went offside and Steyn levelled.

That was how the scores stayed until the interval but that could and probably should have been different after Johnson used his hand on the blindside flank of a scrum just outside his own 22.  Steyn called for the tee in the last kick of the half but the effort strayed wide.

Stuart Lancaster must have been delighted with how his team had fronted up in the first 40 minutes as they looked confident in their ability in both attack and defence, particularly at the breakdown as on three occasions they had turned over the Boks.  That trend had to continue.

Meyer had different ideas though and seemingly rallied his team in the dressing room as England struggled to cope with the lift in intensity upon the resumption.  Finally the host were able to enjoy a sustained period of ball as Bismarck du Plessis became prominent.

Cue 20 minutes of South Africa being largely in possession in England's half in a spell that led to Steyn having a mismatch against Johnson five metres out.  He crossed for a try on 48 minutes before space opened up on the same wing 12 minutes later for De Villiers.

England were trailing 16-6 at that moment and desperately needed the next score, which they got in two-fold as Farrell sent over a couple of penalties, in the 63rd and 66th minute.

With ten minutes remaining in Durban the game was up for grabs but it was Steyn given the opportunities to see out the game and the Bulls number ten didn't misfire with his penalties, making it 22-12 before a late finish from Northampton's Ben Foden came as consolation.

South Africa meet England in the second Test match in Johannesburg next Saturday.

Man-of-the-match:  Alongside hooker Bismarck du Plessis, flanker Willem Alberts carried like a warrior for South Africa.  A mention for England debutant Tom Johnson for his first-half.

Moment-of-the-match:  The try from Jean de Villiers was a sucker punch to England on the hour mark and put the Boks two scores up at 16-6.  From that point on England were playing catch-up and in a second-half where they rarely threatened, the result was arguably settled.

Villain-of-the-match:  Barring a bit of push and shove between Owen Farrell and Frans Steyn after the latter had kicked the ball at England's fly-half, it wasn't too feisty at all.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  M Steyn, De Villiers
Pen:  M Steyn 4

For England:
Try:  Foden
Pen:  Farrell 4

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morn� Steyn, 9 Fran�ois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandr� Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 Wynand Olivier.

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Jonathan Joseph.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant refeerees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Scotland)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Australia bounce back in Brisbane

Australia bounced back from their shock loss to Scotland with a morale-boosting 27-19 win over Wales at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

What a difference four days makes, as the hosts dug deep to prove their doubters wrong and take a 1-0 lead in the series against this year's Six Nations Grand Slam champions.

Wales, who at one stage trailed by fourteen points (20-6), managed to claw their way back into the match and cut the deficit to one (20-19) in an absorbing encounter.

But a try by centre Pat McCabe in the 67th minute proved to be the killer blow as the Welsh slumped to their fifth straight defeat to Australia.

The Wallabies' win takes the heat off under-pressure coach Robbie Deans, whose side rebounded impressively from Tuesday's Scottish disaster with an enterprising ball-in-hand game plan at their Brisbane fortress.

Wales — desperate to end a 43-year drought Down Under — were forced to play catch-up rugby throughout, and it all started when Berrick Barnes opened the scoring with a straightforward penalty kick in the ninth minute.

Australia looked to have created a certain try when Rob Horne darted to the left, but Alex Cuthbert — outstanding for the visitors — prevented the scoring pass with a crucial tackle.

However, just moments later the Wallabies crossed following a series of drives from their forwards that ended with number eight Scott Higginbotham crashing over for his first Test try.

Barnes added the extras and Australia led 10-0 after 16 minutes.

Wales finally got themselves on the scoreboard courtesy of a Leigh Halfpenny, but the men in red were struggling to find any momentum against a Wallabies outfit playing with their tails up.

The tourists then suffered a major blow on the half-hour mark when destructive winger George North was replaced with a quad injury to put him in doubt for next week's second Test in Melbourne.

Trailing 10-3 at half-time, any thoughts of a second-half respite by Australia was extinguished immediately by Will Genia who needed less than a minute after the break to grab his team's second try.

The Wallaby scrum-half exploited space expertly and then effected an outrageous side-step to negotiate the last line of defence.  The finish was a moment of individual brilliance and highlighted Genia's running threat as he dived over for the converted try to extend Australia's lead even further (17-3).

Another Halfpenny penalty was then cancelled out by a Barnes drop-goal, but Halfpenny again nudged Wales closer with a third penalty (20-9).

As the game went on, it was evident that the hosts began to tire in the second half and were not as effective at controlling the ball at close quarters.  And as the game grew looser, Wales came into their own.

Ashley Beck replaced centre Scott Williams and with his first touch of the ball, put Cuthbert over for his fourth Test try.  Halfpenny converted and added an excellent penalty from out wide to cut the deficit to 20-19 on 63 minutes.

Wales were eying a remarkable turnaround, but Australia showed their clinical edge when they needed it most.  Genia was again the creator, picking his pass to McCabe who crashed over with thirteen minutes remaining.

Barnes converted and Australia were once again eight points ahead.

Twice Cuthbert threatened to break clear for a second try that Wales desperately needed, but was denied as Australia recovered to hold out for victory.

Man of the match:  Alex Cuthbert was Wales' standout player,, while David Pocock, Scott Higginbotham, Berrick Barnes and Adam Ashley-Cooper all made significant contributions for Australia.  But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who gets our vote — Will Genia take a bow.  Apart from his try, Genia looked every bit the general in the number nine position.

Moment of the match:  Genia's try ... pure magic.

Villain of the match:  No malice to report!

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Higginbotham, Genia, McCabe
Cons:  Barnes 3
Pens:  Barnes
Drop:  Barnes

For Wales:
Try:  Cuthbert
Con:  Halfpenny
Pen:  Halfpenny 4

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Cooper Vuna, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu , 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons , 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, Dave Dennis, 18 Michael Hooper, 19 Nic White, 20 Anthony Fainga'a, 21 Mike Harris.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Paul James, 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Ashley Beck.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Easy does it for All Blacks

All Blacks wing Julian Savea scored a hat-trick on debut to help the world champions to a comprehensive 42-10 win over Ireland at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

The talented speedster crossed twice in the first half and again after the break to cap a memorable night in his first Test outing for New Zealand, as the home side opened their 2012 account with a bang.

The win also saw the All Blacks extend their winning run at Eden Park to 28 Tests, dating back to 1994.

The visitors were outscored five tries to one, and based on this quality performance from the hosts, it looks like Ireland will have to wait a little longer for that elusive victory over the men in black.

Whilst the scoreline resembles one-way traffic, it took a while for New Zealand to click into a gear as the Irish threatened to give the home side a run for their money early on - Rob Kearney in particular impressing with ball in hand.

But with the scores level 3-3 after fly-halves Dan Carter and Jonathan Sexton traded penalties between them, the All Blacks started to find some rhythm.

Carter, who produced a near flawless display from the tee, added two more penalties from 50m out to stretch his side's lead to 9-3 before Savea struck with his first try in the 25th minute and New Zealand never looked back.

Ireland kicked away possession, not for the first time, and Zac Guildford got away with a fumble that saw the ball roll sideways.  From there, the All Blacks were able to send it wide to Conrad Smith, who switched with Sonny Bill Williams.  The inside centre made one of his trademark one-hand offloads to Carter and he sent Savea away for his first Test try.

Carter converted from bang in front, and the writing was on the wall for Ireland as Savea was once again the man of the moment after crossing over out wide for try number two just before half-time.

Carter was on target once again with the touchline conversion to give the All Blacks a deserved 23-3 lead at half-time, leaving Ireland with a hill to climb after the break.

The hill became a mountain after Savea was celebrating his hat-trick three minutes into the second half.  The Hurricanes flyer had Israel Dagg to thank after the full-back drew in the cover defence - following some good interplay between Conrad Smith and Kieran Read in midfield - to put Savea over in the corner.

Carter raised the flags to make it 30-3 and the result was all but sealed.  That was until the Irish finally hit back through a try by Fergus McFadden who, after a turnover, chased a kick ahead from Sexton and beat Richie McCaw to the ball for a seven-pointer.

With Ireland now in double figures, the green army of supporters were given a glimmer of hope.  However, it wouldn't last long as normal activity resumed shortly after when Read broke away from the back of a 5m scrum and gave the try-scoring pass to replacement Adam Thomson.

Both teams rang the changes with 20 minutes remaining and Ireland weathered another spell of pressure from the home team and looked to have clawed themselves back into a respectable position when McFadden outsprinted Dagg 80 metres to score under the posts.  But referee Nigel Owens had already called back play for an Irish offside.

There was further reason for Irish hearts to flutter in the final minutes as loosehead prop Cian Healy was injured and replaced by hooker Sean Cronin.

Conrad Smith was then rewarded for a fantastic performance when he dived over to the right of the posts after a slick pass from replacement Aaron Cruden.  Carter added the extras to make it a 32-point buffer and give the Irish plenty to ponder ahead of next week's second Test in Christchurch.

Man of the match:  For Ireland, Sean O'Brien and Rory Best were the pick of the forwards while Rob Kearney was a pillar of strength at the back.  New Zealand number eight Kieran Read proved why he's rated the best in his position, while Carter was his influential self at 10 - finishing with a match haul of 17 points.  Scrum-half Aaron Smith produced an outstanding debut with his rapid service keeping the backline moving, but wing Julian Savea gets our vote.  A constant threat out wide, the 21-year-old made history by becoming the first All Black to get a hat-trick against Ireland in only his first Test appearance.

Moment of the match:  Even though there were six tries scored in all, we've opted for Savea's bone-crunching hit on Kearney that proved New Zealand's hat-trick hero is no slouch on defence either.

Villain of the match:  No cards, but the Irish got out of jail a few times when holding back All Black players on the attack.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Savea 3, Thomson, C Smith
Cons:  Carter 4
Pens:  Carter 3

For Ireland:
Try:  McFadden
Pen:  Sexton

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Victor Vito, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Keith Earls, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Touhy, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Darren Cave.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

Laidlaw kick floors Wallabies

Scotland retained the Hopetoun Cup on Tuesday after recording a last-minute 9-6 triumph over Australia in terrible weather at Hunter Stadium.

An 80th minute Greig Laidlaw penalty sparked mass celebrations from the touring side, who made it back-to-back wins over the Wallabies.

But it wasn't pretty in Newcastle, a host venue that became the tenth Australian city to host a rugby international.  This was shocking weather for it.

Scotland entered the game in the knowledge they had claimed the spoils the last time these two met.  And because of the inclement weather it seemed a similar scoreline to either side was likely in their June opener, with Australia readying themselves ahead of this weekend's three-Test opener with Wales while Scotland were set to go on to Fiji on June 16 and Samoa on June 23.

The rain wasn't the only hampering issue in Newcastle as a strong wind — favouring the visitors in the first-half — meant territory was going to be in one country's corner either side of the break.  Subsequently the Scots were in the ascendancy for most of the first 25 minutes.

A couple of Laidlaw penalties from his three attempts in the first 40 saw Andy Robinson's side take a 0-6 lead after half-an-hour, with the Wallabies struggling to get out of their half.  But when they did enjoy a rare piece of possession and looked to kick out through the sheets of rain, the wind then promptly pulled them backwards.  It was tough work.

But they did get on the board from a rare foray into opposition territory when New Zealand-born debutant Mike Harris sent over his first Test points seven minutes before the break.

That was how the score remained going into the break as Scotland took a slim advantage into the sanctuary of a dry changing room.  They knew Australia would come hard though in the second-half as it would be now be the hosts enjoying the gale force wind at their backs.

And so it was as the Wallabies returned in much better form and promptly set up camp in the opposition half, picking and going on numerous occasions as Scotland did well to hold them out.  They did get some reward for their efforts however when Harris levelled swiftly.

When replacement lock Rob Simmons was ruled not to have grounded the ball after several drives to the line from Australia, it seemed the Scots had weathered the storm.  Indeed they had as, with only the dying embers of the game left, they set about having one last assault.

It paid off too as referee Jaco Peyper blew for an offence at the breakdown and Laidlaw stepped up to seal a workmanlike and much-needed win after what was a poor Six Nations.

Man-of-the-match:  It was going to be Scotland openside Ross Rennie for 24 tackles made and zero being missed, but that was before the 80th minute.  Well done Greig Laidlaw.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Pen:  Harris 2

For Scotland:
Pen:  Laidlaw 3

Australia:  15 Luke Morahan, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Anthony Fainga'a, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Nick Phipps, 21 Pat McCabe, 22 Adam Ashley Cooper.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Joe Ansbro, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 John Barclay, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (c), 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Tom Brown.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Keith Brown (New Zealand)

Welsh late show beats Barbarians

Wales recorded a come-from-behind 30-21 victory over the Barbarians on Saturday in an entertaining game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Inside centre James Hook and wing Aled Brew were the heroes for the hosts as their converted tries in the last ten minutes sent the Welsh to Australia with a decent win under their belt.

The special Test fixture was meant to be Shane and Martyn Williams' day but ultimately the match may be remembered for Harry Robinson's debut.

The 19-year-old Cardiff Blues finisher scored a breathtaking try after scrum-half Lloyd Williams spotted space wide on the right and from 40 metres, Robinson raced into the corner with Mils Muliaina unable to make up the ground to stop him.  It was quite a way to enjoy a home debut.

His try on ten minutes had followed an earlier James Hook penalty and his extras of Robinson's effort gave Wales a ten-point lead.

Hook added a further three points from the kicking tee on 25 minutes as it looked like Rob Howley was about to enjoy watching a clinical performance against the Baa-baas.

But that proved not to be the case as Barbarians fly-half Stephen Donald's opportunistic effort and Welsh scrum-half Richie Rees scoring on 27 and 36 minutes respectively — Donald converting — saw the improving visitors go in at half-time with a 13-14 advantage.

There was a raft of changes after the break as Aled de Malmanche, Anton van Zyl, Sailosi Tagicakibau, Neemia Tialata, Akapusi Qera and Rory Lawson all emerged before the next try was posted on the hour.  It was again Donald getting in on the act as the pivot spotted space in the Welsh backline — in between Dan Biggar and Andrew Bishop — and promptly powered over before adding the extras.  It was now 16-21 due to an earlier Hook penalty.

But then came the Welsh fightback as Hook did well to hold two defenders and cross from 30 metres on the left wing before Brew intercepted a pass to add the icing on the cake as both Williams' said goodbye to the 57,000 watching supporters at Millennium Stadium.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Robinson, Hook, Brew
Con:  Hook 3
Pen:  Hook 3

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Donald 2, Rees
Con:  Donald 3

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 James Hook, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Rhodri Jones, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paul James, 18 Aaron Shingler, 19 Martyn Williams, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 Adam Warren, 22 Will Harries.

Barbarians:  15 Mils Muliana, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Casey Laulala, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Mamuka Gorgodze, 7 Johnnie Beattie, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Mick O'Driscoll, 3 John Smit (capt), 2 Benoit August, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Anton Van Zyl, 19 Akapusi Qera, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 22 Cedric Heymans.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Ireland beaten by Barbarians

Ireland could only warm up for their forthcoming tour of New Zealand with a 29-28 defeat at the hands of the Barbarians at Kingsholm.

The Irish, deprived of Leinster players resting after their RaboDirect PRO12 final defeat, scored four tries like their opponents but were undone by Felipe Contepomi's late penalty kick.

The Barbarians took a 10th-minute lead when home favourite Mike Tindall made a half break and from the ensuing ruck, Paul Sackey sent over former Gloucester star Iain Balshaw for a try that Contepomi converted.

But Ireland responded and from their first incursion into the Barbarians 22, Craig Gilroy finished strongly for the try which captain Ronan O'Gara converted to tie up the scores.

Benetton Treviso lock Cornelius van Zyl crossed to put the invitation side back in front but back came Ireland when Gilroy produced a stunning burst down the right flank to set up Keith Earls, O'Gara adding the extras.

Sackey caught Ireland's defence napping and raced away for the try Contepomi converted shortly before the half-hour but five minutes after the restart O'Gara was on target again after Simon Zebo touched down to edge Ireland back ahead.

Tindall crashed through the Irish defence to the delight of the Gloucester crowd, before Earls eased through at the other end to keep the game in the balance.

But with three minutes remaining, Barbarians were awarded a penalty in the Irish 22 and for the first time in the match, a kick at goal was chosen, Contepomi the match-winner.

The scorers:

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Balshaw, Van Zyl, Sackey, Tindall
Cons:  Contepomi 3
Pen:  Contepomi

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls, Gilroy 2, Zebo
Cons:  O'Gara 4

Barbarians:  15 Cedric Heymans, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Mamuka Gorgodze, 5 Cornelius van Zyl, 4 Mick O'Driscoll (c), 3 John Afoa, 2 Benoit August, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Akapusi Qera, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isa Nacewa.

Ireland:  15 Keith Earls, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O'Gara (c), 9 Conor Murray, 8 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Chris Henry, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 James Coughlan, 20 Paul Marshall, 21 Nevin Spence, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Referee:  J�r�me Garces (France)

England ease past Barbarians

England wing Chris Ashton bagged a hat-trick to help his team to a record 57-26 win over the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.

The hosts, who scored eight tries in all, produced a performance of intensity and ambition which ensures Stuart Lancaster's side can approach their tour to South Africa in good heart.

England showed a willingness to swing the ball wide at every opportunity, but will be disappointed to have conceded four tries to the Barbarians.

Lancaster's troops scored first when Ashton collected Lee Dickson's cleverly disguised inside pass to trot over under the posts in the 18th minute.

England lock Mouritz Botha — who was everywhere in a typically hardworking display — put his head down and charged for the corner on the half hour mark, only to be kept out by some brave Barbarians defending.

But the invitational side struck back three minutes later, with New Zealand's 100-Test cap full-back Mils Muliaina finishing classily after former England wing Iain Balshaw's chip ahead bounced into his path.  Fellow Kiwi and 2011 Rugby World Cup hero Stephen Donald added the extras.

But England took control in the closing moments of the half.

First Dylan Hartley — on his return to action after an eight-week biting ban — scored after a clinical catch-and-drive line-out move.  Ashton then scooted over for his second after Hartley's powerful break gave space for Farrell to deliver a simple scoring pass.

Ashton collected his hat-trick just five minutes after the break before Muliaina, who was superb in attack and defence, collected Casey Laulala's stunning offload to score in the corner.

As the game reached the hour mark, Christian Wade marked his debut with a try.  The London Wasps flier looked dangerous with his pace throughout but the 21-year-old had the simple task of ambling over the line after captain Phil Dowson's perfectly timed pass.

The heat rose at Twickenham but the tries kept on coming, with former England captain Mike Tindall barging through two would-be tacklers after taking a quick tap penalty.

Then replacement scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth neatly sidestepped his way under the posts after Ashton raced clear down the right.

Jonathan Joseph became the second senior debutant to score, collecting Farrell's kick to take advantage of a gaping hole in the Barbarians defence, before replacement Raphael Lakafia grabbed a late consolation for the visitors.  Joseph then added another at the death.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Ashton 3, Hartley, Joseph 2, Wade, Wigglesworth
Cons:  Farrell 7
Pen:  Farrell

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Muliaina 2, Taele-Pavihi, Tindall
Cons:  Contepomi, Donald 2

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Phil Dowson (c), 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Matt Stevens.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Joe Launchbury, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Jonathan Joseph, 22 Alex Goode.

Barbarians:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ian Balshaw, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 John Beattie, 6 Ernst Joubert, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 John Afoa, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements:  16 Benoit August, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Raphael Lakafia, 20 Jerome Fillol, 21 Felipe Contepomi, 22 Sailosi Tagicakibau.

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)

Wales clinch Grand Slam

Wales beat France 16-9 in a tight battle at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday to complete the Grand Slam in fine style.

Wing Alex Cuthbert scored the only try of an enthralling battle to help the home side to their third Slam in eight years.

The occasion had an extra poignancy for Welsh rugby following the death of 1976 Grand Slam skipper Mervyn Davies on Thursday a few will deny they deserved victory in Cardiff over a combative but unimaginative French team.

Cuthbert's try helped Wales to a 10-3 lead at half time while Leigh Halfpenny added the conversion and three penalties over the course of the 80 minutes.

All of France's points came from the boot of half-backs Lionel Beauxis and Dimitri Yachvili.  Indeed French fans will be left frustrated by the lack of positive intent or creativity from their side.

But the day was about Wales and their ability to hold their nerve under pressure.  And there was no lack of it as les Bleus came desperately close to forcing their way over in the closing minutes.

While the Welsh attack has been a talking point over the last six week, it was their defence that impressed most with Jonathan Davies and Dan Lydiate leading the charge.

Referee Craig Joubert was taking a strict approach to the breakdown area and ruck infringements gave Yachvili and Rhys Priestland each an early opportunity to kick at goal.

The French scrum-half opened the scoring but Priestland's reply found the post.

Wales were soon in front however when Cuthbert scored a fabulous try from quick turnover ball, showing a neat step in between Julien Bonnaire and William Servat before tearing towards the unguarded tryline.  Halfpenny took over the kicking duties and had no problems with the conversion.

A powerful Welsh scrum was at the origin of further points seven minutes before the break as it gave Davies a head start to put pressure on Beauxis, who spilt his pass in contact and the home side were awarded a penalty when Alexis Palisson was forced to hang on while cleaning up.

Halfpenny should have added another three points on the stroke of half-time but this time it was his turn to strike the woodwork.

Sam Warburton did not return to the field after the break and the French held the momentum early in the second period.

Beauxis narrowed the gap to four points from the kicking tee but squandered an easy chance to get les Bleus within a point when he missed his fourth drop goal attempt of the tournament.

Halfpenny thumped over a penalty from 52 metres out to restore Wales' advantage as France persisted with their kick-orientated game, though replacement Jean-Marcellin Buttin came close to scoring when collecting a cross-field kick from Beauxis.

The visitors piled on the pressure in the closing stages and Imanol Harinordoquy will rue his decision to cut inside when he had Louis Picamoles on his outside and the tryline within range.

Joubert gave the visitors a penalty and their negative attitude was summed up in the decision to take three rather than seek a try to level the game.

The final minutes were inevitably fraught from a Welsh perspective, but Halfpenny held his nerve to add one last penalty and kick off a massive party.

Man of the match:  Wales flank Dan Lydiate put in yet another immense tackling display and must be considered a candidate for Player of the Tournament.

Moment of the match:  There was nothing to choose between the teams in the opening stages before Alex Cuthbert's try put Wales ahead.  From then on France were chasing the game and Wales always seemed in control.

Villain of the match:  No bad guys here.  Let the party commence!

The scorers:

For Wales
Try:  Cuthbert
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

For France:
Pens:  Yachvili 2, Beauxis

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yohann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 David Attoub, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Jean-Marcellin Buttin

Venue:  Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Ireland given lesson at Twickenham

England demonstrated a scrumming masterclass against Ireland as they crushed their visitors 30-9 in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday.

In difficult weather conditions for running rugby, the English destroyed the Irish set-piece on numerous occasions as Alex Corbiserio, Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole enjoyed immense games.

The trio — with help from their back-five — totally dominated their opposite numbers in what became a feasting ground for the home side.

Victory means England finish the Championship in second place after winning four out of their five games while Ireland end up in third position.

Stuart Lancaster must now wait to see whether chief executive Ian Ritchie believes he is the right man to lead the English on a full-time basis.

On the evidence of the Six Nations, it will be difficult for Ritchie to overlook Lancaster staying with Graham Rowntree while Andy Farrell is unlikely to remain due to club commitments.

The opening half was a rather stagnant affair as both sides based their game largely on defence, with regular handling errors hampering proceedings.  Ultimately, the action at Twickenham failed to excite those watching as three Owen Farrell penalties and two from Jonathan Sexton meant the half-time score was 9-6.

What was a blow to the Irish cause was the loss of starting tighthead Mike Ross, who left the field injured on 36 minutes and left Ulster loosehead Tom Court with what proved to be the toughest 44 minutes of his career.  Cue England's pack twisting the knife at scrum-time.

Corbisiero was dominant while Cole also capitalised as Ireland's pack looked dejected, which created the first try of the game on 65 minutes when England were given a five-metre scrum after Tomas O'Leary carried over his line.  Referee Nigel Owens had little option.

In the 73rd minute another massive scrum effort led to a further penalty for England and Ben Youngs, who came on for an out-of-sorts Lee Dickson, reacted to tap quickly to scoot over.

Farrell could not land the conversion but added another penalty three minutes from time to complete the victory and rubber stamp another positive step forward for the young side.

Man of the match:  Change to Men.  England's pack.

Moment of the match:  It is harsh to pick on one Irish player but the back-tracking Tomas O'Leary was rather lethargic when running back in an attempt to collect a grubber through.  Ultimately he did not have time to clear which meant England had a five-metre scrum that turned into seven points.  The hosts turned the screw at the set-piece and the rest is history.

Villain of the match:  Despite all the hype, it was relatively clean.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Penalty, Youngs
Con:  Farrell
Pen:  Farrell 6

For Ireland:
Pen:  Sexton 3

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Mike Brown.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.

Referee:  Nigel Owens
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garces, Neil Paterson
Television match official:  Jim Yuille

Italy hand spoon to Scotland

Italy recorded a 13-6 victory over Scotland in Rome on Saturday in a result that leaves the visitors with the Six Nations Wooden Spoon.

Italy claimed a gritty 13-6 victory over Scotland on Saturday in a result that handed the visitors the Six Nations Championship Wooden Spoon.

It was apparent that this was a Wooden Spoon decider as both teams shut up shop and tried not to lose more than take the game by the scruff of the neck.  Possibly that is doing a disservice to Jacques Brunel's outfit though, as they did enjoy spells of territory in which players ran straight.

But the first-half only managed to produce a grand total of six points as Mirco Bergamasco and Greig Laidlaw traded a penalty apiece in the sunshine.  Italy reemerged in hot form though following the turnaround and enjoyed a purple patch that led to Giovanbattista Venditti going over for five points.

That converted try on 43 minutes proved to be the match-winner as only another shot from Laidlaw and then a late Kris Burton drop-goal troubled the scorers in the remaining 37 minutes in Rome.

Scotland end the 2012 Six Nations with no wins to their name in a campaign that has left the pressure mounting on coach Andy Robinson.

The Englishman was forced to make a late change to his side when prop Allan Jacobsen failed a fitness test before kick-off, with John Welsh starting.  Meanwhile, the Italians were also without a first-choice player after hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini pulled out injured.

But it was the opposing hooker, Ross Ford, who was in the spotlight during the action at the Stadio Olimpico as the Scottish line-out struggled to fire throughout.  That hurt their game.

As mentioned, the first 40 minutes struggled to excite as Bergamasco and Laidlaw kicked one penalty each.  But then after the break Venditti found an opening as he burst through a Stuart Hogg tackle to touch down.  Burton sent over the conversion from under the posts.

Scotland did answer in the 60th minute via another kick from Laidlaw but when Burton sent over a drop-goal three minutes from time, Scotland were beaten for the fifth time in 2012.

Man of the match:  Back from a rib injury, prop Martin Castrogiovanni was superb for Italy while lock Quintin Geldenhuys and number eight David Denton also put in good shifts.

Moment of the match:  No prizes for guessing this one.  Italy wing Giovanbattista Venditti scoring on 43 minutes to send Rome wild.  A key try that proved to be the difference.

Villain of the match:  If we have to then it will be the yellow card trio at Stadio Olimpico.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Venditti
Con:  Burton
Pen:  Bergamasco
Drop:  Burton

For Scotland:
Pen:  Laidlaw 2

Yellow cards:  Nick de Luca — 39 mins; Jim Hamilton — 56 mins; Alessandro Zanni — 66 mins

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Joshua Furno, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Max Evans, 13 Nick de Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford (captain), 1 John Welsh.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Jack Cuthbert.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

England conquer Paris

England made it three away wins in the 2012 Six Nations when they weathered a France storm to run out 24-22 winners in Paris on Sunday.

The visitors outscored their hosts three tries to one in a thrilling encounter that went down to the wire as the French fought in vain to keep their 10-match unbeaten run at Stade de France intact.

It was a passionate performance from the English, who never relinquished their lead after centre Manu Tuilagi crossed for the opening try in the 13th minute of the match.

France's efforts in the first half had been disappointing, and the 14-9 deficit at the break was a good reflection of this, but also the superb work of the visitors.

England came out with the same passion and vigour in the second 40 as they had done in the previous half, bruising in the forwards and creative in the backs.

They were unrelenting up front, while France looked rudderless at times when they had the ball.

Their defence was outstanding and managed to hold France off on a weight of possession, until the French staged a dramatic fightback that was ultimately thwarted by their nemesis team.

England, mathematically at least, will head into the final weekend with a shot at the title — and Stuart Lancaster's bid to become the next full-time coach is building momentum.  Wales, though, are now all but guaranteed the Six Nations title.

England's aggressive defence really rattled and disrupted France early on and the visitors took full advantage with two first-half tries.

Chris Ashton made a big hit on the halfway line and Owen Farrell and Lee Dickson combined to unleash Tuilagi who out-sprinted the cover to touch down in the corner.

Farrell converted with a terrific kick from the touchline and England doubled their lead five minutes later.

Number eight Ben Morgan thundered through the French defence before offloading to his namesake Foden and the England full-back scrambled to the line.  Farrell added the simple conversion.

France kept in the game with three first-half penalties, Lionel Beauxis landing two and Julien Dupuy slotting one.

Farrell landed a penalty early in the second half as England survived a period with Charlie Sharples in the sin-bin for a deliberate knock on.  On his return, though, Beauxis and replacement Morgan Parra cut England's lead.

However, the decisive moment came when Tom Croft was given space to hit full stride before cutting through the French line and rounding the cover.

Farrell's tough conversion was crucial as France rallied once again.

Finally France crossed the tryline to make it a tension-filled last five minutes as Wesley Fofana went over in the corner for his fourth try in as many matches after being fed by Parra, who then converted from the touchline.

The French went roaring back into the English half spearheaded by Aurélien Rougerie but replacement Francois Trinh-Duc's effort at a drop-goal fell short and England held on.

Man of the match:  England's victory truly was a group effort, and a team gong is richly deserved.  However, it's hard not to single out some outstanding performances — namely from Dan Cole, Geoff Parling and Owen Farrell.  But in the end we thought Ben Morgan gave as good as he got with a tough and uncompromising effort at number eight for England.

Moment of the match:  Take your pick!  There were many, but England's third try did it for us as Tom Croft sent Aurélien Rougerie the wrong way and broke one tackle to touch down.  Brilliant.

Villain of the match:  There was a yellow card for Charlie Sharples, but we really don't think there was hardly any malice involved.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Fofana
Con:  Parra
Pens:  Beauxis 3 , Dupuy, Parra

For England:
Tries:  Tuilagi, Foden, Croft
Cons:  Farell 3
Pen:  Farrell 2

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yohann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements:  16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Francois Trinh-Duc, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Mike Brown.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Italian job done for Wales

Wales kept their Grand Slam mission on course after seeing off a determined Italy outfit 24-3 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

Now only France stand in the way of the Welsh, who are only 80 minutes away from securing the 2012 Six Nations title.

However, it wasn't always one-way traffic for the hosts.  Wales have averaged almost 40 points a time over their previous Six Nations meetings with the Azzurri in Cardiff and a repeat performance was expected by many this weekend.

But the Italians weren't prepared to roll over so easily and put in a feisty performance in defence that kept their hosts tryless for 50 minutes, until centre Jamie Roberts finally found a chink in the visitors' armour.

Until then, the favourites had to settle for three penalties to one with full-back Leigh Halfpenny and wing Mirco Bergamasco providing all the points in the first half for their respective teams that saw Wales head into the half-time sheds 9-3 on top.

Italy enjoyed some lengthy spells of possession after the break, but they were then hit with a sucker punch as Wales grabbed the opening try.

The visitors had made seven times more tackles than the men in red, but had no answer for a Welsh counter-attack inside their own 22.  With Italy's defence stretched, the ball was spun wide to Roberts who stepped inside Bergamasco for a clear run-in to the line.

Halfpenny added the extras but 10 minutes later found himself in the sin-bin after taking Italy skipper Sergio Parisse out in the air whilst following up his Garryowen.

However, the Azzurri failed to take advantage of playing against 14 Welshmen and failed to add any points in Halfpenny's absence.  Instead, Wales managed to extend their lead through a Rhys Priestland penalty.

With three minutes left on the clock, the hosts sealed the deal with their second try of the match thanks to some brilliant finishing from wing Alex Cuthbert.

Priestland's conversion attempt was wide, but it didn't matter as Wales sent Italy home — still without a win in the competition.  The Azzurri face Scotland next in a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

Man of the match:  Scrum-half Mike Phillips and centre Jonathan Davies were Wales' stand-out performers, but we'll go for flanker Dan Lydiate who put in his usual strong display.

Moment of the match:  There weren't many!  But Jamie Roberts' try proved to be the breakthrough Wales were looking for.

Villain of the match:  We have a feeling referee George Clancy is going to cop a lot of flak following his performance in the middle …

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Roberts, Cuthbert
Cons:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3, Priestland

For Italy:
Pens:  Bergamasco

Yellow card:  Halfpenny, 61 mins (Wales, taking player out in the air)

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c).
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Luke McLean, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Cornelius Van Zyl, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Fabio Staibano, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Robert Barbieri, 20 Tobias Botes, 21 Tommaso Benvenuti, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)

Four-try Ireland a cut above Scotland

Ireland scored four tries at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday in a convincing 32-14 Six Nations victory over Scotland.

Having lost narrowly (and somewhat controversially) to Wales before being held to a draw in Paris, Ireland will head to Twickenham in confident mood next weekend.

Scotland meanwhile are faced with a Wooden Spoon showdown in Rome.

An entertaining first-half saw four tries being scored as Rory Best, Eoin Reddan and Andrew Trimble touched down for the hosts while Richie Gray showed great power, pace and skill to cross for Scotland to leave the hosts leading 22-14 at the break.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for a gritty, error-strewn second half as the hosts struggled to come up with the knockout blow.

In fact, the only knockout of the second period involved Scotland wing Lee Jones's lights going out after a vicious (though entirely unintentional) clash of heads with Trimble.

Replacement centre Fergus McFadden did eventually secure a deserved win for Ireland with a try under the sticks in the dying minutes.

A hamstring injury in the warm-up meant that Nick De Luca was replaced by Max Evans in the Scottish midfield, with uncapped Edinburgh back Matt Scott named on the bench.

Fly-half Greig Laidlaw kicked the visitors into an early 6-0 lead as Scotland held onto all the possession in the opening 10 minutes with the expansive style which has been the hallmark of their approach throughout the championship.

Ireland's positive mindset was evident when they opted to kick for the corner rather than take three points on the quarter-hour mark.

After a simple line-out, the ball was sent down the blindside and Best went straight over Mike Blair to score the first try in the corner.

Jonathan Sexton and Laidlaw exchanged penalties before Ireland struck again as Reddan escaped the clutches of opposite number Blair, Sean Lamont and David Denton to wriggle his way clear and score following a ruck five metres out.  Sexton converted to put the hosts 15-9 ahead.

Scotland's reply wasn't long in coming though as giant second row Gray broke through attempted tackles from Reddan and Tommy Bowe before selling Rob Kearney a dummy and sprinting 25m for his first Test try.  Laidlaw missed the conversion.

Ireland would take the momentum into the dressing rooms however, scoring their third try when Trimble made a mockery of the Scottish defence out wide — and Lee Jones in particular — to dashed over in the corner.

Sexton's conversion was wide but the hosts would have felt confident of victory with an eight-point lead at the break.

Bowe came desperately close to claiming Ireland's fourth try early in the second period but was wrestled onto his back by Graeme Morrison and the TMO ruled that he had made an illegal second movement in grounding the ball.

But overall the second forty minutes failed to live up to the standard set in the opening period.  Scotland fought bravely but never realistically looked like having enough to claim victory.

Max Evans was sent to the sin bin for impeding Keith Earls without the ball on 72 minutes and Ireland made the most of their numerical advantage as McFadden burrowed over the line with three minutes left on the clock.

Man of the match:  A few candidates here and a mention must go to Rory Best for leading Ireland to victory.  Stephen Ferris and Donnacha Ryan were also outstanding for the men in green but we'll break with convention and go with someone from the losing side because Richie Gray was phenomenal.  For a lock, his try was simply brilliant.  It's a sign of his class that he often seemed like the Scots' most dangerous runner.

Moment of the match:  Scotland were right in the game in the first half but Andrew Trimble's try just before half time took the wind out of their sails.  While a lot of credit must go to the Ulster wing, Trimble should never have been allowed to score.  It was the kind of defensive glitch that has ruined Scotland's campaign and it put Ireland in a position from which they could control the game.

Villain of the match:  We'll change this one to "Ballerina of the Match".  The dive from Keith Earls after being 'interfered with' on his way to the line by Max Evans would have made Christiano Ronaldo proud.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Best, Reddan, Trimble, McFadden
Cons:  Sexton 3
Pens:  Sexton 2

For Scotland:
Try:  Gray
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

Yellow card:  Evans (Scotland — 73rd min — playing man without the ball)

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Peter O'Mahony, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Shane Jennings, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross , 2 Ross Ford (c) 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Matthew Scott

Venue:  Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite, Greg Garner (England)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)