Super All Blacks rampant in Sydney

An outstanding match at ANZ Stadium in Sydney saw New Zealand clinch a try-scoring bonus-point 47-29 win over Australia.

The All Blacks kept hold of the lead for the majority of the match as both teams played with great width and endeavour throughout, a classic performance featuring eight tries in total, including a hat-trick for Ben Smith and a length-of-the-field classic from Will Genia.

The occasion marked the return of Richie McCaw to the international stage and he hardly shunned the limelight, ever-present at the breakdown throughout and a try scorer too as he proved that none of his magic had been lost during a six-month sabbatical.

As Test matches go in 2013, the overall quality was at times a cut above — with both the Wallabies and All Blacks underlining why Bledisloe Cup matches are constantly pencilled into diaries.

In the end however, with six tries in the bag away from home and 47 points scored, this was New Zealand's night.

Cruden's perfect slight of hand gave Ben Smith the space he needed to run around into the corner and grab the game's first try after only three minutes.

A mis-timed leap then handed the Wallabies their first points when Lealiifano stroked over a penalty, a second arriving minutes later when the returning McCaw was penalised for going off his feet.

Played out at a relentless tempo, it was Australia who started brighter despite conceding that early try — although Michael Hooper and Andrew Hore both made key interventions for theirs sides at the breakdown in defence.

McCaw gradually flourished as he grew into the match, winning a penalty at the breakdown that allowed Cruden to stretch the score to 10-6 in the All Blacks' favour at the close of the opening quarter.  He wasn't perfect though — another breakdown penalty offence letting Lealiifano close the gap.

The introduction of the new scrum laws saw less resets, but more free-kicks as both Aaron Smith and Will Genia were caught out for not feeding straight into the scrum.

McCaw's mixed fortunes continued with another discrepancy, again on the deck, as Lealiifano put Australia in front for the first time.  It was a lead that lasted less than a minute — the Brumbies inside centre's kick was soon charged down by Cruden, who only had to flop on the bouncing ball to score the All Blacks' second try.

It was a moment that woke New Zealand up — McCaw, who else, crashing over in the right-hand corner from a divine Conrad Smith pass to become the first New Zealand forward to rack up over 100 Test points.

Two tries in five minutes;  the work of a ruthless side and a 22-12 lead for the world champions.

Australia needed something and a loose line-out from Hore was snaffled up by Hooper at the base, finding Genia — who blazed his way past the All Blacks' two Aarons down the right wing, before skipping inside for a remarkable 75-metre try.

It was a score to rival his magnificent effort in the Super Rugby Final two years ago.  A further Cruden penalty left the half-time score at 25-19.

Lealiifano's fifth penalty at the beginning of the second half kept the Wallabies very much in contention for the lead, a three-pointer that came before a completely frantic passage of play.

Both sides breathlessly attacked, culminating in the two of the Smiths combining — Aaron feeding Conrad who scuttled his way in under the sticks for the try bonus point and a 32-22 lead for New Zealand.  With Ben Smith's second try a few minutes later, after good work from blindside Steven Luatua to disrupt a Wallaby scrum, this contest was over.

Quade Cooper's introduction to a chorus of boos felt like a last throw of the dice from new Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie, but there was to be no pay-off.

Instead Ben Smith sealed a memorable hat-trick;  a moment the man from Otago will never forget after the ball squeezed out of a Wallaby ruck and the Highlander cantered down the right wing to finish.

O'Connor crossed for a consolation try after the hooter but Australian minds were already on next weekend — a re-match in Wellington against the world champions and a chance to bounce back.  New Zealand will be lying in wait, purring.

Man of the Match:  Long live the King.  Richie McCaw returned to Test rugby with one of his defining performances in an All Black jersey.  He was everywhere.

Moment of the Match:  It might have been an effort in defeat, but Will Genia's blitzer brought Australia screaming back into the contest at the end of the first-half.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report, although Quade Cooper must have thought he was in a pantomime.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, O'Connor
Cons:  Lealiifano 2
Pens:  Lealiifano 5

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B.Smith 3, Cruden, McCaw, C.Smith
Cons:  Cruden 4
Pens:  Cruden 3

Australia:  15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ryan Crotty.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Lourens Van Der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Magnificent Lions win the series

An outstanding performance from the British and Irish Lions sealed a rampant 41-16 victory over Australia to win the Test series 2-1.

Australia were simply unable to live with the Lions in the second half, with the tourists unleashing a triple punch of tries from Jonathan Sexton, George North and Jamie Roberts — inspired by the brilliance of Leigh Halfpenny.

So much talk about whether the Lions had picked the right side was instantly banished by Alex Corbisiero's second-minute score.

The tourists could not have asked for a better start.  Omitting Brian O'Driscoll had stolen plenty of headlines, but the return of Corbisiero was proving paramount as the England loosehead combined with Richard Hibbard and Adam Jones to cause havoc at the scrum.

Ben Alexander's sin-binning was inevitable, but in a way it momentarily swung in the Wallabies favour.  With Sekope Kepu shoring up the tighthead side Australia plugged a hole and stopped their ship from sinking, leading the way for a comeback from 19-3 to 19-16 just after the interval.

Sexton's try gave the Lions daylight, before North hammered the nail into the Wallabies coffin.  By the time Roberts cantered over, the Test was already being written into the history books.

For the Lions it was the perfect start, Corbisiero rolling his way over after a rampant burst from the kick-off.  The hunger that was missing in Melbourne was alive in Sydney after only a minute.

George Smith's return to Test rugby then had the light switch punched out after only four minutes, a collision with Hibbard sending ripples around the Olympic Stadium.  Somehow he returned.

Turning down the three points cost the Wallabies as Halfpenny enlarged the gap from seven points to ten, a monster from the halfway line disposing of any lingering doubts from the second Test over his ability from long-range.

Leali'ifano responded with three points of his own to put the Wallabies on the board and stem the tourists' early momentum, but the Lions scrum dictated — a second and third penalty leaving Halfpenny to stretch the lead to 16-3 with the Lions scoring more points than the number of minutes passed.

An issue for Australia turned into a calamity with Ben Alexander sent to the bin, the Wallabies revisiting some of their darkest scrummaging memories as Halfpenny's fourth penalty sailed over.

Folau shortly followed Alexander off the field, with a hamstring injury rather than for an offence.

There were golden moments for Australia, a burst from replacement Jesse Mogg cut down by a brilliant tap tackle from Geoff Parling, but their tails were firmly up as they pummeled away at the Lions line towards the end of the first half.

It paid dividends — O'Connor skipping and slicing his way in the tiniest box of space to bring the Wallabies back into the game, trailing 19-10 at half-time.

A pair of Leali'ifano penalties after the break shortened the gap to just three — that early Lions gap wiped out.

Kepu's introduction may have alleviated the pressure momentarily, but Jones remained a threat on the other side and earned the tourists another penalty, Halfpenny's fifth of the night.

The Lions then delivered a try straight into Lions folklore.  Patience from Davies with the pass released Halfpenny down the wing, timing his pass to Sexton just right on his inside to open up a thirteen-point lead and a chasm of daylight.

Opting against taking crucial penalty chances was bold in theory but idiotic in execution from the Wallabies.  North then made them pay.

More brilliance from Halfpenny, jinking his way upfield and searing past Genia, fed the giant Welsh wing for the try that sealed not just the third Test, but the series.

Bread of Heaven and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot filled the ground as the clock counted down, with Lions hearts and minds already soaking up every minute and feeling something missed since 1997.

For the Wallabies and Robbie Deans, uncertainty lies ahead after finishing so far behind in a series that at times appeared was there for them to win.

For the Lions, it is immortality.

Man of the Match:  Alex Corbisiero deserves a ton of praise, but impossible to look past the Player of the Series — Leigh Halfpenny.

Moment of the Match:  The Wallabies had fought and clawed their back into the match before Jonathan Sexton cantered under the posts and stopped the fightback.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  O'Connor
Con:  Leali'ifano
Pens:  Leali'ifano 3
Yellow Card:  Alexander

For British and Irish Lions:
Tries:  Corbisiero, Sexton, North, Roberts
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pens:  Halfpenny 5

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 James Horwill (captain), 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Faingaa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Michael Hooper, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Jesse Mogg.

British and Irish Lions:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones (c), 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Manu Tuilagi.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Dogged Australia level the series

A magnificent curling conversion from Christian Lealiifano gave Australia a 16-15 win to level the Lions Test series at 1-1.

Adam Ashley-Cooper's 76th minute sucker-punch broke the Lions hearts, with Leigh Halfpenny's injury-time penalty attempt dropping short of the posts.

It means that the Test series will go down to the wire in Sydney next weekend — the final chapter in an enthralling, brutal tour that has left the nerves of both sets of supporters in shreds.

An opening half dominated by the scrum and interpretation of referee Craig Joubert was at the core of an excruciatingly tense first half — Halfpenny and Leali'ifano finding themselves in a shootout.

The suffocating tension under the Etihad Stadium roof saw both sides make plenty of mistakes in the opening quarter.

There were however obvious strengths early on — the Lions rolling maul for one, and the Australian scrum as Will Genia gradually began to control the tempo of the match.

Halfpenny fell short with his first penalty attempt, hitting the crossbar after good work from Warburton at the breakdown with the Lions free of the constraints placed upon the ruck area under Chris Pollock's officiating in Brisbane.

Bold leadership from Warburton saw the Lions unleash two successive lineout drives on the Wallaby line, a 12-man maul on the second drive bringing a penalty advantage.  Halfpenny this time made no mistake.

Early struggles for Mako Vunipola at the scrum handed the Wallabies their first points, Ben Alexander winning the opening exchange for Leali'ifano to score his first points in an Australian jersey.

Another scrum penalty, again against Vunipola, turned a Lions problem into a calamity as the loosehead's struggles continued but Australia were not beyond conceding a penalty at the scrum themselves — Adam Jones splintering the front row to result in Halfpenny's second penalty and a tied scoreboard at 6-6 after 27 minutes.

Pressure does funny things even to experienced Test players, as the Lions lineout wobbled and James O'Connor dropped a simple pass.  Scrums though persisted to dictate the match — Halfpenny's third penalty coming as the Wallaby pack creaked and turned.

A lazy offside penalty against Dan Lydiate saw Leali'ifano level things up a 9-9 but the Lions had the final say of the half.  North had been subdued throughout the opening 40 but a burst created the penalty chance for Halfpenny to put the Lions ahead again — 12-9 at half-time.

A golden wall repelled the Lions in the opening minutes of the second half held firm but the action was breathless — neither side adding points as Warburton grew into the role of a winning Lions captain.

Utterly draining and breathless stuff from both sides as the game opened up gradually turned the Etihad into a cauldron of screams.

Warburton was enormous, writing his way into Lions folklore as poor execution from both sides hindered the attacks of both sides and saw the total number of scrums rise into double figures.

Australia threw everything at the tourists, enjoying more possession and working the short side, but it came at a price.  North produced an act of incredible physicality to carry Folau on his back, but landed on his head as a result to the concern of every fan in a red shirt.

The introduction of Dan Cole and Richard Hibbard gave the Lions impetus in the battle upfront, leading Halfpenny to slot his most remarkable kick of all from 48 metres out.

Making half the number of tackles as the visitors, the Wallabies continued to stutter — Beale this time the culprit with numbers on his outside as they chased the game.

They nearly came so close.  Folau's step undid the Lions in Brisbane and it nearly bamboozled them again, instead resulting in a five-metre Wallaby scrum under the Lions posts, from which Folau was unable to gather O'Connor's clever inside pass.

Australia's persistence though was undeniable.  With the space on the outside to left, O'Connor sucked in the drift and unleashed Ashley-Cooper through the gap for the try.  It was a hammerblow.

Nor was the drama over.  A loose kick from O'Connor after Genia's pass came back into the 22 handed Hibbard and the Lions a chance to set up the platform for the win.  His accuracy, as so often on this tour, was sorely absent.

It summed up the Lions lack of control, in a second-half were the Wallabies retained 68% possession.

There was one last chance for Halfpenny, a long-range attempt from just on the wrong side of half way.  But as with Beale in Brisbane, it was not to be Halfpenny's night in Melbourne.  The Wallabies have gloriously stayed alive.  All eyes on Sydney.

Man of the match:  Hard to look past the Lions captain.  Sam Warburton was initially a doubt to start in the Test series, let alone lead the Lions, but his performance in Melbourne regardless of how the result turned out was always going to go down in history.  His loss to injury in the 67th minute was a cruel blow.

Moment of the match:  The composure of Christian Leali'ifano to curl in that conversion spoke volumes of the young man.  An incredibly assured performance.

Villain of the match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try:  Ashley-Cooper
Con:  Leali'ifano
Pens:  Leali'ifano 3

For British and Irish Lions:
Pens:  Halfpenny 5

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Rob Horne, 23 Jesse Mogg.

British and Irish Lions:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Makovina Vunipola.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Alex Cuthbert.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Romain Poite (France)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Eight-try Springboks thrash Samoa

South Africa produced their best performance in 2013 to put Samoa to the sword in a 56-23 drubbing at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The result means Heyneke Meyer's team claim the silverware at the end of the four-nation quadrangular series involving Italy and Scotland, but more importantly, they bounced back from an under-whelming display in Nelspruit a week ago.

An impressive four-try effort saw the Boks lead 32-9 at half time as the home backline showed signs of attacking flair and cohesion rarely seen in recent years, with Willie le Roux and JJ Engelbrecht particularly prominent.

The second period was a more disjointed affair and the citing commissioner is in for a busy post-match review as a series of incidents — including a red card for Alesana Tuilagi — soured the last half-hour but the Boks were nevertheless able to add four more tries to their tally.

Bryan Habana rose above it all though, scoring his second try of the evening to become the first South African to reach 50 Test tries, while returning flank Francois Louw also crossed the whitewash either side of half-time.

Samoa also touched down twice after the break but failed to live up to their pre-game billing and will be disappointed with their poor discipline.

The Boks drew first blood with a Morné Steyn penalty for offside but Samoa full-back James So'oialo was able to kick the visitors into the lead by the quarter-hour mark as just reward for a long period of sustained pressure that should have seen resulted in a try, but Tuilagi held on when Alapati Leiua was open in acres of space.

South Africa would move back in front before the end of the first quarter though as a slick backline move saw Engelbrecht and Le Roux combine to put Habana over in the corner.  Credit must be given to skipper Jean de Villiers for twice turning down a shot at goal in favour of attacking line-outs in the build up.

Steyn's extras gave the Boks a 10-6 lead and Samoa where delivered a further blow shortly afterward when Johnny Leota was (literally) forced off the field following a head knock.  It was all downhill from there.

The Bok pack rumbled over the line to give Louw his first try as the South Africans grew in confidence, taking the game by the scruff of the neck.  Steyn slotted the conversion and at 17-6, the signs were ominous for Samoa.

Things went from bad to worse for the Islanders when prop Logovii Mulipola was sent to the sin-bin for entering the ruck from the side.  So'oialo pulled three points back with a penalty but scrum-half Jeremy Su'a was lucky the ref didn't spot his 'footwork' in the middle of a pile of bodies that saw Louw require medical attention to his head.  The citing commission could well have a word to day.

Already enjoying a healthy lead, the Boks began to cut loose and Engelbrecht showed a great step and pace to race home for his team's third try.  The points kept flowing as Habana did very well to reclaim the ball after a kick ahead before it was quickly sent wide for Bjorn Basson, who turned on the gas to score in the corner.

Steyn's conversion on the stroke of half time gave SA a 23-point lead — the result was as good as settled.

Samoa weren't ready to go down easily though and scored first after the break as Teofilo Paulo crashed over under the sticks at the end of a movement that saw the charging Sakaria Taulafo knock Siya Kolisi out cold.

So'oialo almost got his clock cleaned by Adriaan Strauss after touching the Bok hooker in "an indecent manner" — to use the words of the TMO — at a ruck.  He escaped a card but Tuilagi couldn't say the same as he saw red for a terrible high hit on De Villiers.

Habana cashed in on the space left open on Tuilagi's wing to score the 50th try of his international career before Steyn showed he is more than just a big boot as he darted for the line after a cheeky dummy.

The game lost all shape in the closing minutes and the Boks were guilty of shutting off slightly.  Habana saw yellow for an unnecessary deliberate knock down and Junior Poluleuligaga profited from some terrible defence at a line-out for crash over.

Replacement prop Trevor Nyakane rumbled over in the last minute to add a cherry on top of a reassuring performance by the Springboks.

Man of the Match A mention for record-setter Habana but Francois Louw gets the gong for his two tries and tireless work at the breakdown.

Moment of the match:  A few great tries to choose from but JJ Engelbrecht's try was out of the top draw and really took the wind out of Samoa's sails.

Villian of the match:  James So'oialo — mate, only Adriaan Strauss's Mrs should put her hands there!

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Habana 2, Louw 2, Engelbrecht, Basson, Steyn, Nyakane
Cons:  Steyn 3, Lambie 2
Pens:  Steyn 2
Yellow card:  Habana (70th min — deliberate knock down)

For Samoa:
Tries:  T. Paulo, Poluleuligaga
Cons:  So'oialo, Williams
Pens:  So'oialo 2
Yellow cards:  Mulipola (28th min — ruck infringement)
Red card:  Tuilagi (58th min — high tackle)

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Samoa:  15 James So'oialo, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Paul Williams (c), 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusiata Pisi, 9 Jeremy Sua, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Logovii Mulipola, 2 Wayne Ole Avei, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Cencus Johnston, 18 James Johnston, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Brando Vaaulu, 22 Seilala Mapusua, 23 Alafoti Faosiliva.

Venue:  Loftus Versfeld
Weather:  15°C.  Clear skies
Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Hennessy (Wales), Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)

Strokosch try wins it at the death

An Alasdair Strokosch try in the final minute of a tight battle at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria saw Scotland edge Italy 30-29 on Saturday.

The result leaves Italy win-less on their three-game tour of South Africa having already lost to Samoa and the Springboks.

The teams swapped ends locked at 20-all after an action-packed first half that saw the sides score two tries apiece.

The second period was a very different affair as Italy buckled down, looking to strangle the result over their Six Nations rivals with fly-half Alberto Di Bernardo's boot doing the damage.

Strokosch had other ideas, crossing after the final hooter to leave Greig Laidlaw with an easy match-winning conversion.

It took less that a minute for the scoreboard to start ticking as Italy wing Leonardo Sarto ghosted over for an easy try out wide, just 50 seconds after the kick-off.

Scotland struck straight back however with Matt Scott continuing his strong tour with a try, selling the Italian defence a dummy to cruise over after six minutes.

Sean Lamont also got in on the act on the quarter-hour mark after Greig Laidlaw latched onto a fumble from Giovanbattista Venditti.

Di Bernardo and Laidlaw added the extras to all three tries before the Scottish scrum-half landed a penalty to leave Scotland 17-10 up at the end of the first quarter.

The Italian scrum made mincemeat of the Scottish pack with a series big pushes, leaving Leighton Hodges with no choice but to award a penalty try.  Di Bernardo's conversion leveled the scores at 17-17 after half-an-hour.

The closing stages of the first half sparked a kicking duo between Di Bernardo and Laidlaw and the game disintegrated into an arm wrestle after the interval.

The Azzurri looked to have the result sewn up until, after laying siege to the Italian line, Scotland finally landed the killer blow as Strokosch went around Parisse, who broke the defensive line to leave of hole for the Scottish flank to slip through.

Man of the Match A mention for Strokosch, who was Scotland's top tackler, and di Bernardo, who had his best game of the June series but we'll go for Matt Scott for his excellent effort on attack, that was rewarded with a try.

Moment of the match:  Obviously, Strokosch's try ruined Italy's afternoon.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Sarto, Penalty try
Cons:  Di Bernardo 3
Pens:  Di Bernardo 5
Drop goals:
Yellow cards:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Scott, Lamont, Strokosch
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Joshua Furno, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Leandro Cedaro, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 Gonzalo Canale, 23 Luke McLean.

Scotland:  15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Alasdair Strokosch, 6 David Denton, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Moray Low, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Tim Visser.

Venue:  Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee:  Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
Television match official:  Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)

Lions go 1-0 up

Wallaby back Kurtley Beale missed two late penalty attempts as the British and Irish Lions held on to win 23-21 in the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday.

The replacement was unsuccessful off the tee as an Australian outfit decimated by injuries almost pulled off a famous victory against the tourists.

It was not to be for the home side who had lost Christian Lealiifano, Pat McCabe, Berrick Barnes and Adam Ashley-Cooper to respective injuries.

Instead the Lions managed to take a crucial 1-0 lead in the series with a result that will be best remembered for George North's impact on the wing — his impressive individual score in the first-half silencing the 42,499 at Suncorp Stadium.

Australia, who were handing debuts to Israel Folau, Lealiifano and Ben Mowen, lost two men during an enthralling opening 40 in Brisbane.

Their first to depart was inside centre Lealiifano, who was forced off inside a minute after being knocked out attempting to tackle Jonathan Davies.

That hard-running start from the Welshman was not reciprocated by his Irish midfield colleague though as Brian O'Driscoll coughed up two penalties.  Luckily for the 34-year-old, both those offences were not capitalised on by Wallaby place-kicker James O'Connor.

The Lions would soon find their rhythm and enjoyed field position and possession in the opposition 22, moving through the phases until O'Driscoll was again penalised, this time for holding on at ruck time.  That would be the moment that announced Folau on the Test stage.

From the penalty, Will Genia, as is his wont, went quickly five metres from his own line and promptly set off, causing a backtracking Mike Phillips several issues as the nine held off committing to the tackle.  Genia's magic ended with a grubber to the supporting Folau who cruised in for the first try.  Robbie Deans would have been delighted to see O'Connor knock over the simple two points for a seven-point lead with thirteen minutes on the clock.

Despite falling behind, the travelling Lions supporters will have been warmed to witness the first scrum of the game being dominated by the tourists.  That battle up front was always going to be key so when Wallaby captain James Horwill was penalised for being all over Paul O'Connell at a line-out, Leigh Halfpenny would gratefully reward his forward pack's hard work to make it 7-3 with just over a quarter of the opening Test gone at Suncorp.

Things would get even better for the travelling supporters two minutes later when North collected a kick deep inside his own territory before sprinting through the defence to score.

Halfpenny's touchline conversion made it 7-10 before North almost barged over in the same corner but for TMO replays to show his elbow was in touch.  Consolation was found via an earlier penalty offence, which Halfpenny slotted to continue his excellent kicking form.

Folau would then strike again, this time through all of his own good work as he slipped tackles before going in on the right.  O'Connor's missed conversion meant that the Lions were 13-12 up at the half-time break, with the win there for the taking for both sides.

Upon the turnaround, the Wallabies would lose Barnes and McCabe to respective injuries which meant openside flanker Michael Hooper would move to centre in a make-shift line-up.  And the Lions would capitalise on that fact when North's Welsh team-mate Alex Cuthbert ran through the midfield defence for a converted try that made it 12-20 at the Brisbane venue.

O'Connor would reply off the tee before replacement Beale landed three points to leave it 18-20 to the Lions with 20 minutes remaining.  The tension was palpable in the final quarter.

Halfpenny and Beale traded shots inside the final fourteen minutes and with six minutes left, Beale had the chance to kick the Wallabies in front but he pushed his attempt wide.

Then at the death Beale had another kick to win it, but he dramatically slipped on his run-up as the chance went begging, sparking celebrations from the Lions players and fans.

Man of the match:  Jamie Heaslip was solid, as was Jonathan Davies, Brian O'Driscoll and Leigh Halfpenny.  But for his ability to change a game, George North gets this gong, seeing off opposition wing and two-try debutant Israel Folau.  North's try was something special.

Moment of the match:  Unfortunate that it has to be a mistake but Kurtley Beale's slip in the act of kicking his last-minute penalty effort ultimately saw the Lions hold on.  Heartbreak for Beale, elation for the Lions who, like twelve years ago, take the first Test in Brisbane.

Villain of the match:  Delon Armitage's wave to Brock James was given the thumbs down by us and the same goes to George North's finger wag.  Let's cut that stuff out please guys.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Folau 2
Con:  O'Connor
Pen:  O'Connor, Beale 2

For B&I Lions:
Tries:  North, Cuthbert
Con:  Halfpenny 2
Pen:  Halfpenny 3

Australia:  15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Pat McCabe, 23 Kurtley Beale.

British and Irish Lions:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Makovina Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Sean Maitland.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Romain Poite (France)

All Blacks complete French clean sweep

The All Blacks completed a 3-0 series victory over France on Saturday with a 24-9 win at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth.

The result is New Zealand's seventh consecutive win over the French, who were once again held try-less, but the result hung in the balance right up to the dying minutes.

New Zeland led 8-6 at the end of an entertaining first-half thanks to a try from wing Ben Smith, but there was very little to choose between the sides.

Indeed, the fired-up Bleus put in a much-improved display in all areas on last week's disaster - especially at the set piece and in their kicking out of hand - and regularly breached the All Blacks' defensive line.

But the hosts would strike at crucial times with Smith's try coming just before the break before Beauden Barrett scored in the last minute to give the scoreline a flattering appearance.

The hosts were given an early let off when referee Nigel Owens harshly called France back for being offside after a clever chip over the top had the Kiwi defence scrambling behind their tryline.

The French would nevertheless take a deserved early led as centre Florian Fritz slotted a drop goal to ensure the visitors were given some reward for a period of sustained pressure.

Dan Carter leveled the scores with a penalty on the 15-minute mark after Yoann Maestri was pinged for a side entry after an attacking line-out for New Zealand.

Carter hit the upright with his next effort before Jean-Marc Doussain sent his first attempt wide to leave the scores locked at 3-all after half-an-hour.

The visitors would have felt they had enjoyed the upper hand in the first half but - as has become a pattern in this series - the All Blacks scored just before half time, with some help from the TMO, as Israel Dagg set up Ben Smith to dive into the corner.

Carter's conversion attempt went wide but Doussain bounced a penalty in off the post to leave the gap at just two points at the interval.

France moved back in front early in the second half after Sam Cane caught Doussain high and the scrum-half again got his kick over off the upright.  Carter replied almost immediately to restore the home side's advantage but missed his next shot a goal.

At 11-9 with 25 minutes to play, it was anyone's game.

The second-half ruck penalty count started to add up against France though and Carter slotted a wonderful kick from the touchline to put New Zealand 14-9 up heading into the final quarter.

A reckless head-first dive into a ruck from Maestri, who copped a yellow card, would essentially seal the win for the hosts as Carter slotted his fourth penalty to extend the gap to eight points and les Bleus finished with 14 men.

Barrett rounded off the win with a long-range try as he chased down wing Smith's kick ahead to sink a nail into France's coffin.

Man of the Match A mention for rookie French pivot Remi Talè, who gave France a new attacking dimension but the standout performnace came from Luke Romano who carried like a machine and tackled tirelessly.

Moment of the match:  No doubt about this one, Ben Smith's try turned the tide in New Zealand's favour.

Villian of the match:  If you're French, it must be Yoann Maestri, whose brain fade killed off France's chances when they were still in with a sniff.

The scorers:

For New Zealand: 
Tries:  B. Smith, Barrett
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 4

For France:
Pens:  Doussain 2
Drop goal:  Fritz
Yellow card:  Maestri (72nd min - foul play)

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Victor Vito, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Charles Piutau.

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Marc Andreu, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Remi Talè, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Theirry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.

Venue:  Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth
Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Fiji see off United States in PNC

Fiji kept alive their hopes of winning the Pacific Nations Cup when they claimed a 35-10 win over the United States in Japan on Wednesday.

The Pacific islanders scored four tries against the Americans' one during the game in Nagoya, central Japan.

The victory takes Fiji to two wins against one defeat for 11 points, trailing leaders Canada by only one point.  Canada will play Japan later on Wednesday.

The United States, ranked 17th against Fiji's 14th, opened the scoring in the eighth minute when right centre Adam Siddall kicked a penalty to make it 3-0.

Minutes later, Fiji's left centre Seremaia Bai's squared the scoreline with the first of his three penalties in a game that also saw him land three conversions.

Scrum-half Nikola Matawalu touched down near the left post after winning a scrum in the 16th minute for an 8-3 lead, setting up Bai's conversion.

In the 22nd minute, full back Timoci Nagusa collected the ball near the right corner and scored a converted try, before the United States pulled one back through substitute Andrew Suniula and Siddall's conversion, taking the half-time score to 17-10.

Five minutes into the second half, Fiji number eight Masi Matadigo won a scrum and took the ball over the line to extend the lead.

Bai's attempted conversion hit the post, but he extended the lead with a penalty in the 52nd minute.

The final try of the game came from a run from a strong run by Matawalu, who passed to replacement Nemia Kenatale in front of the USA posts.

Bai again converted and rounded things off with a penalty, allowing the Fijians to run out the game 35-10 winners.

Japan edge out Canada

Japan backed up last weekend's impressive victory over Wales with a 16-13 success over Pacific Nations Cup leaders Canada on Wednesday.

The loss is Canada's first in the 2013 competition and means that either Fiji or Tonga, who face each other on Sunday, June 23, can win the title.

It was Japan's first win in the five-nation tournament after two defeats.

After full-back James Pritchard scored a penalty in the third minute, neither could score a point with Ayumu Goromaru missing one penalty for Japan and Ciaran Hearn missing another for Canada.

The Japanese, fresh from their historic first victory over Wales last week, repeatedly threatened the Canadians but each time they were pushed back.

Japan finally evened the score after the break when Goromaru cashed in on an easy penalty in front of the Canadian posts in the 45th minute.  He added another penalty goal to give Japan a 6-3 lead in the 51st minute.

But their lead was bleak as the visitors connected passes through flanker Nanyak Dala, centre Nick Blevins, scrum-half Sean White before Hearn completed by diving between the posts two minutes later for 8-6 and then 10-6.

Local spectators were delighted when Goromaru touched down in the 62nd minute and he himself converted it for 13-10 before Pritchard evened with a penalty.

Japan again took a 16-13 lead with Goromaru's penalty in the 72nd minute.

On the final day in Tokyo, Fiji will play Tonga and Japan will play the United States.

Tonga triumph over USA

Tonga bounced back from a surprise defeat to Canada with an 18-9 triumph over the United States on Friday in rugby's Pacific Nations Cup.

Tonga, who fell 36-27 in Ontario last Saturday to unbeaten Canada, were without three players suspended by the IRB as a result of last week's match — full-back David Halaifonua, prop Eddie 'Aholelei and centre Siale Piutau.

Even in their absence, the United States couldn't control a physical Tonga side lifted by two tries from Sione Piukala.

Chris Wyles gave the hosts the lead with a penalty kick in the fourth minute — the first of his three penalties that accounted for all of the United States' points.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Tonga's Viliami Hakalo's penalty three minutes later knotted the score.

Tonga made a nice switch to Piukala who had no trouble dotting down between the sticks for the first try of the match, with Hakalo kicking the conversion to give the visitors a 10-3 lead.

Toby L'Estrange caught the Tongan defense off guard in the 18th minute, getting the ball to Andrew Suniula who drew a penalty for Wyles to convert and cut the deficit to 6-10.

The US pulled closer in the 31st after Tonga's captain Nili Latu made a high tackle on Brian Doyle and received a yellow card, with Wyles kicking the penalty to make the score 9-10.

The French connection of Takudzwa Ngwenya and Scott LaValla, who each play in France's Top 14 with Biarritz and Stade Francais respectively, almost created a try for the Eagles before the end of the half, but Ngwenya's pass was too high for LaValla to reach.

Two minutes into the second half however, the Eagles were dealt a blow when Piukala added his second try.

Latu converted another penalty to stretch Tonga's lead to 9-18, and an escalating array of mistakes prevented the United States from cutting into the margin.

The scorers:

For USA:
Pens:  Wyles 3

For Tonga:
Tries:  Piukala 2
Con:  Hakalo
Pens:  Hakalo 2

USA:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 James Paterson, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (C), 7 Peter Dahl, 6 Scott LaValla, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Brian Doyle, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Zach Fenoglio, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Phil Thiel, 19 Graham Harriman, 20 John Quill, 21 Robbie Shaw, 22 Adam Siddall, 23 Blaine Scully.

Tonga:  15 Viliami Hakalo, 14 Viliame Iongi, 13 Fraser Anderson, 12 Sione Piukala, 11 Will Helu, 10 Taniela Moa, 9 Thomas Palu, 8 Paula Kaho, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Hale T Pole, 5 Lua Lokotui, 4 Josh Afu, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Kama Sakalia.
Replacements:  16 Ilaisia Ma'asi, 17 Peni Fakalelu, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Emosi Kauhenga, 20 Daniel Faleafa, 21 Siale Fahiua, 22 Samisoni Pone, 23 Soni Masima.

Referee:  Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Assistant referees:  Bryan Arciero (Canada), David Smortchevsky (Canada)

Ireland put Canada to the sword

An Ireland side depleted by the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia brought Canada to earth with a thud on Saturday with a 40-14 Test triumph in Toronto.

Canada came into the contest riding high, after victories over Tonga, Fiji, the United States and Russia.

Ireland, in contrast, were without many of their biggest stars.  Nevertheless, the eighth-ranked team in the world lived up to their favorites' billing, breaking open the contest in the second half after taking a 12-9 lead into the interval.

Fergus McFadden scored three tries for Ireland, who also had tries from Darren Cave, Andrew Trimble and Tommy O'Donnell.

In front of a crowd of 20,396 — a record for rugby in Canada — the hosts put the first points on the board with James Pritchard's penalty six minutes into the contest.

Ireland responded quickly, with Ian Madigan launching the move that ended with a try by Trimble and Madigan adding the conversion.

Pritchard converted two penalties, putting the hosts back in front and overtaking former Canada international Gareth Rees as the country's all-time leading scorer.

A try from McFadden put Ireland back in front at the break, and, after Tyler Ardron drove over to score a try for Canada early in the second half, things unraveled for Canada as Ireland scored 28 unanswered points.

"It got a little away from us there," said Canadian captain Aaron Carpenter.

"It was unlucky for us but I thought we were in there until the end."

Canada will now turn their attention back to the Pacific Nations Cup.  In their first year in the tournament, Canada are unbeaten in three matches with wins over Fiji, Tonga and the United States.

They will finish their campaign in Japan on Wednesday.

They will face the United States again in August in a home-and-away series as part of the World Cup qualifier.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Try:  Ardron
Pens:  Pritchard 3

For Ireland:
Tries:  McFadden 3, Cave, Trimble, O'Donnell
Con:Madigan 4, Jackson

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Matt Evans, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Harry Jones, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Aaron Carpenter (c), 7 John Moonlight, 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Andrew Tiedemann, 18 Doug Woodridge, 19 Jon Phelan, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Sean White, 22 Nick Blevins, 23 Connor Braid.

Ireland:  15 Felix Jones, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Darren Cave, 12 James Downey, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Peter O'Mahony (c), 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Mike McCarthy, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Robbie Henshaw.

Referee:  Leighton Hodges (Wales)

England put 50 on Argentina

England clinched a first series victory in Argentina for 32 years after beating the Pumas 51-26 at Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

It was a success built on the solid foundations of a dominant scrum that created fourteen points through two penalty tries during the first-half.

Freddie Burns was England's only player to score points in that opening 40 minutes as his well-taken try and ten points off the tee saw him shine.

Argentina were much-improved from last week's 32-3 loss though and struck back in the second-half, with Manuel Montero's 49th-minute try a fillip.

However, England were not to be outdone as further tries came via hooker Rob Webber, wing Marland Yarde (2) and centre Kyle Eastmond.

The game began differently to last week's rout as it was Argentina this time who started well, going 6-12 up with almost half-an-hour played after Martin Bustos Moyano sent over four penalties to Burns' two.  It was to be as good as it got for them.

England then enjoyed a purple patch in the final ten minutes of the first period as a Burns try was sandwiched in between those two penalty tries.  Consequently it was a 25-12 scoreline at the break in front of a packed Velez Sarsfield stadium as the visitors neared an impressive clean sweep - their first ever in Argentina.

The Pumas did return from the interval in good form and when left wing Montero crossed after hitting the line at pace from five metres out, Argentina were only six points behind.

But three minutes later England moved up the gears with well-taken scores from hooker Webber and debutant wing Yarde before the hour giving them welcome breathing space.

Impressive centre Eastmond then put his name on the scoreboard with 64 minutes played with a jinking run to the line to make it 44-19 and despite Tomas Leonardi's score, Yarde would have the final say, receiving a nice inside ball from Eastmond to claim a double.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Montero, Leonardi
Con:  Bustos Moyano 2
Pen:  Bustos Moyano 4
Yellow:  Bustos Moyano (39 mins - ruck offence)

For England:
Tries:  Penalty try 2, Burns, Webber, Yarde 2, Eastmond
Con:  Burns 4, Myler
Pen:  Burns 2

Argentina:  15 Martin Bustos Moyano, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Gabriel Asc�rate, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tomas Leonardi, 7 Rodrigo B�ez, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Julio Far�as, 4 Mariano Galarza, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Martin Garcia Veiga, 1 Guillermo Roan.
Replacements:  16 Francisco G�mez Kodela, 17 Pablo Henn, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Tom�s De La Vega, 20 Tom�s Cubelli, 21 Benjam�n Madero, 22 Mat�as Orlando.

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Tom Wood (c), 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 David Paice, 17 Paul Doran Jones, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Ben Foden.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Marius Jonker (South Africa), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor:  Carlos Molinari (Argentina)

Boks struggle past Scotland

The Springboks were forced to overturn a half-time deficit to claim a hard-fought 30-17 win over Scotland in Nelspruit on Saturday.

Scotland have never won on South African soil and with an under-strength side, few expected the tourists to trouble the Boks on their first visit to Mbombela Stadium.  But it turned out to be a tightly-contested affair and the hosts looked in trouble when they trailed by 11 points early in the second half and only led by three with six minutes left to play.

Scotland deservedly led 10-6 at the end of a first-half characterised by the visitors' willingness to have a go and the Springboks' conservative tactics and lack of imagination.

The hosts looked all at sea when the Scots failed to capitulate to their supposed physical superiority and the insistence on kicking whenever in their own half meant that the South African backline never saw the ball with any regularity.

There could be no excuses from the Springboks - they were outplayed in the first-half and a significant step up was required after the break.

There was an improvement, especially at the set piece, but South Africa were never dominant as the Scots were happy to go toe-to-toe with the men in white.

It was only in the last quarter that South Africa finally got on top as a late try gave the scoreline a more appealing look for Bok fans.

Scotland had the better of the opening exchanges and stand-in skipper Greig Laidlaw opened the scoring in the seventh minute after Marcell Coetzee was penalised on the deck.

The hosts replied in unconvincing fashion but took the lead via two Morn� Steyn penalties, both against flank Ryan Wilson.

But the first-half would belong to the Scots, who scored the only try of the opening stanza on the 20-minute mark when centre Matt Scott ghosted over after wing Tommy Seymour had unlocked the South African defence.

Laidlaw added the extras to put the visitors four points ahead, a lead which they held until the interval as the Springboks' lack of composure ensured a handful of opportunities went unconverted.

And the pattern continued after the break as Scotland struck within three minutes of the restart as wing Alex Dunbar touched down in the corner.

Laidlaw's conversion took the score to 17-6 and the Boks looked shell-shocked.

Steyn missed a penalty but the Bok pack wouldn't be denied as French referee Romain Poite raised his arm for a penalty try after Scotland collapsed a maul just short of their line.

That seemed to sparked new life into the home team, who were handed a golden opportunity to turn the tables when Scotland lock Jim Hamilton was harshly shown a yellow card on the recommendation of South African TMO Gerrie Coetzee for an open-handed push on Eben Etzebeth.

The Boks made their extra man count and centre JJ Engelbrecht's try from a Willie le Roux pass put them back in front.  Steyn slotted the conversion from out wide to leave SA 20-17 ahead just before the hour mark.

South Africa had the lion's share of possession and territory in the final quarter and replacement fly-half Pat Lambie would extend the gap after Alasdair Strokosch was penalised at a ruck with six minutes left on the clock.

Replacement centre Jan Serfontein sealed the win in the final minute as he muscled his way over after an attacking line-out.

South Africa will face Samoa at Loftus Versfeld next week while Scotland will play Italy.

Man of the match:  The official award went to Siya Kolisi, who was South Africa's top ball carrier but we'll go for Alasdair Strokosch, who made a whopping 20 tackles for Scotland and made life miserable for the Bok loose forwards at the breakdown.

Moment of the match:  The game really turned on Jim Hamilton's yellow card as the Boks took the lead shortly afterwards, marking a clear shift in momentum.

For Scotland:
Tries:  Scott, Dunbar
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw
Yellow card:  Hamilton

For South Africa:
Tries:  Penalty try, Engelbrecht, Serfontein
Cons:  Steyn 2, Lambie
Pens:  Steyn 2, Lambie

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Ryan Wilson, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Stevie Lawrie, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Moray Low, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Duncan Taylor.

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morn� Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandr� Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Venue:  Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gauz�re (France), Nigel Hennessy (Wales)
Television match official:Gerrie Coetzee (South Africa)

Samoa demolish the Azzurri

Samoa made it two wins from two in South Africa after hammering a poor Italy 39-10 in Nelspruit on Saturday.

The Italian scrum was their only source of a joy in a dire performance, with Samoa holding firm in defence and also excelling in open play by racking up several long-range tries.

Central to their efforts was Paul Williams, the Stade Français back scoring the points off the tee and also crossing for the game's first try.

The Islanders only held a slender lead at half-time but were irrepressible in the second half, scoring four tries and sending a message to South Africa ahead of their encounter next weekend.

Samoa impressed with their 27-17 victory over Scotland last weekend in Durban, the threats out wide of Alapati Leiua and Alesana Tuilagi bagging the tries as the Islanders underlined that they can compete with the top sides.

Italy on the other handed started brightly against the Springboks before fading dramatically in the second half, ultimately beaten comfortably 44-10.

A scoreless opening quarter dominated by issues at the scrum was eventually punctured by a try from Williams after the initial break from Tusi Pisi and Leiua put the Islanders in front.

Orquera responded with a penalty, recovering from his earlier miss to put Italy on the board as Jacques Brunel's side looked to use the full width of the pitch to try and stretch the Samoan defence.

Williams added a penalty to keep the Samoans out in front, with referee Craig Joubert repeatedly addressing both sides for indiscipline throughout the first half.

A knock to the face of Sergio Parisse gave Italy cause for concern after the captain was taken out at the ruck, the big boot of Gonzalo Garcia unable to add another three points as his penalty attempt from the other side of halfway trickled under the posts.

Sustained pressure from Samoa inside the Italian 22 then resulted in more points before half-time — Parisse penalised for not rolling away but Williams missed his second penalty attempt to the right of the posts.

A calamitous pass from Jeremy Su'a put Samoa back under pressure in their own half but Gonzalo Canale was unable to control the ball as he hacked on towards the try line.  Pisi recovered to clear and keep Samoa 10-3 ahead at the break.

Samoa though wasted no time after the interval — winning possession and a clever kick in behind from Pisi had the Italians scrambling, Leiua with the pace and the bounce to score in the corner.

Parisse was full of tricks and skill for the Italians but Samoa always looked like they could produce more in attack, stretching Italy defensively and forcing penalties both on the ground and for offside.

A long-range penalty from Williams added to his and Samoa's tally to open up a 15-point lead for the Samoans, before it increased minutes later.

Italy struggled to maintain possession at the breakdown all game and Pisi pounced, spotting the space and releasing London Irish star Ofisa Treviranus who fed Johnny Leota for Samoa's third try.

Samoa then snatched a fourth try as the outstanding Ole Avei dubiously offloaded with his feet near to the touchline to feed Newcastle's Taiasina Tuifua.

Italy's one strength did pay off when their scrum created a penalty try, Leiua sent to the sin-bin moments before for infringing at the breakdown.

The Samoans rightly however had the final say, late call-up Brando Va'aulu speeding away for the fifth try after jinking around the Azzurri defence and sealing a 39-10 victory.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Williams, Leiua, Leota, Tu'ifua, Va'aulu
Cons:  Williams, Anufe
Pens:  Williams 2

For Italy:
Try:  Penalty
Con:  di Bernardo
Pen:  Orquera

Samoa:15 Brando Vaaulu, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Paul Williams (capt), 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Jeremy Sua, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Wayne Ole Avei, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:  16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Logovii Mulipola, 18 James Johnston, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Ki Anufe, 22 Seilala Mapusua, 23 Piula Faasalele.

Italy:15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco , 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Valerio Bernabo, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements:16 Andrea Manici, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tobias Botes , 22 Alberto di Bernardo, 23 Luke Mclean,

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Tiaan Jonker (South Africa)
Television match official:  Gerrie Coetzee (South Africa)
Assessor:  Nigel Williams

All Blacks crush the French

New Zealand sealed a Test series victory over France with a dominant 30-0 win at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday.

The two sides will meet again next weekend in New Plymouth with France unable to overtake New Zealand's unassailable 2-0 lead, which came after a comfortable victory over their fellow 2011 Rugby World Cup finalists.

France showed good accuracy and discipline last weekend in Auckland but their lineout this time out particularly in the first half was shambolic;  coming under pressure from New Zealand but also wildly missing their targets.

Ben Smith's breakaway try at the beginning of the second half summed up France's woes - putting sustained pressure on the New Zealand line but unable to find a breakthrough as they finished without a score in a Test for the first time since 1990.

Philippe Saint-André made several changes to his side following the first Test defeat, with Michalak returning at fly-half and young South African-born flanker Bernard Le Roux making his debut in the number seven jersey.

A late change for New Zealand meanwhile saw Crusaders lock Sam Whitelock come into the side for Chiefs second row Brodie Retallick, in an otherwise unchanged XV from last week's victory in Auckland.

The hosts made the early breakthrough - Ma'a Nonu's grubber finding Julian Savea behind the defence to rack up the game's first try in only the third minute of the match.

France struggled to control possession at the lineout and found themselves stuck inside their own half for much of the opening quarter, although some impressive defence on Nonu in particular prevented any further damage on the scoreboard.

Les Bleus had been on top at the breakdown in the first Test and continued that form early on in Christchurch, disrupting any clean ball for the All Blacks who enjoyed the majority of possession as France persisted to kick the ball away.

Two moments of inaccuracy then struck Frederic Michalak within a few minutes, a drop goal falling wide and then his first penalty attempt ricocheting back off the right-hand post and putting the All Blacks on the attack as Read countered.  Pressure on Maxime Medard fielding a kick near his own line yielded a penalty for Aaron Cruden, putting New Zealand 10-0 up.

The All Blacks kicking game continued to press France back into their 22, but whilst the visitors defence was excellent, Dimitri Szarzewski's problems running the short lineout kept handing New Zealand possession five metres out.  For every lineout error however, the work of Thierry Dusautoir and Louis Picamoles at the breakdown saved the day time and again.

With time ticking away in the first half the All Blacks defence repelled a French driving maul to the leave the visitors scoreless at the interval, New Zealand 10-0 up.

The All Blacks then delivered the knockout blow.  Outstanding defence metres out from their own line for the first ten minutes of the second half forced Michalak into a drop goal, the inevitable chargedown leading to Savea and Ben Smith sprinting away for a length of the field score.

Losing Louis Picamoles to injury rubbed salt in French wounds as Cruden added a second penalty - New Zealand leading 20-0 with plenty of time left in the second half.

Looking for something to take towards the third Test next weekend, France introduced plenty of substitutes including Mathieu Bastareaud in midfield but fell further behind due to another Cruden penalty after 64 minutes.

Determined not to concede, New Zealand remained physical in defence and then sealed the win with a stunning score.

Attacking from their own try line, Conrad Smith's chip over the top was recovered by Cruden, whose slick offload to Beauden Barrett saw the young replacement canter in under the posts.

France toiled to find some points as time ran out but to no avail - a dominant victory for New Zealand who showed plenty of improvement from last weekend in Auckland and added some memorable tries to boot.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Savea, B. Smith, Barrett
Cons:  Cruden 3
Pens:  Cruden 3

For France:

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Rene Ranger.

France:  15 Maxime Méard, 14 Adrien Planté 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Brice Dulin, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), James Leckie(Australia)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor:  Lyndon Bray

Japan stun Wales in Tokyo

Japan made up for last weekend's disappointment when they claimed a historic 23-8 victory over Wales in Tokyo on Saturday.

The hosts' win — their first ever triumph over Wales — is sweet revenge after they suffered a narrow 22-18 loss to their opponents in Osaka last Saturday and secures them a 1-1 draw in the series.

Japan full-back Ayumu Goromaru opened the scoring from the kicking tee in the 15th minute after Rhys Gill was penalised for infringing at a ruck.

The visitors struck back with a penalty of their own from Dan Biggar in the 22nd minute and were slowly gaining the upper-hand but could not convert their dominance into points.

In the 26th minute Rhys Patchell came close to scoring the game's opening try after gathering an inside pass from Biggar which saw him slipping past a couple of defenders but he was stopped short of the line by a desperate tackle from Japan's captain Toshiaki Hirose.

Japan held a 6-3 lead at half-time after Goromaru landed a penalty from just inside his half after Lloyd Williams infringed at a ruck.

Wales started the second half brightly and were rewarded with a try in the 45th minute when Tom Prydie scored in the left-hand corner after gathering a long pass from Biggar inside Japan's 22.

Wales' resurgence was a brief one as the hosts struck back with a well-taken try from their inside centre Craig Wing shortly afterwards.  Confronted with a couple of tight forwards close to Wales' try-line Wing burst through a tackle from Gill before squeezing over for his side's first try.

Goromaru added the extras to give the home side a 13-8 lead and 10 minutes later the Brave Blossoms were rewarded with their second try after a period of sustained pressure deep inside the visitors' half.

After taking the ball through several phases inside Wales' 22 with their forwards, scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka, who proved a handful for Wales throughout, whipped out a long pass to Hirose who offloaded to openside flanker Michael Broadhurst who got in for an easy five-pointer.

Goromaru added the conversion to maintain his perfect goal-kicking record and although Wales tried gallantly to fight back for the rest of the game, the home side were well prepared and kept them at bay with resilient defence.

Five minutes before the final whistle, Goromaru added the final nail to Wales' coffin, when he added another penalty to seal a memorable victory for the home side.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Wing, Broadhurst
Cons:Goromaru 2
Pens:Goromaru 3

For Wales:
Try:  Prydie
Pen:  Biggar

Japan:  15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Toshiaki Hirose (capt), 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Takashi Kikutani, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Shoji Ito, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Yusuke Nagae, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Justin Ives, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita.

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Owen Williams, 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Andries Pretorius, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 James King, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Bradley Davies (c), 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Dafydd Howells.

Referee:  Greg Garner (England)

Convincing England see off Pumas

Three first-half tries handed England a 32-3 victory over hosts Argentina in the first of their two-match series in Salta.

Stuart Lancaster's side stormed out of the blocks in the opening 40 minutes to rack up tries through David Strettle, Billy Twelvetress and Ben Morgan — the latter pair particularly impressive throughout on their return to Test rugby.

Argentina were without 21 of their leading stars, all rested for the Rugby Championship, and the rustiness in their set-piece game hounded them throughout as considerably more line-outs were lost rather than won.

England were not so lackadaisical.  The power of Morgan reminded everyone of what England had been missing throughout their Six Nations campaign, the Gloucester number eight rampant from the base of the scrum and in the loose.

Twelvetrees' step and handling also showed that perhaps England's approach of physicality first in midfield should be consigned to the past, his footwork and distribution leaving Argentina ragged.

For all of their first-half excellence however, England struggled to add more points in the second period until Vunipola's late score as Argentina rallied.

The English scrum — a concern in the local press beforehand — proved dominant early on and provided England with their first points of the match after Burns landed two long-range penalties from nearly halfway within three minutes.

A first try shortly followed.  Turning over ball at the line-out, England countered through Christian Wade, setting up the platform for Jonathan Joseph to fix the defence and hand Strettle a finish in the left corner.

Further struggles for the Pumas at the line-out kept them under the cosh, England breaking through Twelvetrees in an attack that culminated eventually with a score for Gloucester centre — England's patience and precision with their offloading game too much for Argentina's defence to handle.

Full of confidence, England's precision evaded them in the build-up to a possible third try that would have put the game to bed, the visitors instead leading 18-0 after half an hour.

Morgan had been England's outstanding performer thus far and he capped it with a try in the right-hand corner, leaving Argentina on the ropes.

The hosts did finish the half with something to hold on to, a Martin Bustos Moyano penalty putting them on the board but a long way behind with the score standing at 25-3.

Bustos Moyano didn't help matters with two missed penalties early on after the interval — Argentina enjoying more possession but failing to convert it into points.

England nearly countered with a breakaway try, the footwork and passing of Morgan, Twelvetrees and Joseph creating an opportunity before the final pass eluded Strettle into touch.

More frustation followed — only a forward pass denied Twelvetrees a second try with the posts at his mercy as England's first-half precision abandoned them.

Argentina had been searching for some precision of their own in the set-piece all match long and their line-out continued to stutter, ironic cheers coming from the crowd when possession was actually retained.

Their scrum was no different, England repelling pressure within their own 22 as the Pumas looked less like scoring as the match wore on.

Tempers had threatened to boil over throughout and as England struggled to add to their tally and were left frustrated, Courtney Lawes being sent to the sin-bin.

With England's defence impregnable and Argentina unable to convert their growing wealth of possession, Vunipola crossed to finish off the closing quarter — English minds looking ahead to the second Test in Buenos Aires and a first ever series victory on Argentinian soil.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Pen:  Bustos Mayano

For England:
Tries:  Strettle, Twelvetrees, Morgan, Vunipola
Cons:  Burns 3
Pens:  Burns 2
Yellow Card:  Lawes

Argentina:  15 Martin Bustos Moyano, 14 Matias Orlando, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tomas Leonardi, 7 Benjamin Macome, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Martin Garcia Veiga, 1 Pablo Henn.
Replacements:  16 Mauricio Guidone, 17 Guillermo Roan, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Tomas De la Vega, 21 Nicolas Vergallo, 22 Gabriel Ascarate, 23 Belisario Agulla.

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 David Strettle, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Tom Wood (c), 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 David Paice, 17 Paul Doran Jones, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Kyle Eastmond, 23 Ben Foden.

Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor:  Carlos Molinari (Argentina)

Madigan's boot sees off USA

Fly-half Ian Madigan converted five penalties to lead Ireland to a 15-12 victory over a determined United States on Saturday.

The USA proved to be stubborn opposition in Houston as they kept the scoreline close throughout.

Interim head coach Les Kiss was in charge of Ireland for the first time and had to make do without those players currently touring Australia with the British and Irish Lions.

A narrow Test match ultimately decided by the boot — Madigan outscored Saracens back Chris Wyles by five penalties to four.

Ireland took the lead early when Madigan slotted a penalty in the ninth minute after the USA's scrum collapsed.

The Eagles' Brian Doyle needed some tending to after a ruck in the 13th minute, but Samu Manoa took revenge and got the crowd on its feet when he lined up an Ireland ball-carrier with a big tackle moments later.

The physicality of the Eagles turned into penalty trouble once again in the 18th minute with hands in the ruck, and Madigan took full advantage with another penalty to give Ireland a 6-0 lead.

Although the Eagles couldn't find the try line, sustained pressure on a tiring Irish defence drew a penalty, which Wyles converted to trim the deficit to 6-3.

Madigan's third penalty of the night in the 31st minute again stretched the visitors' lead, and also sprung Manoa into action.

The Northampton Saint used his big frame and speed to get through a few tackles at midfield to get the Eagles into attacking territory and drew another penalty.  Wyles kicked for the posts and the Eagles found themselves again down by three.

Ireland's chances were few, but a kick across the field in the 35th minute stretched the Eagles defense.

Takudzwa Ngwenya stepped up to take away the scoring chance and forced Ireland to knock on.  The Eagles committed one last penalty before the half-time whistle and paid the price, as Madigan kicked his fourth penalty of the half for a 12-6 lead at the break.

Things got worse for the hosts in the second half when captain Todd Clever was judged to have made a high tackle and sent to the sin bin.  Madigan duly stepped up to kick the penalty and extend Ireland's lead to 15-6.

Consecutive penalties from Wyles pulled the USA back to 15-12, but even with Clever back in action they couldn't get any closer.

Despite the disappointment, the United States can be encouraged by the result as they prepare to host Tonga on Saturday in the Pacific Nations Cup in Los Angeles.  On the same day, Ireland will play a Test against Canada in Toronto.

The scorers:

For USA:
Pens:  Wyles 4

For Ireland:
Pens:  Madigan 5

United States:  15 Chris Wyles, 14 Luke Hume, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (c), 7 Scott LaValla, 6 Samu Manoa, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Brian Doyle, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements:  16 Zach Fenoglio, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Phil Thiel, 19 Peter Dahl, 20 John Quill, 21 Robbie Shaw, 22 James Paterson, 23 Adam Siddall.

Ireland:  15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart Olding, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Peter O'Mahony (c), 7 Chris Henry, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 David Kilcoyne.
Replacements:  16 Mike Sherry, 17 Jamie Hagan, 18 Tom Court, 19 Dan Tuohy, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Felix Jones.

Referee:  Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Assistant referees:  Bryan Arciero (Canada), Chris Assmus (Canada)
Assessor:  Clayton Thomas

Boks canter past Italy

The Springboks got their 2013 international season up and running with a five-try 44-10 victory over Italy at Kings Park on Saturday.

A clinical South Africa got their 2013 international season up and running with a five-try 44-10 victory over Italy at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

Adriaan Strauss, JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers and Bjorn Basson were the try scorers for the Springboks, who blooded a few new players for their opener of this four-team series with Scotland, Samoa and the Azzurri.

Willie le Roux was one newbie under the spotlight as his form for the Cheetahs was rewarded by South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer.  And despite a few early hiccups, his attack-minded approach came to the fore and kept Italy busy.

The hosts started the match strongly as Strauss and Engelbrecht both scored inside the first 23 minutes, but they had to wait a while for more.

The Azzurri's solo try came courtesy of Alberto Sgarbi during a resurgent second-half effort.

The hosts made a lively start and almost scored in the first minute after an error by their opponents at the kick-off, but Basson was bundled into touch.

However, great work from Bok flank Francois Louw moments later allowed Morne Steyn, who scored 17 points, to kick his team in front with a penalty right in front of the uprights.

The lead was doubled in the ninth minute when Leonardo Ghiraldini failed to release.

The visitors' early troubles worsened in the 13th minute as veteran lock Marco Bortolami was shown yellow by French referee Pascal Gauzere after entering a ruck from the side.

From the subsequent penalty line-out, Strauss carried the ball over from the back of a maul.

Meyer's men further capitalised on their numerical advantage in the 23rd minute when Habana latched onto a bouncing ball in his own 22-metre area, sliced through a big hole in the Italian defence and passed outside to Engelbrecht to run in his first points for the Boks.

Italy should have at least pulled a try back shortly after when Edoardo Gori knocked on five metres out, while debutant fly-half Alberto Di Bernardo missed a straightforward penalty.

South Africa continued to venture forward in the closing passage of the half, although the Azzurri showed more signs of settling into matters, with the score 20-0 at the interval.

Things began to pick up for Italy in the early stages of the second-half and when Basson was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, they had a numerical advantage for ten minutes.

Sgarbi made the most of that three minutes later, going over off a nice under-leg pass from captain and number eight Sergio Parisse.  Di Bernardo added the extra two points and then a further three which brought the lead down to just ten points with a quarter of the game left.

But the Springboks showed their superior quality in the end as scores from Habana, De Villiers and finally Basson added the gloss on a decent first outing in their 2013 season.

Man of the match:  Always an option and hunting work off the shoulder of players, Bryan Habana was superb once again for South Africa.  Deserving of his try and this accolade.

Moment of the match:  We'll go for Italy captain Sergio Parisse's under-leg pass to Alberto Sgarbi.  He rarely has a bad game and was again solid for the Azzurri.  We must say that Bjorn Basson's assist for Jean de Villiers' try was also out of the top drawer.

Villain of the match:  Nothing too filthy to report.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Strauss, Engelbrecht, Habana, De Villiers, Basson
Con:  Steyn 4, Lambie
Pen:  Steyn 3

For Italy:
Try:  Sgarbi
Con:  Di Bernardo
Pen:  Di Bernardo

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke Mclean, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Joshua Furno, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Tommaso Iannone.

Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Hennessy (Wales), Blake Beattie (South Africa)

Wales scrape past Japan

Wales were forced to overturn a half-time deficit as they battled to an unconvincing 22-18 victory over Japan in the first Test in Osaka on Saturday.

The visitors were oustcored two tries to one but a big second half saw them come from behind to snatch victory in the last quarter.

Wales hit the front for the first time on the hour mark having struggled at the breakdown and the set-pieces against a Japanese side seeking their first victory over a top-ten nation.

The hosts led 11-6 at the interval but couldn't match the strength of the Welsh bench as they faded in the latter stages of a hard-fought battle in temperatures in excess of 30 degrees at Hanazono Field.

Wales were without 15 senior players on duty with the British and Irish Lions in Australia, and a number of experienced names left out of the touring party, and it soon became apparent they would miss the presence of a genuine openside flanker.

Wales were on the back foot for much of the opening quarter and trailed 6-0 as Japanese full-back Ayumu Goromaru landed his first two shots at goal while Welsh number eight Rob McCusker was sent to the sin-bin.

Dan Biggar got Wales on the scoreboard as the visitors began to find some rhythm and the fly-half levelled the scores around the half-hour mark.

But it would be Japan who would cross the whitewash first as New Zealand-born flank Michael Broadhurst ghosted over on the stroke of half time after a line-out move.

Goromaru missed the conversion but Japan nevertheless went into the changing rooms with a five-point lead.

Japan still looked the better side after the interval, but Goromaru missed two penalty attempts.

Biggar landed two penalties in the second half to edge Wales ahead before wing Harry Robinson finished off a wonderfully-worked try — including a superb offload from full-back Liam Williams — to give the Six Nations champions some breathing room.  Biggar converted.

But it would be a close finish as Japan came storming back.  A series of drives up the middle eventually created space on the right for wing Yoshikazu Fujita to cross on the right.

Goromaru's conversion made it a one-point ball-game at 19-18 going into the final ten minutes.

But replacement fly-half Rhys Patchell would have the last laugh for Wales, slotting a 79th-minute penalty to secure the win.

The teams face each other again in Tokyo on Saturday, June 15.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Broadhurst, Fujita
Cons:  Goromaru
Pens:  Goromaru 2

For Wales:
Try:  Robinson
Con:  Biggar
Pens:  Biggar 4, Patchell
Yellow card:  McCusker

Japan:  15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Yoshikazu Fujita, 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Takashi Kikutani (c), 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Shoji Ito, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Yusuke Nagae, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 20 Ryuta Yasui, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Hirotoki Onozawa.

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Owen Williams, 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Dafydd Howells, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 James King, 6 Andrew Coombs, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Bradley Davies (c), 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Andries Pretorius, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Tom Prydie.

Venue:  Hanazono Field, Osaka
Referee:  Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Greg Garner (England), tba (Japan)
Assessor:  Lyndon Bray

Samoa claim historic win over Scotland

Samoa showed again that they can no longer be considered as minnows, after claiming a fine 27-17 win over Scotland in Durban on Saturday.

The win was an historic one for Samoa as it is the first time that they have beaten Scotland at Test level.

Samoa held the upper hand in the early exchanges and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions.

Scotland defended resiliently but the dam wall eventually burst in the eighth minute when James So'oialo got the game's first try after Alapati Leiua launched a counter-attack from inside his 22 in the build-up.

So'oialo dusted himself off to add the conversion before Greig Laidlaw claimed Scotland's first points with a penalty shortly afterwards.

Both sides played expansively but Samoa's superior physicality saw them dominating at the contact area.

Shortly after Laidlaw's first penalty, Alesana Tuilagi scored Samoa's second try after Logovii Mulipola and Taiasina Tuifua did well in the build-up to create space for the big wing down the left-hand touchline.

So'oialo added the extras, before Laidlaw added two further penalties, in the 19th and 33rd minutes, to narrow the gap to five points (14-9) at half-time.

Shortly after the restart, Laidlaw made it a two-point ball-game when he added another three-pointer and during the early stages of the second half it was Scotland who had the better of the exchanges.

And the Scots took the lead for the first time in the 50th minute when Sean Lamont scored his side's only try after Samoa's scrum-half Jeremy Sua spilled the ball at a scrum close to his own try-line.

Scotland's backs pounced on the loose ball and after sending the ball through several pairs of hands, Lamont got in for an easy five-pointer in the right-hand corner.

To their credit, the islanders did not panic and soon the scores were tied at 17-all through another penalty from So'oialo before Tuilagi scored his second

Tuilagi showed his power, and pace after running onto a pass from the back of a scrum before smashing through a tackle by Peter Horne to score his second try in the 64th minute.

So'oialo succeeded with the conversion, and gave his side a 10-point buffer when he landed another penalty in the 70th minute to give him a personal haul of 17 points.

Man of the match:  Despite an impressive all-round display from James So'oialo, one can't ignore the impact that Alesana Tuilagi made on this match.  Whenever he received the ball, he proved a menace to the Scottish defence and he was rewarded for his efforts with two well-taken tries.

Moment of the match:  With the match level at 17-17 and Scotland launching a comeback, Tulagi scored a memorable try which put the game out of his opponents' reach.  The burly flyer showed his physical prowess to get in for the five-pointer and from there on, there was no looking back for Samoa.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Lamont
Pens:  Laidlaw 4

For Samoa:
Tries:Tuilagi 2, So'oialo
Cons:  So'oialo 3
Pens:  So'oialo 2

Scotland:  15 Greig Tonks, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Stevie Lawrie, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Duncan Taylor.

Samoa:  15 James So'oialo, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Paul Williams (c), 12 Jonny Leota, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusiata Pisi, 9 Jeremy Sua, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Wayne Ole Avei, 1 Logovii Mulipola.
Replacements:  16 Maatulimanu Leiataua, 17 Sakaria Taulafo, 18 James Johnston, 19 Faatiga Lemalu, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Brando Vaaulu, 22 Seilala Mapusua, 23 Alafoti Faosiliva.

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)

France push All Blacks close

Once again New Zealand were made to work very hard to get the better of France at Eden Park, winning 23-13 in an entertaining clash on Saturday.

In the first game between these sides since the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final at the same venue, the All Blacks outscored their visitors two tries to one but were pushed all the way by a French side showing a marked improvement on their woeful Six Nations campaign.

New Zealand led 17-10 at the interval thanks to tries from Aaron Smith and Sam Cane after France had taken the early lead via a Wesley Fofana score.

There was very little to choose between the old rivals but a series of scrum penalties against France proved influential as they killed off a number of promising attacking opportunities for Philippe Saint-Andr・s men.

The result sees the All Blacks take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series but with the tourists set to be reinforced by players who took part in the recent Top 14 Final, the next fortnight promises to be intriguing.

France drew first blood when Florian Fritz sliced through in midfield and offloaded to his centre partner Fofana, who raced home.

Maxime Machenaud added the extras and the visitors held a 7-0 advantage until the end of the opening quarter when Aaron Cruden landed his first penalty.

The All Blacks scored their first try on the half-hour mark after Ben Smith burst clear before finding his namesake Aaron up in support.

Cruden's conversion put New Zealand in front but Machenaud replied to level the scores with half time looming large.

Ma'a Nonu ensured that the hosts would head into the tunnel in the lead however as he beat Camille Lopez to set up a try for Cane with skipper Kieran Read proving the link.

Cruden's conversion was the final act of an evenly-contested and entertaining first half.

With Machenaud off injured, Lopez took over the French kicking duties and narrowed the deficit early in the second period.

Referee Wayne Barnes was the centre of controversy before kick-off as the French management and press found it highly irregular that the Englishman was staying at the same hotel as the hosts and Bleus skipper Thierry Dusautoir was fuming when the visitors scrum was penalised while camped on the Kiwi tryline.

Cruden restored the seven-point gap on the hour mark before the All Blacks were given a massive let off when Louis Picamoles knocked-on in front of an open tryline.

The pattern of missed chances - from both sides - continued until the final hooter with Cruden's third penalty securing the win.

Man of the match:  A tough call to make.  Louis Picamoles, Florian Fritz and Adrien Plante all did well for France while Ma'a Nonu made a welcome return to form in the black 12 jersey.  But we'll go for Ben Smith, who not only created New Zealand's first try, but was rock solid at the back as the French looked to get the ball behind the Kiwi pack.

Moment of the match:  The difference between the sides proved to be Sam Cane's try on the stroke of half time after Nonu beat Dusautoir.

Villain of the match:  The scrums were a mess, but no nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  A. Smith, Cane
Cons:  Cruden 2
Pens:  Cruden 3

For France:
Try:  Fofana
Con:  Machenaud
Pens:  Machenaud, Lopez

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ben Afeaki, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Rene Ranger.

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Adrien Plante, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Akexandre Flanquart, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Maxime Mermoz.

Venue:  Eden Park, Aukland
Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)