Boks back in business against Samoa

South Africa got their World Cup campaign back on track with a convincing 46-6 win over Samoa thanks to a hat-trick from JP Pietersen.

A week on from their shock loss to Japan, the Springboks knew that it was win or bust for them, and they came out with intensity from the off.

Samoa led early with two Mike Stanley penalties and were the better team until the fly-half was picked off by Pietersen for a try against the run of play.

That changed the complexion of the game, and the Springboks, led by the infuriatingly brilliant Eben Etzebeth used all their experience to open up a 17-6 half-time lead.

Pietersen's second try early in the second half put the result beyond doubt, and South Africa were helped by Samoa's stubborn decisions to keep taking tough shots at goal when trailing by three scores.

Despite the best efforts of Tim Nanai-Williams, Samoa committed too many errors to really trouble the Boks, and will have to beat Japan in their next game to keep their own quarter-final hopes alive.

Schalk Burger's try just before the hour set South Africa on their way to a bonus point and it came with ten minutes remaining when Schalk Brits came off the bench and was perfectly positioned at the back of a rolling maul to score.

Pietersen completed his hat-trick a minute from time with a score in the corner, before Bryan Habana got in on the act at the death, completing what will be a welcome success for Heyneke Meyer and his much-criticised Dad's Army.

The Springboks now lead Pool B, and despite their loss to Japan, are favourites to emerge top with games against Scotland and the USA to come.

Fourie du Preez was exceptional for them, while skipper Jean de Villiers also excelled, but it was Eben Etzebeth who was the heartbeat of the team, driving his teammates forward and proving a menace in all aspects of the game.

South Africa showed their intent from the start, smashing the Samoan receiver at the kick-off and earning a penalty which Handrè Pollard converted for a 3-0 lead after barely a minute.

The Springboks meant business and a mammoth rolling maul from the restart earned a penalty as they looked in complete control.  A huge tackle from TJ Ioane slowed their momentum somewhat, and it was Samoa who started to grow into the game, levelling on eight minutes with the aid of the post through Michael Stanley after Francois Louw had failed to roll away from a ruck.

Pollard then put the restart out on the full, as South Africa showed some signs of nerves, with Samoa earning a penalty from the resulting scrum which Stanley slotted from halfway to give his team the lead.

Samoa looked the better team, with Nanai-Williams causing all sorts of problems with his quick feet, but against the run of play South Africa grabbed the first try.  After going through their backs Samoa looked to have a man over, but Stanley's floated pass couldn't clear Pietersen and he plucked it out of the air before racing 50 metres for the try.  Pollard pulled his conversion wide but the Springboks led 8-6.

Pollard added three more a couple of minutes later when Samoa were slow to roll away from a ruck and South Africa moved 11-6 in front.

They were able to stretch the lead to eight points on 24 minutes when Zak Taulafo was penalised for a tackle without the ball on Burger, giving Pollard a simple shot from in front of the posts.

Having been on the back foot early, South Africa were starting to come back into it and almost had a second try on the half-hour.  A fine break down the blindside from du Preez had Samoa scrambling and some quick hands saw de Villiers cross.  Unfortunately for South Africa, the final pass from Willie le Roux came just after he'd put a foot in touch much to Samoa's relief.

The intensity was huge with hits flying in from both sides.  Alesana Tuilagi allowed it to boil over at one point, putting in an unnecessary dig on Etzebeth after the lock had earned a turnover by stopping a Samoan maul.

South Africa moved back up the pitch with the penalty and when Joe Tekori strayed offside, Pollard stretched the lead to 17-6 with Stanley off-target with a 60-metre effort to end the half.

The Springboks flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half and almost had a second try after some fantastic interpassing.  De Villiers got away on the left and two quick passes from him to Habana, and then onto le Roux saw the full-back in the clear.  He chipped over Nanai-Williams but couldn't regather, knocking on two metres short of the line.

They were over five minutes later though, with Pietersen again on the end of it after good work from the forwards.  A powerful maul was eventually stopped by the Springboks worked the overlap and spread the ball quickly through le Roux and de Villiers to send Pietersen over for his second.  Pollard converted from the touchline and South Africa led 24-6.

Samoa kept fighting, but the game was getting away from them and it didn't help when Stanley pulled a penalty attempt well wide when kicking to the corner would surely have been the better option.

Stanley was off-target with a third straight penalty effort a couple of minutes later with his final kick of the game as Samoa failed to close the gap once more.

Instead it was South Africa who showed their clinical side, stealing a lineout five metres out before Burger had enough power to crash through the tackle of Ole Avei for their third try.  Pollard's conversion came back off the post but South Africa were on their way to a big victory.

Samoa were beaten but they then almost scored the try of the game, inevitably created by the sensational Nanai-Williams.  Collecting the ball on the right, he outpaced Tendai Mtawarira, chipped over le Roux and collected but his pass to Kahn Fotuali'i, who in turn found Tusi Pisi, was deemed forward.

And South Africa grabbed the bonus point try with ten minutes to go through Brits, the Saracens hooker the beneficiary of some great work by the Springbok pack as they marched towards the line.

There was still time for Habana to notch up his 60th try for the Boks, with the final play of the game, sprinting away in space after a turnover in midfield.

Man of the match:  Eben Etzebeth was outstanding, and probably deserves it, but we can't ignore JP Pietersen's hat-trick.  Back in the side, he proved his worth and looked back to his best.

Moment of the match:  The opening try turned the match on its head.  Until that point, Samoa looked the better team but when Mike Stanley tried an optimistic floated pass, JP Pietersen picked it off, and from there the Springboks were on their way.

Villain of the match:  The game looked like it might get out of hand when Alesana Tuilagi put in an unnecessary dig on Eben Etzebeth after a maul.  It didn't quite boil over though.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Pens:  Stanley 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Pietersen 3, Burger, Brits, Habana
Cons:  Pollard, Lambie
Pens:  Pollard 4

The teams:

Samoa:  15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Paul Perez, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Mike Stanley, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Ofisa Treviranus (c), 7 Jack Lam, 6 TJ Ioane, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Motu Matu'u, 1 Zak Taulafo
Replacements:  16 Ole Avei, 17 Viliami Afatia, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Vavae Tuilagi, 21 Vavao Afemai, 22 Tusi Pisi, 23 George Pisi

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Schalk Brits, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jesse Kriel.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  JP Doyle (England), Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Italy shake off impressive Canada

Italy were given a mighty scare on Saturday but managed to see off Canada, winning 23-18 at Elland Road in an entertaining Rugby World Cup fixture.

Both teams crossed for two tries but it was the boot of pivot Tommaso Allan that proved the difference as the Azzurri picked up their first victory of the pool.

For Canada this was a much-improved performance from their heavy defeat to Ireland as tries from wing DTH van der Merwe and full-back Matt Evans put them ahead on two separate occasions in front of 33,120 supporters in Yorkshire.

Italy's try-scorers were loosehead prop Michele Rizzo and inside centre Gonzalo Garcia as their blushes were saved in a disappointing showing.

It was a high-octane opening in Leeds and Canada were the ones edging the contest, particularly at the breakdown where they won two penalties and also forced a turnover.  Nathan Hirayama was once again pulling the strings nicely but the scores remained deadlocked for fourteen minutes.

Italy were clearly rattled and that was illustrated by scrum-half Edoardo Gori stamping on a Canadian at a ruck which led to a kickable penalty being reversed.  The battle for third place in this pool was most definitely on as Canada grew in confidence whilst enjoying more ball in the 22.

Their dominance finally bore fruit when Italy were caught offside and Hirayama made them pay with three points.  The best was yet to come though.

From the restart Canada broke down the left through Van der Merwe before a lovely interchange with centre Ciaran Hearn saw the wing finish well.  Hirayama's extras made it 0-10 to the Canadians but Italy would hit back moments later through prop Rizzo, as he crashed over for 7-10.

The game had gone up another level at this point with Italy now starting to gain the ascendancy as they set up camp 20 metres out.  Canada did well to keep the Azzurri out on two occasions but eventually the pressure told, with Allan landing the levelling three points after 25 minutes.

Allan would leave the field before the interval for a Head Injury Assessment and his replacement, Carlo Canna, had a chance to put his side in front from the tee after a Canadian failed to roll away.  He was wayward and soon after found himself in touch as he attempted to score wide out.

Italy would however go 13-10 in front as the return of Allan saw an immediate chance to kick three points, this time for Canada's side entry.

Canada came out fighting in the second stanza and retook the lead on 45 minutes as a scything break from full-back Evans saw him dive over near to the left touchline.  Hirayama missed his difficult conversion attempt but his side would still restart with a slender two-point lead in Leeds.

Agonisingly for Kieran Crowley's side wing Phil McKenzie was denied a try one minute later on the other flank as TMO footage showed there to be a forward pass.  That decision came as welcome relief to Italy, who were on the ropes and shocked by what their opponents were throwing at them.

They managed to weather that storm though and hit the front once more before the hour mark when centre Garcia dived over from close range, after Canada had made the error of clearly directly to touch after the ball was taken back into their own 22.  Allan's conversion extended the arrears to 20-15.

Canada certainly had chances to respond with an all-important late score as livewire replacement scrum-half Phil Mack almost set up McKenzie for a run-in.  However, an Italian hand halted the pass which meant Canada would be denied but still have possession in the Azzurri red zone.

The pressure finally turned into points from Hirayama's boot on 72 minutes and so began a frantic final eight minutes of action at Elland Road.  Italy though would survive and in fact made sure of the win with the last kick of the game as Allan landed a penalty for 23-18.

Man of the match:  Outstanding on a losing side once again, DTH van der Merwe was a willing runner for Canada and took his try tally this World Cup to two with his first-half effort.  Also impressive for the second successive week was fly-half Nathan Hirayama.

Moment of the match:  Canada will be kicking themselves after clearing directly into touch after taking the ball back into their 22 on the hour mark.  Italy punished them with what turned out to be the match-winning try.  On such margins internationals are won.

Villain of the match:  A thoroughly entertaining game with nothing malicious to report.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Rizzo, Garcia
Con:  Allan 2
Pen:  Allan 3

For Canada:
Tries:  Van der Merwe, Evans
Con:  Hirayama
Pen:  Hirayama 2

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Josh Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Michele Campagnaro.

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Connor Braid, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 8 Tyler Ardron (c), 7 John Moonlight, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Evan Olmstead, 20 Kyle Gilmour, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Conor Trainor, 23 Harry Jones.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Argentina put 50 past Georgia

Argentina got their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track when they beat Georgia 54-9 in their Pool C clash at Kingsholm on Friday.

Los Pumas, who lost their tournament opener to New Zealand last Sunday, outscored their opponents by seven tries to nought and their fly-half Nicolas Sanchez impressed with his goalkicking, finishing with a 15-point haul, via two penalties, three conversions and a drop goal.

In a physical encounter — especially the first half when Georgia gave as good as they got — Los Pumas' experience and superior tactical play proved too good for their opponents and they stepped up a gear in the second half after holding a slender 14-9 lead at the break.

Georgia punched above their weight for large periods and were kept in the game up until half-time by the accurate goalkicking of Merab Kvirikashvili, who slotted three penalties, but they ran out of steam in the second half.  The sin-binning of their captain Mamuka Gorgodze, for playing the ball on the ground deep inside his 22 shortly after the break, proved costly as Argentina scored 21 unanswered points during his time off the field.

Argentina had the better of the early exchanges and after a sustained period of pressure inside Georgia's 22, Nicolas Sanchez opened the scoring with the tournament's first drop goal in the sixth minute.

The South Americans continued to dominate during the opening quarter and were 8-0 up shortly afterwards when, after taking the ball through several phases in the build-up, Tomas Lavanini scored the game's opening try in the right-hand corner.

Kvirikashvili replied with two penalties for Georgia before Sanchez added a three-pointer from the kicking tee, which meant Argentina held an 11-6 lead in the 22nd minute.  The next 10 minutes was an arm wrestle as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy with most of the play restricted to the forwards.

Kvirikashvili added his third three-pointer before Sanchez replied with another penalty for Argentina.

Argentina showed their intentions from the outset when they came out for the second half and were soon camped inside Georgia's 22.  Gorgodze's sending-off in the 45th minute proved the pivotal moment in the match and his absence underlined how important he is to Georgia's cause.

First Tomas Cubelli exploited a gap in the defence to go over untouched from a scrum on Georgia's tryline before Juan Imhoff showed a superb turn of speed to get over in the left-hand corner.

The game was all over as a contest by the 52nd minute when Cordero got over for his first try after running onto a pass from Facundo Isa.  Cordero still had work to do and beat the final defender with a brilliant side-step before going over for his side's bonus-point try.

That was the knockout blow but Los Pumas weren't done yet.  After a sustained period of pressure, close to Georgia's tryline, Martin Landajo scampered over from close quarters after selling the defence a dummy.

Sanchez had been replaced by then and Marcelo Bosch added the extras and also converted Cordero's second try, after he shrugged off two challenges before outpacing the cover defence to dot down.

Imhoff was not to be outdone and also scored his second try in the 75th minute.  The speedster had an easy run-in after Argentina's forwards took the ball through several phases inside Georgia's 22.

The victory means Argentina are now second in the pool with five points from two matches — four points adrift of New Zealand.

Man of the match:  Several candidates in Argentina's side but Nicolas Sanchez delivered a superb all-round display during his time on the pitch.  Sanchez varied his play well and thrived as a playmaker.  He brought his forwards into play with clever offloads and also created space for his outside backs.

Moment of the match:  The sin binning of Mamuka Gorgodze proved disastrous for Georgia as Argentina made full use of their numerical advantage by scoring three tries in a seven-minute period.

Villain of the match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Argentina:

Tries:  Cordero 2, Imhoff 2, Lavanini, Cubelli, Landajo
Cons:  Sanchez 3, Bosch 2
Pens:  Sanchez 2
Drop goal:  Sanchez

For Georgia:
Pens:  Kvirikashvili 3
Yellow card:  Gorgodze

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Javier Ortega Desio, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Giorgi Aptsiauri, 10 Lasha Malaguradze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Mamuka Gorgodze (c), 7 Viktor Kolelishvili, 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Konstantin Mikautadze, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Karlen Asieshvili, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Levan Datunashvili, 20 Shalva Sutiashvili, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Giorgi Pruidze, 23 Muraz Giorgadze Referee:  JP Doyle (England)

All Blacks ease past Namibia

New Zealand produced a clinical display as they cruised past a valiant Namibia 58-14 at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday.

In the first meeting between the two teams, there was only ever going to be one winner, and the All Blacks were thoroughly professional as they downed their overmatched opponents scoring nine tries in total.

However, the loudest cheer of the evening went to Namibia centre Johan Deysel, as he scored their first try of the tournament ten minutes into the second-half.

New Zealand had five tries by half-time, with Sonny Bill Williams stealing the limelight with some delightful offloads and Nehe Milner-Skudder grabbing two tries.

Victor Vito had got them on their way with the first try, while Malakai Fekitoa and Beauden Barrett also crossed as Namibia had little answer to the world champions.

The second-half gave Julian Savea the chance to end his try-scoring drought in black, scoring his first Test try of 2015, although the All Black winger still looks worryingly short of form despite a second try late on.

Ben Smith also crossed after coming off the bench and Codie Taylor scored with the final play of the game, but Steve Hansen will have been disappointed with the lack of accuracy from his side in the second-half as they allowed their standards to drop considerably, while Barrett's goal-kicking was inconsistent.

It didn't take long for New Zealand to exert their dominance, with an early penalty from in front from Barrett giving them a 3-0 lead after four minutes.

And a minute later they were over for their first try, Savea breaking down the left and two phases later Vito finding enough space to get over in the same corner.  Barrett converted from the touchline to make it 10-0 to the world champions.

It was a sign of things to come and after another Vito break Milner-Skudder made up for a sloppy performance against Argentina with a fine finish for New Zealand's second.  Collecting the wide ball from Fekitoa he easily stepped inside Deysel and dived over, although Barrett couldn't convert from the opposite touchline.

Namibia got on the board just before the quarter-hour however, when Ben Franks was penalised for holding on, allowing Theuns Kotzè to slot three points from just over 40 metres out.

That brought a huge cheer, and it was nearly matched a few minutes later when an All Black lineout five metres out was stolen by Tjuee Uanivi, allowing them to clear their lines.

New Zealand were just too big, too strong and too quick, and they had a third try on the board after 20 minutes.  Williams shrugged off a couple of tackles after taking Barrett's pop pass.  He was finally stopped short of the line but produced a trademark offload to give Fekitoa the easiest of finishes.  With Barrett's conversion, the All Blacks led 22-3.

That soon became 22-6 when Charlie Faumuina rushed up too quickly in defence, allowing Kotzè to slot his second penalty of the evening.

But New Zealand came back again, and had their bonus point after just half an hour, Barrett spotting a huge gap in midfield and sprinting straight through before showing his pace to go under the posts.  He converted his own try to make it 29-6.

Namibia could have had a try just before the break, but David Philander couldn't hold onto Colin Slade's loose pass, knocking on with no cover in behind.

Instead it was New Zealand who had the final word of the half, breaking through in midfield, and after Fekitoa had been stopped just short, the ball was spread wide for Milner-Skudder to grab his second.  Barrett missed the conversion but New Zealand led 34-6 at the break.

Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreboard, Namibia continued to take shots at goal when they had the chance and Kotzè slotted his third penalty of the night to open the scoring in the second-half.

New Zealand had their sixth try soon after though, with Savea crossing for a morale-boosting score.  Having struggled for form so far in 2015, he showed his power to crash through in midfield, and after being stopped just short, he reached out and placed the ball on the line.  The All Blacks had decided to switch Slade and Barrett between full-back and fly-half at the break, and the former also took on kicking duties, slotting the simple conversion.

Having scored three penalties, Namibia decided to kick their next opportunity to the corner, and it paid dividends with their first try of the evening.  A clever lineout move saw Torsten van Jaarsveld crash it up in midfield and after going right then back left, Deysel spun out of two tackles and powered his way over for the try.  That brought a massive cheer from the crowd although Kotzè's conversion was just off-target.

The Welwitschias were performing admirably, but just before the hour their task got a great deal harder.  After a string of attacks in the Namibian 22, Jaco Engels was caught killing the ball on his line, earning a yellow card from Romain Poite.

Namibia had actually outscored their illustrious opponents in the first 20 minutes of the second half, but the dam had to break eventually, and it was Smith, coming off the bench, who went over for their seventh try, although Barrett's touchline conversion was again wayward.

New Zealand lacked fluency in the final 20 minutes but did get over again through Savea, finishing with a low dive after the All Blacks had worked space on the left before Taylor finished the scoring following a stunning inside pass from Milner-Skudder.

Still, it was a respectable result for Namibia, who had been tipped to lose by a great deal more, and will take confidence heading into their next game against Tonga.

Man of the match:  It could have gone to Sonny Bill Williams but Nehe Milner-Skudder's final assist gets him the nod.  His step off his right foot is so hard to counter and he showed his finishing skills with two fine tries.

Moment of the match:  There's no question it was Johan Deysel's try for Namibia.  He slipped two men before bouncing off Malakai Fekitoa for a magical moment for the underdogs.

Villain of the match:  No nasty business to report.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Vito, Milner-Skudder 2, Fekitoa, Barrett, Savea 2, Smith, Taylor
Cons:  Barrett 4, Slade
Pen:  Barrett

For Namibia:
Try:  Deysel
Pens:  Kotzè 3
Yellow card:  Engels

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Colin Slade, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Sam Cane (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Tony Woodcock, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Richie McCaw, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Ma'a Nonu, 23 Ben Smith.

Namibia:  15 Johan Tromp, 14 David Philander, 13 JC Greyling, 12 Johan Deysel, 11 Conrad Marais, 10 Theuns Kotzè, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Leneve Damens, 7 Tinus du Plessis, 6 Jacques Burger (capt), 5 Pieter-Jan van Lill, 4 Tjuee Uanivi, 3 Johannes Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements:  16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Casper Viviers, 18 Raoul Larson, 19 Renaldo Bothma, 20 Janco Venter, 21 Rohan Kitshoff, 22 Eneill Buitendag, 23 Chrysander Botha.

Venue:  The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Mathieu Raynal (France)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Uninspiring France battle past Oaks

France made heavy weather of beating Romania, 38-11, eventually picking up a bonus point win after an underwhelming display.

After being thoroughly outplayed at the breakdown, France needed a ten-minute spell with an extra man to finally break Romania down in the first half, with Sofiane Guitoune and Yannick Nyanga crossing to give them a 17-6 half-time lead.

Despite a stern talking to from a furious Philippe Saint-André, things didn't get much better in the second half, with France only threatening on the all too rare occasions they injected some pace into the game.

They finally picked things up in the final quarter, with Guitoune grabbing his second and Wesley Fofana then crossing for the crucial fourth try as Romania started to slip off some tackles.

Gaël Fickou sealed the win after Valentin Ursache had crossed for the Oaks, who deserved their try having caused les Bleus all sorts of problems.

That win keeps France on course for a pool decider with Ireland but on this display, they will have to improve a great deal to avoid a defeat and a likely quarter-final against the All Blacks.

For their part, Romania continued the impressive displays of the so called lesser teams in this tournament, but apart from their excellent scrum and breakdown work, were a little too limited to make their possession and territorial dominance in the first half count.

Romania drew first blood at scrum-time, disrupting a French put-in to earn a penalty with just two minutes on the board.  Unfortunately for the Romanians, their lineout wasn't quite so hot, overthrowing the jumper and losing their first possession in French territory.

While their scrum was going well, the worry for the Romanians was how easy France were making ground, with Wesley Fofana going clean through with his first touch.

Eventually France found themselves five metres out and when the Romanian defence sprinted up too quickly, it handed Morgan Parra an easy opportunity to open the scoring with a penalty in front.

However after a shaky start, Romania started to come into it, and when Adrian Apostol kicked through Brice Dulin was pressured on his own line, conceding a penalty which the Romanians kicked to the corner.  While their maul was stopped, a series of drives stretched the French defence, opening things up for Florin Vlaicu to get over.

Unfortunately for the centre Bernard le Roux did brilliantly hold him up initially, before a pile of bodies obscured any potential touchdown.  With penalty advantage Romania took the three points through their centre to level the scores after 20 minutes.

The Romanian pack was bossing their counterparts, with the French lineout in disarray and countless breakdown penalties as Romania threw bodies into rucks.  After yet another turnover France strayed offside, giving the Oaks the chance to take the lead, only for Vlaicu to pull an easy chance wide.

While France had been struggling at everything else, their maul was at least functioning.  After one such play Romania were forced to haul down the onrushing pack, with Paulica Ion sin-binned as a result.

Les Bleus went straight back to the maul, and while it didn't work, it opened up space on the blindside for Parra to put Guitoune into space.  The winger had just enough strength to reach over and dot down.  Parra's conversion from the touchline made it 10-3.

That try seemed to liberate France and they were over again two minutes later.  After a searing break in midfield from Dulin, France recycled quickly.  This time Uini Atonio burst through in midfield and with the Romanians scrambling, Alexandre Flanquart delayed his pass perfectly before putting Nyanga over on the right.  Parra again added the extras from the touchline and suddenly it was a 17-3 lead.

Despite being down to 14, Romania kept battling, and created one chance when Catalin Fercu opened up some space for Apostol.  He found his full-back again inside him but Guitoune was back in time to drag him into touch.

They were still causing France problems at the breakdown, and another turnover led to a penalty for slowing the ball down, with Vlaicu making no mistake this time to cut the deficit to 11 on the stroke of half-time.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with France still struggling at the breakdown but causing problems with their maul.  They lacked patience however, with one little chip over the top from Parra clearly the wrong option with his team approaching the line.

Inaccurate and lethargic, France played into their opponents' hands by playing at a snail's pace, only raising the tempo in the final quarter of an hour.

When they did pick up the pace, Romania struggled to disrupt them at the breakdown, with one quick passage eventually sending Guitoune over for his second, showing power to force his way over.  Parra again slotted the tricky conversion and France led 24-6 with 13 minutes left to get a bonus point.

It didn't take them long, with the Oaks starting to tire.  After some more quick hands, France's offloading game finally clicking, Fofana spun out of two tackles and dotted down to seal the five points.  Rory Kockott, on for Parra, added the conversion for les Bleus.

But quite rightly Romania got the try they deserved.  Having failed to deal with the French maul all game, they showed they could do the same with Ursache, undoubtedly their best player, the man to crash over.

Guitoune almost had a hat-trick after an acrobatic finish following a chip over the top, but he couldn't quite get the ball down before running out of space in-goal.

There was still time for a fifth try, with Fickou showing his quick feet when running an excellent line, weaving through the defence and over for a simple score.

Man of the match:  There had been question marks over his selection after a disappointing display against England in the warm-ups, but Sofiane Guitoune scored two tries and also stood up in defence with a couple of crucial tackles.  There are tougher tests to come but he did as well as he could have.

Moment of the match:  Florin Vlaicu came desperately close to the first try, getting over the line but being held up by Bernard le Roux and Sofiane Guitoune.  With France wobbling, that try might just have sparked an upset.

Villain of the match:  No nasty business to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Guitoune 2, Nyanga, Fofana, Fickou
Cons:  Parra 3, Kockott 2
Pen:  Parra

For Romania:
Try:  V Ursache
Pens:  Vlaicu 2
Yellow Card:  Ion

The teams:

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Sofiane Guitoune, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Rémi Talès, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Bernard le Roux, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (c), 1 Vincent Debaty
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Yoann Maestri, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Frédéric Michalak, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Madalin Lemnaru, 13 Paula Kinikinilau, 12 Florin Vlaicu, 11 Adrian Apostol, 10 Danut Dumbrava, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Mihai Macovei (c), 7 Viorel Lucaci, 6 Valentin Ursache, 5 Johan Van Heerden, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Mihaita Lazar
Replacements:  16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Andrei Ursache, 18 Horatiu Pungea, 19 Ovidiu Tonita, 20 Stelian Burcea, 21 Valentin Calafeteanu, 22 Ionut Botezatu, 23 Csaba Gal

Venue:  Olympic Stadium, London
Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Australia win without bonus point

Australia got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start on Wednesday as they overcame a spirited Fijian side 28-13 at the Millennium Stadium.

While they didn't pick up the try bonus-point like England five days ago, it was a streetwise pool start from the recent Rugby Championship winners in Cardiff.

The combination of David Pocock and Michael Hooper together in the back-row again offered plenty of dynamism while Matt Giteau organised well at centre.

Of course tougher fixtures will arrive in the coming weeks as after Uruguay it's crunch time against England and then finally Wales in this pool of death.

But a three-try triumph will do nicely to kick things off as a double from number eight Pocock and one from tighthead prop Sekope Kepu saw them to victory.

Fiji were kept at arm's length for most of the game with their only try coming from fly-half Ben Volavola.  Australia though were deserved winners on the day.

Australia had trained as two teams since arriving from the USA as they face Uruguay on Sunday at Villa Park.  Fiji had their own problems after only playing England last Friday but were able to limit the changes to four as Peceli Yato, Netani Talei, Tevita Cavubati and Tuapati Talemaitoga came into the starting line-up.

That quickly became four tweaks from the XV that went down the hosts as they lost Waisea to injury inside four minutes.  Aseli Tikoirotuma was his replacement amid a decent start from the Wallabies, with Israel Folau in particular a threat.

Australia were on the board soon after as Bernard Foley kicked over a penalty from in front, with an off the ball tackle on Giteau the offence.  Giteau would have a fine first-half as he regularly took the right option, proving his return from the Test wilderness could be a masterstroke.

Credit to Fiji who settled and worked their way downfield before decent possession gave the crowd reason to cheer.  The noise grew when they won a scrum penalty against the head — much to the delight of tighthead Manasa Saulo — before further pressure resulted in Nemani Nadolo levelling.

Fiji weren't the only ones keeping the Millennium Stadium crowd happy as back-to-back decisions to ignore the posts bore fruit when Pocock was the man at the tail of a driving line-out, thus opening Australia's try account at this World Cup.  Foley cooly kicked the difficult conversion.

Australia were now motoring as their maul seemed to have Fiji's number, Pocock again at the tail as the Wallabies extended their lead to 15-3, this after Fiji loosehead prop Campese Ma'afu was carded for an offence at the breakdown.  It would be a crucial ten minutes before the break.

Foley would keep the scoreboard ticking over with his second penalty before the turnaround but one felt that 18-3 was slightly harsh on Fiji, whose heads looked to be dropping after a tough opening 120 minutes in the tournament.  If anyone could strike from nothing though, it's them.

The opening score of the half however would go the way of the Wallabies as tighthead prop Kepu showed good feet to cross, making it 25-3 with the result now seemingly beyond doubt.  The try bonus-point wasn't in the bag just yet though as Australia looked to join England at the summit.

Fiji meanwhile were staring a zero from two pool record in the face and despite Nadolo making it 25-6 off the kicking tee, losing the influential Nikola Matawalu to injury on 50 minutes was another painful moment for John McKee.  He'll hope he recovers for Wales next Thursday.

Many expected Australia to run away with things in the second half as Fiji have recently developed a tendency to dip after the break.  Not so today as they upped their game to make it a two-score game.  Volavola was the man crossing with an excellent step and strength seeing him over.

Foley was wise to restore a 15-point buffer on 69 minutes but when outside centre Tevita Kuridrani was shown yellow for not rolling away, Fiji again put the foot to the floor despite being out on their feet and there being just three minutes left.

It was all in vain but try telling Fiji to take their foot off the gas in their closest losing margin against Australia since 1984.

Man of the match:  It's hard to look past David Pocock for his two-try performance.  His work at the breakdown once again stood out as Fiji struggled to shift him.  Alongside Michael Hooper the Wallabies have a formidable duo in the back-row.

Moment of the match:  The loudest cheer of the night arrived when Ben Volavola crossed in the second half.  It was a lovely finish from the Fiji fly-half as his quick feet got him to the try-line from almost 20 metres out before power did the rest.

Villain of the match:  Nothing dirty to report.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Pocock 2, Kepu
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Foley 3
Yellow card:  Kuridrani (not rolling away — 73 mins)

For Fiji:
Try:  Volavola
Con:  Nadolo
Pens:  Nadolo 2
Yellow card:  Ma'afu (ruck offence — 31 mins)

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Dean Mumm, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Kurtley Beale.

Fiji:  15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Akapusi Qera (c), 6 Peceli Yato, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements:  16 Viliame Veikoso, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Isei Colati, 19 Nemia Soqeta, 20 Malakai Ravulo, 21 Nemia Kenatale, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma.

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England

Clinical Scots power past tired Japan

Scotland kicked on in the final half hour to secure a comprehensive 45-10 win over Japan at Kingsholm in Gloucester on Wednesday.

Five tries in the second half, including two for Mark Bennett, wrapped up a convincing win at the end for the fresher Scots in their first game, with the outcome always set to hinge on how quickly Japan had recovered both mentally and physically from last Saturday's spectacular triumph over South Africa.

Six changes from Eddie Jones went some way to freshening up his side but asking the majority of the heroes who conquered the Springboks to do it all again four days later bordered on unreasonable.

They weren't as sharp, conceded more penalties, but crucially were never out of the contest until their legs went with 30 minutes left.  The loss of outstanding number eight Amanaki Mafi not long into the second half was also a cruel blow.

Scotland had no such worries when it came to fatigue and were ruthless in putting points on the board early on through the boot of man of the match Greig Laidlaw, but they never looked truly at ease until Bennett's first try midway through the second half.

Laidlaw, kicking on familiar turf at Kingsholm having joined Gloucester last year, converted an early penalty won through Scotland's maul after Kotaro Matsushima was harried into touch deep in his own 22.

A second Scotland penalty was fair reward for dominating the opening stages where Laidlaw and Finn Russell kept the tempo high.

That all changed after Grant Gilchrist gave away a sloppy penalty at the breakdown, allowing Ayumu Goromaru to put the ball in the corner.

Japan's maul was excellent against South Africa and struck again here at the first attempt.  Shifting the ball at the lineout to a second pod led by the captain Michael Leitch, the Brave Blossoms wouldn't be stopped as Mafi found the line.

Laidlaw responded after a no-arms tackle saw Shota Horie penalised to put Scotland back ahead at 9-7, and Japan continued to struggle in the scrum, Laidlaw wasting no time to make it 12-7 from 45 metres out after the Japanese front row dropped their bind.

Japan's indiscipline was beginning to cost them with Matsushima questionably sin-binned for hands in the ruck, but Laidlaw's wide kick left them off the hook on the scoreboard.

Leitch and Japan's bravery however hadn't deserted them, opting to go to the corner from a kickable penalty only for the ball to be lost forward.

Little errors such as those — Goromaru's missed penalty, a forward pass — undid plenty of promising groundwork but Japan were relentless in the pressure they put on Scotland when Fumiaki Tanaka and Mafi were able to get on the front foot.  Despite an entertaining stint camped in Scotland's 22, they failed to produce any points.

Having withstood Japan's barrage Scotland almost had the final say of the half, only for a spectacular try-saving tackle from Goromaru on Tommy Seymour to keep the score at 12-7.

More brilliance from Mafi almost handed Japan a perfect start to the second half, only for Scotland to cling on, but after another barnstorming run through the defence the Tongan-born number eight couldn't carry on in huge blow to Japan's hopes.  Goromaru's first penalty closed the gap to just two points.

Line breaks for Scotland had been hard to come by but a sharp inside ball released Sean Lamont into space and opened up the Japanese defence for John Hardie to score his first Scotland try in only his third cap.

Vern Cotter's side then completely switched off from the restart, letting the ball bounce for Matsushima to sneak in behind for an attack that ended with a penalty which Goromaru clattered off the post.

With 25 minutes to go Scotland full-back Hogg sped through a gap and left Japan scrambling, giving Bennett a simple chance to score Scotland's second try with what felt like the killer blow even though the centre went precariously close to crossing the dead ball line before touching down.

Tommy Seymour's interception try confirmed the result, despite him being chased well by Kenki Fukuoka, with Bennett then adding a second to the delight of the Scottish fans packed into the crowd as their side secured a try-bonus point.

Birthday boy Finn Russell made the most of Japan being out on their feet as he stepped through for try number five to add more points that might go far when the pool stages come to a close.

A sadly predictable outcome, but Scotland won't mind one bit.

Man of the Match:  Amanaki Mafi impressed for Japan while Greig Laidlaw was crucial for Scotland, but John Hardie showed a high work-rate in Scotland's back row and looks like a top addition.

Moment of the Match:  It felt already over but Tommy Seymour's interception try confirmed there was no way back for Japan.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Try:  Mafi
Con:  Goromaru
Peny:  Goromaru
Yellow Card:  Matsushima

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hardie, Bennett 2, Seymour, Russell
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pens:  Laidlaw 4

Japan:  15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Male Sau, 12 Yu Tamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Justin Ives, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Kazu, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Shoji Ito, 21 Hendrik Tui, 22 Atsushi Hiwasa, 23 Karne Hesketh

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Maitland

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

All Blacks avoid Pumas upset

Richie McCaw was sin-binned and they even went down to 13 at one point but New Zealand held their nerve to come from behind and beat Argentina 26-16 at Wembley.

In front of a world record crowd, Argentina dominated for 50 minutes, taking advantage of two All Black sin-binnings as they played some scintillating rugby.

However Aaron Smith's try just before the hour proved the turning point, with Sonny Bill Williams' introduction making a massive difference as the world champions calmly came back for what was eventually a relatively comfortable win.

In a tournament that came alive with Saturday's shock win for Japan over South Africa, Argentina looked prime to record their first-ever win against the All Blacks, but after failing to press home their early dominance, they paid the price in the final quarter.

The game followed the expected script in the opening 20 minutes, New Zealand opening up a 9-0 lead, however Guido Petti's try sparked an incredible passage from Argentina who had the All Blacks on the ropes.

Eventually Aaron Smith's score, and a second try from Sam Cane, proved enough for the All Blacks, but the Pumas laid down a marker and won't fear anyone in what is potentially the easier side of the draw should they finish second in the pool.

New Zealand were put under pressure, and saw McCaw and Conrad Smith both sin-binned, but also showed why they are the best in the world when up against it, calmly fighting their way back to complete the win.

The world champions drew first blood with an early Dan Carter penalty, and things got worse for the Pumas on ten minutes when they lost a man to the bin.

Despite a powerful Pumas scrum five metres out from their own line, New Zealand were able to secure the ball and set up camp in the Argentina 22.  Ben Smith's through-the-legs pass was reminiscent of Carlos Spencer 12 years ago, but after Julian Savea had been tackled, Argentina were penalised for slowing the ball.  Aaron Smith tapped and went and was instantly tackled by Pablo Matera who was inevitably yellow-carded.

Carter added a second penalty to make it 6-0 to the All Blacks, with Argentina having barely ventured into New Zealand territory.

Argentina coped relatively well while down a man, but did concede a third penalty, converted by Carter, when they were caught offside in defence.

However on their first lengthy period of possession in All Black territory, Argentina scored a well-deserved try.  Both forwards and backs made ground with ball in hand, number eight Leonardo Senatore was particularly involved.  When he was stopped short, young lock Petti picked up and dived around the fringes to score.

He caught a boot to the head from Carter in the process, having to go off as a result.  Nicolas Sanchez's conversion made it 9-7 midway through the half.

While Carter's offence wasn't intentional, McCaw could have been sin-binned in the build-up, coming in cynically from the side as Argentina piled forward.  He was soon taking ten minutes off though after being spotted tripping Juan Martin Fernandez-Lobbe as he tried to take a tap penalty.  TMO George Ayoub spotted the remarkably cynical act, and the All Black skipper was yellow-carded for only the third time in his long Test career.

Sanchez converted the penalty to give Argentina the lead, and the Pumas took advantage of their extra man to pile forward with some great continuity as the half drew to a close.  Juan Imhoff's break had New Zealand scrambling, and when Conrad Smith dived off his feet to kill the move, he became the second All Black to go to the bin.  Sanchez added three more points and Argentina led 13-9.

New Zealand showed their experience to earn a penalty while down to 13, Matera penalised for slowing down the ball, and Carter made it a one-point game with the last kick of the half.

Those three points from Carter were quickly cancelled out by Sanchez after the break, as New Zealand rushed up too quickly in defence following more good work from the Pumas.

Steve Hansen clearly wasn't happy with what he was seeing, and brought on Williams for Ma'a Nonu, the former league star almost making an instant impact.  He shrugged off one tackle and was almost over, but after he was scragged, Nehe Milner-Skudder couldn't collect a trademark offload with the try-line at his mercy.

Milner-Skudder was hooked for that mistake, replaced by Beauden Barrett, but while the chance had gone, territory and possession was all New Zealand by this point.  The Pumas held for as long as they could, but just before the hour, the All Blacks finally broke through.

Following a maul that had been shunted backwards, Aaron Smith peeled away and then stepped inside the despairing Tomas Cubelli to dive over and give his team the lead again.  Carter's conversion made it 19-16 to the world champions.

From there Argentina never really threatened a comeback, and any hopes were extinguished when New Zealand worked some space out wide for Cane to stroll over.

They could have had more, but the Pumas defence held, and in fairness, anything more than the ten-point margin between the sides would have been unfair on Argentina.

New Zealand continue their record of never having lost a pool game, and despite some signs of weakness, showed all their experience to get the job done.

Man of the match:  It's tempting to go with Agustin Creevy after an incredible all-action display, but we'll go for Sonny Bill Williams.  He might have been lucky to make the squad, but his introduction turned the tide for New Zealand.

Moment of the match:  The Aaron Smith try seemed to liberate New Zealand, having looked rattled for much of the opening 50 minutes.  Tomas Cubelli knew its importance as he watched on helplessly having fallen for Smith's sidestep.

Villain of the match:  Richie McCaw played the cartoon villain role, and his trip was surprisingly stupid from a player of his experience.  The boos that rang out every time he appeared on the big screen were unnecessary though.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Try:  Petti
Con:  Sanchez
Pens:  Sanchez 3
Yellow Card:  Matera

For New Zealand:
Tries:  A Smith, Cane
Cons:  Carter 2
Pens:  Carter 4
Yellow Cards:  McCaw, Smith

The teams:

Argentina:  15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams

Venue:  Wembley Stadium, London
Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  JP Doyle (England), Angus Gardner (Australia)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Wales win but hat-trick hero ruled out

Wales will be sweating over the fitness of Liam Williams while Cory Allen was ruled out of the World Cup after their 54-9 win over Uruguay on Sunday.

Again injuries have soured the Welsh day as full-back Williams and centre Allen both limped off with respective issues.  Williams' however did not seem too serious as he fought with the medical staff to remain on the field.  It's not an ideal situation though with a crunch match against England ahead next weekend.

Following the biggest shock in World Cup history on Saturday in Brighton, Wales would have been advised to rein in any thoughts of a procession.

Uruguay, maybe buoyed by that Japan performance, were courageous in defence and for large parts frustrated a Welsh side looking to start well.

Positives though will come in the form of Samson Lee's try-scoring return and also Gareth Davies' assured showing in Rhys Webb's scrum-half jersey.  They both crossed along with left wing Hallam Amos and outside centre Allen, who picked up a first-half hat-trick of tries before a hamstring injury soured his day.

As expected, a couple of pockets of blue were engulfed by a sea of red fans at the Millennium Stadium as Wales looked to join England with a bonus-point victory to kick-off their pool campaign.  It was billed to be a foregone conclusion but after twenty minutes, it was anything but.

Felipe Berchesi knocked over an early penalty for Los Teros before adding a second soon after as Wales infringed.  Remarkably Uruguay led 0-6.

Cardiff was silenced but normal service was resumed on fifteen minutes when, after snubbing three points, the Welsh drove over the whitewash, with returning tighthead prop Lee the man last to his feet.  Priestland would knock over the relatively simple conversion to push Wales ahead.

Cue the floodgates as Priestland began to unlock a Uruguay starting XV who were all making their Rugby World Cup debut.  His chip over the top after nineteen minutes allowed centre Allen to gather and dot down as the Welsh moved 14-6 in front, much to the delight of their supporters.

Uruguay would not roll over and credit to them as reward came in the shape of a third Berchesi penalty, this time for a Jake Ball high tackle.

Those three points proved only to act as a momentary speed bump for Wales though, as Allen scored again on 30 minutes for a worrying try from Uruguay's perspective as their midfield defence was losing its early solidity.  Scott Williams was the provider this time after a strong carry.

Allen's hat-trick was complete in added time of the first-half as Justin Tipuric and wing Amos combined to send him over for an easy walk-in.

With the bonus point in the bag and 28-9 up at the break, the second-half focus for Wales would be to accumulate a score and when Tipuric went over on 49 minutes that looked to be the start of it.  However, referee Romain Poite correctly went to the TMO who confirmed he had knocked on over the line.

It only delayed the inevitable though as scrum-half Davies' silky run off the tail of a line-out helped set up Amos for Wales' fifth score and there was more to come, with Davies spotting a gap on the fringe of a maul to go in on the hour mark.  Wales were now flying at 40 points to 9.

Despite Tipuric being rewarded for his hard work with a try off the back of a maul on 71 minutes before Davies' second late on, errors would halt a Welsh surge in the closing stages as attention now turns to Twickenham and that clash between two of Pool A's heavyweights.  The World Cup is warming nicely.

Man of the match:  Justin Tipuric was his usual hard-working self while Gareth Davies impressed at nine, but for his hat-trick outside centre Cory Allen takes this award.  This gong won't improve his mood though after his "significant" hamstring injury.

Moment of the match:  The whole 80 minutes from Uruguay.  Few expected anything like the solidity they showed early on and credit to the South Americans, who'd been beaten 40-0 by Japan earlier this year.  They led 0-6 and fought admirably throughout.

Villain of the match:  A clean game in Cardiff.  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Lee, Allen 3, Amos, G Davies 2, Tipuric
Cons:  Priestland 7

For Uruguay:
Pens:  Berchesi 3

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Tom Francis, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ross Moriarty, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Matthew Morgan.

Uruguay:  15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Santiago Gibernau, 13 Joaquin Prada, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 7 Matias Beer, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 5 Jorge Zerbino, 4 Santiago Vilaseca, 3 Mario Sagario, 2 Carlos Arboleya, 1 Alejo Corral.
Replacements:  16 German Kessler, 17 Oscar Duran, 18 Mateo Sanguinetti, 19 Franco Lamanna, 20 Agustin Alonso, 21 Juan De Freitas, 22 Alejo Duran, 23 Francisco Bulanti.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Nanai-Williams shines in Samoa win

Samoa began their Rugby World Cup campaign with a 25-16 win over the USA, spurred on by the man of the match Tim Nanai-Williams.

Samoa were always ahead on the scoreboard thanks to tries from Nanai-Williams and their captain Ofisa Treviranus, along with the boot of fly-half Tusi Pisi.

USA fly-half AJ MacGinty shone in only his sixth cap for the Eagles, playing a major role in their first try and scoring two penalties, but despite a bright resurgence at the end of the first half the USA never truly looked like springing a surprise.  29 missed tackles proved to be their downfall.

The Pacific Island side have big ambitions in this tournament, which will have only increased after watching Japan's shock win on Saturday, but with the game under their control late in the second half they failed to score two more tries to secure a bonus point.

What a venue though Brighton has turned out to be, bathed in sunshine over the opening weekend and filled with enthusiastic supporters.

Matching Saturday's extraordinary events was the tallest of orders but no one will have left the Community Stadium feeling short-changed.

Early rust was obvious as both sides initially opted to use the boot rather but as soon as their confidence levels rose after 20 minutes then the game came to life.

Adding the talent of Nanai-Williams to their backline has transformed Samoa's threat with the ball in hand, and it was no surprise to see the Chiefs star involved in their first try.

After bruising carries from the Samoan tight five Tusi Pisi spotted the change of direction from Nanai-Williams behind him and threaded a grubber behind the USA defence, with a kind bounce allowing the Samoa full-back to score.

The Americans work in defence had to be first-rate to keep Samoa's physical runners at bay but they paid for ill-discipline at the breakdown, allowing Tusi Pisi to stretch Samoa's lead at one point to 11-0.

AJ MacGinty's penalty appeared to spark the USA into life and the Dublin-born fly-half was heavily involved in a special try finished off by the captain Chris Wyles.

MacGinty burst through a gap in the Samoan defence inside his own half and combined with Seamus Kelly to release Wyles for the score.

Suddenly the deficit was only three points, but a third penalty from Pisi for Samoa ensured they were ahead 14-8 at half-time in an even contest.

Making metres through breaks from the likes of Maurie Fa'asavalu and Jack Lam, Samoa's power began to tell as they controlled territory and possession.

Samoa's dominance under the high ball set up their second try.  Having targeted Takudzwa Ngwenya throughout the winger spilled the ball under pressure from Nanai-Williams, allowing Samoa to set up an attack close to the USA line from which Treviranus drove low and couldn't be stopped.

Pisi and MacGinty traded penalties but Samoa held a comforable 22-11 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Bonus points are now more crucial than ever in Pool B and while Samoa certainly carried with purpose, too often the final pass went astray to construct many try-scoring chances.

Replacement prop Chris Baumann's try for the USA set up an interesting finish with seven minutes to play, but it had no bearing on the final outcome.

Samoa will now prepare for the uneasy challenge of facing a humiliated Springbok side, but this was a solid start.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Nanai-Williams, Treviranus
Pens:  T Pisi 4, Stanley

For USA:
Tries:  Wyles, Baumann
Pens:  MacGinty 2

Samoa:  15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Paul Perez, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Ofisa Treviranus (c), 7 Jack Lam, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Zak Taulafo
Replacements:  16 Viliami Afatia, 17 Motu Matu'u, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Vavao Afemai, 22 Mike Stanley, 23 Fa'atoina Autagavaia

USA:  15 Blaine Scully, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Chris Wyles (c), 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Al McFarland, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Zach Fenoglio, 1 Eric Fry
Replacements:  16 Phil Thiel, 17 Oli Kilifi, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Cam Dolan, 20 Danny Barrett, 21 Shalom Suniula, 22 Folau Niua, 23 Brett Thompson

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

France win but at a cost

France comfortably saw off Italy 32-10 in their Rugby World Cup Pool D encounter at Twickenham on Saturday, but lost winger Yoann Huget to a knee injury.

The Toulouse winger went down clutching his knee 15 minutes into the second half, and judging by his tears on the sidelines, his tournament is surely over.

The rest of the French squad looked to have been affected by the injury, but on the pitch they were too good for Italy, if not entirely convincing.

Two tighthead props, Rabah Slimani and Nicolas Mas, crossed for les Bleus, while their reunion with Craig Joubert was a happier one than four years ago in Auckland.

The South African referee had a busy night on the whistle, and Frédéric Michalak took advantage to kick 15 points, with Italy struggling to turn the possession they had into points and managing just one try, through Giovanbattista Venditti.

In the context of the tournament, France are now on course for a pool decider with Ireland, while Italy on this form should provide little resistance to Joe Schmidt's men.

However the loss of Huget will be a massive blow, with limited options to replace him, but Philippe Saint-André will have been pleased to see Man of the Match Louis Picamoles again outstanding.

The set-piece battle was always going to be key, and France drew first blood as they earned a penalty in the third minute, however Michalak's attempt came back off the left post.

He was given a second attempt two minutes later when Italy failed to release in a tackle, this time splitting the uprights to hand France an early 3-0 lead.

France then looked to have scored the first try after ten minutes, only for the delayed TMO to strike once more.  Having checked to see whether Picamoles had knocked on when offloading for Noa Nakaitaci to score, France were awarded a try, but as Michalak prepared to take the conversion, a knock-on from the winger appeared on the big screen, with the score ruled out and les Bleus having to settle for a penalty in front of the sticks instead.

Italy had their first real period of possession after about quarter of an hour, but following a nice break from Leonardo Ghiraldini in midfield, Tommaso Allan pulled his penalty attempt wide.

While Italy were enjoying some possession, their scrum remained under the cosh, with Slimani getting the better of Matias Aguero to give Michalak another shot at goal, but for the second time his effort came back off the woodwork, with Huget unable to gather as he chased.

The tries weren't coming, but Michalak slotted a third penalty after some good carrying from Picamoles and Mathieu Bastareaud had set France up in good position.

Italy finally got on the board just after the half-hour, with Sébastien Tillous-Borde stupidly penalised for kicking the ball out of the hands of Edoardo Gori.  Allan made no mistake from almost the same position as he missed his first.

The end of the half belonged to France however, with Scott Spedding nailing a long-range penalty from inside his own half before Michalak made it 15-3 at the break on the stroke of half-time.

The start of the second half followed a familiar pattern, with Italy charged down almost from the kick-off and despite recovering, giving away a penalty to allow Michalak to stretch the lead to 15 points.

And two minutes later les Bleus had the opening try, and in fine.  After a mazy run down the left from Nakaitaci, Guilhem Guirado was hauled down just short of the line.  The chance looked to have gone when Italy sprinted up offside, but France kept their cool, and Michalak's delightful grubber was perfect for Slimani to score his first Test try.  Michalak converted and France led 25-3.

That appeared to spark Italy into life and they almost scored in bizarre circumstances through Gori.  After France had turned the ball over at a ruck close to their line, it squirted loose, and when Yoann Maestri failed to gather, the scrum-half thought he had touched down over the line, however he was deemed to have knocked on.

Still, Italy didn't have to wait long for their first try, coming straight back into the French 22.  While the defence held initially, the Azzurri eventually worked up some numbers out wide, and a wide pass to Venditti alloewd him to scuttle over untouched.  Allan added the extras.

France then came back and created an opportunity out wide.  Rather than score they lost Huget with the French winger in tears on the sidelines after leaving the pitch.

The game was getting quite fractious, with pushing and shoving after every blow of the whistle, killing the rhythm of the match.

Les Bleus did cross a second time with ten minutes to go, as Mas showed all his experience to dot down against the foot of the post after a period of French possession in the Italian 22.

And although Italy tried to come back, there was no way through the French defence, les Bleus holding out for a comfortable win.

Man of the match:  It's great to see Louis Picamoles back to his best, and he was comfortably the best player on the pitch.  One powerful run where he crashed through one man before stepping another really stood out.

Moment of the match:  Sadly it was the sight of Huget crumpled in a heap after trying to step past Luke McLean.  He will be a big loss for les Bleus.

Villain of the match:  It was a niggly evening but nothing too nasty to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Slimani, Mas
Cons:  Michalak 2
Pens:  Michalak 5, Spedding

For Italy:
Try:  Venditti
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

The teams:

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Bernard le Roux, 20 Alexandre Flanquart, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Gaël Fickou.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:  16 Andrea Manici, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Enrico Bacchin

Venue:  Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Japan beat SA to shock the world

Japan pulled off the greatest Rugby World Cup upset of all time with an outstanding 34-32 win over favourites South Africa in Brighton.

Karne Hesketh's try in stoppage time clinched an improbable victory after they were kept in the game by the boot of their full-back Ayumu Goromaru to counter four tries from South Africa by Francois Louw, Bismarck du Plessis, Lood de Jager and Adriaan Strauss.

Eddie Jones' side shocked the world with a controlled display in which they absorbed the Springboks' physicality and repelled it right back.

Goromaru, Japan's full-back, scored 24 points in a performance for the ages as the Brave Blossoms never gave up hope or let the two-time champions ever pause for breath.

Remarkably, this was Japan's first win in a Rugby World Cup match since defeating Zimbabwe in 1991.  They now have new legends.

Breaking down Japan was no easy task for the Springboks and they relied on their impressive rolling maul early on.  Only when Japan did miss tackles, not a common occurence, did the Springboks capitalise with tries from Lood de Jager and Adriaan Strauss.

The number of basic mistakes from the world's number two side was unacceptable, as was their penalty count at the breakdown.

Eddie Jones' work with Japan has to be commended, coming up with a game-plan that both contained South Africa and gave his side every chance of an upset.  Despite an overwhelming number of physical mismatches, Japan were rigidly disciplined when it came to their defensive structure and showed unbelievable heart.

This was illustrated time and again by holding out the Boks in their own 22, when they produced a number of turnovers.  Jones has been heavily linked with a move to coach the Stormers in Super Rugby — what a shame that seems now with the progress Japan have clearly made since he took charge.

Twice early on the Springboks were turned over in Japan's 22 but Ayumu Goromaru was more ruthless.  The full-back sliced his way through the South African defensive line before slotting the first penalty of the game to give Japan the lead.

A second penalty attempt from Goromaru fell wide but South Africa were wobbling — executing poor clearance kicks and with a vocal Brighton crowd seemingly against them.

It was a brief malaise.  As soon as Ruan Pienaar and Pat Lambie were able to get their big forwards running straight and hard, Japan's defence was always going to creak.

Carries from Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger and Lood de Jager resulted in a penalty and after kicking to the corner the Springbok maul was unstoppable, finished off by Francois Louw and converted by Lambie for a 7-3 lead after 20 minutes.

Forcing Japan into making an exhaustive number of tackles began to pay off for South Africa and they should have scored a second try with numbers out to the left, but Burger mishandled a pass from Pienaar and Bismarck du Plessis was unable to control the loose ball.

After coming under the cosh for close to half an hour it was only fair that Japan unleashed their own rolling maul after an excellent touchfinder from Goromaru.

The Brave Blossoms came up short, confirmed by the TMO, but willed on by the crowd they wouldn't be stopped on the second attempt after returning to the corner from a penalty — the Japan captain Michael Leitch crashing over to make it 10-7.

South Africa naturally refused to be upstaged in the maul department and responded instantly with Bismarck du Plessis this time doing the honours.

Lambie's missed conversion meant the Springboks only held a slender two-point lead going into half-time.

Goromaru put Japan back ahead after the break with his second penalty but one missed tackle was all it took for De Jager to break free and canter through for South Africa's third try and a 19-13 advantage.

A third Goromaru penalty after the Springboks failed to roll away kept Japan in touch and even when Lambie convert a penalty of his own it wasn't long until Goromaru had a chance to hit back.

His effort from over 40 metres made it 22-22 going into the final quarter.

Injecting the Springbok bench into the fray added fresh impetus to their carrying and Adriaan Strauss, just as De Jager had done earlier in the half, skipped through untouched for the bonus point try.

Goromaru however wasn't done.  Cutting a fine line off a first-phase lineout move, he left the Springbok defence for dead to score, before converting his own try from the right touchline to once again level matters at 29-29 with ten minutes left.

With the crowd sensing that history was about to be made Lambie was booed after converting his second penalty to give the Springboks a three-point buffer.

That should have been that.  It was so far from the end.

Japan unleashed a final assault on the Springboks line that after multiple penalties and reset scrums that took an age, when so often teams fail to execute, Japan kept their cool.

Mafi, who carried brilliantly from the bench, delivered the final pass to his fellow replacement Karne Hesketh and the rest was history.

Whatever else happens in this World Cup, we have witnessed something incredibly special.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Leitch, Goromaru, Hesketh
Cons:  Goromaru 2
Pens:  Goromaru 4

For South Africa:
Tries:  Louw, B du Plessis, De Jager, Strauss
Cons:  Lambie 2, Pollard
Pens:  Lambie, Pollard
Yellow Card:  Oosthuizen

Japan:  15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kotaro Matsushima, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Hitoshi Ono, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Takeshi Kazu, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Harumichi Tatekawa, 23 Karne Hesketh.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 JP Pietersen.

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Ireland put 50 past Canada

Ireland got their Rugby World Cup campaign off to a positive start on Saturday as they eased past Canada 50-7 at the Millennium Stadium.

Tries from Sean O'Brien, Iain Henderson, Jonathan Sexton, Dave Kearney, Sean Cronin, Rob Kearney and Jared Payne saw them to a hefty victory.

Canada though can take pride from their spirited performance as they battled hard throughout, scoring one try of their own through DTH van der Merwe.

Canada, who were without influential captain Tyler Ardron and full-back Harry Jones for the game, began strongly as fly-half Nathan Hirayama's slick distribution put team-mates on the outside shoulder of the Irish defenders.  However, Ireland were soon enjoying most of the territory.

Hirayama was the catalyst for Canada as this time he unlocked Ireland with a lovely step 40 metres out.  Again though the Irish repelled them until number eight Jamie Heaslip was penalised at ruck time, allowing Canada scrum-half Gordon McRorie a shot from 52 metres which went wide.

Ireland's first opportunity would arrive in the eleventh minute when fly-half Sexton's smart kick put the pressure on Ray Barkwill's line-out throw.  That subsequently wasn't straight before Canada failed to roll away, with Sexton easily slotting the opening points seven metres out.

3-0 would become 10-0 on nineteen minutes as sustained pressure led to O'Brien mauling over from a close-range line-out, this after Canada's Jamie Cudmore was shown a yellow card for hands in the ruck.  One wondered whether this would open the floodgates at the Millennium Stadium.

Paul O'Connell went close only to be held up but his in-form second-row partner Henderson would not be denied as the Irish moved 17-0 in front.

Ireland were cruising at this point and their third try was not long in coming, as a nice interchange between O'Brien and Sexton saw the fly-half find a mismatch in defence and race over in the left corner.  His conversion miss was the only blot on an otherwise excellent 30 minutes.

As Ireland cantered, Canada were chasing shadows as they spread the play well to allow right wing Kearney a run in for the try bonus point.  The extras made it 29-0 before Van der Merwe and Canada were cruelly denied a try due to Hirayama's forward pass.  That score was sorely needed.

What the near miss did offer Canada was hope, not of a titanic comeback, but of salvaging something from a game that looked to have long gone.  They pressed hard for a score early in the second-half and with O'Connell having been sent to the sin-bin for offside, Canada were encouraged.

The try wouldn't come in that passage as Ireland recovered to mount their own onslaught.  But like their opponent, Canada showed stout defence, forcing handling mistakes from the Irish, who had brought off Sexton, Rory Best and Mike Ross for Ian Madigan, Sean Cronin and Nathan White.

With the Irish tweaks, Canada sensed uncertainty and came back on the hour mark with good ball in the 22.  Replacement scrum-half Phil Mack had lifted his troops but once again Schmidt's men kept their try-line intact, forcing a penalty at the breakdown as Madigan cleared their lines.

They would rub salt into Canadian wounds too when replacement Cronin powered over from five metres out to push Ireland way out at 36 in front.

It seemed fitting though that Canada would get something from the game and from a loose Irish pass, Van der Merwe was rewarded for all of his hard work in the game with a clean run-in down the left wing from halfway.  Hirayama's extra two points turned their zero into a 36-7 deficit.

But Ireland would have the final say via a breakout score as Earls outpaced John Moonlight down the wing before setting up Rob Kearney who ran in under the posts.

Outside centre Payne was finally put through by Madigan to send Ireland over the 50-point barrier and give them the perfect start.

Man of the match:  An excellent first half from Jonathan Sexton helped set Ireland on their way in Cardiff.  If the Irish are to go all the way in this World Cup there is no question that Sexton has to be on his game and judging from this, he is in the mood.

Moment of the match:  It's never good to see an underdog go home with 0 next to their name so when DTH van der Merwe intercepted and ran 50 metres to score, the neutrals were delighted.  Few would argue that Canada didn't deserve a score.

Villain of the match:  Nothing unsavoury to report in a clean game in Cardiff.  Jamie Cudmore may feel a touch disappointed to have been binned early on though as Ireland subsequently turned the screw during the ten minutes the second-row was absent.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  O'Brien, Henderson, Sexton, D Kearney, Cronin, R Kearney, Payne
Cons:  Sexton 3, Madigan 3
Pen:  Sexton
Yellow Card:  O'Connell

For Canada:
Try:  Van der Merwe
Con:  Hirayama
Yellow Card:  Cudmore

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Simon Zebo.

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH Van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 John Moonlight, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 Jamie Cudmore (c), 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Liam Underwood, 23 Conor Trainor.

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Georgia see off Tonga at Kingsholm

Georgia got their World Cup campaign off to a fine start when they secured a 17-10 victory over Tonga in their Pool C encounter at Kingsholm on Saturday.

The result is a major boost for Georgia as this fixture is viewed as a shootout for third place in the group — New Zealand and Argentina are favourites to advance to the quarter-finals as the top two teams — which will allow them to qualify automatically for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

As expected, Georgia's forwards dominated up front — especially the scrums — and they outscored their opponents by two tries to one.

Georgia dominated the territorial and possession stakes for large periods and although Tonga were competitive throughout, they committed a litany of basic errors which led to their downfall.

The Pacific Islanders took the lead in the 10th minute via a Kurt Morath penalty, but Merab Kvirikashvili drew Georgia level ten minutes later whe he landed a three-pointer from the kicking tee.

The next ten minutes were characterised by several handling errors by both sides until Georgia's captain Mamuka Gorgodze stamped his authority on the game when he got over for the opening try.

The big number eight caught the defence by surprise when he barged through the middle of a ruck, close to Tonga's tryline, and dotted down next to the uprights.

Tonga thought they had got their opening try shortly before half-time when Viliami Ma'afu got over, after running onto a Nili Latu pass close at a line-out on Georgia's five-metre line, but referee Nigel Owens disallowed the effort as the offload from Latu was forward.

The opening 20 minutes of the second half was less intense as both sides battled to gain the ascendancy but Georgia's dominance in the forward exchanges meant they were more likely to score next.

They won another scrum penalty in the 50th minute but Kvirikashvili pushed his effort wide of the target.  Georgia were eventually rewarded on the hour-mark when Giorgi Tkhilaishvili showed great determination to score his side's second try.

After a frenetic passage of play in which the ball went through several pairs of hands, Tkhilaishvili shrugged off two tacklers inside Tonga's 22 before scoring in the left-hand corner.

Kvirikashvili slotted the conversion from close to the touchline which meant his side held a comfortable 17-3 lead with 20 minutes left to play.

Tonga then stepped up a gear as they tried to get back into the game and they narrowed the gap to seven points in the 71st minute when Fetu'u Vainikolo rounded off after the Pacific Islanders set up numerous phases inside Georgia's 22.

Georgia suffered a setback as Kvirikashvili was yellow-carded for offside in the build-up to Vainikolo's try, but despite several concerted efforts from Tonga to score another try, their 14 men held firm on defence during the closing stages, sparking massive celebrations after the final whistle.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Gorgodze, Tkhilaishvili
Cons:  Kvirikashvili 2
Pen:  Kvirikashvili
Yellow card:  Kvirikashvili

For Tonga:
Try:  Vainikolo
Con:  Morath
Pen:  Morath

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Giorgi Aptsiauri, 10 Lasha Malaghuradze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Mamuka Gorgodze (c), 7 Viktor Kolelishvili, 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Konstantin Mikautadze, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Kakha Asieshvili, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Levan Datunashvili, 20 Shalva Sutiashvili, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Giorgi Pruidze, 23 Muraz Giorgadze

Tonga:  15 Vunga Lilo, 14 Telusa Veainu, 13 Will Helu, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Tane Takulua, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Nili Latu (c), 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Lua Lokotui, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Tevita Mailau.
Replacements:  16 Paul Ngauamo, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Hale T Pole, 20 Jack Ram, 21 Samisoni Fisilau, 22 Latiume Fosita, 23 Sione Piukala

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

England clinch late bonus in opener

England left it late but came away from their Rugby World Cup opener with a bonus point 35-11 win over a punishing Fiji side at Twickenham.

Late tries from Mike Brown and Billy Vunipola in many ways glossed over a number of issues for Stuart Lancaster and the rest of his coaches to address — although they had time to do so during multiple lengthy stoppages involving the television match official.

England never hit the pace they set at their best against Ireland in their final warm-up match due to a combination of clear jitters along with Fiji's refusal to let them settle.

Head coach John McKee and scrum coach Alan Muir's work with Fiji means they are no longer a soft touch at the scrum, that crucial area in the past where teams have dominated them.  No more, on this basis at least.

That secure set-piece allowed the likes of Niko Matawalu and Nemani Nadolo to do what they do best — run riot at the opposition's defence.  Combined with a robust work-rate at the breakdown, England were never comfortable until there were seven minutes to go before Vunipola struck in extra time.

Much has been made in England about recapturing the spirit of the Olympics, far from a simple task, but there were moments during the opening ceremony where 2012 felt like yesterday.

Charting the history of the sport with cameos from Jonny Wilkinson and Prince Harry along with 20 legends each representing their own countries, it was certainly spectacular.  Twickenham has never looked or sounded anything like it.

Not everyone though could handle the bright lights — young Fiji fly-half Ben Volavola knocking on with no one around him, apart from the eyes of the world anyway.  It would turn out to be his only mistake of the night.

England showed their upper hand in the scrum at the first attempt, as the first points of the Rugby World Cup came from the boot of George Ford.  3-0, three minutes played.

Volavola's unfortunate knock-on was followed by hard luck, a touchline penalty just drifting onto the left post at the end of it's flight.

Fiji's rush defence initially kept England's attack contained until a dangerous tackle from Dominiko Waqaniburotu handed the hosts a penalty deep in Fiji's half.

England's maul will feature heavily over the next few weeks and Fiji had no answers to their efficient drive as it rumbled through the 22, ending with a penalty try, their 100th try under Stuart Lancaster, and a yellow card for Fijian scrum-half Niko Matawalu.

Even mentioning the word 'TMO' after this World Cup might send people into a fit of rage, and another reviewed incident against Fiji — for Apisalome Ratuniyarawa not using his arms while hitting a ruck — handed England the territory to create their second try.

A turnover at the lineout gave England space out wide and Mike Brown held the last tackler before diving over to make it 15-0.

Matawalu returned from the bin and made an instant impact when he seemed to have scored one of the greatest individual World Cup tries.  A blindside burst off the scrum twisted Jonny May inside out and the pacy scrum-half sprinted down the touchline, only to drop the ball as he reached out for the line.  Referee Jaco Peyper originally awarded the score before referring to the TMO prior to the conversion being taken.

England's scrum though began to creak, dangerously so in front of their own line as Fiji turned the ball over short of the English line.

Volavola's cross-field kick put a back-pedalling Anthony Watson up against all 130kg of Nemani Nadolo.  Inevitably, the Crusaders wing won the aerial battle to score Fiji's first try and make it 15-5.

Ford and crowd favourite Nadolo traded penalties but Ford missed the chance to increase the lead with a strike from a long way out on the angle just before half-time, meaning England were ahead by ten at the interval.

A 47-metre effort from Nadolo at the start drifted wide in a scrappy opening to the second half.  England made four changes looking to lift the tempo but Fiji's scrum continued to impress with another penalty win.

Time and again the Pacific Nations Cup champions make England look ordinary, limiting their attack and disrupting any splutters of tempo they created with good line speed in defence.

Fiji's aggresion at the breakdown earned Nadolo another penalty attempt which he failed to convert.  Volavola resumed the kicking duties and was successful with a penalty after a monstrous Nadolo break, to make it 18-11 with Fiji on top.

Brown, Billy and Mako Vunipola combined through three phases to move England 80 metres up the field to earn a penalty which Farrell converted, but Fiji continued to make things difficult.

Only when Brown scored again did England look home and dry, the full-back doing well to juggle an offload off the ground and then hold off two Fiji tacklers to score.

England searched for the bonus point score with time running out and Fiji out of steam and after Brown was stopped by an incredible tip tackle, Billy Vunipola did enough to power his way just to the line for that crucial bonus point try.

Man of the Match:  Tom Wood impressed in the England forwards, while Nemani Nadolo was a constant threat with the ball in hand for Fiji supported well by a top effort from the Fijian front row.  But Mike Brown scoops the honour for his two tries.

Moment of the Match:  At one point it looked like one of the great Rugby World Cup solo tries, but despite Jaco Peyper awarding the score Niko Matawalu's incredible effort was ruled out.  Fiji scored soon after, but it was a special run.

Villain of the Match:  Due to various stoppages the first half took 54 minutes.  Say no more.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Penalty Try, Brown 2, B Vunipola
Cons:  Ford, Farrell 2
Pens:  Ford 2, Farrell

For Fiji:
Try:  Nadolo
Pens:  Nadolo, Volavola
Yellow Card:  Matawalu

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Rob Webber, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Sam Burgess.

Fiji:  15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Sakiusa Masi Matadigo, 7 Akapusi Qera (c), 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements:  16 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Isei Colati, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Peceli Yato, 21 Nemia Kenatale, 22 Joshua Matavesi, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)