Ireland see off plucky Canada

Ireland continued their winning run with a 52-21 win over Canada in Dublin on Saturday, with Tiernan O'Halloran scoring twice.

It was a hard-fought win for the home side as the Canadians shocked the Irish with a perfectly timed interception from Canada winger DTH van der Merwe and a roll over try from Taylor Paris to make the 14-14 half an hour into the game.

Despite Canada's emergence, Ireland kept control of the game after they went into the break with a 21-14 lead.

It was an incredibly positive performance for both coaches as Ireland's youngsters showed there is a lot of potential for the future for Irish rugby while Canada, regarded as a minnow nation, displayed an incredibly gusty performance.

Ireland scored the first points of the game after they set up a maul on the Canada five-metre line before passing out to Keith Earls, who had no one in front of him, to score.

Ireland then drove home their lead when Marshall went over, after some great running rugby which led to Earls straightening the line and finding Jackson, who set released a long pass for Marshall to score.

Canada got their first points of the game when Marshall threw a loose pass inside his own 22, and Van der Merwe showed some impeccable athleticism to intercept the pass and score.  They scored their second try moments after when Paris took it over the line from the maul.

Ireland restored their lead when Tiernan O'Halloran took the ball from a fantastic offload from Finlay Bealham to out sprint the cover defence for the hosts' third try.

Ireland were then given a penalty try after they opted for the scrum, with Man of the Match Ultan Dillane impressing as they went through the phases, ending with a penalty right in front of the posts when Canada failed to release.

Canada scored another try through full-back Matt Evans which brought down the deficit to nine points.  It was a fantastic defensive effort from Ireland as the ball looked to be held up, but was eventually called by the referee.

Ireland replied immediately after Earls was able to beat Van der Merwe on the one-on-one to claim the restart before the forwards took over and Dillane marked a superb personal display by crashing over.

Joe Schmidt's side then went wide from a lineout and Ringrose sliced his way through the line with a swerving run before finding Earls.  They recycled quickly while the Canadian defence was badly stretched which allowed O'Halloran to score and wrap up a half century of points on the scoreboard.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls, Marshall, O’Halloran 2, Penalty Try, Dillane, Marmion, Tracy
Cons:  Jackson 6

For Canada:
Tries:  Van der Merwe, Paris, Evans
Cons:  McRorie 3

Ireland:  15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 James Tracy, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Niyi Adeolokun

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Kyle Baillie, 5 Evan Olmstead, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Jake Ilnicki, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Djustice Sears
Replacements:  16 Eric Howard, 17 Rob Brouwer, 18 Matt Tierney, 19 Admir Cejvanovic, 20 Matt Heaton, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Patrick Parfrey, 23 Nick Blevins

Referee:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

Wales grind past Argentina in Cardiff

Wales returned to the victory trail after grinding out hard-fought 24-20 victory over Argentina in Cardiff on Saturday.

The home side dominated for large periods and should have won this match by a much bigger margin, but they made several mistakes and were lucky to secure victory in the end.

Both sides crossed for two tries apiece but it was the goalkicking of Leigh Halfpenny which proved the difference for Wales as he finished with a 14-point haul courtesy of three penalties and a conversion.

The opening half was a slugfest with both teams battling to gain the ascendancy and neither side managed to score any tries during this period.

Nicolás Sánchez opened the scoring from the kicking tee in the third minute before Halfpenny drew the home side level with a penalty of his own 10 minutes later.

The rest of the half was a war of attrition as both sides tried to assert their authority but the only points of the half was another Halfpenny penalty in the 23rd minute.

Argentina suffered a setback just before half-time when Ramiro Herrera was sent to the sin bin after referee Angus Gardner had warned Los Pumas for continous infringements on defence close to their tryline.

Herrera's yellow card would prove costly as Wales made full use of their numerical advantage when, two minutes into the second half, Liam Williams crossed for the opening try after Dan Biggar and Halfpenny combined brilliantly in the build-up.

Halfpenny failed with the conversion attempt and the visitors soon had their opening five-pointer when Juan Martín Hernández dived onto the ball behind the home side's try-line after Martín Landajo had stabbed a teasing grubber kick through for him to chase.

Five minutes later, Wales went on a lineout drive deep inside Argentina's 22 and when the maul's mometum was halted close Los Pumas' try-line Gareth Davies showed great determination and leg drive before diving over for a deserved try.

Halfpenny's conversion gave the hosts some breathing space but it didn't take long for Argentina to strike back — Landajo barging over from close quarters, and when Sánchez slotted the conversion it was game on with Wales holding a slender 18-17 lead with less than 20 minutes remaining.

Halfpenny and Sánchez then traded penalties, which meant it was still a one-point game inside the final 10 minutes.

The home side would have the last laugh, however, as another Halfpenny penalty two minutes before the end sealed their victory.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  L Williams, Davies
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 4

For Argentina:
Tries:  Hernández, Landajo
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pens:  Sanchez 2
Yellow Card:  Herrera

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c)
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James King, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Jamie Roberts

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (c), 1 Lucas Noguera
Replacements:  16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Leonardo Senatore, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Santiago Cordero

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Shaun Davey (England)

France blitz Samoa in Toulouse

France got their November series off to a perfect start with a 52-8 win over Samoa in Toulouse on Saturday.

Les Bleus scored seven tries to Samoa's one to extend their unbeaten run over the Island nation after three previous meetings all ending in a French triumph.

France ran the bewildered Samoans ragged as they produced some excellent running rugby.  The Samoans tried to match them, but could not quite replicate their European rivals.

The half-time score was indicative of the flow of the game as it ended 26-3 to the hosts.

Wesley Fofana and Virimi Vakatawa produced impeccable performances, with the former seemingly involved in every try, while the latter bagged a hat-trick of tries.

Samoa drew first blood when Patrick Fa'apale struck a penalty to gain the early lead after France were pinged for holding on at the breakdown.

But the rest of the half was all France, their dominance ignited by the combination of a Maxime Machenaud penalty and a Vakatawa try two minutes later.  The French pulled off an incredible move led by Fofana, swinging wide to the big winger who broke through the Samoan defence to score.

Ten minutes later France produced a breakaway try after Fofana pulled off a fantastic offload to Yuget, who had plenty of space to easily burn the cover defence and dot down for the five-pointer.

Their next try came three minutes later through replacement Charles Ollivon as the Toulon back-row barged through the Samoan defence.

Samoa showed that they weren't down yet though, putting the ball through the hands in the third minute of the second half as David Lemi and Jack Lam did well in the build-up before Rey Lee-Lo got over for their first try of the game, making the score 26-8 to the hosts.

France then nabbed their third try of the game when they attacked from a lineout.  Ollivon breached Samoa's defence with a superb angled run before offloading to Gaël Fickou who got over for a deserved five-pointer.

Fofana then made another superb break and offloaded to Huget, who got the pass out to Vakatawa to outpace Paul Perez before diving over in the corner.

Two late scores were still to come, as after continual penalties France's attacking maul were rewarded with a penalty try.

Vakatawa then scored his third try when he found himself in the clear and showed the defence a clean pear of heels before going over, wrapping up a big victory.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Huget, Vakatawa 3, Ollivon, Fickou
Cons:  Machenaud 2, Serin 2
Pens:  Machenaud 3

For Samoa:
Try:  Lee-Lo
Pen:  Fa'apale

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Louis Picamoles, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhelm Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Sébastian Vahaamahina, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Baptiste Serin, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Gaël Fickou, 23 Rabah Slimani

Samoa:  15 Paul Williams, 14 Paul Perez, 13 George Pisi, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 David Lemi (c), 10 Patrick Faapale, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Genesis Mamea-Lemalu, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Alafoti Faosiliva, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Christopher Vui, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Manu Leaiataua, 1 Zac Taulafo
Replacements:  16 Elia Elia, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Jeff Lepa, 20 Gregory Foe, 21 Pele Cowley, 22 D'Angelo Leuila, 23 Ken Pisi

Referee:  JP Doyle (England)

Australia squeeze past Scotland

Australia came back from 16-22 down to claim a hard fought 23-22 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In an entertaining and hard-fought encounter, the home side dominated for large periods against a Wallaby side who battled to get going and committed a plethora of errors on attack before a late Tevita Kuridrani try, which Bernard Foley converted, secured them the result.

Scotland outscored their visitors by three tries to one with centre Huw Jones leading the way with an impressive first-half brace.  Australia should actually consider themselves lucky for coming away with a positive result as they looked dead and buried until Kuridrani's 75th minute try.

Scotland opened the scoring via a Greig Laidlaw penalty in the third minute before Australia suffered a setback two minutes later when Adam Coleman was forced to leave the field through injury.

Scotland soon increased their lead emphatic fashion when Hugh Jones gathered a Finn Russell chip kick before outpacing the cover defence to cross for a deserved try and Laidlaw's conversion meant the hosts held a comfortable 10-0 lead.

The Wallabies didn't take long to respomd though and a brilliant backline move in which Israel Folau, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley and Dane Haylett-Petty all handled in the build sawo Reece Hodge rounding off after beating a couple of defenders.

Bernard Foley added the extras and a 23rd minute penalty meant the scores were soon level.  It didn't take long for the hosts to respond though and once again it was Jones who crossed for a try after gliding through a gap in the Wallabies' defence.

Laidlaw's conversion meant the home side led 17-10 at the interval but the Walabies reduced the deficit when Foley landed a penalty early in the second half.

Five minutes later, Scotland increased their lead when Jonny Gray barged over from close quarters after Stuart Hogg did well with a strong run in the build-up.

Laidlaw's kick struck a post — a miss which would prove crucial in the end — but Scotland had their tails up with the score at 22-13 after 50 minutes.

The Wallabies replied via a Foley penalty five minutes later, but they were dealt a blow when Will Skelton was yellow carded in the 69th minute for a shoulder charge on an opponent.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the visitors didn't panic and five minutes before the end, Kuridrani slipped past Peter Horne to go in under the posts before Foley added the extras to secure victroy.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Jones 2, J Gray
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pen:  Laidlaw

For Scotland:
Tries:  Kuridrani, Hodge
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Foley 3
Yellow card:  Skelton

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Moray Low, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Hardie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Rory Hughes

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 David Pocock, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Will Skelton, 21 Dean Mumm, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Quade Cooper

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

England sink Springboks to stay unbeaten

England ultimately cruised to a first victory in ten years over South Africa, scoring four tries in a 37-21 win under the rain at Twickenham.

Pat Lambie’s boot opened up an early 6-0 lead for the Springboks, however as the minutes ticked over England grew stronger, leading 20-9 at half-time thanks to tries from Jonny May and Courtney Lawes combined with the boots of Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly.

Johan Goosen did hit back for South Africa in the second half, however the result looked settled by then as George Ford and Farrell touched down either side of Goosen’s effort.

This was England’s tenth straight win this year, and they remain unbeaten ahead of the visit of Fiji next weekend.  Even today, off their best, they were impressive with South Africa no match for Eddie Jones's side once England found their groove.

England’s start to November was far from smooth, coughing up four penalties in around ten minutes, one of which Lambie converted for the first points of the game at 3-0.  Another infringement, this time turned into a kick to the corner, set him up for a well-taken drop goal to enhance the Springboks’ lead.

But when England did come alive they made Test rugby look simple.  From a lineout they flashed the ball from right to left, sucking in Lambie and De Allende towards their decoy runners before Marland Yarde, adding an extra man to the backline off his wing, and Mike Brown gave May the space he needed out wide to beat the covering Rudy Paige to score.

Lambie missed his second penalty attempt but the visitors were soon back well deep into England territory thanks to a break from Tendai Mtawaria, the subsequent penalty (another) from England allowing South Africa to attack through their maul, before Lambie chipped over from close-range to make it 9-7.

Farrell couldn’t match Lambie’s drop goal, after a scrappy passage even accounting for the poor conditions at Twickenham, before England began to make progress attacking South Africa’s defence around the fringes.

Play was stopped after Eben Etzebeth came off worse in a collision with Billy Vunipola, shortly before Farrell put England back ahead from a penalty at the scrum.

Courtney Lawes already had plenty of reason to celebrate on his 50th cap but he must have been beaming from ear to ear as he dove on a loose ball for his first Test try, coming after a comical score.

Ruan Combrinck and Willie le Roux coughed up a sliding ball after England chased Elliot Daly’s kick and from there Brown hacked forward, dribbling the ball towards the line.  Lambie did his best to prevent the score, only for Lawes to pounce for a first Test try.

There was still time before the end of the half for Daly to show off his long-range ability off the tee, landing an effort from 50 metres to hand England an 11-point cushion at the break, leading 20-9.

Just as England improved with every minute South Africa started to regress, and minutes into the second half the Six Nations champions landed what looked like the hammerblow.

Ben Youngs spotted space around the fringes of the visitors’ defence — there has often been far too much of that this year — and pounced, throwing a dummy and cutting through and slowing down to carefully choose the right pass before releasing George Ford under the posts.

Farrell brought up the 30-point mark soon after from a penalty, leaving South Africa desperately in need of a spark down by 21 points on the road.

Johan Goosen was the provider, on for Lambie after 54 minutes, as South Africa finally found some space out wide through Francois Venter and Warren Whiteley to put Goosen away.  Any suggestion of a forward pass by Venter was ruled out by referee Jérôme Garcès.

Farrell missed a penalty in reply but he was soon in for England’s fourth try, Youngs again sniping his way through around the fringe before his wide pass found Farrell to stroll over untouched.

South Africa did their best to take something forward into next week.  Instead they had Combrinck boot a penalty to touch dead beyond the try line, summing up a demoralising afternoon.

Le Roux touched down in the corner late on, but it meant little.  Meanwhile, England march on.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May, Lawes, Ford, Farrell
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 2, Daly

For South Africa:
Tries:  Goosen, Le Roux
Con:  Combrinck
Pens:  Lambie 2
Drop Goal:  Lambie

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jonathan Joseph

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Willem Alberts, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Lionel Mapoe

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Jon Mason (Wales)

10-try All Blacks return to winning ways

New Zealand put last weekend's loss to Ireland behind them as they claimed an emphatic 68-10 win over Italy in Rome on Saturday.

Italy had to face the anger of the world champions who bounced back strongly after that defeat in Chicago.  It was a comprehensive win for the All Blacks,who outscored their hosts by 10 tries to one in the end.

The game began with the All Blacks running the ball from all areas of the field and Malakai Fekitoa crossed for the first try in the fourth minute.

Aaron Cruden slotted in the conversion as New Zealand took an early seven point lead.  Italy replied via a penalty from Carlo Canna and the game looked even at 3-7 around the 15-minute mark.

But the floodgates soon opened and New Zealand kept offloading the ball at will while the Azzurri struggled to keep up with the pace and power of the world champions.

Tries from Charlie Faumuina, Patrick Tuipulotu and Israel Dagg took the game away from the hosts while Cruden delivered great performance and was impressive in the playmaker roles.  He also kicked all of his seven conversions to add to the home side's pain.

Wyatt Crockett scored next after some skilful handling as the Italians did not have an answer to the pace and intensity of the All Blacks.  Crockett had a good game in general and also helped to set up a couple of tries.

Italy were looking towards their captain, Sergio Parisse, to make an impact in the game but the hosts did not have continuous possession of the ball which meant they were always playing catch-up.  The New Zealanders were so good in defence that the Italians rarely played outside their own half.

The score at the end of the first half was 3-35, with the only points for Italy coming from Canna's penalty .

The All Blacks continued with their expansive play and prolific try scoring during the second half as they stepped up a couple of gears on attack.  A cross-field kick from Cruden towards Dixon set up the next try as the big loose forward ran 40 metres upfield before easily offloading the ball to Luatua who took it over the line.

Fekitoa scored his second try of the game close to the hour mark and then Dixon scored a try after Aaron Smith made an important break.

Another example of the All Blacks dominating the game was that they did not score any penalties.  They opted for the scrum or kicked for touch in a vid to score tries and were rewarded most of the time.  Their strength in the scrum was supreme and, as usual, pace with the ball on the field was a sight to behold.

Italy scored a late consolation try through Tommaso Boni after Edoardo Gori intercepted a loose pass and Boni ran more than 50 metres before dotting downe.  Tommaso Allan kicked the conversion perfectly to take Italy’s score to 10 points.

Two more tries from the All Blacks, who continued to dominate until the end of the game, and a couple of conversions from Sopoaga, who only missed one shot at goal, meant that the visitors sealed a resounding win in Rome.

Rieko Ioane, the 19-year-old debutant, showed his power as they scored the ninth try of the game after forcing his way through the Italian defence before Waisake Naholo crossed for the 10th try three minutes before full-time.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Boni
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Canna

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Fekitoa 2, Faumuina, Tuipulotu, Dagg, Crockett, Luatua, Dixon, Ioane, Naholo
Cons:  Cruden 7, Sopoaga 2

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Giorgio Bronzini, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Maxime Mbanda, 5 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Ornel Gega, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 George Biagi, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Tommaso Boni

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Sam Cane (c), 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Wyatt Crockett
Replacements:  16 Liam Coltman, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Rieko Ioane

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Alex Ruiz (France), Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Japan get the better of Georgia

Japan returned to the victory trail when they claimed a hard-fought 28-22 win over Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a thrilling affair with both sides giving their all to secure the result and the lead changed hands on four occasions.

Japan outscored their hosts by four tries to three but, as expected, Georgia dominated the forward exchanges while the Brave Blossoms held the upperhand amongst the backs.

The visitors raced into an 8-0 lead inside the opening quarter thanks to a Kotaro Matsushima try and a penalty from Yu Tamura but Georgia held a 12-8 lead at half-time thanks to tries from Viktor Kolelishvili and Vasil Lobzhanidze.

Japan regained the lead shortly after the restart when Lomano Lemeki crossed the whitewash but Georgia regained the lead shortly afterwards when Beka Bitsadze dotted down.

Merab Kvirikashvili added the extras and five minutes later he landed a penatly which meant the home side held a 22-13 lead as the match approched the final quarter.

But Japan soon trailed by two points when Lemeki crossed for his second try, which Tamura converted, and they were back in front in the 65th minute when Kenki Fukuoka scored their fourth five-pointer.

Things went pear-shaped for Georgia two minutes later, when Anzor Sitchinava was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle and Tamura sealed the win for the Brave Blossom with a penalty in the 76th minute.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Kolelishvili, Vasil Lobzhanidze, Bitsadze
Cons:  Kvirikashvili 2
Pens:  Kvirikashvili

For Japan:
Tries:  Lemeki 2, Matsushima, Fukuoka
Cons:  Tamura
Pens:  Tamura 2

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Giorgi Aptsiauri, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Bitsadze, 7 Viktor Kolelishvili, 6 Mamuka Gorgodze, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Konstantin Mikautadze, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements:  16 Badri Alkhazashvili, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Davit Kubriashvili, 19 Lasha Lomidze, 20 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Lasha Malaguradze, 23 Anzor Sitchinava

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lemeki, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Karne Hesketh, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Malgene Ilaua, 5 Kyosuke Kajikawa, 4 Kotaro Yatabe, 3 Heiichiro Ito, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Satoshi Nakatani
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Yasuo Yamaji, 19 Samuela Anise, 20 Uwe Helu, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Amanaki Lotoahea, 23 Kenki Fukuoka

Referee:  Federico Anselmi (Argentina)

Munster too strong for Maori All Blacks

A strong second-half performance saw Munster beat the Maori All Blacks 27-14 at Thomond Park on Friday night.

Munster opened the scoring through Rory Scannell inside the first 15 minutes but Ian Keatley failed to add the extras.

The Maori All Blacks hit back 10 minutes later when Otere Black made the gap with a dummy pass before sending James Lowe through the gap on the 22 line.  He was caught before the 5m line, but the wet conditions took him over the line.

The visitors doubled their lead just two minutes later when Munster gave a loose kick towards midfield where Akira Ioane took it at pace.

Marty McKenzie gave it some width out wide before Black got a hand on the ball to attract a tackler before putting Ambrose Curtis away.

Munster were awarded a penalty try after Reed Prinsep was deemed to have taken out a Munster player off the ball, which also resulted in the flanker receiving a yellow card.

The conversion was miss but Munster managed to take the lead going into half time when Darren Sweetnam scored to give his side a narrow 17-14 lead at the break.

The second half had barely resumed when Keatley added a penalty to give Munster some breathing space on the scoreboard.  They had the better of the second 40 and when Ronan O'Mahony went over with 12 minutes left it effectively sealed the game for Munster.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries:  Scannell, Penalty Try, Sweetnam, O'Mahony
Cons:  Keatley 2
Pen:  Keatley

For Maori All Blacks:
Tries:  Lowe, Curtis
Cons:  Black 2
Yellow Card:  Prinsep

Munster:  15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Ronan O’Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Tommy O’Donnell (c), 5 Darren O’Shea, 4 John Madigan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin
Replacements:  16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Brian Scott, 19 Sean O’Connor, 20 John Foley, 21 Te Aihe Toma, 22 Dan Goggin, 23 Alex Wootton

Maori All Blacks:  15 Marty McKenzie, 14 Ambrose Curtis, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 James Lowe, 10 Otere Black, 9 Billy Guyton, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Shane Christie, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Leighton Price, 3 Ben May, 2 Ash Dixon (c), 1 Kane Hames
Replacements:  16 Leni Apisai, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Marcel Renata, 19 Whetu Douglas, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Jason Emery

Referee:  Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
Assistant Referees:  Frank Murphy (Ireland), Leo Colgan (Ireland)
TMO:  Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Barbarians floor Fiji

The Barbarians scored four unanswered tries in the first half for a comfortable 40-7 victory over Fiji in Belfast on Friday night.

This game was won in the first half in an entertaining game despite being played in heavy rain.

The BaaBaas were impressive, especially in the first 40 where they managed to give the ball some air as if it were a cool, dry evening.  Robert du Preez had a blinder at fly-half, slotting all five his conversions while Akker van der Merwe celebrated a brace in the first-half not normally associated with hookers.

It was Van der Merwe who opened the scoring from a driving maul after just three minutes.  Matt Faddes got on the scoresheet less than five minutes later after a charge down and quick hands saw the wing go over to double the score.

Van der Merwe added his second in the 18th minute after taking a pass from Andy Ellis from close range to extend the lead to 21-0.  Fiji looked disjointed and devoid of ideas, seldomly managing to bother the Barbarians defence.

Ellis himself added the fourth try, diving over after spotting a gap to give the BaaBaas a commanding lead going into the break.

After playing the ball out wide inside the Barabarians 22 Waisea Nayacalevu managed to open Fiji's account, the unlikely frame of Nemani Nadolo slotting the touchline conversion to reduce the deficit to 21.

Luke Morahan all but sealed the result five minutes from time but the BaaBaas weren't finished as Richard Mo’unga squeezed in another five-pointer to finish the game with some excitement.

The scorers:

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Van der Merwe 2, Faddes, Ellis, Mo’unga, Morahan
Cons:  Du Preez 5

For Fiji:
Try:  Nayacalevu
Con:  Nadolo

Barbarians:  15 Melani Nanai (Blues), 14 Matt Faddes (Highlanders), 13 Tommy Bowe (Ulster & Ireland), 12 Richard Buckman (Highlanders/Panasonic), 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro (Waratahs/Panasonic & Australia), 10 Robert du Preez (Stormers), 9 Andy Ellis (Crusaders/Kobelco & New Zealand, captain), 8 Luke Whitelock (Highlanders & New Zealand), 7 Jordan Taufua (Crusaders), 6 Brad Shields (Hurricanes), 5 Sam Carter (Brumbies & Australia), 4 Michael Fatialofa (Hurricanes), 3 Ben Franks (London Irish & New Zealand), 2 Akker van der Merwe (Lions), 1 Reggie Goodes (Hurricanes)
Replacements:  16 Andrew Ready (Reds), 17 Toby Smith (Rebels & Australia), 18 Paddy Ryan (Waratahs & Australia), 19 Martin Muller (Lions), 20 Ruan Ackermann (Lions), 21 Ruan Pienaar (Ulster & South Africa), 22 Richard Mo’unga (Crusaders), 23 Luke Morahan (Force & Australia)

Fiji:  15 Benito Masilevu, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Asaeli Tikorotuma, 12 Albert Vulivuli, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Serupepeli Vularika, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 Mosese Voka, 6 Naulia Dawai, 5 Dominiko Waqaniburoto, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Jale Sassen, 1 Campese Ma’afu
Replacements:  16 Joeli Veitayaki, 17 Sunia Koto, 18 Leroy Atalifo, 19 Nemia Soqeta, 20 Eremasi Radrodro, 21 Nemia Kenatale, 22 Metuisela Talebula, 23 Vatemo Ravouvou

Referee:  Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), David Wilkinson (Ireland)
TMO:  Neil Paterson (Scotland)

Barbarians crush Czech Republic

The Barbarians ran in 11 tries for a 71-0 victory as they entertained fans in Prague in the biggest fixture in the Czech Republic's rugby history.

The famous invitation club came to celebrate the host union's 90th anniversary at the Marketa Stadium, the first game televised by state TV in the country.

Broadcast highlights included elusive running that brought two tries apiece for the Budvar man of the match Melani Nanai (Blues), centre Matt Faddes (Highlanders), fly-half Richard Mo'unga (Crusaders) and Kwagga Smith (Lions).

The other scores came from Toby Smith, Sam Carter and Schalk van der Merwe.  Robert du Preez (Stormers) added six conversions and Mo'unga two.

The scorers:

For Barbarians:
Tries:  K Smith 2, Faddes 2, Mo'unga 2, Nanai 2, T Smith, Van der Merwe, Carter
Cons:  Du Preez 6, Mo'unga 2

Czech Republic:  15 Michal Schlanger, 14 Jakub Zalud, 13 Jan Rohlik, 12 Jiri Pantucek, 11 Karen Berounsky, 10 Vaclav Jursik, 9 Marek Simak, 8 Lukas Rapant, 7 Ondrej Kutil, 6 Martin Havlicek, 5 Miroslav Nemecek, 4 Robert Voves, 3 Vojtech Hruska, 2 Vojtech Mara, 1 Vojtech Havel
Replacements:  16 Hubert Drímal, 17 Emilio Calderoni, 18 Jan Olbrich, 19 Martin Charvát, 20 Petr Cí%u017Eek, 21 Martin Kovár, 22 Vachtang Pailodze, 23 Pavel Elis

Barbarians:  15 Clayton Blommetjies (Cheetahs), 14 Luke Morahan (Force & Australia), 13 Matt Faddes (Highlanders), 12 Robert du Preez (Stormers), 11 Melani Nanai (Blues), 10 Richard Mo'unga (Crusaders), 9 Nic Stirzaker (Rebels), 8 Ruan Ackermann (Lions), 7 Kwagga Smith (Lions), 6 Sam Carter (Brumbies & Australia), 5 Martin Muller (Lions), 4 Dan Tuohy (Ulster & Ireland, captain), 3 Ben Franks (London Irish & New Zealand) 63), 2 Toby Smith (Rebels & Australia, Andrew Ready (Reds), 1 Schalk van der Merwe (Montpellier)
Replacements:  Akker van der Merwe (Lions), Reggie Goodes (Hurricanes), Ben Franks (London Irish & New Zealand), Michael Fatialofa (Hurricanes), Brad Shields (Hurricanes), Andy Ellis (Crusaders/Kobelco & New Zealand), Jordan Taufua (Crusaders), Richard Buckman (Highlanders & Panasonic)

Ireland shock New Zealand to make history

A sensational performance from Ireland saw them beat New Zealand for the first time in their history with a 40-29 victory in Chicago on Saturday.

It was Ireland's first win over the All Blacks in 29 Tests since 1905 and not only breaks 111 years of disappointment, but also brings to an end New Zealand's Tier-1 Test record of 18 consecutive wins.

No Irish side has ever put 40 points past the All Blacks but this team did, scoring five tries in the process in what will go down as their most famous win and one of the best first-half performances ever.

Ireland led 25-8 at the break but remained weary as the New Zealanders are known for their ability to clinch tight matches in the second half and especially in the final 20 minutes.  They nearly did it here again but Robbie Henshaw's try four minutes from time sealed the result.

It was a brilliant first 40 by the men in green who did almost everything right.  They were clearly up for this game and faced the Haka in a figure-of-eight formation as a tribute to Anthony Foley.

They were ambitious and fearless from the outset, taking New Zealand on at their own game.  Most importantly, they kept the ball away from the men in black and played most of their rugby in the opposition half.

Johnny Sexton had a fantastic game, his tactical kicking top notch in driving the All Blacks back while his kicks at goal were also spot on.

Ireland made most of the play in the first half, dominating possession and territory well in excess of 70 percent.  Sexton got proceeedings started with a penalty, but it was New Zealand who scored the first try.  A break in the middle of the field from Waisake Naholo created the space, but he was brought down meters from the try-line.

He managed to offload the ball, but CJ Stander was in the way and the ball bounced off him and hit Kieran Read in the face before George Moala gathered and dived over.  The ball against Read's face was not ruled as a knock-on and the try stood.

But from there it was all Ireland.  Joe Moody received a yellow card for a tip tackle during which time Ireland managed to score through Jordi Murphy.

Ireland had twice opted to kick for touch rather than poles when presented with kickable penalties and the second time it paid off.  From a driving maul the Irish went over, but it was unclear if the ball had been grounded.  The try was eventually given and once Ireland took the lead they never gave it back.

New Zealand struggled to cope with Ireland's line speed and for the first time in a long time their defence looked vulnerable.  They also made silly handling errors and lost three lineouts, but it was the seven penalties they conceded in the first half which raised the most eyebrows.

A massive touchline kick by Sexton took Ireland into the All Blacks 22.  They went wide and a break from Rob Kearney took them within a metre from the line before Stander picked up the ball and barged over to extend the lead.

By this time Ireland were rampant with a 15-5 lead which turned into 18-8 after he and Barrett exchanged penalties.

The flaws in New Zealand's defending were evident when Conor Murray gave a dummy from a ruck and ran through for an easy score which Sexton converted for a commanding 25-8 lead at the break.

But even then it was clear Ireland needed to keep it up for 80 minutes otherwise the All Blacks would almost certainly find a way back into the game.

Yet it was Joe Schmidt's team who scored first in the second 40, Simon Zebo dotting down after an overlap on the blindside gave Sexton the soace to find him for the fourth try.

At 30-8 it seemed as if Ireland were clear to make history, but New Zealand turned things up and came back into the game with two quick tries from TJ Perenara and Ben Smith to close the gap to 30-22 with 25 minutes to play.

Ireland have come close to beating New Zealand in the past and if they threw it away from there it would have been a travesty, but they kept their nerve as Sexton slotted another penalty to extend the lead to 11 points.

When Scott Barrett hit a gap and charged towards the line to reach out and score the game was on with Ireland holding a slim four-point lead with 15 minutes left.

But Henway's try at the death secured a thrilling win to get the crowd of 62 300 people, the largest attendance ever for a rugby match in the USA, on their feet.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Murphy, Stander, Murray, Zebo, Henshaw
Cons:  Sexton 2, Carbery
Pens:  Sexton 2, Murray

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Moala, Perenara, Smith, S Barrett
Cons:  Barrett 3
Pen:  Barrett

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Garry Ringrose

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 George Moala, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Jerome Kaino, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Malakai Fekitoa

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Australia sweep Wales aside

A dominant first-half performance saw Australia win their 12 consecutive Test against Wales with a 32-8 victory in Cardiff on Saturday.

Australia's ambitious quest for a Grand Slam had the perfect start as they outscored Wales with five tries to one.

The visitors effectively won the game in the first 40 minutes in a one-sided half which saw them score three tries while only conceding one penalty.

Australia dominated throughout as they enjoyed the lions share of possession and territory which should have given them an even bigger lead by half time.

Bernard Foley and Leigh Halfpenny exchanged penalties early penalties early on, but it was Michael Cheika's men who looked far more dangerous with ball in hand.  They stretched the play by putting plenty of width on the ball and their ability to get over the advantage line put plenty of pressure on the Wales' defence.

But it was Australia's quick line speed and their ability to offload in the tackle which created plenty of space out wide.  Their first try came courtesy of a five metre lineout, the resulting driving maul gave captain Stephen Moore the perfect platform to get over the line.

Wales struggled to get their hands on the ball and when they did, they failed to get out of their own half and play some rugby on the other side of the field.  They barely had a try-scoring opportunity in the first half, most of their effort going towards stopping the rampant Wallabies from running riot.

Their defence was put under further pressure when Dan Biggar received a yellow card for an early tackle on Dane Haylett-Petty, who looked set for a try in the corner after receiving an offload from the impressive Israel Folau.

Strangely, Australia failed to add any points while Wales were reduced to 14 men, but ironically, as soon as Biggar made his way back onto the field, the Aussies pounced for their second five-pointer.

From a ruck Reece Hodge got an inside pass, allowing him to hit a gap before giving the ball to Folau on his outside.  The full-back drew a defender before giving the ball back to Hodge on his inside for a clear run-in.

Leigh Halfpenny had a poor afternoon with the boot which prevented Wales from keeping the scoreboard ticking over.

Tevita Kuridrani added Australia's third try five minutes from the break which would have left Rob Howley fuming at his side's defensive organisation.  Kuridrani received the ball on the blindside from a ruck and gave a simple dummy pass which allowed him the space to run through, his power and pace enough to secure the points.

The hosts showed some more fight after the break but they lacked any clear plans or dynamism and after enjoying a period with ball in hand, they conceded a try against the run of play, their poor defensive organisation again brutally exposed.

This time it was Foley who simply ran through a big gap in midfield for an easy try which effectively killed the contest.

Wales kept on trying and enjoyed their best period of the game midway through the second half.  Scott Willaims finally got them a consolation try after he received the ball at first receiver, kicked it through and had the pace to recollect and score.

However, the Wallabies had the final say when Haylett-Petty showed enough pace to score a well deserved try to rub more salt in Wales' wounds.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Williams
Pen:  Halfpenny
Yellow Card:  Biggar

For Australia:
Tries:  Moore, Hodge, Kuridrani, Foley, Haylett-Petty
Cons:  Foley 3
Pen:  Foley

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Le, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James King, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Hallam Amos

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 David Pocock, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Scott Fardy, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Sefa Naivalu

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Pumas put 54 past Japan

Argentina started their November Test campaign with an impressive 54-20 win over Japan at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo.

They led 21-6 at half-time thanks to tries from Matías Moroni and Nicolás Sánchez, with Sánchez kicking three penalties and a conversion.

Yu Tamura's two penalties put the Brave Blossoms on the board but they were rarely in this contest as Argentina kept them out of reach.

Santiago Cordero kicked off the second-half scoring with a 42nd minute try before Moroni crossed for his second seven minutes later in Tokyo.

Finally Japan's fans had something to cheer on 52 minutes when powerful number eight Amanaki Lelei Mafi crossed to make it 35-13.  However, Sánchez and Cordero then scored near the hour mark before replacement scrum-half Tomás Cubelli went over to extend the scoreline to 54-13.

A late try from Japan wing Lomano Lava Lemeki, converted by Tamura, was the final act, as Argentina now travel to Europe full of confidence.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Mafi, Lemeki
Cons:  Tamura 2
Pens:  Tamura 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Moroni 2, Sánchez 2, Cordero 2, Cubelli
Cons:  Sánchez 5
Pens:  Sánchez 3

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lava Lemeki, 13 Amanaki Lotoahea, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa (cc), 11 Akihito Yamada, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Lelei Mafi, 7 Yuhimaru Mimura, 6 Uwe Helu, 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Kyosuke Kajikawa, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie (cc), 1 Satoshi Nakatani
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Kotaro Yatabe, 20 Malgene Ilaua, 21 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 22 Takahiro Ogawa, 23 Timothy Lafaele

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Tomás Lezana, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (c), 1 Lucas Noguera
Replacements:  16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Leonardo Senatore, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Ramiro Moyano

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Maxwell-Keys (England), Tim Baker (Hong Kong)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Big win for Maori All Blacks

The Maori All Blacks ran in eight tries as they opened their November campaign with an emphatic 54-7 victory over the USA in Chicago on Friday.

James Lowe (2), Akira Ioane (2), Ash Dixon, Kane Hames, Brad Weber and Joe Royal scored the tries while Ihaia West and Marty McKenzie kicked goals.

Colin Cooper's men were 28-0 ahead at the half-time break after Lowe's brace and one each from Ioane and Dixon got them on the move at Toyota Park.

Things didn't improve for the Eagles after the turnaround as Ioane went over before Todd Clever finally got USA on the board.  It was their only crossing.

Hames, Weber and Royal then got over the whitewash before the end as the Maori All Blacks won to go into their meeting with Munster in good spirits.

The scorers:

For USA:
Try:  Clever
Con:  Holder

For Maori All Blacks:
Tries:  Lowe 2, A Ioane 2, A Dixon, Hames, Weber, Royal
Cons:  West 6, M McKenzie

USA:  15 Mike Te'o, 14 Martin Iosefo, 13 Bryce Campbell, 12 Folau Niua, 11 Matai Leuta, 10 Will Holder, 9 Nate Augspurger, 8 Danny Barrett, 7 Tony Lamborn, 6 Todd Clever (c), 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Chris Baumann, 2 James Hilterbrand, 1 Titi Lamositele
Replacements:  16 Joe Taufete'e, 17 Angus MacLellan, 18 Alex Maughan 19 Matthew Jensen, 20 Al McFarland, 21 Stephen Tomasin, 22 Shalom Suniula, 23 Madison Hughes

Maori All Blacks:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Rieko Ioane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Kara Pryor, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Jacob Skeen, 3 Ben May, 2 Ash Dixon (c), 1 Kane Hames
Replacements:  16 Joe Royal, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Marcel Renata, 19 Leighton Price, 20 Shane Christie, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Marty McKenzie, 23 Sean Wainui

Referee:  Matt Carley (England)

New Zealand break the record

New Zealand successfully broke the record for consecutive wins after claiming a 37-10 victory against Australia at Eden Park on Saturday.

The win means that they finally break the 17-match streak that was only held by themselves and South Africa previously and extend it to 18.  The All Blacks were on the cusp of making the record last year before Australia beat them 27-19 in Sydney.

New Zealand scored six tries in an uncharacteristically error-ridden game from them.  They seemed to stutter through a lot of the game instead of demonstrating their usual silky play.  Australia didn't create too many opportunities on attack but looked in control as soon as they started moving.

In classic All Black fashion though, they pulled their performance together in the second-half, turning a fairly close game into a blow-out.

The half-time score was 15-7 to New Zealand after three tries from the home side and Australia were creeping into the game with a solitary five-pointer from second-row Rory Arnold.

After Julian Savea scored his two tries he rose to fourth on the all-time New Zealand try scoring rankings with 45 five-pointers to his name.

Australia had the chance to draw first blood but Bernard Foley's kick for goal was carried away by the wind.  Australia's missed opportunity was New Zealand's gain as the home side counter-attacked immediately and sent the ball quickly down the backline for Israel Dagg to score in the corner.

The All Blacks struck again after the Australian defensive line came up too quickly which gave centre Anton Lienert-Brown a gap, which he took astutely and scored his side's second try of the match 10 minutes in, making the score 10-0 to the home side.

Australia were close to scoring after a great run from Samu Kerevi who broke the All Black line and was close to the try line before being tackled.  He just got a pass away but the offload went forward and Australia lost the momentum.

Australia finally got on the scoreboard after some great work from Dane Haylett-Petty and Reece Hodge, whose searing runs took the ball right up field before the ball was swung to Arnold who stretched over the line, making the score 10-7.

New Zealand struck back immediately though after Australia were pushed back into their 22 and Hodge tried to clear.  But TJ Perenara was too quick off the line and was able to knock the kick down, collect and score for his side's third try.

Australia were the first to score in the second-half when they were awarded a penalty in front of the sticks and Foley made no mistake in grabbing his side three points which made the score 15 to 10.

Australia then almost equalised after Foley ran the ball down the midfield, deceived the defence with a fantastic dummy before sending the ball wide to Henry Speight.  But the try was disallowed after Haylett-Petty ran in front of Savea and blocked him according to the referee.

The visitors seemed to be really picking up momentum after some great building phases before Nick Phipps made a great break and got an offload out to Speight who knocked the ball on.  New Zealand full-back Ben Smith jumped on the opportunity to counter, and ran the ball downfield before grubbering it forward for Savea to pick up and score.  Five minutes later Savea scored his second try after a strong run, busting two tackles in the process.

New Zealand hooker Dane Coles then scored after the ever industrious Savea broke straight through the Australian line before being pulled down just before the whitewash.  The winger then showed impressive presence of mind to pop the ball off for Coles to score to put the icing on the cake for the All Blacks.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg, Lienert-Brown, Savea 2, Coles
Cons:  Cruden
Pen:  Cruden

For Australia:
Try:  Arnold
Con:  Foley
Pen:  Foley

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Liam Squire, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Malakai Fekitoa

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 James Hanson, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Ala'alatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 David Pocock, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Sefa Naivalu

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa

Australia beat sloppy Argentina

Australia ended the Rugby Championship with a victory as they overcame Argentina 33-21 at Twickenham on Saturday to finish in second spot.

48,515 fans were in attendance for a fixture that the Pumas will have nightmares over as they lost a game they probably should have won.

Early missed penalties from Santiago González Iglesias — in for the injured Nicolás Sánchez at fly-half — coupled by two Australia yellow cards and a contentious try will leave the Pumas wondering what might have been.  Ultimately they finish with the Rugby Championship wooden spoon.

Australia, in contrast, will be thankful for Bernard Foley's boot while Adam Coleman, Samu Kerevi (2) and Dean Mumm picked up tries.

It was a nightmare first 10 minutes for Argentina as they had a try chalked off due to offside against Iglesias and then the TMO, Rowan Kitt, controversially allowed Wallaby second-row Coleman a try after Dane Haylett-Petty looked to have lost the ball in an earlier phase.

With Foley adding a penalty a minute later, Australia were in a good position at 10-0 to the good.  The Pumas meanwhile were rightly upset.

Seeing flanker Michael Hooper sent to the bin for a high-tackle improved their mood on 17 minutes and when Matías Alemanno crashed over from close-range they were back in the game.  Unfortunately Iglesias missed his second attempt at goal from the conversion so it remained 5-10.

Foley was having no such trouble off the tee as his second penalty moved Australia into a 13-5 lead before Hooper returned to the fray.

Iglesias' woes continued before the half-hour when another penalty kick went awry.  One feared that not even a second yellow card for the Wallabies, this time going the way of Coleman for a high tackle, would result in Argentina winning if they didn't sort out their kicking.

Their next issue was the line-out and an overthrow from Agustín Creevy that led to Kerevi powerfully finishing off a try to make it 18-5.  But fortunately for the Pumas Kerevi offended from the resulting restart, allowing Iglesias to fire over his first points before the break.

It was game on six minutes into the second-half as Martin Landajo's quick thinking from five metres out saw him tap before he sent De la Fuente over the whitewash.  With Iglesias kicking the conversion suddenly the Pumas were right back in the game at just 15-18 behind.

But then came a moment that took the wind out of Argentina as a fumble in midfield led to Kerevi racing over for his brace on 49 minutes.  Iglesias did hit back via a scrum penalty five minutes later but they were down by seven points, lamenting that earlier handling mistake.

It was perhaps fitting that a Pumas error led to the final score of the game as this time a loose pass was gobbled up by Mumm, who set off for the unconverted try that gave the Wallabies a bonus-point victory.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Alemanno, De la Fuente
Cons:  Iglesias
Pens:  Iglesias 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Coleman, Kerevi 2, Mumm
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Foley 3
Yellow Cards:  Hooper (16 mins — high tackle), Coleman (30 mins — high tackle)

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Santiago González Iglesias, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Lucas Noguera
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Gabriel Ascarate, 23 Lucas González Amorosino

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 James Hanson, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Scott Fardy, 21 Leroy Houston, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Tevita Kuridrani

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

All Blacks humiliate Springboks to equal Test record

New Zealand equalled the record of 17 consecutive Test wins with a 57-15 victory over the Springboks at Kings Park on Saturday.

This was as one-sided a game as you will see at Test level.

It was a record Test defeat for South Africa and New Zealand's fourth win in a row over the Springboks as they finished the Rugby Championship unbeaten with six bonus-point victories.

It was a phenomenal second-half performance by the All Blacks who scored 45 points in the second 40 and conceded only six.

For the Boks it doesn't get much worse than this.  Adriaan Strauss will want to forget his final Test on home soil as soon as possible.

They say statistics don't lie and there certainly is nowhere for the Springboks to hide.

No team can hope to win a Test against any team, let alone the All Blacks, when you miss 33 tackles (85 out of 118), have to contend with 31 percent possession while playing more than 70 percent of the game in your own half.

It was a comprehensive display by the world champions against a Bok side who, like a week ago against Australia, offered absolutely nothing on attack despite making 14 turnovers.

South Africa were forced to defend the whole game and whether they wanted to or not it was never going to be sustainable for 80 minutes.

The start was encouraging as the Boks showed plenty of energy and drive which was rewared with two Morné Steyn penalties.  Steyn again kept South Africa in the game and they were extremely lucky to only be trailing 12-9 at half time.

New Zealand were far from their best in the first 20 minutes and made some uncharacteristic mistakes as a few offloads didn't go to hand while they were also guilty of too many handling errors.

Despite not being very clinical early on the All Blacks dominated the ball and played all their rugby in the Springboks half.

They were relentless on the attack and tested the Bok defence constantly which was too passive as they failed to keep the All Black ball carriers behind the advantage line.

Israel Dagg opened the scoring for the All Blacks after sustained pressure on the hosts' try line.  It all started when Steyn failed to find touch from inside his 22.

Three missed tackles allowed New Zealand back in Springbok territory as Dagg jogged over unapposed despite some desperate Bok defence.

Another Steyn penalty gave the hosts a 9-5 lead before TJ Perenara scored a controversial try to win back the lead.  The scrum-half was brought down just before the Bok line and seemed to have lost the ball forward before regaining control and grounding it over the line.

After numerous replays the try was awarded which gave the All Blacks the lead for the first time in the match which they never surrendered.

New Zealand ran 758 metres in this Test compared to the 174 the Boks managed to make and they were rewarded with nine tries, seven in the second half, as Israel Dagg, Perenara and Beauden Barrett scored a brace each.  Codie Taylor, Ben Smith and Liam Squire also got on the score sheet.

What is clear for the Boks is that their gameplan simply isn't working.  It's also difficult to see Chean Roux stay on as defence coach.

Allister Coetzee is not known as an attack-minded coach and will need to bring in some outside help for the end-of-year tour.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens:  Steyn 5
Yellow Card:  De Jager

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg 2, Perenara 2, Barrett 2, Taylor, Smith, Squire
Cons:  Barrett 4, Sopoaga 2
Yellow Card:  Taylor

South Africa:  15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Stephen Kitshoff, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Willie le Roux

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Liam Squire, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 George Moala

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland), George Clancy (Ireland)
TMO:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Clinical win for New Zealand

New Zealand made it five bonus-point victories out of five in this year's Rugby Championship as they beat Argentina 36-17 on Saturday.

The comfortable nature of the win came as a result of a four-minute spell at the end of the first half that saw the visitors score three tries.

In total they crossed five times — through Anton Lienert-Brown, Ryan Crotty, Dane Coles, TJ Perenara and Ben Smith — with Lienert-Brown having a hand in Crotty, Coles and Smith's tries to cap an impressive solo performance.

Facundo Isa was again a rock for the Pumas and was rewarded with a try for his team while Joaquín Tuculet added their other score late on.

As previously said, it was a wonderful first half for the All Blacks, who ran in four tries through Lienert-Brown, Crotty, Coles and Perenara for a 29-3 lead.

Things had started fairly positively for Argentina as they stood up well in the early exchanges and they will feel hard done to when they re-watch the game and find captain Agustín Creevy was denied a try on 18 minutes when the referee thought Isa had knocked on.  In fact the impressive number eight had the ball ripped from his grasp in contact by a New Zealander which meant Jaco Peyper's call was incorrect.

Boy did the All Blacks make them pay from then on as, despite only leading by three Barrett points, they opted for scrums, not shots at goal in the red zone.  That led to their first try as the aforementioned fly-half found Lienert-Brown who crashed over to make it 10-0.

Nicolás Sánchez got Argentina on the board on 34 minutes following a ruck offence, but then came a triple combination that floored Argentina.

After Israel Dagg was denied brilliantly by Pumas outside centre Matías Moroni on the right wing, New Zealand pounced on a loose line-out and Lienert-Brown was this time the provider, setting up midfield partner Crotty for a converted try that made it 17-3 after 36 minutes.

Lienert-Brown was involved again two minutes later as Santiago González Iglesias' charged-down clearing kick led to Dagg finding his centre who in turn offloaded to Coles.  At 24-3 behind the Pumas would have been desperate for the sanctuary of the changing room.  It wasn't over.

New Zealand struck again before the turnaround, arguably their best try of the half, as a breakout from their own 22 saw Perenara go over.

The onslaught continued soon after the break and again it was Lienert-Brown heavily involved as his tackle bust and offload sent in Smith.  The full-back's try was converted by Barrett as New Zealand moved 36-3 in front with 34 minutes still to play at Estádio José Amalfitani.

New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen knew there was surely no coming back for Argentina, which meant the debut of full-back Damian McKenzie happened sooner than originally predicted.  He replaced Crotty as Smith moved forward to outside centre in a reshuffle to the backline.

That however prompted a much-improved spell for the Pumas as, with Joe Moody sin-binned for a swinging arm, the hosts turned the screw at scrum time five metres out.  Eventually their power told and it was Isa picking and dotting down under the post to reduce matters to 36-10.

Buenos Aires was rocking and the volume further increased as they pressed for their second try, Sánchez denied by a last-ditch tackle from Patrick Tuipulotu which was deemed high by the officials.  He wasn't sin-binned but Liam Squire was soon after for persistent team offsides.

Somehow though New Zealand survived that sustained period on their line thanks to a determined and streetwise effort which they used as a springboard to go down to the other end of the field and almost score.  It was Julian Savea who went close but lost the ball over the line.

Perhaps fittingly, due to their physical performance in the second-half, Argentina did have the final say on the scoreboard as Tuculet got hold of a cross-field kick to dive over in the right-hand corner, Iglesias adding the touchline conversion that saw them finish within 19.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Isa, Tuculet
Cons:  Sánchez, Iglesias
Pen:  Sánchez

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Lienert-Brown, Crotty, Coles, Perenara, B Smith
Cons:  Barrett 4
Pen:  Barrett
Yellow Cards:  Moody (52 min — swinging arm), Squire (65 min — offside)

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Santiago González Iglesias, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo (c), 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 23 Matías Orlando

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Elliot Dixon, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Damian McKenzie

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Johan Greeff (South Africa)

Springboks return to winning ways

South Africa returned to the victory trail when they secured a deserved 18-10 triumph over Australia in their Rugby Championship clash in Pretoria on Saturday.

An accomplished kicking display from Morne Steyn, who scored all his team's points, guided the home side to victory although the Wallabies scored the game's only try early in the first half when Scott Sio went over the whitewash.

The result means the Boks ended a three-match losing streak and they move above the Wallabies into second place in the standings.

Despite their win, there are still question marks about the Boks though as the Wallabies dominated the territorial stakes and spent large parts of the game in the home side's half.

Springbok head coach Allister Coetzee's decision to go with a six/two, forwards/backs split backfired on him as the Boks lost the services of Jesse Kriel in the first half as well as Bryan Habana and Rudy Paige early in the second half.

This meant that the Boks were forced to play with Jaco Kriel on the left wing during the game's final quarter.  But to their credit, the Boks showed great character and a solid defensive effort in the second half secured them this result.

The home side's captain Adriaan Strauss deserves special praise as he led from the front in what was by far his best Test of the season.  He was named the official man of the match.

The Boks made a bright start and after taking the ball through several phases with their forwards, Steyn opened the scoring with a well-taken drop goal in the fifth minute.

The Wallabies were soon level, however, when Bernard Foley landed a penalty after Eben Etzebeth was penalised for taking Sean McMahon out off the ball midway between the halfway line and South Africa's 22.

Five minutes later, Habana failed to find touch and Israel Folau launched a counter-attack from inside his 22.  The ball went through several pairs of hands and the Wallabies were soon close to the home side's try-line.

Will Genia then threw a long pass to Sekope Kepu who did well to offload to his front row partner Sio,who went over under the posts for his first Test try.

Australia had a chance to increase their lead in the 23rd minute, when Vincent Koch was blown up for a scrum infringement midway between the halfway line and the visitors' 22, but Reece Hodge's monster effort landed just short of the cross-bar.

Three minutes later, Steyn narrowed the gap to four points with a penalty, after several Wallabies went off their feet at a ruck.  South Africa were then handed a lifeline in the 35th minute when Folau was yellow carded for taking Habana out off the ball after the Bok flyer had chipped ahead, close to the Wallabies' 22.

Steyn made no mistake with the subsequent place-kick which meant the game was evenly poised with score at 10-9 to the visitors.  South Africa upped the ante on attack but couldn't round off their attacking chances but they regained the lead on the stroke of half-time when Steyn added his third penalty after Australia strayed offside on defence.

There wasn't much to report during the early exchanges in the second half although the Wallabies had two golden opportunities to take lead but Hodge missed two shots at goal in quick succession.

Steyn also had an opportunity to extend his side's lead on the hour mark but his penalty attempt, from 55 metres out, was also off target.

The rest of the half was a war of attrition as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy but although the Wallabies spent large parts of the half camped inside the Boks' half, they committed a plethora of handling handling errors which proved costly in the end.

Steyn scored the first points of the half in the 76th minute when he landed a penalty from close quarters after the Wallabies were penalised for a ruck infringement and the pivot sealed the result when he slotted his second drop goal in the game's closing stages.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens:  Steyn 4
Drop goals:  Steyn 2

For Australia:
Try:  Sio
Con:  Foley
Pen:  Foley
Yellow Card:  Folau

South Africa:  15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Stephen Kitshoff, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Willie le Roux, 23 Lionel Mapoe

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 James Hanson, 17 James Slipper, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Scott Fardy, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Tevita Kuridrani, 23 Sefa Naivalu

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland), George Clancy (Ireland)
TMO:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Australia too strong for spirited Argentina

Australia scored five tries to two in their 36-20 bonus-point victory over Argentina in Perth on Saturday.

This result was secured in the first 12 minutes of the contest after a three-try blitz by the Wallabies left Argentina shell-shocked, and it proved too big a task for them to pull this one back.  It also confirmed New Zealand as this year's Rugby Championship winners with two Tests left to play.

One look at the statistics for this game makes it difficult to believe Argentina lost.  Apart from the first 15 minutes they dominated territory (68 percent) and possession (67 percent) and comfortably won the penalty count by conceding just seven and winning 16.

It was a open yet sloppy game and one which suited someone of Quade Cooper's talents perfectly.  The Australian fly-half was a menace on attack and twice he created tries with clever inside passes.

But few teams can expect to concede 21 points in the first 12 minutes and still expect to win the game.  The Wallabies started the game at a brisk pace and it took just 45 seconds for them to score the first try of the match when quick hands down the line created space for Samu Kerevi to score in the corner.  Eight minutes later Cooper received the ball from a line-out inside Argentina's 22 and without looking threw a clever inside pass to Dane Haylett-Petty who ran a great line to score.

The third try followed four minutes later when Will Genia, back to his best here, dislodged the ball while making a tackle on Nicolás Sánchez.  The scrum-half reacted quickly, kicked the ball forward and had enough pace to recollect while diving over the line.

Suddenly the home side were 21-0 up and one sensed that it would take something special from los Pumas, and a rather spectacular implosion from Australia, to get them in a position where they could win the game.

It never happened despite the Wallabies twice being reduced to 14 men.  The visitors could only add three points in the 10 minutes that Scott Sio spent in the sin-bin as they trailed 21-6 at half time.

Argentina needed to score first in the second 40 to give themselves a chance and they did just that when Santiago Cordero stepped inside running down the touchline to score after a break by Joaquín Tuculet took them into the Wallabies 22.

But a second try for Genia and another clever inside pass by Cooper to put Michael Hooper away secured the result despite Cooper's yellow card in the 68th minute for a no-arms tackle.

Argentina managed a consolation try with their numerical advantage but in the end those fatal first 12 minutes killed off the visitors and the contest.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Kerevi, Haylett-Petty, Genia 2, Hooper
Cons:  Foley 4
Pen:  Hodge
Yellow Cards:  Sio, Cooper

For Argentina:
Tries:  Cordero, Isa
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pens:  Sanchez 2

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Sean McMahon, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Tevita Kuridrani

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Santiago González Iglesias, 11 Lucas González Amorosino, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Javier Ortega Desio, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Gabriel Ascarate, 23 Matías Orlando

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

New Zealand trounce error-ridden Boks

The All Blacks scored 26 points in the second half for a comprehensive 41-13 victory over South Africa in Christchurch on Saturday.

The victory all but secures New Zealand the Rugby Championship trophy with two rounds left in the tournament.

This was South Africa's best first-half performance of the year against a New Zealand side who struggled to stamp their authority on the game early on.  They lost steam in the second half while the All Blacks predictably grew stronger as the match went on.

As good as this All Blacks team is, they weren't at their best here and while they still played well in patches it has to be said that the Boks made it easy for them at times by making silly mistakes at crucial times.

The home side never really had to get out of third gear to win this Test, thanks to costly errors by the Boks which allowed New Zealand to pull away in the second 40 because as good as the Boks were in the first half, so bad were they in the second.

Indeed it was the Boks who scored first after Bryan Habana ran a superb line to receive a well timed pass from Warren Whiteley to go over, after some good phase play on the front ball.

Signs that this Bok team is still some way off their best was evident when New Zealand hit back straight afterwards when Israel Dagg jogged over the line to open his team's account.

It all started when Elton Jantjies knocked the ball on from the kick-off.  A scrum on the visitor's five-metre line saw the All Blacks move the ball wide with some slick, flat passing which left Dagg wide open for an easy try.

South Africa's biggest shortcoming and indeed Allister Coetzee's biggest concern will be their defensive organisation, especially in the wide channels, which resulted in quite a few tries.  Julian Savea exploited this when he scored his first try against South Africa for another easy run-in.

Dane Coles, who had an outstanding night, gave his first of three try-scoring passes with an offload to Savea after he had received a long pass from Aaron Smith.

After a promising start, the first signs were there that the Boks were starting to fall apart.  And fall apart they did.  After doing well to stay in the game by only trailing 15-10 at the break, they disintegrated in the second half and gifted the New Zealand too many try-scoring opportunities.

Jantjies arguably had his worst Test of the season and made another error at the restart which led to another try for the Kiwis, this time Ben Smith going over after some quick hands created a gap on the outside for the full-back to run through.  Jantjies pulled three points back to reduce the deficit to 22-13, but that was the last time South Africa managed to score any points as New Zealand switched to a higher gear.

Ardie Savea scored the bonus-point try after Aaron Smith was again afforded too much space around the fringes, exploiting South Africa's defence out wide.

Further tries by Sam Whitelock and TJ Perenara rounded off the second half demolition to hand the Boks their third defeat in a row.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg, J Savea, B Smith, A Savea, Whitelock, Perenara
Cons:  Barrett 4
Pen:  Barrett

For South Africa:
Try:  Habana
Con:  Jantjies
Pens:  Jantjies 2

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 James Parsons, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

South Africa:  15 Johan Goosen, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Damian de Allende

Referee:  Angus Gardiner
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzere, Marius Mitrea
TMO:  George Ayou

Wallabies win scrap with South Africa

Australia ended a run of six Test defeats by coming from behind to beat South Africa 23-17 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

Tries from Warren Whiteley and Johan Goosen handed South Africa a double-digit lead, but the boot of Bernard Foley and an Adam Coleman try meant that South Africa only led by a point at half-time, up 14-13.

A Foley penalty then put the Wallabies ahead for the first time before his solo try edged Australia further into the lead.

And despite a Morné Steyn penalty putting the Springboks within a converted try of the win, they couldn't find the breakthrough in the closing stages, to make it back-to-back losses for Allister Coetzee's side.

Considering the two teams' form prior to Brisbane this fixture was unsurprisingly scrappy, with handling errors aplenty.

Questions regarding what South Africa are trying to achieve tactically on attack will continue to persist as long as they only score tries off turnovers, as was the case here in Brisbane.

And while the Wallabies attack at times showed plenty of rhythm, that also disappeared for large swathes of the match.  Both outfits are truthfully some way off their best, and will be underdogs for their respective fixtures against Argentina and New Zealand next weekend.

Some credit must go to South Africa for the way they made the most of Wallaby mistakes for their two tries in the first half, pouncing on the errors and turning them into points.

A Jantjies break produced the first score, Whiteley finishing off a sustained attack by going over from metres out after great runs in the build-up from Faf de Klerk and Oupa Mohoje.

Foley cut the lead to four with a first penalty before the Wallabies' intent in attack, especially from Quade Cooper with an incisive break at the touchline, came to nothing and turned into a disaster.

Adriaan Strauss produced an athletic interception and from there the Springboks broke, Goosen winning the race to Jantjies' chip ahead to score under the posts, making it 14-3 with the conversion.

That scoreline felt harsh on the Wallabies and they eventually crossed themselves through lock Coleman, finishing in the corner from a looping Foley pass as Bryan Habana failed to haul in a possible interception.  Foley's touchline conversion made it 10-14.

And another penalty from the Wallaby number ten cut the gap to just a point at the break, with Jantjies pushing an effort of his own to the right to leave South Africa ahead 14-13 at half-time.

Not long after Eben Etzebeth had run back onto the field for the second half he was soon trudging off it again, yellow carded for cynical play in his 50th Test after a break from Samu Kerevi.  Foley converted the resulting penalty to put Australia ahead for the first time at 16-14.

A prolonged TMO referral then eventually denied Kerevi a finish in the corner, the big Reds centre's knee touching the whitewash milliseconds before he appeared to have done enough to ground the ball despite the tackle of Goosen.

Finely poised for over 20 minutes after that, with South Africa riding out the sin-bin period, both sides were guilty of squandering chances either by failing to make the most of overlaps or through turnovers.

Foley stopped the rot.  Shaping to pass wide in the middle of the field before cutting in-between Jantjies and Pieter-Steph du Toit to score by the posts for a sharp finish.

Steyn cut the gap to six with a penalty to set up an intriguing final few minutes, but South Africa couldn't find the score required, giving Australia a long-awaited victory and their first of the year.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Coleman, Foley
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Foley 3

For South Africa:
Tries:  Whiteley, Goosen
Cons:  Jantjies 2
Pen:  Steyn
Yellow Card:  Etzebeth

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Tevita Kuridrani, 23 Drew Mitchell

South Africa:  15 Johan Goosen, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Steven Kitshoff, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Lionel Mapoe

Referee:  Nigel Owens
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes, Pascal Gauzère
TMO:  Ben Skeen

All Blacks turn it on in Hamilton

New Zealand claimed a third successive bonus-point victory in the Rugby Championship on Saturday as they defeated Argentina 57-22 in Hamilton.

The scoreline doesn't tell the full story of how this game played out as the Pumas were very much in the contest for 50 minutes, before the All Blacks replacements bench gave the world champions a real shot in the arm.

Julian Savea, Ben Smith (2), Beauden Barrett, Ryan Crotty (2), Charlie Faumuina and Luke Romano scored New Zealand's tries and with Warren Gatland watching, it was also a message to the 2017 British and Irish Lions.

Gatland would have been intrigued to see Argentina enjoy a strong first half, however, as they went in just 24-19 behind against a clearly rattled New Zealand side, with Santiago Cordero having crossed the try-line first.

It was an outstanding start for the Pumas when Cordero raced over after the visitors had bust through the middle of the All Black defence.  Nicolás Sánchez landed the simple extras from in front and it was game on in Hamilton as, like at Wembley, Argentina scored the first try.

New Zealand missed the chance to cut the gap when Barrett struck the upright from a penalty but their drought was short-lived as from a scrum five metres out, a lovely pull back pass sent Savea under the posts untouched.  Barrett made no mistake this time so it was 7-7.

Argentina were proving a hard nut to crack though and were also offering plenty in attack, which resulted in two penalties from Sánchez.

Barrett was not as deadly in front of goal as he missed an attempt but would make no such mistake from in front after Smith finished off a nice try on 23 minutes.  It came following another carry from Savea, who was playing well, before the ball came right to the full-back.

That made it 14-13 to New Zealand but again Sánchez was chipping away, pushing his side back in front two minutes later from 40 metres.

Israel Dagg would then slot a penalty from range as again the lead changed hands before a touch of brilliance from Ben Smith saw his grubber through sit up perfectly for Barrett on the left wing, allowing the fly-half to show his speed to score under the uprights for 24-16.

Argentina though deservedly went into the interval within one score when Sánchez struck again and could have cut the gap to two but for a wayward strike late in the half, his first miss of the night.  Despite this they had definitely made the All Blacks a concerned team.

The Pumas continued to press their claims early in the second period and were rewarded for their efforts with another Sánchez three points on 50 minutes.  Perhaps another positive for the visitors was the fact that coach Steve Hansen made big changes, including replacing Aaron Smith, so early in a Test match.  TJ Perenara was the player coming on while Ardie Savea, Charlie Faumuina and Codie Taylor also made early arrivals.

It worked, partly due to Barrett's quality as he followed up a brilliant break with a beautiful offload to Crotty for a try under the posts.

New Zealand had clearly turned the corner and were motoring, with Faumuina next to cross on 57 minutes as the score was now 38-22.

The game was gone for Argentina as New Zealand, with the bonus point already next to their name, went in search of more tries.  Their next went to Crotty thanks to a slick set-piece move off the back of a five-metre scrum, with Perenara's well-timed pass sending him over.

They weren't done there as full-back Smith showed his class once again on 68 minutes with a lovely slalom run to the line from 40 metres out to make it 52-22, leaving opposite number Joaquín Tuculet turned inside out.  Somehow the game had turned into a procession for the home side.

Even ricochets were going for New Zealand at this point as a cross-kick from Cruden out to Dagg bounced off the wing's chest for Romano, who had the final say on a quite brilliant second half from the hosts.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  J Savea, B Smith 2, Barrett, Crotty 2, Faumuina, Romano
Cons:  Barrett 6, Cruden
Pen:  Dagg

For Argentina:
Try:  Cordero
Con:  Sánchez
Pens:  Sánchez 5

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Ramiro Moyano

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)