Irish revival overcomes France

Johnny Sexton guided Ireland to a hard-earned 19-9 win over France in Dublin on Saturday in the Six Nations.

Both teams were unaffected by Dublin's rainfall and produced a passionate game of rugby that typified European rivalry.

The game did not decline into trench-style combat because of the weather but rather an exhibition of each team's undeniable skill, in particular Sexton, who was magnificent on the day.

Ireland's win sees them jump Scotland to the top of the table with England yet to play, a fine position to be in considering their defeat to Scotland in the first round of the competition.  France languish at fifth on the table with only Italy below them.

Scrum-half Conor Murray scored the only the five-pointer of the match, his try aided by the flawless kicking effort from Sexton.

France had an inspired start to the fixture, pulling off a magic moment it seemed with every minute on the field.

It started with an unprecedented cross kick from fly-half Camille Lopez close to their own line to winger Yoann Huget that parted the stunned Irish defence like the red sea, allowing the French to initiate a dangerous attacking movement up field which unfortunately didn't lead to a try for the visitors.

They were the first onto the board though, when Lopez slotted a penalty in the 13th minute silencing a passionate home crowd.

Lopez would then add to his side's lead seven minutes later.  France should have scored a try through outside centre Rémi Lamerat after France pulled off another brilliant move that led to the centre receiving a pop pass and curbing around the defence, which was disallowed by the TMO after it was ruled that Gaël Fickou had knocked it on before the movement.

Against the general current of the game, Ireland scored the first try of the match when Conor Murray took it over the line after a brilliant break from Sexton that would catalyse an Irish revival to the dismay of the passionate French.

Ireland nearly scored again moments later after they rumbled up field, generating some forward momentum when they found themselves on the French line but could not quite break a resolute French defence, before Murray tried to pop the ball back which didn't go as planned, rolling out of bounds.

Passions were high as Ireland's dogged intensity had now eclipsed France's enthusiasm as they pushed up field, almost exclusively through Garry Ringrose's Herculean effort as he grasped for every metre possible.  Murray used the field position astutely, spotted a gap and darted towards the line but was just taken down before the whitewash and offloaded, which came to no avail.

The half ended as a one-point game to the Irish, 7-6.

Ireland didn't let the break ruin their new-found vigour and put France under pressure from the first minute of the second half, the pressure eventually culminating with Sexton kicking a penalty over and making the score 10-6 in Ireland's favour.

The crowd was reminded of Sexton's keen eye for an opportunity when the mercurial number ten had the ball 30 metres out from the French try line and attempted a drop goal, and despite the Dublin wind and deluge it stayed true to its course and Ireland went up by another three points.

Sexton's boot punished the French once again after Ireland were awarded a very kickable penalty and the fly-half knocked it through making it a ten-point game.

The game became quiet after that as France made some desperate attempts to get back on the scoreboard.  But each time their plan was foiled by the cohesive Ireland unit that just kept them out after wave after wave of French attack.

With ten points between France and Ireland, the French used a penalty in the Irish 22-metre area to shoot for goal rather kick for line.  Lopez slotted the chance and it became a seven-point game with six minutes to play.

Ireland though replied quickly as replacement fly-half Paddy Jackson widened the gap to ten points once again.

With two minutes left to play Ireland were edging towards the French line once again and looked as though they were going to score their second try of the match, before Kieran Marmion decided that the victory was enough and kicked the ball into touch.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Murray
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 2, Jackson
Drop Goal:  Sexton

For France:
Pens:  Lopez 3

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Trimble

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Bernard le Roux, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Julian Le Devedec, 20 Charles Ollivon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Henry Chavancy, 23 Djibril Camara

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Scotland defeat Wales at last

Scotland sealed a first victory over Wales in ten years thanks to a vibrant second-half comeback, winning 29-13 at Murrayfield.

They had waited a decade for a victory over Wales, their last success coming at Murrayfield with a 21-9 win back in 2007, and ultimately were more than worthy victors after tries from Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser, remarkably winning the second half alone 20-0.

Finn Russell and Leigh Halfpenny traded early penalties before Wales grabbed the first try, Liam Williams finishing in the corner after some fine passing.  Further points from both kickers made it 9-13 to Wales by the break.

However, Seymour's early try in the second half swung the lead Scotland's way, extended to 19-13 by another Russell penalty and despite significant Welsh pressure Visser was the next to score, set up brilliantly by Stuart Hogg, as Scotland opened up a 26-13 advantage, and from there the hosts never looked back.

Outstanding rush defence and work around the breakdown were both vital to Wales' success in the first half, when Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric were ruthless.

But Scotland then took full command of the second quarter, holding firm and riding their luck in defence while imposing themselves at the ruck and taking two key chances.

Wales welcomed back George North with open arms as Scotland came in without the leadership of Josh Strauss at number eight along with captain Greig Laidlaw, and they coped well in spite of those absences, led superbly by John Barclay.

Scotland's scrum was much maligned in the opening two matches but the first blood in that part of the set-piece went to the hosts.  From the ensuing attack Wales were penalised for not rolling away, allowing Russell to open the scoring with an easy penalty;  no repeat of his horrorshow conversion against France here.

Halfpenny responded to make it 3-3 after Scotland went off their feet in tentative, penalty-ridden start from both teams.

The frequency of referee John Lacey's whistle was already beginning to irritate the Murrayfield crowd, no more so than when Dan Biggar appeared to over-egg a contest for the high ball from Tim Visser and subsequently won a penalty.

After 22 minutes the deadlock was finally broken.  Opting for a quick tap from a free-kick, Wales then fizzed the ball wide through Scott Williams and Halfpenny to give Liam Williams enough space to use his speed, finishing in the corner.  Halfpenny's touchline conversion made it 10-3.

Not long after the future Saracens winger was away again, cantering down the touchline from Rhys Webb's pass, only for the play to be brought back after Webb was ruled to have illegally pulled back a chasing Tommy Seymour.

A second Russell penalty closed the gap to four points as tempers seemed persistenly on the verge of boiling over.

Wales however were on top, their rush defence shutting Scotland down with Sam Warburton winning a breakdown penalty which Halfpenny duly converted to make it 13-6, before a rare miss let Scotland off the hook.

Only a remarkable turnover by Justin Tipuric five metres from the Welsh line denied Scotland a chance to respond, their sweeping attack stemming from Hogg's grubber kick before Huw Jones did his best only to be hauled in by the cover defence.

Scotland did have something to show for their efforts after Warburton was penalised, Russell stepping up to make it 9-13, but it could have been more as Wales led by four points at half-time.

The home side tore into the start of the second half, Hogg's quick footwork and delayed pass freeing up Tim Visser first and then Seymour, who finished to put Scotland ahead despite a phenomenal cover tackle from Scott Williams.  Russell's touchline conversion went through courtesy of the post, making it 16-13, as Murrayfield began to make herself heard.

Wales should have instantly hit back, Jonathan Davies charging clear deep into Scotland's half from Ken Owens' pass, but the resulting offload missed Webb to let Scotland off the hook.

It was they who scored next, via a fourth Russell penalty, but Webb was inches away from scoring himself, a sloppy Scottish scrum seeing Webb snap up the loose ball and race clear before Visser managed to get him into touch.

Both sides looked for impetus from their benches as the toil of the first 60 minutes began to show.

Scotland suddenly began to sparkle.  A burst into Welsh territory continued to test the visitors' defence, Russell loitering for the drop goal, before Henry Prygos sniped through a few phases later the ball was spun wide with Hogg providing the delicate final pass as Visser finished.  Russell's conversion from out wide made it 26-13.

All the momentum with ten minutes to go seemed to be with Scotland as Russell knocked over a fifth penalty, a beaming smile across his face hinting at a belief that the win was in Scotland's hands.

He was right.  Ahead by 16 points, Scotland successfully wound down the clock thanks to more excellent breakdown work from early replacement Hamish Watson to start the celebrations.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Seymour, Visser
Cons:  Russell 2
Pens:  Russell 5

For Wales:
Tries:  L Williams
Cons:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

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

Referee:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

France hold off Scotland for first win

France got their campaign back on track when they secured a hard-fought 22-16 win over Scotland in Paris on Sunday.

In an entertaining encounter, in which both teams kept the ball alive at every opportunity, momentum between the two sides ebbed and flowed, but it was the hosts who got the rub of the green in the end coming away with a deserved victory.

Scotland will be kicking themselves, however, as they were competitive for large periods, but could not repeat last week's heroics when they stunned Ireland at Murrayfield.

And although they outscored their hosts by two tries to one, they conceded too many penalties and when it was within goalkicking range, les Bleus pivot Camille Lopez made them pay and eventually finished with a 17-point haul courtesy of five penalties and a conversion.

France drew first blood courtesy of a Lopez penalty in the sixth minute after Josh Strauss played the ball on the ground but the game came alive ten minutes later when Scotland took the lead when Stuart Hogg rounded off a superb team try.

This after the ball went through umpteen phases in the build-up and Huw Jones deserves special praise as he did well to draw in Virimi Vakatawa before offloading to Hogg, who dived over in the right-hand corner despite a desperate tackle from Baptiste Serin.

The try was a fitting reward for Hogg in his 50th Test as it meant he became the fifth Scot to score a try in four successive Championship matches.

Greig Laidlaw's conversion attempt struck the cross-bar but France regained the lead when Lopez slotted another penalty two minutes later.

The visitors suffered a setback midway through the half when their captain, Laidlaw, left the field due to injury with Ali Price replacing him at scrum-half and Finn Russell taking over the goalkicking duties.

France took Scotland on at their attacking game and were rewarded in the 30th minute when, after taking the ball through 12 phases in the build-up, Scott Spedding offloaded to Gaël Fickou, who crashed over from close quarters with two defenders on his back.

Lopez added the extras but Scotland continued to fight and after Russell added two penalties, the hosts held a slender 13-11 lead at the interval.

Shortly after the restart, Scotland were dealt another blow when John Hardie was forced off the field with a head knock but his replacement, Tim Swinson, soon made his presence felt when, three minutes after entering the playing field, when he crossed for Scotland's second try.

This after Tommy Seymour had done brilliantly in the build-up.  The flyer found himself in space down the left-hand touchline and delivered a teasing kick ahead which bamboozled Spedding inside France's 22.

Seymour did well to regather and offloaded to the on-rushing Swinson who went over under the uprights.  Crucially, however, Russell failed to add the easy extras — when the ball fell off the kicking tee — which meant the visitors held a slender three-point lead.

France were soon level when Lopez added his third penalty in the 47th minute and although the next 25 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy, the hosts were gradually gaining the upperhand.

Lopez put his team back in front with another penalty in the 71st minute and five minutes later he sealed his team's win with his final three-pointer from the kicking tee.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Fickou
Con:  Lopez
Pens:  Lopez 5

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Swinson
Pens:  Russell 2

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Julian Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Yoann Huget

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw(c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 John Hardie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

England fightback floors Wales

England extended their winning streak to 16 matches when a late Elliot Daly try secured them a 21-16 win over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

In an attritional encounter, in which both sides went at each other hammer and tongs for the full 80 minutes, Wales will be kicking themselves for losing this Test as they dominated for large periods.

For the second successive week, England had to dig deep and they showed again that it will take a special effort to dethrone them as Six Nations champions.

Both sides gave their all on attack and defence but England showed greater composure in the former department and eventually outscored their hosts by two tries to one.

They were trailing for most of the match but Daly's effort in the 75th minute, where he showed a superb burst of speed before shrugging off a tackle from Alex Cuthbert to score the matchwinning try, eventually secured them the result.

Although England battled for large periods there were several outstanding individual performances with Joe Launchbury and Maro Itoje deserving special praise for superb efforts in the battle up front.

The opening half was a thrilling affair with plenty of end-to-end action as both side gave the ball plenty of air in a bid to gain the ascendancy.  And although England had the better of the opening exchanges, Wales gained the upper hand as the half progressed and led 13-8 at the interval.

The home side took the lead as early as the third minute when Leigh Halfpenny opened the scoring from the kicking tee after Courtney Lawes was penalised for a ruck infringement.

England bided their time and were level by the 11th minute when Owen Farrell added a penalty after Scott Williams was blown up for a high tackle on Jack Nowell.

The visitors started to dominate and were rewarded in the 19th minute when Ben Youngs dived over from close quarters after Maro Itoje, Joe Launchbury and Mike Brown were all stopped just short of the try-line.

That try saw Wales stepping up a few gears on attack and they spent most of the next 20 minutes camped inside England's 22.

Another Halfpenny penalty made it a two-point game and two minutes before the interval, Wales took the lead when, from an attacking scrum inside England's 22, Liam Williams glided through a gaping hole in the visitors' defence — after Scott Williams was used as dummy runner — before diving over next to the posts.

Wales had their tails up and were fastest out of the blocks after the break but could not convert their dominance into points.

England were battling to assert themselves in the forward battle which resulted in their captain Dylan Hartley being replaced by Jamie George after 50 minutes.

Five minutes later, Farrell reduced the deficit to two points when he slotted his second penalty but Halfpenny soon restored his side's five-point lead when he added his third penalty from the kicking tee on the hour-mark.

That would be the last time the hosts would score points, however, as another Farrell penalty in the 70th minute preceded Daly's stunning score which clinched the win for the visitors and kept alive their hopes of repeating last year's Grand Slam triumph.

The scorers:

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

For England:
Tries:  Youngs, Daly
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 3

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

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jonny May

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Nine-try win for rampant Ireland

Ireland got their Six Nations title hopes back on track as they picked up a 63-10 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

Bouncing back from a first round loss to Scotland, the Irish were superb against the Azzurri as they made it six points from two matches.

They did it without their captain Rory Best, who was a late withdrawal from the side due to an illness.  It mattered little as they cruised.

A CJ Stander treble stole the show and Keith Earls got two in the first 40 with Craig Gilroy (3) and Garry Ringrose scoring in the second.

Ireland came out of the blocks firing and were 28-10 ahead at the interval, thanks to a brace apiece from wing Earls and flanker Stander.

After enjoying a good deal of early territory and possession, which included Simon Zebo losing the ball over the line, eventually the Irish crossed on 12 minutes when Earls was put over by Paddy Jackson on the right wing.  His conversion moved Ireland seven points ahead.

Carlo Canna did pull Italy back to within four points with a penalty for Ireland coming offside but it was papering over the Irish domination.

Ireland had their second try on 18 minutes when Stander had a run-in on the left wing and when carries from the aforementioned flank and Sean O'Brien created space for Earls to grab his second try on 27 minutes, suddenly the visiting side were cruising at 21-3 to the good.

Italy did get on the board via a driving lineout soon after with referee Glen Jackson awarding a penalty try for a cynical collapse from Donnacha Ryan.  The second-row spent the next ten minutes in the sin-bin with Canna slotting the extra two points that made it 21-10.

Ryan though would have been pleased to see Stander barge his way over before half-time as the gulf in class again became evident.

That dominance continued after the resumption as patient rugby from Ireland led to Stander again slipping tackles for his hat-trick on 46 minutes.  It was their first Six Nations treble since Brian O'Driscoll in 2002, with Jackson slotting the extras to continue his 100 percent record off the tee.

At 35-10 the game as a contest was over but Ireland knew that a substantial points difference could boost their title hopes at the end of March.  But with wholesale changes made on both sides the game in Rome became somewhat fragmented heading into the final 20 minutes.

Their sixth try was to come though and it was replacement wing Gilroy, who stepped inside before racing under the posts for a 42-10 lead before Ringrose showed his class as he made his try number seven.  With Jackson's seventh successful conversion, Ireland were 49-10 up.

Ireland would add two more tries before the end as Gilroy first collected Stander's kick ahead on 78 minutes to run over for his brace, with Jackson adding the extras, before Jackson fed the wing for his own treble to wrap up an impressive victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Penalty Try
Con:  Canna
Pen:  Canna

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls 2, Stander 3, Gilroy 3, Ringrose
Cons:  Jackson 9
Yellow Card:  Ryan

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke Mclean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 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 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Craig Gilroy

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wales win without bonus point

Wales got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start as they came from 7-0 down to beat Italy 33-7 at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Despite falling behind to Edoardo Gori's try on 29 minutes, Rob Howley's men hit back through Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams and George North with Leigh Halfpenny contributing 16 points from the tee in an assured display.

Wales though will wonder what might have been as wing Williams came agonisingly close to scoring their fourth try at the death but lost the ball over the whitewash, meaning they would leave the game with just the four points.

The Welsh now look to prepare ahead of facing England in Cardiff next week while Italy welcome Ireland to Rome in a daunting fixture.

The pre-game downpour didn't inspire confidence of a free-flowing game but it was far from a dull opening half as both chanced their arm.

Italy regularly turned down three points in favour of utilising their dominant scrum while Wales went to their lineout drive for metres.

Howley's men did have the first attempt on goal however, on three minutes, when Halfpenny missed from distance.  There was then concern over captain Alun-Wyn Jones after he came off due to blood and replaced by Cory Hill.  The Osprey would return soon after though.

The slippy ball hindered both sides on occasions and following a period of Welsh line-outs near Italy's line, it was then the Azzurri on the attack thanks to a scrum won against the head 30 metres out.

Sergio Parisse led the charge before they snubbed the posts and went for another set-piece, which paid off as scrum-half Gori latched onto a well-worked maul and crashed over for the converted try.  It was 7-0.

That 29th minute score was the first in the game but Wales would get on the board before the break as Halfpenny punished the Italians for not rolling away on the ground.

As the sides headed for the dressing rooms it was clear that Conor O'Shea would be the happier head coach.

Howley had to make a change due to injury as Biggar was struggling with his ribs so on came Sam Davies with Wales needing him to impress.

It was Halfpenny who got Wales moving though with a 45th minute penalty after Italy failed to roll away, cutting the gap cut to one point.

The Welsh kicker would then nudge his side 9-7 in front when he punished flanker Abraham Steyn for his tip tackle on Ross Moriarty on 52 minutes, this amid wholesale changes being made by the respective head coaches in order to introduce fresh legs for the final half-hour.

Italy were now bleeding penalties and another shortly after — this time for Parisse being offside at a ruck — Halfpenny would strike again.

Due to those offences and Wales' superior fitness, the away side were turning the screw with Rhys Webb grounding just short of the line before loosehead prop Andrea Lovotti was shown a yellow card at scrum time before centre Davies crossed wide out.  Halfpenny made it 19-7.

It was all Wales as the game approached its final ten minutes and they were over again when Davies turned provider for Williams wide out.

Halfpenny again slotted the conversion as the Welsh suddenly sensed a bonus-point could be on.  They had 11 minutes to find two more tries.

North provided the first on 78 minutes despite having a thigh injury, crossing from distance in a wonderful display of finishing, sparking one last surge from Wales.

But they fell just short as Williams could not ground the ball with Wales having to settle for the four points.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Gori
Con:  Canna
Yellow Card:  Lovotti

For Wales:
Tries:  J Davies, L Williams, North
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pens:  Halfpenny 4

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mata Maxime Mbanda, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro

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

Referee:  JP Doyle (England)
Assistant Referees:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland), Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

England hold off spirited France

England got the job done but were made to graft for their 19-16 win over France in their Six Nations opener at Twickenham on Saturday.

Although their campaign started with a win — and they have now stretched their winning run to 15 successive Tests — the defending champions' boss, Eddie Jones, will not be happy with his side's effort as they had to dig deep to win this one.

In a tough and uncompromising encounter in which France's physicality in the tight exchanges seemed to surprise their hosts, both sides crossed for a try apiece.

France's pack deserve plenty of credit as they continued to dominate as the game progressed with inspirational number eight Louis Picamoles particularly impressive, while the likes of Sébastien Vahaamahina and Kévin Gourdon were not far behind as les Bleus won the collisions and held a slight edge in the tight exchanges.

If the truth be told, England were somewhat lucky to win this Test as they delivered a sluggish performance littered with unforced errors on attack and defence and it took a 71st-minute try from Ben Te'o to secure them the result.

The visitors had the better of the early exchanges and took the lead in the eighth minute when Camille Lopez opened the scoring with a penalty but that lead did not last as Owen Farrell drew his side level with a penalty of his own three minutes later.

England suffered a setback in the 13th minute, however, when Jonny May was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle on Gaël Fickou.

Lopez made the home side pay when he slotted the resulting penalty and added another three-pointer from the kicking tee in the 21st minute when Maro Itoje was penalised for a high tackle on Picamoles.

The hosts struck back three minutes later, when Farrell added his second penalty after Vahaamahina infringed at a ruck and three minutes before half-time they drew level via an Elliot Daly penalty from close to the halfway mark after France's front row were blown up for illegal scrummaging.

The sides went into the break deadlocked at 9-9 but England showed more urgency when they came out for the second half although they had little to show for their improved effort.

Shortly after the restart, Farrell had a chance to extend his side's lead from the kicking tee but his penalty attempt was wide of the uprights.  And shortly afterwards, Daly thought he had crossed for the opening try but his effort was ruled out when television replays showed he had a foot in touch after a superb cover tackle from Noa Nakaitaci.

England eventually took the lead in the 55th minute when Farrell slotted his third penalty after Lamerat was penalised at a breakdown but France stunned the Twickenham faithful when Rabah Slimani got over for the opening try after Vahaamahina and Gourdon combined brilliantly in the build-up.

Lopez added the extras and with less than 20 minutes left on the clock, the champions upped the ante on attack in a bid to regain the lead.

They were eventually rewarded ten minutes later when, after taking the ball through several phases in France's 22, Te'o ran a brilliant angle before gathering a well-timed pass from Farrell to cross for what would prove to be the matchwinning try.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Te'o
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 3, Daly
Yellow Card:  May

For France:
Try:  Slimani
Con:  Lopez
Pens:  Lopez 3

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Teimana Harrison, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Arthur Iturria, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Yoann Huget, 23 Jean-Marc Doussain

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Scotland weather Ireland fightback

Scotland claimed a well-deserved 27-22 win over Ireland in a spectacular display of running rugby at Murrayfield.

Greig Laidlaw secured his side the win after a spirited Irish fightback, with two penalties in the last ten minutes of the match.

Ireland were down 21-8 at half-time but, after they regathered, orchestrated a stunning comeback and scored some well-worked tries through Paddy Jackson and Iain Henderson.  Scotland looked spooked by their opposition's rejuvenation but were able to steel themselves and retake the lead.

The win sees Scotland top the Six Nations points table with four points with two other games still to play, while Ireland walk away with one point for being within less than seven points from the winners after the new law changes.

Set-pieces were a problem for both sides throughout the game with Scotland conceding three penalties at scrum time in just the first 20 minutes, while Ireland were never confident that they would get their own ball back at the lineout.

It was a nail-biter from start to finish as both sides played free-flowing, positive rugby that saw some electric tries being scored.

Scotland started off the game in a spirited fashion as they made it clear that they had left their conservative approach to the game behind them as they spread the ball to winger Sean Maitland twice in the first seven minutes.

The Scottish scrum was not up to scratch in the early stages but their loose play was fantastic and rumbled down field through some piercing runs until they landed just before the Ireland tryline, unable to cross due to some sturdy Irish defence.  Vern Cotter's men then spread the ball wide to Stuart Hogg who dodged a tackle before scoring the first points of the game and Greig Laidlaw secured the conversion.

Ireland then hit back quickly, after a barnstorming run from Sean O'Brien which took them right to the Scotland five-metre line.  The visitors were awarded a penalty and went for the line and used their position to launch a maul but couldn't quite get over for the try-line and Scotland were awarded a scrum.

Hogg then scored his second try of the match when the home side made a break from the halfway line which saw the full-back get possession in space with Sean Maitland outside him who looked like the eventual receiver.  Hogg then faked a pass to Maitland and Rob Kearney took the bait and Hogg went through to score a fantastic try.  After the conversion Scotland led 14-0, 24 minutes in.

After some serious pressure from Ireland they found themselves on the Scotland five-metre line.  They tried to barge over but the Scotland defence remained impregnable which forced them to send the ball wide which saw Keith Earls go over in the corner.  Jackson missed the conversion.

Scotland then hit back immediately when they had a line out on the Irish five-metre line and pulled off a devilishly cheeky move which saw Alex Dunbar stand in the lineout.  Ross Ford then threw short to Dunbar who accelerated quickly to score his side's third try over the game.

With half-time looming, the bewildered Irish seemed desperate for some points, and when awarded a penalty they opted to go for poles, which Jackson knocked over.

At half-time, Scotland looked very much in control of the game as they led 21-8 after playing some electrifying running rugby, leaving the Irish completely stunned.

Ireland were clearly given a stern talking to in the dressing room as they started the second half with a new found sense of zeal.  They scored the first points of the half when they pushed upfield through their forwards and after variety of different advantages given by referee Romain Poite, Henderson pushed over the line to score his side's second try.

The scoreboard might have stopped ticking for the period after Henderson's try but the spectacle on the field was nothing less than jaw-dropping as both teams expertly used the width of the pitch to their advantage as they spread the ball wide, each attempting to scatter their opposition's defensive structures.

Ireland almost scored again through Earls after O'Brien made a devastating break before offloading which would eventually end with Kearney being tackled out just before making the pass to Earls.

An Irish revival was on the cards when the visitors used the ball brilliantly to confuse the Scottish defence before Jackson scored his side's third try of the match, putting them ahead by one point after the conversion.

With ten minutes left to play Ireland looked as though they might retain their lead until a high tackle on Dunbar in the Irish 22 which lead to Scotland kicking for the line and starting a lineout maul which led to them being given a penalty which Laidlaw expertly knocked over to secure the win.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg 2, Dunbar
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls, Henderson, Jackson
Cons:  Jackson 2
Pen:  Jackson

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 John Barclay, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadgh Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Tommy Bowe

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

England down Australia for perfect season

England were able to keep their incredible winning run going after beating Australia 37-21 at Twickenham on Saturday.

It has been a sensational year for the English team after going 13 games unbeaten, claiming victories over all the Six Nations sides and three of the Rugby Championship teams.  It is England's first year since 1992 that they haven't lost a single game to make it a perfect season.

This was a poor end to Australia's season after losing to England three times in their own backyard and then embarking on their European tour with the hope of claiming a Grand Slam, only to be beaten by Ireland last weekend and now England.

The first half was indicative of the furious competition between these two sides finishing 16-13 to the Wallabies.  Australia looked as though they were going to run England ragged after spreading the home side with quick recycling and wide play, which was typified by winger Sefa Naivalu.

But England were not about to disappoint their fans, and their defensive pressure eventually translated into a Jonathan Joseph try, before they took control in the second half.

Australia were set to get an early lead in the first three minutes where they had a penalty right front of the posts but Bernard Foley managed to fluff the kick to the right.

The visitors looked as though they made for up their mistake immediately after Owen Farrell was tackled behind his line and outside centre Tevita Kuridrani would have scored the five-pointer, but the try was disallowed after it was found that David Pocock fumbled the ball forward on the line.  It was an England scrum, but after a massive Australian hit the Wallabies turned the set-piece over and swung the ball wide to Naivalu who scored in the corner.

The Wallabies were close to compounding their lead with the another try after Israel Folau made a searing break down the left wing before Sekope Kepu almost charged over but England managed to hold the ball up.

Australia were then given a five-metre scrum which they utilised efficiently before explosive Kuridrani busted through only to be held up once again.  Foley kicked over a penalty making the score 10-0 after 15 minutes.

England finally got onto the scoreboard after inside centre Farrell knocked over a penalty to close the gap to seven points.

The hosts seemed to gain a lot momentum after the sniff of points and drove right up the field and almost finished the movement with a Marland Yarde try.  England couldn't break the Australian line though and settled with three points from a penalty.

England then took the lead for the first time in the game after Australian prop Kepu fumbled the ball backwards and Farrell managed to get to it first and toed the ball through, with Joseph then outrunning half the Australian defence to score under the posts.

Australia regained the lead after slotting two penalties in a row at the end of the first half, making the score 16-13 to Australia at half time.

The Six Nations champions then got back into the lead after they put pressure on the Australian line before chipping a kick through for in-form wing Yarde to finally get his deserved try.  The Harlequins player still had lots of work to do though as he had to beat Israel Folau to the ball but managed the pressure well, the TMO confirming the score.

Moments after England stretched their lead to 11 points Ben Youngs took a quick tap on the Australian five-metre line and left his opposite number for dead as he juked passed Nick Phipps and scored.

The game went quiet for awhile as both teams struggled to break through each other's line — until the evasive Folau cut through the English line and darted past three English players on the cover defence before being brought down.  Australia recycled quickly and the big number three Kepu scored in the corner after some confusion amongst England.

Australia's chances of claiming a late win however were dented after winger Dane Haylett-Petty was yellow carded for a late tackle on Mike Brown.

Their hopes were then finally stamped out by a late interception try from Joseph, who claimed his second try in the 75th minute to seal a perfect year for England and a fourth straight win over the Wallabies.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Joseph 2, Yarde, Youngs
Cons:  Farrell 3, Ford
Pens:  Farrell 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Naivalu, Kepu
Con:  Foley
Pens:  Foley 3
Yellow Card:  Haylett-Petty

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

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

Referee:  Jaco Peyper
Assistant Referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

All Blacks see off inspired France

A 24-19 victory at Stade de France on Saturday night gave New Zealand their 10th consecutive win over France.

The result means the All Blacks finish 2016 with just one defeat, while France failed to make amends for their narrow loss to Australia last week despite playing very well against the World Champions.

Indeed, the French will be asking themselves how they lost this game because they dominated all the key stats.  The scoreboard doesn't reflect just how good their performance was and they will be disappointed to come away with a defeat after dominating most of the game.

New Zealand once again showed their class when it mattered most, their ability to absorb pressure and punish oppoisiton mistakes setting them apart from the rest.  They were nowhere near their best and yet celebrated they 10th win in a row over France.

One look at the stats and France will be kicking themselves that they didn't come closer to win this game.  They had the upper hand at scrum time, dominated territory and possession throughout the game but especially in the first half, made 10 clean line breaks, executed 21 offloads and missed only four tackles.

The All Blacks missed 20 and conceded a whopping 13 penalties, and yet they never looked in danger of losing this game.

France lost this game at the breakdown, where they conceded 19 turnovers compared to five from the Kiwis and the hosts also lost four lineouts.  In the end, their failure to convert their domination into points when in the opposition 22 cost them dearly, with the final pass too often not going to hand.

Watching France it was like they took a leaf out of Ireland's book in the way they started the game.  They were clearly up for the challenge.  They generated quick front foot ball early on and tested the New Zealand defence, especially in the first half where they put the defence under immense pressure with their hard running.

But it was the All Blacks who scored first when Beauden Barrett, in another outstanding performance, gave a clever cross kick which Julian Savea collected before an inside pass to Israel Dagg saw the full-back have enough pace to cross the whitewash.

France continued to probe the Kiwi defence and their offloading saw them make several visits to the opposition 22.  However, they struggled to finish off promising field positions time and again and some desperate New Zealand defending along with that elusive final pass saw the hosts cough possession too many times.

Maxime Machenaud kept France in the game with two penalties which meant they only trailed 10-6 when the half-time whistle went.

The hosts would have been kicking themselves for nit making more use of their domination, especially since the All Blacks are known as a second-half team.

That was indeed the case as the Kiwis grew into the game as the second half progressed.  For the upteenth time France found themselves in New Zealand's 22 and they were on the attack out wide when Barrett intercepted a pass and ran 90 metres against the run of play to extend his team's lead to 17-6.

From there the All Blacks slowly started to take control of the game and when they found themselves in France's 22 they did what the hosts had struggled to do all game — score.

From a ruck in the 22 Kieran Read took the ball up and affloaded the ball to Charlie Faumuina who crashed over from close range to put the nail in France's coffin.

To their credit the hosts never gave up and once again made it to the brink of New Zealand's tryline, but the final pass wasn't there.  It told the story of their night.

However, they finally managed to score thanks to some quick thinking from Baptiste Serin.  France were awarded a scrum 5m out and when they won the penalty Serin took a quick tap and gave a brilliant no-look inside pass to Louis Picamoles who went over for the five-pointer.

Serin slotted the conversion which gave France renewed hope of getting a result.  A penalty with three minutes to play was nailed hy Serin which made it a five-point game, but France were stuck in their own half for the final few minutes which resulted in another disappointing loss for Les Blues.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Picamoles
Con:  Serin
Pens:  Machenaud 2, Serin

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg, Barrett, Faumuina
Cons:  Barrett 3
Pen:  Barrett

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Charles Ollivon, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastian Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Gaël Fickou

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Waisake Naholo, 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 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Rieko Ioane

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Federico Anselmi (Argentina), Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wales finish off poor Springboks

A late Justin Tipuric try sealed a comfortable 27-13 victory for Wales over South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday.

For Wales this will go down as a satisfactory win and their third victory of the November Test window.  It was only their third ever victory over South Africa and their second successive win over the Boks in Cardiff.

For South Africa, things can't get worse.  Allister Coetzee should do the honourable thing and resign.  It's difficult to be positive after their eighth defeat of the season and third on the bounce.

Coetzee gambled and rolled the dice by picking a young, inexperienced team for this game, but you can only play what's in front of you and Wales played well in patches to finish off the year with plenty of momentum going into next year's Six Nations.

Elton Jantjies got the Boks on the board with a penalty after an encouraging start, but Wales had the upper hand at the breakdown where they forced plenty of turnovers.  Leigh Halfpenny was spot on with his goal kicking and kicked three penalties in a row to give Wales a 9-3 lead.

Jantjies pulled one back, but Wales continued to find holes in the Bok defence, especially out wide.  Interestingly, both teams defended very well in the first half in terms of missed tackles — Wales missed only two and South Africa three.

Wales pounced on silly mistakes by the Boks.  Faf de Klerk, who's service and work rate was good in the first 40, three a wild pass from a scrum which found Ruan Combrinck, who didn't expect the ball but was standing in an offside position.  Halfpenny nailed the resulting penalty to further extend his side's lead.

The hosts were smart in contact, twice taking the ball off the opposition in the tackle while captain Gethin Jenkins was also responsible for two superb turnovers.

In the first instance Tipuric took the ball off Johan Goosen who was on the counter attack, while Dan Biggar did the same to debutant Rohan Janse van Rensburg.

The start of the second half was a nightmare for the Boks and probably where they ultimately lost the game.  De Klerk was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock down in the 42nd minute before Halfpenny slotted the penalty to extend the lead to 15-6.

South Africa's heads dropped and from there on in their performance got progressively worse.

Wales took full advantage when they were awarded yet another penalty and opted for touch.  From the ensuing lineout Ken Owens went over from a driving maul, but Halfpenny missed the conversion.

Debutant Uzair Cassiem scored South Africa's only try with 10 minutes left and Pat Lambies conversion meant the deficit was now only seven points.

However, Tipuric, who was outstanding all night, sealed the result when he ran a brilliant line from second phase to cut through the Bok defence, sidestep and beat the last defender for a deserved score.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Owens, Tipuric
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 5

For South Africa:
Try:  Cassiem
Con:  Lambie
Pens:  Jantjies 2

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 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

South Africa:  15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Greg Garner (England), Tom Foley (England)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Ireland edge thriller against Australia

Ireland finished their 2016 campaign on a high when they claimed a hard-fought 27-24 victory over Australia in Dublin on Saturday.

The result is a momentous one for the home side as it means they are the first Northern Hemisphere side, since England in 2003, to beat the Southern Hemisphere's traditional powerhouses of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the same calendar year.

Ireland and Australia stayed true to their philosophy in a thrilling encounter, with both sides constantly looking to keep ball in hand, and the lead changed hands on several occasions during the second half after Australia launched a stunning fightback.

Both teams scored three tries apiece and the result was in the balance until the final minute when Ireland managed to put huge pressure on an Australian scrum inside the Wallabies' 22.

Ireland held the upperhand in the early exchanges but they had to wait until the 17th minute to convert their dominance into points when Paddy Jackson opened the scoring via a penalty after David Pocock infringed at the breakdown.

Five minutes later, the Wallabies were dealt a blow when Dean Mumm was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle on Tadhg Furlong.  It did not take long for the the home side to capitalise on their numerical advantage as shortly afterwards Iain Henderson scored their opening try.

This after Keith Earls did well to gather a perfectly weighted grubber kick from Simon Zebo before offloading to Henderson who went over with a defender on his back.

Jackson added the extras and ten minutes later, it was more of the same when Garry Ringrose gathered a wayward Conor Murray pass close to Australia's tryline and waltzed past a couple of defenders before crashing over for a deserved try.

The Wallabies seemed shell-shocked by that score but to their credit, they picked themselves up and replied via a Dane Haylett-Petty try on the stroke of half-time after Israel Folau and Trevita Kuridrani did well in the build-up.

The second half saw the visitors continuing where they left off before the break and five minutes after the restart Kuridrani rounded off a flowing back-line move in the left-hand corner which put his side back in contention with the score at 17-14 to the home side.

Jackson extended Ireland's lead when he slotted a penalty in the 50th minute before the Wallabies' brilliant attacking play was rewarded when shortly after coming off the replacements bench, Sefa Naivalu ran a brilliant line before crossing for his side's third try.

Bernard Foley slotted the conversion, which put the Wallabies in front for the first time and on the hour-mark he added a penalty to increase their lead.

Ireland did not surrender and took the visitors on at their own game and after showing great patience, after taking the ball through several attacking phases, Zebo offloaded to Earls who went over for what would prove to be the matchwinnning try in the 65th minute.

The Wallabies continued to attack but in their bid to regain the lead they were reduced to 14 men again when Foley was also yellow carded for a lifting tackle on Devin Toner.

And although the visitors tried to fight back in the closing stages,Ireland were in control and held on for a memorable win.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Henderson, Ringrose, Earls
Cons:  Jackson 3
Pens:  Jackson 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Haylett-Petty, Kuridrani, Naivalu
Cons:  Foley 3
Pen:  Foley
Yellow Cards:  Mumm, Foley

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Garry Ringrose, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Peter O'Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Simon Zebo

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

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Scotland down plucky Georgia

Scotland pulled off a spectacular first half display to beat Georgian 43-16 in Kilmarnock on Saturday.

It is great result for Scotland who finish off their November Series with two wins from three games, and their only loss came at the hands of Australia who could only beat Scotland by one point.

Georgia will be disappointed with the loss after scoring the first try and looking very competitive at the start of the game.  They finish their November series with two losses and a win against Samoa.

Scotland played some great running rugby after grabbing four tries in just the first thirty minutes including a penalty try.

Georgia scored the first try of the game through scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze.  The nippy scrum-half took the ball from the back of the maul and flew down the wing to score.  The try was reviewed by the TMO after Mamuka Gorgodze might have been crossing but the score was cleared.

Scotland replied immediately after as they played the ball wide and attacked up the midfield before full-back Stuart Hogg chipped the ball forward for Tommy Seymour to touch down on.

Scotland then received a penalty try after they started a driving maul and rumbled towards the opposition line.  The Georgians couldn't quite hold them back and after too many infringements, Scotland was given the try.

The home side then got their third try of the match after spreading the ball wide but the Georgian defence held strong.  Scotland then sent their big forwards into crash and sucked in the Georgian defence before spreading the ball wide again for Maitland to go over.

Hogg then picked up his first try after intercepting a wayward Georgian pass and had a clear run to the line to score the five-pointer.

Hamish Watson then scored a fantastic try when the home side set up a maul on the on the five metre and moved steadily forward after a line out.  Watson then ran a perfectly timed rapid banana run around the maul, the ball was popped to him before he broke the defensive line and scored.

Georgia weren't done yet though as they used a scrum well on the Scottish five metre line to push the home side right over.  Georgian number eight Beka Bitsadze tried to pick the ball up under pressure but knocked the ball back but Lobzhanidze was quick enough to dive on the ball and score.

Hogg had the final say when the full-back finshed a fantastic team try.  Scotland played it down field through some silky passing skills that ended with Hogg scoring.

The scorers:

Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg 2, Maitland, Seymour, Penalty Try, Watson
Cons:  Laidlaw 5
Pens:  Laidlaw

Georgia:
Tries:  Lobzhanidze 2
Pens:  Kvirikashvili 2

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

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Giorgi Aptsiauri, 13 Merab Sharikadze, 12 Tamaz Mtchedlidze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Lasha Malaghuradze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Bitsadze, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze(c), 6 Vito Kolelishvili, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Kote Mikautadze, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements:  16 Badri Alkhazashvili, 17 Kakha Asieshvili, 18 Dudu Kubriashvili, 19 Lasha Lomidze, 20 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Beka Tsiklauri, 23 Shalva Sutiashvili

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)

Fiji blitz Japan in France

Fiji scored five tries to beat Japan 38-25 at Stade de la Rabine in France on Saturday.

Fiji finally got a win this series after taking heavy losses against the Barbarians and then England.

The Pacific Islanders were ruthless in their pursuit of a win after scoring five tries with inside centre Botia Veivuke scoring a brace.

Fiji scored the first try of the game after outside centre Albert Vulivuli dotted down in the 14th minute.  Japan fly-half, Yu Tamura's penalty in the 19th minute was sandwiched with another Fiji try scored by Talebula Maijaina.

Veivuke's second try came just before the second half which made the score 19-6 to the Fijians.  Veivuke's second try came just after the half, which made the score quite lopsided to the Fijians.

Japan finally got a try a of their own when full-back Kotaro Matsushima scored a five-pointer which was followed closely by another Japan try scored by Malgene Ilaua to make the score 35-13 after the conversion was made.

Nemani Nadolo had the final say with a penalty in the dying minutes of the clash.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Vulivuli, Maijaina, Veivuke 2, Nadolo
Cons:  Nadolo 5
Pens:  Nadolo

For Japan:
Tries:  Matsushima 2, Ilaua
Cons:  Tamura 2
Pens:  Tamura 2

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Metuisela Talebula, 13 Albert Vulivuli, 12 Levani Botia, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Akapusi Qera (c), 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Nemia Soqeta, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Peni Ravai
Replacements:  16 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Leeroy Atalifo, 19 Api Ratuniyawara, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 Eremasi Radrodro, 22 Seru Vularika, 23 Waisea Nayacalevu

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Malgene Ilaua, 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Kyosuke Kajikawa, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Satoshi Nakatani
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Kanta Higashionna, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Kotaro Yatabe, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Amanaki Lotoahea, 23 Karne Hesketh

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Tonga upset Italy

Sonatane Takulua slotted an 81st minute penalty to clinch a dramatic 19-17 win for Tonga over Italy in Padova on Saturday.

Takulua was his side's hero as he finished with a 14-point haul, thanks to four penalties and a conversion, although the Azzurri outscored the Pacific islanders by two tries to two.

Italy dominated the early exchanges and raced into a 7-0 lead when Lorenzo Cittadini crossed for their opening try which Carlo Canna converted in the 13th minute.

Takulua added the first of his penalties in the 32nd minute which meant the hosts held a slender lead at the interval.  Five minutes after the restart, he slotted another three-pointer which made it a one-point ball-game and they soon took the lead when Siale Piutau scored their five-pointer in the 51st minute.

Italy did not take that lying down and regained the lead shortly afterwards when Tommaso Allan went over for their second try which he converted himself.

Takulua put his side back in front, when he slotted his third penalty in the 71st minute, but Italy clawed their way back when Edoardo Padovani converted a place-kick three minutes before the end.

The closing stages was a tense affair and Takula held his nerve to break Italian hearts with his matchwinning kick in injury time.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Cittadini, Allan
Cons:  Canna, Allan
Pen:  Padovani

For Tonga:
Tries:  Piutau
Con:  Takulua
Pens:  Takulua 4

Italy (revised):  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Giorgio Bronzini, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Sami Panico
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 George Biagi, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Thomas Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro

Tonga:  David Halaifonua, 14 Nafi Tu'Itavake, 13 Siale Piutau, 12 Latiume Fosita, 11 Fetu'U Vainikolo, 10 Kali Hala, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Tevita Koloamatangi, 7 Jack Ram, 6 Dan Faleafa, 5 Jon Tu'Ineau, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Siua Halanukonuka, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Tevita Mailau
Replacements:  16 Elvis Taione, 17 Paea Fa'Anunu, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Valentino Mapapalangi, 20 Kotoni Ale, 21 Tomasi Palu, 22 Tevita Taufui, 23 Cooper Vuna

Samoa see off Canada

D'Angelo Leuila's impressive night with the boot helped Samoa to defeat Canada 25-23 at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble on Friday.

Canada outscored Samoa by three tries to one, including a double for in-form wing DTH van der Merwe, but the boot of Leuila, on his first start for his country, proved to be the difference.

Paul Perez opened the scoring for Samoa with a converted try after eight minutes, and once Leuila had knocked over a drop goal not long afterwards Samoa held a commanding 10-0 lead.

Leuila and Canada fly-half Connor Braid then traded two penalties each, as Samoa went into half-time ahead 16-6.

The Samoa number ten kept up the pressure with another penalties on 52 minutes but his side were then reduced to 14 men, with Taiasina Tuifua sent to the sin-bin, as Canada capitalised on their numerical advantage by scoring through Evan Olmstead.

Canada were soon down to 14 themselves once Jamie Cudmore saw yellow but Van der Merwe's try helped Canada close the gap to 19-16.

Samoa rallied through another Leuila drop goal and penalty to make it 25-16, before Van der Merwe's second score came all too late to change the outcome.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Try:  Perez
Con:  Leuila
Pens:  Leuila 4
Drop Goals:  Leuila 2
Yellow Card:  Tuifua

For Canada:
Tries:  Olmstead, Van der Merwe 2
Con:  Braid
Pens:  Braid 2
Yellow Card:  Cudmore

Samoa:  15 Albert Nikoro, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Paul Perez, 12 Winston Stanley, 11 David Lemi (c), 10 D'Angelo Leuila, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Genesis Mamea-Lemalu, 7 Greg Foe, 6 Alafoti Faosiliva, 5 Chris Vui, 4 Taiasina Tuifua, 3 Logovii Mulipola, 2 Elia Elia, 1 Sakaria Taulafo
Replacements:  16 Seilala Lam, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Jeff Lepa , 20 Oneone Faafou, 21 Danny Tusitala, 22 Opetera Peleseuma, 23 Ahsee Tuala

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 Conor Trainor, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Admir Cejvanovic, 7 Matt Heaton, 6 Evan Olmstead, 5 Brett Beukeboom, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Jake Ilnicki, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Rob Brouwer
Replacements:  16 Eric Howard, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Matt Tierney, 19 Conor Keys, 20 Clay Panga, 21 Andrew Ferguson, 22 Pat Parfrey, 23 Ben Lesage

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees:  David Wilkinson (Ireland), Gary Conway (Ireland)

French Barbarians get the better of Wallaby XV

The French Barbarians registered a deserved 19-11 victory over the Wallaby XV in an entertaining clash in Bordeaux on Thursday.

Both sides crossed for a try apiece but it was the accurate goalkicking of replacement back Romain Lonca, who finished with an 11-point haul courtesy of three penalties and a conversion, which helped the Barbarians secure victory.

Wallaby XV flyer Marika Koroibete impressed on his professional rugby union debut as he looked dangerous with ball in hand but the match ended on a sour note for Jono Lance who broke his arm three minutes into the match.

The Wallaby XV raced into an 8-0 lead after Nick Frisby slotted a penalty and Ben Mowen scored a try.  This, after running onto a pass from Koroibete but Romain Lonca added a penalty which narrowed the gap to five points at the interval.

Dumora added his first penalty in the 54th minute before adding two further three-pointers from the kicking tee which gave his side the lead before a Kyle Godwin penalty made it a one-point game.

The Baa-baas sealed victory three minutes before full-time when Raphael Lakafia crashed over for a deserved try.

The scorers:

For French Barbarians:
Try:  Lakafia
Cons:  Dumora
Pens:  Dumora 3, Lonca

For Wallaby XV:
Try:  Ben Mowen
Pens:  Godwin, Frisby

French Barbarians:  15 Arthur Bonneval, 14 Louis Dupichot, 13 Pierre Aguillon, 12 Aurelien Rougerie, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Romain Lonca, 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Camille Gerondeau, 6 Romain Sazy, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Julien Brugnaut, 2 Remy Bonfils, 1 Lucas Pointud
Replacements:  16 Jean Charles Orioli, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Loic Jacquet, 19 Jean Monribot, 20 Antoine Dupont, 21 Julien Dumora, 22 Julien Caminati, 23 Alexandre Menini

Wallaby XV:  15 Luke Morahan, 14 Marika Koroibete, 13 Mark Gerrard, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Jack Dempsey, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Will Skelton (c), 3 Tom Robertson, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Paddy Ryan
Replacements:  16 Andrew Ready, 17 Sef Fa’agase, 18 David Lolohea, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Henry Vanderglas, 21 Nic Stirzaker, 22 Izaia Perese, 23 Andrew Kellaway 24 Henry Clunies-Ross

Referee:  Juan Sylvestre (Argentina)
Assistant Referees:  Laurent Cardona (France), Maxime Chalon (France)
TMO:  Arnaud Blondel (France)

Australia hold off France

Australia went a step closer to securing an unbeaten end-of-year tour as they got the better of France 25-23 at the Stade de France.

A penalty try and crossings from Bernard Foley and Tevita Kuridrani saw them end with the win, with Foley kicking 10 points on Saturday.

In reply, France's try-scorers were Virimi Vakatawa, Jean-Marc Doussain and Wesley Fofana, but they came up short in front of their fans.

Australia will now look to recover before facing an in-form Ireland and then England in back-to-back weeks for a difficult end to the year.

France will think they could have won this game and a wayward late drop-goal attempt made it even more painful for the locals watching.

It took them just six minutes to open their account when Maxime Machenaud kicked a penalty, and when in-form wing Vakatawa crossed 11 minutes later les Bleus were 0-8 to the good.  That was Vakatawa's fourth try in two internationals after his hat-trick against Samoa.

The lead didn't last long, however, as a Foley penalty and then a penalty try following a pulled down driving maul saw Australia move 10-8 in front in the blink of an eye.  Referee Glen Jackson also handed out a yellow card to flanker Charles Ollivon for the blatant offence.

Foley was on target again on 37 minutes to extend their lead to five points which, after a slow start, would have pleased Michael Cheika.  France though had other ideas and a scrum penalty, converted by Machenaud in the 40th minute, meant the score was 11-13 at the break.

The contest therefore was set up to go all the way in Paris when the two nations emerged for the second-half, with the Wallabies starting the brighter.  They snubbed a kickable penalty and were duly rewarded when Foley hit a short line from seven metres out to make it 20-11.

Australia almost moved further in front on 50 minutes when Luke Morahan's offload following a line bust almost found Sefanaia Naivalu but for great scrambling defence.  France were now skating on thin ice and one felt that another Wallaby try would mean curtains for them.

France did respond with a try out of nothing through Doussain but when Kuridrani finished brilliantly on the right wing Australia led 25-16.

The game was not over there as France sensed blood when on 66 minutes Fofana would dive over for a converted try that set up a grandstand finish before Lopez sat back in the pocket to agonisingly watch his kick go wide.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Vakatawa, Doussain, Fofana
Con:  Machenaud
Pens:  Machenaud 2
Yellow Card:  Ollivon (25 min)

For Australia:
Tries:  Penalty Try, Foley, Kuridrani
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Foley 2

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

Australia:  15 Luke Morahan, 14 Sefanaia Naivalu, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 James Slipper
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Dean Mumm, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Jonno Lance, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Greg Garner (England)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

All Blacks get their revenge

New Zealand withstood a second-half onslaught from Ireland to grind out a 21-9 victory at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

It was always going to be a tough ask to beat the All Blacks twice in three weekends and even though they couldn't pull it off, Ireland should still feel pleased with their performance against the world champions.

The visitors had the better first-half, but Ireland came back strongly in the second.  Unfortunately for them, this New Zealand victory was built on an incredible defensive effort.

All eyes were on New Zealand to see how they would respond to their first ever loss to Ireland two weeks ago in Chicago.  They didn't wait long to make their intentions known.

It was another inspired, committed performance from the Irish, but this time they couldn't find the space and create the scoring opportunities that were so evident two weeks ago in Chicago.

The possession and territory stats were pretty even in the first 40, but New Zealand were again guilty of conceding too many penalties — eight alone in the first half.  Ireland, on the other hand, conceded only four in the entire game.

What makes New Zealand's victory even more impressive is the fact that they were twice reduced to 14 men and still managed not to concede a try.

The hosts were ravaged by injuries in the first-half, losing Johnny Sexton, CJ Stander and Robbie Henshaw throughout the first 40 minutes.

The visitors came out firing from the kick-off and made a statement of intent when Malakai Fekitoa scored in the corner after collecting a cross-kick from Beauden Barrett, who had an outstanding game.

The try was the result of 13 phases, but the Irish didn't wait long to get on the scoreboard too.  Jamie Heaslip and Sean O'Brien were brilliant for Ireland and their sniping runs around the fringes.  Twice Ireland went over the line and twice they were held up, and after Aaron Smith was shown yellow for another breakdown infringement Sexton slotted a penalty to get the hosts on the scoreboard.

What happened next you don't often see at the highest level, but Barrett scored New Zealand's second try directly from first phase.  A scrum just outside Ireland's 22 resulted in Barrett getting the ball at first receiver to run through a gap and score.

It was way too easy and with the conversion it gave the All Blacks the cushion they needed to ease the pressure and keep Ireland at bay.

Paddy Jackson added another three points for Ireland after a relentless attack on the All Blacks line resulted in only a penalty, despite them having been reduced to 14 men.

Ireland came out guns blazing in the second-half, but unlike two weeks ago they struggled to convert their increasing possession and territory into points.

New Zealand were forced to make 166 tackles in the game and was successful with 144 of them, compared to Ireland's 76.

That defensive effort was again tested when Fekitoa was sin-binned for a high tackle.  Yet Ireland couldn't make their numerical advantage count and it was during this period the game was essentially won for the Kiwis, their defence once again proving too strong to Ireland's onslaught.

Jackson added another penalty to reduce the deficit to just five.  But when Fekitoa went over for his second after some slick interplay by the backs it sealed the result.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton, Jackson 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Fekitoa 2, Barrett
Cons:  Barrett 3

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 Sean O'Brien, 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 Iain Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Garry Ringrose

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 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 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Waisake Naholo

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO:  Jon Mason (Wales)

Scotland pip Argentina at the death

Scotland returned to winning ways when they claimed a hard-fought 19-16 victory over Argentina at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The result was in the balance right until the end when Greig Laidlaw secured victory for the home side via a penalty with the final act of this Test, after Juan Manuel Leguizamon was penalised for an illegal tackle on Ross Ford.

In a thrilling affair, which came to life in the second-half, the home side thought their chance of securing the win had gone begging when a 77th minute penalty attempt from Laidlaw struck and upright.

They did well to regain possession after that miss and after Leguizamon's indiscretion on defence, the Scotland captain held his nerve to seal a memorable win.

Momentum between the two sides ebbed and flowed throughout but it was Scotland who got the rub of the green in the end after both sides crossed for a try apiece.

From the kick-off, Argentina conceded a couple of penalties at the breakdown and Scotland took a 3-0 lead as early as the third minute when Laidlaw opened the scoring from the kicking tee.

The next 25 minutes was a war of attrition as both sides went at each other hammer and tongs in a bid to gain the ascendancy, but poor decision making meant that neither side could add to their points tally during this period.

Scotland eventually doubled their lead when Laidlaw added another penalty after los Pumas' forwards were penalised for illegal scrummaging.  Just before half-time, Nicolás Sánchez slotted a penalty which meant Scotland held a slender 6-3 lead at half-time.

Sánchez added another penalty five minutes after the break and the visitors soon took the lead when Matías Orlando crossed for the opening try after gathering a cross-field kick from Juan Martín Hernández deep inside Scotland's 22.

Sánchez slotted the conversion which gave the visitors a 13-6 lead but Scotland didn't take that lying down though and struck back via a Sean Maitland try in the 54th minute.  This after Huw Jones displayed great determination and leg-drive in the build-up to shrug off a challenge from Orlando before offloading to Mailtand, who dived over in the right-hand corner.

Laidlaw showed his class as he landed the place-kick from close to the touchline, which meant the sides were deadlocked at 13-13.  Sánchez soon added another penalty which gave los Pumas a slender 16-13 lead but Laidlaw drew his side level again, with a 68th minute place kick, before sealing the win with his fourth penalty shortly before full-time.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Maitland
Con:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 4

For Argentina:
Try:  Orlando
Con:  Sánchez
Pens:  Sánchez 3

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

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 Lucas Noguera
Replacements:  16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Leonardo Senatore, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 23 Juan Pablo Estelles

Referee:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Thomas Charabas (France)
TMO:  Shaun Davey (England)

Romania see off Canada

Romania picked up a 21-16 victory over Canada in their November international fixture at Stadionul Arcul de Triumf on Saturday.

Canada led early on thanks to a penalty from scrum-half Gordon McRorie but on five minutes Florin Vlaicu responded to level in Bucharest.

Six minutes later the Romanians moved in front when fly-half Vlaicu crossed for a try which he converted, putting them 10-3 in the clear.

McRorie reduced matters down to four points on 15 minutes but when wing Ionu Dumitru scored Romania's second try the hosts were 15-6 ahead, before Vlaicu added another three points off the tee on 31 minutes.  That was how things ended going into the dressing rooms at the break.

It took 15 minutes from the resumption before the next score and it was via a Vlaicu penalty.  But McRorie responded soon after for 21-9.

Then came a morale-boosting try from Canada as replacement scrum-half Phil Mack crossed with Connor Braid's extras making it 21-16.  But Romania managed to see out the closing five minutes to claim the win.

The scorers:

For Romania:
Tries:  Vlaicu, Dumitru
Con:  Vlaicu
Pens:  Vlaicu 3

For Canada:
Try:  Mack
Con:  Braid
Pens:  McRorie 3

Romania:  15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Fonovai Tangimana, 13 Jack Umaga, 12 Vladut Popa, 11 Ionu Dumitru, 10 Florin Vlaicu, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Andrei Gorcioaia, 7 Stelian Burcea (c), 6 Viorel Lucaci, 5 Marius Antonescu, 4 Johannes Van Heerden, 3 Alexandru Tarus, 2 Eugen Capatana, 1 Mihaita Lazar
Replacements:  16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Ionel Badiu, 18 Alexandru Gordas, 19 Valentin Poparlan, 20 Cristian Chirica, 21 Valentin Calafeteanu, 22 Nicolas Onutu, 23 Stephen Shennan

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 DTH van der Merwe (c), 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Ben Lesage, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Admir Cejvanovic, 7 Matt Heaton, 6 Kyle Baillie, 5 Evan Olmstead, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Jake Ilnicki, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Djustice Sears-Duru
Replacements:  16 Eric Howard, 17 Rob Brouwer, 18 Ryan Kotlewski, 19 Conor Keys, 20 Clay Panga, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Pat Parfrey, 23 Ciaran Hearn

Referee:  Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Gary Conway (Ireland)
TMO:  Stefano Pennè (Italy)

Davies drop-goal saves Wales

A last-minute drop-goal from replacement fly-half Sam Davies helped save Welsh blushes on Saturday as they edged Japan 33-30 in Cardiff.

It looked like the Brave Blossoms had snatched a draw when Yu Tamura converted Amanaki Lotoahea's 74th minute try, but Wales went down the other end of the field, with Davies showing composure to slot the three points.

Wales will now go into their game against South Africa at least with a win under their belt but their performance left a lot to be desired.

They led 14-13 at the turnaround but handed seven points to Japan late in the half to give the Brave Blossoms hope of a shock victory.  Japan do deserve credit though as they remained in the match almost throughout.

Tamura put Japan 0-6 in front by nine minutes, via two penalties, but Wales then moved ahead thanks to Dan Lydiate crossing wide out.  Leigh Halfpenny made no mistake with the conversion as it had become 7-6.

The majority of those points came whilst Wales full-back Liam Williams was in the sin-bin for blocking so the hosts had to be pleased.

With Williams back on the field, Wales set about extending their lead and did just that on 23 minutes when Jamie Roberts went over after a strong initial carry from Jonathan Davies.  Halfpenny made it 14-6.

That would've been a somewhat pleasing half-time scoreline for Wales after such a sluggish start but when Gareth Anscombe's offload was gathered by Akihito Yamada, who set off for the line from his own half, just one point separated the two teams in the dressing rooms.

Halfpenny made it 17-13 two minutes after the break with a penalty and 10 minutes later the lead was up to 11 points when Sam Warburton crossed after a bust from Alun-Wyn Jones.  Japan's hopes looked to have been ended.

But two minutes later Kenki Fukuoka finished well on the left wing and with Tamura's touchline conversion, it was now 24-20 to Wales.

Halfpenny made it 27-20 on the hour mark before Tamura and the Welsh wing then traded efforts for 30-23 with just 10 minutes to play.

Then came the levelling score from the Brave Blossoms as replacement Lotoahea's try was converted by Tamura, with Wales needing to dig deep to prevail, which they did via Davies' cool drop-goal with seconds to play.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Lydiate, Roberts, Warburton
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pens:  Halfpenny 3
Drop-Goal:  S Davies
Yellow Card:  Li Williams (8 min)

For Japan:
Tries:  Yamada, Fukuoka, Lotoahea
Cons:  Tamura 2, Lotoahea
Pens:  Tamura 3

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 James King, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Keelan Giles

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Malgene Ilaua, 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Kyosuke Kajikawa, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Satoshi Nakatani
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Yuhimaru Mimura, 22 Keisuke Uchida, 23 Amanaki Lotoahea

Referee:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)