France beat Argentina to end winless streak

France brought to an end a five-match winless streak with a 28-13 victory over Argentina at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Saturday.

Argentina, meanwhile, have suffered their fourth successive defeat and will be desperate to reverse their downward spiral, just as France did here.

However, it was Argentina who got off the best possible start when they seized on a loose ball and quickly went on the attack to Jeronimo De La Fuente, who got the offload away for Ramiro Moyano to cut inside off his wing under the posts.  Nicolas Sanchez added the extras for a 7-0 lead with just two minutes gone.

Baptiste Serin cut the deficit to four with a seventh-minute penalty after Argentina were penalised at the scrum.  But Sanchez stretched the lead back to seven with a penalty after the French infringed at the breakdown.

In the 27th minute, the hosts eventually scored their first try.  It came after good work in the build up by Yoann Huget to wriggle through a gap.  The ball was recycled, with good hands freeing Teddy Thomas for the finish in the right-hand corner.

Five minutes later, Serin gave France the lead for the very first time with a well-struck three pointer and they would hold on to that slender 11-10 margin until the sides headed into the interval.

The Pumas wrestled the lead back five minutes into the second-half via a Sanchez penalty after Les Bleus had been penalised for going off their feet at the breakdown.

But soon afterwards, France regained the lead and it was made by Gael Fickou, who scythed his way through the Argentine defensive line before feeding Thomas with the long pass out to the right-hand touchline for an easy finish as the winger grabbed his brace.  Serin converted for an 18-13 lead with 49 minutes gone.

No scoring would occur until the 67th minute when Serin gave Les Bleus an eight-point lead with another successful penalty attempt.

France were then handed a gift after Tomas Lezana spilt a ball from a five-metre line-out on the Argentine try-line, only for Les Bleus skipper Guilhem Guirado to gleefully accept the gift and dive over, Serin converting for an unassailable 28-13 lead, which they would hold on to until the final whistle.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Thomas 2, Guirado
Cons:  Serin 2
Pens:  Serin 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Moyano
Con:  Sanchez
Pens:  Sanchez 2

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Artur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoan Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Augustin Creevy, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Tomas Lezana, 22 Tomas Cubelli, 23 Matias Moroni

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Brilliant Ireland beat try-less New Zealand in Dublin

Ireland produced a superb display to secure a monumental and thoroughly deserved victory over New Zealand following a 16-9 triumph at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

In a match billed as being the game of the November series, it was a brutal encounter, but the scoring was left to the respective kickers in the first half – Johnny Sexton and Beauden Barrett – as they traded a brace of three-pointers in the opening half-an-hour.

Sexton then gave the hosts the lead just shy of the interval as they moved 9-6 ahead before Jacob Stockdale increased that buffer in the second period.

That was enough for Joe Schmidt’s men to claim just their second victory over the All Blacks, after their triumph in Chicago two years ago, despite Barrett's late penalty.

Similar to last week’s Test at Twickenham, it was a confrontational opening with the hosts physically testing the world champions, but this time the All Blacks were much more abrasive in the early exchanges.  They controlled the play and pressurised the opposition line but, to the home side’s credit, they produced an outstanding defensive set to negate that threat.

Ireland were duly rewarded minutes later when they moved into the visiting 22 and, following an offside infringement, Sexton kicked them ahead.

Back came New Zealand and, after a penalty out wide, Barrett was impressively on target from the tee to level matters at the end of the first quarter.

Steve Hansen’s men had yet to truly find their stride, however, and their penalty count was mounting, giving Schmidt’s charges a chance to put the away team under further duress.

Ireland were ferocious with ball in hand, forcing their opponents into errors, and their fly-half regained their advantage with a three-pointer.

The All Blacks once again responded via a Barrett drop-goal, but the Emerald Isle were the dominant outfit and Sexton deservedly gave them a three-point buffer going into the interval.

Following an exhilarating first-half, a couple of mistakes crept into the hosts’ game at the start of the second period, with Peter O’Mahony dropping the ball and Stockdale almost gifting a try to Kieran Read, but those two players soon made up for that.

Firstly, O’Mahony won a penalty at the breakdown before the wing took over, producing a piece of individual brilliance to help take Ireland 10 points in front.  It was an excellently worked play as Sexton and Bundee Aki combined to provide Stockdale with some space on the short side, but there was still plenty to do and the Ulsterman finished brilliantly.

That was the decisive score, despite the visitors increasing the pressure midway through the half.  Barrett, having gone to full-back following the arrival of Richie Mo’unga, probed in the wider channels but their opponents’ cover defence often mopped up.

Barrett did reduce the arrears from the tee but the All Blacks were tactically naive at times in the latter stages, running the ball when it wasn’t on, and Ireland superbly held on to lay down a marker for the World Cup.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Stockdale
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 3

For New Zealand:
Pens:  Barrett 2
Drop-goal:  Barrett

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Ofa Tuungafasi, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

England survive scare to beat Japan

England overcame a superb first half performance from Japan to score 25 unanswered points and claim a 35-15 triumph at Twickenham on Saturday.

The visitors were outstanding in the opening 40 minutes, deservedly going into the break ahead thanks to Ryoto Nakamura and Michael Leitch tries.  In contrast, the Red Rose were slack and, despite Danny Care’s try and Elliot Daly’s penalty, the hosts struggled to control possession.

They did lift the intensity in the second period, though, and managed to regain their advantage via George Ford’s penalty and Mark Wilson’s score.

Japan were still in the contest going into the final quarter but Joe Cokanasiga and Dylan Hartley tries eased the tension around Twickenham.

Jamie Joseph’s men were dangerous with ball in hand against New Zealand two weeks ago and they showed plenty of those qualities in London.  However, they were initially unable to break through the hosts’ defence and, after kicking the ball away, England launched an excellent counter-attack.

Elliot Daly found Cokanasiga and on debut the Fijian-born wing sprinted down the left before finding Jamie George, who in turn passed to Care to finish.

It was an excellent start for Eddie Jones’ revamped team but they began to concede penalties and that allowed the Brave Blossoms to pressurise the 22.

They were patient and created panic in the opposition rearguard, which eventually led to Yu Tamura reducing the arrears from the tee.

George was sin-binned following further ill-discipline and the visitors brilliantly took advantage, touching down via Nakamura, who barrelled through Alex Lozowski’s weak attempted tackle.

Joseph’s charges were playing some outstanding rugby and the Six Nations outfit were struggling to cope.  Although Daly levelled matters with a penalty, Japan were enjoying themselves and Leitch scored a brilliant individual try, powering through Care before stepping Daly to superbly cross the whitewash.

The Japanese were manipulating England’s rearguard wonderfully and were unfortunate not to get over the line again in the first half, but the hosts held out until the interval.

Jones’ side looked to be far more direct in the second period but once more the tourists were relatively comfortable.  Japan did, however, concede a penalty which allowed Ford to bring the home team to within two points before another infringement gave the Red Rose an attacking opportunity.

This time, the Brave Blossoms were regularly sent into reverse and, under pressure, a hole opened up and Wilson raced through to give England the lead.

The Red Rose were now in command of the contest and, after Ford had extended their buffer off the tee, Cokanasiga and Hartley sealed the victory late on with well-taken efforts.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Care, Wilson, Cokanasiga, Hartley
Cons:  Ford 3
Pens:  Daly, Ford 2
Yellow Card:  George

For Japan:
Tries:  Nakamura, Leitch
Con:  Tamura
Pen:  Tamura

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jack Nowell, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Danny Care, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Mark Wilson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jamie George, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Henry Slade

Japan:  15 William Tupou, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Masakatsu Nishikawa, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Samuela Anise, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 22 Yutaka Nagare, 23 Rikiya Matsuda

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Wales second-half blitz too much for Tonga

Wales ran in seven of their ten tries in the second-half to record a comprehensive 74-24 victory over Tonga in Cardiff on Saturday.

Tonga got themselves off to the worst possible start when they conceded a penalty try and a yellow card to Leva Fifita for bringing down a Wales' driving maul that had marched upfield in the second minute.

Soon after, the hosts had their second try.  Tongan hooker Paula Ngauamo failed to find his jumper at the lineout and Wales quickly pounced on the ball.  It was recycled to Dan Biggar, who finished from first phase.  Biggar converted his own try to go past the 300 point mark for Wales.

Tongan scrum-half Sonatane Takulua added a penalty but the Wales backline were looking in fine form and added their third try after 12 minutes when slick hands from Tyler Morgan allowed Liam Williams to be freed in the corner.  Biggar added the extras to make it 21-3 to the home side in no time at all.

However, much against the run of play it would appear Tonga had scored from their first foray upfield, but the try was dubiously ruled out for a knock-on and Tonga would feel hard done by for that.

Biggar extended the lead to 24-3 with a penalty after Tongan openside flanker Fotu Lokotui was lucky to escape a yellow card after a very high hit.

Tonga were beginning to grow more and more into the game and got themselves camped on the Welsh tryline on a couple of occasions but were unable to find the cutting edge to finish until they eventually found a way through on the half-hour mark.  It was Fifita who dotted down at the base of the post after a series of powerful carries from the Tongan forwards.

Tonga's strategy of playing a direct forwards-based game of taking the ball up at close quarters was causing all sorts of problems for the Welsh defence as Steve Mafi this time burrowed over after another series of powerful carries from the Tongan pack.  Newcastle Falcons number nine Takulua made no mistake with the conversion to cut the deficit to seven at 24-17 as the sides headed into the interval.

From a routine Wales lineout two minutes in to the second-half, Tomos Williams threw a suicidal pass straight to Sione Vailanu, who ran coast to coast for the intercept try.  Takulua levelled matters up at 24-24 with the conversion.

But Wales hit back immediately, with lock Jake Ball making the initial break before the ball was worked out to Biggar, who executed the cross-field kick for Steff Evans to pounce and dot down.  Biggar converted for a 31-24 lead after 46 minutes.

Biggar added another penalty before scrum-half Williams scored with an outstretched hand.  Jonah Holmes then got in on the act, dotting down a few moments later as Wales raced into a 46-24 lead with 15 minutes to go.

It was beginning to really get away from Tonga when replacement Cory Hill got himself on the try column after excellent support play from fellow replacement Tomas Francis.  Rhys Patchell made it 53-24 with the extras as the game headed into the final 15 minutes.

Five minutes later, Wales had another try after fantastic interplay between backs and forwards saw another replacement Aled Davies go over for the eighth.  It must be said that Wales' replacements made a significant impact after the interval.

Patchell then scored a magnificent individual effort, swerving his way past numerous defenders to make it 67-24 before wing Williams put the icing on the cake, grabbing his brace as Wales closed out a 74-24 victory.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Penalty Try, Biggar, L Williams 2, Evans, T Williams, Morgan, Hill, Davies, Patchell
Cons:  Biggar 4, Patchell 4
Pens:  Biggar 2

For Tonga:
Tries:  Fifita, Mafi, Vailanu
Cons:  Takulua 3
Pen:  Takulua
Yellow Card:  Fifita

Wales:  15 Jonah Holmes, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Seb Davies, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Josh Adams

Tonga:  15 Vunga Lilo, 14 Viliami Lolohea, 13 Alaska Taufa, 12 Siale Piutau (c), 11 Daniel Kilioni, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Fotu Lokotui, 6 Dan Faleafa, 5 Sitiveni Mafi, 4 Leva Fifita, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi
Replacements:  16 Sefo Sakalia, 17 Latu Talakai, 18 Paea Fa’anunu, 19 Onehunga Havili, 20 Mike Faleafa, 21 Leon Fukofuka, 22 Kali Hala, 23 Atieli Pakalani

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Wallabies get the better of plucky Italy

The Wallabies returned to winning ways when they claimed a 26-7 victory over Italy in their November international in Padua on Saturday.

Despite outscoring the Azzurri by four tries to one, this was far from a convincing performance from Australia, who were on the back foot for long periods especially during the second-half.

But despite dominating the possession and territorial stakes after the interval, Italy failed to capitalise on their superiority and the Wallabies eventually sealed their win courtesy of a Will Genia try in the game's dying moments.

Australia did most of the early attacking but had nothing to show for their efforts.

The game came alive in the seventh minute when Jayden Hayward made a superb line break which caught the Wallabies by surprise.  He kicked the ball upfield where Braam Steyn gathered deep inside the visitors' 22 and although he dotted down in the right-hand corner, his effort was disallowed after television replays revealed he had a foot in touch.

Three minutes later, Australia had a chance to take the lead when Tommaso Benvenuti made an early tackle on Adam Ashley-Cooper but Matt Toomua was off target with the resulting penalty.

Despite that miss, the Wallabies continued to attack but things went awry for the visitors in the 14th minute when Tito Tebaldi intercepted a pass from Jake Gordon — after a lineout close to the halfway line — and raced away before crossing the whitewash.  But, much to the Wallabies' relief, the try was ruled out when referee Pascal Gaüzère ruled that Tebaldi was offside when he gathered the ball.

The next 15 minutes was a tight affair as both sides spent time in their opponents' half but neither managed to trouble the scoreboard during this period.

However, things changed on the half-hour mark when Samu Kerevi got over the advantage line with a devastating run.  He threw an inside pass to David Pocock and he did well to offload to Marika Koroibete, who dotted down under the posts.

Five minutes later, the Wallabies increased their lead courtesy of another Koroibete try.  This, after Ashley-Cooper found himself in space down the right-hand touchline before he stepped inside and offloaded to his fellow wing, who went over for his second five-pointer.

Toomua converted both tries which meant the Wallabies led 14-0 at half-time.

Australia were fastest out of the blocks after the break and four minutes after the restart, Taniela Tupou shrugged off a challenge from Tebaldi inside Italy's 22 before powering his way over the tryline with Steyn on his back.

Toomua added the extras but two minutes later Mattia Bellini gathered a wayward pass from Bernard Foley, just inside Italy's half, and raced away before crossing for his side's only try which was converted by Tommaso Allan.

That try boosted the Azzurri, who spent most of the next 15 minutes camped inside the Wallabies' half.  And on the hour-mark, the home side received a shot in the arm when the Wallabies were reduced to 14 men after Scott Sio was yellow carded for a deliberate knockdown close to his try-line.

Italy continued to pile on the pressure but, after spending the next 10 minutes camped inside Australia's half, a handling error from Steyn was pounced on by Israel Folau, who gathered the loose ball before racing upfield, although Bellini did well to haul him in on the edge of the Azzurri's 22.

The game's closing stages was a tight affair but the Wallabies finished stronger and Genia made certain of the result in the 79th minute when he crossed from close quarters after Ashley-Cooper did well with a mazy run in the build-up.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Bellini
Con:  Allan

For Australia:
Tries:  Koroibete 2, Tupou, Genia
Cons:  Toomua 3
Yellow Card:  Sio

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Braam Steyn, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traorè, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Johan Meyer, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Luca Morisi

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jermaine Ainsley, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Will Genia, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Dane Haylett-Petty

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Springboks late show floors France

A converted try from Bongi Mbonambi in the final play of the game helped South Africa to edge out France 29-26 in Paris on Saturday.

In a tight Test, in which momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed, both sides scored two tries apiece but Mbonambi proved to be the match-winner when he dotted down off the back of a line-out drive deep inside France's 22.

The home side will be wondering how they lost this game as they dominated for large periods and held a 23-9 lead early in the second-half.  But South Africa fought back bravely to clinch the win.

France showed their intentions from the outset by running the ball from all areas of the field and in the fifth minute, Maxime Medard set off on a mazy run which wreaked havoc in the Springbok defence.  He did well to get a pass out to Teddy Thomas whose progress was halted inside South Africa's 22.  The ball was recycled quickly before Camille Lopez launched a cross-field kick which just eluded Damian Penaud.

Shortly afterwards, Baptiste Serin opened the scoring when he landed a penalty after Franco Mostert and Steven Kitshoff were blown up for offside play on defence.

Five minutes later, Serin doubled his team's lead via another penalty after the Boks strayed offside on defence again.  Shortly after the restart, it was France's turn to be penalised and Handré Pollard made no mistake off the kicking tee to reduce the deficit to three points.

With points on the board the Springboks' confidence grew and in the 22nd minute, Pollard drew his side level when he slotted his second penalty after Jefferson Poirot was blown up for illegal scrummaging.

On the hour-mark, Pollard gave the Boks the lead for the first time when he added another three-pointer off the tee after Malcolm Marx did well to win a breakdown penalty.

That lead did not last long, however, as five minutes later Lopez restored parity when he landed a drop goal from the edge of his 22.  And just before half-time, France regained the lead when Guilhem Guirado caught the Boks by surprise when he burst through two tackles from a line-out drive before powering his way over the try-line from close quarters.

Serin added the extras which meant the home side held a 16-9 lead as the teams changed sides at the interval.

France came out firing in the second-half and two minutes after the restart, Sbu Nkosi failed to deal with a teasing high kick from Lopez, close to his try-line.  His error proved costly as Mathieu Bastareaud gathered the loose ball before crossing for Les Bleus' second try from close range.

Serin succeeded with the conversion attempt, which meant France were now holding a comfortable 23-9 lead, but from the restart Sebastien Vahaamahina spilled the ball deep inside his half, after great pressure from Pieter-Steph du Toit.  Nkosi was quickest to react and after gathering the ball he crossed for the Boks' first try.

Pollard added the conversion and the Boks had the upper hand during the next 15 minutes.

Two further penalties from Pollard meant France held a slender 23-22 lead by the hour-mark.

Shortly afterwards, Gael Fickou lined up a shot at goal from about 50 metres out but although his effort had the distance, it was wide of the uprights.

Despite that miss, Les Bleus got another chance to extend their lead, in the 67th minute, when Faf de Klerk was penalised for a late hit on Lopez.  Serin held his nerve to slot his third penalty.

That meant the Springboks had to score a try to regain the lead and they thought they had done that when Cheslin Kolbe set off on a blistering run down the right-hand touchline.  He did well to step past the cover defence before crossing the whitewash but his effort was disallowed after a brilliant tackle from Arthur Iturria.

The final 10 minutes was a frantic affair as the Boks gave their all in a bid to secure the win and just before full-time they thought they had done it when Aphiwe Dyantyi crossed the whitewash, However, his effort was disallowed when the television match official ruled that the final pass from Willie le Roux was forward.

However, the Boks would have another opportunity as Les Bleus had infringed in the build-up to that effort and shortly afterwards Mbonambi crossed for his try which sealed his side's victory.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Guirado, Bastareaud
Cons:  Serin 2
Pens:  Serin 3
Drop goal:  Lopez

For South Africa:
Tries:  Nkosi, Mbonambi
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 5

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Damian Penaud, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Gael Fickou

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Cheslin Kolbe

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Tom Foley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Ireland see off valiant Argentina in Dublin

Ireland overcame a resilient display from Argentina to go two from two in their November Test series following a 28-17 triumph at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

It was a topsy-turvy contest and one where Los Pumas very much came to play.  There was little in it at the interval, with Kieran Marmion and Bundee Aki going over for the hosts and Bautista Delguy responding for the Argentinians.

Nicolas Sanchez also kicked three penalties in the opening period to Johnny Sexton’s one and he added his fourth after the interval to give the visitors a 17-15 lead.

However, the home side eventually took control of the match as Luke McGrath’s try and a brace of Sexton three-pointers secured the win for the Irish.

The 11-point margin was tough on the tourists but Ireland’s quality eventually told as they continued their fine form in 2018.

Joe Schmidt’s men have clearly been the best side in the northern hemisphere over the past year but they were put under pressure by Los Pumas in the opening quarter.

The defending Six Nations champions looked to move the ball from the kick-off but they were penalised at the breakdown and Sanchez was on target from long range.

Although they responded impressively when Marmion benefited from a dominant scrum to cross the whitewash, the opposition fly-half regained Argentina’s advantage from the tee.

Mario Ledesma’s men deserved that 6-5 lead given to them by their pivot and they then produced an outstanding move which led to their only try.

Matias Orlando took an outstanding line, breaking through the attempted tackles of Sexton and Aki, before they moved to within inches of the opposition line.  Play was taken wide and Delguy had the simple task of touching down in the right-hand corner for a six-point buffer.

Back came Ireland, however, and they once again built pressure, capitalising on Argentinian ill-discipline, and Aki eventually went over as the Emerald Isle attained a semblance of control on the encounter.

It was a lead they would maintain at the break after the respective kickers traded three-pointers towards the end of the half.

However, the visitors began the second period on the front foot and were rewarded via the boot of their pivot.

There were fewer chances being created and Ireland had to be content with Sexton’s accuracy off the tee as they went into the final quarter 18-17 in front.

Schmidt’s charges were now beginning to gain control of proceedings, though, and Argentina’s line-out was starting to become an issue.  One such errant throw allowed the hosts to build an attack five metres out and, although Dan Leavy was initially held up, McGrath sniped over from the resultant scrum to effectively seal the victory.

The Irish dominated the latter stages and Sexton rubber-stamped the triumph from the tee, although the team will have to improve if they are to challenge New Zealand next weekend.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Marmion, Aki, L McGrath
Cons:  Sexton 2
Pens:  Sexton 3

For Argentina:
Try:  Delguy
Pens:  Sanchez 4

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Will Addison, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Andrew Conway

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicholas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Rodrgo Bruni, 20 Thomas Lezana, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 23 Matias Moroni

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Ludovic Cayre (France)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Wales edge out Wallabies to end winless streak

Wales ended a 13-match losing streak against Australia when they claimed a hard-fought 9-6 win in their November Test in Cardiff on Saturday.

In an evenly contested and often dour encounter, both sides committed a plethora of unforced errors and as the scoreline suggests, neither managed to cross the whitewash.

Wales eventually outscored their visitors by three penalties to two with Dan Biggar slotting the winning kick in the game's closing stages.

The Wallabies made a bright start and launched several attacks from the kick off.  In the third minute, Samu Kerevi was in the clear deep inside Wales territory but spilled the ball after an excellent cover tackle from Gareth Anscombe.

The next 10 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy although Leigh Halfpenny missed an opportunity to open the scoring when he failed with a penalty attempt in the 12th minute.

10 minutes later, he made up for that miss when he slotted a three-pointer off the kicking tee after the Wallabies were penalised for illegal scrummaging.

Australia battled to gain momentum as they were met by a ferocious defensive effort from the hosts although Dan Lydiate and Alun Wyn Jones went offside on defence in the 34th minute and Bernard Foley slotted the resulting penalty to open the Wallabies' account.

The tight nature of the game continued with the sides cancelling each other out with great defence while the breakdown battle, between Wales tearaway Justin Tipuric and the Wallabies' Michael Hooper and David Pocock, was one of the highlights of this Test.

On the stroke of half-time, Halfpenny had a chance to regain the lead for his team but, once again, his shot at goal was wide of the mark which meant the sides were deadlocked at 3-3 at half-time.

The Wallabies had the better of the second half's early exchanges but poor decision making cost them dearly during that period.  In the 51st minute, Tipuric collapsed a maul within goalkicking range but instead of taking a kick at goal from the resulting penalty, Wallabies captain Hooper opted to kick for touch.

That decision backfired when Tolu Latu knocked the ball on after they launched a drive from the subsequent line-out deep inside Wales 22.

Three minutes later, Australia had another chance to extend their lead off the kicking tee, when Liam Williams played the ball on the ground, but Hooper opted to set up another line-out close to Wales' tryline and this time Latu failed to find his jumper at the set-piece.

Those decisions came back to haunt the visitors as Wales regained the lead in the 68th minute courtesy of another Halfpenny penalty after Tatafu Polota-Nau infringed at a ruck just outside his 22.

The Wallabies needed a response and it came in the 75th minute when Pocock showed his class by winning a crucial breakdown penalty for his side and Matt Toomua made no mistake off the tee to draw the visitors level again.

Wales would have the final say, however, as two minutes later, Australia conceded a penalty at the breakdown and Biggar made no mistake from the tee to end his side's long winless run in this fixture.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pens:  Halfpenny 2, Biggar

For Australia:
Pens:  Foley, Toomua

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Liam Williams

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Sefa Naivalu, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt To’omua, 23 Jack Maddocks

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

All Blacks edge England after controversial finish

New Zealand came from 15-0 down to defeat England 16-15 at Twickenham on Saturday but another match involving the Red Rose ended in controversy.

Similar to the Owen Farrell incident last week, which cost South Africa a chance of winning the game, this time the hosts were denied when Sam Underhill thought he had scored, only for television match official Marius Jonker to rule it out.

Eddie Jones’ men were outstanding in the opening 35 minutes, taking a 15-0 advantage via Chris Ashton and Dylan Hartley tries, but the All Blacks responded excellently.

Damian McKenzie touched down before Beauden Barrett added a pair of three-pointers – including his first ever drop-goal at international level – to reduce the arrears to 15-13.

As the rain continued to affect proceedings, there were fewer scores in the second period, but the visitors took control as Barrett moved them in front, before an impressive home team were denied victory by a late call.

After defeating the Springboks in their opening November Test, England effectively had a free shot at this game.  Few expected them to win but the hosts started superbly, showing patience and a high skill set to move the ball through the phases in difficult conditions.

The forwards, who were considered underpowered in comparison to the visitors, carried excellently and Ben Youngs moved it wide at the right time, finding Ashton on the right to finish.

Jones’ charges were not done there and Jonny May caused further consternation in the opposition rearguard by kicking ahead and forcing McKenzie to conceded a five-metre scrum.

Although the All Blacks scrum forced the home side to infringe, it did not deter the Twickenham outfit and a Farrell drop-goal moved them 8-0 clear.

New Zealand looked to responded with McKenzie displaying a couple of nice touches but the Red Rose were soon back on the front foot and an outstanding maul resulted in Hartley touching down.

Steve Hansen’s men were stunned by the hosts’ defensive pressure but they regained their composure and showed superb handling to get themselves back into the contest.  Beauden Barrett dictated play well from fly-half and the two-time World Player of Year sent McKenzie across the whitewash from close range.

Barrett converted and then added a three-pointer following Farrell’s errant restart as the All Blacks went into the break just five points in arrears, despite struggling for the majority of the half.

New Zealand took that momentum into the second period and, although they couldn’t force their way over the line, Barrett made sure they came away with points through a drop-goal.

England’s set-piece had remained solid, even if there were concerns before the game, but it began to malfunction following Jamie George’s introduction and the visitors assumed command with their pivot kicking another off the tee to give the All Blacks the lead.

The lineout wobbles were costing them crucial possession and territory, allowing the tourists, who were attempting to pin Jones’ outfit back, off the hook.

The Red Rose continued to battle, though, and thought they had won the game when Courtney Lawes charged down TJ Perenara’s kick.  Underhill collected and finished superbly, but Jonker controversially ruled out the try for offside as the world champions held on.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Ashton, Hartley
Con:  Farrell
Drop-goal:  Farrell

For New Zealand:
Try:  McKenzie
Con:  Barrett
Pens:  Barrett 2
Drop-goal:  Barrett

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (cc), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Brad Shields, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (cc), 1 Ben Moon
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Jack Nowell

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Ofa Tuungafasi, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Ryan Crotty

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Tommy Seymour stars as Scotland hammer Fiji

Tommy Seymour starred with a hat-trick as Scotland claimed a convincing 54-17 win over Fiji at Murrayfield, having led 21-17 at half-time.

The visitors started the game on the front foot.  However, they emerged from their spell of dominance with only a Ben Volavola penalty kick to their name.

Scotland took the lead in the 11th minute thanks to their persistent efforts to force their way over following an attacking lineout.  Eventually, it was Allan Dell who prevailed.

After a patient build-up which saw Pete Horne come close to crossing the try-line, Scotland scored again seven minutes later, with Fraser Brown powering over.

Gregor Townsend's charges were virtually monopolising possession and looked comfortably in control of the game at this stage.  However, they handed Fiji a lifeline in the 22nd minute.  Brown's overthrown lineout was pounced upon and Viliame Mata went over after a fine offload from Peceli Yato.

Fiji took the lead in the 28th minute after some lovely hands in the build-up, with Leone Nakarawa's linebreak starting the move and Tevita Cavubati's pass setting Semi Radradra up for the finish.

However, the visitors' indiscipline let them down.  Cavubati was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul and Brown crashed over the try-line almost immediately afterwards.  Unfortunately for Scotland, the try was disallowed due to obstruction from Jamie Ritchie.

Fiji were reduced to 13 men two minutes before half-time when Nakarawa was yellow-carded — also for collapsing the maul.  Scotland finally made their advantage count right before the break, with Finn Russell's pass setting Seymour up to finish out wide on their right.

With momentum back in their hands, Scotland picked up where they left off after the break.  It took under three minutes for Sean Maitland to crash over following some good handling from the hosts.

Seymour then scored his second and third tries either side of the hour-mark, making the most of some good passing from his fellow backline players in both cases.

In the 77th minute, it was back to the forwards, as Ritchie grabbed a well-deserved try, forcing his way over from close range.

Then, three minutes afterwards, Adam Hastings brought up 50 for Scotland.  Russell initiated the attack by bursting through a gap in the defence before setting him up for the finish.

Despite a few nervy moments in the first half, it was ultimately a convincing victory from Scotland, who bounced back brilliantly from a 21-10 loss to Wales.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Seymour 3, Dell, Brown, Maitland, Ritchie, Hastings
Cons:  Laidlaw 5, Russell 2

For Fiji:
Tries:  Mata, Radradra
Cons:  Volavola 2
Pen:  Volavola
Yellow Cards:  Cavubati, Nakarawa

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

Fiji:  15 Setareki Tuicuvu, 14 Metui Talebula, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Jale Vatabua, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (c), 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Campese Maafu
Replacements:  16 Mesulame Dolokoto, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Kalivate Tawake, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Henry Seniloli, 22 Alivereti Veitokani, 23 Eroni Vasiteri

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Italy too strong for spirited Georgia

Italy proved too strong for Georgia as they claimed a hard-fought 28-17 victory in their November international in Florence on Saturday.

In a fast paced and exciting game, Italy were the dominant side for most of the match and eventually outscored their visitors by four tries to two with Tommaso Allan contributing 13 points courtesy of a try, two penalties and a conversion.

The result is a significant one for the Azzurri as it is only their second triumph of 2018 and follows their win over Japan in Kobe in June.

Italy had the better of the early exchanges and opened the scoring in the 10th minute courtesy of an Allan penalty after Georgia's backline strayed offside on defence.

Despite that setback, Georgia were soon camped inside Italy's 22 and in the 16th minute Tamaz Mtchedlidze gathered a long pass from Vasil Lobzhanidze and showed great strength and leg-drive to shrug off three defenders before scoring the opening try.

Soso Matiashvili slotted the conversion but Italy did not take long to respond as five minutes later Michele Campagnaro bumped off Lasha Khmaladze before stepping past three challengers on his way over the try-line.

Allan added the extras which gave the Azzurri a 10-7 lead but the Lelos had a chance to draw level shortly afterwards, when Italy were blown up for a scrum infringement, but Matiashvili's shot at goal was wide of the mark.

In the 28th minute, Georgia were dealt a blow when Giorgi Tsutskiridze was yellow carded for taking out Luca Sperandio in an aerial challenge.  As expected, Italy dominated proceedings for the next 10 minutes and after Allan slotted the resulting penalty, they spent large periods camped inside the Lelos' half.

Shortly after Tsutskiridze's exit, Braam Steyn went over the whitewash from close quarters but television replays could not reveal whether he grounded the ball.  And in the 34th minute, Tommaso Castello was in the clear inside Georgia's 22 but instead of pinning his ears back and heading for the corner, he stepped inside where his progress was halted by the cover defence.

The dam wall eventually burst in the 39th minute when Mattia Bellini ran onto a pass from Tito Tebaldi before rounding Giorgi Koshadze and dotting down in the left-hand corner.

Allan's conversion attempt was off target but the home side went into the sheds at half-time with an 18-7 lead.

The Azzurri were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and three minutes after the restart, Simone Ferrari crossed the whitewash from close range for his side's third try.

That gave them a 23-7 lead but Matiashvili reduced the deficit 10 minutes later via a penalty after another indiscretion at a scrum from the Azzurri.

Italy continued to hold the upper hand, however, and in the 57th minute Steyn put Allan in the clear with a well-timed pass and the Azzurri fly-half showed a superb turn of speed to outpace the cover defence before crossing for a deserved try in the left-hand corner.

Despite that try, Georgia did not surrender and they were rewarded with a penalty try in the 63rd minute when Tommaso Benvenuti was blown up for early tackle on Beka Bitsadze close to Italy's try-line, and the Azzurri wing was also sent to the sin bin for that offence.

With a numerical advantage, Georgia upped the ante on attack but they were met by a solid defensive effort from their hosts, who did well to prevent any further points from being scored during the rest of the match.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Camapagnaro, Bellini, Ferrari, Allan
Con:  Allan
Pens:  Allan 2
Yellow Card:  Benvenuti

For Georgia:
Tries:  Mtchedlidze, Penalty try
Con:  Matiashvili
Pen:  Matiashvili
Yellow Card:  Tsutskiridze

Italy:  15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Abraham Jurgens Steyn, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traorè, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Johan Meyer, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Luca Morisi

Georgia:  15 Soso Matiashvili, 14 Giorgi Koshadze, 13 Merab Sharikadze (c), 12 Tamaz Mtchedlidze, 11 Zurab Dzneladze, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 6 Otar Giorgadze, 5 Lasha Lomidze, 4 Nodar Tcheishvili, 3 Dudu Kubriashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements:  16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Zurab Zhvania, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Shalva Sutiashvili, 20 Beka Bitsadze, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Lasha Malaghuradze, 23 Giorgi Kveseladze

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Frank Murphy (Ireland), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Impressive Ireland brush aside Italy

Ireland produced an impressive display, running in eight tries to dispatch Italy 54-7 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday.

The Grand Slam champions and the number two side in the world controlled the match from beginning to end and are building up momentum at just the right time ahead of that crucial clash with the All Blacks on November 17.

Ireland got off to the best possible start when good work at close quarters from Tadhg Beirne, aided by good support from Jack McGrath and Niall Scannell, got the former over for his first international try.  Joey Carbery converted for a fourth-minute 7-0 lead.

Joe Schmidt's men had their second on the half-hour mark.  Following an aerial take by Andrew Conway, Ireland retained the ball well before Jordan Larmour stepped off his left, cut in between two forwards and darted into the 22 before laying off for the supporting Luke McGrath to touch down to the left of the posts.

However, Ireland's lead would be halved just before half-time through Italy's captain for the day Michele Campagnaro, wearing the armband in the place of the injured Sergio Parisse.  Campagnaro intercepted Rhys Ruddock's pass to dot down for the intercept try two minutes before the interval.

Two minutes after the half-time break, towering lock Beirne had his second after running on to a flat ball from Luke McGrath to break clean through the Azzurri defence and dot down.

Soon after, Larmour scored his first international try when he plucked a wayward Campagnaro pass out the air and run the rest of the way to dot down.

In the 57th minute, replacement hooker Sean Cronin went over at the back of a well-worked driving maul as Carbery maintained his one hundred percent record with a fifth successive conversion to make it 35-7 after 60 minutes.

Six minutes later, Larmour grabbed his brace by which time Ireland were beginning to run riot.  Dave Kilcoyne got his legs pumping, getting over the gain-line, Bundee Aki charged into space off a Ross Byrne pass and he sent his centre partner Garry Ringrose over in the right corner.

The icing was on the cake when Larmour ran in for his hat-trick to well and truly put the nail in the coffin of the Azzurri.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Beirne 2, McGrath, Larmour 3, Cronin, Ringrose
Cons:  Carbery 5, Byrne 2

For Italy:
Try:  Campagnaro
Con:  Canna

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Will Addison

Italy:  15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Michele Campagnaro (c), 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Giulio Bisegni, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Rento Giammarioli, 7 Bram Steyn, 6 Johan Meyer, 5 George Fabio Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Jimmy Tuivatti, 22 Guglielmo Palazzani, 23 Ian McKinley

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Television match official:  David Ardrey (USA)

England edge Springboks in slugfest

A 73rd-minute Owen Farrell penalty gave England a narrow 12-11 victory over South Africa in a hard-fought encounter at Twickenham on Saturday.

England will have the psychological momentum going into the World Cup next year with this slender victory, safe in the knowledge they have emerged victorious on the previous two of the four meetings played between the sides this year.

It was a cagey stop-start affair, which didn't make for the most entertaining viewing.  Both sides made too many mistakes for the match to live up to its billing.

Handre Pollard gave the Boks an early five-minute lead from the tee after the English were caught offside.

Ten minutes later, the Boks were applying pressure and winning penalty after penalty, which forced referee Angus Gardner's hand to yellow-carding Maro Itoje.  The Springboks were using the driving maul to great effect, making ground every time they deployed the tactic.

Indeed, South Africa were enjoying the majority of the possession and territory, but were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage and would kick themselves for that.  Instead, Owen Farrell responded for the hosts with a well-struck penalty to level matters on the scoreboard as Itoje returned to the field moments later.

The Boks continued to do all of the attacking and were controlling the game, but were still unable to affect the scoreboard.  However, that all changed in the 32nd minute when they got what would ultimately prove to be the game's only try.  It started with a Damian de Allende mini-break before brilliant hands between Aphiwe Dyantyi and Warren Whiteley released Sbu Nkosi, who finished clinically in the right-hand corner.

Farrell cut the deficit to two when his three-pointer sailed between the posts three minutes before the half-time break with no further points scored until the interval.  If England were going to change the course of the match, they would need to come up with more than the aimless hanging kicks they were raining down on the Bok back three, who were dealing comfortably with the aerial bombardment.

The pressure the Boks were exerting on the English scrum precipitated Eddie Jones in to making changes in the front-row, replacing Alec Hepburn with Ben Moon for his international debut at the age of 29.

Malcolm Marx was having a shocker in terms of his line-out throwing and this was one of the factors in the Springboks not being able to extend their lead as well as a host of handling errors.

Ten minutes in to the second-half, England took the lead through the monster boot of Elliot Daly — the England full-back launching a penalty between the poles from just outside his own half — after the Boks gave away a silly penalty.

England were coming into the game more after a torrid first-half and getting more rhythm on attack as the match headed in to the final quarter.  But with 13 minutes to go, Pollard put the Boks back into the lead with a long distance penalty.

However, in the 72nd minute, the hosts won a rare scrum penalty as their replacement tighthead Harry Williams put pressure on Springbok replacement Thomas du Toit, who conceded the advantage.  Farrell made no mistake with the three-pointer to edge England back in front by a point at 12-11.

In the end Farrell's last-gasp penalty and Pollard's miss from distance would see the home side hold on for a morale-boosting Test victory over one of their contenders for the World Cup next year.

The scorers:

For England:
Pens:  Farrell 3, Daly
Yellow Card:  Itoje

For South Africa:
Try:  Nkosi
Pens:  Pollard 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (cc), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Brad Shields, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (cc), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Chris Ashton

South Africa:  15 Damian Willemse, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 André Esterhuizen.

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jerome Garces (France), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Wales claim Doddie Weir Cup

Wales claimed the inaugural Doddie Weir Cup as they ran out 21-10 winners over Scotland at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

Tries from George North and Jonathan Davies and the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, who kicked 11 points, saw Warren Gatland's outfit to victory.

Scotland will be disappointed with their showing as they crossed just once, through Stuart McInally, with Adam Hastings kicking five points.

Wales were 14-10 ahead at the interval as both sides went into the dressing rooms with a try apiece, through wing North and hooker McInally.

Halfpenny got Wales moving with four minutes gone when, after top work from Ken Owens at the breakdown, he landed a 40 metre penalty.

But Scotland had an opportunity to strike back when Alex Dunbar bust through the attempted tackle of opposite number Hadleigh Parkes on halfway.  Unfortunately for the visitors the recycled ball saw Hastings' grubber through gathered by Halfpenny, who crucially foiled the attack.

Wales almost made it 8-0 on 14 minutes when Gareth Anscombe's lovely chip out to the right wing found North.  However, his foot slid into touch and the try was ruled out by the officials.  Wales though would convert a penalty moments later as there was an advantage being played.

6-0 became 9-0 on 22 minutes when lock Jonny Gray was pinged for diving around the side of a ruck, Halfpenny slotting his third attempt.

Scotland needed to stop the rot and their first points came four minutes later via a scrum penalty which Hastings turned into three points.

But it was the closing stages of the half that brought about the most entertaining spell, with first North crashing through contact from 15 metres out for what was an unconverted try before McInally also crossed via the back of a driving line-out from for a much-needed seven.

Wales though would crucially score first in the second-half when Anscombe's short ball put centre Davies through a hole and he raced over.

The hosts were now 21-10 up but the closing half-an-hour in Cardiff was dominated by Scotland, with the visitors banging on the Welsh door.

Gregor Townsend's charges went close through Gray who was penalised for double movement half a metre out and when Wales replacement hooker Elliot Dee was sin binned on 69 minutes for offside.  It seemed now or never for Scotland, who again went close through Peter Horne.

Yet more Scottish pressure was to come in the dying embers but Wales admirably continued to stand firm, sealing the Doddie Weir Cup success.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  North, J Davies
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3
Yellow Card:  Dee

For Scotland:
Try:  McInally
Con:  Hastings
Pen:  Hastings

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Steff Evans

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Darcy Graham

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

10-try New Zealand see off Japan in Tokyo

New Zealand demonstrated the depth in quality at their disposal as they eased past Japan 69-31 at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday.

A 10-try performance saw Dane Coles, Richie Mo'unga, Ngani Laumape (3), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, George Bridge (2), Waisake Naholo and Matt Proctor cross the whitewash while fly-half Mo'unga also kicked 17 points off the tee, with Jordie Barrett adding the remaining conversion.

Samuela Anise, Hendrik Tui, Timothy Lafaele (2) and Jamie Henry went over for the Brave Blossoms, who could not match their opponents.

After an early Mo'unga penalty, it was Japan who hit the front as a charged down kick led to second-row Anise crossing for a 7-3 buffer.

But New Zealand responded in the 15th minute as returning hooker Coles celebrated his comeback with a try on the wing before five minutes later Mo'unga extended the lead, converting his own try for a 17-7 gap.  Japan were now in danger of being picked off.

Laumape's first try on 28 minutes made it 24-7 but thankfully for the home side they responded six minutes later via Tui to cancel it out.

Tries from Tahuriorangi and Laumape before the break shot the All Blacks 38-14 ahead, but there was still time for Lafaele to respond for the hosts, which gave Japan their highest ever points tally against New Zealand at 19.  In an open contest, it was likely they'd grab more.

So it proved as following Bridge crossing in the 47th minute for a debut try with his first touch, Henry hit back to make it a 45-24 game.

New Zealand though were scoring at will and Naholo's try, after an impressive carry from Gareth Evans, put their seventh try on the board.

50-24 became 57-24 three minutes later as impressive replacement Bridge then turned provider to give centre Proctor his own score on debut.

Proctor's midfield partner Laumape soon sealed his hat-trick, regathering his own chip to further extend the lead, before Bridge was over again as the All Blacks raced into a 69-24 advantage on 68 minutes.  They were showing no signs of slowing down going into the closing stages.

Thankfully for Japan they stopped that All Black procession when centre Lafaele went over for his second score in the 71st minute, which proved the final try of the game in Tokyo, with New Zealand now shifting their focus to next weekend's showdown with England at Twickenham Stadium.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Anise, Tui, Lafaele 2, Henry
Cons:  Tamura 3

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Coles, Mo'unga, Laumape 3, Tahuriorangi, Bridge 2, Naholo, Proctor
Cons:  Mo'unga 7, Barrett
Pens:  Mo'unga

Japan:  15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Jamie Henry, 13 Will Tupou, 12 Tim Lafaele, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Yusuki Niwai, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Asaeli Valu, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Vaka Nakajima, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Rikiya Matsuda 23 Ryoto Nakamura

New Zealand:  15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 8 Luke Whitelock (c), 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Jackson Hemopo, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ofa Tuungafasi
Replacements:  16 Liam Coltman, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Dillon Hunt, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Mitch Drummond, 22 Brett Cameron, 23 George Bridge

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Damon Murphy (Australia), Graham Cooper (Australia)
TMO:  Damien Mitchelmore (Australia)

Impressive All Blacks blow Wallabies away

The All Blacks' dominance over the Wallabies continued when they claimed a 37-20 win over their trans-Tasman rivals in Yokohama on Saturday.

Although Australia were aiming to repeat last year's Bledisloe Cup dead rubber win, New Zealand had other ideas and delivered a dominant display in which they outscored the Wallabies by five tries to two with Beauden Barrett leading the way with a 17-point haul courtesy of a try, three conversions and two penalties.

Australia made a bright start and took the ball through several phases from the kick off with only a desperate tackle from Scott Barrett on Dane Haylett-Petty — which took him into touch at the corner flag — preventing the Wallabies from opening the scoring in the second minute.

Despite that early attack from their opponents, the All Blacks were soon in control of proceedings and 10 minutes later Liam Squire crossed for the opening try after gathering a pass from Sonny Bill Williams inside the Wallabies' 22.

Beauden Barrett succeeded with the conversion before Kurtley Beale opened Australia's account in the 21st minute with a penalty from 46 metres out after Williams was blown up for offside play on defence.

Five minutes later, The All Blacks restored their seven-point lead when Barrett added a penalty after the Wallabies' front-row were penalised for illegal scrummaging.

New Zealand continued to dominate and in the 36th minute Kieran Read scored their second try after selling Will Genia a dummy off the back of a scrum on Australia's five-metre line.

Barrett's conversion meant the world champions held a 17-3 lead but on the stroke of half-time Sefa Naivalu collected a pass from Marika Koroibete before crashing over in the left-hand corner for a deserved try.

Foley added the extras and the Wallabies were back in the game with the All Blacks holding a seven-point lead at the interval.

Just like the first half, Australia were fastest out of the blocks after the break and, after taking the ball through 11 phases, Rob Simmons crossed the whitewash, although his effort was disallowed as television replays revealed he failed to ground the ball after Beauden Barrett did brilliantly on defence.

However, the All Blacks strayed offside in the build-up to that effort and Foley slotted the resulting penalty which meant New Zealand were now leading 17-13 after 48 minutes.

Five minutes later, Barrett restored his side's seven-point lead when he added another penalty after Scott Sio infringed at a ruck.

The All Blacks were slowly gaining the upper hand and extended that buffer on the hour-mark courtesy of a brilliant try from Beauden Barrett.

This, after the All Blacks launched an attack from a scrum close to their 10-metre line, with Read and TJ Perenara attacking on the openside before Barrett changed the direction of play towards the blindside when he passed to Rieko Ioane.  The wing was soon inside the Wallabies' half and did well to draw in a couple of defenders before offloading to Barrett, who outpaced the cover defence to dot down.

That try was a major setback for Australia and their cause wasn't helped when Tolu Latu was yellow carded in the 67th minute for an open-handed shove in the face of Codie Taylor.

With a man in the sin bin, the Wallabies were always going to struggle against the world champions and things went from bad to worse for them when Ben Smith intercepted a wayward Israel Folau pass before racing away to score his side's fourth try.

To their credit, the Wallabies did not surrender and in the 76th minute, Samu Kerevi got a pass out to Folau inside the All Blacks' 22 and he did well to step past a couple of defenders before crossing the whitewash.

The All Blacks were not done, however, and two minutes later Richie Mo'unga started an attack which tore the Wallabies' defence apart.  The world champions were soon inside Australia's 22 and a brilliant a through-the-legs pass from Barrett to Ioane was rounded off by the wing which sealed his side's win.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Squire, Read, B Barrett, B Smith, Ioane
Cons:  B Barrett 3
Pens:  B Barrett 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Naivalu, Folau
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Beale, Foley
Yellow Card:  Latu

New Zealand:  15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Sefa Naivalu, 13 Israel Folau, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Faingaa, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Samu Kerevi, 23 Tom Banks

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
Television match official:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Incredible fightback seals win for Wallabies

Australia recovered from a sizeable 31-7 deficit at the interval to defeat Argentina 45-34 in their Rugby Championship clash in Salta on Saturday.

The visitors, who scored through Michael Hooper, Izack Rodda, Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty (2) and David Pocock, avoid the wooden spoon, thus handing bottom spot to the Pumas, who will rue how they let slip that buffer at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.

Argentina's try-scorers were Pablo Matera, Emiliano Boffelli, Matias Orlando and Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias in what was a game of two halves.

It was a dream opening 40 for the Pumas as they went in with that handy 31-7 cushion thanks to four tries, with Australia's defence in pieces.

The Wallabies were slipping off tackles — 17 in total during the first stanza — and Argentina made them pay, starting in the second minute when Matera hit a superb line before racing over.  The conversion from Nicolas Sanchez made it 7-0 and it was 14-0 a couple of minutes later as Reece Hodge's pass was intercepted and full-back Boffelli eventually finished off the breakaway score.

However, Australia did respond on 14 minutes thanks to a well worked over-the-top line-out move that saw Hooper go over from recycled ball.

The visitors needed to build on that but instead it was the Pumas who scored next as Orlando crashed over, after another good Matera carry.  The lead grew further shortly after on 31 minutes as Gonzalez Iglesias scored a fine individual try immediately after coming on.

Gonzalez Iglesias, who had replaced the injured Sanchez, would add a penalty before the break to make it a 24-point advantage to the hosts.

The first try of the second period was always going to be crucial so when Gonzalo Bertranou's box kick was charged down and ended up with Rodda crossing under the posts, the Wallabies had hope of a potential fightback, Foley's extras making it 31-14 on 45 minutes.

Australia looked re-energised and continued to chip away at the lead four minutes later when Folau's slick try thanks to a great line made it 31-21.  Two minutes after that the lead was down to three points as Haylett-Petty's finish on the left touchline piled the pressure on the Pumas.

A penalty from Gonzalez Iglesias on the hour helped ease the tension in Salta but it was short relief as Pocock crashed over three minutes later, with the conversion from Foley nudging the Wallabies 35-34 in front.  It was the first time Australia had held the lead in the game.

That advantage grew to eight points as Australia's sixth try soon followed, this time from a cross kick that led to Haylett-Petty scoring.  And with Foley slotting his second penalty of the game on 75 minutes, the loss of Tolu Latu to the sin-bin late on did not impact on the result as Australia sealed an unlikely comeback win.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Matera, Boffelli, Orlando, Gonzalez Iglesias
Cons:  Sanchez 3, Gonzalez Iglesias
Pens:  Gonzalez Iglesias 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Hooper, Rodda, Folau, Haylett-Petty 2, Pocock
Cons:  Foley 6
Pen:  Foley
Yellow Card:  Latu

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Caleb Timu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Tom Banks

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Late All Blacks comeback stuns Springboks

A late Ardie Savea try helped the All Blacks to a hard-fought 32-30 victory over the Springboks in their Rugby Championship Test in Pretoria on Saturday.

In a tightly contested match, the home side made a bright start and dominated the early exchanges but two Handré Pollard penalties were all they had to show for their efforts before the All Blacks struck back with two penalties of their own from Beauden Barrett, which meant the sides were level at 6-6 at half-time.

South Africa upped the ante on attack after the break and eventually held a 30-13 lead by the hour-mark before the world champions' late comeback saw them score 19 unanswered points during the final quarter.

If the truth be told, the All Blacks were far from their best as they were under the cosh for large periods although they did well to fight back and eventually outscored their hosts by four tries to three.

The Springboks were the dominant side early on and took the lead in the fourth minute when Pollard slotted a penalty from 52 metres out after Kieran Read was blown up for offside play on defence.

The All Blacks conceded several further penalties over the next 10 minutes and the Springboks were soon camped inside their opponents' 22.

In the 13th minute, Damian de Allende was held up while crossing the All Blacks' try-line but, once again, the world champions strayed offside on defence and Pollard doubled his team's lead when he added the resulting penalty.

South Africa continued to dominate and had the bulk of the possession and territory during the next 10 minutes and kept the All Blacks pinned inside their half thanks to accurate kicking out of hand from Pollard and Faf de Klerk.

New Zealand soaked up that early pressure and opened their account in the 26th minute courtesy of a penalty from Barrett after Eben Etzebeth infringed at a lineout 10 metres inside South Africa's half.

And 10 minutes later, Barrett drew his side level when he added another three-pointer of the kicking tee after illegal play from Francois Louw at a ruck.

Just like the opening half, the Springboks were fastest out of the blocks after the break and four minutes after the restart Steven Kitshoff got a pass out to Jesse Kriel, just outside the All Blacks' 22, and he did well to shrug off tackles from Waisake Naholo and Ryan Crotty before outsprinting the cover defence to score the opening try.

Pollard added the extras and also slotted another long range penalty three minutes later which meant the Boks were now leading 16-6.

Five minutes later, South Africa went further ahead when Siya Kolisi made a brilliant line break before offloading to De Allende, who dotted down under the posts.

Once again, Pollard was successful off the kicking tee but the All Blacks responded shortly afterwards courtesy of an Aaron Smith try after Codie Taylor tore the home side's defence to shreds with a superb run in the build-up.

Despite that setback, the Boks did not panic and in the 59th minute Cheslin Kolbe ran onto a pass from Willie le Roux and dotted down in the right-hand corner but only after confirmation from the television match official after desperate tackles from fly-half Barrett and Rieko Ioane on defence.

Pollard retained his perfect goal-kicking record by slotting the conversion which meant the Boks had their tails up with the score 30-13 in their favour.

But despite that huge margin, the All Blacks showed why they are the world champions as they came back strongly during the game's closing stages.

Two minutes after Kolbe's try, the All Blacks created space for Ioane on the wing and he cantered in for an easy five-pointer after an inch-perfect long pass from pivot Barrett.

The All Blacks finished stronger and they spent most of the final 10 minutes inside South Africa's half.  And after an extended period camped deep inside the Boks' 22, Scott Barrett barged over the whitewash from close range in the 75th minute with Richie Mo'unga's conversion making it a three-point game.

Just before full-time, the All Blacks were hammering away at the Boks' try-line before Savea showed his class to dot down under a mass of bodies and, once again, Mo'unga added the extras with the last act of the game to clinch the win for New Zealand.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Kriel, De Allende, Kolbe
Cons:  Pollard 3
Pens:  Pollard 3

For New Zealand:
Tries:  A Smith, Ioane, S Barrett, Savea
Cons:  Mo'unga 3
Pens:  B Barrett 2

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

All Blacks claim Rugby Championship title

New Zealand wrapped up a third successive Rugby Championship title on Saturday after they beat Argentina 35-17 at Estadio Jose Amalfitani.

Tries from Rieko Ioane (2), Waisake Naholo, Patrick Tuipulotu and Anton Lienert-Brown saw them prevail, with Beauden Barrett kicking eight points while replacement Richie Mo'unga added the other conversion as New Zealand bounced back from that loss to the Boks in good fashion.

For Argentina this was a frustrating performance on home soil as they could not build on their away win over Australia.  Tomas Cubelli and Emiliano Boffelli scored their two tries while Nicolas Sanchez kicked seven points as their long wait for an All Blacks' scalp continues.

New Zealand were dealt a blow before kick-off when Luke Whitelock was ruled out, which meant Ardie Savea came into the XV at number eight.  With Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and Owen Franks also missing from their forward pack, the All Blacks looked somewhat depleted up front.

Argentina took an early 0-3 lead on six minutes when Shannon Frizell was penalised at the base of a ruck.  The All Blacks hit back in style two minutes later with wing Naholo's run leading to Ben Smith finding Ioane for the contest's opening try.  Barrett converted for 7-3.

Sanchez had a chance to reduce that gap down to one point a minute later, but uncharacteristically missed a relatively simple shot at goal.

New Zealand soon made the Pumas fly-half pay for that miss when Naholo crashed over following a dominant New Zealand scrum to make it 14-3.

What added to Argentina's worries was their scrum once again looking decidedly fragile as New Zealand turned the screw.  That ultimately led to Ioane claiming his second try of the match on 30 minutes as the resulting passage saw him collect loose ball for a score down the left.

Argentina desperately needed points before the break and even with Sonny Bill Williams yellow carded for coming offside, it would not come.

The Pumas began the second-half as they ended the first as they enjoyed the lion's share of possession and territory.  However, chances were blown in the red zone as New Zealand somehow survived as centre Williams returned from the sin-bin with the score the same as when he left.

It was Williams too who turned the match in terms of momentum on 54 minutes as his offload on halfway saw Ioane go close.  From an ensuing attack replacement second-row Tuipulotu crossed, a try which came thanks to a lovely pass in close quarters from loosehead Karl Tu'inukuafe.

Argentina finally got over the whitewash on 59 minutes, if in fortuitous circumstances, with Cubelli's try allowed despite clear double movement.  Sanchez converted that score as it was now 28-10 with both coaches having now emptied their benches for the closing 20 minutes.

Boffelli then made it 28-17 with 12 minutes left after a strong carry from Pablo Matera to give Argentina hope, but that was extinguished seven minutes before full-time as Mo'unga's smart grubber saw Lienert-Brown ground next to an upright to secure the win and the silverware.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Cubelli, Boffelli
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pen:  Sanchez

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Ioane 2, Naholo, Tuipulotu, Lienert-Brown
Cons:  Barrett 4, Mo'unga
Yellow Card:  Williams

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Matias Moroni, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Matias Orlando, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

New Zealand:  15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Samuel Whitelock (c), 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Jackson Hemopo, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Television match official:  David Grashoff (England)

Springboks see off Wallabies in tight affair

South Africa continued with their fine recent form when they beat Australia 23-12 in a Rugby Championship Test in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

In a tightly contested match, the Springboks were made to work hard for this result as they were under plenty of pressure for long periods but a solid defensive effort, particularly in the second half, kept the Wallabies at bay.

Both teams scored two tries apiece, although excellent goalkicking from Handré Pollard proved to be the difference between the sides and he contributed 13 points courtesy of three penalties and two conversions.

The victory is South Africa's third of the tournament and consolidates second position on the table while Australia are still firmly rooted to the bottom of the standings.

South Africa made a terrific start when 25 seconds into the match Kurtley Beale threw a long pass — close to his tryline — which Aphiwe Dyantyi intercepted, from under the nose of Dane Haylett-Petty, before crossing for the opening try.

Pollard slotted the conversion which meant the Boks had their tails up with the score 7-0 in their favour.

Three minutes later, the Wallabies had a chance to narrow the gap when Matt Toomua lined up a penalty, after the Boks strayed offside on defence, but his shot at goal was wide of the posts.

The home side held the upper hand over the next 15 minutes but, despite having the bulk of the possession, they could not convert their dominance into points.

Despite being on the back-foot during that period, the visitors were kept in the game thanks to a superb defensive effort with David Pocock leading the charge with two crucial steals at the breakdown.

However, the Boks' fortunes would change in the 21st minute when Pollard beat a couple of defenders inside the Wallabies' 22 before throwing an inside pass to Faf de Klerk, who raced away before scoring next to the posts.

Despite that score, the visitors stayed true to their attacking roots and ran the ball from all areas of the field.  And in the 26th minute that tactic reaped reward when Will Genia threw a long pass to Reece Hodge, who dotted down in the right-hand corner.

Toomua's conversion was off target but shortly afterwards Marika Koroibete found himself in space down the left-hand touchline, inside South Africa's half, before throwing a pass to Genia, who cantered in for the visitors' second try.

This time Toomua was successful off the kicking tee which meant the match was evenly poised with the Springboks leading 14-12.

However, in the 34th minute, Australia strayed offside on defence close to their tryline and Pollard added the resulting penalty to give his side a five-point lead.

The Wallabies had a chance to narrow the gap shortly afterwards when Pollard was blown up for offside play but Reece Hodge was off-target with a long range penalty.

Just before half-time, Siya Kolisi did brilliantly to win a penalty for his side at a breakdown and Pollard added another three-pointer which gave the Boks a 20-12 lead at the interval.

The Springboks made a bright start to the second half and six minutes into the half they extended their lead when Pollard slotted another penalty after Pocock was blown up for an illegal hit on Dyantyi.

The next 20 minutes was an arm wrestle with Australia spending long periods inside South Africa's half but, although the visitors were awarded several penalties within goalkicking range, their captain, Michael Hooper, opted to kick for touch instead.

In the 64th minute, the Springboks' penchant for conceding penalties proved costly when Dyantyi was yellow carded when he slowed the ball down cynically at a ruck inside his 22.

That gave the Wallabies a chance to up the ante on attack and, although they did just that, a combination of unforced errors and the Boks' excellent defensive work kept them out during Dyantyi's stint off the field and the game's closing stages.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Dyantyi, De Klerk
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pens:  Pollard 3
Yellow Card:  Dyantyi

For Australia:
Tries:  Hodge, Genia
Con:  Toomua

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier , 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Adam Coleman, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Faingaa, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Rob Simmons, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Jack Maddocks

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Matthew Carley (England)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

Argentina squeeze past Australia

Argentina returned to winning ways in the Rugby Championship when they claimed a hard-fought 23-19 win over Australia on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

The result is a significant one for the Pumas as it ends a nine-match winless run in away matches in the Rugby Championship and it's the first time they have beaten the Wallabies in Australia since 1983.

In a tightly contested clash, Australia outscored their visitors by three tries to two, but they committed too many unforced errors which helped Argentina to secure the result.

The win means the Pumas move into third position on the Rugby Championship table while the Wallabies are in last place.

Argentina held a slight edge during the opening exchanges and opened the scoring in the fifth minute via a monster penalty from Emiliano Boffelli from just inside his half.

The Wallabies struck back five minutes later when Will Genia rounded off a well-worked move.  Dane Haylett-Petty started the attack when he put Reece Hodge into a gap with a fine offload before Hodge threw an inside pass to Genia, who crossed for the opening try which was converted by Matt Toomua.

Australia's lead did not last too long though as Argentina responded with a Nicolas Sanchez try three minutes later.  This, after they set up some phases inside the Wallabies' half before Jeronimo De La Fuente offloaded to Sanchez, who dotted down.

Sanchez added the extras but the topsy-turvy nature of this game continued when Israel Folau left his stamp on this match in spectacular fashion midway through the half.

The cross-code star, who was playing on the wing, showed his class as he beat five defenders on a mazy run before dotting down in the left-hand corner.

Toomua slotted the conversion which gave the home side a 14-10 lead but Argentina struck back when Sanchez crossed the whitewash in the 31st minute.  His joy was short-lived, however, as television replays revealed that Ramiro Moyano put a foot into touch in the build-up, after a great tackle from Genia.

Despite that setback, the Pumas continued to attack and they were rewarded in the 36th minute when Bautista Delguy crossed for their second try.  Pablo Matera did well with a fine break in the build-up and although Delguy had plenty of work to do when he gathered the ball, midway between Australia's 10-metre line and their 22, he did well to beat Haylett-Petty before cutting inside on his way over the tryline.

Sanchez's conversion meant the visitors held a slender 17-14 lead as the teams changed sides at half-time.

Two minutes into the second half, Argentina thought they had extended their lead when Boffelli crossed the Wallabies' tryline but, once again, the visitors had a try disallowed when the television match official ruled that the final pass from Delguy was forward.

Argentina put that setback behind them and took a six-point lead when Sanchez added a penalty in the 48th minute.  The Wallabies did not panic and in the 55th minute, they reduced the deficit when Haylett-Petty ran onto a pass from Hodge before dotting down although Toomua failed with the conversion attempt which would have given his team the lead.

That proved costly as both sides battled to gain the ascendancy over the next 20 minutes.  The Pumas finished stronger though and in the 77th minute Bofelli landed another long range penalty which sealed his side's victory.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, Folau, Haylett-Petty
Cons:  Toomua 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Sanchez, Delguy
Cons:  Sanchez 2
Pens:  Bofelli 2, Sanchez

Australia:  15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Will Genia, 8 Pete Samu, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Folau Faingaa, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Jack Maddocks

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)