Outstanding Japan stun Ireland in Fukuroi

Japan set the 2019 Rugby World Cup alight with a stunning display to give themselves a huge opportunity of reaching the quarter-finals following a superb 19-12 triumph over Ireland in Fukuroi.

It was a thrilling encounter as the Brave Blossoms showed plenty of spirit to get back into the contest after going 12-3 down after two early tries for Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney.

Yu Tamura kicked successive penalties to go with his earlier three-pointer to keep them in the contest at the interval before they came out firing in the second half.

The Japanese put their opponents under significant duress and deservedly went ahead via Kenki Fukuoka.  At that point, there was only four points separating the teams but Tamura’s fifth successful effort off the tee sealed an incredible victory.

Jamie Joseph’s men were poor in the opening exchanges of their game against Russia.  Nerves evidently played a part and it set the tone for a lethargic display, but they were outstanding on Saturday.

Japan began with pace and were unfortunate not to take the lead when the bounce of the ball just evaded Kotaro Matsushima.  They then had a penalty opportunity in front of the posts but Tamura was awry with the effort and that profligacy was to prove costly.

Ireland’s power and intelligence with ball in hand was too much for the hosts with Conor Murray and Jack Carty dictating play well from half-back.

It was initially a case of no Johnny Sexton, no problem for the Irish with the replacement fly-half showing impressive composure and control to help them into the lead.  His kicking game in attack was particularly excellent as a cross-field dink resulted in Ringrose touching down out wide.

Although the home side reduced the arrears through Tamura, the pivot’s opposite number was once again to the fore when he kicked ahead under penalty advantage.  The Connacht man chased his own ‘up and under’ and somehow managed to tap it back for Kearney to finish.

At that stage, Ireland were comfortable and dominating territory, but Japan got back into the game through some resilient defence and impressive set-piece.

Joe Schmidt may have the bigger men at his disposal but the hosts are so technically proficient and, as a result, they forced their opponents to infringe and that allowed Tamura to cut the deficit.  By the interval, the Irishmen were just three points in front thanks to a pair of penalties from the Brave Blossoms’ playmaker.

UNBELIEVABLE!

On home turf, Japan have achieved an incredible win over Ireland! Shizuoka is rocking!

FT: Japan 19-12 Ireland #RWC2019 #JPNvIRE pic.twitter.com/ng798ka6gp

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 28, 2019

Japan took that momentum into the second half and dominated the third quarter, playing with vibrancy and patience.  They initially didn’t get their reward but Joseph’s men kept their composure and exceptional hands on the left gave Fukuoka an easy run to the line.

It was proving to be a stunning effort from the hosts and that attacking effort was matched by their defence as they withstood a series of Ireland attacks.

The Japanese were under pressure but they were simply outstanding without the ball and, when they did get it, the hosts made the most of it, scoring a penalty to extend their buffer.

That duly got them home as Japan rugby enjoyed their greatest day since they famously defeated South Africa in the 2015 World Cup.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Try:  Fukuoka
Con:  Tamura
Pens:  Tamura 4

For Ireland:
Tries:  Ringrose, Kearney
Con:  Carty

Japan:  15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Lomano Lava Lemeki, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Pieter Labuschagne (c), 6 Kazuki Himeno, 5 James Moore, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Isileli Nakajima, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Kenki Fukuoka

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Chris Farrell, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 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 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Argentina get the better of Tonga

Argentina got their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track courtesy of a 28-12 victory over Tonga in their Pool C encounter in Higashiosaka on Saturday.

Hooker Julian Montoya was Los Pumas’ hero as he led the way with a hat-trick of tries – all scored during the first half – but Argentina went off the boil in the second period which was dominated by Tonga.

In the end, Argentina outscored the Pacific Islanders by four tries to two with Santiago Carreras also crossing the whitewash and their other points came via the boot of Benjamin Urdapilleta, who added four conversions.

For Tonga, Telusa Veainu scored a brace of tries and Sonatane Takulua succeeded with a conversion.

Argentina dominated from the kick off and held a 21-0 lead midway through the half courtesy of tries from Montoya (2) and Carreras.

Montoya’s first five-pointer came after a fine lineout move on Tonga’s five-metre line in which he ran onto a pass from Tomas Lezana at the front of the set-piece before crashing over in the right-hand corner in the seventh minute.

10 minutes later, Montoya got his name onto the scoresheet again when he crossed for his second try off the back of a lineout drive deep inside the Pacific Islanders’ half.

Despite being on the back-foot, Tonga launched several attacks but their execution was poor and in the 20th minute a wayward pass from James Faiva was scooped up by Carreras, close to the halfway line, and he outpaced the cover defence before crossing the whitewash.

Five minutes later, Argentina thought they had scored again when Urdapilleta crossed Tonga’s try-line but his effort was disallowed by the television match official, who ruled that it was inconclusive whether he had grounded the ball.

Shortly afterwards, Montoya got over for his hat-trick – and his team’s bonus-point try – when he scored from close range after Los Pumas’ forwards had set up several phases in the build-up.

Tonga needed a response and that came on the half-hour mark when an excellent passage of play was rounded off by Veainu, who did well to step past a couple of defenders close to Argentina’s try-line before dotting down.

Takulua added the extras which meant Argentina were leading 28-7 and just before half-time David Halaifonua went over in the left-hand corner but he was bundled into touch by Tomas Lavanini, with what looked like a shoulder charge but he was not penalised for his challenge.

After becoming the first hooker to score a hat-trick at a Rugby World Cup since 1999, Julian Montoya was the deserved winner of the @Mastercard Player of the Match for #ARGvTGA #StartSomethingPriceless #POTM #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/UYgypmM5B2

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 28, 2019

Argentina came out firing after the restart and spent most of the early stages of the half camped inside Tonga’s half.

In the 52nd minute, Tomas Cubelli got over the try-line but television replays revealed that a desperate tackle from Takulua had knocked the ball from his grasp and the try was disallowed.

That superb cover tackle seemed to inspire the Pacific Islanders and they held the upper hand during the rest of the match.  They launched several attacks from inside their half and Argentina battled to keep them at bay.

And in the 66th minute, Tonga were rewarded for their attacking endeavour when Veainu rounded of brilliantly in the right-hand corner after gathering a superb offload from Cooper Vuna.

The closing stages were frantic as Tonga tried to narrow the gap but although they spent long periods inside Argentina’s half, they could not narrow the gap and Los Pumas held on for the win.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Montoya 3, Carrerras
Cons:  Urdapilleta 4

For Tonga:
Tries:  Veainu 2
Con:  Takulua

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Santiago Carreras, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Tomas Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Bautista Delguy

Tonga:  15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Viliami Lolohea, 13 Malietoa Hingano, 12 Siale Piutau (c), 11 David Halaifonua, 10 James Faiva, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Zane Kapeli, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Halaleva Fifita, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi
Replacements:  16 Sosefo Sakalia, 17 Vunipola Fifita, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Sitiveni Mafi, 20 Nasi Manu, 21 Leon Fukofuka, 22 Latiume Fosita, 23 Cooper Vuna

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Improving England thrash USA to go two from two

England will go into their key encounter against Argentina with a perfect record following a comfortable 45-7 triumph over the USA in Kobe.

It was a better display from the Red Rose, who held a 19-0 advantage at the break thanks to George Ford, Billy Vunipola and Luke Cowan-Dickie tries, before they built on that lead in the second half.

Joe Cokanasiga (twice), Ruaridh McConnochie and Lewis Ludlam all touched down as the 2016 and ’17 Six Nations winners eased to another victory.

Eddie Jones’ men were poor in the early stages of their match against Tonga but they were slightly more efficient on Thursday, dominating the initial exchanges and building pressure inside the opposition 22.  It put the Eagles’ defence under significant duress and Ford scythed through a gaping hole to score and give them a 7-0 advantage.

Buoyed by that try, England continued to control proceedings and create opportunities but the USA defended well and forced mistakes from one of the pre-tournament favourites.

The Red Rose did not panic, however, and went back to their trusty maul.  Jones’ charges had the ascendancy in the set-piece and a powerful drive resulted in Vunipola crossing the whitewash.

They then repeated that tactic and the North Americans were powerless to halt the surge as Cowan-Dickie was the beneficiary of his team-mates’ good work.  Although Ford was awry with the conversion, England held a comfortable 19-point buffer at the interval.

TRY!

Fancy footwork from Joseph gets Cokanasiga close to the try line and when you are 18 stone and 6ft 4", nobody is stopping you from two-yards out#ITVRugby #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/CfhT5qEXT4

— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 26, 2019

England went in search of the bonus-point at the start of the second period with the USA struggling to make any impact on the game and some Jonathan Joseph brilliance helped seal the full five.  Joseph displayed excellent decision-making to hold onto the ball and weave his way towards the line before Cokanasiga finished off from close range.

The Red Rose have struggled for fluency so far in this World Cup but they started to find a bit more rhythm and a well-constructed attack ended in McConnochie touching down for his first international try.

Ludlam soon followed him for his debut Test score as Tom Curry and Ford linked nicely to send the openside flanker across the line.

Jones’ side hadn’t given their opponents a sniff and the Eagles were evidently frustrated, leading to an awful John Quill shoulder charge on Owen Farrell, which inevitably led to a red card.

With the Eagles down to 14 men, England went over for the seventh time when Ellis Genge’s brilliant run was finished by Cokanasiga before there was a frantic end to the game.

It went back and forth but, to the Eagles’ immense credit, they managed to get on the scoreboard through Bryce Campbell.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Ford, Vunipola, Cowan-Dickie, Cokanasiga 2, McConnochie, Ludlam
Cons:  Ford 5

For USA:
Try:  Campbell
Con:  MacGinty
Red Card:  Quill

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jack Singleton, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Anthony Watson

USA:  15 Will Hooley, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 John Quill, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Ben Landry, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 David Ainuu
Replacements:  16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Hanco Germishuys, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Bryce Campbell, 23 Mike Te’o

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Seven-try Italy cruise past Canada

Italy continued their fine start to their Rugby World Cup campaign when they notched a 48-7 bonus-point win over Canada in Fukuoka on Thursday.

The Azzurri were full value for their victory as they dominated most facets of play and had the bulk of possession and territory.

They eventually outscored their hapless opponents by seven tries to one with Braam Steyn, Dean Budd, Sebastian Negri, Mattia Bellini, Federico Zani and Matteo Minozzi all crossing the whitewash, and they were also awarded a penalty try.

Tommaso Allan contributed nine points, after succeeding with three conversions and a penalty, while Carlo Canna also added a conversion.  For Canada, Andrew Coe scored a try which was converted by Peter Nelson.

Italy held the upper hand from the kick off and opened the scoring as early as the third minute courtesy of a penalty from Allan.  They continued to dominate as the half progressed and were up 17-0 after 13 minutes thanks to two well-taken converted tries from Steyn and Budd.

Steyn’s try came in the eighth minute after a barnstorming run off the back of a scrum on the Canucks’ five-metre line and he showed great determination to power his way over, despite the attentions of two defenders.

Five minutes later, Budd took the ball into contact on the edge of Canada’s 22 and burst through a poor tackle from Matt Tierney before racing away to score under the posts.

Canada held a slight edge during the next 10 minutes but, despite spending most of that time inside the Azzurri’s half, they had nothing to show for their efforts.  Midway through the half, they wasted a golden opportunity to open their account when Matt Heaton knocked on a pass from Tyler Ardron with the try-line at his mercy.

The rest of the half was characterised by several unforced errors from both teams which prevented further points from being scored during that period.  In the 31st minute, a flowing move from the Canucks deep inside the Azzurri’s half came to nothing when Gordon McRorie stepped into touch.

Italy also had a chance to extend their lead shortly before half-time when they launched a lineout drive close to Canada’s try-line but they could not breach their opponents’ defence.

Full-time | Impressive display from @Federugby.

They get their 2nd win at #RWC2019 after beating @RugbyCanada 48-7 #ITAvCAN#RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/0BeKSPEUlE

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 26, 2019

That meant the Azzurri were 17-0 up at the interval and they extended that lead shortly after the restart when Negri crossed for their third try, after the ball went through several phases in the build-up.

The next 15 minutes was an arm wrestle as Italy went in search of their bonus-point and that came on the hour-mark when Heaton illegally halted a lineout drive close to his try-line, resulting in a penalty try and yellow card for his indiscretion.

Shortly afterwards, the Azzurri went further ahead when Bellini gathered a perfectly-weighted long pass from Negri before outpacing the cover defence on his way over the try-line, which meant his side were cruising with the score 36-0 in their favour.

Despite being well and truly beaten, Canada did not surrender and were rewarded in the 70th minute when Andrew Coe beat Giulio Bisegni with outstanding footwork before diving over in the right-hand corner.

Nelson added the extras which added some respectability to the score but Italy finished stronger and sealed an emphatic win with late tries from Zani and Minozzi.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Steyn, Budd, Negri, Penalty try, Bellini, Zani, Minozzi
Cons:  Allan 3, Canna
Pen:  Allan

For Canada:
Try:  Coe
Con:  Nelson
Yellow Card:  Heaton

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Jayden Hayward, 11 Giulio Bisegni, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Braam Steyn, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 David Sisi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Federico Zani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Maxime Mbandà, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Mattia Bellini

Canada:  15 Patrick Parfrey, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ben Lesage, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Peter Nelson, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Tyler Ardron (c), 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Michael Sheppard, 5 Josh Larsen, 4 Conor Keys, 3 Matt Tierney, 2 Eric Howard, 1 Hubert Buydens
Replacements:  16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustice Duru-Sears, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Luke Campbell, 20 Matt Heaton, 21 Jamie Mackenzie, 22 Ciaran Hearn, 23 Andrew Coe

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Uruguay stun Fiji in Kamaishi

Uruguay caused a major shock in their Rugby World Cup opener against Fiji as they notched a 30-27 win over the Pacific Islanders in Kamaishi on Wednesday.

Although Fiji outscored them by five tries to three, Los Teros were full value for their win as they were the more disciplined side throughout and held a 24-12 lead at half-time.

Felipe Berchesi was Uruguay’s hero as he finished with a 15-point haul after slotting three penalties and three conversions while Santiago Arata, Manuel Diana and Juan Manuel Cat scored tries.

Poor goal-kicking proved costly for Fiji with Josh Matavesi and Ben Volavola missing several shots at goal.  In the end, Matavesi only succeeded with one conversion with Mesulame Dolokoto, Eroni Mawi, Api Ratuniyarawa, Nikola Matawalu (2) all crossing the whitewash.

Fiji were fastest out of the blocks and opened the scoring in the eighth minute courtesy of a try from Dolokoto off a well-worked lineout move on Uruguay’s five-metre line.

From the set-piece, the ball came out to Leone Nakarawa, who got a pass out to Dolokoto and he dotted down in the corner.

It did not take long for Los Teros to strike back and in the 14th minute German Kessler did well to pounce on a loose ball inside Fiji’s half before offloading to Arata, who stepped past three defenders before crossing under the posts.

Midway through the half, Fiji struck back with Mawi’s try from close quarters which Matavesi converted but that would be the last time they would score points during the opening period as Los Teros dominated the latter stages of the half.

In the 23rd minute, Diana crossed from close range before Cat scored their third try five minutes later after Rodrigo Silva set him up with a strong run in the build-up.

Berchesi converted both tries and added a penalty in the 38th minute which mean Uruguay were brimming with confidence at the interval.

VIDEO: Fiji 27-30 Uruguay. https://t.co/JO01qmmBfG #FIJvURU #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/cfHCQxgtbH

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) September 25, 2019

Fiji came out firing in the second half and were rewarded eight minutes after the restart when Ratuniyarawa dotted down next to the posts after gathering a pass from Tevita Ratuva.

Inexplicably, Matavesi missed the easy shot at goal and shortly afterwards first-choice fly-half Volavola came on as a replacement for Alivereti Veitokani and Volavola would soon take over the goal-kicking duties, but he too would battle off the kicking tee.

On the hour-mark, Berchesi added a penalty which gave his side a 27-17 lead before Matawalu spotted a gap at a ruck close to Uruguay’s try-line before crossing for his side’s fourth try in the 67th minute.

Volavola failed with the conversion attempt before Berchesi gave his side a vital eight-point lead via another well-taken penalty in the 76th minute.

The Pacific Islanders upped the ante on attack during the game’s closing stages and although they were rewarded with another try from Matawalu in injury time, it was not enough to deny Uruguay a famous and deserved win.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Dolokoto, Mawi, Ratuniyarawa, Matawalu 2
Con:  Matavesi

For Uruguay:
Tries:  Arata, Diana, Cat
Cons:  Berchesi 3
Pens:  Berchesi 3

Fiji:  15 Alivereti Veitokani, 14 Filipo Nakosi, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Josh Matavesi, 9 Henry Seniloli, 8 Leone Nakarawa, 7 Mosese Voka, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (c), 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 Tevita Ratuva, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Mesulame Dolokoto, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements:  16 Tuvere Vugakoto, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Samuel Matavesi, 21 Nikola Matawalu, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Levani Botia

Uruguay:  15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Nicolas Freitas, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Manuel Diana, 7 Santiago Civetta, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (c), 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 German Kessler, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti
Replacements:  16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Facundo Gattas, 18 Juan Pedro Rombys, 19 Franco Lamanna, 20 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 21 Agustin Ormaechea, 22 Felipe Etcheverry, 23 Tomas Inciarte

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Samoa kick off pool campaign with bonus-point win

Samoa got their Rugby World Cup campaign off to a winning start as they beat Russia 34-9 with a try bonus-point at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.

Alapati Leiua (2), Afaesetiti Amosa, Ed Fidow (2) and Rey Lee-Lo crossed for the islanders, with Tusi Pisi adding two conversions off the tee.

For Russia this is their second pool defeat after they lost the tournament opener to Japan on Friday.  Yury Kushnarev kicked their nine points.

Next up for Samoa is the task of facing Scotland, Japan and then Ireland as they look to spring a shock and progress to the knockout stages.

It was a first half low on scores but full of incident as Samoa were lucky to receive two yellow cards, with both surely needing to have been red.

First Lee-Lo was sin-binned after making a high hit on Russia full-back Vasily Artemyev, which clearly made contact with his head.  However, TMO Graham Hughes advised referee Romain Poite to consider the slight dip before impact from Artemyev, which saved the Samoa centre.

While that was contentious, just two minutes later on the half-hour Samoa hooker Motu Matu’u was also sin-binned after flying in and making head on head contact with the Russia full-back.  The former was clearly knocked out from the impact and would also get a spell in the bin.

Before those incidents there was some scoring action as Leiua crossed expertly on the right wing for an unconverted crossing on 16 minutes.

#RUSvSAM #RWC2019 #RWCKumagaya pic.twitter.com/ikrkDr8piA

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 24, 2019

But Russia worked themselves back into the game well and two penalties from Kushnarev nudged them in front at 6-5, which was how it stayed until the break as both sides enjoyed a breather.  Russia though must have been upset with the refereeing calls and being just one point up.

Their lead would be ended just five minutes into the second half when Samoa number eight Amosa crossed, despite being tackled high by Russian prop Kirill Gotovtsev.  He was the third player in the game to be shown a yellow card, this before Pisi was wayward with the extra two.

Following a well-struck Kushnarev drop-goal, Samoa sparked back into life as a lovely inside ball saw Fidow scorch over from 20 metres out, with Pisi making it 17-9 with the simple conversion on 50 minutes before Fidow was over again, this time on the left wing to make it 24-9.

Samoa were now cruising and Lee-Lo was next to cross for their fifth try of the game on 62 minutes and it was fitting that man-of-the-match Leiua would add the gloss late on as he raced over for his brace.

The scorers:

For Russia:
Pens:  Kushnarev 2
Drop goal:  Kushnarev
Yellow Card:  Gotovtsev

For Samoa:
Tries:  Leiua 2, Amosa, Fidow 2, Lee-Lo
Cons:  Pisi 2
Yellow Cards:  Lee-Lo, Matu’u

Russia:  15 Vasily Artemyev (c), 14 German Davydov, 13 Vladimir Ostroushko, 12 Dmitry Gerasimov, 11 Kirill Golosnitskiy, 10 Yury Kushnarev, 9 Vasily Dorofeev, 8 Nikita Vavilin, 7 Tagir Gadzhiev, 6 Vitaly Zhivatov, 5 Bogdan Fedotko, 4 Andrey Ostrikov, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Stanislav Selskii, 1 Valery Morozov
Replacements:  16 Evgeny Matveev, 17 Andrei Polivalov, 18 Azamat Bitiev, 19 Andrey Garbuzov, 20 Anton Sychev, 21 Dmitry Perov, 22 Ramil Gaisin, 23 Vladislav Sozonov

Samoa:  15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Henry Taefu, 11 Ed Fidow, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Dwayne Polataivao, 8 Afaesetiti Amosa, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Chris Vui (c), 5 Kane Le’aupepe, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 2 Motu Matu’u, 1 Logovii Mulipola
Replacements:  16 Ray Niuia, 17 Paul Alo-Emile, 18 Jordan Lay, 19 Senio Toleafoa, 20 Josh Tyrell, 21 Melani Matavao, 22 AJ Alatimu, 23 Ulupano Seuteni

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

First-half surge helps Wales to comfortable win

Wales produced an excellent first-half display as they got their campaign off to a solid start following a comfortable 43-14 triumph over Georgia in Toyota City.

Warren Gatland’s charges came out firing and touched down three times in the opening 20 minutes via Jonathan Davies, Justin Tipuric and Josh Adams before they wrapped up the bonus-point through Liam Williams.

The Georgians responded, however, and produced a much better effort in the second period.  Although the game was lost, Shalva Mamukashvili went over to provide them with a semblance of hope.

Tomos Williams’ try extinguished their chances of coming back into the contest, but Levan Chilachava’s consolation score left Wales with a few questions going into their second encounter, despite George North’s late effort.

There were concerns going into the contest how the Welsh would react to the Rob Howley controversy, but they were outstanding in the first half.

Irrespective of their opponents inadequacies – and there were many – the defending Six Nations champions were slick and powerful, and were rewarded with three tries in the opening quarter.

The scrum is the Lelos’ primary weapon but that was comfortably negated by Gatland’s men, who touched down early on when a stable set-piece allowed Gareth Davies to feed namesake Jonathan to score under the posts.

"Easy as that!"

Jonathan Davies runs through to score Wales' first try of the World Cup 👏#WALvGEO #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/nDS5GQw1a9

— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 23, 2019

Dan Biggar missed the conversion from in front but made up for that error by kicking a penalty and then finding scrum-half Davies, who broke through.  With the Georgian defence in disarray, Tipuric spotted a gap around the ruck and duly crossed the whitewash for a 15-0 advantage.

Wales were rampant and another well-constructed lineout move saw Adams scythe through the heart of the Georgia rearguard.  The wing still had work to do but he finished expertly as they opened up a comfortable buffer.

Milton Haig’s men had struggled but they put together their best move of the match to threaten the Welsh defence.  Vasil Lobzhanidze, Shalva Mamukashvili and Giorgi Tkhilaishvili combined well before the blindside flanker’s pass was slapped down by Davies.

It appeared to be a clear deliberate knock-on from the half-back and would have resulted in a yellow card but referee Luke Pearce deemed the ball to go backwards.

That call was to prove costly for Georgia as Wales, still with 15 men, went through the phases and Williams was on hand to finish.

The game was over at that stage but the Lelos opened the second period well and crossed the whitewash via Mamukashvili after a maul charged towards the line.

Evidently frustrated by being sent into reverse, the Welsh looked to gain revenge by driving their opponents back.  It led to a yellow card for Jaba Bregvadze but, to the Georgians’ credit, they held out and prevented Gatland’s men from adding to the scoreboard.

Only once Bregvadze returned did Wales touch down for the fifth time as North’s kick through was finished by replacement scrum-half Williams, but Haig’s outfit responded via Chilachava.

It was just reward for the Lelos’ performance after the break, but they could not end the match on top as North rubber-stamped a comfortable win for the 2019 Grand Slam winners.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  J Davies, Tipuric, Adams, L Williams, T Williams, North
Cons:  Biggar 4, Halfpenny
Pen:  Biggar

For Georgia:
Tries:  Mamukashvili, Chilachava
Cons:  Abzhandadze 2
Yellow Card:  Bregvadze

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tom Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Leigh Halfpenny

Georgia:  15 Soso Matiashvili, 14 Miriani Modebadze, 13 David Kacharava, 12 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 11 Giorgi Kveseladze, 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili (c)
Replacements:  16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Shalva Sutiashvili, 20 Beka Saginadze, 21 Otari Giorgadze, 22 Gela Aprasidze, 23 Lasha Khmaladze

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Poor England open campaign with error-strewn win

England began their Rugby World Cup campaign with an unconvincing performance as they struggled to a 35-3 bonus-point triumph over Tonga in Sapporo.

It was a tight opening from both teams as Owen Farrell and Sonatane Takulua traded penalties but the Red Rose moved away before the break as Manu Tuilagi touched down twice.

Farrell then added his second three-pointer for an 18-3 advantage at the interval before Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie completed a mistake-ridden win in the second half.

Eddie Jones’ men have been quick starters this year but they were met by a resilient and physical Tongan outfit.  The Six Nations outfit did take the lead via a Farrell penalty but their opponents responded superbly with sheer brute force.

Billy Vunipola, whose father Feʻao captained ‘Ikale Tahi at the 1999 global tournament, was hammered by Zane Kapeli with his first carry and that led to a penalty.  Takulua was on target and Toutai Kefu’s charges deservedly levelled matters going into the second quarter.

The Tongans’ defence was beginning to show signs of breaking, however, and Tuilagi almost set-up England’s first try as he broke through and fed Sam Underhill.

Although the flanker was held up, the Red Rose’s Samoan-born centre was rewarded for his earlier surge by receiving the ball five metres out and charging his way over.

Following that score, England opened up and touched down for the second time when Jonny May scampered down the left and found Tuilagi, who crossed the whitewash unopposed.

🏉 Tuilagi's on 🔥

Nice build-up from Elliot Daly who goes on to feed Manu Tuilagi who cruises over for his second try 🙌#RWC2019 #ENGvTGA pic.twitter.com/sdXmYWA5ro

— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 22, 2019

Jones’ side were now well on top and, after a period of pressure on the Tonga line, Farrell added his second three-pointer for a 15-point buffer at the interval.

They then controlled the early stages of the second period and earned a penalty, allowing the Saracens playmaker to extend their lead, but there were too many errors.  England regularly dropped the ball and it let a tiring Ikale Tahi off the hook.

As a result of their loose play, several replacements were made and it immediately paid dividends as a dominant maul powered towards the line and George was the beneficiary of his team-mates’ good work.

It didn’t truly have the desired effect, though, with the Six Nations side incredibly slack and that kept the scoreboard down.  Credit must also go to Tonga, who were spirited and prevented England from gaining momentum, but it was a poor display by Jones’ men.

The Red Rose did manage to gain the crucial bonus-point when Jonathan Joseph broke through and fed Cowan-Dickie to finish, but they will need a vast improvement over the coming weeks.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Tuilagi 2, George, Cowan-Dickie
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 3

For Tonga:
Pen:  Takulua

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 George Kruis, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jonathan Joseph

Tonga:  15 David Halaifonua, 14 Atieli Pakalani, 13 Siale Piutau (c), 12 Cooper Vuna, 11 Viliami Lolohea, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Zane Kapeli, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Halaleva Fifita, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Sosefo Sakalia, 1 Siegfried ‘Fisiihoi
Replacements:  16 Siua Maile, 17 Latu Talakai, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Dan Faleafa, 20 Nasi Manu, 21 Leon Fukofuka, 22 James Faiva, 23 Nafi Tu’itavake

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Bonus-point win for Ireland over Scotland

Ireland made a statement of intent courtesy of a 27-3 triumph against Scotland in their opening Rugby World Cup match in Yokohama on Sunday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a one-sided affair as Ireland dominated most facets of play and the Scots seemed shell-shocked by the intensity and accuracy in execution of their opponents.

Ireland were clinical and efficient throughout and were rewarded with tries from James Ryan, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Conway which secured them a deserved bonus point, while Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray added a conversion apiece and Jack Carty succeeded with a penalty.

Scotland’s only points came via a first half penalty from Greig Laidlaw.

The match started at a frenetic pace with both sides giving the ball plenty of air and this tactic paid dividends for Ireland in the sixth minute when Ryan crashed over from close quarters after Iain Henderson laid the groundwork with a barnstorming run in the build-up.

Ireland continued to dominate as the half progressed and extended their lead in the 14th minute when Best dotted down from a lineout drive deep inside Scotland’s 22.

Midway through the half, Ireland’s forwards infringed at a ruck and Laidlaw opened his side’s account when he slotted the resulting penalty.  But that was as good as it got for Scotland during the opening period as they struggled to exert themselves during the rest of the half.

In the 25th minute, Joe Schmidt’s troops went further ahead courtesy of Furlong’s try from close range, after a strong carry in the build-up from CJ Stander off the back of a scrum on Scotland’s five-metre line.

Sexton had injured a groin muscle earlier and although he stayed on the field, Murray converted and things went from bad to worse for Scotland when shortly before half-time, Hamish Watson was forced off the field with what looked like a serious knee injury.

On the stroke of half-time, Murray lined up a shot at goal, after Scotland’s forwards were blown up for illegal scrummaging, but his effort was off target which meant Ireland held a 19-3 lead at half-time.

#RWC2019

FULL TIME SCORE: IRELAND 27-3 SCOTLAND #TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #IREvSCO pic.twitter.com/H40EJ3cfIn

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 22, 2019

The match restarted in atrocious weather conditions with heavy rain restricting play mostly to the forwards during the early stages of the new half.

That led to several unforced errors from both sides but Ireland adapted better to the conditions and extended their lead in the 56th minute when Conway found himself in space out wide before stepping past a couple of defenders on his way over the try-line.

That secured his team’s bonus point and Ireland sealed their win courtesy of Carty’s penalty in the 68th minute after Simon Berghan strayed offside on defence deep inside his half.

With the game in the bag, Ireland took their foot off the pedal although they finished with 14 men when Tadhg Beirne was yellow carded for a cynical defensive foul inside his half in the 70th minute.

It mattered little though as the damage had long since been done, with Ireland throwing down a marker in their Rugby World Cup opener.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Ryan, Best, Furlong, Conway
Cons:  Sexton, Murray
Pen:  Carty
Yellow Card:  Beirne

For Scotland:
Pen:  Laidlaw

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Chris Farrell

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Darcy Graham

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Italy get the better of plucky Namibia

Italy made a positive start to their Rugby World Cup campaign when they notched a 47-22 bonus-point win over Namibia in Higashiosaka on Sunday.

Despite the big winning margin, the Azzurri were made to work for this result as Namibia were competitive for long periods.

But in the end, the Azzurri had to much firepower for their opponents and eventually outscored them by seven tries to three.  Tommaso Allan, Tito Tebaldi, Edoardo Padovani, Carlo Canna, Jake Polledri and Matteo Minozzi all dotted down while Allan (3) and Canna (2) added conversions.

Damian Stevens, JC Greyling and Chad Plato scored tries for Namibia and Cliven Loubser added two conversions and a penalty.

Namibia had the better of the early exchanges and took the lead in the sixth minute courtesy of a fine try from Stevens.  This, after an Italian lineout went awry close to the halfway line and Torsten van Jaarsveld pounced on the loose ball before setting up a phase just inside his opponents’ half.

The ball was shifted wide to Plato, who set off on a blistering run down the right-hand touchline which had Italy’s defence at sixes and sevens.  He got a pass out to Darryl De la Harpe and he did well to offload to Stevens, who rounded off with a spectacular dive.

Loubser added the extras which meant the Welwitschias had their tails up with the score 7-0 in their favour.

Their joy was short-lived, however, as Italy drew level by the 10th minute when referee Nic Berry awarded a penalty try after Namibia capitulated under great pressure at a scrum on their five-metre line.

That score was a shot in the arm for the Azzurri, who held a slight edge during the rest of the half.  In the 25th minute they took the lead when Luca Morisi set off on a 40-metre run before being brought to ground five metres short of Namibia’s try-line.  From the ensuing ruck, Tebaldi got a pass out to Allan, who crashed over under the posts before slotting the conversion which gave his side a 14-7 lead.

The rest of the half was a scrappy affair, although the Azzurri extended their lead on the stroke of half-time when Tebaldi crossed for their third try after gathering a superb offload from Federico Ruzza in the build-up.

Allan’s conversion was successful which meant Italy held a 21-7 lead at half-time.

FT: After an impressive performance, @Federugby get the win beating Namibia 47-22 #ITAvNAM #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/wGiW2u4Di3

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 22, 2019

The second half started brightly for the Azzurri when Padovani gathered a perfectly weighted grubber kick from Benvenuti before scoring his side’s bonus-point try in the 45th minute, and they went further ahead when Canna dotted down shortly afterwards.

Despite those setbacks, Namibia did not surrender and another Loubser penalty was followed by a try from Greyling, who scored out wide after running onto a well-timed pass from his fly-half.

Italy soon regained the initiative and they dominated during the latter stages of the match.  In the 66th minute, Polledri crossed the whitewash off the back of a lineout drive before Minozzi sealed their win with his try five minutes later.

Namibia would finish stronger, however, and were rewarded with a superb try from Plato in the game’s closing stages.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Penalty try, Allan, Tebaldi, Padovani, Canna, Polledri, Minozzi
Cons:  Allan 3, Canna 2

For Namibia:
Tries:  Stevens, Greyling, Plato
Cons:  Loubser 2
Pen:  Loubser

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Edoardo Padovani, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbandà, 6 Braam Steyn, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Simone Ferrari, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Dean Budd, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Matteo Minozzi

Namibia:  15 Johan Tromp, 14 Chad Plato, 13 Justin Newman, 12 Darryl De la Harpe, 11 JC Greyling, 10 Cliven Loubser, 9 Damian Stevens, 8 Janco Venter, 7 Wian Conradie, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Tjiuee Uanivi (c), 4 PJ Van Lill, 3 Johannes Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Andre Rademeyer
Replacements:  16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 AJ De Klerk, 18 Nelius Theron, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Max Katjijeko, 21 Eugene Jantjies, 22 Helarius Axasman Kisting, 23 Lesley Klim

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

All Blacks hold off Springboks in Yokohama

New Zealand took a giant step towards reaching the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals when they beat South Africa 23-13 in their tournament opener in Yokohama on Saturday.

There was plenty of hype around this fixture and that was justified as the teams went at each other hammer and tongs from the kick off.  The match was characterised by great physicality from both teams but New Zealand’s attacking play was of a superior quality, especially in the first half, and that helped them to victory in the end.

The world champions eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to one with George Bridge and Scott Barrett dotting down in that first half.  Their other points came via two penalties and two conversions from Richie Mo’unga as well as a penalty from Beauden Barrett.

For South Africa, who showed considerable improvement in the second period, Pieter-Steph du Toit crossed the whitewash and Handré Pollard added a conversion, a penalty and a drop goal.

The opening exchanges were evenly contested, although the Springboks opened the scoring as early as the second minute when Pollard landed a long range penalty.

The next 15 minutes was a topsy-turvy affair but that period of play was littered with errors from both sides.

South Africa had a chance to extend their lead in the 19th minute when Pollard took a straightforward shot at goal but his effort struck an upright and the All Blacks scrambled to get the ball into touch.

The All Blacks made the Boks pay for that miss as shortly afterwards Mo’unga slotted a penalty to draw his side level and they increased their lead in the 24th minute when Bridge crossed for the opening try.

This, after Sevu Reece did brilliantly when he launched a counter-attack from just outside his 22.  Ardie Savea also did well in the build-up with a strong carry before the ball was shifted wide to Bridge, who rounded off despite a desperate tackle from Willie le Roux.

Soon after that, Anton Lienert-Brown tore South Africa’s defence to shreds with a mazy run in which he beat four defenders and he did well to draw in the last defender inside the Boks’ 22 before offloading to Scott Barrett, who had an easy run-in under the posts.

The closing stages of the half saw the Springboks launch several attacks inside New Zealand territory but that reaped no reward and the teams changed sides with the All Blacks holding a 17-3 lead at half-time.

FT | Job done in Yokohama.  Thanks for another epic contest @Springboks.#NZLvRSA #BACKBLACK pic.twitter.com/nI2QE65Z6F

— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 21, 2019

The Boks were fastest out of the blocks after the restart and were put on the front-foot courtesy of a brilliant attacking run from Cheslin Kolbe.  The diminutive wing made a superb break down the right-hand touchline and only a fine cover tackle from Mo’unga prevented him from scoring a try in the corner.

Despite regathering possession, New Zealand did not kick the ball into touch but opted to run it instead and that decision came back to haunt them as the Boks soon won a turnover.  And after setting up some phases, Du Toit broke through the middle of a ruck inside the All Blacks’ 22 before crossing for an easy try next to the posts.

Pollard added the extras which meant the Boks were back in the game as the All Blacks were now leading by just seven points.  The Boks continued to dominate and, after taking the ball through several phases close to the All Blacks’ 10-metre line, the ball came out to Pollard, who narrowed the gap to four points with a well-taken drop goal.

Despite being under the cosh, the world champions did not panic and restored their seven-point lead in the 61st minute when Mo’unga succeeded with another penalty after the Boks’ forwards were blown up for illegal scrummaging.

Ten minutes later, South Africa’s backline strayed offside on defence and Barrett added his three-pointer off the kicking tee which gave his side a 23-13 lead with just under 10 minutes left on the clock.

The closing stages was a frantic affair as the Boks tried to close the gap and in the 76th minute Kolbe, who was brilliant throughout, set off on another superb attacking run but Savea halted his progress close to the All Blacks’ try-line before winning a crucial turnover.

Although the Boks continued to attack, they would not score further points as New Zealand’s defence held firm in the game’s dying moments which secured them an important win.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Bridge, S Barrett
Cons:  Mo’unga 2
Pens:  Mo’unga 2, B Barrett

For South Africa:
Try:  Du Toit
Con:  Pollard
Pen:  Pollard
Drop goal:  Pollard

New Zealand:  15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Ardie Savea, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Shannon Frizell, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Sonny Bill Williams, 23 Ben Smith

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 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 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

France withstand Argentina comeback to claim vital win

France secured a priceless World Cup victory in their quest for the quarter-finals, overcoming a stunning Argentina fightback to claim a tense 23-21 triumph in Tokyo.

The Argentines actually began brightly, with Nicolas Sanchez kicking them into a 3-0 lead, but Les Bleus controlled the remainder of the half and deservedly moved 20-3 ahead through Gael Fickou and Antoine Dupont tries.

Romain Ntamack was impressive off the tee, kicking 10 points, but they failed to maintain that intensity in the second half.

As poor as Argentina were in the opening period, they were excellent after the break and closed the gap via Guido Petti and Julian Montoya efforts before Benjamin Urdapilleta remarkably gave them the lead.

However, in an incredible match, the French displayed impressive composure to respond and snatch the win when Camille Lopez scored a drop goal to win a superb game.

It now puts the Argentines under pressure for the rest of the tournament with them needing to beat England to stand a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

There was plenty Mario Ledesma could take from this encounter, however, despite their run of defeats stretching to 10.  The concern for the head coach before the start of the tournament was how their scrum would fare, but it was solid throughout and set them a platform in the first quarter.

They controlled the opening exchanges and almost broke the deadlock when Petti – one of their star performers over the past few years – powered through several tackles.  Although he was brought down five metres out, Los Pumas were awarded a penalty and Sanchez kicked them in front.

It was the ideal start for Ledesma’s charges, who were looking strong in contact, but France responded in magnificent fashion.  Damian Penaud was the instigator, showing his footwork, pace and balance to weave his way through Argentina’s flimsy defensive line, before the ball was shifted wide for Fickou to finish.

Ntamack, who rarely kicked for Toulouse last season, was pinpoint with a difficult conversion, and the fly-half soon added to his tally when Jacques Brunel’s men produced another brilliant move.

About sums up the game for Argentina#RWC2019 #FRAvARG pic.twitter.com/vzm46XPGGF

— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 21, 2019

Once again, Penaud was to the fore as exceptional hands from the wing, Maxime Medard and Virimi Vakatawa sent Dupont across the whitewash.

France were dominant, despite the Argentines briefly threatening their line, and two more successful efforts off the tee via Ntamack gave Les Bleus a 17-point buffer at the interval.

The 2011 World Cup finalists were comfortable going into the final 40 minutes, but they struggled to build on that first-half brilliance as their opponents lifted the intensity.

Their set-piece, something which had been utterly abysmal over the past couple of years, was dominant, with the maul particularly impressive.

Firstly, Petti rampaged across the whitewash as the French were sent into reverse before Montoya took the slightly slower route from the same tactic, but still managed to touch down.

Brunel’s team were under pressure and making errors, and they were fortunate to escape a yellow card following a series of indiscretions close to their own line.  This time, having previously gone for the lineout, they pointed to the posts and replacement Urdapilleta reduced the arrears.

Los Pumas had all the momentum and the pivot was on target once more as they took the lead, but there was one final sting in the tail.

That came through Lopez, who kicked a drop goal, which was enough for France to snatch a crucial victory and leave their opponents dejected.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Fickou, Dupont
Cons:  Ntamack 2
Pens:  Ntamack 2
Drop goal:  Lopez

For Argentina:
Tries:  Petti, Montoya
Con:  Sanchez
Pens:  Sanchez, Urdapilleta 2

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Bernard le Roux, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Thomas Ramos

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Julian Montoya, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Santiago Carreras

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Wallabies fight back to see off Fiji

Australia were made to work hard but eventually got the job done as they beat Fiji 39-21 in their Rugby World Cup clash in Sapporo on Saturday.

In an entertaining but tough and uncompromising encounter, the Pacific Islanders held the upper-hand for most of this match but the Wallabies took control of proceedings during the game’s latter stages and were deserved winners in the end.

Tolu Latu led the way for Australia with a brace of tries and Michael Hooper, Reece Hodge, Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete also scored tries.  Their other points came via conversions from Christian Lealiifano and Matt To’omua (2) while Reece Hodge added a penalty.

For Fiji Peceli Yato and Waisea Nayacalevu scored tries and Ben Volavola contributed 11 points after succeeding with three penalties and a conversion.

Fiji had most of the early possession and were up 8-0 after 10 minutes.  They took the lead in the fifth minute courtesy of a Volavola penalty, after Nic White was blown up for holding onto the ball at a ruck, and the game came alive shortly afterwards when Yato crossed for a brilliant try.

Josua Tuisova laid the groundwork with a strong run down the right-hand touchline and after bursting through two tackles he threw an inside pass to Nayacalevu, who found himself in space just outside the Wallabies’ 22.  He was chased down by the cover defence but did well to offload to Yato, who went over in the right-hand corner.

Australia needed a response and that came in the 18th minute when Hooper ran onto a pass from White deep inside Fiji territory and shrugged off three defenders on his way over the try-line.

Lealiifano slotted the conversion but despite that setback, the Pacific Islanders continued to dominate and two penalties from Volavola gave them a 14-7 lead by the half-hour mark.

Five minutes later, the Wallabies narrowed the gap when Hodge crossed in the right-hand corner for their second try after slick hands from James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale created space for him out wide.

Lealiifano was off target from the kicking tee which meant Fiji had their tails up with the score 14-12 in their favour at half-time.

So Fiji look decent 👌.  Thoughts Wales fans? pic.twitter.com/bI45ppg6JL

— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) September 21, 2019

Fiji were fastest out of the blocks after the interval as four minutes after the restart Nayacalevu gathered a wayward pass from Kerevi, close to the halfway line, and raced away before diving over under the posts.

The next 10 minutes was a slugfest with the Wallabies having most of the possession and after an extended period camped inside Fiji’s half, they were rewarded in the 56th minute when Latu scored their third try off the back of a lineout drive.

In the build-up to that score, referee Ben O’Keefe warned the Fijians for continuous indiscretions on defence and when Levani Botia infringed close to his try-line five minutes later, he was yellow carded for his transgression.

The resulting penalty was kicked into touch and after another lineout drive, Latu got over for his second try in similar fashion to his first.  With a one-man advantage, the Wallabies continued to dominate and in the 69th minute Kerevi stepped past a couple of defenders before crossing for his side’s fifth try.

Three minutes later, Koroibete found himself in space out wide and he did well to round Vereniki Goneva to score the try which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Hooper, Hodge, Latu 2, Kerevi, Koroibete
Cons:  Lealiifano, To’omua 2
Pen:  Hodge

For Fiji:
Tries:  Yato, Nayacalevu
Con:  Volavola
Pens:  Volavola 3
Yellow Card:  Botia

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Reece Hodge, 13 James O’Connor, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 David Pocock, 5 Rory Arnold, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Jordan Uelese, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 21 Will Genia, 22 Matt To’omua, 23 Dane Haylett-Petty

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Levani Botia, 11 Semi Radradra, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (c), 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Peni Ravai, 2 Samuel Matavesi, 1 Campese Ma’afu
Replacements:  16 Tuvere Vugakoto, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Manasa Saulo, 19 Tevita Ratuva, 20 Mosese Voka, 21 Nikola Matawalu, 22 Alivereti Veitokani, 23 Vereniki Goneva

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Hosts Japan open World Cup with unconvincing win

Kotaro Matsushima touched down three times as Japan overcame a nervous start to beat a resilient Russian outfit 30-10 in the opening game of the World Cup in Tokyo.

After the long build-up, it was perhaps unsurprising to see the Brave Blossoms begin slowly, but it was still a surprise that the Bears stayed in the contest for so long.

They shocked the hosts by taking the lead via Kirill Golosnitskiy and were only 12-7 in arrears at the interval after Matsushima touched down twice, but the Japanese eventually pulled away in the second half.

Yu Tamura added a couple of penalties while Pieter Labuschagne and Matsushima, who completed his hat-trick, secured the bonus-point to give them the full five points, but Japan will have to improve significantly if they are to beat Ireland next week.

Jamie Joseph’s men are well-fancied to excel at their home tournament and a match against minnows Russia offered them an ideal chance to ease their way into the competition.

Nerves were prevalent, however, and from the kick-off the Bears almost stunned the hosts when Stanislav Selskii scampered down the right before being halted five metres out.

The mistakes continued following a charge-down and an error under the high ball from William Tupou, which allowed Golosnitskiy to collect and score the first try of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

It was deserved after a poor initial five minutes, but the restart enabled the Brave Blossoms to get their hands on the ball and they were much more comfortable.  Their high tempo game was in evidence and a brilliant off-load from Timothy Lafaele gave Matsushima an easy run to the line.

👏🏉🇯🇵

A lovely no look pass from @TimLafaele#RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/n7tOib7UI3

— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 20, 2019

Russia, despite tiring quickly, were resilient though and created opportunities via Yury Kushnarev’s varied kicking game.  It wasn’t always perfect but, when the fly-half got it right, Lyn Jones’ charges produced a brilliant attack which put the Japanese under duress.

Centres Dmitry Gerasimov and Vladimir Ostroushko, who had been physical throughout the opening period, combined nicely, but the latter could not quite get the ball out to the lurking German Davydov.

Having survived that scare, Japan dominated the rest of the half but they struggled to break through a stout Russian defensive barrier.  Jones’ men were well-organised and powerful in contact, but they were eventually breached late on when Matsushima crossed for the second time.

Joseph’s outfit took that momentum into the final 40 minutes and, after Tamura had extended their lead with a penalty, Labuschagne ripped the ball from Grenoble second-row Andrei Ostrikov on halfway and showed impressive pace to score.

It took his team 13 points clear but, to Russia’s credit, they kept themselves in the contest and reduced the arrears going into the final quarter through Kushnarev’s three-pointer.

Japan regained that buffer via the boot of Tamura but it was a poor display from the quarter-final hopefuls, who were far too loose.

The Brave Blossoms still had too much quality for the Bears, however, and sealed the win and the bonus-point when a poor Vasily Artemyev kick was pounced upon by the hosts, allowing Matsushima to complete his treble.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Matsushima 3, Labuschagne
Cons:  Tamura, Matsuda
Pens:  Tamura 2

For Russia:
Try:  Golosnitskiy
Con:  Kushnarev
Pen:  Kushnarev

Japan:  15 William Tupou, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Lomano Lava Lemeki, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 James Moore, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Asaeli Ai Valu, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Isileli Nakajima, 18 Jiwon Koo, 19 Luke Thompson, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Ryohei Yamanaka

Russia:  15 Vasily Artemyev (c), 14 German Davydov, 13 Vladimir Ostroushko, 12 Dmitry Gerasimov, 11 Kirill Golosnitskiy, 10 Yury Kushnarev, 9 Vasily Dorofeev, 8 Nikita Vavilin, 7 Tagir Gadzhiev, 6 Vitaly Zhivatov, 5 Bogdan Fedotko, 4 Andrei Ostrikov, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Stanislav Selskii, 1 Valery Morozov
Replacements:  16 Evgeny Matveev, 17 Andrei Polivalov, 18 Azamat Bitiev, 19 Andrey Garbuzov, 20 Anton Sychev, 21 Dmitry Perov, 22 Ramil Gaisin, 23 Vladislav Sozonov

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Ireland spoil Warren Gatland's farewell party

Warren Gatland's final home match in charge of Wales ended in a 22-17 defeat to Ireland as the latter bounced back in Cardiff on Saturday.

Following an embarrassing loss to England at Twickenham last weekend, Ireland will be delighted with this response at Principality Stadium.

Jacob Stockdale scored two while the Irish also carded a penalty try, with Jack Carty kicking five points on his birthday in a solid shift.

In reply for Wales, Owen Lane and Rhys Patchell scored their tries, the latter adding two conversion while Jarrod Evans slotted a penalty.

Ireland enjoyed a much-improved first half in Cardiff and opened the scoring on nine minutes when the impressive Carty slotted from 40 out.  However, Wales levelled matters six minutes later through Evans from in front, this after Peter O'Mahony was trapped at the base of a ruck.

The game then went rather stale before a high take from Will Addison sparked an attack, with Carty's mini break carried on well by Andrew Conway, whose run led to him finding Stockdale on the left wing for a run in.  With the difficult conversion added, the Irish were 10-3 up.

Wales and Evans missed the chance to reduce the arrears off the tee eight minutes later and soon after a stray offload from Aaron Shingler allowed Stockdale to hack downfield and then collect for his brace, pushing the Irish into a healthy 15-3 lead at the Principality Stadium.

Despite Carty missing a long-range penalty shot at the end of the opening period, Joe Schmidt would have been happy with his side's effort.

The second half was much improved from Wales, however, as despite being dominated at scrum time they offered much more with Patchell at 10.

The Welsh cause wasn't helped when replacement prop Leon Brown was sin-binned for his team's repeated infringements at the set-piece.  The Irish almost rubbed salt into Wales' wounds soon after but Carty's pass out right to Conway for a score was chalked off for being forward.

Congratulations to @JackCarty10 who has been named the Man of the Match! #TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/s15AB2MpwV

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) August 31, 2019

Schmidt's men would continue to turn the screw though at the scrum and eventually the pressure told as Romain Poite awarded a penalty try.

At 22-3 down Wales needed the next points and fortunately for them they got it as Lane's tidy finish gave them a foothold at 22-10 adrift.

Amazingly they were only five points away from Ireland with three minutes left as Patchell slipped over for another converted score, this coming after the Irish had their own try chalked off due to Bundee Aki tackling James Davies in the air, much to the centre's displeasure.

But Ireland would hold on for a positive result on the road as both these sides will now recover ahead of a rematch in Dublin next weekend.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Lane, Patchell
Cons:  Patchell 2
Pen:  Evans
Yellow Card:  Brown

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stockdale 2, Penalty try
Con:  Carty
Pen:  Carty

Wales:  15 Hallam Amos, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Josh Navidi (c), 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Jonah Holmes

Ireland:  15 Will Addison, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Peter O’Mahony (c), 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Garry Ringrose, 23 Dave Kearney

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

France run out comfortable winners over Italy

France rounded off their Rugby World Cup warm-up fixtures with a comprehensive 47-19 victory over Italy at the Stade de France on Friday.

Les Bleus crossed seven times, which includes a penalty try, as Yoann Huget, Camille Chat, Antoine Dupont, Arthur Iturria, Wenceslas Lauret and Thomas Ramos scored.  Fly-half Romain Ntamack also impressed with his goal-kicking, landing five conversions from six attempts in Paris.

In reply, Italy went over through Mattia Bellini (2) and Jake Polledri as they now switch their attention to tackling England in Newcastle.

France enjoyed the perfect start when slick hands led to wing Huget crossing on two minutes, the try coming after Wesley Fofana's break.  Ntamack couldn't slot the conversion so it remained 5-0, with the early score misleading the fans it would be a high-scoring first quarter.

Indeed there was to be no further score until the 19th minute as, with France minus a sin-binned Louis Picamoles, Italy took the advantage when wing Bellini went over thanks to Sergio Parisse's pass.  The Azzurri would go into the lead thanks to the extra two from Tommaso Allan.

France were down to 13 men seconds after the seven points when Rabah Slimani followed his number eight for a 10 minute spell on the chair.  But that didn't deter Les Bleus as they were awarded a penalty try shortly after as Huget was held back by Bellini, who was shown yellow.

With 13 against 14 France were still on the attack and their pack showed their muscle when hooker Chat scored to make it 19-7 with the two, which was the half-time scoreline in a first 40 that was high on penalties, which kept referee Matthew Carley busy at the Stade de France.

France came out for the second period firing and a solo score from Dupont was then followed by Iturria getting over for his first Test try, which slingshotted the French into a comfortable 33-7 advantage on 46 minutes.  Italy were now shell shocked as the game looked beyond them.

🇫🇷🇮🇹 C'est terminé au @StadeFrance ! Les Bleus terminent leur série de 3 matches de préparation à la Coupe du Monde par une large victoire contre l'Italie ! #NeFaisonsXV #FRAITA #XVdeFrance pic.twitter.com/uilQCu5OdX

— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) August 30, 2019

However, Polledri clawed the Italians back into matters with a crossing on 51 minutes, making it 33-14 after Allan's successful conversion.

That prompted both coaches to utilise their bench as several players emerged for the closing half-hour.  But it was a man on the field from the outset who crossed next as France flanker Lauret went over from close range to make it 40-14, effectively sealing the victory in Paris.

Italy did score their third try on 67 minutes through Bellini, which was his brace, but it was replacement Ramos who had the final say as his try and France's seventh of the evening rounded off a morale-boosting win that sends France into the Rugby World Cup on a positive.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Huget, Penalty try, Chat, Dupont, Iturria, Lauret, Ramos
Cons:  Ntamack 5
Yellow Cards:  Picamoles, Slimani

For Italy:
Tries:  Bellini 2, Polledri
Cons:  Allan 2
Yellow Card:  Bellini

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Gael Fickou, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Jefferson Poirot (c)
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Francois Cros, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Virimi Vakatawa, 23 Thomas Ramos

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Matteo Minozzi, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Simone Ferrari
Replacements:  16 Federico Zani, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Dean Budd, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Dominant England put 57 points on Ireland

England put down a marker in their penultimate home game before the Rugby World Cup as they beat Ireland 57-15 at Twickenham on Saturday.

The hosts crossed eight times and go into their final match, against Italy in Newcastle, full of confidence before they fly out to Japan.

Joe Cokanasiga (2), Elliot Daly, Manu Tuilagi, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie got the tries while captain Owen Farrell kicked 15 points as England racked up their biggest ever score against Ireland in an international.  It was an impressive showing.

In reply, Ireland went over via Jordan Larmour and Bundee Aki but they were extremely poor at Twickenham.

England would have been enthused by their first-half performance as they went over three times to go in 22-10 to the good in the sunshine.

In conditions perfect for running rugby, both sides chanced their arm in attack and it was Ireland who crossed first, this after Farrell landed a penalty.  The try came out wide as Jacob Stockdale's chip sat up for Larmour, with Ross Byrne making it 7-3 off the tee.

England took just three minutes to respond though as quick hands from a scrum saw the ball moved to Cokanasiga, who showed pace and his strength with a fend to cross the whitewash.  Despite Farrell missing the tough conversion attempt, England were back in front.

The lead changed hands twice more approaching the half-hour as first Iain Henderson's breakdown work allowed Byrne to slot a penalty.  But then numbers were created by England in the 22 and Curry timed his pass well to Daly for a score on the right to make it 15-10.

It's full time at Twickenham and England have recorded an emphatic victory over Ireland in the #QuilterInternationals 🌹#ENGvIRE #CarryThemHome pic.twitter.com/92Q1TTvAvN

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) August 24, 2019

England would score again in the closing 10 minutes of the half as scrappy ball at the base five metres out did not stop Tuilagi going over.  Further concern for Ireland would be the sight of both scrum-half Conor Murray and prop Cian Healy coming off the field injured.

Murray did return before the break but was replaced permanently at half-time before England continued to show their quality, pouncing on an Irish overthrow at a line-out 20 metres out as Itoje ran a smart line off Ben Youngs.  That pushed England into a 29-10 lead.

In their first warm-up fixture, Ireland were struggling to keep pace and the margin grew on 53 minutes when Kruis scored to make it 36-10.

Curry was next to cross three minutes later after nice hands from Kyle Sinckler to Sam Underhill sent him over and England up to 43 points.

The icing was added on 65 minutes with Cokanasiga's second try bringing up 50 points and, despite Aki finishing well on the right wing on 73 minutes, it did little to paper over a dismal day for Joe Schmidt's outfit, with Cowan-Dickie having the final say for a rampant England.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Cokanasiga 2, Daly, Tuilagi, Itoje, Kruis, Curry, Cowan-Dickie
Cons:  Farrell 6, Ford
Pen:  Farrell
Yellow Card:  Kruis

For England:
Tries:  Larmour, Aki
Con:  Byrne
Pen:  Byrne

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Joe Marchant

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Jean Kleyn, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Tadhg Beirne, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO:  Philippe Bonhoure (France)

Scotland gain revenge over France

Scotland came from 11 points down to avenge last weekend’s disappointing loss in Nice and defeat France 17-14 at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Les Bleus were the better team in the first half and were 14-10 ahead at the interval thanks to a pair of Damian Penaud tries.

Greig Laidlaw kicked a penalty in between those efforts from the wing before Sean Maitland crossed the whitewash to keep the hosts in the contest at the break.

The Scots then controlled much of the second period and deservedly scored through Chris Harris to secure the win and get their World Cup preparations back on track.

It was a much improved effort from the Scots but there were still far too many errors, particularly in the opening half-hour.  One such mistake allowed the visitors to get the ideal start as Penaud intercepted a stray pass and strolled across the whitewash unopposed.

Although Laidlaw immediately reduced the arrears, the home side continued to struggle with ball in hand.  Their physicality and intent may have been more to Gregor Townsend’s liking, but several knock-ons halted any momentum garnered.

France were not much better in a number of the exchanges but they initially had the quality when it mattered.  That was shown by Sofiane Guitoune, who was a late replacement for Wesley Fofana, when the centre sprinted through a gaping hole and found his right-wing to score.

For the second time, Thomas Ramos was on target with the conversion and Les Bleus held a 14-3 advantage, but they were pegged back by Scotland.

🗣 "That's more like it from Scotland!"

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Finn Russell sets up Sean Maitland for Scotland's first try of the day, just before half time! pic.twitter.com/wXUrN8ZSf1

— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) August 24, 2019

In keeping with the game, it came from a mistake as the visitors lost the ball deep inside their half.  Blair Kinghorn pounced before the ball was shifted left and Maitland was on hand to collect Finn Russell’s pass and touch down.

The second period continued in the same vein as the first with errors pervading the play, which led to a number of scrums.  That favoured Townsend’s charges, who were controlling the set-piece battle, and they began to get the upper hand.

Jacques Brunel’s men conceded some needless penalties and their opponents set up camp in the 22.  The Scots duly pressurised the French defence and it was eventually breached when Harris took a superb line to finish underneath the posts.

They had the momentum and France were far too loose, but this French outfit showed last week that they could produce the spectacular and almost created a superb score.

Forwards and backs linked well before Maxime Medard chipped the ball over the top, but Stuart Hogg covered well and that proved to be their final chance as Scotland claimed the win.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Maitland, Harris
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pen:  Laidlaw

For France:
Tries:  Penaud 2
Cons:  Ramos 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Willem Nel, 2 George Turner, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Grant Stewart, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Barclay, 21 George Horne, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Blair Kinghorn

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Arthur Iturria, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Yacouba Camara, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Maxime Medard

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Five-try France hammer Scotland in Nice

France strolled to a comfortable 32-3 win over Scotland in their Rugby World Cup warm-up match at Allianz Riviera on Saturday.

Les Bleus scored five tries in total as Alivereti Raka, Maxime Medard (2), Gregory Alldritt and Antoine Dupont went over in a superb victory.

Scotland, who take on the same team at Murrayfield next week, could only muster three points via the boot of Adam Hastings on a hard night.

Raka would get the scoreboard ticking as early as the second minute when a slick set play near to the Scottish posts saw the powerful Fijian-born Clermont wing crash over for a 7-0 lead, Camille Lopez adding the two.  It was an early warning shot fired by a hungry France side.

Lopez made it 10-0 off the tee on 15 minutes and the gap was further extended eight minutes later, full-back Medard finishing off a free-flowing move on the left as Scotland were on the ropes.  Lopez's difficult conversion attempt was missed which meant that Hastings' well struck penalty from in front, fortunately for the visitors, reduced the margin with Les Bleus now leading 15-3 with 26 minutes on the clock.

Things would then take a turn for the worse for Scotland when Hastings was yellow carded for slapping down a ball while France were on the attack.  That was duly capitalised on by France as number eight Alldritt went over close to the touchline for their third try of the night.

🇫🇷🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Première répétition prometteuse pour les Bleus 👏🏻 Prochaine étape samedi prochain à Murrayfield !#XVdeFrance #FRAECO #NeFaisonsXV pic.twitter.com/SdwjtCwRhF

— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) August 17, 2019

Scotland did manage to avoid any further damage to the scoreboard late in the first half and returned with fresh legs coming on during the first 10 minutes, in-form Northampton Saints outside centre Rory Hutchinson one of those to emerge as he made his bow on the international stage.

However, there was no change in fortunes for the Scots as Medard's second try arrived on 53 minutes thanks to quick hands before scrum-half Dupont was next to cross the whitewash, capping off a break from loosehead prop Jefferson Poirot.  France were now leading 32-3 after an hour.

Scotland, to their credit, did rally late on and Huw Jones was denied a try after a forward pass before another attack saw them fumble five metres out.  It summed up a difficult and sobering evening for Gregor Townsend's men as they now head home looking for a response next week.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Raka, Medard 2, Alldritt, Dupont
Cons:  Lopez 2
Pen:  Lopez

For Scotland:
Pen:  Hastings
Yellow Card:  Hastingson

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Jefferson Poirot (c)
Replacements:  16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Thomas Ramos

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements:  16 George Turner, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Blair Kinghorn

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)