All Blacks finally end winless Wellington run and ease final quarter woes with an impressive victory over Wallabies

The All Blacks finished their Rugby Championship campaign in style when they clinched a deserved 33-13 victory against the Wallabies in Wellington on Saturday.

The home side were full value for their win as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored the Wallabies by five tries to one, with Caleb Clarke leading the way with a brace.

Sevu Reece, Will Jordan and Tamaiti Willians also crossed the whitewash while Beauden Barrett succeeded with four conversions.

For the Wallabies, Fraser McReight scored a try and Noah Lolesio added a conversion and two three-pointers off the kicking tee.

It was a momentous result for New Zealand as they ended a five-match winless run in Wellington ― stretching back to 2018 and they also scored points for the first time during the final quarter of a match in this year’s Rugby Championship.

The Wallabies made a fine start and had a great opportunity to open the scoring as early as the third minute when Andrew Kellaway caught the All Blacks’ defence napping.

He launched an attack from just inside New Zealand’s half before booting the ball ahead inside their 22.  Barrett failed to deal with the bouncing ball and Jake Gordon pounced but knocked on while trying to dot down.

Australia continued to attack inside New Zealand’s 22 and five minutes later they were rewarded when McReight barged over for the opening try from close quarters.

The All Blacks seemed shell-shocked by the intensity of the Wallabies’ onslaught as they continued to launch several attacks, but the home side did well to soak up that early pressure and soon opened their account.

In the 16th minute, Wallace Sititi launched an attack close to the halfway line and did brilliantly to draw in three defenders before offloading to Anton Lienert-Brown, who set off towards the Wallabies’ try-line.  He still had plenty of work to do and found Reece with a beautifully weighted skip pass and the wing outpaced the cover defence on his way over the try-line.

Lolesio responded with a penalty soon after, before Jordan left his stamp on the match with a moment of magic.  This, after he gathered a pass from Barrett just outside Australia’s 22 and the full-back did brilliantly to step past two defenders before racing away to score his try.

Despite that score, the Wallabies remained competitive and McReight came close to scoring his second try in the latter stages of the half but was held up while crossing the whitewash.

The visitors continued to attack inside New Zealand’s 22 and Lolesio eventually added another penalty in the 35th minute after New Zealand were blown up for offside play on defence.

Despite that score, the All Blacks had one more trick up their sleeve as just before half-time they launched a flowing attack deep inside Wallabies’ territory.  Lienert-Brown turned provider again as he found Clarke with a deft offload and the flyer sliced through the visitors’ defence before scoring his first try.

Barrett added the extras which meant the match was still evenly poised with the home side leading 19-13 at the interval.

A win in Wellington 😎#AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/ihYHlLPQ8m

― All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 28, 2024

Both sides stayed true to their attacking roots during the rest of the match, although the home side came out firing after the restart and were soon camped inside the Wallabies’ half.

And after taking the ball through several phases off the back of a lineout close to Australia’s try-line, Williams crashed over for their fourth try to extend his side’s lead.

The All Blacks continued to dominate as the half progressed and had a try from Tupou Vaa’i disallowed, five minutes later, after a handling error in the build-up.

That setback did not deter the hosts and in the 65th minute, Clarke ran onto a pass from Damian McKenzie and shrugged off two defenders before crashing over for his second five-pointer.

That score knocked the wind out of the Wallabies’ sails and secured the result for the All Blacks and, in doing so, they also ended their six-year hoodoo in Wellington.

The teams

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9  TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 David Havili

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Josh Flook

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (England), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Los Pumas down shell-shocked Springboks in Santiago thriller to set up Rugby Championship title decider

Argentina have now beaten all three Rugby Championship opponents after they triumphed over the Springboks 29-28 in Santiago.

The hosts scored four tries on the day with Mateo Carreras, Pablo Matera, Joel Sclavi and Tomas Albornoz scoring with the fly-half also kicking three conversions and a penalty in an epic shift.

Meanwhile, South Africa managed three tries in Santiago through Aphelele Fassi, Jesse Kriel and Cobus Reinach with Handre Pollard kicking two penalties and two conversions.  Manie Libbok also kicked a penalty.

The Springboks were very fast out of the gates with Fassi scoring in just the third minute thanks to a lovely Pollard pass with the fly-half adding the extras as he would four minutes after that when Kriel cantered through giving the visitors a dream start.

Looking to compound the pressure, the Springboks kicked a penalty through Pollard in the 12th minute to take a commanding lead early with the world champions expecting to pull away but that was not the case.

Los Pumas burst into life and played Carreras in down the left hand side for the first try from the hosts in the 14th minute as Albornoz got his kick.  Argentina would exploit the same side with Kurt-Lee Arendse in the sin bin seven minutes later this time Matera crossing the white whitewash for a converted try.

The onslaught did not stop there as Sclavi (26”) and Albornoz (34”) both scored tries, one of which was converted, to suddenly shoot Los Pumas into a strong position.  The Springboks needed to stop the bleeding and Reinach showed his awareness and experience to score in the corner from a quick tap taking the sides into half-time after Pollard missed the conversions.

The second-half would not follow the same rate of scoring although Pollard did kick a penalty in the 43rd minute and Libbok in the 50th minute as the Springboks looked to slow the game down and take control.

The visitor’s control of the game did improve but not enough to make further difference on the scoreboard opening the door for Albornoz to kick the decisive penalty in the 68th minute.

The last minutes were filled with nerves as Libbok had a chance to win in from the tee in the dying minutes but he pulled his kick handing Los Pumas a famous victory in Santiago.

This sets up a massive battle in Nelspruit next weekend where the same side will slug it out for the Rugby Championship title.

Teams

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Gudio Petti, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Matias Moroni

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Manie Libbok

60-minute All Blacks survive second-half Wallabies scare to retain the Bledisloe Cup in Sydney thriller

The All Blacks retain the Bledisloe Cup despite a nervous last 20 minutes in their 28-31 win over the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.

Both sides scored four tries a piece with the hosts going over the whitewash with Fraser McReight, Matt Faessler, Hunter Paisami and Tom Wright with Noah Lolesio kicking all the conversions in a flawless day from the tee.

The All Blacks’ points came from Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Caleb Clarke and Ardie Savea tries as Damian McKenzie kicked four conversions and a very important penalty that proved decisive.

It was the All Blacks who flew out of the blocks early with Jordan making the most of his late switch to full-back after Beauden Barrett’s withdrawal by finding a pocket of space and showing his acceleration to score in just the second minute.  Mckenzie was on hand to kick his first conversion of the day.

The visitors did not let up as they looked to double down on their fast start finding plenty of space down the left side to set up Ioane for yet another Bledisloe Cup try in the ninth minute as fly-half McKenzie had no issue with the kick.

Unfortunately for the Wallabies two tries became three in the first 15 minutes as Clarke barged his way through two defenders to cross the whitewash for yet another converted try.  However, this time the hosts responded with a brilliant set move off a line-out that had McReight in space after a series of lovely passes.  Lolesio would add the extras.

It would always be difficult to keep the All Blacks out again who got rewarded for their defensive pressure as Sevu Reece picked a loose ball to play in Savea who ran in under the sticks for a converted score becoming the highest try-scoring forward in All Blacks history in the process.

The hosts would have the final say of the first half as hooker Faessler timed his breakaway from a maul to perfection and Lolesio kicked a difficult conversion to keep the Wallabies in the contest.

New Zealand started the second period with some good pressure leading to a penalty for McKenzie in the 45th minute taking the All Blacks crucially out of the two-converted try difference.

The contest tightened up as the Wallabies grew into the game leading to a lull in scoring with the All Blacks scoring two disallowed tries before the hosts eventually crashed over for a converted try from Paisami with 15 minutes to go.

The Wallabies continued to push and finally got their reward with a 79th-minute converted try from full-back Wright once again converted by Lolesio.  This would take the hosts within three points of the All Blacks but it was not to be as New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup again.

Teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Harry Plummer

Australia butcher 17-point lead as Julian Montoya’s milestone inspires Argentina to record win

Argentina captain Julian Montoya had a dream match in his 100th appearance for his country as Los Pumas took apart Australia 67-27 in Santa Fe which is the most points a team has scored against the Wallabies and the country’s biggest defeat.

Los Pumas managed nine tries on the day through hot-stepping wing Mateo Carreras, the milestone man Montoya, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Pablo Matera Joaquin Oviedo (2), Juan Cruz Mallia (2) and Lucio Cinti all crossing the whitewash.

Fly-half Tomas Albornoz was on point with the boot, kicking six conversions and two penalties.  Substitute Santiago Carreras also added two from his boot.

The Wallabies only managed three tries in the Santa Fe heat through Carlo Tizzano, Andrew Kellaway and Tate McDermott with Ben Donaldson kicking two penalties and two conversions.  Replacement Tom Lynagh also kicked a conversion.

It did not take long for the scoreboard to tick over as Albornoz nudged over a penalty after just four minutes.  This would be the hosts’ last points for nearly 30 minutes as Donaldson cancelled out the Argentine penalty with one for Australia after six minutes.

The Wallabies looked to double down on their momentum and did just that with the tireless Tizzano being rewarded with a converted score after 15 minutes.  Donaldson would add another penalty eight minutes later before Max Jorgensen expertly played in Kellaway for his try.

Almost as if it was a flick of a switch, Argentina burst into life scoring two tries through Carreras and skipper Montoya in the last 10 minutes of the first period.  The hosts would follow suit in the second half scoring three tries through Gonzalez, Matera and Joaquin Oviedo in the first 24 minutes of the half.  Albornoz nailed all of the conversions to give Argentina a strong lead.

Australia managed to scratch together their final try of the game with some quick thinking from McDermott powering him over with 11 minutes to go.  However, it would go severely downhill for the visitors as the floodgates well and truly opened with Mallia bagging a brace, Oviedo scoring his second and Cinti strolling overall in the final 10 minutes.

What started as a positive performance for Australia fell apart into a string of forgettable records for Joe Schmidt.

Teams

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Gudio Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Joaquin Oviedo, 21 Santiago Grondona, 22 Gonzalo Garcia, 23 Santiago Carreras

Australia:  15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Josh Canham, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Josh Flook

Referee:  Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (NZR), James Doleman (NZR)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (SARU)

Springboks claim epic double over All Blacks ending 15-year wait for Freedom Cup glory

The Springboks continued with their dominance in this year’s Rugby Championship as they clinched an 18-12 victory over the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a hard-fought battle and momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed throughout but the Boks finished stronger and eventually outscored their visitors by two tries to none.

Siya Kolisi and Malcolm Marx crossed the whitewash for the world champions with Handre Pollard adding a conversion and a penalty while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also succeeded with a three-pointer off the kicking tee.

Damian McKenzie scored all of the All Blacks points courtesy of four penalties.  The win is a momentous one for the Boks as they take a giant step towards winning the Rugby Championship and it also means they win the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years.

It is also South Africa’s second successive triumph over New Zealand in the tournament and their fourth win in a row over their arch-rivals.

The opening exchanges were cagey with the two sides feeling each other out, although the home side had their tails up when they had the All Blacks back-pedalling at successive scrums inside the opening 10 minutes.

In the 15th minute, the Springboks were reduced to 14 men when Jasper Wiese received a yellow card for a cynical defensive foul deep inside his 22 and McKenzie slotted the resulting penalty to open the scoring.

New Zealand’s numerical advantage did not last long, however, as shortly afterwards Sevu Reece was also sent to the sin bin after he took Willie le Roux out in an aerial challenge.

The next 10 minutes was a slugfest characterised by several bone-crunching collisions with neither side taking a backward step in contact.

In the 29th minute, the visitors doubled their lead courtesy of another McKenzie three-pointer off the kicking tee after Grant Williams was blown up for going off his feet a ruck.

It wasn’t long before the Boks opened their account via a Pollard penalty after Ardie Savea infringed at the breakdown.

The closing stages of the opening stanza was a tense affair as the All Blacks were camped deep inside the Boks’ 22 and just before the interval McKenzie succeeded with another penalty ― after Ruan Nortje was penalised at a ruck ― which meant the visitors held a 9-3 lead at half-time.

The Boks make it four in a row against the All Blacks … and the Freedom Cup is coming home 🏆#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/Sau0OEd4zl

― Springboks (@Springboks) September 7, 2024

Soon after the restart, McKenzie lined up a 53-metre penalty ― after Damian de Allende held onto the ball on the ground ― but his effort fell just short of the cross-bar.

The Boks were soon on the attack inside the All Blacks’ 22 and after Marx and Ox Nche were stopped close to the try-line, Eben Etzebeth crossed the whitewash but his effort was disallowed as the TMO ruled that he dotted down short of the whitewash.

The home side did not panic though and after initially setting up a driving maul on New Zealand’s five-metre line, the ball was taken through some phases before Kolisi crossed for the opening five-pointer in the 50th minute with a hulking carry.

Pollard added the extras, which gave his team the lead for the first time, but he was replaced by Feinberg-Mngomezulu shortly afterwards and the rookie playmaker was soon into the action as he slotted a 40-metre penalty in the 53rd minute.

The tense nature of this encounter continued as the match progressed and in the 59th minute McKenzie added his fourth penalty which meant the match was on a knife’s edge as it entered its final quarter.

In the 61st minute, South Africa were forced to play with 14 men again when Le Roux was yellow carded, after knocking on a pass from Beauden Barrett to Sevu Reece, and McKenzie lined up a shot at goal but his kick struck an upright.

The Boks had a chance to extend their lead in the 67th minute when Feinberg-Mngomezulu attempted a penalty from the halfway line but despite having the distance, his effort was off target.

Five minutes later, the All Blacks had a chance to regain the lead when McKenzie lined up a penalty from 40 metres out but, like Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s earlier kick, his was also wide of the mark.

Things went pear-shaped for the All Blacks in the 72nd minute when referee Matthew Carley also sent Tyrel Lomax to the sin bin, after he took Cheslin Kolbe out off the ball with a shoulder charge.

That proved costly as the Boks put the resulting penalty into touch close to the All Blacks’ try-line and set up a lineout drive from which Marx went over for the match-winning score.

The teams

Springboks:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Lukhanyo Am

All Blacks:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (IRFU), Jordan Way (RA)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

Australia spoil Agustin Creevy’s farewell clinching a late win in La Plata arm-wrestle

Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies claimed their first win of the 2024 Rugby Championship with a narrow 19-20 triumph in La Plata.

The visitors scored two tries on the day through Jake Gordon and Rob Valetini while Noah Lolesio kicked two conversions and a penalty with Ben Donaldson kicking the winner late on.

Argentina, however, only managed one try through Juan Martin Gonzalez.  Most of their points came from Santiago Carreras’ boot with one conversion and three penalties.  The fly-half’s replacement Tomas Abornoz added a penalty of his own in the second half.

The start of the game saw the two sides looking to apply pressure and adapt to the wet conditions which saw Argentina draw first blood with Carreras’ first penalty in the 10th minute.

Los Pumas would extend their lead in a matter of a few moments with dynamic number eight Gonzalez crashing over for the team’s sole try in the 13th minute.  Carreras was on hand again to add the extras.

The Wallabies did well to keep themselves in the game and it paid off through a Gordon try in the 26th minute that was converted by Lolesio.  That would be all the points for Australia in the first half as Carreras kicked his second penalty six minutes before the break.

The second half started as the first ended with Carreras kicking a penalty, his third and final of the clash.  As they showed in the first 40 the Wallabies were not prepared to go anywhere and evergreen back-row Valetini crossed for a crucial score with Lolesio making no mistake from the tee.

The Test descended into an arm-wrestle as conditions worsened.  Lolesio would add three more points just before the hour mark which was responded to by a penalty from Albornoz.

It looked as if the hosts were going to close out the game but the Wallabies did well to get themselves upfield and secured the winning penalty from right in front through Donaldson to get off the mark in this year’s competition.

The teams

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Joaquin Oviedo, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz

Wallabies:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Max Jorgensen

Referee:  James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (NZR), Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (SARU)

Springboks leave it late to down All Blacks in epic Ellis Park clash

The Springboks launched a stunning second half fightback to clinch a thrilling 31-27 victory over the All Blacks in Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash in Johannesburg.

As expected, this encounter was a real humdinger characterised by numerous brutal collisions throughout but in the end the hosts got the rub of the green although New Zealand outscored them by four tries to three.

For South Africa, Bongi Mbonambi, Grant Williams and Kwagga Smith scored tries while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu finished with a 16-point contribution after slotting four penalties and two conversions.

Caleb Clarke led the way with a brace of tries for New Zealand while Jordie Barrett and Codie Taylor also crossed for five-pointers and Damian McKenzie added two conversions and a penalty.

The All Blacks dominated the early exchanges and spent most of the opening 10 minutes camped inside the Springboks’ half.  In the sixth minute, the home side were reduced to 14 men when Aphelele Fassi was yellow carded for a cynical defensive foul deep inside his 22.

The visitors put the resulting penalty into touch on the Boks’ five-metre line and launched a lineout drive from which Taylor crashed over for the opening try.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Boks were slowly getting into the game and in the 16th minute Mbonambi opened their account when he broke away from a maul close to New Zealand’s try-line before barging over for his five-pointer.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s goal-kick was disallowed after the shot clock had expired and the next 10 minutes was an arm wrestle as the sides went at each other hammer and tongs in a bid to gain the ascendancy.

On the half hour-mark, Feinberg-Mngomezulu showed his class when he stepped up and coolly slotted a monster penalty from 61 metres out and that kick gave South Africa the lead for the first time.

Despite that score, the All Blacks did not panic and three minutes later they struck back courtesy of Clarke’s first five-pointer after the Boks conceded a turnover in the build-up.  The visitors launched a brilliant counter attack and the ball was shifted wide to Clarke whose searing pace took him past Damian de Allende on his way over the try-line.

McKenzie was off target with his shot at goal before Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted his second penalty in the latter stages of the half which meant the match was evenly poised at the interval with New Zealand holding a slender 12-11 lead.

A nail-biter, but the Boks have done it 🥳#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/osGoEyGKMI

― Springboks (@Springboks) August 31, 2024

Just like the opening half, the All Blacks were fastest out of the blocks in the second stanza and soon after the restart Jordie Barrett intercepted a wayward pass from De Allende close to the halfway line and and showed great composure to outsprint the cover defence before crossing the whitewash.

The hosts responded by sending on their much-vaunted ’Bomb Squad’ and although Feinberg-Mngomezulu narrowed the gap with another three-pointer off the kicking tee soon after, that effort was canceled out by a McKenzie penalty which meant the visitors were holding a deserved 22-14 lead by the 49th minute.

Shortly afterwards Feinberg-Mngomezulu succeeded with his third penalty before the All Blacks struck back in style when Clarke found himself in space out wide and he showed the defence a clean pair of heels before dotting down again.

That meant New Zealand held a 10-point lead which meant South Africa needed a response if they wanted to win the game.  They emptied their bench while the All Blacks suffered a setback in the 67th minute when Ofa Tu’ungafasi received a yellow card after entering a ruck illegally deep inside his own territory.

The Boks did not take long to make their numerical advantage count as Smith crashed over from close quarters in the 69th minute and when Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extras, we were set for a thrilling finish.

Momentum was now with the home side as they spent long periods inside New Zealand’s half and in the 74th minute Williams made a sniping break from a ruck before diving over for his five-pointer which was converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

That gave the Boks the lead for only the second time in the game and although Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed a late penalty they held on to clinch a deserved victory.

The teams

Springboks:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handre Pollard

All Blacks:  15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Mark Tele’a

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO:  Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Rassie Erasmus’ brave call rewarded as second-string Springboks maul their way to dominant victory over Wallabies

The Springboks once again proved to be far too strong for the Wallabies as they sealed a comfortable 30-12 bonus-point triumph in Perth.

Like at Eden Park earlier, conditions were atrocious and it certainly had an impact on the tempo of the contest, but it ultimately did not play a part in the end result.

Despite an improved display from the Wallabies, especially in the first half, the visitors eventually got on top and claimed a second Rugby Championship triumph in 2024.

Australia’s Noah Lolesio kicked an early penalty to give the hosts a 3-0 lead before the world champions responded through Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s boot.

After Aphelele Fassi’s unconverted try and another Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty, the Springboks were 11-9 in front by the interval, despite two more Lolesio three-pointers.

Joe Schmidt’s side were in the match but they could not maintain their intensity and physicality, and South Africa scored three maul tries in the second period through Marco van Staden and Malcolm Marx, who went over twice, to seal the win.

After last week’s annihilation at the hands of the Boks, the Wallabies were given hope when Rassie Erasmus made 10 changes for the Perth encounter.

That almost inevitable lack of continuity was evident in the early stages as Erasmus’ men made some uncharacteristic mistakes, particularly off kick-offs and restarts, and conceded some needless penalties.

One such infringement enabled Lolesio to convert an early three-point attempt, which moved the Wallabies into a 3-0 lead, but Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Fassi responded for South Africa.

It was certainly not perfect from the visitors but this Boks squad are developing all the time and the only try of the first period was very well constructed.

Off a turnover, they quickly moved the ball and Fassi raced onto Makazole Mapimpi’s inch-perfect kick to cross the whitewash and move the Boks in front.

Although Lolesio’s second successful effort off the tee kept Australia in the contest, the Springboks had shown what they could do and took control via Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who moved them 11-6 in front.

That was briefly reduced to two points at the break via the boot of the Australian fly-half, but the four-time Rugby World Cup winners got back on the front foot at the start of the second period.

They earned a penalty and set up a maul five metres out from the opposition line, and the result was almost inevitable as Van Staden crossed the whitewash.

Lolesio did keep the Wallabies in contention with a fourth penalty, but another dominant drive, which ended in Marx touching down, effectively ended the match as a contest.

That double act was then repeated with the maul and Marx once again proving to be the Wallabies’ downfall as the visitors sealed a second successive Rugby Championship win in 2024.

The teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Angus Blyth, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Josh Nasser, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Billy Pollard, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Tom Hooper, 20 Seru Uru, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Max Jorgensen

Springboks:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Handré Pollard

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

All Blacks silence critics with dominant victory over Argentina to stretch unbeaten run at Eden Park to 50 games

The All Blacks got their Rugby Championship campaign back on track when they clinched an emphatic 42-10 victory against Argentina at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this match was quite different from last week’s corresponding one in Wellington as the hosts answered their critics with a superb all-round performance in which they dominated most facets of play.

The result is a significant one for the All Blacks as it stretches their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 50 matches and they last tasted defeat at the spiritual home of New Zealand rugby in 1994.

In the end, the All Blacks ran in six tries with Will Jordan leading the way with a brace while Damian McKenzie, Ardie Savea, Caleb Clarke and Beauden Barrett also crossed the whitewash.

McKenzie finished with a 17-point haul as he also succeeded with six conversions, while Juan Cruz Mallía scored Los Pumas’ only try, which was converted by Tomas Albornoz, and Santiago Carreras added a penalty.

The match started at a frenetic pace with the All Blacks taking the ball though several phases with captain Savea leading the way with a barnstorming run during the opening exchanges.

And the hosts’ early dominance was rewarded in the sixth minute when Jordie Barrett stabbed a perfectly weighted grubber kick through deep inside Argentina’s half and McKenzie dotted down behind the try-line.

Five minutes later, Los Pumas reduced the deficit courtesy of a three-pointer off the kicking tee from Santiago Carreras but the home side continued to dominate as the half progressed and were soon camped inside their opponents’ 22 again.

Soon after, Savea got his name onto the scoresheet when he barged over from close quarters before the All Blacks went further ahead in the 24th minute after Clarke crossed for his five-pointer.

That meant the home side were holding a 21-3 lead and they continued to dominate as the half progressed.  On the half hour-mark, Jordan crossed for his first five-pointer after gathering a pass from TJ Perenara, who did brilliantly to draw in three defenders in the build up.

In the 37th minute McKenzie and Beauden Barrett combined brilliantly before the latter sliced through the visitors’ defence on his way over the try-line and with the score 35-3 in their favour, the All Blacks had their tails up at half-time.

50 undefeated at Eden Park 🔥#AllBlacks #NZLvARG pic.twitter.com/mR9r418eTb

― All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 17, 2024

It was more of the same in the second half when Jordan crossed for his second try, after running on to a deft offload from Jordie Barrett before wriggling over the whitewash despite the attentions of two defenders.

McKenzie added the extras to give his side a deserved 42-3 lead but despite trailing by a big margin on the scoreboard, Los Pumas did not surrender and were more competitive during the rest of the match.

They did well to prevent their hosts from adding to their tally and in the 72nd minute Mallia crossed for their only try to add some respectability to the score.

Although the All Blacks would not score further points, they finished the game with 14 players after replacement hooker Asafo Aumua was yellow carded for an illegal hit on Mateo Carreras in the game’s closing stages.

The incident was reviewed by the TMO Bunker but the yellow card was not upgraded to red and despite finishing with a numerical disadvantage, the All Blacks were deserved winners in the end.

The teams

All Blacks:  15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Tupou Vaa’i, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Mark Tele’a

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Marcos Kremer, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Tomás Lavanini, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Bautista Delguy

Referee:  Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Argentina claim shock victory over All Blacks as Scott Robertson left with plenty to ponder

Argentina got their Rugby Championship campaign off to a superb start when they clinched a shock 38-30 victory over New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday.

In a fast paced and entertaining encounter, momentum between the two sides ebbed and flowed throughout but Los Pumas eventually got the rub of the green and outscored their hosts by four tries to three.

Lucio Cinti, Mateo Carreras, Franco Molina and Agustin Creevy scored Argentina’s tries while Santiago Carreras finished with an 18-point contribution after kicking four penalties and three conversions.

For New Zealand Sam Darry, Anton Lienert-Brown and Mark Tele’a dotted down while Damian McKenzie added three conversions and three penalties.

The result means the All Blacks’ winless run in Wellington continues and they have now won there only once in the past seven Tests and are winless in that city in their last five encounters.

Argentina had the better of the early exchanges and spent most of the opening 10 minutes camped inside New Zealand’s half but they had no reward for their efforts.

The All Blacks eventually opened the scoring courtesy of a McKenzie penalty in the 11th minute before Darry crossed for the first try shortly afterwards.

This, after McKenzie chipped ahead and regathered before offloading to Barrett who raced up field and soon found himself inside Los Pumas’ half.  He was confronted by the cover defence but kicked ahead before Darry gathered to score his first Test try.

Despite trailing 10-0, Argentina did not panic and midway through the half they opened their account when Cinti crossed the whitewash after Pablo Matera and Santiago Chocobares combined brilliantly in the build-up.

The next 10 minutes was an arm-wrestle as the sides battled to gain the ascendancy but the home side increased their lead in the 28th minute when McKenzie succeeded with his second penalty.

In the 35th minute, the All Blacks increased their lead when Lienert-Brown ran onto a pass from McKenzie close to Argentina’s try-line and swivelled through a tackle before dotting down.

McKenzie’s successful conversion meant New Zealand were leading 20-8 but this game’s topsy-turvy nature continued when Pumas flyer Mateo Carreras pounced on a loose ball and displayed deft footwork to beat the All Blacks fly-half on his way over the whitewash.

That meant the match was evenly poised at half-time with the hosts holding a 20-15 lead but Argentina were fastest out of the blocks after the break.

🇦🇷 ARGENTINA STUN THE ALL BLACKS IN WELLINGTON! WOW!#NZLvARG #RugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/eTSGSlGe0Y

― Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) August 10, 2024

In the 43rd minute, the visitors caught the men in black by surprise with a clever lineout variation in which a dummy jumper went up but the ball was thrown to Molina at the front of the set-piece, and the second-row powered over the try-line after a strong shove from his team-mates.

His effort was converted by Santiago Carreras which meant the visitors moved in front for the first time and the lead changed hands twice in five minutes when McKenzie and the Pumas fly-half traded penalties.

However, New Zealand struck back when Tele’a crossed for his try in the 52nd minute after gathering a well-timed pass from TJ Perenara close to the visitors’ try-line.

McKenzie’s conversion meant the All Blacks were leading 30-25 but that would be the last time they would score points as Los Pumas came to the fore with an outstanding performance in the final quarter.

Santiago Carreras narrowed gap when he added a penalty in the 56th minute before replacement hooker Creevy barged over from close quarters which restored his side’s lead.  The pivot then added the final nail in the All Blacks coffin when he slotted his fourth three-pointer off the kicking tee in the game’s closing stages.

The teams

New Zealand:  15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Tupou Vaa’i, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan De Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Will Jordan

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Efrain Elias, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Joaquin Oviedo, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (Australia)

Springboks wallop woeful Wallabies in Rugby Championship opener to claim just their second Brisbane victory

The Springboks made a superb start to their Rugby Championship campaign as they cruised to a deserved 33-7 bonus point victory over the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a tough day at the office for the home side whose game was littered with numerous unforced errors and they conceded a plethora of penalties.

In the end, the Springboks crossed for five tries with Kurt-Lee Arendse leading the way with a brace while captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kwagga Smith scored their other five-pointers and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted four conversions.

For the Wallabies Hunter Paisami grabbed a consolation try which was converted by Tom Lynagh.

The result was a momentous one for the visitors as it was only their second victory in Brisbane and the first one since 2013.

The Springboks held the upper hand during the opening exchanges and despite a wayward penalty attempt from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, they continued to dominate and were soon rewarded when Kolisi crossed for the opening try in the 10th minute.

This, after they caught the home side napping with a smart lineout move deep inside Wallabies territory.  The ball was initially gathered by Ben-Jason Dixon at the back of the set-piece and he then passed the ball, while being in the air, to Eben Etzebeth, who was also airborne at the front of the lineout.

The Boks set up the driving maul from which Kolisi crashed over for the game’s opening points.

That score boosted South Africa’s confidence as they were completely dominant for the rest of the half while the Wallabies had to be satisfied with scraps of possession.

It was all South Africa for the rest of the half and in the 24th minute, Du Toit glided through a gaping hole in the Wallabies’ defence before crossing for his team’s second try.

The Wallabies needed a response but that did not come as they battled to cope with the sheer intensity of the world champions’ onslaught.

And on the half-hour mark things went from bad to worse for the home side when Andrew Kellaway was yellow carded for a dangerous lifting tackle on Cobus Reinach.  The incident was reviewed by the TMO Bunker and luckily for Australia, the yellow card was not upgraded to red.

With a numerical advantage, the Boks went in search of their third try and that came five minutes later when Arendse gathered a loose ball midway between Australia’s try-line and their 22 and stepped past five players before dotting down.

That meant South Africa had their tails up as they held a deserved 21-0 lead when the teams changed sides at half-time.

An emphatic start to the #Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign in Brisbane.  See you again next week @Wallabies 🙌#ForeverGreenForeverGold #AUSvRSA pic.twitter.com/lttggUdVX4

― Springboks (@Springboks) August 10, 2024

The Wallabies were more competitive after the interval and spent some time in the Boks’ 22 during the third quarter but it was only a matter of time before the visitors regained the initiative.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus had made some changes and in the 62nd minute replacement scrum-half Grant Williams offloaded to reserve back-row Smith, who went over for the bonus-point try.

Five minutes later, Arendse was rewarded with his second five-pointer after Jesse Kriel laid the groundwork with a superb line break and with the score 33-0 in their favour, the Boks took their foot off the pedal in the game’s closing stages.

They were then reduced to 13 men when Malcolm Marx and Marco van Staden were yellow-carded in quick succession before Paisami crossed for Australia’s try in the 76th minute.

South Africa finished the match with 12 men on the field when Kriel also received a yellow card in the 79th minute but despite their sloppy finish, the Boks were deserved winners.

The teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Isaac Kailea
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Luke Reimer, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handré Pollard

Referee:  Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Duhan van der Merwe breaks Stuart Hogg’s try record in Scotland victory

Duhan van der Merwe became Scotland men’s record try-scorer after he touched down in their tight 31-19 victory over Uruguay.

The 29-year-old scored Scotland’s third try after 26 minutes on Saturday, which was the 28th time he has crossed the whitewash at Test level.

Van der Merwe duly surpassed the tally of Stuart Hogg, who went over on 27 occasions for Scotland between 2012 and 2023.

When the powerhouse scored, the visitors were 19-0 in front with Ewan Ashman and Luke Crosbie also touching down, but they then suffered a fright.

A spirited Uruguay outfit levelled matters with a quarter of the match to go thanks to tries from Santiago Alvarez, Felipe Etcheverry and Manuel Diana.

Los Teros sensed that an upset was on the cards but Patrick Harrison and Pierre Schoeman re-established Scotland’s dominance and secured the victory for Gregor Townsend’s men.

There was a late change to Townsend’s team with Scott Cummings dropping out with a foot injury.  Gregor Brown came in and Ewan Johnson was promoted into the 23-man squad, which was entirely composed of Glasgow and Edinburgh players given the game fell outside the international calendar.

Uruguay had the early pressure and their forwards drove within metres of the try line before failing to make the most of two penalties, one which they kicked to the corner and another which Etcheverry kicked wide of the posts.  It would not be the last time Scotland were grateful for the Uruguayan fly-half’s wayward kicking.

The momentum shifted with an incredible kick from Ben Healy, who found touch near Uruguay’s 22-metre line from deep within his own.

Scotland soon won a penalty and Ashman forced himself over for his fourth try of the tour in the 12th minute after the hooker followed up his own lineout to drive over at the back of a maul.

There was a scrappy spell of kicking before Matt Fagerson’s interception put Scotland on the front foot, and he ultimately fed Crosbie to cross for his first Scotland try after Diego Arbelo had been shown a yellow card for halting George Horne illegally after a kick-and-go penalty.

Van der Merwe was handed his memorable moment thanks to an unselfish pass from Kyle Rowe.  At 29, the Edinburgh winger could go on to set a final tally that will be very difficult to surpass.

The historic moment was nearly followed by a turnaround that would have been talked about for years.

Scrum-half Alvarez got Uruguay off the mark after intercepting Healy’s pass in front of the posts.  Etcheverry then went over from close range before taking his tally to nine points.

The fly-half somehow hit the post with a straightforward kick early in the second half after Brown was penalised for a high tackle but his deft kick forward led to the maul which saw Diana go over just after the hour mark.

Etcheverry was well wide with the conversion attempt that could have put the hosts ahead and the introduction of Adam Hastings and Jamie Dobie in the half-back positions brought some urgency to the visitors.

Harrison went over from a maul and Schoeman crossed inside four minutes before another substitute, Kyle Steyn, saw a late try disallowed.

The teams

Uruguay:  15 Ignacio Álvarez, 14 Juan Bautista Hontou, 13 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Tomás Inciarte, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 8 Carlos Deus, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 6 Manuel Ardao, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 1 Ignacio Peculo
Replacements:  16 Joaquín Myszka, 17 Mateo Sanguinetti, 18 Reinaldo Piussi, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Santiago Civetta, 21 Manuel Diana, 22 Santiago Gini, 23 Joaquín Suárez

Scotland:  15 Harry Paterson, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (c), 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Gregor Brown, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Murphy Walker, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Kyle Steyn

Referee:  Damian Schneider (UAR)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (FFR), Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (IRFU)

More misery for Eddie Jones as Japan suffer big home loss against Italy

Italy proved too strong for Japan in their mid-year international in Sapporo on Sunday as they clinched a convincing 42-14 victory over their hosts.

In a fast-paced and entertaining encounter, the Azzurri were full value for their win as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored the Brave Blossoms by five tries to two.

For Italy, Ange Capuozzo, Martin Page-Relo, Andrea Zambonin, Alessandro Garbisi and Ross Vintcent crossed the whitewash with Paolo Garbisi (3) and Leonardo Marin succeeding with conversions while Page-Relo also slotted three penalties.

Meanwhile, Dylan Riley scored a brace of tries and Rikiya Matsuda added a couple of conversions for Japan.

The result was another setback for Japan’s new head coach Eddie Jones as the Brave Blossoms are yet to win a Test since he took over the coaching reins at the start of the year.

Japan also suffered a heavy defeat against England last month before losing narrowly to Georgia last weekend. Meanwhile, Italy lost their first mid-year Test to Samoa before bouncing back with back-to-back victories over Tonga and Japan.

On Sunday, the Azzurri raced into a 10-0 lead after Page-Relo opened the scoring early on with a penalty before Capuozzo crossed for the opening try in the eighth minute.

The visitors continued to dominate as the half progressed and were rewarded with further converted five-pointers from Page-Relo and Zambonin before Riley crossed for his first try in the latter stages of the first half which meant Italy held a 24-7 lead at the interval.

The Brave Blossoms were fastest out of the blocks after the break and were rewarded soon after the restart when Riley crossed for his second try.

Concern over Paolo Garbisi

The next 25 minutes was a tight affair as the sides battled to gain the ascendancy but the Azzurri suffered a big blow in the 68th minute when star fly-half Garbisi was forced off the field due to a blow to his head after an accidental clash with Riley.

Despite that setback, Italy came to the fore with a strong finish and secured the result thanks to late tries from replacement scrum-half Garbisi and Vintcent.

Scotland weather Chile physicality to claim eight-try victory in Santiago

Scotland picked up their third straight triumph on their Americas tour after they overcame a physical Chile side 52-11 in Santiago on Saturday.

Josh Bayliss, Kyle Rowe (2), Jamie Dobie (2), Matthew Currie, Dylan Richardson and Kyle Steyn all crossed the whitewash while Ben Healy and Adam Hastings added extras.

A combative Chile outfit managed to cross just once, through replacement Diego Escobar, but they defended superbly throughout, especially at the ruck to frustrate Scotland.

Forwards Ewan Johnson, Nathan McBeth and Will Hurd were all handed their first Scotland starts, while leadership trio Jamie Ritchie, Sione Tuipulotu and Steyn ― who shifted from his usual position on the wing to play at centre ― were the only players to start the game who had more than 10 caps to their name.

The tourists struggled in the early stages and were behind at the end of the first quarter after Santiago Videla’s penalty got the passionate Chileans up and running in the 11th minute.

Scotland gradually began to feel their way into the match, however, and they claimed the lead in the 22nd minute when back-rower Bayliss showed good feet to push his way over from close range, with Healy adding the extras.

The hosts reduced the deficit to one point shortly afterwards with a penalty from Tomas Salas but the Scots started to exert their authority in the closing stages of the half.

Just before the half-hour, Rowe waltzed in off the left to score his first Scotland try, but the visitors could consider themselves fortunate that the officials did not deem Tuipulotu’s pass in the build-up to have gone forward. Healy converted.

Dobie ― playing on the wing instead of his usual scrum-half berth ― then finished off the Scots’ third try of the evening in the 35th minute following an exquisite pass out to the right from Healy, who was on point once more from the tee.

Hooker Richardson almost added another in the 39th minute but was held up on the line.

Dobie enjoyed another easy finish five minutes after the break when, following a lineout on the left, the Scots worked the ball clinically through hands to the right, with Rowe laying it on a plate for his Glasgow colleague to bound over. Healy was off target with his conversion from wide on the right.

Chile got one back in the 50th minute when replacement hooker Escobar bulldozed his way through Gus Warr and Arron Reed off the back of a maul, although Salas’ conversion attempt drifted just wide.

Edinburgh back Currie raced away for his first Scotland try in the 58th minute, with fellow substitute Hastings converting.

Rowe then scurried over for his second of the evening in the 65th minute after another slick Scottish move from left to right while Escobar was in the sin-bin following some cynical play.

Richardson pushed over in the 73rd minute before Steyn darted clear to seal an ultimately comfortable eight-try victory in virtually the last action of the match.

The teams

Chile:  15 Diego Warnken, 14 Cristobal Game, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 12 Santiago Videla, 11 Matias Garafulic, 10 Tomas Salas, 9 Lucas Berti, 8 Alfonso Escobar Alvarez, 7 Raimundo Martinez, 6 Martin Sigren, 5 Javier Eissmann, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 3 Matias Dittus, 2 Augusto Bohme, 1 Javier Carrasco Albornoz
Replacements:  16 Diego Escobar, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Inaki Gurruchaga, 19 Santiago Pedrero Poduje, 20 Joaquin Milesi, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Benjamin Videla, 23 José Larenas

Scotland:  15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Jamie Dobie, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 James Ritchie, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Ewan Johnson, 4 Alexander Craig, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements:  16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Adam Hastings, 22 Stafford McDowall, 23 Matthew Currie

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (IRFU), Gonzalo De Achaval (UAR)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

Makazole Mapimpi and debutants shine as Springboks thrash Portugal

The Springboks overcame an early sending-off for Andre Esterhuizen to produce a dominant performance and secure a 64-21 victory over Portugal in Bloemfontein.

Esterhuizen received a yellow card after just two minutes for a head-on-head collision before it was upgraded to a red following a bunker review.

Os Lobos had already gone 7-0 ahead through Jose Paiva dos Santos when the centre’s punishment was increased, but it did not affect South Africa.

They were simply too powerful for the visitors and touched down five times in the first half through Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Phepsi Buthelezi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ben-Jason Dixon and Lukhanyo Am.

Rassie Erasmus’ men duly held a comfortable advantage at the interval, despite Manie Libbok having more issues off the tee ― kicking just two conversions ― and Arendse being sin-binned.

The Boks then built on that lead in the second period as Makazole Mapimpi scored a brace before Quan Horn and Andre-Hugo Venter made it four debutants on the scoresheet.

Jose Madeira crossed the whitewash for Portugal late on, but Mapimpi rounded off a good Boks display with a hat-trick try.

Few gave Portugal a chance going into this clash but they started the match well and their hopes were given a boost when Esterhuizen was yellow-carded for hitting Jose Lima high.

With the Boks midfield powerhouse off the field, the visitors touched down for the first try when a counter-attack resulted in Paiva dos Santos going over.

Thoughts then turned to a potential shock being in the cards after Esterhuizen received his marching orders after a review, but they were only brief.

Ultimately, the hosts’ power, skill and set-piece excellence came to the fore, which enabled Wessels to go over on his debut.

Buthelezi, another newbie, then followed him after a dominant driving maul allowed the flanker to touch down from close range.

Despite the obvious physical dominance, the Springboks were also playing some excellent rugby with the ball in hand and Aphelele Fassi exemplified that.

The full-back received the ball on halfway, jinked his way through the opposition defence and kicked ahead for Arendse to collect and score.

South Africa were in control and a fourth try in 14 minutes was soon forthcoming when Dixon crossed the whitewash on just his second cap.

Portugal kept on battling and briefly stemmed the tide ― partly thanks to Arendse’s yellow card for a croc roll ― but their defence was once again breached just shy of the interval through Am.

At 29-7 in front at the break, the result was effectively decided but the Boks increased their buffer at the start of the second period via Mapimpi.

The wing then completed his brace after good work from replacement Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who drew the defence and off-loaded for Mapimpi to scamper clear.

To the visitors’ credit, they continued to play expansively and caused the South African rearguard a few problems, with Paiva dos Santos rewarding their ambition with a second try.

However, there was still time for two more Springboks debutants to go over as Horn and Venter both got their names on the scoresheet.

Portugal did go over for a third time via Madeira, but Erasmus’ men had the final word through Mapimpi.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements:  16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn

Portugal:  15 Simao Bento, 14 Manuel Cardoso Pinto, 13 Jose Lima, 12 Tomas Appleton (c), 11 Rodrigo Marta, 10 Joris Moura, 9 Hugo Camacho, 8 Vasco Baptista, 7 Diego Pinheiro, 6 Jose Madeira, 5 Duarte Torgal, 4 Nicolas Fernandes, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 Francisco Fernandes
Replacements:  16 David Costa, 17 Pedro Vicente, 18 Abel Cunha, 19 Antionio R. Andrade, 20 Andre Cunha, 21 Pedro Lucas, 22 Domingos Cabral, 23 Jose P. Santos

Referee:  Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Evans (Wales), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO:  Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Wallabies hold off Georgia as Joe Schmidt makes it three wins from three

The Wallabies made it three wins out of three under head coach Joe Schmidt but they were made to work by a spirited Georgia side in a 40-29 victory on Saturday.

Tries from Hunter Paisami, Rob Valetini (2), Isaac Kailea and Fraser McReight (2) saw the hosts see off a dangerous Lelos team, with Ben Donaldson kicking 10 points.

Mikheili Babunashvili, Davit Niniashvili and Akaki Tabutsadze (2) went over for Georgia on the night, as they gave Australia a real scare early in the second period.

The Wallabies played with real tempo in the first half as tries from Paisami, Valetini, Kailea and McReight sent them into the break with a healthy 26-10 advantage.

However, it was Georgia who struck first in the game after Angus Blyth was pinged for holding on, Luka Matkava successfully putting them ahead on five minutes.

That sparked the Wallabies into life though as quick ball allowed Valetini to make decent ground before Tate McDermott found Len Ikitau, who sent Paisami over.

Donaldson would add the two but he was unsuccessful with his second attempt, this after Valetini cleverly spun through contact from close range on 13 minutes.

Australia were now purring and with McDermott dictating play from the base, his scamper into the Georgian 22 led to prop Kailea powering over for a 19-3 buffer.

Georgia desperately needed a response and it came on 34 minutes when sustained pressure in the hosts’ 22 resulted in Babunashvili scoring to reduce the deficit.

Helping their cause was a yellow card for Filipo Daugunu as his attempted charge down of Sandro Todua’s kick ahead saw his knee catch the Georgian wing’s face.

The visitors couldn’t make their numerical advantage count before the break though as it was in fact Australia, through flank McReight, who crossed in the final play.

The second 40 resumed with a further update on Daugunu, whose yellow card was upgraded to red that meant his stint on the sidelines was extended to 20 minutes.

Georgia came out firing and crucially crossed first when a fortuitous kick ahead from star Niniashvili ricocheted back into his hands and he crossed on 43 minutes.

Things would get even better for Richard Cockerill’s men moments later when turnover ball on their own line found Tabutsadze, who kicked ahead and chased hard. His efforts were rewarded as the bounce found his grasp and he set off on a clear run to the try-line. With Matkava’s conversion it was suddenly a two-point game.

Georgia’s momentum was halted, however, when Niniashvili was sin-binned for hands in the ruck before Valetini scored his second, with all the back-row involved.

That theme continued in the 63rd minute when McReight crashed over for his second score, this after being denied moments earlier due to obstruction at the maul.

But Georgia refused to give up the fight and when Tedo Abzhandadze found space to run, he fed Tabutsadze who fended the last man to go over for his own brace.

That was to be the final score in a thoroughly enjoyable contest as Schmidt continues his 100 per cent record as boss while Georgia can take plenty from this defeat.

The teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Darby Lancaster, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Angus Blyth, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Billy Pollard, 1 Isaac Kailea
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Tom Hooper, 20 Jeremy Williams, 21 Nic White, 22 Noah Lolesio, 23 Andrew Kellaway

Georgia:  15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tafladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Mikheil Alania, 8 Tornike Jalaghonia, 7 Beka Saghinadze, 6 Beka Gorgadze (c), 5 Mikheil Babunashvili, 4 Lado Chachanidze, 3 Aleksandre Kuntelia, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Mamaiashvili
Replacements:  16 Luka Petriashvili, 17 Luka Goginava, 18 Irakli Aptsiauri, 19 Lasha Jayani, 20 Luka Ivanishvili, 21 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 22 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 23 Tedo Abzhandadze

Referee:  James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

All Blacks score SEVEN tries in commanding win over Fiji in San Diego

Scott Robertson’s All Blacks claimed a 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego where several new faces shone on the Test scene for the first time.

New Zealand scored an impressive seven tries on the day through Caleb Clarke, Cortez Ratima, Billy Proctor, Ardie Savea, Sevu Reece, Ethan de Groot and George Bell, with fly-half Damian McKenzie kicking six conversions on the night.

Fiji only had the first-half try from Vilimoni Botitu to show for their efforts at SnapDragon Stadium.

The All Blacks got going early on and looking to start fast they launched several attacks resulting in Clarke’s try in the ninth minute. McKenzie was on hand to add the extras before Ratima sniped over for another try four minutes later. The fly-half made no mistake again from the tee.

The Fijians refused to lie down and found their response through an unconverted Botitu try which was a fair reward for a beautiful period of play from the Pacific side.

Despite the best efforts of the Fijians, the one-way traffic resumed with Proctor going over next in the 26th minute for a try on debut. There would only be one more score in the first period with Savea crashing over from a tap-and-go set play. McKenzie nudged the conversion over to hand the All Blacks a commanding lead at the break.

It did not take the New Zealanders long to make their mark in the second half with Reece crossing after just five minutes. However, they would have to wait until the hour mark before replacement De Groot showed off his power close to the line.

A Fijian rally did not yield a point but slowed the bleeding until two minutes from time until Bell, another debutant, scored on a memorable day. McKenzie nailed yet another conversion to round out a solid shift from the All Blacks.

The teams

All Blacks:  15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Ethan Blackadder, 6 Luke Jacobson, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 George Bell, 17 Ethan de Groot, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Noah Hotham, 22 Jordie Barrett, 23 Emoni Narawa

Fiji:  15 Vilimoni Botitu, 14 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu (c), 12 Inia Tabuavou, 11 Semi Radradra, 10 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Kitione Salawa, 6 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Isoa Nasilasila, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements:  16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Haereiti Hetet, 18 Samu Tawake, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Elia Canakaivata, 21 Simione Kuruvoli, 22 Caleb Muntz, 23 Sireli Maqala

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Anthony Woodthorpe (England), Luke Rogan (USA)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Wales survive scare against Reds as Gatland ends nine-game drought

A late try from replacement Kieran Hardy spared Wales’ blushes as they snatched a dramatic 36-35 victory over a second-string Reds side in Brisbane on Friday night.

The Reds, shorn of their Wallabies who face Georgia on Saturday, were on the verge of claiming a famous win until a 79th minute try from scrum-half Hardy broke their hearts.

Archie Griffin, Regan Grace, Rio Dyer, Christ Tshiunza and Nick Tompkins also went over for a relieved Wales outfit, while Sam Costelow added three conversions off the tee.

For an impressive Reds outfit, hooker Richie Asiata grabbed a hat-trick of tries while wing Mac Grealy went over twice, with James O’Connor firing over five conversions.

Wales captain Cory Hill withdrew from the game, with the Welsh Rugby Union saying his absence was due to “personal reasons”.

He was named skipper for the game on Wednesday by head coach Gatland, when Hill told reporters that he regretted an incident that happened three years ago and publicly apologised.

Hill, 32, was named among a group of individuals that damaged a woman’s house in May 2021. He was not charged by police and he apologised at the time through a representative.

Scrum-half Gareth Davies took over as Wales skipper, with Exeter forward Dafydd Jenkins replacing Hill in the second-row.

Wales made a bright start and they were ahead after six minutes when Bath tighthead Griffin claimed a try, with Costelow’s conversion attempt hitting the post.

But poor discipline began to surface from the visitors, and the Reds took advantage, setting up an attacking position that led to Asiata touching down and O’Connor converting.

It was an early warning for Wales, yet they hit back impressively and regained the lead through Grace after he collected Dyer’s pass.

Costelow converted from the touchline, and Wales led 12-7 after a lively opening quarter full of attacking intent from both teams.

There was no let-up in the scoring, and Dyer was next to pounce after he collected a pinpoint cross-kick from Costelow, before the fly-half’s conversion opened up a 12-point advantage.

The Reds thought they had narrowed the gap immediately following a slick move, but O’Connor lost control of the ball before touching down and Wales escaped.

Asiata then claimed his second try ― O’Connor converted ― after Wales hooker Evan Lloyd was yellow-carded, but Tshiunza claimed a fourth Welsh touchdown on the stroke of half-time for a 24-14 interval lead.

Tompkins crossed for a try just six minutes into the second period, putting Wales firmly in the driving seat, yet Asiata’s hat-trick score underlined that they could not switch off.

And further evidence of that came on the hour-mark as Grealy rounded off a sharp move, with O’Connor’s conversion meaning Wales had conceded 14 unanswered points in eight minutes.

Grealy then finished a stunning length-of-the-field move, with O’Connor maintaining his 100 per cent conversion strike-rate and leaving Wales desperately requiring some inspiration that ultimately came from Hardy.

The teams

Reds:  15 Jock Campbell (c), 14 Floyd Aubrey, 13 Tim Ryan, 12 Dre Pakeho, 11 Mac Grealy, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Louis Werchon, 8 Joe Brial, 7 John Bryant, 6 Seru Uru, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Connor Vest, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Richie Asiata, 1 Sef Fa’agase
Replacements:  17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Massimo De Lutiis, 19 Josh Canham, 20 Connor Anderson, 21 Will Cartwright, 22 Mason Gordon, 23 Lachie Anderson

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Eddie James, 11 Regan Grace, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies (c), 8 Mackenzie Martin, 7 Taine Plumtree, 6 Christ Tshiunza, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements:  16 Efan Daniel, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Dewi Lake, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ben Thomas, 23 Mason Grady

Referee:  Damon Murphy

Los Pumas props power past France to seal long-awaited home victory

A spirited Argentina team beat France 33-25 in a frantic Test match in Buenos Aires as new head coach Felipe Contepomi notched up his maiden victory since taking charge of Los Pumas.

The victory was not only Contepomi’s first since taking over from Michael Cheika but also Los Pumas’ first win in Argentina since their 48-17 triumph over Australia in 2022.

It was a profitable day for the props, with Eduardo Bello and Thomas Gallo (2) both scoring for the Pumas, who were also awarded a penalty try, with Santiago Carreras racking up 11 points, including a try and three conversions.

As for Les Bleus, captain Baptiste Serin scored the opener with Emilien Gailleton and Theo Attisogbe also crossing for tries ― Antoine Hastoy adding 10 points from the tee.

Much of the build-up to the match was marred by off-field controversy from the French squad following Melvyn Jaminet’s racist comments on social media and a pair of players being arrested on accusations of sexual assault.

However, the game marked a significant milestone for Pumas flanker Pablo Matera, who earned his 100th Test cap for his country.

But it wasn’t a bright start for the hosts as Les Bleus captain Serin rounded off a lovely flowing attack from a turnover.

Argentina resounded swiftly as prop Bello forced his way over the line from close range as the Pumas pack flexed their muscles.

Hastoy kicked France back into the lead in the 24th minute but it did not last long again as just five minutes later, the Argentine pack lay down a marker. After their struggles in the scrum in Test I, Contepomi rang the changes up front and it had the desired effect as they obliterated Les Bleus’ front-row earning a penalty try on the 30 minute mark.

A bit of brilliance from Carreras saw him slice through the French defence, throwing a lovely dummy and speeding over the line with the resulting conversion, giving the Pumas a 21-10 lead at the break.

Fabien Galthie’s side came out firing in the second half, with Hastoy reducing the lead with a penalty before Gailleton and Attissogbe both crossed for tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to take a 21-25 lead.

Replacement prop Gallo quickly got his side back in the lead with a try from close range and doubled up in the 66th minute to take a 35-25 advantage, which they would hold onto until the final whistle, holding out all France’s attacks.

Argentina wrap up their July internationals next week against Uruguay while France return home to rest up before the start of next season.

The teams

Argentina:  15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Orlando

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Emile Gailleton, 12 Antoine Frisch, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Judicael Cancoriet, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 George-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Romain Briatte, 21 Killian Tixeront, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Leo Berdeu

Ciaran Frawley drop goals stun Springboks as Ireland level series

Two late drop goals from replacement fly-half Ciaran Frawley helped Ireland claim a stunning 25-24 victory over the Springboks at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

It had looked like South Africa would secure a 24-22 win as the seconds ticked down, but up stepped Frawley with time up to send over his second drop goal of the evening.

Conor Murray scored the only try of the game while Jack Crowley kicked a conversion and four penalties as Ireland’s success levels the epic two-game series at one apiece.

Handre Pollard kicked all of the Springboks’ 24 points as they could not break the Irish try-line, with Frawley’s incredible late efforts silencing a packed Kings Park Stadium.

The extraordinary twist came at the end of an undisciplined second period from Ireland during which stand-in captain Caelan Doris was sin-binned.

Victory was just Ireland’s second on South African soil and even more impressive given they were without five of their first-choice stars after injured pair Dan Sheehan and Bundee Aki joined tour absentees Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen and Hugo Keenan on the list of unavailable talent.

Farrell dropped skipper Peter O’Mahony to the bench as part of four personnel changes from the opening Test and warned his players to expect South Africa to be “twice as good” as seven days ago.

The hosts stuck with an unchanged 23, including selecting the most experienced starting XV in the nation’s history, following a first success over the Irish since 2016.

Springboks full-back Willie le Roux was forced off by a head injury, while team-mates Franco Mostert and Eben Etzebeth were left with bloodied faces during an intense opening in which Crowley calmly slotted a penalty.

Ireland’s physical start was deservedly rewarded with a superb 14th-minute try.

Slick interplay between Jamie Osborne and Robbie Henshaw opened up the hosts’ defence, leaving scrum-half Murray to add to his score in Pretoria with another diving finish.

A bruising encounter showed little sign of relenting and Ireland prop Andrew Porter was left bloodied for the second successive week after Pollard’s penalty put South Africa on the scoreboard.

The impressive away side dominated the opening third of the match.

Yet they were reliant on alert full-back Osborne producing a crucial last-ditch tackle just metres from the try line to preserve their lead after Kwagga Smith charged down a Crowley kick to race clear.

Pollard and Crowley exchanged further penalties, while Doris was held up on the line by Pieter-Steph du Toit moments before the break.

The Six Nations champions should really have turned their territory into a second try but had to settle for the consolation of another three points from the boot of Crowley to end a fierce first half 10 points in front.

South Africa returned fired up and moved within four points following two more Pollard penalties, the second of which was converted after stand-in skipper Doris was yellow-carded for a crocodile roll on Malcolm Marx.

Poor discipline was piling pressure on Ireland and proved extremely costly during a monumental shift in momentum.

The Springboks led for the first time in the 58th minute following Pollard’s sixth penalty of the evening and then quickly restored the lead through two more kicks from the same player after Crowley’s boot briefly stemmed the one-way traffic.

Ireland remained in touching distance going into the closing stages and, after again being held up on the line, reduced the deficit to just two points thanks to Frawley’s fine drop goal from distance.

Andy Farrell’s men were on the verge of suffering a second successive loss for the first time since the 2021 Six Nations before Frawley repeated the trick in a fascinating climax to stun South Africa.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Ireland:  15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Stuart McCloskey

Referee:  Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (RFU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

Eddie Jones suffers stunning setback as Japan lose AT HOME to Georgia

A late try from Giorgi Javakhia cemented a famous 25-23 away victory for Georgia over Eddie Jones’ Japan, condemning the former England boss to his third defeat as Japan coach.

The Brave Blossoms got off to the perfect start, as Jone Naikabula crossed in the third minute of the game, but things quickly turned sour.

In the 18th minute of the game, Kanji Shimokawa was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle, which was later upgraded to a red card. The Lelos quickly rubbed salt into the wound too, as Vano Karkadze and Mikheil Alania crossed twice in the space of 10 minutes to give them the lead heading into half-time.

14-man Japan rallied though at the start of the second-half, with Seung Sin Lee’s boot and Tomoki Osada’s try combining to give Japan a 23-18 advantage going into the final minutes of the game.

Not going down without a fight though, Georgia ensured they had the last laugh as Javakhia crossed in the 75th minute, and allowing Luka Matkava to cement a famous victory for his nation with the conversion.

Japan look to Italy clash to end mini-slump

Speaking after the game, Japan captain Michael Leitch said:  “We played the way Japan are known for and I’m proud of the team, but we’re not satisfied with the result. We’re looking ahead to the Italy game and we want to prepare well for that.”

“We tried to stay positive (after the red-card),” Leitch continued. “Just because you’re playing with a man less, it doesn’t mean you’re going to lose.”

Since Jones returned to the role of Japan head coach, he has won just once in his first four matches, including the heavy 52-17 defeat to England last month.

That defeat was compounded by another loss to the Maori All Blacks, but he secured his first win last weekend against the same opposition.

Jones and his Japan team now prepare for a tough test with Italy next weekend, with the Azzurri also coming into the game off the back of a solid 36-14 win over Tonga on Friday night.

Filipo Daugunu double fires Australia to series win

Two tries from Filipo Daugunu helped Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies beat Wales 36-28 at AAMI Park in Melbourne to wrap up the series 2-0 on Saturday.

Daugunu scored in each half while Jake Gordon and Allan Alaalatoa also crossed the whitewash as Schmidt’s tenure at the helm continues to start on a positive note.

While falling to a ninth successive Test loss, Wales will take some positives after tries were scored by hooker Dewi Lake (2) and wings Liam Williams and Rio Dyer.

It was Wales’ best performance this year, yet they are now just one more defeat from equalling their record losing run of 10 Tests in 2002 and 2003.

Wales were rocked by a spectacular Wallabies score after just seven minutes when they attacked from deep inside their own 22.

Australia were under pressure defensively, but wing Andrew Kellaway turned it into a blistering counter-attack as he kicked into space then flicked an inside ball to flanker Fraser McReight, and he surged clear before sending Daugunu for his second touchdown in successive games.

Noah Lolesio added the conversion, and his penalty eight minutes later following 21 attacking phases deep inside Wales territory made it 10-0.

Ben Thomas missed a chance to open Wales’ account when he drifted a penalty wide in driving rain at AAMI Park, then the visitors twice threatened Australia’s line when flanker James Botham and number eight Taine Plumtree went close.

Wales had plenty of possession, yet the conditions made handling difficult for both teams and Australia were able to absorb pressure before extending their lead early in the second quarter.

Gordon’s steepling kick caused problems for Wales full-back Cameron Winnett, who could not gather it, and Gordon reacted quickest as the ball rolled into space and compounded Welsh misery, with Lolesio converting.

Wales needed a rapid response, and they delivered one from an attacking lineout as Lake claimed the touchdown before Thomas’ conversion made it a 10-point game again.

Another Lolesio penalty restored Australia’s cushion, and he completed his hat-trick just before half-time after Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was yellow-carded following a high challenge on Wales prop Archie Griffin, securing a 23-14 interval advantage.

Wales posted a third try just six minutes into the second period after outstanding work by the forwards ― notably, Plumtree, Lake and Botham ― created an opportunity for Williams, who finished easily, and Thomas converted.

It was an admirable effort by Wales, but they conceded a third score midway through the second quarter when Australia gave them a taste of their own medicine through an imposing driven lineout, with Alaalatoa then touching down.

Wales remained firmly in the contest, but Australia struck a major blow 12 minutes from time after Williams’ attempt to keep the ball in play saw him deflect the ball straight to Daugunu, who accepted the gift and took his team past 30 points.

Wales were still not done, though, and Dyer displayed great strength to dive over, and replacement Costelow’s touchline conversion reduced the gap to five points with nine minutes left.

But Ben Donaldson stepped up to boot a 77th-minute penalty, and Wales were finally downed following a display that bristled with intensity and purpose.

The teams

Wallabies:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Charlie Cale, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Jeremy Williams, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 James Slipper (c)
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Angus Blyth, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Nic White, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Dylan Pietsch

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 James Botham, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Christ Tshiunza, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Nick Tompkins

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)