France cruise past Scotland

France bounced back from their defeat by England in the opening round of the Six Nations with an emphatic victory against Scotland.

The French were always in control and although they only produced their best in bursts it was enough for them to run in tries through Fabien Pelous, Clement Poitrenaud, Damien Traille and Aurelien Rougerie.

Fly-half Francois Gelez, who missed two penalties that would have given France victory against New Zealand in November, was in much better form as he kicked the rest of France's points.

Scotland tried to keep going for the 80 minutes but they were out-gunned from one to 15 and all they had to show for their efforts was a solitary Chris Paterson penalty, leaving them rock bottom of the Six Nations table.

Gelez and Paterson swapped penalties in the early stages before France put together the first threatening attack of the match.

A flowing move gave 20-year-old full-back Poitrenaud room to move down the Scottish left and his pass saw Vincent Clerc flying for the corner.

It took a great cover tackle from Kenny Logan to prevent the try, but the Scots were then harshly penalised to give the French great field position.

They kicked for the corner and then drove from the lineout, with Pelous burrowing over for the try.

Gelez missed the conversion but he then added two penalties to take the French into a 14-3 lead after half an hour.

Scotland were struggling to put their opponents under pressure, and apart from two excellent breaks by Logan and replacement scrum-half Mike Blair, they rarely cut through the French defence.

Despite over-elaborating at times the French were well in control and Gelez slotted his fourth penalty right on half-time to give them a 17-3 lead.

Within two minutes France were out of sight.

Once again the speedster Clerc sliced down the Scottish left and when he was tackled Poitrenaud was on hand to cross out wide.

Gelez' conversion made it 24-3 but Scotland came to life and two Paterson kicks ahead had the French scrambling to prevent the visitors from scoring.

The Scots mounted a period of sustained pressure but they could not score and France suddenly erupted on to the attack.

Betsen's take and drive from a lineout set them on their way and they finished off in exquisite style, with Traille taking Gelez's chip on the full before diving over under the posts.

Gelez' conversion took the French over the 30-point mark.

Scotland nearly scored their first try in the 2003 Six Nations after Gregor Townsend kicked through, but Kevin Utterson knocked on with the line at his mercy.

It was the hosts who had the last word, with giant wing Rougerie soaring high to claim a Dimitri Yachvili cross-kick in injury time.

Gelez added the conversion as France confirmed that they are in a different league to the struggling Scots.

The scorers:

France 38
Tries:  Pelous, Poitrenaud, Traille, Rougerie
Cons:  Gelez 3
Pens:  Gelez 4

Scotland 3
Pen:  Paterson

France:  Poitrenaud, Rougerie, Garbajosa, Traille, Clerc, Gelez, Galthie, Crenca, Ibanez, Marconnet, Pelous, Brouzet, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoqui.
Replacements:  Rue, Califano, Auradou, Chabal, Yachvili, Merceron, Castaignede.

Scotland:  G. Metcalfe, Paterson, Townsend, Utterson, Logan, Laney, Redpath, T. Smith, Bulloch, Douglas, Murray, Grimes, Leslie, Mower, Taylor.
Replacements:  Scott, G. Kerr, White, Petrie, Blair, G. Ross, Craig.

Referee:  Peter Marshall (Australia)

England ease past battling Welsh

For 40 minutes they looked anything but the best side in the world, but England finally came good in the second half as they cruised to victory in Cardiff.

In the first half a combination of English mediocrity and Welsh fervour meant it was the hosts who left the field more upbeat, despite trailing 9-6.

However, in the second half England stopped relying on the boot of Jonny Wilkinson for their points, got some structure in their game and ran in tries through Will Greenwood and Joe Worsley.

Debutant fly-half Ceri Sweeney kicked nine points for Wales, and although it was never likely to be enough once the English machine eventually clicked into gear, Wales at least saved face after last weekend's humiliation by Italy.

England struggled to get their hands on the ball in the opening stages and Wales took the lead through a 40m penalty from Sweeney.

A penalty and marvellous drop goal from Wilkinson nudged England into the lead before English indiscipline handed Sweeney the chance to level the match at 6-6 after 24 minutes.

At this point Wales were more than proving a match for the much-vaunted visitors, and although another excellent Wilkinson drop goal nudged England back into the lead, Wales should have been ahead at the break.

Mark Taylor brushed aside Charlie Hodgson's feeble tackle and raced clear with two men outside him, but with a try looking a formality Taylor held on and the chance was lost.

Sweeney then missed a kickable penalty on the half-time whistle which would have levelled the scores after Phil Christophers, only just on as a replacement for Jason Robinson, was sin-binned for an early tackle.

Despite their late frustration Wales would have been far happier than England, who had failed to produce anything like the fluidity they showed in the November internationals.

With Wales buzzing around them like flies England's discipline was poor and they trooped off at half-time to the sound of cheers from a disbelieving Welsh crowd.

The half-time talk must have done the job because England came out playing a much more structured and controlled game.

Will Greenwood powered through a couple of tissue paper tackles for the first try after a multi-phase move, with Wilkinson converting, and England were on their way at 16-6.

Wales then lost Steve Williams to the bin as their defence began to fray around the edges and replacement Joe Worsley powered over under the posts for a converted try.

After the English flurry the scoring tailed off again, with Sweeney and Wilkinson trading penalties as the game went off the boil.

Although England will be happy enough with the victory, Wales ended the match the stronger and will be delighted to have avoided more yet embarrassment.

The scorers:

Wales 9:
Pens:  Sweeney 3

England 26:
Tries:  Greenwood, J Worsley
Cons:  Wilkinson 2
Pens:  Wilkinson 2
Drop goals:  Wilkinson 2

Wales:  K. Morgan, R. Williams, Taylor, Shanklin, G. Thomas, Sweeney, G. Cooper, I. Thomas, Humphreys, Evans, S. Williams, Sidoli, D. Jones, M. Williams, G. Thomas.
Replacements:  G. Williams, Jenkins, Llewellyn, Charvis, Peel, Harris, Watkins.

England:  Robinson, Luger, Greenwood, Hodgson, Cohen, Wilkinson, Bracken, Rowntree, Thompson, Morris, Johnson, Kay, Hill, Back, Dallaglio.
Replacements:  Regan, M. Worsley, Grewcock, J. Worsley, Gomarsall, Christophers, Simpson-Daniel.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

Ireland cruise past Italy

Ireland managed what had proved beyond Wales last week when they secured a comfortable victory over Italy in Rome to keep their Grand Slam bid on target.

The Italians confirmed their progress with some bright moments but Ireland always looked a class above the hosts.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll scooted over for his 18th international try to break Brendan Mullin's long-standing try record as the Irish ran in five tries in total.

Italy's solitary try came from Dennis Dallan, but they showed enough to confirm that the victory over Wales was no fluke.

Italy started in adventurous mood but they lacked penetration and Ireland forced the first real chance after 15 minutes.

They kicked a penalty into the corner and when Victor Costello was held up just short from the line out, Peter Stringer burrowed over from the base of the ruck.

David Humphreys had struggled with his kicking from hand but he slotted the conversion and added a penalty 10 minutes later to take Ireland into a 10-0 lead.

The Irish pack impressed against the Scots last week and they again looked a solid unit as they began to put the squeeze on the hosts.

A rumbling maul set up great field position and the Irish scored their second try of the match when Keith Gleeson sent John Kelly over in the corner.

The Italians hit back almost immediately when Diego Dominguez slotted a simple penalty after O'Driscoll made a rare error.

O'Driscoll nearly atoned with a brilliant run down the touchline, and although the Irish could not get up in support of their captain, a Humphreys penalty gave them an 18-3 lead.

Dominguez missed an easy penalty either side of the half-time whistle and the Italians fell further behind when Humphreys hit the line at pace and raced over untouched from the hosts' 22.

The fly-half could not add the conversion and, after Italy had replaced the out-of-sorts Dominguez with Ramiro Pez, the Italians scored their first try of the game through powerful wing Dallan.

Pez converted and at 23-10 it looked as though Italy might come back, but Ireland reasserted their superiority.

O'Driscoll knifed over for a converted try to break Mullins' record and although Pez slotted a penalty for Italy, Ireland had the final word as Humphreys converted Geordan Murphy's sparkling try.

The scorers:

Italy 13
Tries:  Dallan
Pens:  Dominguez, Pez

Ireland 37
Tries:  Stringer, Kelly, Humphreys, O'Driscoll, Murphy
Cons:  Humphreys 3
Pens:  Humphreys 2

Italy:  Vaccari, Ma Bergamasco, Stoica, Raineri, Dallan, Dominguez, Troncon, De Carli, Festuccia, Martinez, Bezzi, Bortolami, De Rossi, Persico, Phillips.
Replacements:  Moretti, Castrogiovanni, Giacheri, Palmer, Queirolo, Pez, Mi Bergamasco.

Ireland:  Murphy, Kelly, O'Driscoll, Maggs, Hickie, Humphreys, Stringer, Corrigan, S. Byrne, Hayes, Longwell, O'Kelly, Costello, Gleeson, Foley.
Replacements:  Sheahan, Horan, Cullen, A. Quinlan, G. Easterby, Burke, Henderson.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)

Italy defeat woeful Wales

Italy won only their second Six Nations game ever when they defeated a dismal Wales side in the Rome sun on Saturday.

The Italians, led by playmaker Diego Dominguez, destroyed the Welsh pack and starved Steve Hansen's men of any possession.

Tries from Giampiero De Carli, Carlo Festuccia and Matthew Phillips proved too much for a side who always looked second best.

Tom Shanklin, Steve Williams and Dwayne Peel touched over for the visitors.

But it was never going to be enough against an Italian team who last tasted Six Nations success against Scotland in 2000.

With Wales struggling to get their hands on the ball, John Kirwan's side were unlucky not to surge ahead in only the second minute, thanks to a powerful run by Christian Stoica.

A last ditch Rhys Williams tackle instead forced a five metre scrum, but Italy were not denied a second time when De Carli charged over for the game's opening score.

Dominguez's kick pushed his side into an early and deserved 7-0 lead.

Relief came quickly for Wales, however, when good work from Gareth Thomas and Shanklin allowed the Northampton second row to run in for his second international try.

With seven minutes on the clock, both sides had scored a point a minute, before Shanklin and Thomas combined again.

A half break by the Bridgend centre gave the Saracens favourite the opportunity to show his considerable pace - and he did not disappoint with a blistering 50 metre run.

Harris slotted the extras, before the home side hit back immediately through a short-range try from Festuccia, again converted by Dominguez.

Both fly-halves then swapped penalties before the Stade Francais veteran pushed his side into a slender but ominous half-time lead with a well taken drop goal from in front of the posts.

Wales were dealt a double blow in the second-half as Mefin Davies and lock Williams both left the field.

Italy again started brightly and it was no surprise when they grabbed their third try of the match.

Allesandro Troncon made the most of a loose ball from a Welsh scrum and New Zealand-born Phillips strode over to secure a straightforward seven pointer.

At 27-17 up, the Azzurri began to dictate the game and when Dominguez slotted his second drop goal with just minutes remaining, it dealt a hammer blow to Wales's chances.

A late try from Dwayne Peel cut the deficit to just eight points.

But coach Steve Hansen will have to perform a miracle to avoid anything but embarrassment when they line up against favourites England in Cardiff next week.

The scorers:

Italy 30
Tries:  De Carli, Festuccia, Phillips
Conv:  Dominguez 3
Pens:  Dominguez 2
Drops:  Dominguez 1

Wales 22
Tries:  Williams, Shanklin, Peel
Conv:  Harris 2
Pens:  Harris 1

Italy:  P Vaccari (Calvisano), Mauro Bergamasco (Treviso), C Stoica (Castres/Fra), G Ranieri (Calvisano), D Dallan (Treviso), D Dominguez (Stade Francais/Fra), A Troncon (Treviso, capt), G De Carli (Calvisano), C Festuccia (Gran Parma), R Martinez (Treviso), C Bezzi (Viadana), M Bortolami (Padova), A De Rossi (Calvisano), A Persico (Viadana), M Phillips (Viadana).
Reps:  A Moretti (Calvisano), S Perugini (Calvisano), M Giacheri (Rotherham/Eng), S Palmer (Treviso), J Manuel Queirolo (Dax/Fra), R Pez (Rotherham/Eng), Mirco Bergamasco (Padova).

Wales:  R Williams (Cardiff), M Jones (Llanelli), T Shanklin (Saracens), L Davies (Llanelli), G Thomas (Bridgend), I Harris (Cardiff), D Peel (Llanelli), I Thomas (Llanelli), M Davies (Pontypridd), B Evans (Swansea), R Sidoli (Pontypridd), S Williams (Northampton), M Owen (Pontypridd), M Williams (Cardiff), C Charvis (Swansea, capt).
Reps:  G Williams (Bridgend), G Jenkins (Pontypridd), D Jones (Llanelli), G Thomas (Bath), G Cooper (Bath), C Sweeney (Pontypridd), M Watkins (Llanelli).

Ref:  Joel Jutge (France)

Wilkinson makes France pay

England gained revenge for last year's Paris nightmare as they launched their Six Nations campaign with a surprisingly comfortable victory over France at Twickenham.

A sparkling try from the dynamic Jason Robinson and a 20-point haul from the impeccable boot of Jonny Wilkinson fully vindicated their billing as odds-on favourites.

Reigning champions France did outscore their hosts on the try count with flanker Olivier Magne, full-back Clement Poitrenaud and centre Damien Traille all breaching the red rose defence.

But a dominant performance from the England pack laid the foundations for the first step on another probable Grand Slam crusade.

Whether England can go that elusive extra step this year remains to be seen, but they maintained the momentum of autumn victories over the southern hemisphere's big three.

Two French tries in the final quarter sparked a few late nerves, but the home side held out with few alarms.

England started in confident fashion, Robinson taking a line-out to himself in the first minute before dancing past three French tacklers on a mazy run.

Then Dan Luger brought the capacity crowd to its feet when he pierced the French defensive line, only to be penalised for holding on to the ball in the tackle.

France proceeded to dominate possession but it was England who opened the scoring after 13 minutes when Wilkinson punished some French pushing at the line-out with a long-range penalty.

His kick landed on top of the crossbar and dropped apologetically over, but if that was a touch of good fortune, England's luck swiftly turned.

Charlie Hodgson, taking the ball at first receiver, saw his clearing kick charged down by the alert Magne and the flanker beat Wilkinson to the loose ball to dive over.

Gerald Merceron converted to put France 7-3 up, but England were back in front by the 28th minute courtesy of two more superbly-struck penalties from Wilkinson.

Merceron badly miscued a shot at goal that should have regained the lead for the visitors, and England lost centurion prop Jason Leonard to injury in the 33rd minute.

But sparked by the irrepressible Robinson, England laid siege to the French line before the interval.

Hodgson almost redeemed his earlier error with a neat break only to spurn a try-scoring chance when he failed to spot Will Greenwood on his shoulder.

But the pressure finally told when the French defence fell offside in midfield and Wilkinson dispatched his fourth penalty for a 12-7 interval lead.

Lawrence Dallaglio came off the bench just three minutes into the second half to replace Lewis Moody, and hooker Mark Regan appeared as a temporary prop when Graham Rowntree suffered a head cut.

But the changes failed to disrupt England's rhythm and after concerted pressure on the French line, Greenwood's well-timed pass sent Robinson in under the posts after 48 minutes.

Wilkinson's fifth penalty of the afternoon extended the lead to 22-7 just before the hour, and the stand-off nonchantly dropped a goal minutes later to seemingly leave England cruising.

But France finally found their attacking spark 14 minutes from time, profiting from quick ruck ball to send Poitrenaud over in the right corner.

But Merceron missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty attempt, and despite Traille crossing in the right corner, England held out in a full 12 minutes of injury time.

The scorers:

England 25
Try:  Robinson
Conv:  Wilkinson 1
Pens:  Wilkinson 5
Drop:  Wilkinson 1

France 17
Try:  Magne, Poitrenaud, Traille
Conv:  Merceron

England:  J Robinson, D Luger, W Greenwood, C Hodgson, B Cohen, J Wilkinson, A Gomarsall, J Leonard, S Thompson, J White, M Johnson (capt), B Kay, L Moody, N Back, R Hill.
Replacements:  M Regan, G Rowntree, D Grewcock, L Dallaglio, N Walshe, P Christophers, J Simpson-Daniel.

France:  C Poitrenaud, A Rougerie, X Garbajosa, D Traille, V Clerc, G Merceron, F Galthie (capt), J-J Crenca, R Ibanez, C Califano, F Pelous, O Roumat, S Betsen, O Magne, I Harinordoquy.
Replacements:  J-B Rue, S Marconnet, D Auradou, S Chabal, D Yachvilli, F Gelez, T Castaignede.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

Ireland rout sorry Scots

Ireland sealed a historic victory against Scotland on Sunday, winning at Murrayfield for the first time since 1985.

The Irish rarely looked troubled by a Scottish side devoid of creativity in their back division, as they raced to their most emphatic win at the home of Scottish rugby.

David Humphreys rattled off 26 points for the visitors but it was Brian O'Driscoll who was the chief tormentor for the Scots.

The Irish captain regularly picked gaps in the opposition defence and, although he failed to get on the score sheet, his telling run produced Denis Hickie's opening try.  Geordan Murphy and Humphreys scored the game's other tries.

Ireland were the more assured throughout the game, except for a nearly disastrous hiccup with the first move of the match.

A Hickie defensive kick was charged down but Andrew Mower knocked the ball forward in the resulting melee over the try line.

After surviving the scare, the Irish found themselves in front after eight minutes against the run of play courtesy of a Humphreys penalty, his first of two in the half.

Despite Ireland's lead, Scotland came closest to crossing the line first but were halted by the faintest of tap tackles by Peter Stringer on Glenn Metcalfe.

The opening try finally came in some style after an intelligent break by O'Driscoll in the 27th minute.

The Irish captain found the pace to outfox the Scots before being brought down just short of the line with his side's first real attacking opportunity.

Stringer was on hand to recycle the ball to Hickie who forced his way over.  Humphreys added the conversion.

A Gordon Ross penalty straight after the restart, cancelled out by a similar Humphreys effort, seemed to give Scotland the wake-up call required.

From looking sluggish, they produced 10 minutes of telling attacks which were continually fended off.  In the end, the Scots had to settle for a second penalty.

With the Scottish risking all in attack, Ireland were biding their time to launch a counter offensive, which came from replacement Murphy in the 65th minute.

Against the run of play, the Leicester wing hacked the ball forward and sprinted 70 yards for the game's second try.

With that the Scots completely capitulated, Hickie producing the overlap to send Humphreys through for his score five minutes later.

By then, the game had long finished as a contest.

The scorers:

Scotland 6
Pens:  Ross 2

Ireland 36
Try:  Hickie, Murphy, Humphreys
Conv:  Humphreys 3
Pens:  Humphreys 5

Scotland:  G. Metcalfe, Logan, Craig, Laney, Paterson, G. Ross, Redpath, T. Smith, Bulloch, Douglas, Murray, Grimes, Leslie, Mower, Taylor.
Replacements:  Scott, G. Kerr, Hines, Beattie, Blair, Townsend, Utterson.

Ireland:  Dempsey, S. Horgan, O'Driscoll, Maggs, Hickie, Humphreys, Stringer, Corrigan, S. Byrne, Hayes, Longwell, O'Kelly, Costello, Gleeson, Foley.
Replacements:  Sheahan, Horan, Cullen, A. Quinlan, G. Easterby, Burke, Murphy.

Referee:  Andrew Cole (Australia)

Scotland 36 Fiji 22

Scotland followed up their record and historic win over South Africa a week ago, by beating Fiji 36-22 at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.  Centre Andy Craig sealed the win for his country by scoring three tries in a somewhat disappointing game.

The match, although not particularly spiteful, still produced three yellow cards for illegal play.

The first was dished out to Fijian flanker Sisa Koyamaibole, who plays his club rugby for Toyota-Shokki in Japan, when he was sin-binned by South African referee Mark Lawrence for repeated infringements at the rucks and mauls.

Then four minutes from time Fijian captain and hooker Greg Smith, as well as Scottish flank Martin Leslie were given 10 minutes in the sin bin each for their part in a punch-up.

Although the game at times showed promise of developing into a highly entertaining affair, all too often play seemed to break down -- either through a combination of solid defence and poor handling, or some cynical tactics.

But the Scottish hat-trick hero, Craig, probably summed the game up best when trying to explain why Scotland disappointed.  "After (the 21-6 win over) South Africa it was always going to be difficult to get up to that level again," he said.

However, he expressed satisfaction of having scored his first hat-trick for his country.

Scotland had a somewhat fortunate 18-12 lead after a first half in which neither side truly stamped their authority on proceedings.

Craig opened the scoring the eighth minute for Scotland, with Brendan Laney adding the conversion for a 7-0 lead.  This was followed by two Joseph Narruhn penalties, in the 14th and 19th minutes, before two Laney penalties restored the seven point lead after 24 minutes.

Craig picked up his second try in the 29th minute, after some patient build-up work by Scotland, before the ball eventually went wide.

Narruhn added two more penalties to close the gap to 18-12 at the break.

Scotland were given a rude awakening in the 50th minute when Api Naevo went over, after the Fijians countered from a Scottish mistake.  At 18-17 a surprise seemed on the cards.

Then in the 57th minute followed one of those weird and rare occurrences.  Fiji was penalised for having 16 men on the field -- with a substitute having come on before the injured player, who was being treated on the field, had left the playing area.

The Laney penalty kick made it 21-17 to Scotland.

Laney scored a try four minutes later from a great move, but the try was only awarded after consultation with the video referee.  He missed the conversion, but the gap had by then opened to 26-17.

Craig scored his third try in the 73rd minute, when he came up in support after Moffat was caught just before the Fijian line.  Another failed conversion, but Scotland was looking comfortable at 31-17.

Norman Ligairi restored some pride with a late try, after substitute Weisale Serevi cut through the Scottish backs but lock Stuart Grimes added the final nail with a try four minutes into injury time for a 36-21 win.

Man of the match:  It has to go to the hat-trick hero Andy Craig.  He did what most good backline players are supposed to do, finish off promising moves.

Moment of the match:  Probably Norman Ligairi's try, even though it had no affect on the outcome of the match.  It was the try of the match, scored in typical Fijian fashion.

Villain(s) of the match:  The three yellow card offenders -- Sisa Koyamaibole, Greg Smith and Martin Leslie.  Repeated offences and punch-ups spoil the game for all.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Simon Taylor, 8 Jon Petrie, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Chris Paterson, 12 Brendan Laney, 13 Andrew Craig, 14 Nikki Walker, 15 Ben Hinshelwood
Reserves:  Stuart Moffatt, Nathan Hines, Gordon Ross, Graeme Beveridge, Martin Leslie, Steve Scott
Unused:  Dave Hilton

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Isaia Rasila, 4 Apisai Naevo, 5 Simon Raiwalui, 6 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Alfi Mocelutu Vuivau, 8 Seta Tawake Naivaluwaqa, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Joseph Narruhn, 11 Fero Lasagavibau, 12 Seremaia Bai, 13 Epeli Ruivadra, 14 Norman Ligairi, 15 Atonio Nariva
Reserves:  Waisale Serevi, Bill Gadolo, Emori Katalau, Kele Leawere, Viliame Satala
Unused:  Paula Biu, Isaac Mow

Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Laney B.J. 1, Craig A. 3, Grimes S.B. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 3

Fiji
Tries:  Ligairi N. 1, Naevo A. 1
Pen K.:  Narruhn J. 4

France 35 Canada 3

France's skipper and scrumhalf Fabien Galthié led his team to victory over Canada at the Stade de France in Paris, with right-wing Vincent Clerc running in two second-half tries to round off a record 35-3 victory.

After leading 13-0 at the break, the home team never looked like losing in a steady Paris drizzle.

However, the second-half belonged to greenhorn right-wing Vincent Clerc, who scored two of Les Bleus' four tries after the break.  David Bory and Damien Traille got the other two.

Left-wing Bory, who scored the first try of the match, and his Montferrand team-mate Gerald Merceron, who played at flyhalf and kicked 13 points, must have put a smile on the face of coach Bernard Laporte, who re-called the duo after France's 30-10 win and 20-20 draw against South Africa and New Zealand in the past fortnight respectively.

The visitors had their fair share of possession, but they failed to produce the goods with the ball in had as the French defence was just too strong.

The Canadians started the game well, enjoying territorial advantage in the first five minutes, but they could not break the sturdy French defence.

The French, however, showed that they can attack when flanker Olivier Magne made a good break deep into the Canadian half before offloading to centre Damien Traille for a converted try as the home team surged even further ahead at 22-0.

But the denouement of the game belonged to Clerc, surely one of the more exciting young prospects in the world today, as he scored twice to put the result beyond any doubt.

For his first try, the speedy winger left his opposite number Fred Asselin for dead as he raced away from 30 metres out.

Merceron missed the conversion, but Asselin's day turned even more sour when Irish referee David McHugh showed him a yellow card for a high tackle on French centre Thomas Castaignede.

With the Canadian winger out of the way, Clerc touched down for his second try after a superb move that saw skipper Fabien Galthié, Traille and Castaignède handle the ball before the 21-year-old sprinted through for a converted try.

Canada's only points came from the boot of flyhalf Bobby Ross, who kicked a late penalty in his 50th cap for the Canucks.

The Teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Vincent Clerc, 12 Thomas Castaignede, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  David Auradou, Xavier Garbajosa, Jean-Baptiste Rue, Sebastien Chabal, Francois Gelez, Sylvain Marconnet, Dimitri Yachvili

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 John Thiel, 4 Mike James, 5 John Tait, 6 Ryan Banks, 7 Alan Charron, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 John Cannon, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Jamie Cudmore, Marco Di Girolomo, Ed Fairhurst, Mark Lawson, Kevin Tkachuk, Adam Van Staveren
Unused:  Jared Barker

Referee:  Mchugh d.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Clerc V. 2, Bory D. 1, Traille D. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 2, Traille D. 1
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 3

Canada
Pen K.:  Ross R.P. 1

Argentina 7 Ireland 16

Ireland continued their fine November form when they beat Argentina 16-7 in a Lansdowne Road mud bath in Dublin, to retain their unbeaten run against the Southern Hemisphere opposition.

It was one try each, but flyhalf Ronan O'Gara kicked three decisive penalties -- two of them the only points in an otherwise austere second half.

The positives for the home team would be the great performance of their pack against the world class Puma forward pack -- particularly in the line-outs where they continuously harassed the visitors and stole numerous balls on the Argentina feed.

In the scrum they even had a turnover, although the Pumas had an edge in this department.

The big letdown for the Pumas was their discipline, with England referee Chris White constantly blowing them up for offences and O'Gara making the visitors pay.

Then there was the brilliant man-of-the-match performance by Irish fullback Girvan Dempsey, who not only scored his team's only try, but also stood firm in the face of numerous Puma high bombs in the wet weather.

Under the circumstances and in the conditions it was never going to be a free-flowing match, with both teams taking the kicking option rather than carrying the ball in hand.

From the outset parts of the field had been under water and the rain came down heavily during the match as well.

In the first quarter the Pumas certainly had the better of the exchanges, keeping the Irish pinned back in their own half with sound tactical kicking.

The first score came totally against the run of play, when Irish fullback Girvan Dempsey gathered the ball after is Puma counterpart Ignacio Corleto failed to control an up-and-under.  He slid over and O'Gara added the conversion for a 7-0 lead after 20 minutes.

But the Pumas hit back straight away when Dempsey failed to control a Puma kick and the ball slid into touch.

The Pumas took a quick throw -- so quick the referee did not even see -- and Rolando Martin scored.  But then the referee first consulted his touch judge, who ruled it a fair try, before the TV match official stepped in and said he would like to have another look at it.  He eventually also ruled a fair try.

With less than ten minutes to half time O'Gara added a penalty to give his team a three-point (10-7) lead at the break.

After the break the weather let up somewhat, but it was already far too wet and the mistake-riddled play of both teams continued.  The Pumas tried bravely towards the end, but having given away too many penalties they were never going to close the gap.

Man of the match:  Who else but Irish fullback Girvan Dempsey?  He pounced to sore his team's only try at a crucial stage in the first half and then when it mattered most -- in the second half -- he stood firm on defence.  His most outstanding feat was his ability to collect and return all the high balls put on him … and there were many.

Moment of the match:  It may not have won them the match, but the Puma try came so quickly -- not to mention the inventiveness of it all -- that the match officials took several minutes to confirm it.  It shows they are not the stereotype team everybody thinks.

Villain of the match:  The television match official.  His actions to send one of the touch judges to tell the referee that he would like to have another look at the Pumas' try is not within his jurisdiction -- that law has not been changed and after the referee awarded the try it should have stood -- as it eventually did.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Mario Ledesma Arocena, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Ignacio Corleto
Reserves:  Martin Durand, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Pedro Sporleder
Unused:  Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Jose Nunez Piossek, Martin Scelzo, Juan Jose Villar

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Victor Costello, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Shane Horgan, 12 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Justin Bishop, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Leo Cullen, Marcus Horan, Alan Quinlan
Unused:  Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Geordan Murphy, Frankie Sheahan

Attendance:  40000
Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Martin R.A. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 1

Ireland
Tries:  Dempsey G.T. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 3

South Africa 3 England 53

England completed their November 2002 hat-trick by inflicting the biggest Test defeat in South Africa's history, as they pummelled the 14-man Springboks by a massive 53-3 margin at Twickenham, the controversial early sending-off of Jannes Labuschagne turning this ruthless massacre into a complete non-spectacle.

To detract from such a massive England win and an all-round superb performance on a day when they regained top spot in the Zurich World Rankings may seem harsh, but it was New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien's decision to show a red card to Lions lock Labuschagne for a late tackle on Jonny Wilkinson after only 23 minutes that took the shine off this resounding drubbing.

It was an unquestionably late hit on the Newcastle pivot, but with one of their most accomplished forwards banished from the field of play, the South African team simply imploded in an indisciplined and unaccomplished performance -- a fact which must surely ask questions as to the way forward for this once great rugby nation.

The English, for their part, were unbending in their attacking attitude to the game, Ben Cohen once again delivering a colossal performance on the wing with a first half try, while Harlequins centre Will Greenwood snatched vital tries each side of the break.

Late tries from back-row trio Lawrence Dallaglio, Neil Back and Richard Hill, as well as a penalty try, gave the scoreline a more emphatic look, while the departure through injury of Wilkinson was one of few down points for the rampant English.

In Wilkinson's absence, Matt Dawson, Andy Gomarsall and Tim Stimpson were all called upon to take conversions, all spectacularly nailing their efforts from the touchlines on a day when the home side could seemingly do no wrong.

The match however had a bizarre feel after the dismissal of Labuschagne, at times degenerating into a Sevens throwabout, which never really exploded, but always looked as if a 30-man brawl was about to come, with repeated late and high tackles from the Boks, especially from midfield duo Butch James and Robbie Fleck.

It was the Boks who started arguably the better, some shrewd lines of running from Werner Greeff and the occasional big hit in midfield keeping England on the back foot and struggling to get out of their own half, but it was ill-discipline that was to once again blight their play.

A foolish punch from hot-head centre Fleck on Cohen right in front of the eyes of referee O'Brien allowed Wilkinson to slot the first points of the day from under the posts, while Fleck did well to stay on the pitch when a yellow card could well have been dished out.

With the South Africans keen to at least get something for their efforts, missed drop-goal attempts from James and André Pretorius were all they had to show.

England's pack were gradually gaining ascendancy however, and it was from a scrum just inside their own half that they were to kickstart this match, Dawson breaking from the base on an angled run to feed Dallaglio down the right.

Dallaglio -- on for the injured Lewis Moody -- promptly played Phil Christophers in, with the Bristol flyer spotting Cohen's brilliantly-angled run for the Northampton man to continue his superb November campaign with another try to add to the two he scored against the Wallabies last week and his single effort against New Zealand the previous match.

With scrum-half Bolla Conradie off early with injury, Blue Bulls back-up Norman Jordaan was thrown in at the deep end, and just when the Boks thought it could not get any worse, came Labuschagne's red card.

While the lateness of the tackle was undebatable, whether or not the offence merited the straight red as opposed to a sin-binning was a major bone of contention, and with Pedrie Wannenburg having to shift to lock against a dominant England pack, any chance of parity upfront had been lost in one foul swoop.

While South Africa certainly did not lack effort, England turned the screw after that, Cohen having a try turned down by the video referee Jim Fleming, the Scot judging Cohen to have knocked on Wilkinson's crossfield punt under the attentions of Breyton Paulse in the left corner.

Only five minutes after however England chalked up their second try, Greenwood spinning through the tackle of Wessel Roux after a Dallaglio pick-up from the base of a close range scrum -- Wilkinson switching the direction of play to open the hole for Greenwood's run at the line.

There was a penalty apiece for Wilkinson and Pretorius before the break, with England going into the interval at 18-3.

Any impetus the Boks had hoped to gain from their teamtalk was wiped out only two minutes after the break when Greenwood again wriggled over the line for a try, a big right to left pass from Wilkinson creating the space for Greenwood to dummy and go from the 22, the attentions of the retreating Paulse not enough to prevent the silky Harlequin grounding the ball, although it took a video referee decision to rubber-stamp the call.

Wilkinson's swooping pass for that try proved to be his last act of the match however, as he went off injured for Austin Healey to come on, scrum-half Matt Dawson meanwhile nailing the conversion from way out on the left touchline.

England turned the screw upfront, and it was some superb desperattion defending in his own dead ball area from Wannenburg that prevented a fourth try as he defused a diagonal chip over the flat defensive line from Greenwood.

The injury-enforced departure of South Africa's Pretorius, and the substitution of hooker James Dalton for Adrian Jacobs and Lukas van Biljon respectively, as well as Andy Gomarsall coming on for Dawson in the England ranks, gave the game a disjointed feel, with long passages of open play.

Referee O'Brien again saw the spotlight fall on him when he saw fit to award England a penalty try after one such prolonged spell of open running, fullback Greeff delivering a shocking high hit on Christophers five metres out, although the presence of Joe van Niekerk perhaps suggested that a try would not have been scored.  More bizarre was how Greeff escaped a yellow card for the challenge, but with Gomarsall in as the next successful makeshift kicker for England, the 32-3 lead had a decidedly hollow feel about it.

The onslaught kept on coming, and after an unpleasant elbow from skipper Corné Krige on Martin Johnson at a ruck near the South African line, it was Back who rumbled over from the resulting in lineout in a move that has served Welford Road so well down the years, Gomarsall converting magnificently from the left touchline.

His back-row mate Hill was next minutes later, brilliantly snatching a Healey crossfield kick in the right corner, replacement fullback Tim Stimpson the next successful England kicker as he converted from way out.

A pushover try from Dallaglio in injury-time ended this unceremonious massacre, the Springbok bodies flying out of the scrum as England showed their undoubted Twickenham prowess.

Whether or not they can live up to the expectations away from their home fortress and take the next step up remains the big question now, although the ramifications of this record defeat in South Africa could well be drastic.

Man of the match:  Another masterful display of powerful wingplay from Ben Cohen sees him get our vote.  Moved to the right to accomodate Phil Christophers in the side, he scored an early try, had one chalked-off for a knock-on and crucially looked for work instead of merely hugging the touchline.  Other contenders for the victors include tighthead Phil Vickery, again colossal in the scrum, and No.8 Richard Hill, while contenders in green shirts were few and far between.  Werner Greeff showed the odd flash of his potential from fullback early on, but the travel-sick Boks, other than a marginally better show of heart -- cannot take a great deal from this outing.

Moment of the match:  Undoubtedly the sending-off of Jannes Labuschagne by New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien after only 23 minutes.  With England only 8-0 up, and the Boks showing renewed spirit in the pack, his exit from the match effectively ended their hopes of victory against a rampaging England pack.  The shoulder charge on Jonny Wilkinson after he had punted the ball was well late, of that there is no doubt.  Had O'Brien opted for the yellow card rather than the red however, this match may at least have retained a competitive edge.

Villain of the match:  While Labuschange may seem the obvious candidate, our vote goes jointly to Springbok centre duo Butch James and Robbie Fleck, whose late and high tackles, as well as general petulance, left a sour taste in the mouth.  Fleck was a very lucky man not to be binned for a blatant punch on Ben Cohen, while James needs to urgently address his often-talked-about tackling style.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Deon Carstens, 2 James Dalton, 3 Wessel Roux, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 A.J. Venter, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 8 Joe Van Niekerk, 9 Bolla Conradie, 10 Andre Pretorius, 11 Friedrich Lombard, 12 Butch James, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves:  Adi Jacobs, Lukas Van Biljon, Norman Jordaan, Brent Russell, C.J. Van Der Linde
Unused:  Pierre Uys, Marco Wentzel

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Phil Christophers, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Lawrence Dallaglio, Andy Gomarsall, Danny Grewcock, Austin Healey, Tim Stimpson
Unused:  Mark Regan, Robbie Morris

Attendance:  72000
Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Pen K.:  Pretorius A.S. 1

England
Tries:  Cohen B.C. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Hill R.A. 1, Back N.A. 1, Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 1, Dawson M.J.S. 1, Gomarsall A.C.T. 2, Stimpson T.R.G. 2
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 2

New Zealand 43 Wales 17

Two tries from All Black wing Doug Howlett enabled New Zealand to finish off their 2002 tour of the UK with a thumping 43-17 win over a battling Wales side at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

It was a cruel final scoreline for a brave Welsh team who, though clearly outclassed from the very beginning, had fought with real guts and self-belief and had actually led the visitors right up until the opening minutes of the second half.

But really, given the huge advantage in terms of territory and possession that the All Blacks enjoyed throughout this encounter, a Welsh victory always looked unlikely against a slicker, classier New Zealand outfit.

The alarm bells were ringing for Wales as early as the second minute when a grubber kick from talented All Black debutant Regan King saw Doug Howlett nearly touching down in the left hand corner, the ball just running away from the wing's outstretched fingertips in the in-goal area.

New Zealand had another chance from a lineout just five metres out a few moments later, the All Black pack driving over the Welsh tryline in double quick time -- straight through the heart of the Welsh pack.  Luckily for Wales, video referee Joel Dume decided that the ball had gone forward off a New Zealand hand.

With New Zealand ever pushing forward through their back row and midfield strike runners, Wales survived another scare when the ball went wide from the ensuing scrum and their first-up defence held up well as they forced a penalty and relieved this early pressure.

Then, seemingly from nowhere, Wales stormed into the lead, laying siege to the All Black line with some fine continuity play, Jamie Robinson and Gareth Thomas making in-roads into the New Zealand defence before referee Tappe Henning signalled that the visitors had crept up offside during this protracted Welsh assault.

Fly-half Stephen Jones made no mistake with a simple penalty kick to put his side into a 3-0 lead.

That lead was shortlived, however, as Andrew Mehrtens brought his side level just two minutes later following another typical wide-ranging attacking movement by the All Blacks.

But then, completely against the run of play, a sensational try from nowhere shocked the All Blacks.

An ominous-looking All Black attack broke down as Mehrtens' kick was charged down by Welsh flanker Martyn Williams.  Jones hacked on and the ball went bobbling 50 metres downfield before stopping stock still over the mud-caked All Black tryline.  Robinson was out of blocks and hared off in search of the ball, beating the All Black cover to touch down.

Jones added the extras and Wales were ahead by 10-3 with 16 minutes of the match played -- the vast majority of it in the Welsh half.

Mehrtens came back with his second penalty in the 17th minute to bring New Zealand back to within four points of Wales.

Wales had a chance to further stretch their lead when New Zealand lock Ali Williams unwisely swung a punch at a breakdown, Jones attempting an ambitious massive penalty from the halfway line, his kick just going wide of the lefthand post.

New Zealand began to edge back inato the game, working themselves downfield with ball in hand and opening up the Welsh defence.  But each time they came within the striking range of the Welsh tryline, their precision eluded them, enabling the scrabbling Welsh defence to clear their lines.

One such instance saw a slick All Black backline move releasing Jonah Lomu down the left, the winger eventually dragged down by Gareth Thomas, but not before handing on to scrum-half Steve Devine.  Only a tremendous cover tackle from fullback Rhys Williams stopping the score.

Considering that they were blooding four new caps in their pack, the New Zealand forwards put immense pressure on their Welsh counterparts to cause some major problems for Welsh skipper Colin Charvis at the base of the scrum.  The No.8 did some invaluable work in this area to give scrum-half Dwayne Peel extra vital seconds to consider his options.

Then with just two minutes of normal time left in the first half, Mehrtens missed a penalty that would have put his side to within a point of their hosts after Gareth Llewellyn was adjudged to have interfered with an All Black jumper at a lineout.

But seconds later, the veteran second row charitably gave the visitors another bite at the cherry as he lost his footing at the breakdown to give Mehrtens another attempt at goal.

This time the No.10 was on target, leaving Wales clinging onto a bare one point lead.

Wales finished the half strongly, winning some quick ball during a thrilling series of attacks, but despite putting width on the ball, the Dragons did not seem to have the necessary muscle to cause a breakthrough in the All Black defensive line.

Despite this lack of penetration, Wales could have stretched their lead right at the end of the first-half, Jones hitting the right-hand post with the kick to let the All Blacks off the hook going into the break.

The early stages of the second-half saw Wales again pinned back into their own 22, Welsh hands on he floor giving Mehrtens the opportunity to kick another three points and put his side into the lead for the first time in the match.

Then, a moment of Welsh opportunism nearly saw another try for Wales, Gareth Thomas and Jamie Robinson hacking on a loose ball to create disarray in the All Black ranks.

But, alas for the home fans, as the ball bounced up to shoulder height, neither Welsh chaser could latch onto the ball and the chance to seize the lead once more was lost.

Injuries to All Black skipper Taine Randell and fullback Ben Blair forced a reorganisation in the New Zealand ranks, Marty Holah and Mark Robinson joining the throng.

This change in personnel seemed to do the trick for the visitors, as the All Blacks struck a killer blow from deep through their fleet-footed backline, Howlett finding acres of space down the lefthand touchline before floating a deft pass to Tana Umaga on his inside.

Umaga looked to be clear but was dragged back by the despairing tackle of Gareth Thomas just a couple of yards short, but was able to off-load to Howlett who streaked over for a well-worked try.

With the clock running down, Welsh replacement Iestyn Harris -- on for Jones at No.10 -- showed his value with two or three flourishes that offered his side some hope of overhauling their opponents.

After uncharacteristically holding onto the ball for multiple phases under the direction of Harris, an immense Welsh scrummage inched towards the New Zealand tryline with Charvis ready to pounce for the pushover.

But with the All Black pack disintegrating into a muddled heap, referee Henning adjudged that a New Zealand boot had illegally kicked the ball out of the scrummage and signalled for a penalty try.  With Harris converting, Wales now had a chance to save the match.

But then, with a minute of injury time already played, Umaga again combined with Howlett to give the winger his second try and end Welsh hopes of ending a 49-year losing streak against New Zealand.

As a lengthy period of injury time continued, New Zealand suddenly hit top gear, blitzing Wales with attacks from all angles in a period of ruthless attacking precision – King and replacement prop Kees Meuws both going over to give an overwhelming winning margin for John Mitchell's side.

After finishing off their tour in such style, this young New Zealand team will return home with an immense feeling of satisfaction and confidence ahead of what could be a momentous year for the All Blacks.

Man of the match:  Doug Howlett.  One man stood head and shoulders above the rest of his fellow players – wing Doug Howlett.  Every time he received the ball, Howlett created problems for the Welsh defence, his outright pace and mazy running ensuring that the opposition never quite knew how to deal with him.

Moment of the Match:  Regan King's try.  All Black outside centre Regan King's debut try resulted from a delightfully slick pass from his midfield partner Tana Umaga and all of New Zealand will be hoping that this will be just the first of many more appearances in the All Black jersey for the gifted Mooloo man.

Villain of the Match:  The Millennium Stadium pitch.  What is the point of having a gleaming, 21st century stadium if your actual playing surface looks like something out of the middle ages.  Full credit to the players for overcoming the limitations of the pitch to produce an absorbing contest, but the WRU must take immediate action to ensure that matters improve before the Six Nations.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Tony Woodcock, 4 Keith Robinson, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Daniel Braid, 7 Taine Randell (c), 8 Rodney So'oialo, 9 Steve Devine, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Regan King, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Ben Blair
Reserves:  Marty Holah, Paul Steinmetz, Kees Meeuws, Brad Mika, Mark Robinson
Unused:  Andrew Hore, Danny Lee

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Ben Evans, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Colin Charvis (c), 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Jamie Robinson, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Iestyn Harris, Michael Owen, Dafydd James, Garin Jenkins
Unused:  Mefin Davies, Richard Parks, Ryan Powell

Attendance:  72500
Referee:  Henning t.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 2, King R. 1, Meeuws K.J. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 4
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 5

Wales
Tries:  Robinson J.P. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 1, Harris I.R. 1
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 1

Australia 34 Italy 3

Australia finally managed a victory from their European tour when they ran out 34-3 victors over Italy at Genoa's Stadio Luigi Ferraris, wing Scott Staniforth touching down a pair of tries in an unspectacular triumph played in atrocious weather conditions.

Hot on the heels of their narrow loss at to England and their previous shock defeat to Ireland in the Dublin rain, the Wallabies knew an inspiring performance against the Azzurri was the order of the day to restore the faith of their sporting public, but in the end it did not quite reach those heights.

In fact, Eddie Jones' men even failed to surpass the scoreline that Argentina had racked up the previous week against John Kirwan's Italians in Rome, with the home side lacking their inspirational fly-half Diego Dominguez and both teams hampered by the rain.

It was Waratah Staniforth who made the margin of victory look all the more comfortable with two quickfire first-half tries, Brumbies lock Justin Harrison having got the visitors off to the perfect start with an earlier try.

A sole penalty from Dominguez's replacement, Rotherham's Ramiro Pez, was all the Azzurri had to show for their efforts, his long effort sending the Italians into the interval at 17-3 down.

The home side were not to score again in the whole match, and as the rain started to pour down in the soccer stadium used by the city's two clubs Sampdoria and Genoa, back-row Toutai Kefu rumbled over for the Wallabies' fourth try, bursting some tackles en-route.

Stirling Mortlock -- in at fullback for the injury-ravaged Australians -- completed their scoring eight minutes from time with some swift footwork on his way to the tryline, although their failure to rack-up a big score could see the questions keep on coming for the Wallabies, with the World Cup only a year away.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Adam Freier, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Elton Flatley, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Scott Staniforth, 15 Stirling Mortlock
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, David Giffin, Matt Giteau, Chris Whitaker, Mark Bartholomeusz, David Croft, Ben Darwin

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Enrico Pavanello, 5 Marco Bortolami, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Sergio Parisse, 9 Juan Manuel Queirolo, 10 Ramiro Pez, 11 Nicola Mazzucato, 12 Matteo Barbini, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Paolo Vaccari, 15 Mirco Bergamasco
Reserves:  Gianluca Faliva, Andrea Moretti, Gert Peens, Cristian Zanoletti, Scott Palmer, Mark Giacheri, Alessandro Troncon

Referee:  Deluca p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Kefu R.S.T. 1, Mortlock S.A. 1, Staniforth S.N.G. 2, Harrison J.B.G. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 3
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 1

Italy
Pen K.:  Pez R. 1

Ireland 64 Fiji 17

A strong first-half display from Ireland, which saw them rack up six tries, was enough to give them an eventual 64-17 win over Fiji at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.

The Irish, no doubt still on a high after their historic win over the world champion Wallabies last week, began the match in wonderful fashion when fullback Geordan Murphy scooted over for a try after five minutes.

David Humphreys, who equalled fellow Ulsterman Jackie Kyle's record 47 flyhalf caps, missed the conversion, but he managed his next attempt after a good run-in from inside centre Kevin Maggs.

Maggs had a slight bit of work to do from five metres out after a good long pass from captain Brian O'Driscoll allowed Justin Bishop enough space to come off his wing and open the gap for Maggs, who wrong-footed the Fijian defence with his angled incursion.

Humphreys and Fijian No.10 Nicky Little traded penalties shortly before the end of the first quarter, but Ireland extended their lead when Murphy beat the Fijian defenders to the ball after a clever chip-kick from Humphreys.  Referee Tony Spreadbury double-checked with the TMO before awarding the try, Humphreys then missing the conversion to leave his team ahead at 20-3.

O'Driscoll, who was meant to sit out this match before replacing the injured John Kelly in the Irish XV, collected a five-pointer soon after Murphy's score.  It was O'Driscoll's 17th try in his 32nd Test, equalling Brendan Mullin's all-time try-scoring record for Ireland.

Amazingly enough, injured hooker Keith Wood is third on Ireland's all-time try-scoring list with 14 from 51 Tests.

Wing Justin Bishop celebrated his return to Test action by scoring his eighth try in Irish colours, while Maggs capped of his team's superb first-half showing by scoring a try which had class stamped all over it.

Maggs had began the move by freeing lock Malcolm O'Kelly with a neat inside-pass and after a good run from the latter, and good linking from opensider Kieron Dawson, Maggs had the simple task of running the ball in.

Humphreys converted Maggs and Bishops' tries, leaving the score at 39-3 at half-time.

The second half saw the standard of rugby drop somewhat, but the game did open up, which allowed the Fijians, and in particular Waisale Serevi, a chance to throw the ball about.

Strangely enough, a knock-on from Serevi on Ireland's tryline denied Fiji their first try of the day, but thanks to an earlier indiscretion from Ireland the Fijians won a penalty, which they eventually converted into points when their No.7 flanker Alifereti Doviverata crashed over -- Little's conversion leaving the score at 39-10.

Ireland hit back with tries from Dawson and impressive No.8 Anthony Foley, but after coach Eddie O'Sullivan replaced the latter, O'Driscoll, Malcolm O'Kelly and John Hayes, Ireland seemed to lose concentration, while Fiji gave the ball some air.

Some Serevi magic, a dummy which caught the Irish team napping in their own 22, saw replacement flyhalf Joseph Narruhn get over for Fiji's second try of the day, which, for good measure Serevi converted to make the score 57-17.

Maggs, who delivered a huge performance in attack and defence, put the cherry on top for himself and Ireland by completing his hat-trick shortly before full-time after the hard work had been done by right-wing Shane Horgan.  All Maggs had to do was run over the tryline, with Humphreys' conversion signalling the end of the match.

"We're pleased with our performance," said Humphreys after the match.  "It was tough coming off last week's high, but we spoke about that during the week.

"We started well," he continued, "but we're disappointed with our second-half showing, although the game had lost its shape by then."

Man of the match:  Malcolm O'Kelly and Anthony Foley impressed in the first half, with the quality of Ireland's game dropping shortly after they were replaced, while in the backline Kevin Maggs, Brian O'Driscoll and Geordan Murphy shone.  For Fiji, Waisale Serevi impressed as did Wales-based lock forward Simon Raiwalui.  However, in the end we settled for Maggs, for his superb showing from the crucial inside centre position.  He directed things smoothly on attack and defence and weighed in with three tries too.

Moment of the match:  Serevi's act of brilliance in the 66th minute, which caught Ireland's defence napping, allowing Joseph Narruhn a simple run-in off the Sevens wizard's shoulder.

Villain of the match:  In the last quarter of the game, and with the Irish already massively ahead, Ireland won a penalty right under the Fiji posts.  English referee Tony Spreadbury pointed to the posts, to the bemusement of the home crowd, and most importantly to the equal bemusement of goalkicker and stand-in captain David Humphreys.  The Ulstermen insisted he had not called for posts, but Spreadbury was having none of it, and made it clear that the Irish could not run the penalty.  Humphreys duly slotted it over with a sheepish look, but who was the real villain here?  The referee?  One of the Ireland players?  Or perhaps a Fijian joker putting on an Irish accent?

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 3 Marcus Horan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Leo Cullen, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Alan Quinlan, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Guy Easterby, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Shane Horgan, 12 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Justin Bishop, 15 Geordan Murphy
Reserves:  Gordon D'Arcy, Eric Miller, Reggie Corrigan, Mick O'Driscoll
Unused:  Shane Byrne, Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Richard Nyholt, 4 Apenisa Naevo, 5 Simon Raiwalui, 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 7 Alfi Mocelutu Vuivau, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Fero Lasagavibau, 12 Seremaia Baikeinuku, 13 Viliame Satala, 14 Norman Ligairi, 15 Waisale Serevi
Reserves:  Joseph Narruhn, Ifereimi Rawaqa, Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi, Seta Tawake Naivaluwaqa
Unused:  Paula Biutanaseva, Isaac Mow, Isaia Rasila

Referee:  Whitehouse n.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Murphy G.E.A. 2, O'Driscoll B.G. 1, Maggs K.M. 3, Bishop J.P. 1, Foley A.G. 1, Dawson K. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 5
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 3

Fiji
Tries:  Doviverata R.A. 1, Narruhn J. 1
Conv:  Serevi W.T. 1, Little N.T. 1
Pen K.:  Little N.T. 1

Argentina 36 Italy 6

Argentina, who had ran the Wallabies close in Buenos Aires a fortnight previously, hammered perennial Six Nations wooden-spoonists Italy by 36-6 at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome.

The visitors led 15-6 at half-time thanks to first-half tries from outside centre José Orengo and right-wing Ignacio Corleto, and one conversion and one penalty by Felipe Contepomi, while all Italy had to show from their day out were two early penalties from flyhalf and points-machine Diego Dominguez.

Dominguez, who scored all the Azzurri's points in the first 10 minutes of the match via two penalty goals, enjoyed an unhappy afternoon out, and he was replaced in the second half by South African-born flyhalf Gert Peens.

Corleto's try came in the 35th minute -- with Argentina leading 8-6 -- just one minute before Argentina's lock forward Pedro Sporleder was due to return from the sin bin.

The Italians, who face Australia in Genoa next Saturday, were blown off the park by the well-drilled Puma pack in the second half, with the visitors adding another three-pointers in the last 40 minutes.

Flanker Rolando Martín, Leeds winger Diego Albanese and replacement loose forward Martin Durand were the second half try-scorers, despite a brave performance from Italian fullback Mirco Bergamasco.

Martín crossed for his try in the 69th minute, after a scoring drought of 34 minutes, but Argentina more than made up for it thanks to Albanese and Durand's tries in the last 10 minutes.

The last time Italy and Argentina met, in Buenos Aires in July last year, the Pumas triumphed by 38-17, but the Azzurri were expected to put up a better fight this time around.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Roberto Grau, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Omar Hasan Jalil, 4 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Ignacio Corleto
Reserves:  Martin Durand, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Mauricio Reggiardo, Pedro Sporleder
Unused:  Jose Nunez Piossek, Juan Jose Villar

Italy:  1 Gianluca Faliva, 2 Andrea Moretti, 3 Federico Pucciariello, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Santiago Dellape, 6 Salvatore Garozzo, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Scott Palmer, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Nicola Mazzucato, 12 Matteo Barbini, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Paolo Vaccari, 15 Mirco Bergamasco
Reserves:  Leandro Castrogiovanni, Fabio Ongaro, Enrico Pavanello, Gert Peens, Cristian Zanoletti, Sergio Parisse
Unused:  Juan Manuel Queirolo

Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Corletto I. 1, Orengo J. 1, Albanese D.L. 1, Martin R.A. 1, Durand M. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 2, Fernandez Miranda J. 2

Italy
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 2

South Africa 6 Scotland 21

Bryan Redpath's Scotland side re-wrote the history books with a well-deserved and shock 21-6 win over a battling Springbok side at Murrayfield.

Not only was this was Scotland's first win over South Africa since 1969, but it was also their biggest win over the Springboks, smashing their previous record of six points, achieved way back in 1906 in Glasgow.

The Boks have now lost two matches in succession on tour, after last Saturday's 30-10 defeat against France in Marseille, but one could argue that this performance was even worse than last week.

For starters, the Edinburgh game began exactly the same as last week's contest, with South Africa conceding a penalty right from the kick-off.  Scotland banged the ball into the Boks' territory -- a familiar tactic for them on the day -- and soon afterwards their Kilted Kiwi Brendan Laney opened their account with a penalty for not releasing in the tackle.

For good measure, like last week, the Boks also lost their first-choice outside centre.  This time, however, Marius Joubert withdrew shortly before kick-off with an injured shoulder, with Adrian Jacobs moving from the replacements' bench to the starting XV and lock Bakkies Botha providing cover from the bench.

Laney was on target just five minutes later when the visitors collapsed an advancing Scotland maul on their line and at 6-0 the home team began growing in confidence.

The Boks somehow managed to keep the rampaging Scots at bay and when they eventually worked their way into enemy territory Breyton Paulse (of all people) was penalised for excessive use of the boot.  While replays suggested that Paulse may have been penalised unfairly, it did not matter as Scotland cleared their line and could breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

Bok flyhalf Butch James, who for some reason opted to kick every ball straight to a Scottish defender on the day, opened his team's account in the 33rd minute with a 41-metre penalty after an indiscretion by the home team.

At 6-3 down the Boks would have been happy to still be in the match, while a second James penalty tied the scores at 6-6, leaving it that way at the break after Laney missed a relatively simple attempt on the stroke of half-time.

The Boks began the second stanza better than the first, but it was Scotland -- via Laney once again -- who got the first points after the break to take a 9-6 lead.

At that stage the South Africans had put a ton of pressure on the home team, with a five-metre scrum being their only reward, but the Scots rode the pressure and that penalty seemed to give them the necessary boost as they came flying back from the re-start.

A drive into the Boks' territory gave them a chance for the first five-pointer of the day and when a pile of Scottish bodies collapsed over their opponents' goalline, referee Nigel Williams went to the TMO, who ruled that Scottish flanker Budge Pountney had touched the ball down.

It was a crucial score and Laney's conversion saw daylight between the two sides at 16-6.

The Boks, who besides lacking any decent ball to trouble the Scots, were devoid of any organisation amongst their back division and coach Rudolf Straeuli brought André Pretorius on for Jacobs shortly before the final quarter to add something to his side.

Pretorius took over at No.10, with Butch James moving to inside centre and Robbie Fleck shifting to outside centre.  Shortly after Pretorius's arrival, Johannes Conradie made a neat break, only for debutant flanker Pierre Uys to knock on a difficult pass from the little No.9.  That summed up the Boks' performance, silly errors at crucial moments, while the Scots seemed untroubled.

However, just when the Boks thought things could get worse, replacement flyhalf Gregor Townsend hoisted a high ball on Werner Greeff, who seemed to have it under control, but instead knocked the ball right on his own goalline.  Laney picked the ball up and threw it to winger Nikki Walker, who, with the line at his mercy, also knocked on.  Scrum to South Africa.

Conradie fed the scrum for SA, it wheeled slightly and his floated pass put Pretorius under pressure.  He tried to beat some defenders with clever footwork, in the end it was just plain stupid as he lost the ball and Walker simply got the touch for the try.

Laney, who missed three penalty attempts, missed the conversion, but at 21-6 it was game, set and match.  A famous win for the Scottish bravehearts, and more woes for South Africa, who cannot seriously expect to be a force at next year's World Cup after a performance like this.

"It's always hard to beat South Africa," said delighted Scotland coach Ian McGeechan.  "They're a proud country."

So too, it seems, are Scotland.  They are bound to enjoy their night in Edinburgh after this win.  And why not?

Man of the match:  Virtually the entire Scotland side deserves a look-in here, while not one Springbok player even comes close.  The Scots' best players were front rowers Tom Smith and Gordon Bulloch, No.8 Simon Taylor and scrumhalf and skipper Bryan Redpath.  Our pick?  Well, we went for Simon Taylor for his wonderful defence, superb play at the back of the line-out, power and pace on attack and general work-rate.

Moment of the match:  The final whistle.  This win meant a lot to the brave Scottish side, while for the Springboks it meant relief after they were out-played (for the second week in a row) in every single facet of play from the very first minute to the last.  Where to now for Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli?

Villain of the match:  Churlish perhaps, but, like last week the entire Springbok side walks away with our award.  No gameplan, no organisation and sadly, and perhaps more worrying, no heart from a nation that was once renowned for its fighting spirit and commitment.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Deon Carstens, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Wessel Roux, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 Marco Wentzel, 6 Pierre Uys, 7 Corne Krige (c), 8 Joe Van Niekerk, 9 Bolla Conradie, 10 Butch James, 11 Friedrich Lombard, 12 Adi Jacobs, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves:  A.J. Venter, Andre Pretorius, C.J. Van Der Linde
Unused:  Bakkies Botha, James Dalton, Brent Russell, Pedrie Wannenburg

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gordon Ross, 11 Chris Paterson, 12 Brendan Laney, 13 Andrew Craig, 14 Nikki Walker, 15 Stuart Moffatt
Reserves:  Nathan Hines, Dave Hilton, Ben Hinshelwood, Gregor Townsend, Jason White
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  58225
Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Pen K.:  James A.D. 2

Scotland
Tries:  Walker N. 1, Pountney A.C. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 3

New Zealand 20 France 20

France and New Zealand played to a 20-20 draw in Paris, after the scores were also level at 10-10 at half-time.  But the result could have swung in France's favour after a bizarre incident late in the game.

With the scores tied and less than three minutes of playing time left, French flyhalf François Gelez aimed a very kickable penalty at the sticks.  But during his run-up, the ball fell over and referee Scott Young of Australia awarded a scrum to the All Blacks, ruling that Gelez was not allowed to run with the ball, this after the home team's pivot had picked it up, seemingly unsure of the rules.

Just minutes later, deep into injury-time, Gelez had a chance to redeem himself when the All Blacks conceded another kickable penalty, but sadly for the French their normally sound goalkicker pulled his kick wide and the final whistle sounded.

These were not the only incidents during this tightly contested affair, and the All Blacks had to play 30 minutes of the game with only 14 players, as three New Zealanders were sin-binned in the first half.

While Christian Cullen can perhaps feel a bit aggrieved by his yellow card -- he was judged to have committed a professional foul after intercepting from the "wrong side" close to his own tryline -- Kees Meeuws (in the ninth minute) and Mark Robinson (on the stroke of half-time) were binned for punching.

With Meeuws cooling off, the French opened the scoring when Olivier Magne crashed over from the ensuing line-out after the All Black tighthead's offence.  Gelez added the two points, and the home team were deservedly leading by 7-0.

Andrew Mehrtens closed the gap slightly with his first penalty, and a couple of minutes later, Meeuws scored the visitors' first try after a clever dummy from a line-out maul.  The burly front rower crossed the French line unopposed and Mehrtens put the All Blacks ahead by 10-7 with the conversion.

But the French did not change their approach to the game, and kept on attacking at every opportunity.

In the 30th minute Les Bleus looked certain to score their second try when two French backs were in a two-on-one situation in the New Zealand 22, but Cullen intercepted the ball as he was running back to defend, the referee then sending the experienced No.15 to the sin bin, much to the bemusement of his team-mates.

The All Blacks foiled the home team's attack from the line-out, and the French were back in the middle of the field.

However, Robinson's yellow -- he allegedly punched Serge Betsen after the French flanker did not let go on the ground -- led to the penalty that saw Gelez level the scores at the break.

The second half did not really start too well for both sides, but the Kiwis probably felt more satisfied as they scored the only points -- a penalty by Mehrtens -- with Robinson still off the field.

Both teams were set on playing running rugby, but errors crept into the game as some flamboyant passes were slung around the Stade de France pitch.

The French pack gained ascendancy in the second half, putting the All Black scrum and line-out under increased pressure, but the New Zealand defence was solid, and France could do nothing to breach the visitors' line.

However, during a brilliant period of play between the 64th and 67th minutes Tana Umaga and Nicolas Brusque scored good tries, both resulting from superb angled running.

First Umaga received a pop-pass from Mehrtens, changed his running direction slightly before speeding away for a converted try under the sticks.

Then Brusque received a good pass from Imanol Harinordoquy and also, by running straight as the defence shifted past him, scored a try ruled perfectly legal by the Television Match Official as he slid over under a heap of All Black bodies.

Ten minutes after converting Brusque's try, Gelez levelled the scores with his second penalty, and the score did not change again, with Les Bleus and the All Blacks playing to their first-ever draw at Test level, as Gelez's late kicking nightmare unfolded infront of an expectant home crowd.

Man of the match:  There were quite a few contenders here.  The French loose forwards -- Serge Betsen, Olivier Magne and Imanol Harinordoquy -- played very well, as did Raphael Ibanez and Fabien Galthié.  For New Zealand Brad Mika, Marty Holah and Umaga had good games, but the French No.8, Imanol Harinordoquy, was the best in the end.

Moment of the Match:  The incident with François Gelez and the ball falling off its tee was pretty bizarre, but Tana Umaga and Nicholas Brusque's tries, both scored after good passing and superb angled running, were pretty special during a game that did not really live up to expectations.

Villain of the Match:  There were three yellow cards, but the two players who were sin-binned for punching -- Kees Meeuws and Mark Robinson -- win this dubious award in a game that had it's fair share of pushing and shoving.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Joe McDonnell, 2 Andrew Hore, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Ali Williams, 5 Brad Mika, 6 Marty Holah, 7 Taine Randell (c), 8 Sam Broomhall, 9 Danny Lee, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Tana Umaga, 13 Mark Robinson, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Carl Hayman, Keith Robinson
Unused:  Keven Mealamu, Ben Blair, Steve Devine, Rodney So'oialo, Paul Steinmetz

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Francois Gelez, 11 Vincent Clerc, 12 Thomas Castaignede, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Cedric Heymans, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Sebastien Chabal
Unused:  Xavier Garbajosa, Gerald Merceron, Thibault Privat, Jean-Baptiste Rue, Sylvain Marconnet, Dimitri Yachvili

Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Meeuws K.J. 1, Umaga J.F. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 2

France
Tries:  Brusque N. 1, Magne O. 1
Conv:  Gelez F. 2
Pen K.:  Gelez F. 2

Australia 31 England 32

England came back from 12 points down to lift the 2002 Cook Cup in a thrilling game against Australia at Twickenham, making it three wins in three years in the fixture after the home side survived a frantic finale to end up 32-31 winners.  This despite the Wallabies plundering three tries in a 10-minute purple patch near the break.

16-6 up and playing first half injury-time, England were cruising after an early score from superb Northampton wing Ben Cohen, but one try either side of the interval from Wallaby centre Elton Flatley and a further from rugby league convert Wendell Sailor looked to have given the visitors an insurmountable 28-16, as a shell-shocked England looked on in disbelief and wondered where their lead had disappeared to.

Australia -- coming into the match on the back of their embarrassing defeat against Ireland in the Dublin rain last week -- showed a great deal more commitment and unity in the pack, although it was the resolve of the seemingly beaten English that this game will be remembered for.

Cohen was again the hero in a frantic finale when he raced onto a timely dummy and pass from Gloucester's greenhorn wing James Simpson-Daniel to go under the posts with five minutes to go, his 18th try in just 20 Test appearances, fly-half Jonny Wilkinson then sealing the win with the straight-forward conversion on a day when his 22 points with the boot proved crucial.

The Newcastle fly-half produced a goalkicking display of the highest order with his six penalties and two conversions, marshalling an England side who saw colossal performances from the recalled Ben Kay and Neil Back, while even the likes of Simpson-Daniel and veteran prop Jason Leonard shone.

For the Wallabies, next Saturday's Test against Italy in Genoa cannot come soon enough as the travel-weary world champions aim to bring the curtain down on a tour which started with the "battle of Buenos Aires", and has so far seen misery on a grand scale in both Dublin and London.

Plus points for the Bledisloe Cup holders may not be glaringly obvious after this admittedly narrow loss, which could have gone either way, but did expose yet again their lack of imagination behind the scrum, although seeing renewed fire upfront, where Matt Cockbain and George Smith policed the back-row with more urgency and conviction.

While the pre-match build-up might have lacked the anticipation of last week's Twickenham visit of the All Blacks, the on-field intensity was equal if not higher, with both packs putting in some big hits, while the Wallaby backs' straight running provided a fascinating contrast with the space-searching of the English.

After his superb finish against New Zealand last time out, it was wing Cohen who again showed his class in opening the scoring for the home side in the left corner, latching on to yet more enterprising ball-in-hand play from Gloucester youngster Simpson-Daniel on the scissor after a line-out to score.

With the Wallabies switching fly-half Stephen Larkham sporadically to fullback and using centre Flatley at first receiver, their back play early on still lacked the intent and spark of the English, with their much-publicised decoy runners, however, managing to create space on occasion.

Two penalties from Matt Burke brought them to within a point after the NSW Waratah had missed an early effort, but with England re-cycling the ball well in the loose, three subsequent Wilkinson penalties edged them further ahead.

Daniel Vickerman was lucky not to find himself in the sin-bin for the latter of the three after curtailing a 50-metre Matt Dawson break under the posts, but New Zealand referee Paul Honiss opted not to take further action with the English 16-6 up, and only seconds until the break.

Their remarkable fightback however was just about to take shape, and started in the seventh minute of added time when repeated infringements from England near their own line saw the visitors opt for the five-metre scrum, first receiver Flatley capitalising on a slip from Wilkinson to take a diagonal course from the right-hand side of the pitch to score under the posts for a simple but effective try.

Burke's conversion meant England's lead was only 16-13 at the interval, but just as England had done the previous week, the Australians then managed another try almost immediately after the break, right wing Sailor this time the beneficiary in the right corner after what in truth had been a rather one-dimensional and laboured previous 40 minutes from the former rugby leaguer, although he capitalised well on a slip from last man Cohen after a great looping pass from Larkham.

Not content with those two quickfire scores, they then made it three as the Twickenham crowd were still finishing their half-time pies, this time Flatley showing a remarkable turn of pace from 80 metres on the intercept after the ball flew out of England tackle in the Wallaby 22 -- the retreating Jason Robinson not even able to catch the Queensland fly-half who was having an increasing influence on proceedings.

Burke converted, and then seconds later cracked over his third penalty to take what had looked an almost unconquerable 6-16 deficit into a 28-16 lead in a matter of about ten minutes' playing time.

Burke and Wilkinson then both kicked their fourth penalties as the crowd took a much-needed breather, the England fly-half goping on to nail a further two to get his side within nine points of the world champions.

With time gradually running out, English attempts to unpick their effective but flat defensive line included a superbly-timed chip-and-chase from Greenwood on his own 22, although with vast expanses of space in front of him, the presence of a Wallaby tackler was enough to pressurise him into a loose pass to the advancing Moody, who had a clear but admittedly long run-in to the line.

The crowd rose to their feet moments later however, and it was yet again for Cohen who was the hero, latching onto a Simpson-Daniel dummy in midfield near the Australian 22 to go under left of the posts for a spectacular try, his brilliantly-times inward run from his wing perch flummoxing the Aussie midfield.

Wilkinson's elimentary conversion put England back into a lead which looked as if it had disappeared after that Wallaby onslaught, setting the stage for a frantic last ten minutes.

A chance to snatch a dramatic late win presented itself to Burke with three minutes left on the clock, but even he could not find the target with a tricky 45-metre penalty, his booming kick looping agonisingly left of the uprights.

Try as they might to win the ball from the English in a nail-biting seven minutes of injury-time, a heaving punt clearance from Larkham saw referee Honiss finally blow the whistle at the end of yet another pulsating Twickenham Test, one which might well have swayed any lingering doubters after their win against the so-called New Zealand 2nd XV last week.

Man of the match:  Creditible performances from players on both sides, but for endeavour, commitment and a never-say-die attitude, our vote goes to recalled England prop Jason Leonard.  Nearing 100 England caps despite his current standing as a mere squad player, he scrummaged superbly and even popped up in the loose with some vital bursts.  Elsewhere in the England side, scrum-half Matt Dawson, wings Ben Cohen and James Simpson-Daniel were both solidity personified, while fly-half Jonny Wilkinson led the line well.  For the Wallabies, Elton Flatley not ony scored two tries, but kept the England line guessing with his positional changes.  Matt Cockbain was a driving force upfront, while Matt Burke held his nerve for the majority of his goal attempts.

Moment of the match:  Staring defeat in the face and with less than five minutes on the clock, Gloucester wing James Simpson-Daniel ran the ball laterally in midfield on the Wallaby 22, dummying and then popping to left wing Ben Cohen on a diagonal inward run.  Cohen broke the Australian defensive line and burst over for a vital try that got England to within a point, Jonny Wilkinson's conversion securing the win in the most spectacular of manners.

Villain of the match:  Played in a good spirit and refereed generally superbly by New Zealander Paul Honiss, he did however earn the wrath of the Twickenham crowd with his decision not to send lock Daniel Vickerman to the sin bin when he killed a ruck ball under the posts while an England try beckoned.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Elton Flatley, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Wendell Sailor, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  David Giffin, Matt Giteau, David Croft, Ben Darwin, Adam Freier
Unused:  Scott Staniforth, Chris Whitaker

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Lawrence Dallaglio, Austin Healey
Unused:  Andy Gomarsall, Danny Grewcock, Mark Regan, Tim Stimpson, Robbie Morris

Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Flatley E.J. 2, Sailor W.J. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 2
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 4

England
Tries:  Cohen B.C. 2
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 2
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 6

Scotland 37 Romania 10

Scotland overcame a battling Romania side by 37-10 at Murrayfield on Saturday, the home side scoring five tries during a far from impressive performance.

Ian McGeechan's side face South Africa next, but will need a vast all-round improvement if they hope to beat the Springboks such was the general lack of urgency and penetration in their game.

Indeed, Scotland could have found themselves behind in the opening moments of the match after Romanian fly-half Ionut Tofan missed with a drop-goal and was then awarded a penalty for an offside decision against a Scottish player.

Tofan could not find his target from the static kick though and that early let off seemed to galvanise the Scots, who almost instantly scored their opening try after a very effective close quarter drive from a line-out.

Second rower Stuart Grimes was the man in possession as the drive went over the tryline and Laney was able to add the extras.

Tofan finally opened his side's account with a successful penalty but the three points were swiftly cancelled out by a Laney penalty.

Romania shook off the setback to open their account through a Tofan penalty after Scotland forfeited 10 metres for not retreating fast enough.  But it took the home side just four minutes to claw back the three points with a Laney kick.

Laney added another penalty goal in the 24th minute to increase Scotland's lead before wing Chris Paterson scythed through the Romanian defence to score his side's second try.

The second half saw Scotland rack up tries through Martin Leslie, Budge Pountney and Stuart Moffat, while Romania were at least able to give themselves the comfort of scoring a try against their hosts, Tofan going over for the late score and converting.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Simon Taylor, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Budge Pountney, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gordon Ross, 11 Chris Paterson, 12 Brendan Laney, 13 Andrew Craig, 14 Nikki Walker, 15 Stuart Moffatt
Reserves:  Nathan Hines, Jon Petrie, Ben Hinshelwood, Steve Scott, Mattie Stewart, Gregor Townsend
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge

Romania:  1 Petru Balan, 2 Marius Tincu, 3 Nicolae Dragos Dima, 4 Cristian Petre, 5 Augustin Petrechei, 6 George Chiriac, 7 Florin Corodeanu, 8 Alin Petrache, 9 Petre Mitu, 10 Ionut Tofan, 11 Vasile Ghioc, 12 Romeo Gontineac (c), 13 Valentin Maftei, 14 Ioan Teodorescu, 15 Gabriel Brezoianu
Reserves:  Stefan Dragnea, Lucian Sirbu, Marcel Socaciu, Petrisor Toderasc
Unused:  Marius Coltuneac, Cristian Podea

Referee:  Turner a.

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Moffatt J.S.D. 1, Pountney A.C. 1, Grimes S.B. 1, Leslie M.D. 1, Paterson C.D. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 3
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 2

Romania
Tries:  Tofan I.R. 1
Conv:  Tofan I.R. 1
Pen K.:  Tofan I.R. 1

Fiji 14 Wales 58

Wales broke the half century mark as they beat a somewhat lacklustre Fijian side 58-14 in their one-off Test at a closed-roof Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.  The seven tries to two victory is Wales' biggest win ever over the Fijians.

The previous biggest win by the Welsh was a 40-3 triumph over the Fijians on 9 November 1985.  The seven tries scored by the Welsh on Saturday also equals the record of seven, scored back in '85.

While the Fijians showed some resistance in the early stages of the game, the second half was one-way traffic.

It was a first half that produced plenty Fijian aggression, maybe a bit too much, as the yellow card showed to Seremaia Bai after about 20 minutes can attest.

A string of penalties cost the Fijians dearly, with Stephen Jones slotting five penalties in the first 24 minutes to give his team a handy 15-0 lead.

But two tries in the final five minutes before the break put the game beyond the tourists, with Rhys Williams going over under the posts after turnover ball and great counter play by the Welsh -- with Jones adding the conversion -- while Mark Jones added a second try in injury time.

At 27-0 it seemed as if there was no way back for the Fijians.

There was a period around the 30-minute mark in the first half when the powerful Fijian runners tested the Welsh defence.  Wales were forced to make tackle after tackle on their tryline, but held firm.

This period, which brought no reward, seemed to take the fight out of the tourists.

At the break Fiji took off Joseph Narruhn, and brought on the Sevens specialist Waisale Serevi in the hope of sparking their backline into action.

But it was the Welsh Dragons who produced the first score of the second period, when loose forward Colin Charvis went over under the posts, after a period of sustained pressure.

With the Fijians still giving away penalties, almost at will, the next score also went to the Welsh -- with the home team spreading it wide and Sonny Parker crashing over the line to score a fourth try for the Welsh.

This was followed by another Mark Jones try and Stephen Jones' third conversion.

At this stage the Fijian defence seemed to have fallen apart and they also lost the heart that is usually associated with the physical Fijians.

They did finally manage a score, when winger Fero Lasagavibau used his pace to go over under the posts.  Nicky Little added the conversion to make it 46-7, but the game was long over as a contest.

There were late tries for Gareth Thomas (Wales) and Waisale Serevi (Fiji) as the game opened up towards the end.

Man of the match:  Mark Jones scored two great tries for the Welsh, but he gets our vote for his all-round performance -- which included help setting up a great try for his team.

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Billy Cavubati, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Richard Nyholt, 4 Apisai Naevo, 5 Simon Raiwalui, 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 7 Seta Tawake Naivaluwaqa, 8 Alfi Mocelutu Vuivau, 9 Jacob Rauluni, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Fero Lasagavibau, 12 Seremaia Bai, 13 Seru Rabeni, 14 Norman Ligairi, 15 Joseph Narruhn
Reserves:  Waisale Serevi, Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi
Unused:  Paula Biu, Bill Gadolo, Isaia Rasila

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Ben Evans, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Colin Charvis (c), 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Iestyn Harris, Martyn Madden, Richard Parks, Jamie Robinson, Steve Williams
Unused:  Ryan Powell, Andrew Lewis

Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Serevi W.T. 1, Ligairi N. 1
Conv:  Serevi W.T. 1, Little N.T. 1

Wales
Tries:  Jones M.A. 2, Parker S. 1, Williams G.R. 1, Penalty try 1, Charvis C.L. 1, Thomas G. 1
Conv:  Harris I.R. 1, Jones S.M. 3
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 5