South Africa 53 Wales 18

South Africa brushed Wales aside with disdain as they scored a 53-18 win over the hapless Dragons at Loftus in Pretoria, outscoring their opponents by seven tries to two.  It was another impressive performance by a South African team that improves every week.

But for the third successive week their victory celebrations were tempered by the news that a player may have suffered a potentially serious injury.  Lock Victor Matfield left the field late in the 60th minute, and was later seen with ice packed to his knee.

Coach Jake White admitted that he was concerned, but said that he was not sure how serious it was.  It is unlikely the Boks will know before Sunday or Monday what the full extent of the injury is, but it is not the kind of news he would have wanted ahead of the Tri-Nations series next month.

But Matfield's injury aside, it was another performance that displayed the potential in White's team.

Many still expected the Boks to win and win comfortably, but few expected such a brutal performance, despite the team still being way off the pace.

Even against the Welsh on Saturday there were periods when the Boks were simply too casual or over eager and wasted scoring chances.

The tight forwards totally dominated proceedings and the Welsh were always living off scraps.  As a result, the visitors spent large periods of the game defending deep inside their own half.

But in the end the visitors had no answer for the wave, after wave of Springbok attacks.

The South Africans were full of running in the early stages, but their finishing let them down.

In fact it was Wales who scored first, when Gavin Henson slotted a 50-metre penalty, after a South African went offside on the halfway line.

The Boks continued to enjoy territorial dominance, but a number of chances were lost -- either through some sloppy play or just over-eagerness.

But after 14 minutes the Bok machine clicked into gear and from phase ball they spun it to the left, where fly-half Jaco van der Westhuyzen floated through a gap.

He was brought down just five metres out, but captain John Smit came flying through and despite being scragged saw his momentum carry him over for a try that had the crowd jumping out of their seats in delight.  Montgomery added the conversion for a 7-3 lead.

Penalties dominated the play for the next 15 minutes, with Montgomery slotting two and Henson one as the scored moved on to 13-6.

It was not until the 30th minute that the crowd had something to really cheer about.  It started with a failed touch-finder.  The Boks started running it back and it was giant lock Victor Matfield who powered his way through the Welsh defence to set up the try.

Matfield timed his pass to perfection as he sent winger Brent Russell over for a try under the uprights.  Montgomery's conversion moved the score along to a comfortable 20-6.

The next moment of brilliance came in the 39th minute, when the Boks again showed their brilliant counter-attacking abilities.  It came from a ruck and No.8 Jacques Cronjé bursting away with the ball.  Quick hands by Percy Montgomery and Schalk Burger saw the ball go wide to Marius Joubert, who threw a long pass to a flying Breyton Paulse on the right.

He set off down the touchline, with the Welsh desperately scrambling in cover.  But a neat little inside step saw him burst through a tackle and over for the try.  Montgomery added the conversion to make it 27-6 at the break.

The Boks appeared to become a touch sloppy after the break, probably knowing they had the game won and wanted to run everything and in the process neglecting the basics.

But they were simply still too powerful for the brave Welsh and by the 52nd minute they powered their way over for another try.

After some scrappy play, which saw the Boks go backwards, they settled and Wayne Julies powered his way through a tackle, off-loaded to Marius Joubert and stayed up in support to collect the inside pass and go over for his try.

Six minutes later it was winger Brent Russell who went over for his second try after some very quick and slick passing by the Boks.  Montgomery's conversion made it 39-6.

The Welsh scored a consolation try, when the Boks when into a lull, in the 66th minute.  Henson's conversion made it 39-13.

But it wasn't long before the Boks scored again, with scrum-half Bolla Conradie going over after a brilliant little dart down the left touchline in the 70th minute.  Montgomery took it to 46-13 with the conversion.

The Boks broke the half century mark when young Schalk Burger powered his way over in the 78th minute, while the Welsh completed the scoring with a consolation touch-down in the 80th minute.

Man of the match:  There was stirling performances from Jaco van der Westhuyzen at fly-half, who was always dangerous and really troubles the Welsh defence, Percy Montgomery, Brent Russell and Breyton Paulse -- all who did themselves proud.  In the forwards the loose trio were again and outstanding feature and the tight forwards dominated as they should.  But our vote for man of the match goes to veteran prop forward Os du Randt, who did all that was expected of him in the set pieces, drove the ball up strongly and then still found the energy to chase down backs on the defence -- such as that 80th minute tackle he put in on Welsh centre Tom Shanklin.

Moment of the match:  With nine tries in the match there is sure to be many great moments -- such as scrum-half Bolla Conradie's dart down the touchline in the 70th minute, Breyton Paulse's step inside to beat the cover defence on his way to a try and captain John Smit's hurdling antics when he scored his try.  But for us the moment was the sight of big lock Victor Matfield charging downfield and powering through the defence in midfield, before off-loading to a flying Brent Russell in the 30th minute.

Villain of the match:  None, not in this match.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Faan Rautenbach, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Quinton Davids, 6 Schalk Burger Jr., 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Marius Joubert, 13 Wayne Julies, 14 Brent Russell, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Eddie Andrews, Geo Cronje, Henno Mentz, Hanyani Shimange, Gerrie Britz, Bolla Conradie, Gaffie Du Toit

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Deiniol Jones, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Colin Charvis (c), 8 Alix Popham, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Nicky Robinson, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Haldane Luscombe, 15 Gavin Henson
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Duncan Jones, Ceri Sweeney, Jonathan Thomas, Darren Morris
Unused:  Rhys Williams, Mike Phillips

Attendance:  43920
Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Paulse B.J. 1, Julies W. 1, Russell R.B. 2, Smit J.W. 1, Burger Jr. S.W.P. 1, Conradie J.H. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 6
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 2

Wales
Tries:  Williams S.M. 1, Peel D. 1
Conv:  Henson G.L. 1
Pen K.:  Henson G.L. 2

Australia 51 England 15

Australia secured their first win over England since 1999 -- and the Cook Cup -- by recording an impressive 51-15 victory in Brisbane, with Clyde Rathbone making the most of a very late call-up by collecting a hat-trick of tries.

The South African-born flyer was asked to start the match after wing Wendell Sailor pulled up injured during the warm-up, and the replacement went on to show England a clean pair of heels on three occasion.

Despite the frightening symmetry of the final scoreline, England were full of industry, and played reasonably well in patches.

Whether their overall performance was an improvement on their games in New Zealand is a matter of debate, but they manage to play some effective forward-dominated rugby that kept Australia in reverse gear for long periods of the match.

Not that it seemed to worry the Wallabies too much.

Each time England lost the ball in attack -- and there were numerous occasions of this -- the yellows seized on the opportunity and countered from deep with peerless verve, instinct and imagination.

England -- in their 18th Test of the season -- looked positively geriatric in comparison to the fleet-footed Australian backs, and had no answers to their opponents' scything breaks.

Australia fullback Joe Roff got the scoreboard ticking with a penalty after his opposite number, Josh Lewsey, failed to release -and he added another soon after for an England infringement at the line-out.

England fly-half Charlie Hodgson reduced the deficit from in front of the posts, but the home side replied with the first of their six tries.

Fly-half Stephen Larkham's long pass from a line-out on the half-way line found Matt Giteau, who released Lote Tuqiri, who sent Rathbone over in the right corner.

England responded with some tight rugby and got themselves back into the game with their first try of their three-Test tour on the 30-minute mark.

A wave of English attacks broke down in the Australian 22 and winger Ben Cohen reacted quickly, swapping passes with Tom Voyce before sending the supporting Richard Hill over in the left corner for an unconverted try.

The five-pointer sparked England's confidence, but the Wallabies soon burst the tourists' balloon with another long-range try.

Larkham's cut-out pass found Roff steaming up the middle.  The veteran No.15 sold Cohen a dummy and sent Rathbone in for his second at the stroke of half-time.

Despite Rathbone's brace, England went into the break with a game to win -- trailed as they did by only 21-8.

Their optimism was evident early in the second half when the arrival of Matt Dawson and Olly Barkley added a little initiative to the England backs, and they were soon rewarded with a try.

Dawson was at his spiky best, and two quick tap-penalties saw the Wallabies chasing backwards, and they failed to grips with England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio who went over from close range.

Hodgson converted to make it 24-15, and England were eyeing up a shock victory to close out their season -- but it was not to be.

Rathbone opened the Australian floodgates by collected his own kick ahead to complete his hat-trick, and three more tries followed in a devastating 15-minute spell.

Roff showed his class to scythe through and send replacement hooker Jeremy Paul over a try, and the hooker collected his second score moments later when England's defence was caught short out wide.

Tuqiri then jinked his way through a demoralised field of English defenders to notch up Australia's sixth try, before Roff delivered the coup de grace by bring up the half-century with a penalty in the final minute.

This was England's fourth successive loss -- equalling their worst sequence of results since coach Sir Clive Woodward took charge almost seven years ago.

England -- like their footballing counterparts -- will now return to the UK for a thankful rest, and a chance to work out where it all went so horribly wrong.

Tim Henman, it's over to you!  Heaven help us.

Man of the Match:  Of course, Clyde Rathbone deserves a stout thump on the back for seizing the initiative and three tries -- but it was the outstanding Joe Roff who masterminded the breaks and marshalled the Australian attack.  What England would do to have such a thinker behind the scrum.

Moment of the Match:  Rathbone's speed and Samo Radike's athleticism combined to dizzying effect early in the second half during a break down the wing, but it was Lote Tuqiri's try that will live longest in the memory.

Villain of the Match:  Wallaby captain George Gregan may deserve a slap on the wrists for deciding to go for the poles in the last minute of the game -- he was simply effectively a bucket of salt into a very painful English wound.  But the 50 points were all well deserved, and it will only add to this fixture's rich pageantry -- we'll let him off with a warning!

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Henjak, Matt Dunning, John Roe, George Smith, Daniel Vickerman

England:  1 Julian White, 2 Mark Regan, 3 Tim Payne, 4 Simon Shaw, 5 Steve Borthwick, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Joe Worsley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Andy Gomarsall, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Tom Voyce, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Fraser Waters, Martin Corry, Matt Dawson, Olly Barkley, Michael Lipman, Steve Thompson, Mike Worsley

Attendance:  52492
Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Rathbone C. 3, Tuqiri L.D. 1, Paul J.A. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 3
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 5

England
Tries:  Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Hill R.A. 1
Conv:  Hodgson C.C. 1
Pen K.:  Hodgson C.C. 1

NZ Maori 26 England A 19

A long-range try in the final minute of extra-time sealed a first ever Churchill Cup win for the New Zealand Maori, who saw of England XV in the Final with a 26-19 victory.

Had the Maori not scored they would have won based on tries scored in the game, but the stamp of the try was a pleasing end to a long day of rugby in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.

With the scores tied 19-19 in the 99th minute of play, Caleb Ralph streaked to the five-metre line popping up to Hosea Gear -- who then crossed untouched for the winner.

Before that, in the first period of extra time, New Zealand's Glen Jackson failed to land a drop-goal from 30 metres out.  He was then rewarded for an English hand in the ruck, giving him a 39-metre kick from the touchline for the lead -- but his effort drifted to the left, and the deadlock dragged on.

England fly-half Dave Walder -- in for the injured Alex King -- also missed a drop-goal and then a penalty in extra time.

Jackson could have saved the Maori from extra time in the 84th minute of regular time, but he missed a penalty, and opened the door to England.

Indeed, it was England who had all the early play, and got the scoreboard ticking over with a Walder penalty in the fifth minute, but Ryan Nichols responded two minutes later with a try from 20 metres out -- Jackson failed to convert and the Maori had a tenuous two point lead 5-3.

Newcastle Falcons centre Jamie Noon got the English back into the lead after getting a pass from Henry Paul who release him from 25 metres out.  Walder added the conversion and England had the lead at 10-5 after fifteen minutes.

Maori skipper Corey Flynn then put his side into arrears with a sin-binning for killing the ball as England were threatening to attack.  Walder added his second penalty from the offense to increase the English lead to 13-5.

Walder hit his third penalty of the game to extend the England lead to 16-5 after thirty four minutes.

New Zealand were showing promise on limited possession, but had no answers for the waves of English movement with ball in hand -- and Walder added his fourth penalty to give his side a 19-5 lead at the break.

The Maori cracked the try-line for the first time in the second half when Ralph stayed out on the far left and collected a miss-two that allowed the speedster to go over with a clean pair of heels.  With the conversion the Maori were back in it -- adrift by only 19-12 after 49 minutes.

Two minutes later it was an interception by Jackson -- which he converted himself -- that set by the 19-19 tie that the Maori managed to break at a death.

Man of the Match:  Former All Black wing Caleb Ralph for the Maori was impressive on his second half try, and it was his tireless efforts in the overtime period that finally broke the English defense to put Hosea Gear away for the eventual winner.

Moment of the Match:  Again, involving Ralph, when the inventive winger streaked for some forty metres to set up the Gear try -- ending a 99-minute classic of a game between England and the Maori.

Villain of the Match:  None of note in a relatively clean match -- though the finger could be pointed at Maori captain Corey Flynn for his sin-binning (killing the ball) in the first half -- putting his team under stress early on.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Nicholas, Ralph, Jackson, Gear
Cons:  Jackson 2

England
Try:  Noon
Con:  Walder
Pens:  Walder 4

Referee:  Pearson d.

England 12 New Zealand 36

There was drama at Eden Park when the All Blacks beat England 36-12 -- and not all the drama was acceptable.  It was a cantankerous match which will be remembered for unpleasant reasons.

Whatever happened in the first half was overshadowed by the fighting which had its nadir in the sending off of Simon Shaw of England for using his knee on Keith Robinson of New Zealand.  Robinson was not England's favorite New Zealander.

It was never a charming match with simmering violence there all the time.

There was much in the England performance which was admirable -- but their virtues spilled over into vices as a bit of Albuferra came to Auckland, but this time amongst the players, not the fans.

The All Blacks also suffered a player reduction late in the match when with 12 minutes left Marty Holah was sent to the sin-bin for a critical infringement near the All Black line.

Oh, and the All Blacks won the series 2-0, twice scoring more than thirty points against the holders of the World Cup who failed to score a try in either Test.

England started off doing to the All Blacks what the All Blacks did to them in Dunedin -- getting stuck in at the tackle and doing it in numbers.In those first ten minutes of English aggression England went 6-0 ahead when Carl Hayman was penalised at a scrum and then a second three minutes later when New Zealand were off-side during a concerted England attack.

Then came the fighting madness.  First Joe Worsley and Keith Robinson were spoken to.  Then came worse when Robinson was lying over bit of a tackle area.  Julian White put an admonishing boot on him and then Shaw stuck the knee, producing unhappy reactions on both sides.

The referee showed Shaw a red card.  Reduced to 14 men England battled manfully and with more control but gradually the All Blacks got on top.

Daniel Carter broke sharply down the New Zealand right and gave to Mils Muliaina, who had wasted an earlier run by footing into the England in-goal.  Back this time the ball came going left and then back right.  Justin Marshall was close, possibly within stretching distance.  He lost the ball.

England eventually broke out and were in a position to score a try but the game was brought 80 metres back because Mark Regan had tackled Marshall without the ball.  Carter goaled and the score was 6-3 to England.

The All Blacks collected an England drop-out and there was the electric majesty of Joe Rokocoko surging thorough their defence.  He gave to Carter who seemed to have a straight ruin to the line, but Tom Voyce hauled him in and it took a sharp decision by the television match official for the try to be awarded.  Carter then converted from far out.

That made the score 10-6 to New Zealand at half-time.

Joe Rokocoko scored a hat-trick of tries in the second half.

From a line-out Muliaina came wrapping round from the right-wing.  Nick Evans burst ahead and gave to Rokocoko who scored.  Carter converted.  17-6 after 47 minutes.

Seven minutes later it was the Evans-Rokocoko combination that made the wing's second try with an inside pass.  Carter, inevitably, converted.  24-6.

In this half the All Blacks were penalised repeatedly, England not at all.  Hodgson kicked two at a time when substitutions proliferated.  24-12 to England after 62 minutes.

Andrew Mehrtens came on as a replacement at this stage to rapturous Eden Park applause.  He had one masterful break which should have led to a try but petered out on a Carter grubber into in-goal.

From a scrum Xavier Rush and Marshall did clever thins.  The ball came back to Spencer who kicked a high diagonal kick which Rokocoko juggled, gather and used to score his thirds Test-match hat-trick.  Cater converted.  31-12.

While Holah was considering his sins on the side-line, the All Blacks scored a sweeping, long-range try with Spencer surging over in the corner.  Mehrtens missed the conversion.

There was a little time for some more containerise moments but eventually the final whistle blew on an affair that was noble in some aspects, so sad in others.

Man of the Match:  Elegant Joe Rokocoko.  He made one and scored three.

Moment of the Match:  Moments are not always pleasant.  There were pleasant ones, such as Trevor Woodman's break, and Joe Rokocoko's third try off the high hoof, but the dominant moment was Simon Shaw's indiscretion and sending off.

Villain of the Match:  Simon Shaw.

Red card:  Simon Shaw

The Teams:

England:  1 Trevor Woodman, 2 Mark Regan, 3 Julian White, 4 Simon Shaw, 5 Steve Borthwick, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Joe Worsley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Andy Gomarsall, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Tindall, 13 Stuart Abbott, 14 Tom Voyce, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Fraser Waters, Matt Dawson, Danny Grewcock, Olly Barkley, Michael Lipman, Andy Titterrell, Matt Stevens

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Keith Robinson, 6 Jono Gibbes, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Mils Muliaina, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Nick Evans
Reserves:  Jerry Collins, Andrew Hore, Craig Newby, Tony Woodcock, Andrew Mehrtens, Sam Tuitupou
Unused:  Byron Kelleher

Attendance:  49000
Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers:

England
Pen K.:  Hodgson C.C. 4

New Zealand
Tries:  Carter D.W. 1, Rokocoko J.T. 3, Spencer C.J. 1
Conv:  Carter D.W. 4
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 1

Argentina 20 Wales 35

Wales leveled their series with Argentina by recording a 35-20 win over the Pumas in Buenos Aires, with winger Shane Williams collecting a hat-trick of tries in the first half.

Wales promised ahead of the game that they would bring more fire than in their somewhat insipid display in Tucumán last weekend and it was immediately evident that it would be different in Buenos Aires.

The visitors showed that they were keen to spread the ball wide and attacked the Pumas' defensive lines with gusto.

The hosts -- desperate to close their opponents down quickly -- were penalised repeatedly at the tackle, and it seemed Wales coach Mike Ruddock's plea to referee Donal Courtney to police this area did not go unnoticed.

Wales fullback Gavin Henson pushed a drop-goal attempt wide in the second minute, and his penalty attempt shortly after was also off the mark.

But six minutes later the Welshman found his radar with a sweetly struck kick.  And the floodgates suddenly burst open for his team.

The Wales backline -- who suffered frequently from their own errors in Tucumán -- were on song.  Spreading the ball through the hands and speeding past the Pumas backs, the visitors were breathing fire.

Centre Tom Shanklin showed his ability to find the gap in the 13th minute and the big midfielder set up a superb movement that put little winger Shane Williams over in the corner for his first of the afternoon.

Henson -- with boot seemingly reconfigured -- added the extras.

Williams was in the action two minutes later and the speedy Ospreys star provided a moment of genius and delight when he stepped inside Pumas fly-half Felipe Contepomi.

Left with only Hernan Senillosa to beat -- Williams stepped twice on his left, then jinked on his right and left the dizzy Pumas fullback in his wake.  Henson continued to find the middle of the posts.

Argentina didn't see much of the ball in the early exchanges, and it took over 20 minutes before the Pumas launched an attack on the Welsh line.  But the hosts' troubles soon got worse when lock Ignacio Lobbe was sent to the sin-bin for slowing down the ball.

Henson widened the gap with another penalty.

Williams then capped off a profitable outing with his third try of the afternoon, two minutes from the break -- and although Henson pushed his kick wide -- the Pumas were more undoubtedly more concerned with the amount of injuries they had sustained.

The game as a contest should have been over by the break, but -- as Wales did in Tucumán -- Argentina fought back and threatened to douse Wales' fire.

Skipper Colin Charvis was sent to the cooler to think for 10 minutes and the game was turned on its head with Pumas fullback Hernan Senillosa slotting a penalty, followed by Federico Aramburu dotting down for a try.

Senillosa converted and the Pumas were back in the game.  The hosts began to fall back on their traditional strength -- in the forwards -- and they used it to great effect, driving the stuttering Wales pack backwards.

Big tighthead prop Omar Hassan dotted down to score the Pumas' second after their monstrous forwards drove through and over the line.  But Senillosa failed with the kick and Wales were triggered back into action.

Henson slotted another penalty to add a cushion to his side's lead and then Williams gave fly-half Nicky Robinson some space out wide to speed through for a well-worked try.

The game was effectively over, but not before Courtney conspired with the Television Match Official, Roy Maybank, to record the longest half in rugby history.

The Irishman kept the game running well over time -- and called on Maybank twice to look at possible Pumas' tries.

Shane Williams was issued a yellow card on the stroke of regulation time and the game was mercilessly brought to an end over 50 minutes into the second half as Pumas winger Lucas Borges was awarded the try.

Man of the match:  Wales midfielder Tom Shanklin showed just how dangerous he can be -- all afternoon -- and Gavin Henson was a model of calm with the boot.  But that little speedster Shane Williams was simply superb.

Moment of the match:  Williams' second try was a moment of magic.  Nothing else came close.

Villain of the match:  Wales coach Mike Ruddock would surely disagree, but Donal Courtney was pedantic to the ninth degree as he kept the game ticking over when it was wholly unnecessary.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Rodrigo Roncero, 4 Patricio Albacete, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Martin Durand, 7 Lucas Ostiglia, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia (c), 9 Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Lucas Borges, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Hernan Senillosa
Reserves:  Matias Albina, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Eusebio Guinazu, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Federico Martin Aramburu, Martin Schusterman
Unused:  Pablo Bouza

Wales:  1 Duncan Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Brent Cockbain, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Colin Charvis (c), 8 Michael Owen, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Nicky Robinson, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Sonny Parker, 13 Tom Shanklin, 14 Haldane Luscombe, 15 Gavin Henson
Reserves:  Mefin Davies, Gethin Jenkins, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Thomas, Darren Morris
Unused:  Barry Davies, Ceri Sweeney

Attendance:  40000
Referee:  Courtney d.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Borges L. 1, Hasan Jalil O.J. 1, Aramburu F.M. 1
Conv:  Senillosa H. 1
Pen K.:  Senillosa H. 1

Wales
Tries:  Williams S.M. 3, Robinson N. 1
Conv:  Henson G.L. 3
Pen K.:  Henson G.L. 3

South Africa 26 Ireland 17

Jake White's tenure as Springbok coach started with a two-nil whitewash of Ireland, after the Boks brilliantly buried the Irish with another outstanding performance -- beating the visitors by 26-17 in the second Test at Newlands in Cape Town.  It was far more emphatic than the scoreline suggests.

The Boks showed some of the old-fashioned character that made previous Bok teams such fearful foes, putting the Irish under pressure in the set pieces and hitting them hard in the tackle.

As captain John Smit said afterwards, it was always going to be the game where the team that took its chances were going to win.  The Boks kept the Irish under pressure with some exceptionally brave defence and then scored two outstanding tries from turnover ball -- taking those rare opportunities that come in these tight games.

The Irish certainly had their moments, and their opportunities, but the number of times they were forced to kick proved just how solid the South Africans were on defence on Saturday.

There is still work for the Boks to do, granted, but if they keep building on these two performances and show the same kind of grit they did at Newlands, the team will be back to the top of the rugby world sooner rather than later.

This team has the making of a truly great outfit and with players like Jaco van der Westhuyzen (at fly-half) and Percy Montgomery (fullback) back in the fold the creative abilities are there.

The Irish will be disappointed that they conceded an early lead and allowed the Boks to build a comfortable 13-point lead in the first half, but after the break the tourists looked more like the outfit that put England away in the Six Nations.

They too have some great backline players and a solid pack, but the Irish will have to learn that rugby is played for 80 minutes and that 40 minutes of comeback rugby is not going to win you too many games.

It was the kind of start the Irish had wanted, when they went 7-0 up, but they let it slip all too easily.

After the canned noise (read canned fans) had died down, the players could get down to do what the 50,000 fans had paid to come and watch -- rugby.  Why this obsession with American style pre-match hype, which certainly doesn't excite the crowd and is rather more irritating than entertaining?

But when the rugby started it was exciting enough to get the crowd into action, even though the Newlands faithful had to watch Ireland score first.

It came in the seventh minute, when a couple of Bok blunders saw the Irish get a line-out close to the South African line.  They first mauled it up, then set up a ruck, before taking it up in the midfield, where they set up another ruck.  With the Boks defence stretched to the limit the Irish spun the ball wide where Tyrone Howe had a free run to the line.

Ronan O'Gara added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The Boks fans had to wait nine minutes before the home team opened their account, with a sweetly struck Montgomery penalty.

South Africa's next score was far more empathic and started with a brilliant line break by Montgomery, which turned into a Bok penalty.  From a tap-and-go by scrum-half Fourie du Preez they set up a couple of quick rucks, before the ball was spun wide where the Irish had no defenders left.

Breyton Paulse beat the cover to the line for South Africa's first try.  Montgomery added the conversion and a penalty five minutes later to make it 13-7 to the home team.

The Boks were now on the front foot and could have had another try from turn-over ball, in the 32nd minute, but a bit of selfish play by fly-half Van der Westhuyzen saw a certain try being murdered.

But it did not matter, as the Boks' brilliant counter attacking soon had the Irish on the rack again, when Montgomery broke the line again and the Boks set up a series of rucks which saw Brent Russell dart down the right and send Jaque Fourie over in the corner for the try.

Montgomery added the conversion to see South Africa take a commanding lead.

This try came while the Irish were down to 14 men, after prop Reggie Corrigan decided to pick on the smallest Springbok -- winger Breyton Paulse -- and was yellow carded for his cowardly punch.

On the stroke of half-time Irish fly-half Ronan O'Gsara slotted an opportunist drop-goal to see the Boks take a 10-point lead (20-10) into the break.

South Africa scored first in the second half, but not before withstanding a fierce Irish onslaught, which nearly resulted in a try.

But from a quick line-out and a huge punt downfield, the Boks applied pressure and were awarded a penalty -- which Montgomery slotted for a 23-10 lead.

As the game approached the final quarter the Boks were reduced to just 14 men, when centre Wayne Julies was yellow carded for a professional foul.

In this period the Boks conceded a try, when replacement fly-half David Humphreys grubbered the ball through the Bok line and Brian O'Driscoll grabbed it out of Montgomery's hands to score.  The conversion by Humphreys narrowed the gap to just six points -- 23-17.

As the half progressed, the tension built and the Boks were made to defend more by a determined Irish outfit.  But the Boks defence held and they turned the ball over several times or forced the visitors to kick -- with a near impenetrable wall of white facing the Irish.

And with time officially up on the clock, the Irish conceded a penalty inside their own 22.  Montgomery slotted it to give the Boks victory and maintain their 100 percent home record over the Irish.

Man of the match:  There was some very big hits by Marius Joubert in Midfield, some clever work by Wayne Julies on his inside and tactical brilliance by Jaco van der Westhuyzen.  The Bok forwards did yeoman work, with Schalk Burger leaving his impression all over the park and on the game..  For Ireland Brian O'Driscoll and Kevin Maggs were always dangerous and the rest of their team as brave as ever.  But the man that stood out for me was Bok fullback Percy Montgomery.  His two line breaks that resulted in Bok tries were top class.  There was the odd slip, but his return was worthy of a man of the match reward.

Moment of the match:  It has to be the lead-up to Breyton Paulse's try in the 21st minute, which started by a brilliant break from Percy Montgomery.  The Bok veteran announced his return in emphatic fashion.  There were more, lots more, but this was the start of a great Bok win.

Villain of the match:  This one has to go to Irish prop Reggie Corrigan for his cowardly punch on Breyton Paulse and the yellow card was just reward.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Eddie Andrews, 2 John Smit (c), 3 Os Du Randt, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Quinton Davids, 6 Schalk Burger Jr., 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 8 Jacques Cronje, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 10 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen, 11 Jaque Fourie, 12 Marius Joubert, 13 Wayne Julies, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Gerrie Britz, Brent Russell, C.J. Van Der Linde
Unused:  Geo Cronje, Hanyani Shimange, Bolla Conradie, Gaffie Du Toit

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Tyrone Howe, 12 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Gavin Duffy, Marcus Horan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Alan Quinlan
Unused:  Frankie Sheahan

Attendance:  45000
Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Paulse B.J. 1, Fourie J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 2
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 4

Ireland
Tries:  O'Driscoll B.G. 1, Howe T.G. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1, Humphreys D.G. 1
Drop G.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Australia 34 Scotland 13

Australia wrapped up the Hopetoun Cup by subjecting Scotland to a 34-13 defeat in Sydney.  Scotland played beautifully and enjoyed the lion's share of possession, but they could not rein in the Wallabies' strike runners.

Australia beat Scotland 34-13 in the second Test of the series, this one played at Telstra Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.  The result does not do the Scottish effort justice.

The Scots were manful.  They scored a try, they kept possession, they played wide, the were full of valour and they were stopped at the line near the end, just before the Wallabies scored their last try which made the result took more comfortable.

Australia led 17-10 at half-time.  Australia had more points, Scotland greater kudos.

The Scots were not just defensive, not at all.  They attacked.  They kept the ball.  They scored a try.  If there had been points for keeping the ball, the Scots would have led at half-time.

Getting to the goal line was not easy and the reward for persistence rather than individual ability.  Several times in the half they went through many phases but those were 15 vs 15 stages and it seemed that no Scot would be at an Australian.  But they did deny the Wallabies ball.

The Wallabies' best ball came from line-outs.  They attacked from each one of them, involving both wings each time.

The Scots scored first, after only four minutes, when Stephen Larkham was off-side.

The third Wallaby attack produced a penalty when Donnie Macfadyen came in the side.

Lote Tuqiri had a good run, slapping the ball back inside to keep the attack going but it ended in a scrum to the Wallabies close to the Scots' line.  A powerful Wallaby scrum won a tighthead.  Larkham did a strong dart and popped the ball to Wendell Sailor for a catch-and-dot try, Roff converted.  10-3 to Australia

It became 17-3 when the Wallabies attacked and little pass gave Tuqiri a catch-and-dot try in the corner, which Roff converted.

Then the Scots got their try.  They had to score twice to get it.  First Andy Henderson was over but just before then George Gregan had tackled the referee and, in a dubious decision, it became a five-metre scrum to Scotland instead of a try.  But, mercifully, from the scrum, Chris Cusiter darted over.  Parks converted, 17-10.

After Iain Fullarton had a great 20-metre charge, a clever pass to Paul Cannon to Joe Roff gave Tuqiri his chance to score the second of his tries.

Henderson had a great break but the movement died.  The Scots did get the next score when parks goaled a penalty.  22-13 after 62 minutes.

That was it for the Scots.

Morgan Turinui, a late replacement in the Australian aside for indisposed Matt Giteau, cut through some tentative tackling to score near the posts.  39-13 after 67 minutes.

Then the Scots attacked and the television match official could not see whether Tom Smith had grounded the ball and the Wallabies survived some keen Scottish attacking, started by a clever kick by Gordon Ross.

Instead the Wallabies got the last try when Chris Latham, at fullback, came charging up to put Joe Roff, playing left-wing, over in Cusiter's tackle.  Roff missed the conversion and the final whistle went.

Pigs did not fly at Telstra Stadium.  They did not really look like getting off the ground but they made a lot of runaway running in their effort to do so.  Not that anything insulting intended by referring to pigs.  You could substitute royal stags, if you liked.

Man of the Match:  There were many fine Scottish efforts, especially those of Chris Cusiter, Tom Smith and Andy Henderson.  Lote Tuqiri, so active, was great for the Wallabies and so was Brendan Cannon but our man of the match -- forget that silly missed penalty -- was Joe Roff whose every touch of the ball was meaningful.

Moment of the Match:  There was Ben Henshilwood's dumping tackle on Wendell Sailor, there was Nathan Sharpe's clever flip to Paul Cannon but out moment was a bit of cleverness at the line-out when Gordon Bullock popped the ball to Jason White who went on a long run which ended at the Wallaby line.

Villain of the Match:  It was a keenly played match played at less intensity than the day's earlier match in Auckland but with grand good manners -- no bad guys.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 13 Morgan Turinui, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Dunning, George Smith, Daniel Vickerman, Clyde Rathbone
Unused:  Matt Henjak

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Iain Fullarton, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Daniel Parks, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Hugo Southwell
Reserves:  Craig Hamilton, Jon Petrie, Gordon Ross, Craig Smith, Graeme Morrison
Unused:  Michael Blair, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  56143
Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Roff J.W.C. 1, Sailor W.J. 1, Turinui M.P. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 3
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 1

Scotland
Tries:  Cusiter C.P. 1
Conv:  Parks D.A. 1
Pen K.:  Parks D.A. 2

Australia 35 Scotland 15

If the crowd at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne came looking for a massacre, they would have left still thirsty for blood.  Australia beat Scotland 35-15, but the score does not reflect the determination of the tourists who asked some difficult questions of their hosts.

The injury-ravaged Scottish tourists were given exceedingly slim odds to get a result out here -- but their perseverance, temperance and outstanding forwards saw them go to the break only one point adrift.

Australia -- clearly ruffled by the manful Scots -- were outplayed at the set-piece and had immense difficultly reining in the Scottish raids around the fringes.

But thankfully for the partisan crowd, the Wallabies are blessed with a set of fine backs, and they located Scotland's jugular in the second half with some scything breaks orchestrated by skipper George Gregan.

Australia opened the scoring with Joe Roff slotting two penalties within the first nine minutes of play, and Scotland's goose looked well and truly cooked when centre Matt Giteau crossed for a well-worked try after 16 minutes.

But the tourists fought back, defending stoutly and surging up field with several impressive driving mauls to get within sight of the Australian posts -- and there they remained for the reminder of the half.

Under pressure, the Wallabies conceded four penalties -- all of which were converted by Scotland's Australian-born fly-half Dan Parks to leave the scores poised at 13-12 at the interval.

Australia hit back early in the second period when Tuqiri breached the Scottish defence after slick approach work, but Parks narrowed the deficit once again with another fine penalty.

Joe Roff then became only the fifth Australian to surpass 200 Test points with a penalty as the Wallabies superiority with ball in hand began to show.

Tuqiri dotted down his second try of the evening in the 63 minutes to leave the Scots 13 points adrift, and when Wendell Sailor plucking a poor Simon Webster kick out of the air to stroll home unopposed it was all over the tourists.

Despite the result, Scotland coach Matt Williams should allow his men a night on the beers.

After a doom-laden start to this tour, the positive approach they took into this game was highly admirable, and they were a number of pluses.

Fullback Hugo Southwell had an impressive debut, and their scrum and line-out work was immaculate -- and when they got near the Australian posts they came away with points.

Unfortunately, they still seem unable sustain the attack -- they put in all the good work, but fail to put the cherry on the top.  Should they learn to hold their nerve -- and find a game-breaking midfielder -- Scotland could soon win their place back at rugby's top table.

Man of the Match:  The Scottish pack showed grit, and Wallaby Clyde Rathbone had an exciting debut -- but the man of the moment was George Gregan who got his side moving with some shrewd distribution that was peppered with trademark reverse flicks.  Beautiful stuff!

Moment of the Match:  Scotland spent the day toiling upfield, only to self-destruct within sight of the line, allowing the Australians to counter from depth.  No where was this more painfully obvious than Australia's first try, when Gregan seized on a turn-over and send his men right down the middle of the park.

Villain of the Match:  There was a good old fashioned 30-man squabble in the second-half, and groundsmen probably deserve a kicking for a pitch that resemble the floor of a sports hall.  But this award goes to Australian coach Eddie Jones for his unsporting remarks about Scotland fly-half Dan Parks prior to the game.  Parks responded with a 100 percent kicking display.  If that's a bad player, we'd love to see a good one!

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 George Smith, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Clyde Rathbone, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Dunning, Daniel Vickerman, Phil Waugh, Morgan Turinui

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Daniel Parks, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Hugo Southwell
Reserves:  Michael Blair, Iain Fullarton, Jon Petrie, Gordon Ross, Craig Smith, Graeme Morrison, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  38222
Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Sailor W.J. 1, Giteau M.J. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 2, Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 3

Scotland
Pen K.:  Parks D.A. 5

Argentina 50 Wales 44

Wales scored more points against Argentina than they have ever scored before, and Argentina scored more points against Wales than they have ever scored before.  The Pumas' more was bigger than the Welsh more and Argentina won 50-44 at Estadio del Atletico in Tucuman on a sunny Saturday afternoon before a boisterous crowd who saw an amazing second half.

If the match had been a meal the trifle would certainly have come after a stodgy main course!

Nobody could have said that Wales would have been in with a chance of victory after being down 50-23 after 68 minutes -- nobody except the Welsh players who kept on playing and scored the next 21 points.  It may well have been a victorious 28 but for a knock-on as they strove for victory.

There was one try, a barging effort in the first half, ten in the second.  Ten!

The match threatened to be inordinately long.  After long, slow anthems the first half went long, and largely slowly, petering out after 47 minutes when Felipe Contepomi goaled his fourth penalty goal to make the score at the break 19-9 to the Pumas.

Contepomi nearly opened the scored after half a minute when Wales passed from the first scrum and he intercepted to race thorough to score, but the referee ruled a knock-on.

Wales also had their moment with an "almost" try when Shane Williams gathered a wayward pass and went off to the goal-line, but Colin Charvis was penalised for off-side.

Passes that went astray were typical of the half -- and so were penalties against Charvis.  There were three, the third earning him a yellow card at a time when the score was three kicks each.  Nine-all.

As Charvis went off, the Pumas tapped and captain Gonzalo Longo, upright, surged over the line as little Ceri Sweeney did his best to stop him.

The referee referred the matter to the television match official for a lengthy look with umpteen re-looks before deciding that Longo had indeed scored.

The Welsh had actually had the best chances to score in the match.  Where the Pumas tended to bash they were happy to scatter passes on the run.  Their best attack was a counterattack.  They went down the right.  Then spun it left till Duncan Jones of the burning bush was tackled five metres from the line on the left wing.  From the scrum Charvis charged at the line.  Another two five-metre scrums ensured.  Then the Welsh were held up over the line and there was another five-metre scrum.  They went right but José María Núñez Piossek did a sharp bit of in-tackling and the Pumas turned the ball over to clear.

The Welsh came back on the attack and Haldane Luscombe dived over in the corner -- in vain as there had been a forward pass.

Fullback, Hernán Senillosa, claimed a fair catch.  This was advanced when Dwayne Peel interfered.  Felipe Contepomi launched a long, high up-and-under which, athletically, his brother Manuel caught.

After that cumbersome half on the greenish-brown field with its confetti fringe, the Pumas cut loose.  From the Welsh kick-off the locks burst down the tight, the ball went left and Lucas Borges surged over far out via some splendid passing under pressure.  24-9.

From the kick-off the ball went loose.  Borges snapped it up and raced the long race to the posts.  31-9.

The Pumas came back.  The ball bobbed about behind their forwards.  Felipe Contepomi scooped it up, ran through the Welsh pack, thumped Luscombe away in a hand-off and scored.  38-9, and the second half was only six minutes old.  The Pumas had doubled their score in six minutes.

The Welsh were not done.  Dwayne Peel tapped the second of two penalties in quick succession and darted over near the posts for the first Welsh try.  38-16.

The Pumas mauled strongly.  The ball came back quickly and outside centre Martín Gaitán came sweeping round to score.  43-16.

From this point on both aides made as many substitutions as they had players, and the game became even looser.

Gavin Henson ran strongly, Tom Shanklin ran strongly and then Michael Owen popped a pass to Jason Forster, who scored.  43-23.

The Contepomi twins worked an elegant scissors for Manuel to sire under the crossbar.  50-23.

Wales tapped a penalty, Duncan Jones charged and Colin Charvis scored easily under the bar.  50-30.

The Pumas attacked but when a pass went astray near the Welsh line Shane Williams gathered and went speeding away.

Then replacement Nicky Robinson had the best centre break of the match and sent Sonny Parker over.  50-37 after 76 minutes which included injury time.

In injury time Shane Williams darted on the left.  Luscombe had come from the right and chose a different angle and a path to the posts.  5-44 and the Welsh were a goal away from victory, but the Pumas managed to squeeze out the remaining scrap of injury time.

It was a remarkable match.

Man of the match:  Michael Owen, Dwayne Peel, Gavin Henson and the darting duo of Shane Williams and Rhys Williams were stars for Wales.  For the Pumas Patricio Albacete and Felipe Contepomi had fine matches but our choice was Matías Albina for his energy, speedy service and decision-making.

Moment of the match:  The twins' scissors.  It was perfect in its execution.

Villain of the match:  I suppose it was Colin Charvis of the yellow card.  While he was off the Pumas scored a try and twice destroyed the Welsh scrum.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Rodrigo Roncero, 4 Patricio Albacete, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Martin Durand, 7 Lucas Ostiglia, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia (c), 9 Matias Albina, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Lucas Borges, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 13 Martin Gaitan, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Hernan Senillosa
Reserves:  Pablo Bouza, Pablo Cardinali, Eusebio Guinazu, Lucio Lopez Fleming, Jose Orengo, Martin Schusterman
Unused:  German Bustos

Wales:  1 Duncan Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Brent Cockbain, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Colin Charvis (c), 7 Jason Forster, 8 Michael Owen, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Gavin Henson, 13 Sonny Parker, 14 Haldane Luscombe, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Gethin Jenkins, Nicky Robinson, Tom Shanklin, Mike Phillips, Darren Morris
Unused:  Jonathan Thomas

Attendance:  15000
Referee:  Courtney d.

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Gaitan M. 1, Contepomi M. 1, Borges L. 2, Contepomi F. 1, Longo Elia G.M. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 4
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 4

Wales
Tries:  Luscombe H. 1, Parker S. 1, Peel D. 1, Charvis C.L. 1, Forster J.A. 1
Conv:  Henson G.L. 5, Henson G.L. 3

New Zealand 36 England 3

New Zealand gave England a lesson in total rugby in Dunedin, recording an awe-inspiring 36-3 victory over the world champions.  Some might venture to think that the proper world order has been re-established after that "blip" in 2003 -- and on today's evidence they could be right.

Indeed, this win is the biggest defeat by any reigning Rugby World Cup champion, eclipsing South Africa's 28-0 defeat to the All Blacks in 1999.

If fans had been looking forward to this game, their excitement paled in comparison to the enthusiasm shown by the All Blacks, who tore into the bewildered tourists with abandon.

The wily mind of new All Black boss Graham Henry paid immediate dividends with New Zealand opting to call England's bluff and take them on at their strongest point -- the pack.

Clearly not one of England's army of back-room analysts had envisioned the opposition having the gaul -- or ability -- to tussle with the hulking English forwards, and the tourists were visibly stunned by the sheer cheek of the home side.

In the blitz that ensued from the very first second of play, New Zealand forced the English off the ball, upset their line-outs, and generally got up their noses at the break-downs.

England -- who were clearly banking on forward domination -- could not cope with the sheer ferocity of the New Zealand onslaught, and failed to impose structure to their game.

With England unable to get their mitts on the ball, tempers got the better of them, and a few tantrums during the first half will surely give the citing officials plenty to chew over.

A lot has been made of the absence of fly-half Jonny Wilkinson from England's cause since the Rugby World Cup, but in the pressure cooker of Carisbrook they missed the iron-will of Martin Johnson, their former leader.

With the world champions desperate for leadership and a calming word, Lawrence Dallaglio chose to substitute his furrowed brow for a dumb-struck gaze, and the England's skipper's only words of advice were directed at the match officials.

Still, none of this should take away form the brilliance of the All Blacks.  Whilst England plodded along making elementary mistakes, New Zealand were all verve and passion -- incredible when you consider that they have not played together for over seven months -- astounding given the fact that they are under new management and a new captain.

The home team made a mockery of both the damp conditions and England's fabled defence by running in three tries in the first half via fly-half Carlos Spencer, and wingers Joe Rokocoko and Doug Howlett.

Dan Carter showed that the "new" New Zealand can be methodical as well as magical by nailing all his kicks to add 21 points to the home side's admirable total.

In contrast, all England could muster was a single penalty by fly-half Charlie Hodgson.

Carter opened his side's account with a penalty, but England appeared to have weathered the early cyclone when Hodgson answered back in the 13th minute to score England's only points of the game.

But just two minutes later the All Blacks moved the ball neatly down the line with Spencer releasing Howlett before looping round the wing to touch down in the right corner.

Soon enough, another brilliant All Blacks counter-attack ended when flanker Richie McCaw fed Rokocoko after a dazzling display of inter-passing between forwards and back, and the big wing cut inside some flailing English arms to score a converted try.

Howlett crosses for his side's third and final try in the 32nd minute after a straight-forward move of a scrum combining captain Tana Umaga and the outstanding back three of Mils Muliaina, Howlett and Rokocoko.

Carter converted and added two further penalties to leave England 30-3 adrift at half-time.

England coach Sir Clive Woodward tried to injected some new blood into his weary-looking side, sending on Joe Worsley for Chris Jones and Steve Borthwick for Danny Grewcock.

The visitors managed to hold their own for the majority of the second half, but -- with a cushion of 27 points -- the All Blacks began to indulge their adoring fans with a series of adventurous moves that looked pretty but failed to worry the English unduly.

But given the standards this crop of All Blacks has set themselves, a few more outings should be enough to allow them to iron out even the most minor imperfections in their game.

England, on the other hand, have plenty to think about ahead of the second Test in Auckland on Saturday.

Man of the match:  Many contenders for this award, and all New Zealanders -- although England fullback Josh Lewsey once again showed immense heart.  Chiefs flanker Jono Gibbes had an outstanding debut, but Joe Rokocoko is the hero of the hour -- grabbing his 18th try in only his 13th Test is no mean feat, but he showed a great deal of maturity and his defence was impeccable.

Moment of the Match:  The opening five seconds set the tone for the game, with England left stunned by a Joe Rokocoko break from the kick-off, gliding past three tacklers to immediately put England on the back-foot -- and there they remained.

Villain of the Match:  Perhaps the most full-bloodied game of the past year -- and what a spectacle it made!  The ferocious early exchanges saw Danny Grewcock -- sent off on the same ground in 1998 -- and All Blacks prop Carl Hayman exchange punches, with Simon Shaw also swinging his handbag a little later on.  But we bring Ben Cohen to trial for deciding to have a whinge at referee Jonathan Kaplan after England WON a penalty in front of the post with the scores standing at 17-3.  The decision -- quite correctly -- was immediately reversed.  You what, Ben?

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Carl Hayman, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Keith Robinson, 6 Jono Gibbes, 7 Richie McCaw, 8 Xavier Rush, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Tana Umaga (c), 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves:  Nick Evans, Marty Holah, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock, Sam Tuitupou
Unused:  Jerry Collins, Byron Kelleher

England:  Trevor Woodman, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Chris Jones, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Andy Gomarsall, Mark Regan, Joe Worsley, Stuart Abbott, Steve Borthwick, Matt Stevens
Unused:  Olly Barkley

Attendance:  36000
Referee:  Kaplan j.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Rokocoko J.T. 1, Spencer C.J. 1
Conv:  Carter D.W. 3
Pen K.:  Carter D.W. 5

England
Pen K.:  Hodgson C.C. 1

Samoa 3 Scotland 38

Coach Matt Williams experienced his first Test win at the helm of Scotland, after his charges thumped Samoa 38-3 at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.  The win will undoubtedly do wonders for the tourists confidence ahead of their first Test against Australia next weekend.

Going into the match Scotland had won just three of their last 12 Test matches and in 2004 the struggling Scots had failed to win a match.  Their tour of Australia got off to a dismal start with a 41-5 loss against the Queensland Reds -- Australia's weakest Super 12 franchise -- while a win against the largely amateur NSW Cockatoos in a mid-week clash was hardly worthy of praise.

But against Samoa the Scots showed the type of resolve that has been lacking in past performances and their defence in particular showed a great deal of improvement.

It was Samoa who took the lead early with a penalty by fly-half Roger Warren and his boot put the hosts in control in the opening exchanges.

But the visitors were soon on the attack and by the break they were in control.

Two penalties by fullback Chris Paterson and a try to fly-half Gordon Ross shortly before half-time saw Scotland lead 11-3 going into the second-half.

The visitors kicked into second gear immediately after the restart when prop Bruce Douglas was stopped just short of the line, but Ross found centre Ben Hinshelwood out wide and the latter went over for his maiden Test try.

Paterson failed with the conversion, but he soon made amends by slotting his third penalty to put his side 19-3 ahead.

Scotland began to turn the screws starting with a half-break by Debutant winger Sean Lamont, flanker Donnie MacFayden then drove it forward before talented loose forward Ali Hogg was bustled over for Scotland's third of the match.

Samoa began to fall off the pace as the Scots had the game all but won -- Williams began to send the reserves on and replacement fly-half Dan Parks sent winger Simon Webster over in the corner with six-minutes remaining.

Edinburgh scrum-half Mike Blair, who had replaced Chris Cusiter, then compounded the Samoans' misery as he broke from the base of a ruck -- adding salt to bleeding wounds -- to run in a try in the final minute of the game.

The win will undoubtedly do wonders for the team's morale -- Scotland have been waiting for eight months for a Test victory -- and for the moment Williams can enjoy the fruits of his labour and sweet taste of success.

But with Australia just around the corner the former Leinster coach cannot afford to bask in the glory for too long.

The Teams:

Samoa:  1 Tamato Leupolu, 2 Jonathan Meredith, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Leo Lafaiali'i, 5 Opeta Palepoi, 6 Ulia Ulia, 7 Siaosi Vaili, 8 Semo Sititi (c), 9 Steven So'oialo, 10 Roger Warren, 11 Lome Fa'atau, 12 Brian Lima, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 15 Tanner Vili
Reserves:  Simon Lemalu, David Lemi, John Senio, Kitiona Viliamu, Michael Von Dincklage
Unused:  Mussolini Schuster, Loleni Tafunai

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Gordon Ross, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Chris Paterson (c)
Reserves:  Michael Blair, Iain Fullarton, Daniel Parks, Jon Petrie, Craig Smith, Hugo Southwell, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  13000
Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers:

Samoa
Pen K.:  Warren R. 1

Scotland
Tries:  Hinshelwood B.G. 1, Webster S. 1, Ross G. 1, Hogg A. 1, Blair M.R.L. 1
Conv:  Paterson C.D. 1, Parks D.A. 1
Pen K.:  Paterson C.D. 3

France 24 England 21

France confirmed that England's Rugby World Cup honeymoon is most definitely over as they held off a English fightback to collect the 2004 RBS Six Nations title, and the Grand Slam, courtesy of a 24-21 win at Stade de France in Paris.

This deciding match of the competition lived up to its top billing by delivering a pulsating, full-blooded encounter -- but England will rue the fact that they decided to join the party after half-time only.

England fans have grown accustomed to watching their side toy with their prey before going in for the kill late in the game, but it was France who did all the early toying in this game -- capitalising on some shoddy defence to rack up 21 points in the first period of the game.

England managed to find their natural second-half grit, and pulled themselves back into contention from 24-6 down -- but it was too little to late:  the horse had already bolted.

In the lead up to this game, France coach Bernard Laporte accused England of "being a machine" -- and that certainly looked to be the case, as Sir Clive Woodward's men seemed unable to power up in time, and were unable to fathom the sheer artistry of the early French raid.

Laporte's scathing remark was not the only one made prior to "le crunch", and tensions were visible on the pitch -- with Imanol Harinordoquy and Lawrence Dallaglio soon locked in an embrace unbefitting of the City of Love.

The England skipper had taken offence to his opposite number's off-side position, and Irish referee Alain Rolland agreed.  Bath youngster Olly Barkley duly stepped up to open the scoring after only two minutes, but his effort sailed wide.

The thought of playing an England side that actually missed goal-kicks seems to inspire the French, and they pushed forward, confounding the English defence with some outstanding running lines.

France had pin-pointed England's line-out for attention prior to the fixture, but it was a poor white scrum that led to the first points of the game.

England's pack were penalised for popping up the scrum in their 22 and scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili stepped up to finally get the scoreboard ticking off after 21 minutes.

France wasted no time consolidating their lead.  After a brilliant break by strapping centre Yannick Jauzion put England's defence in disarray, fly-half Frédéric Michalak was quickly in position to put in a high kick into the corner which found Harinordoquy lurking in acres on space.

With a safe bounce, the big No.8 cooly collected the ball to touch down a simple unconverted try.

France continued to pin the English back, and were soon rewarded with a penalty after Dawson was adjudged to be off-side at the scrum, and Yachvili had no trouble adding three more points.

Finding themselves in unfamiliar territory, England attempted to break out with ball in hand, but a poor Trevor Woodman pass allowed Pepito Elhorga to intercept and race behind England's startled defence.

England manage to pull down the runaway winger, but were forced to kill the ball and Yachvili punished them with another successful place-kick.

Barkley finally opened England's account with a penalty on the stroke of half-time, but English joy was to be shortlived.

Straight from the re-start, Yachvili gathered at the base of a ruck to find no one home on England's narrow side, much to the dismay of the grounded England scrum-half Dawson.  Following a neat chip and gather he was lining up a conversion from the touchline.

England gathered in a huddle as Yachvili's conversion sailed between the up-rights, and Dallaglio's words were readily understandable to anyone within 100 yards.

France began the second half looking very sure of themselves -- with Michalak using his boot to pin back the visitors.

England needed an early score after the break, which Barkley did via a penalty goal, but another Yachvili penalty cancelled it out and left the score at 24-6.

The game looked beyond England's grasp now, but Woodward played his ace by throwing on Mike Catt in place of the anonymous Will Greenwood to try and inspire some attacking.

Catt -- as he has done in the past -- answered the call by setting up a move which ended with winger Ben Cohen crashing over in the corner.

The Bath playmaker worked the ball wide after the pack had managed to turn over the ball following a rare mistake from Yachvili.  Cohen found himself on the end of the move and used the space and his imposing frame to crash over for his score.

Barkley's conversion was off target and England trailed by 13 with 28 minutes to play.

Yachvili soon missed a penalty chance to increase the French lead, and Barkley showed the tide was slowly turning by converted a kick with eight minutes remaining.

With five minutes to play, England lock Ben Kay managed to wrench the ball free of Christophe Dominici with a big hit, and the ball was worked wide to Josh Lewsey, who did well to cut inside the last defender to score.

Barkley had finally found his range, and his conversion narrowed the deficit to three points -- but despite a frantic finale the visitors could not come up with any more points, leaving France to celebrate a well-deserved Grand Slam and the English to rue what could have been ...

Man of the match:  This was definitely a game of two halves, with some inspired performances from both sides.  Scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili had a stormer, but it was centre Yannick Jauzion who showed France the gaps.  The centre's running lines made a mockery of England's fabled defensive patterns, and his face will haunt the minds of England's coaches for weeks to come.

Moment of the match:  This game was always going to be about English beef against French flair -- and nothing exemplified that more than English tighthead prop Phil Vickery's massive hit on French No.7 Olivier Magne.  The tackle lifted English morale, but Magne bounced up onto his feet, whilst Vickery limped away to receive attention to a head injury.  From that moment on it was clear that whatever England tried, France would come out smelling like roses.

Villain of the match:  The sight of Sir Clive Woodward coming down to the touchline to argue an irrelevant point concerning the position of his replacements with officials was pretty ugly -- but we cannot add to the England coach's woes by handing him this award.  Instead, We'll push it under Phil Vickery's door for his late tackle on Damien Traille that almost ended the centre's game.

The Teams:

France:  1 Pieter De Villiers, 2 William Servat, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Fabien Pelous (c), 5 Pascal Pape, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Christophe Dominici, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Pepito Elhorga, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  David Auradou, Yannick Bru, Jean-Jacques Crenca, Clement Poitrenaud
Unused:  Thomas Lievremont, Pierre Mignoni, Julien Peyrelongue

England:  1 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Trevor Woodman, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Joe Worsley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Olly Barkley, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Josh Lewsey, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Mike Catt, Steve Borthwick, Julian White
Unused:  Martin Corry, Andy Gomarsall, Mark Regan, James Simpson-Daniel

Attendance:  80000
Referee:  Rolland a.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Yachvili D. 1, Harinordoquy I. 1
Conv:  Yachvili D. 1
Pen K.:  Yachvili D. 4

England
Tries:  Lewsey O.J. 1, Cohen B.C. 1
Conv:  Barkley O.J. 1
Pen K.:  Barkley O.J. 3

Ireland 37 Scotland 16

Ireland secured their first Triple Crown since 1985 with a convincing 37-16 win over Scotland in their RBS Six Nations match at Lansdowne Road, although the Irish dropped short of the 50 points that would have kept alive slim hopes of a Six Nations triumph.

Scotland, meanwhile, had to make do with the Wooden Spoon, but the score was not a fair reflection of the match, with the visitors putting in a fiery display -- no doubt fuelled by some inflammatory comments made during the build-up to the match.

Ireland oozed confidence from the very first shrill of the whistle and captain Brian O'Driscoll and company were full of running, only to be thwarted early on by a brave and passionate Scotland defence.

The Irish backline was slick and well-drilled, but they failed to finish off some promising move and all thoughts of the expected runaway victory took a back-seat for the first 30 minutes of the game.

Scotland, meanwhile, hit Ireland hard from the outset and captain Chris Paterson put his team in the board early on with a sweetly-struck penalty goal.

Ireland immediately spread the ball wide, looking to stretch the Scotland defence to breaking point, and they immediately had the Scots under pressure with some precision passing and well-angled runs.

They pulled the lead back with a Ronan O'Gara penalty, but it took them 18 minutes before they crossed the Scotland line.

O'Driscoll rallied his troops out wide and fired a long, flat pass out to midfield partner Gordon D'Arcy, who cut through the gap and steamed over for the try.  O'Gara, who seemingly left his kicking boots in his kit bag, missed the relatively simple conversion.

The Scots rallied on, however, and began to spread the ball wide, playing Ireland at their own game, and in patches looked promising, but some resolute Ireland defence made sure it never amounted to five points.

Paterson then closed the gap to just two points with a penalty, but O'Gara soon re-established the lead with one of his own, before Scotland fly-half Dan Parks pulled it back again with a drop-goal.

Ireland were stung into action and they gave the Lansdowne Road faithful something to cheer about on the stroke of half-time when they stretched the ball wide to put winger Geordan Murphy over for a try in the corner.

O'Gara again failed to find the middle as Ireland went into the break 16-9 up.

Scotland's second half got off to the worst possible start when their star No.8 Simon Taylor was stretchered off with a knee injury, but they quickly put it behind them and hit back -- also silencing the loud Irish fans in the process.

The visitors threw themselves into the game and moved inside the Ireland 22.  They stayed there for the next 10 minutes, battering the Irish defence, until flanker Allister Hogg -- a late replacement for the injured Cameron Mather in the starting line-up -- dived over for the try.

Paterson brought the scores level with the conversion.

Ireland hit back almost immediately as they stormed back into the Scotland half and then poor discipline from the Scots gifted the hosts with a line-out in the corner -- courtesy of an O'Gara kick.

They kept it tight and charged at the Scotland line, the defenders battled bravely to keep them at bay, but flanker David Wallace broke off the ruck and trotted over for the try.

O'Gara slotted the conversion to give the hosts some breathing space.

Scotland continued to battle away and they came close soon after, but Ireland closed up in defence and pushed them backwards.

The hosts took control and barged their way forward, knocking the Scottish defenders backwards for livewire scrum-half Peter Stringer to dart over for just his third international try.

O'Gara, who had found his radar during the break, found the middle of the posts to extend the lead to 14 points.

The two teams continued to slug it out, but a late try to D'Arcy and the conversion from O'Gara ended Scottish hopes and sent the Triple Crown into the waiting arms of the Irish.

Scotland never gave up, but as both coaches sent on the substitutions the game soon lost its edge, which was unfortunate because it had delivered so much before the seemingly obligatory wave of replacements was made.

Man of the match:  Gordon D'Arcy has proved to be the find of the international season to date and he has consistently overshadowed his more illustrious partner in the midfield -- Brian O'Driscoll -- and he is continuing to grow with each performance.

Moment of the match:  Both teams played positive rugby and there were some fantastic tries, but nothing could beat the roar that erupted from the stands when the final whistle was blown -- signalling Ireland's Triple Crown.

Villain of the match:  The game was played mostly in good spirits, but Scotland winger Simon Webber's stamp on O'Driscoll's head was silly and totally uncalled for, but then the constant booing from the crowd every time the bald winger touched the ball was hardly edifying either.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Shane Horgan, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Victor Costello, Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Marcus Horan, Kevin Maggs, Donncha O'Callaghan, Frankie Sheahan

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Allan Jacobsen, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Allister Hogg, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Daniel Parks, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Tom Philip, 14 Simon Danielli, 15 Chris Paterson (c)
Reserves:  Michael Blair, Nathan Hines, Gavin Kerr, Brendan Laney, Jon Petrie, Derrick Lee, Robbie Russell

Attendance:  42750
Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  D'Arcy G.M. 2, Murphy G.E.A. 1, Stringer P.A. 1, Wallace D.P. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 3
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 2

Scotland
Tries:  Hogg A. 1
Conv:  Paterson C.D. 1
Pen K.:  Paterson C.D. 2
Drop G.:  Parks D.A. 1

Wales 44 Italy 10

Wales rounded off their 2004 RBS Six Nations campaign with a resounding 44-10 win over Italy in Cardiff, wingers Rhys and Shane Williams grabbing two tries apiece in the victory.

With the home side scoring a total of six tries, it was a fitting send-off for outgoing Welsh coach Steve Hansen who, after two years in charge of the Dragons, is handing the reins over to successor Mike Ruddock to return to his native New Zealand.

It has certainly been an eventful time during his regime and Wales have much be to be thankful to the self-effacing Kiwi for, with plenty of positives flowing from his handling of the team.

While their set-piece still needs much attention -- here, as through much of this championship this area of their play badly misfiring, particularly at scrum-time -- the Welsh have found a unique style to base their play around, one centred on fast ball transfer and attacking, positive rugby.

Wales's intentions were clear from the outset of this match as they immediately went on the offensive, attempting to strike from deep against Italy, fly-half Stephen Jones and fit-again inside centre Iestyn Harris showing deft distribution skills to get the ball wide.

These tactics paid dividends in the opening quarter as the Italian defence crumbled under such intense pressure, the Azzurri forwards giving away a series of penalties to enable Wales to take an early lead through the boot of Stephen Jones, the No.10 slotting two kicks at goal in the 10th and 15th minutes.

Jones missed with an ambitious third attempt at goal after another Italian indiscretion in the 20th minute, but Wales were to make their first major breakthrough of the match a few moments later.

After another typical long-range attacking move, Wales found the Italian defence in disarray as Shane Williams streaked down the left-hand touchline.

Spurning the three men outside him in support, Williams decided to take on the Italian cover defence to stretch for the touchdown.  While it looked touch-and-go to the naked eye, the video ref duly awarded the try and Wales were on their way to a comprehensive victory.

Jones could not kick the tricky conversion, but Wales had their tails up after this early incursion and moments later there was another score for Williams -- this time of the Rhys variety -- the No.14 rounding off a superb blindside move started by livewire scrum-half Gareth Cooper from the base of the scrum.

The No.9 breached the first line of defence before finding fullback Gareth Thomas marauding up the right.  Thomas drew the defence and gave a perfect pass to Williams who stretched his legs and, avoiding the desperate tackle of Italian skipper Andrea De Rossi, touched down for his side's second try.

That made it 16-0 and Wales came close to stretching that lead even further just before the break, Mark Taylor coming desperately close to scoring in the left-hand corner, but crucially, just failing to put downward pressure on the ball.

The second half began much more promisingly for Italy, their forwards putting the squeeze on Wales in scrum and line-out to push the Dragons back into their own territory.

And, indeed, with fly-half Roland De Marigny kicking an early penalty for his side after a Welsh indiscretion at a ruck, an Italian revival looked in prospect, especially when Italy gained another kickable penalty three minutes later.

But De Marigny could not convert this second chance into points and that let-off seemed to galvanise the Welsh side who then produced a devastating flurry of points to secure the victory.

It was tireless fullback Gareth Thomas -- perhaps Wales' most consistent performer in this championship -- who put his side on the road to a certain win, slicing through after a defensive hole was conjured up by Harris.

That try puts him top of the all-time Welsh try-scorers' list -- overtaking former great Ieuan Evans -- and the crowd favourite was afforded a fitting ovation by the delighted Wales supporters.

Then, five minutes later, replacement Tom Shanklin -- having only just trotted out onto the pitch to take over from Harris -- took a magnificent line up the middle of the pitch to score on his first touch.

While Italy did at least have the consolation of scoring a try in the final quarter, Andrea Masi showing tremendous strength to touch down, Wales were not to be denied and finished off the match in style, those Williams boys -- Rhys and Shane -- demonstrated once more their superb finishing skills to score one more try apiece.

With the game in the bag, all that was left was for the crowd to bid farewell to Hansen who, on this showing, leaves a healthy legacy to his successor.

Man of the match:  Plenty of contenders for this honour -- not least wingers Rhys and Shane Williams and inspirational skipper Colin Charvis.  But for his deft distribution skills and fine tactical vision, we'll go for inside centre Iestyn Harris, who has emerged this season as a fully-fledged international Union player.

Moment of the match:  The ultimate team man, Gareth Thomas has long been a tower of strength for Wales through too many difficult years to mention and here, once again, produced an almost faultless performance -- not least his second-half try which put the game out of Italy's reach and propelled this servant of Welsh rugby to the top of his country's all-time try-scorers' list.

Villain of the match:  No crimes to report -- only minor misdemeanours in an encounter played in the best of spirits by both sides.  Instead, we'll point the finger at the Welsh Rugby Union for failing to organise a formal send-off for outgoing coach Steve Hansen at the end of the match.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Duncan Jones, 4 Michael Owen, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Colin Charvis (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Dafydd Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Rhys Williams, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Shane Williams, 15 Gareth Thomas
Reserves:  Mefin Davies, Dwayne Peel, Alix Popham, Tom Shanklin, Robert Sidoli, Ceri Sweeney, Ben Evans

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Santiago Dellape, 5 Carlo Del Fava, 6 Marco Bortolami, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Andrea De Rossi (c), 9 Paul Griffen, 10 Roland De Marigny, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Andrea Masi, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gonzalo Canale
Reserves:  Roberto Mandelli, Silvio Orlando, Simon Picone, Rima Wakarua-Noema, Mirco Bergamasco, Salvatore Perugini
Unused:  Carlo Festuccia

Attendance:  72500
Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Thomas G. 1, Williams G.R. 2, Williams S.M. 2, Shanklin T. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 4
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 2

Italy
Tries:  Masi A. 1
Conv:  Wakarua-Noema R. 1
Pen K.:  De Marigny R.J. 1

France 31 Scotland 0

Bravery was not enough for Scotland as France beat them 31-0 at Murrayfield in a RBS Six Nations match which had few moments of elegance or beauty.

The French, who were often uncharacteristically cumbersome, scored three tries and go home to France to await the English and the possibility of a Grand Slam next Saturday.

From start to finish there was no doubt who was going to win.  The French had the match and it was only a matter of how many points they were going to score.  That they did not score more was possibly due to a lack of rhythm on the one hand and directness on the other.

Apart from a flurry just before half-time, the first half belonged to France and it was astonishing that the score at half-time was only 11-0 in their favour.  There was no doubting Scottish bravery.

In that half the French line-outs were rickety, their scrums firm enough and the tackle ball went with the tackler.

Damien Traille chipped.  Pepito Elhorga caught it and went to ground against their right-hand touchline.  The ball came back quickly and sped the width of the field as the referee played advantage.  On the left-hand touchline Olivier Magne controlled a clumsy pass and sped ahead, beating off Chris Paterson's attempted tackle to score.  That made it 5-0 after seven minutes.

It was all one-way as Frédéric Michalak and Yannick Jauzion did clever things till a penalty for off-side gave scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili a straight-forward kick at goal to make it 8-0.

Just after this the Scottish fullback Derrick Lee was sent to the sin bin for a gross tackle on Yachvili while the scrum-half was well off the ground.  Off Lee went for 10 minutes.  During his sojourn on the touchline, France failed to score a single point.  They went in for lots of passing and the Scots went in for passing, but neither side looked like getting anywhere until Elhorga came desperately close as he chased a Nicolas Brusque grubber into the Scottish in-goal.  Simon Webster did his best to stop him getting to the ball and Elhorga knocked on, left to wonder why there was no action against Webster for tugging his shorts.

The flurry late in the second half came after strong running by muscular centre Tom Philip and surging blindside flank Jason White backed by a forward drive.

The second half belonged to France except for a flurry just before the final whistle.  Two penalties had the Scots driving at the line over and over, bash upon bash.  The Television Match official was given some work.  A five-metre scrum gave the Scots more bashing opportunities till a knock-on ended the match.

The half started with three replacements -- largely anonymous Julien Peyrelongue for Michalak at fly-half, Mike Blair for Chris Cusiter at scrum-half and Allister Hogg for Cameron Mather on the flank.

Hogg gave away the first penalty, which Yachvili slotted to make the score 14-0.  It became 17-0 when No.8 Simon Taylor was penalised at a tackle.

The match meandered along till Yachvili stole a Scottish ball at the back of a scrum.  The French won it quickly at a ruck and Traille ran a good little angle to send Jauzion dancing through a gap for a try at the posts.

Jauzion got the only other try of the half when France tapped a free-kick and Serge Betsen broke going left.  Dominici protected the ball as he was tackled and France flung the attack right.  Substitute loose forward Julien Bonnaire took out two tacklers to send Jauzion over.

This was the first time in 26 years that Scotland failed to score a single point at Murrayfield.

Man of the match:  For Scotland, Simon Taylor was full of activity, Chris Paterson intent and Simon Webster the best of the four wings on view.  For France, Olivier Magne started off like a house on fire, as if set on proving that dropping him had been a ridiculous error but he faded just a bit as the match went on.  Dimitri Yachvili put his kicks over and the French front row was far too good for the Scots.  But our Man of the match is Yannick Jauzion, strong on his feet, hard in the tackle and he scored two tries by running the clever angle at the right time.

Moment of the match:  There was Olivier Magne kneeling before his hat as if venerating a religious relic.  There was the whole-hearted Scottish onslaught on the French line and the unyielding defence of the French at the end of the match.  But the best moment was that little step by Damien Traille and the sympathetic pass that sent Yannick Jauzion through the gap.

Villain of the match:  Certainly Derrick Lee for that tackle on Dimitri Yachvili.  It looked so calculated as he lined him up and drove into his airborne knees.

The Teams:

France:  1 Pieter De Villiers, 2 William Servat, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Fabien Pelous (c), 5 Pascal Pape, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Thomas Lievremont, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Christophe Dominici, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Pepito Elhorga, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  David Auradou, Yannick Bru, Jean-Jacques Crenca, Julien Bonnaire, Julien Peyrelongue
Unused:  Vincent Clerc, Clement Poitrenaud

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Allan Jacobsen, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Cameron Mather, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Chris Paterson (c), 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Tom Philip, 14 Simon Danielli, 15 Derrick Lee
Reserves:  Michael Blair, Nathan Hines, Gavin Kerr, Daniel Parks, Allister Hogg, Robbie Russell
Unused:  Brendan Laney

Attendance:  66324
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Jauzion Y. 2, Magne O. 1
Conv:  Yachvili D. 2
Pen K.:  Yachvili D. 4

Ireland 19 Italy 3

Ireland did just enough to beat Italy 19-3 in horrendous conditions in the RBS Six Nations match at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.  A brace of tries by Ireland late in the first half proved to be the difference as the Azzurri failed to break the Irish defence.

The weather proved to be the biggest factor at Lansdowne Road as neither side truly came to grips with swirling winds and scattered rains in a grey and dreary Dublin.

Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara did well to control his kicks in the latter half of the game, but his Italian counterpart, Roland De Marigny, looked out of sorts with a number of his clearance kicks failing to find touch.

De Marigny, in fact, got the game off to a strange start as he chose to relinquish possession at the kick-off by gifting the Irish with a scrum on the half-way line thanks to a half-hearted grubbered kick-off.  What his reasons for doing so remain to be seen, but the resultant penalty awarded to Ireland was surely not one of them.

Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara failed with the conversion of the kick, however, with the wind interfering and sending his long-range effort well wide of the mark.

The wind stamped its mark on the game immediately as both teams really battled in the horrendous condition early on, with Ireland, in particular, looking to swing the ball wide despite the strong, swirling wind hampering their efforts.

The home side looked far more controlled when keeping the ball in-hand and in the forwards -- driving their way up towards the line as they took advantage of their dominance up front.

Italy's cause was not helped when hooker Fabio Ongaro was issued a yellow card for collapsing an Ireland maul close to the line after the Irish had threatened to smash through the Azzurri defence from 15 meters out.

Despite their obvious dominance in the forwards Ireland persisted in sending out long passes down the backline and they wasted a number of opportunities early on before veteran lock Malcolm O'Kelly, playing in his 63rd Test to equal the record set by Ireland legend Willie John McBride, made the breakthrough in the 24th minute.

The big second rower took advantage of a short Italian line-out throw when he snaffled the ball in mid-air and went crashing over the line for the try.  O'Gara over compensated for the wind, however, and failed to stretch his side's lead.

Ireland began to take control of proceedings for the remainder of the half as the Azzurri began to buckle under the pressure laid down by the relentless Irish attack.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll put together a moment of brilliance seven minutes from the break when he darted across the Italian defence and the bewildered Azzurri could look on only as the star midfielder created a gap and darted through it for the try.  O'Gara read the conditions perfectly to stretch the lead to 12 as the rain began to fall.

Italy began the second half with the wind behind them and, in truth, the Azzurri read the conditions far better than their favoured Irish counterparts had done in the first half as they pushed the Ireland forwards backwards with some well-weighted and aimed kicks.

The Azzurri spent the first 10 minutes camped in the Irish half, but they could not find any way through the seemingly impenetrable defence of the Ireland team.

Ireland absorbed the pressure and soon hit back as they countered and surged back into the Italian 22.  The Irish again took advantage of their forward domination, sucking in the Italian defence close to the line and O'Gara sent Shane Horgan away underneath the posts for the try.  The Irish fly-half, however, slotted the conversion and ultimately sealed the win for the hosts.

Amazingly the Irish saw little of the ball for the remainder of the half, with the Azzurri enjoying the bulk of the possession and spending much of that time camped on the Ireland line.

The Azzurri came close to pulling the Ireland lead close after an exceptional build-up saw winger Denis Dallan put away with the tryline beckoning, only for the veteran Italy star to lose control of the ball.

O'Driscoll was issued a yellow card for a high tackle on Azzurri scrum-half Paul Griffen in the 63rd minute and emotions came close to boiling over as the Italians looked to exact some vengeance.

The loss of their captain did little to deter the Irish from the job at hand, however, and the brave Italians were made to make do with a penalty kick by De Marigny as they failed to breach the resolute Ireland defence.

The Azzurri continued to attack until the end, but it proved far too little as the Italians, who continue to show vast improvements each and every week, are still some way off the likes of Ireland, England and France.

Man of the match:  Centres Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll proved a handful and lock Malcolm O'Kelly was a rock in the forwards, but Italian scrum-half Paul Griffen stood tall for Italy with some darting breaks and put in a massive work-rate in defence.  The New Zealand-born halfback may be filling the boots of Alessandro Troncon, but the latter will have his work cut out for him when he returns if he hopes to crack the nod.

Moment of the match:  Not the best of matches with the weather playing a large part in dampening both teams attacks, but Brian O'Driscoll's solo effort proved to be the highlight of an otherwise drab afternoon.

Villain(s) of the match:  We were tempted to give this to Brian O'Driscoll for his tackle on Griffen, but in the end the weather was the true villain here as mother nature played a wicked hand in ruining what could have been a great game of rugby.

Yellow card(s):  Fabio Ongaro (Italy, 17), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland, 63)

The Teams:

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

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Carlo Checchinato, 6 Andrea De Rossi (c), 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Scott Palmer, 9 Paul Griffen, 10 Roland De Marigny, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Matteo Barbini, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gonzalo Canale
Reserves:  Carlo Festuccia, Roberto Mandelli, Simon Picone, Mirco Bergamasco, Santiago Dellape, Andrea Masi, Salvatore Perugini

Attendance:  49250
Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Horgan S.P. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 1, O'Kelly M.E. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 2

Italy
Pen K.:  De Marigny R.J. 1