Ireland deny England in Dublin

World champs edge closer to wooden spoon

An inspired performance by Ireland subjected England to a 19-13 defeat at Lansdowne Road on Sunday -- the world champion's third loss of the 2005 RBS Six Nations.  It was a seesaw match in which the lead changed seven times.

After the Welsh victory over France on the Saturday, this Sunday match meant so much for Ireland's hopes.  The championship title remains a possibility for Ireland, but not by much.  England's disappointing run persisted, also not by much.

Picking a winner beforehand was possibly easier than deciding afterwards who deserved to win.  There was a try apiece and in the end kicks counted.

Ireland had more chances to score as the penalty count was 10-3 inch their favour.  Ironically, in view of the events at Twickenham in the England-France match, Hodgson did not miss a kick at goal while Ronan O'Gara of Ireland missed three kicks at goal.

The Irish line-out generally functioned smoothly, the English one iffishly.  The England scrummaging was stronger.  The tackle-ball for both sides was generally on the slow side.

Ireland played into the breeze in the first half but ended it leading 12-10, thanks to four Ronan O'Gara kicks.

For the first part of the half, Ireland dominated and had better opportunities, but in the end England were on the surge.

Ireland were close early on when Brian O'Driscoll, who had his thigh rubbed in public before the match, flipped a pass to Shane Horgan who grubbered down towards the corner-flag on England's right.  Jason Robinson saved but went into touch doing so.

That gave Ireland a fiver-metre line-out but they turned it into a shambles.  They recovered and O'Gara dropped a soaring goal.  3-0 to Ireland after four minutes.

Then came a surprising try.  The referee was playing advantage in England's favour.  Lewis Moody charged and went down in a heaped tackle area.  Suddenly Martin Corry picked up and charged 35 metres, straight ahead, unchallenged.  Charlie Hodgson converted.  7-3 to England after six minutes.

The try was not without its talking point as the opening for Corry seemed to have been created when Danny Grewcock tackled O'Gara who was stationed in defence.

John Hayes charged after England had yielded a turnover.  England went off-side in front of their posts.  O'Gara goaled.  7-6 to England after eight minutes.

O'Gara set up and scored.  He dummied, broke strongly.  Steve Thompson went into the side of the tackle/ruck and O'Gara kicked an easy goal.  9-7 to Ireland after 12 minutes.

The sucrose refused to settled down.  Hodgson kicked a wobbly diagonal to Mark Cueto who played back to Jason Robinson.  Ireland survived.  But England had their chance when Simon Easterby did illegal things with his hand at a tackle/ruck and from the half-way line, admittedly in front of the posts, Hodgson easily cleared the crossbar.  10-9 to England after 24 minutes.

England had a half chance when Foley lost the ball in a heavy tackle but a penalty took Ireland to a five-metre line-out.  Again they messed it up and again O'Gara dropped for goal.  From the left, the ball hit the right upright and bounced inwards and over.  12-10 to Ireland after 32 minutes.  There was a a clever little interplay by Harry Ellis and Josh Lewsey.  Hodgson kicked diagonally for Cueto who got ahead but was called for being ahead of the kicker.

Ireland led 12-10 at half-time.

England started the second half with a rumble.  A Hodgson grubber produced a six-metre line-out to Ireland.  Ireland cleared.

Ellis obstructed but O'Gara missed the kick.  Ireland had as good patch of attack till a long, long kick by Hodgson made Ireland throw in at a line-out five metres from their line.  Ireland survived but now it was England's turn to attack.  Jamie Noon broke sharply and got to three metres from the Irish line.

Hodgson dropped high for goal.  It bisected the uprights.  13-12 to England after 56 minutes.

Ireland got back into the England half and then came splendour.  Denis Hickie, from the left wing, broke at outside centre going right.  Geordan Murphy sold a convincing dummy to Hodgson and then got a pass to O'Driscoll who was on the tight touch-line.  It was not a comfortable pass but O'Driscoll put a left hand back and hauled the ball in to surge over in the corner and round for the try.  O'Gara converted.  19-13 with 22 minutes to play.

There was heaps of hectic activity in those 22 minutes but not a single score.

Hodgson kicked a diagonal for big Ben Kay, but he slapped it ahead and Anthony Foley was unhand to clear the Irish line.

O'Driscoll set Ireland on the attack with a long kick downfield and then Ireland drove a maul a long way towards the England line.  O'Gara dropped with his left foot -- and missed.

Hodgson charged down an O'Gara clearance in the Irish 22, but Murphy saved and Ireland cleared.

Hodgson kicked his third diagonal kick.  Cueto caught.  Hickie tackled Cueto.  Cueto popped the pass back to Lewsey.  Hickie tackled Lewsey.  Lewsey gave to Cueto.  Murphy tackled Cueto as Irish reinforcements arrived.

There was a defining moment with six minutes to go.  England made a penalty into a five-metre line-out which they made into a maul which they nudged at the Irish line where things fell down.  The ball was buried in a heap, and the referee awarded a scrum to Ireland five metres from their line.  They cleared.

England went sweeping down on the right with long passes and at speed but there was a forward pass.  Ireland won the scrum and Peter Stringer hoofed the ball into the crowd.  The final whistle went.

It was a breathlessly tense match.

Remarkably there were only two substitutions in the match -- Matt Dawson for Harry Ellis and Marcus Horan for Reggie Corrigan.

O'Gara's third kick took him to 500 points in Test rugby.

Man of the Match:  Not easy.  Mark Cueto had strong and eager moments.  Charlie Hodgson gave his side every chance to win.  But Martin Corry was the Englishman who really stood out.  There was Geordan Murphy, strong on defence, creative on attack.  There was the bustling power of Anthony Foley.  Denis Hickie made a try and saved a try.  But our choice is Ronan O'Gara -- two dropped goals, some great clearances especially into the wind in the first half, pin-point passing and one clean break.

Moment of the Match:  There the sight of Martin Corry galloping bewilderingly off towards the line.  There was Brian O'Driscoll's try.  There was the England maul that stopped at the Irish line with the subsequent scrum to Ireland.  But our moment of the match was provided by Denis Hickie as twice within seconds he saved a certain try with two decisive tackles.

Villain of the Match:  There were tiny moments of emotion and some grimaces of disapproval but composure did not slip into villainy.  No award.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  O'Driscoll
Con:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 2
Drops:  O'Gara 2

For England:
Try:  Corry
Con:  Hodgson
Pen:  Hodgson
Drop:  Hodgson

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Girvan Dempsey, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Shane Horgan, 11 Dennis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Anthony Foley, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 1 Reggie Corrigan (Marcus Horan, 67).
Unused replacements:  16 Frankie Sheahan, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Eric Miller, 20 Guy Easterby, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Kevin Maggs.

England:  15 Jason Robinson (captain), 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis (Matt Dawson, 69), 8 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Ben Kay, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Graham Rowntree.
Unused replacements:  16 Andy Titterrell, 17 Duncan Bell, 18 Steve Borthwick, 19 Andy Hazell, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Ollie Smith.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Eric Darrière (France)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

Wales stun France in Paris

The Williams and Jones show leaves Paris open-mouthed

Wales recorded one of the greatest victories of their illustrious history in Paris on Saturday, producing a stunning fightback to beat France 24-18 at the Stade de France -- and remain on course for the 2005 RBS Six Nations grand slam.

Rugby matches do not come more gripping!  It was a splendid match at magnificent Stade de France on Saturday evening as Wales continued on their merry way.

Wales simply turned the match on its head in the second half with one of the greatest fightbacks of recent times.  It was a great display of character and skill.

It was thrilling, gripping, adventurous -- the best of rugby football.  Forget the half-time score, France were all over Wales in the first half.  They were all over Wales for much of the second half but when Stephen Jones turned his back on the French and booted the ball over his own dead-ball line to end the match Wales were the winners.

Not allowed to wear the beer brand BRAINS on the jerseys, Wales wore BRAWN instead.  There was brawn -- and a lot besides ... like brain, sinew and heart.

It was a great day for rugby football and all that is best in the game.

What a start!  The speed and the intensity of that first half were high and France ran left and right and all over the field.

Suddenly the French were the French that everybody, especially the French, want the French to be.  They ran onto icy Stade de France and were on fire from the start.  Had their opponents been lesser mortals than the Welsh the score would have been lots, lots more than 15-6 at half-time.

The revelation was fullback Julien Laharrague, usually a wing for Brive.  He is 26 and making his very first appearance for France.  A secret weapon kept in reserve for just such an occasion.  He was fast and skilled and caused the Welsh defence much anxiety.

Laharrague was part of an attack down the left wing that came back towards the right.  The ball came back quickly to Dimitri Yachvili who dummied to pass right, swivelled and came left, sold another dummy and just swept through for a try which he converted.  7-0 after four minutes.

And the French kept on attacking.  Yann Delaigue was playing a more varied game than he had managed in the first half.  He ran to his right on the break and gave to Jauzion who slipped past a falling Gavin Henson.  He gave to big, strong, fast Aurélien Rougerie who stormed ahead and managed to twist and force his way over as three Welshmen sought to stop him.  12-0 after just eleven minutes!

It looked as if a hiding was on the way,

Wales were being destroyed in the scrum.  Rougerie and Laharrague and Traille and Jauzion were running free, but somehow the Welsh kept plugging the holes, till they had a chance to break out down the right.  Rougerie was forced to kick a grubber out.  From the line-out Sylvain Marconnet was off-side and Stephen Jones made it 12-3.

Traille had a great run but Gareth Thomas stomped him dead in full flight.

Yachvili goaled a penalty.  15-3 after 25 minutes.  A French victory seemed a formality.  Their forwards and backs attacked again and again with Serge Betsen and Yannick Nyanga prominent.  Marconnet just put a left foot into touch as he went over in the corner.  Rougerie thumped off Shane Williams but Wales countered off a French knock-on and surged into French territory.  When Jérôme Thion did wrong things at a tackle, Stephen Jones made it 15-6.

Two different teams came out for the second half.  The players wore the same names and clothes, but they were changed.

Now the Welsh were the ones running free, and it started when France seemed to be doing a de rigeur attack.  The ball went loose and Stephen Jones raced 50 metres down the field to the French 22 on the right.  Back the ball came left to Shane Williams on the left wing.  He darted and played inside to Martyn Williams who crossed far out and then ran round to the posts.  Stephen Jones converted.  15-13.

Shane Williams sparked the next Welsh rush and Wales moved the ball from touch-line to touch-line.  France were penalised seven metres from their line.  Wales tapped and charged.  France were penalised five metres from their line.  Wales tapped and charged and Martyn Williams reached out a telescopic arm to score in the corner.  Wales led 18-15 and a phoenix miracle was on the cards as they carried on with their marvellous madness.

In their own 22 they tapped a penalty and ran till they knocked on on the French 22.

The French were not finished and attacked hotly till Frédéric Michalak kicked the drop that made it 18-all with 19 minutes to play.

Three minutes later Betsen was penalised and Stephen Jones made it 21-18.  The thrill of it!

France got a penalty in their 22 and ran.  Rougerie bumped off Kevin Morgan and replacement Imanol Harinordoquy surged ahead but fell wrongly and Wales turned the ball over.  Madly, they did not kick.  Instead replacement scrum-half Gareth Cooper broke.  The Welsh ran.  A grubber.  Rougerie scrambled it out.  A line-out.  A drop -- and the drop bisected the uprights.  24-18, and all the druids and choirs must have been singing from Paris via the Rhondda to eternity.

There were still nine minutes to play, and France attacked for every one of those 540 seconds.

A scrum collapse led to a line-out six metres from France's line.  The French bashed.  William Servat was stopped three metres out.  Jean-Philippe Grandclaude was stopped by the length of his name from the Welsh line.  Grégory Lamboley was stopped three metres out.  Servat was stopped three metres out, and the ball became unplayable.

The scrum was five metres from the Welsh line.  Wales were penalised.  France opted for another scrum.  Wales were penalised.  France opted for another scrum.  But this time Harinordoquy failed to control the ball and Cooper scrambled it away.  But back came France with every weapon in their amoury till Grandclaude lost the ball.  Scrum to Wales -- a fragile scrum which somehow they won.  Cooper gave to Stephen Jones who turned his back and kicked it dead.

Man of the Match:  Shane Williams sparked things, Aurélien Rougerie was endlessly threatening, young Yannick Nyanga was skilful -- but our man-of-the-match was calm, effective Stephen Jones who did more than anybody else to win the match.

Moment of the Match:  There were glorious moments -- more than the tries but probably the moment was when Stephen Jones turned his back and booted the ball high into the stand behind his dead-ball line.  Then joy!

Villain of the Match:  Nobody.  All those people on the field should be enshrined forever.  They were the way the game should be conducted and played.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Yachvili, Rougerie
Con:  Yachvili
Pen:  Yachvili
Drop:  Michalak

For Wales:
Tries:  M Williams 2
Pens:  S Jones 3
Con:  Jones
Drop:  Jones

The teams:

France:  15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Damien Traille (Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 46), 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Yann Delaigue (Frédéric Michalak, 49), 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Julien Bonnaire (Imanol Harinordoquy, 59), 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion (Grégory Lamboley, 74), 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Nicolas Mas (Olivier Milloud, 49), 2 Sébastien Bruno (William Servat, 41), 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Unused replacements:  20 Pierre Mignoni.

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (Rhys Williams, 41), 14 Kevin Morgan (Ceri Sweeney, 53-67), 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel ( Gareth Cooper, 67), 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Ryan Jones (Jonathan Thomas, 77), 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Adam Jones (John Yapp, 67), 2 Mefin Davies (Robin McBryde, 65), 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Unused replacements:  19 Robin Sowden-Taylor.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Dave Pearson (England)
Assessor:  Jim Irvine (Ireland)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

Scotland bore Italy into the ground

Paterson kicks Azzurri to death

Scotland recorded their first RBS Six Nations win since 2003 by recording a 18-10 victory over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday, thereby relinquishing the wooden spoon that they picked up last season.

Italy had the better of the first half on a cold afternoon of drizzle, Scotland of the second -- but it was a match of much kicking which would not have been out of place at Celtic Park.

Chris Paterson scored all Scotland's points with six penalty goals.  Italy got a try with a minute to go but their pursuit of victory was frustrated by missing three penalty goals and a comfortable dropped goal.

Scotland came into meaningful Italian territory three times in the first half and led 6-3 at the break.

Partly this was Italy's fault.  They missed two kicks at goal from penalties and one from a wayward drop attempt.  Partly it was Scotland's good play as they defended against the waves of Italian attack on their line, close-quarters, bashing stuff.

On the first two occasions Italy were penalised in the half -- when Marco Bortolami and then Martín Castrogiovanni infringed at tackle/rucks -- Chris Paterson scored from penalties.

In between Roland de Marigny managed to get one over when the Scottish backs went off-side a few metres from their line.  This followed a massive Italian attack after Paterson had dropped a high ball and Andrea Lo Cicero led the attack.

The Scots started off running wide to the wings, and then meekly subsided into kicking.  The Italians kicked as a first principle.  Their second principle was a maul, reminiscent of the ancient Roman arm's tortoise formation, the testudo.

At half-time Scotland led 6-3.

There were light moments in the second half.  Dan Parks ran for the only time in the match and broke sharply till his confidence deserted him.  The Scots stole an Italian line-out on their left and spun it wide for big Sean Lamont to bash his way over the line ... only to be called back for a forward pass.

With nine minutes left Paterson made it 15-3 and then 18-3 with five minutes left.  Italy put pressure on, and big Sergio Parisse charged down an attempted clearance by replacement Gordon Ross.  Andrea Masi dived on the ball in the Scotland in-goal.  De Marigny converted.

There was a minute left.  Scotland were penalised.  Italy tapped and went but lost the ball and then Scotland looked as if they wanted to score a try but were tackled out at the right corner.

The final whistle went.

Man of the Match:  There were two players who tried to run with the ball -- Sean Lamont of Scotland and Andrea Masi of Italy.  Sean Lamont did it better and is our man-of-the-match.

Moment of the Match:  It had to be the charge-down by Sergio Parisse and the try by Andrea Masi.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody, unless it was an overused boot.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 6

For Italy:
Try:  Masi
Con:  De Marigny
Pen:  De Marigny

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Andy Craig, 12 Hugo Southwell (Ben Hinshelwood, 71), 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks (Gordon Ross, 73), 9 Chris Cusiter (Mike Blair, 78), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Jon Petrie, 6 Simon Taylor (Jon Dunbar, 75), 5 Scott Murray (Nathan Hines, 75), 4 Stuart Grimes, 3 Gavin Kerr ( Bruce Douglas, 73), 2 Gordon Bulloch (captain), 1 Tom Smith.
Unused Replacements:  16 Robbie Russell.

Italy:  15 Roland de Marigny, 14 Mirco Bergamasco (Kaine Robertson, 73), 13 Christian Stoica (Roberto Pedrazzi, 58), 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Luciano Orquera (Paul Griffen, 68), 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 David dal Maso, 6 Aaron Persico, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè (Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 63), 3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Salvatore Perugini, 63), 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Unused replacements:  16 Giorgio Intoppa, 19 Silvio Orlando.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assessor:  Jim Bailey (Wales)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)

France overhaul England in London

Yachvili's boot trumps two tries from the hosts

What a thriller!  What a sea change!  The boot beat the tries at Twickenham, and this time it was not the boot of Jonny Wilkinson but the boot of Dimitri Yachvili that gave France an unexpected 18-17 Six Nations victory at Twickenham after England's had led 17-6 at half-time.

The narrow victory kept France on course to retain their Six Nations title, setting up fascinating encounters with Ireland and Wales.

At half-time France were rudderlessadrift and heading for the rocks of defeat.  Then in the second half coach Bernard Laporte made three changes and France burst into life.  Gone was hesitance and gone was the ill-discipline that conceded many penalties.

In the first half France were penalised eight times to six.  In the second half France were penalised three times to seven.

England scored two wonderful tries but the penalty kicks were wayward.  In all they missed six penalties.  With three minutes to go and France leading 18-17 England had a five-metre scrum after Jamie Noon had forced Christophe Dominici's to carry over.  England bashed Charlie Hodgson to a comfortable position in front of the posts but his drop-kick attempt was not near.

As time ran out, England were back near the French line after Jason Robinson had kicked long to his left, but France won the line-out and Yachvili, the man with the Midas boot, slapped a kick into touch, and the final whistle went -- to set the French cheering, dancing, hugging and singing.

It had rained all over Britain -- heavy rain with nasty winds -- and Twickenham barely disguised its muddy base.  Divots came loose and players' garb was soon blackened.

One would then expect a match of many stoppages but in the first half there were only five scrums and 11 line-outs.  Much of this was thanks to the positive enthusiasm of the England side.  The forwards got stuck in, the kicking was clever and the attempts to play with the backs creative.

France had little of the half as their hands were shaky and their defence wonky.  Without Serge Betsen they would have made precious few tackles.  A one-tackler team?  That one tackler certainly had the deadly measure of Jason Robinson.

If England's goal kicking had been better they would have been even further ahead at the break than their encouraging 17-6 lead.  Charlie Hodgson and Olly Barkley each missed two penalty kicks at goal.

France got the first score.  Betsen won a turnover and Jimmy Marlu chased a long grubber.  Mark Cueto, not far from his goal-line, hung on.  Dimitri Yachvili goaled from an awkward angle.

England kept charging, changing angles, looking for chances.  Ben Kay had a great charge and then England got a try.

They got scruffy ball from a scrum but Jamie Moon came in for a short pass and burst clean through.  He drew Pépito Elhorga and gave Barkley a straight run to the posts.  Hodgson converted.  7-3 to England after 20 minutes.

Yachvili missed scoring from a long kick when it bounced off an upright, but when Damien Traille was penalised at a tackle, Hodgson made it 10-3.  Yachvili goaled when England were penalised for a harsh obstruction.  10-6.

England bashed and bashed and bashed on the left.  Then they went wide on the right and back on the left where Josh Lewsey cut and swerved and scored.  Hodgson converted.  17-6 after 36 minutes.

The first change for France in the second half was a debutant -- Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, a burly three-quarter who came on for injured Jimmy Marlu.  France did all sorts of shuffling.  Grandclaude went to centre, Damien Traille to fullback and Elhorga, who had looked rickety, to left-wing.  And then they brought on Frédéric Michalak and had a lively flyhalf who varied play and passed the rugby ball instead of one who stood back and either kicked or flung the rugby ball.

Then came the three effective substitutions and suddenly William Servat, on for stodgy Sébastien Bruno, charged with a purpose.  Suddenly France had life, but it was not the life that ever looked like giving birth to a try, not against England's watertight defence.

Instead it was the left boot of Yachvili that brought them higher, higher -- and over.

When Lewis Moody held on, Yachvili made it 17-9.  When Moody used hands at tackle time, Yachvili made it 17-12.  When Moody, went off-side at a poor kick by Harry Ellis, Yachvili made it 17-15.

Just after that Yachvili tried one from the half-way line when Robinson held on.  The kick rose high and true but dropped just under the bar, and a lot of Twickenham said "Whew"!

Then England were penalised at a maul when Graham Rowntree went in at the side, not an easy kick on Yachvili's right and 37 metres out and wide, but the kick was true, and France led 18-17 with 11 hectic, frantic minutes still to play.

Man of the Match:  Has any player ever in the history of the game tackled more often and more effectively than Serge Betsen did on Sunday?  But our man-of-the-match has to be Dimitri Yachvili of the cool boot -- the scrum-half who did not get a starting place the week before.

Monument of the Match:  There was Jaime Noon's sharp break for Olly Barkley's try but probably the moment -- cruel as it may seem -- was the missed dropped goal with three minutes to go.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody really.  In a match of such intensity nobody has time to be nasty, though Martin Corry, for a charge on Pépito Elhorga after the whistle for a mark, and Elhorga himself for throwing the ball into touch were perhaps fortunate to avoid spending time watching rather than playing.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Barkley, Lewsey
Cons:  Hodgson 2
Pen:  Hodgson

For France:
Pens:  Yachili 6

The teams:

England:  15 Jason Robinson, 14 Mark Cueto (Ben Cohen, 70), 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis (Matt Dawson, 73), 8 Martin Corry (Andy Hazell, 61-67), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Danny Grewcock, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Graham Rowntree.
Unused replacements:  16 Andy Titterrell, 17 Andy Sheridan, 18 Steve Borthwick, 21 Henry Paul.

France:  15 Pépito Elhorga, 14 Christophe Dominici, 13 Damien Traille, 12 Brian Liebenberg, 11 Jimmy Marlu (Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 43), 10 Yann Delaigue (Frédéric Michalak, 67), 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Sébastien Chabal (Yannick Nyanga, 49), 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Grégory Lamboley, 80), 3 Nicolas Mas (Olivier Milloud, 49), 2 Sébastien Bruno (William Servat, 49), 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Unused replacements:  20 Pierre Mignoni.

Referee:  Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Jim Bailey (Wales)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

Ireland muscle past Scotland

Visitors maul the Scots out of the game

Ireland smashed Scotland 40-13 at a mud-smudged Murrayfield in Round Two of the 2005 Six Nations after Scotland had started the match with much hope until the Irish pack took over and simply mauled their hosts to pieces.The Irish maul descended on the Scots like salt upon a snail and they shrivelled.

Scotland had two patches in each half of the match when they ran with ball in hand and the world looked promising for them, but really its was the Irish pack that took control in all phases, but above all through the maul and when the ball was on the ground.

Before the match at the line-up, there were 22 little Scots in front of their players to just one young Irish girl with her team.  Those almost seemed the odds for the first 12 minutes of the game as the Scots attacked with width and enthusiasm as they fed off quick ball.  Then they scored a try and seemed to think that they had done enough.

After that try which gave them an 8-0 lead, the Irish pack simply mauled them into the ground.  The Scots got no more ball and Irish muscle produced two tries and an 18-8 lead at the break.  But the Irish tries had nothing of the splendour of the Scots'.

On the muddy field with the wind at their backs the Scots attacked.  They eschewed an early penalty chance in search of a try, which did not come.  The second time they took the penalty and Chris Paterson scored.  3-0 after 8 minutes.

The try was majestic.  Not far out from his 22 and in midfield Paterson gathered a kick and set off down the field.  Irish defence opened like the Red Sea for Moses and on the Scottish fullback sped.

At the Irish 22 he looked to his right and a pass found centre Hugo Southwell on the right wing.  The sturdy centre sped for the corner and went over.  8-0 after 12 minutes.

Ireland's comeback in the match started quietly when Ronan O'Gara kicked a penalty after Tom Smith had held on in a tackle.

Scotland were still all right, but Stuart Grimes grabbed Malcolm O'Kelly's collar in a line-out.  That penalty became a line-out ten metres from the Irish line.  The offended O' Kelly caught the ball in the line-out and his pack mauled him over to celebrate his 70th cap for Ireland, Ireland's most capped player ever.  O'Gara converted.  10-8 to Ireland after 24 minutes.

Ireland came close again when O'Gara chipped and Shane Horgan lost the ball in the act of scoring.

O'Gara goaled a penalty when Jason White used his hands when he should not have.  13-8 after 36 minutes.

Ireland attacked.  Scotland had a line-out five metres from their line.  A knock-on became a five-metre scrum to Ireland.  That became a free kick which Anthony Foley tapped, and eventually the Irish pack mauled Paul O'Connell -- captain for the day -- over.  O'Gara surprisingly missed the easy conversion.  18-8 at half-time.

In the second half Scotland won a difficult scrum five metres from their line.  Allister Hogg drove but Jonny O'Connor won a turnover and the Irish were off to the left.  Horgan was felled but got the ball back and O'Gara threw a basketball pass to Denis Hickie who scored.  O'Gara converted from touch.  25-8.

O'Gara kicked a penalty and after 48 minutes Ireland led 28-8, at which stage Scotland starting playing with the ball in hands and looked like the team that had done so well early in the match.  They were rewarded with a clever try.

A penalty made a five-metre line-out.  Scotland won the ball and formed a maul which drove but the maul was a decoy and instead Jon Petrie, peeling from the back, took a little popped pass, turned left and drove through Shane Byrne and Peter Stringer to score as O' Kelly tried to stop him.  28-13.

At this stage Scotland were running but then a penalty became a line-out 15 metres out and Ireland put on the maul again.  Frankie Sheahan drove infield and then the ball came back towards touch where O' Kelly gave a sympathetic pass to massive John Hayes who scored in the corner, a try his laughing side enjoyed as teams always do when props score tries.  33-13 with five minutes to play.

As time ebbed away, Scotland knocked on -- a gross knock-on.  Horgan picked up and ran down the left.  He gave a perfect pass to young replacement Gavin Duffy who scored a try in his first Six Nations match.

David Humphreys -- on for O'Gara -- converted from far out and the final whistle went.

Man of the match:  There was one Scottish candidate -- Chris Paterson who looked so full of running and produced the best individual run of the match, but really the heroes were Irish, starting with Geordan Murphy at fullback.  Really the pack deserved the accolades from the ground scavenging of Johnny O'Connor to the imperious line-out play of Malcolm O' Kelly.  The Irish pack was the collective man-of-the-match.

Moment of the Match:  Chris Paterson's startling run that led to Hugo Southwell's try.

Villain of the Match:  Although referee Joël Jutge got in the way of a promising Scottish move, we'll let him off.  No award -- all in all, a very well behaved match.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Southwell, Petrie
Pen:  Paterson

For Ireland:
Tries:  O'Kelly, O'Connell, Hickie, Hayes, Duffy
Cons:  O'Gara 2, Humphreys
Pens:  O'Gara 3

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Andy Craig, 12 Hugo Southwell, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (Mike Blair, 5-17, 71), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Jon Petrie, 6 Jason White, 5 Scott Murray (Nathan Hines, 71), 4 Stuart Grimes, 3 Gavin Kerr, 2 Gordon Bulloch (captain), 1 Tom Smith.
Unused replacements:  16 Robbie Russell, 19 Jon Dunbar, 21 Gordon Ross, 22 Ben Hinshelwood.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Girvan Dempsey (Gavin Duffy, 75), 13 Shane Horgan, 12 Kevin Maggs, 11 Dennis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara (David Humphreys, 75), 9 Peter Stringer (Guy Easterby, 75), 8 Anthony Foley, 7 Johnny O'Connor (Eric Miller, 66), 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne (Frankie Sheahan, 72), 1 Reggie Corrigan (Marcus Horan, 72).
Unused replacements:  18 Donncha O'Callaghan.

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

Wales put six tries past Italy

Welsh conquer Rome

Wales gave Italy a lesson in running rugby in Rome on Saturday, running in six tries as they notched up a 38-8 Six Nations victory at the Stadio Flaminio.

Wales had too much speed and finesse for Italy, the local forwards did well enough but their back were outplayed.

It would have been a drab match indeed had it not been for the electricity of Wales wing Shane Williams.

There was a happy atmosphere in Stadio Flaminio on an overcast day that threatened to melt into rain.  There was a group of spectators dressed as Roman legionnaires -- singing Land of My Fathers!  Mind you the team that sings its anthem best may just be Italy, cosmopolitan though they be as a team.

The first score of the match started with a moment of brilliance by Shane Williams.

Andrea Masi, the Italian centre grubbered ahead.  Williams picked it up, shuffled, darted and accelerated from just out side his 22.  Tom Shanklin took it on.  Wales won from a tackle on their right and net left.  Michael Owen bowled a long pass to Jonathan Thomas who scored far out.  Stephen Jones converted.  7-0 after five minutes.

Gareth Thomas nearly set up a try soon afterwards when he latched onto an Italian knock on, raced away from defenders and chipped.  But nippy Ludovico Nitoglia saved.

The knock-on may have had a bad effect on Italy as their backs were not nearly as creative as against Ireland.  Instead they resorted to kicking and kicking and kicking -- till late in the match.

Then Gavin Henson gave intimations of his humanity.  He beat two Italians with great strength and then chipped -- and Italy scored.  The little Italian fly-half Luciano Orquera charged the kick down just inside his half, picked up the ball and ran half the length of the field to shake off Shane Williams's pursuit and score far out.  7-5 after 11 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Shanklin broke.  Hauled down, Wales won the ball on their right.  They went left and Henson chipped high to his left where Tom Shanklin was taller than Nitoglia and scored in the corner.  12-3 after 21 minutes.

As against Ireland last weekend, Italy's goal-kicking in the first half just did not manage.  Roland de Marigny missed with two kicks which would have made a difference in the more competitive of the halves.

On the stroke of half-time Wales scored a good try which the crowd judged unfair and muttered loudly about.  From a shabby line-out Wales tidied up, Haldane Luscombe broke strongly through Masi and gave to Martyn Williams we ho drove at the goal-posts as De Marigny grabbed him.  Falling and turning Williams managed to press the ball against the base of the posts.  The television match official confirmed that it was a try.  Stephan Jones converted.  19-5 at half-time.

De Marigny got one over to make it 19-8 early in the second period.  Then Mirco Bergamasco chipped and put pressure on.  Wales cleared badly and Nitoglia cut through in the best Shane Williams fashion.  Italy attacked right.  They came back left and were going right again when prop Martin Castrogiovanni knocked on.

Wales then put the ball through phase after phase and suddenly Shane Williams did his dart dance.  The ball went right and big Brent Cockbain cut back through De Marigny for the try which gave the welsh most joy.  Stephen Jones converted.  26-8.

When Gareth Thomas counter-attacked Wales scored a brilliant try.  He cut through and gave to Martyn Williams who gave to Kevin Morgan, on for hamstrung Luscombe.  Morgan gave to Shane Williams, who darted over to score.  Stephan Jones converted 33-8.

At this stage there was much coming and going of replacements and substitutions and the match gained an air of unreality.

Wales got one more try when Shane Williams danced, Ceri Sweeney supported and gave to Robert Sidoli who scored in the left corner.

Land of our Fathers sounded over the Seven Hills of Rome -- an irony, for the land of Sidoli's fathers was Italy!

Just after this De Marigny fell awkwardly and had to be helped off -- in old-fashioned style between two medical men -- and Robin Sowden-Taylor came on for his first cap.

Man of the Match:  The two candidates were welsh -- industrious Martyn Williams and, our choice, Shane Williams for lifting the match out of mediocrity.

Moment of the Match:  Shane Williams picked up Andrea Masi's grubber and magic happened.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody, all good clean fun!

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Orquera
Pen:  De Marigny

For Wales:
Tries:  J Thomas, Shanklin, M Williams, Cockbain, S Williams., Sidoli.
Cons:  Jones 4

The teams:

Italy:  15 Roland de Marigny (Matteo Barbini, 79), 14 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Walter Pozzebon (Paul Kaine Robertson, 54), 12 Andrea Masi (Matteo Barbini, 21-24), 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alessandro Troncon (Paul Griffen, 57), 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco (David Dal Maso, 23), 6 Aaron Persico, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè (Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 58), 3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Salvatore Perugini, 58),

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (captain), 14 Hal Luscombe (Kevin Morgan, 54), 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones (Ceri Sweeney, 61), 9 Dwayne Peel (Gareth Cooper, 57), 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams (Robin Sowden-Taylor, 75), 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain (Ian Gough, 62), 3 Adam Jones (John Yapp, 62), 2 Mefin Davies (Robin McBryde, 62), 1 Gethin Jenkins.

Referee:  Andrew Cole (Australia)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), David Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor:  Colin High (England)

Ireland struggle to subdue Italy

Favourites go top of the table

A 28-17 victory over Italy in Rome on Sunday puts Ireland at the top of the Six Nations table, but the visitors didn't have it all their own way at Stadio Flaminio, and were forced to dig deep for their win.  During the anthems, the Italians sang about Italia with passion while the man beat the big drum.  For much of the match Italy played with passion and beat the drum.

Ireland took their chances and deserved the result, but it may just have been a bit of a Pyrrhic victory for Ireland as both their centres were helped off the field.

A hobbling Gordon D'Arcy was helped off after 28 minutes.  And at the end Brian O'Driscoll was also escorted off the field.  Ireland would rather play Scotland with those two stars next weekend.

There was a good crowd at Stadio Flaminio for a match which started in sunshine.  There was a lot of Irish support and The Fields of Athenry echoed round the Seven Hills of the Eternal City.

Ireland scored three tries to Italy's one, but Italy had a lot of the match.  They made fewer errors than Ireland and played their rugby with enthusiasm and creativity, but they just lucked the speed of O'Driscoll, Geordan Murphy and Denis Hickie.

The Italian pack gave the Irish pack a tough time.  When Ireland had a five-metre line-out their defence was firm.  When they had a chance to maul they made metres.  And they had the scrum of the first Six Nations weekend.  Ireland had a scrum five metres from their lone and Italy destroyed them.  The Irish managed to keep the ball but it was tough.

Early in the match it looked as if Italy were about to do what Scotland had done to France the day before.  In fact they could have been up at half-time had their goal kicker been of reasonable standard.  Fly-half Luciano Orquera missed three penalty attempts out of four, and so Italy gave their next kick, the hardest of the half, to Roland de Marigny who slammed it over.

Most of the half belonged to Italy who kept Ireland looking jittery and scored first when Orquera kicked a penalty from in front.  On 20 minutes Ireland attacked for the first time and when Italy went off-side Ronan O'Gara goaled to make it 3-all.

Up until then O'Gara's kicking out of hand had been wayward and contributed to Ireland's nervousness.  Five minutes later Brian O'Driscoll dummied to a decoy runner and broke on the outside of Gonzalo Canale, drew De Marigny and gave to Geordan Murphy.

Speedy Ludovico Nitoglia hauled him in but in the tackle, on his back, he placed the ball behind his head for the try, which the TMO confirmed.  An early chance gave O'Gara two shots at the conversion, but he missed both.

Half-time came with Ireland leading 8-6.

In the second half De Marigny scored first with a penalty for a tackle/ruck infringement.  That gave Italy a 9-8 lead.  Oh, for the missed trio of penalties!

Then O'Driscoll again sped past Canale.  He fed Hickie who gave to Shane Horgan.  Alessandro Troncon was about to bundle Horgan into touch when the big wing, used as a midfield punch for much of the game, flung the ball back over his head and straight into the arms of Peter Stringer who scored.  O'Gara converted to make it 15-9.

The try will be disputed for Horgan may well have got a toe onto the touch-line before throwing the ball infield.

O'Gara and De Marigny kicked penalties and it was 21-18 with 20 minutes to go.

Murphy then had a good break, but Italy came closer moments later.  Troncon chipped, the ball bounced, and speedy, small, young Nitoglia nipped in and grabbed the ball as Murphy and Girvan Dempsey tried to grab him.  Nitoglia tried to get the ball down with his right arm but a centimetre or less above the ground he lost the ball.  That gave Ireland a scrum and they survived.

From their battered scrum Ireland cleared the ball but Italy came back with a massive maul that got close tot he Irish line.  Ireland held firm and then De Marigny ended the attack with a missed drop.

O'Gara kicked another penalty, and then Ireland got a quick turnover and Murphy got a quick switch of a pass to Hickie who traced past Troncon to score.  O'Gara converted and it was 28-12 with four minutes left.  The score flattered Ireland.

The enthusiastic Italians came back and battered at the Irish line for burly prop Martín Castrogiovanni to score a try which delighted all of Italy.

Man of the Match:  Roland de Marigny, Alessandro Troncon, Andrea Lo Cicero and Mauro Bergamasco did well for Italy.  For Ireland there were star performances from Peter Stringer, Simon Easterby and, above all, Malcolm O' Kelly, but the man who made the difference, our man of the match, not for the first time, was Brian O'Driscoll.

Moment of the Match:  Peter Stringer's try made possible by that speculative throw back over his head by Shane Horgan.

Villain of the Match:  There was none.  There was not even nearly one.

For Italy:
Try:  Castrogiovanni
Pens:  Orquera, De Marigny 3

For Ireland:
Tries:  Murphy, Stringer, Hickie
Cons:  O'Gara 2
Pens:  O'Gara 3

The teams:

Italy:  15 Roland de Marigny, 14 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Gonzalo Canale (Paul Kaine Robertson, 71), 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Aaron Persico (David Dal Maso, 78), 5 Marco Bortolami(captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè (Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 66), 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro (Giorgio Intoppa, 78), 1 Andrea Lo Cicero (Salvatore Perugini, 78)
Unused replacements:  20 Paul Griffen, 21 Walter Pozzebon.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara (Girvan Dempsey, 29), 9 Peter Stringer (Munster), 8 Anthony Foley (Eric Miller, 77), 7 Denis Leamy, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell (Donncha O'Callaghan, 77), 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne (Frankie Sheahan, 77), 1 Reggie Corrigan (Marcus Horan, 61).
Replacements:  20 Guy Easterby, 21 David Humphreys.

Referee:  Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Roy Maybank (England)
Assessor:  David Kerr (Scotland)
Television match official:  Dave Pearson (England)

France toil to subdue spirited Scots

Great Scot, they almost did it!

It was a defeat that was a victory!  France won the opening match of the Six Nations when they beat Scotland 16-9 at Stade de France on a gloomy Parisian Saturday afternoon.  France scored more points but Scotland won everything else.

The pundits had them trounced, the 2004 wooden spoonists against the 2004 Grand Slammers.  But the wooden spoon came within seven minutes of outdoing the sceptre.  It was an heroic occasion, part of the glory of sport, the unpredictable.

The brave Scots shucked off their boardroom squabbles, the spate of injuries and the prophets of gloom to turn in a performance worthy of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.

There were two decisions in the late stages of the match which will be debated long and with sad anger on dark Scottish evenings for years to come.

The Scots were leading 9-6 when Ali Hogg went running down the right-hand touch-line.  He broke free of the clutches of the French and went racing off to "score", but the touch judge decided that some miniscule part of his right heel had touched a fragment of the touch-line.

The Scots were leading 9-6 when Brian Liebenberg started an attack and Sylvain Marconnet won the ball back some four metres from the Scottish line.  France launched a hectic attack but the Scots defence was stern.  Then the referee gave Jon Petrie a yellow card for deliberately infringing, a crucial decision.

France tried winning from scrums but the seven-man Scots pack was honest and brave, and eventually Yann Delaigue capitulated and settled for a dropped goal.

That made it 9-all with seven minutes to play.

In those seven minutes Scotland had the first chance to score -- a remote chance.  Paterson's penalty attempt from inside his own half was straight but short.

The French, with bolstered loose forwards, suddenly had their liveliest period of play, winning turnovers for the first time in the match from the tired Scots and then came a heartbreak error.

Hugo Southwell was in the fullback position and kicked to clear.  Replacement Grégory Lamboley charged down the kick with two team-mates nearby.  Big Damien Traille got the ball and surged over for the try which won the match, as the TMO confirmed.  Frédéric Michalak, who had replaced Delaigue converted.

Traille's try was the first try of the 2005 Six Nations.

There were just under two minutes to play, a lively time but leaving the French winners.

There was a team in white in the first half.  They were labelled France, but it was hard to believe that they were as they did hardly a thing right, while the dogged Scots hung in there and had the better of the half, ending it with a great defensive victory as the French attacked in wave after wave.  Scotland led 6-0 at half-time, which was signalled by a referee's whistle and universal Gallic disapproval.

The only really good thing France did in the match was scrum.  That was also the worst thing the Scots did and they were penalised four times for scrum infringements.

In the first half, France had three kicks at goal, Yann Delaigue missed two simple ones with his left foot and Damien Traille missed from in front with his right foot.  Chris Paterson missed one but he nailed two, one when Jérôme Thion tackled and stuck to the tackler, and one when hirsute Sébastien Chabal went off-side.

For the rest it was the Scots.  Their line-outs were excellent, they won the turnovers, they had a simple game plan which involved Dan Parks leaning to his left and kicking to his right, and they tackled like killers.

In that half France put the ball into only two scrums while the fumbling hands of the French produced nine scrums for the Scots.  French handling was of a poor standard, starting with the service from Pierre Mignoni.

The good moments in the first half were a break by Andy Craig in the centre that led to the penalty against Thion, a big French attack which ended when Sean Lamont tackled Christophe Dominici out just short, a Scottish attack when Ali Hogg won a turnover, a Scottish pick-'n-drive, two brilliant bits of fielding by Paterson off French grubbers, a massive Jason White tackle on Brian Liebenberg and a Chris Cusiter break.  The best break of the second half was by Delaigue but a Cusiter tackle ended the threat.

It was not a great match but it was made gripping by the tenacity of the Scots, the closeness of the score and the possibility that the impossible would become a reality.

Man of the Match:  Scotland scrum-half Chris Cusiter.  There it is.  He outplayed his older opponent, his judgment was excellent, his passing crisp, long and sure, his determination unwavering and he managed a great break.  Close behind him was big Ali Hogg of the almost try.

Moment of the Match:  That almost try by Ali Hogg which will be watched over and over in slow motion.  It was a defining moment in the match.

Villain of the Match:  We suppose it was Jon Petrie for leaving his men a man short in those last seven critical minutes during which the French scored 10 points, but it was not malicious enough to be labelled villainy.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Traille
Con:  Michalak
Pens:  Delaigue 2
DG:  Delaigue

For Scotland
Pen:  Paterson 3

The teams:

France:  15 Pépito Elhorga, 14 Aurélien Rougerie (Ludovic Valbon, 17 -- Sébastien Bruno, 79), 13 Brian Liebenberg, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Yann Delaigue (Frédéric Michalak, 74), 9 Pierre Mignoni (Dimitri Yachvili, 79), 8 Patrick Tabacco (Yannick Nyanga, 64), 7 Sébastien Chabal, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Jérôme Thion (Grégory Lamboley, 70), 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Pieter de Villiers (Olivier Milloud, 51), 2 William Servat, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Andy Craig, 12 Hugo Southwell, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Jon Petrie (Jon Dunbar, 80), 6 Jason White, 5 Scott Murray (Nathan Hines, 65), 4 Stuart Grimes, 3 Gavin Kerr (Bruce Douglas, 55), 2 Gordon Bulloch captain, 1 Tom Smith (Gavin Kerr, 75).
Unused replacements:  16 Robbie Russell, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Gordon Ross, 22 Ben Hinshelwood.

Yellow card:  Jon Petrie (69).

Referee:  Nigel Williams (Wales)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Wales deny England in Cardiff

The dragon roars again!

Wales have defied the odds and England's monstrous pack by recording an historic 11-9 victory over the world champions at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.  Wales centre Gavin Henson was the undisputed star of the show, and it was his long-range penalty that sealed matters at the death.

But if principalities have kings, Wales had 20 of them on Saturday afternoon.

Mike Ruddock and his part of the team will also be elevated to full royalty, for it was clear that the match was well planned and the players played to that plan.

Wales made their intentions clear right at the start of the match as they ran and ran with speed, flair and enthusiasm.  Oddly, they may well have erred by ignoring the overlaps which their ingenuity had created.  And when they had nudged ahead on that astonishing penalty by Henson, to make it 11-9 with four minutes to go, Wales still kept running and the final whistle went five metres from the England goal-line.

England on the other hand did best at the maul and varied that with thump-and-bang which too often produced slow ball.  England in fact did not look like scoring a try.

Their best attacking option by far was Jason Robinson with his dancing feet.  He was England's only rapier for the rest they were all broadsword.

But it looked as if the England strangler would work in the second half as they denied Wales ball and settled down to wait for penalties to see them home happy along the M4.

With 11 minutes to go Charlie Hodgson kicked his third penalty and it looked as if England were set fair for victory, but then the spring came back into Welsh legs and they attacked from all over the place and only a tackle by Josh Lewsey on Gareth Thomas saved the day.

But the tackling of the day belonged to the Welsh, above all Gavin Henson whose tackle on new boy Mat Tait was frightening as he drove into the young English centre, picked him and shook him like a rag doll, a harsh lesson for a young player sprung into Test rugby.

It was not Henson's only shuddering tackle on Tait who was substituted with 20 minutes to make way for Olly Barkley who was used as a tactical kicker in the wait-for-a-penalty game.

Wales ended the first half leading 8-3.  It could have been more but for the waywardness of their captain.

Leading 8-3, Wales were on the England line where Dwayne Peel was awaiting delivery of the ball when a long Danny Grewcock leg came over the heap of bodies and his boot made contact with the crouched Peel's head.  Peel reeled away.  The Welsh were angry, and their captain, who is a fullback, Gareth Thomas come running in and shoved at Grewcock.

The referee and the touch judge had a chat about it.  As a result Grewcock went to the sin-bin for reckless use of the boot and Thomas for a punch -- not that it was much of a punch, certainly not as ugly as the boot.

That was high drama, but the wonderful moment was the Welsh try, the first score of the match.  England lost a second line-out and Wales went scooting off in attack from side to side until Shane Williams had an overlap and skated across at a wide angle to settle down in the corner.

Stephen Jones missed the conversion and then a penalty and then a dropped goal, but his tactical play was astonishingly good.

Hodgson kicked an early penalty in the second half to make it 8-6 and then, as substitutions proliferated, Wales were penalised at a tackle and Hodgson gave England a 9-8 leader, slender but possibly a winning lead.

Wales attacked.  Replacement scrumhalf Gareth Copper grubbered.  Brave Jason Robinson, captain of England, gathered the ball and was taken to ground.  Lewsey and Hazell arrived and went in on their pressurised captain and were penalsied for "bridging".  It was a long way out, some 44 metres out, and near touch.  Up came spike-haired, tanned Gavin Henson with his original run up, concentration and high step -- and it never looked like missing.  It was a winner.

Man of the Match:  Cool, effective Stephen Jones was a star and there was a frisson of excitement whenever the ball went the way of Shane Williams.  There was also intent in the Welsh pack, but the man of the match was undoubtedly Gavin Henson, a world class player, strong on the attack, telling in the tackle, strong when kicking out of hand or off the ground.  His last kick is already part of Welsh lore, setting the druids a-chortling as they lick their lips.

Moment of the Match:  There was Shane Williams's try and Gavin Henson's jarring tackles but really it was the kick that sent the Welsh up through their closed dome to heaven -- Gavin Henson's penalty goal at the death.

Villain of the Match:  There were three candidates.  There was the field.  The dome was closed, the clock was working but the playing surface was as bad as it was six years ago during the World Cup Final, cutting up.  There was Gareth Thomas's retaliation, but really the villain was Danny Grewcock for the reckless boot.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  S Williams
Pens:  Jones, Henson

For England:
Pens:  Hodgson 3

The teams:

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (captain), 14 Hal Luscombe (Kevin Morgan, 64), 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel (Gareth Cooper, 60), 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Dafydd Jones (Ryan Jones, 64), 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain (Jonathan Thomas, 73), 3 Adam Jones (John Yapp, 73), 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Robin McBryde, 21 Ceri Sweeney.

England:  15 Jason Robinson (captain), 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait (Olly Barkley, 59), 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Matt Dawson (Harry Ellis, 63), 8 Joe Worsley (James Forrester, 41-44), 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Danny Grewcock (Steve Borthwick, 66), 4 Ben Kay, 3 Julian White (Graham Rowntree, 72), 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Graham Rowntree (Phil Vickery, 56).
Replacements:  16 Andy Titterrell, 22 Ben Cohen.

Yellow cards:  G Thomas (Wales, 35), Grewcock (England, 35).

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Assessor:  Jim Irvine (Ireland)
Television match official:  David Changleng (Scotland)

Argentina 7 South Africa 39

South Africa ran in five first-half tries as they easily beat Argentina 39-7 in Buenos Aires.

Full-back Gaffie du Toit, who came in for Percy Montgomery, claimed two tries as well as two conversions and four penalties for the Springboks.

Marius Joubert, Fourie Du Preez and Jacques Cronje also scored tries as they built up a 36-7 interval lead.

The Argentina side, who were weakened because of European Cup call-ups, had five newcomers and struggled.

The teams:

Argentina:  Juan Martin Hernandez, Pablo Gomez Cora, Manuel Contepomi, Gonzalo Tiesi, Lucas Borges, Juan de la Cruz Fernandez Miranda, Agustin Pichot (capt), Augusto Petrilli, Lucas Ostiglia, Martin Durand, Pablo Bouza, Santiago Artese, Eusebio Guinazu, Federico Mendez, Leopoldo De Chazal.
Replacements:  Marcos Ayerza, Alberto Vernet Basualdo, Manuel Carizza, Martin Schusterman, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Miguel Avramovic, Francisco Bosch.

South Africa:  Gaffie du Toit, Jaque Fourie, Marius Joubert, Wayne Julies, Bryan Habana, Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Fourie du Preez, Jacques Cronje, Danie Rossouw, Solly Tyibilika, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, CJ van der Linde, John Smit (capt), Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:  Danie Coetzee, Os du Randt, Gerrie Britz, Joe van Niekerk, Michael Claassens, De Wet Barry, Brent Russell.

Barbarians 19 New Zealand 47

New Zealand proved too strong for an Australian-dominated Barbarians to round off their unbeaten northern hemisphere tour with an easy win.

Rico Gear ran in two of the All Blacks' seven tries in what was a predominantly second-string line-up.

The Baa-Baas did threaten, scoring tries through Albert van den Bergh, Xavier Rush and Andrea Lo Cicero, but never looked like winning.

All Black Aaron Mauger was in good form with the boot, adding 10 points.

The All Blacks featured only two of the side which started last weekend's emphatic Test victory over France in Paris, while the Baa-Baas had nine Wallabies in their starting line-up.

And New Zealand coach Graham Henry said:  "It was a quality performance against a very experienced side and a number of young guys came through very well.

"They learnt from the older players and this was a way of thanking the guys who had been mentoring them on the tour."

But the running rugby the crowd had been hoping for rarely materialised.

Marty Holah got the All Blacks onslaught under way with his fifth-minute try before Rush hit back moments later.

But New Zealand went ahead once more as Gear made use of the space vacated by a temporarily injured Chris Latham to slide in.

Ma'a Nonu then found his way through the Barbarians defence to give his side a 19-7 half-time lead.

The hosts failed to ignite in the second half and, the moment Gear scored his second just after the interval, there was only ever going to be one winner.

Lo Cicero, the sole European for the Barbarians, bundled over for a try to briefly curtail the deficit.

But the match was blighted by controversy moments later when Justin Marshall, was felled with a high tackle by Jimmy Cowan.  Referee Andy Turner waved play on and Casey Laulala coasted in for his side's fifth try.

Jermoe Keino and Piri Weepu both added tries to the All Blacks' tally before the final whistle, while van den Bergh gained some consolation for the Baa-Baas.

After the match, Barbarians coach Bob Dwyer warned that South African flanker Schalk Burger needed a proper off-season break to maintain his standards.

Burger, 21, was recently crowned player of the year by both his peers and the International Rugby Board, but has struggled for form in recent weeks.

"It's his first year at that level and he was phenomenal up until the end of the southern hemisphere season.

"I don't think he's played anywhere near that level on tour," he said.

Points Scorers:

Barbarians (7) 19
Tries:  Rush, Lo Cicero, Van der Bergh
Con:  Giteau, Rogers

New Zealand (19) 47
Tries:  Holah, Gear (2), Nonu, Laulala, Kaino, Weepu
Cons:  Mauger (5), Weepu

The teams:

Barbarians:  M Rogers (Australia), C Latham (Australia), L Tuqiri (Australia), M Turinui (Australia), S Bobo (Fiji), M Giteau (Australia), J Marshall (New Zealand, capt), B Young (Australia), B Cannon (Australia), F Rautenbach (South Africa), D Vickerman (Australia), A Van Den Bergh (South Africa), S Burger (South Africa), P Waugh (Australia), X Rush (New Zealand)
Replacements:  G Botha (South Africa, uncapped), A Lo Cicero (Italy), AJ Venter (South Africa), R Samo (Australia), W Greef (South Africa), G Bobo (South Africa), A Tuilevo (Fiji)

New Zealand:  M Muliaina, D Howlett, C Laulala, M Nonu, R Gear, A Mauger, J Cowan, S Taumoepeau, K Mealamu, G Somerville, R Thorne, A Williams, J Kaino, M Holah, S Bates
Replacements:  A Oliver, C Hayman, C Jack, M Tuiali'i, P Weepu, J Rokocoko, D Carter.

France 6 New Zealand 45

New Zealand ran in five tries as they crushed Six Nations champions France with a ruthless display in Paris.

The All Blacks had the edge in a tight first half, with France restricted to two penalties from Frederic Michalak.

Daniel Carter was on top form with the boot, kicking four penalties and converting a try from Rodney So'oialo as the All Blacks went in 19-6 ahead.

And the tourists dominated the second half with Jerry Collins, Carter, Byron Kelleher and Ma'a Nonu all going over.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry praised his players' character after the record victory.

"Attitude was everything ― I'm very proud of the performance and of the players," said Henry.

"It's our best performance of the year.  France were a better team than the England side we defeated in the summer.

"We have made tactical changes since the Tri-Nations and they really paid off for us."

France coach Bernard Laporte admitted his side could not compete with New Zealand's speed and strength.

"They were stronger and faster," said Laporte.

"We couldn't match them physically.  It's as simple as that.

"Our players gave everything, we cannot complain about that, but I had the feeling they had come up against a brick wall for 80 minutes."

"Fabien Pelous and Pieter de Villiers told me they had never played a game so intense."

Points Scorers:

France 6 (6)
Pens:  Michalak 2

New Zealand 45 (19)
Tries:  So'oialo, Collins, Carter, Kelleher, Nonu
Cons:  Carter 4
Pens:  Carter 4

The teams:

France:  Poitrenaud, Rougerie, Marsh, B Liebenberg, Heymans, Peyrelongue, Michalak, Marconnet, Servat, De Villiers, Thion, Pelous, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoquy.
Replacements:  Bruno, Milloud, Pape, Bonnaire, Barrau, Jauzion, Dominici.

New Zealand:  Muliaina, Howlett, Smith, Umuga, Rokocoko, Carter, Kelleher, Woodcock, Oliver, Hayman, N Maxwell, Jack, J Collins, McCaw, So'oialo.
Replacements:  Mealamu, Somerville, Williams, Tuiali'i, Weepu, Mauger, Nonu.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland).

Ireland 21 Argentina 19

An injury-time dropped goal by Ronan O'Gara stole victory for Ireland from underneath the noses of Argentina at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

O'Gara kicked all of Ireland's points, with two dropped goals and five penalties, to give the home side a 100% record in their autumn internationals.

An impressive Argentina appeared in control until the dying seconds.

The Pumas shocked the Irish early on with a try from Federico Aramburu, and Felipe Contepomi kicked 14 points.

The well-drilled and sharper Pumas out-played and out-thought Ireland in the early stages.

Indiscipline allowed Argentina's Leinster fly-half Contepomi to open the scoring in the third minute with a straightforward penalty.

He was on the mark again two minutes later when Argentina shocked a ragged Ireland with the first try of the game.

Ireland turned the ball over and Manuel Contepomi broke through an unstructured defence before feeding his midfield partner Aramburu to sprint in under the posts.

O'Gara finally got Ireland on the board with a dropped goal in the ninth minute only for Contepomi to rifle over his second penalty two minutes later.

Playing into a strong wind and rain, Ireland continued to come second best in tight situations, and turnovers began to mount up against a rugged defence.

O'Gara managed to land his second penalty in the 36th minute, but once again Contepomi replied in kind four minutes into first-half injury time.

The second-half started as the first had ended.  O'Gara rifled over another penalty in the 45th minute, but Contepomi matched it three minutes later.

The upper-body strength of the Pumas never allowed Ireland to take control up front, while the three-quarters had no space to manoeuvre.

Ireland had to rely on O'Gara's boot to keep in touch rather than any contrived running plays.

The Munsterman landed two more penalties ― one of them from 48 metres ― to bring his team to within four points with 13 minutes on the clock remaining.

And Ireland's chance came when Argentina's number eight Gonzalo Longo was yellow carded with six minutes to go for an offence in the line-out.

O'Gara made no mistake as he rifled over his fifth penalty to set up a tense final few minutes.

But Ireland showed great composure to get themselves into a position to allow O'Gara to thump over a massive drop goal to complete a tremendous, if fortuitous, comeback.

Points Scorers:

Ireland:  (6) 21
Pen:  O'Gara 5
Dg:  O'Gara 2

Argentina:  (16) 19
Try:  Aramburu
Con:  Contepomi
Pens:  Contepomi 4

The teams:

Ireland:  G Dempsey, G Murphy, B O'Driscoll (capt), S Horgan, D Hickie, R O'Gara, P Stringer, R Corrigan, S Byrne, J Hayes, M O'Kelly, P O'Connell, S Easterby, J O'Connor, A Foley.
Replacements:  F Sheahan, M Horan or E Byrne, D O'Callaghan, E Miller, G Easterby, D Humphreys, K Maggs.

Argentina:  JM Hernández, L Borges, FM Aramburu, M Contepomi, H Senillosa, F Contepomi, A Pichot (capt), R Roncero, M Ledesma, O Hasan, R Alvarez, P Albacete, M Durand, L Ostiglia, G Longo.
Replacements:  F Mendez, E Guiñazu, P Bouza, A Petrilli, NF Miranda, JF Miranda, GP Tiesi.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England).

Scotland 10 South Africa 45

South Africa restored some pride as they ended their European tour with a crushing 45-10 victory over Scotland.

Jaque Fourie, Solly Tyibilika and Bryan Habana (two) scored tries and Jaco van der Westhuyzen landed two drop-goals to put South Africa 32-10 up at the break.

Captain Chris Paterson marked his 50th appearance for Scotland by kicking a penalty and converting a penalty try.

But Van der Westhuyzen capped a fine display with a late try to take his tally for the match to 14 points.

The Scots went into the game at Murrayfield still searching for their first major scalp since Matt Williams took charge after the World Cup last year.

But South Africa never looked like succumbing to a third defeat in four games after losses to Ireland and England.

The much-changed Springbok side drew first blood after nine minutes when Van der Westhuyzen broke and Fourie held off two tacklers to touch down in the corner.

Percy Montgomery had already missed a simple penalty in front of the posts, but he landed a superb conversion to make it 7-0.

Tyibilika marked his international debut with a try soon after, diving over from close range.

Montgomery converted and a simple drop-goal from fly-half Van der Westhuyzen stretched the lead before Paterson hit back with a penalty.

But the Springboks reasserted their authority with a huge drop-goal from Van der Westhuyzen, and a careless pass from Hugo Southwell allowed Habana to intercept for an easy try.

The tourists paid for their indiscipline after having locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha sin-binned as Scotland pressure yielded a penalty try.

But Habana struck another hammer blow before half-time with a second interception and score.

The scoring slowed after the break, with Springboks prop Gurthro Steenkamp having a try ruled out for stepping into touch.

But Montgomery added a penalty and Van der Westhuyzen another drop-goal as Scotland failed to mount a sustained threat.

And Van der Westhuyzen's man-of-the-match performance was complete when he touched down under the posts to leave Scotland with just a win over Japan to show from their four autumn Tests.

Points Scorers:

Scotland:  10 (10)
Tries:  Penalty try
Cons:  Paterson
Pens:  Paterson

South Africa:  45 (32)
Tries:  Fourie, Tyibilika, Habana (2), Van der Westhuyzen
Cons:  Montgomery 4
Pens:  Montgomery
Drops:  Van der Westhuyzen 3

The teams:

Scotland:  Southwell, Paterson, Hinshelwood, Henderson, Lamont, Parks, Cusiter, Jacobsen, Bulloch, Kerr, Grimes, Hines, White, MacFadyen, Hogg.
Replacements:  Russell, Douglas, MacLeod, Petrie, Blair, Ross, Morrison.

South Africa:  Montgomery, Fourie, Joubert, Julies, Habana, van der Westhuyzen, du Preez, Steenkamp, Smit, van der Linde, Botha, Matfield, Tbilika, Rossouw, van Niekerk.
Replacements:  Coetzee, du Randt, Britz, Cronje, Claassens, Bobo, du Toit.

Referee:  N Williams (Wales).

England 19 Australia 21

England fell to their first defeat under new coach Andy Robinson after Australia ran out narrow winners in a thrilling Test at Twickenham.

Australia, assisted by some woeful goal-kicking from England, powered into a 12-0 lead with tries by Jeremy Paul and Chris Latham.

A second-half fightback saw England take the lead with tries from Lewis Moody, Josh Lewsey and Mark Cueto.

But two late Matt Giteau penalties won the match for Australia.

England ― who went through three goal-kickers ― ultimately paid the price for a succession of wayward shots at goal.

A promising attacking platform ― after an astute Charlie Hodgson kick through ― was squandered when Henry Paul coughed up possession, the first mistake of a miserable afternoon for the rugby league convert.

Aggressive Australia defence, with George Smith particularly prominent, saw a disjointed England attempt to force unnecessary passes and slowly hand the initiative to Australia.

A needless knock-on from England skipper Jason Robinson deep in his own 22 proved costly as Australia set up camp before opening the scoring through Jeremy Paul.

Giteau's magical break took him past Joe Worsley's tackle, before committing Jason Robinson and giving a perfectly-timed pass to Paul.

Flatley composed himself before sending the conversion over.

Andy Robinson then made a major tactical call, bringing on Will Greenwood for the misfiring Henry Paul after just 24 minutes.

But it was Australia who scored next as Latham powered through a Lewsey tackle to touch down on the right.

A perfectly-executed line-out provided quick ball off the top, and allowed centre Morgan Turinui to set the ball up in front of the posts.

Giteau's delightful flat pass gave Latham enough room to go through Lewsey and Mike Tindall's tackles.

England upped the tempo and started to find some fluency, but two missed kicks from Hodgson ― who scored 27 points in the win over South Africa last week ― let Australia off the hook.

The first points of the second half went Australia's way as Giteau's long-range penalty put them into a commanding 15-0 lead.

England's fightback finally began on 48 minutes when Moody was driven over for a desperately-needed try.

The home side turned down three possible kicks at goal and were rewarded as a catch and drive from the line-out, supported by several backs, saw them power over the line.

Another two points went begging though as Gomarsall, stepping in as goal-kicker, sent his conversion effort wide.

The score acted as a wake-up call for England as their forwards began to exert more influence.

Another string of kickable penalties were turned down, and the decision again paid dividends with Lewsey's 60th-minute try.

A forward drive committed the Australia defence, and Lewsey simply took the ball off the back of the maul and sprinted over a totally unguarded blindside.

Tindall, England's third kicker, added the extras to cut the gap.

Soon after, a classic back move saw the ball flow through the hands of Hodgson, Lewsey and Robinson to allow Cueto to go over for his fourth try in three Tests.

Tindall again added the conversion to give England the lead.

Australia were far from finished though, and battled back upfield to force two penalties ― the second after a stupid late tackle by Gomarsall ― both of which Giteau stroked over comfortably.

A late England onslaught had the Twickenham crowd on their feet, but the Australia defence held firm.

Points Scorers:

England:  (0) 19
Tries:  Moody, Lewsey, Cueto
Cons:  Tindall 2

Australia:  (12) 21
Try:  Paul, Latham
Con:  Flatley
Pens:  Giteau 3

The teams:

England:  J Robinson (capt), M Cueto, H Paul, M Tindall, J Lewsey, C Hodgson, A Gomarsall, G Rowntree, S Thompson, J White, D Grewcock, S Borthwick, J Worsley, L Moody, M Corry.
Replacements:  A Titterrell, A Sheridan, B Kay, A Hazell, H Ellis, W Greenwood, B Cohen.

Australia:  C Latham, W Sailor, M Turinui, M Giteau, L Tuqiri, E Flatley, G Gregan (capt), B Young, J Paul, A Baxter, J Harrison, D Vickerman, G Smith, P Waugh, D Lyons.
Replacements:  B Cannon, M Dunning, R Samo, S Hoiles, M Henjak, D Mitchell, M Rogers.

Wales 98 Japan 0

Wales ran in 14 tries in their biggest ever winning margin against a raw, outclassed Japan in Cardiff.

Captain Colin Charvis equalled the Wales record of four tries in a match, Tom Shanklin got a hat-trick, and Rhys and Shane Williams claimed braces.

Mefin Davies, Gethin Jenkins and Gareth Cooper got the other scores, Gavin Henson landing all 14 conversions in a flawless kicking display.

Wataru Ikeda missed one penalty in Japan's only points-scoring chance.

Wales' plans were disrupted moments before kick off when a stomach muscle injury forced Brent Cockbain out, Mike Owen moving to lock with Ryan Jones in at No 8.

It hardly ruffled the home side, though, and after just three minutes a forward drive from a line-out saw captain Colin Charvis cross for the opening try.

A massive 56,380 crowd saw Owen inspire an attack from the restart, and after the ball was recycled on the Japanese 22 it came to Rhys Williams in midfield who dummied his way over.

A beautiful Shane Williams break from his own 22 took him into the opposition half where he fed Henson, the No 12 choosing to send Charvis in for his second score rather than going for the line himself.

Charvis nearly got his hat-trick five minutes later, but was held up a metre short, allowing Davies to pick up for his second try in as many games.

Japan managed to stretch the Wales defence with an extended period of attacking play, but another Shane Williams break from deep in his own half ended up with an easy try for Shanklin.

The centre then doubled his tally by showing the strength to split the midfield defence for another score.

Charvis got his hat-trick with an eight-metre run, before a Cooper snipe set up prop Jenkins for a 25m gallop to the line.

Japan had a chance to get on the scoreboard with a penalty on the stroke of half-time, but scrum-half Ikeda's kick fell short, leaving it 56-0 at the break.

Five minutes after the restart, a Jenkins charge ruptured the visitors' defence, the prop feeding Charvis who ran in from half-way for his record-equalling score.

The scoring slowed as Wales appeared to lose interest and concentration, but a Cooper snipe saw the scrum-half over for Wales' 10th try on 55 minutes.

Japan then lost attacking ball, Wales firing straight back downfield for Shane Williams to score.

Shanklin then got his hat-trick and his eighth try in his last three Wales games, Henson's successful conversion breaking Neil Jenkins' Wales record of 11 in one game.

Wales broke from their own 22 for the best try of the game, the ball going through Henson's, Shanklin's and Kevin Morgan's hands before Shane Williams went in for his 21st international try, overtaking the marks of Gerald Davies and Gareth Edwards.

A 75-metre touch-line run by Rhys Williams and a glorious conversion from Henson brought Wales to within two points of the 100 mark.

But the visitors held on in the dying minutes to prevent Wales breaking the 100-point barrier for just the second time in their history.

That was the 102-11 win over Portugal in 1994, Wales' previous highest winning margin.

Points Scorers:

Wales (56) 98
Tries:  Charvis (4), R Williams (2), Davies, Shanklin (3), Jenkins, Cooper, S Williams (2)
Cons:  Henson (14)

Japan (0) 0

The teams:

Wales:  R Williams (Blues), H Luscombe (Dragons), G Henson (Ospreys), T Shanklin (Blues), S Williams (Ospreys), C Sweeney (Dragons), G Cooper (Dragons), Duncan Jones (Ospreys), M Davies (Neath RFC), G Jenkins (Blues), M Owen (Dragons), J Thomas (Ospreys), Dafydd Jones (Scarlets), C Charvis (Newcastle, capt), R Jones (Ospreys).
Replacements:  S Jones (Dragons), A Jones (Ospreys), A Popham (Leeds), M Williams (Blues), M Phillips (Scarlets), M Watkins (Scarlets), K Morgan (Dragons).

Japan:  R Miki (World Fighting Bull), K Kubota (NEC Green Rockets), M Mukoyama (NEC Green Rockets), Y Motoki (Kobelco Steelers), H Daimon (Kobelco Steelers), H Yoshida (Kubota Spears), W Ikeda (Sanyo Wild Knights), Masahito Yamamoto (Toyota Motor Verbitz), T Yamaoka (Suntory Sungoliath), R Yamamura (Yamaha Motors), H Kiso (Yamaha Motors), T Kumagae (NEC Green Rockets), F Mau (World Fighting Bull), N Okubo (Japan RFU), T Miuchi (capt, NEC Green Rockets).
Replacements:  Mitsuga Yamamoto (Sanyo Wild Knights), Y Hisadomi (NEC Green Rockets), T Yamaguchi (Kubota Spears), H Ono (Toshiba Brave Lupus), K Tanaka (Suntory Sungoliath), S Shimomura (Sanyo Wild Knights), K Sawaki (Suntory Sungoliath).

Attendance:  56,380
Referee:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

All Blacks escape with slimmest of win

Wales came within a point of defeat New Zealand on Saturday, putting together 80 minutes of breathless rugby that sent the Cardiff faithful into full voice.  In the end, two tries from All Black star Joe Rokocoko left the tourists leading 26-25 at the final whistle.

So, the hosts' wait for a victory over New Zealand goes on ― but they can be proud of their showing during this titanic battle at the Millennium Stadium.

Mike Ruddock's men gave Graham Henry and Steve Hansen, the two previous Wales coaches now in charge of New Zealand, a distinctly uncomfortable return to Cardiff but the All Blacks' incisive edge eventually proved conclusive.

The bare facts are that the All Blacks overturned an 11-3 deficit to edge ahead and keep a battling Wales at bay with Rokocoko's brace, a try from Mils Muliaina and Daniel Carter's 11 points.

But the mere statistics do not tell the story of Wales' bravery, heart and fight as they pushed the All Blacks right to the death.  Their position as one of the major forces in world rugby has been confirmed, but their hunt for a major scalp goes on.

They had begun with fire in their bellies, desperate to end a losing run against the All Blacks which stretches back 51 years, and opened that 11-3 lead with a cleverly-worked try from Tom Shanklin.

The All Blacks responded with Rokocoko claiming a controversial score when Sonny Parker appeared to have been impeded but, through the boot of the excellent Stephen Jones, Wales retained a one-point lead heading into half-time.

Hooker Mefin Davies dived over just after half time to extend that advantage to 19-13 before Mils Muliaina and Rokocoko stung Wales inside eight minutes.

Roared on by a packed house desperate to witness a slice of Welsh rugby history, Gareth Thomas' men refused to buckle, but Gavin Henson's two penalties were not quite enough to earn Wales the win their determination and passion deserved.

Much has changed since Wales last beat New Zealand.  In December 1953, Tony Blair was six months old and Sir Winston Churchill was in his second term in office.

In the intervening 51 years, beating New Zealand has developed into Wales' very own Everest and in the 16 Tests since Bleddyn Williams' side triumphed at the old Arms Park they have taken some fearful hidings.

But they came into today's game proclaiming a genuine belief that they could bury the hoodoo and finally nail the big scalp that has proven so elusive in the last year.

Wales' renaissance began at the World Cup 12 months ago when Hansen was in charge and they have proven in the last year to be good enough to compete with the best sides in the world.

But they had fallen on the wrong side of the ledger each time, losing to the All Blacks in that momentous World Cup game, England twice and a fortnight ago, to South Africa who held on by two points.

They were performances which had impressed Henry and Hansen, but New Zealand arrived boasting great quality.  Star wingers Rokocoko and Doug Howlett boasted a remarkable 59 tries in 64 Tests between them.

But Wales recalled their own dangerous finisher in Shane Williams ― who caused the All Blacks such problems in the World Cup ― with Shanklin switched to the opposite wing and New Zealand-born Parker started in the centres.

All three were key players, along with Jones who orchestrated the first try and was the brilliant fulcrum of Wales' attacking force.  His only blemish were three missed kicks.  Crucial as it turned out.

Wales, who had hinted at a response to the All Blacks' haka during the week, unfurled a giant Welsh dragon and the supporters were led in a hearty rendition of 'Bread of Heaven'.

It was designed to douse the All Blacks' early and fire and help Wales, whose slow start against South Africa proved costly, hit the ground running ― and it worked as Wales opened an 11-3 lead in the first 26 minutes.

Dwayne Peel was short in his attempted dart for the line but it prompted an exchange of penalties before Jones, who had already carved open New Zealand's defence once, created the first try.

Wales turned over New Zealand's ball and Jones chipped over the top for Shanklin who beat Casey Laulala and Muliaina in the race for the touchdown.

Another penalty, earned by Wales' forward power after Aaron Mauger's knock-on, opened Wales that 11-3 advantage ― only for the All Blacks to hit back in controversial fashion.

Parker appeared to be obstructed as the All Blacks broke and Muliaina danced down the touchline before feeding Rokocoko for his first try of the evening.  It was met with boos from the Welsh crowd but Carter kept his cool to slot the conversion and reduce the arrears to a point.

Carter then kicked New Zealand ahead after Wales had dealt well with a threat from Rokocoko, only for Charvis, Shanklin and Williams to carry Wales forward again.

New Zealand, under growing pressure, finally cracked, allowing Jones to boot Wales into a 14-13 half-time lead.

Wales forced a five metre scrum immediately after the interval, moved to within inches of the All Blacks' line and hooker Davies dived over.

But there was no respite for the Welsh.  Carter sent over Muliaina, and after Henson had hit the post with a penalty, Wales were stung on the counter-attack and Rokocoko seared in for his 27th try in 22 Tests.

Wales' hopes were given a boost on the hour when replacement All Black centre Ma'a Nonu was sin-binned for a late tackle on Henson.  He picked himself up and landed the kick.  Wales were back within a point at 23-22 down.

Carter extended that lead again as Wales were penalised at the breakdown.

Instead of pushing for the try, Henson slotted the kick but Wales could not break the All Blacks down again.

They had fallen short again by the tightest of margins.

Man of the match:  Plenty of candidates on display.  For Wales, Colin Charvis pulled it out of the bag (as he so often does on the major stage), Gareth Thomas was commanding, and Stephen Jones reacted to play like he had read the script before the event had started.  For New Zealand, Richie McCaw lead like a veteran, and Mils Muliana showed some fine touches.  But our award goes to All Black hooker Keven Mealamu who put in an absolutely indefatigable performance.

Moment of the match:  Spoilt for choice!.  So many nice moments of individual class and cunning ― but the sight of New Zealand hitting back with Muliana's try after conceded showed just what these All Blacks are capable of doing.  Why they can't sustain this level of concentration ― and willing ― is something Graham Henry will need to address.

Villain of the match:  All Black replacement Ma'a Nonu deserves a rap across the knuckles for his yellow card, but why spoil a good party?  No villains.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Shanklin, Davies
Pens:  Jones 4, Henson

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Rokocoko 2, Muliaina
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 3

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Rodney So'oialo, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Anton Oliver, 17 Carl Hayman, 18 Reuben Thorne, 19 Marty Holah, 20 Byron Kelleher, 21 Ma'a Nonu, 22 Rico Gear.

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (captain), 14 Tom Shanklin, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Gaving Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Colin Charvis, 6 Dafydd Jones, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Steven Jones, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Ryan Jones, 19 Martyn Williams, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Rys Williams.

Pumas maul France in Marseille

Argentina have pulled off one of the greatest victories of their illustrious history, wrenching the rug out from under the feet of the Six Nations champions ― and conquers of Australia ― with an inspired 24-14 win over France in Marseille on Saturday.

The famous win at the Stade Velodrome ― where all the world's top sides have come a-cropper in recent time ― punctuates France's eight-match winning streak.

Not to belittle Argentina's heroic performance, but France seemed to lack their usual va-va-voom, and found it hard to find their rhythm in the face of a rabid Puma pack who keep the French forwards under wraps for the duration of the game.

Furthermore, most of the French backs looked like they were still suffering the effects of their win over the Wallabies ― the post-match celebrations, that is.

Indeed, the kicking game of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Frédéric Michalak had all the composure of a drunk on the Parisian tiles.

Playing with the strong wind at their backs, the Pumas led 19-5 at half-time with fly-half Felipe Contepomi contributing four penalties and converting a try by flanker Martin Durand, who scrambled over following a five-metre scrum.

French momentarily work up, and centre Tony Marsh sliced through for a fabulous try that send the partisan support into raptures, and brought up an impromptu rendition of the Marseillaise.

After the break, Elissalde put his name on the scoresheet with his first penalty, but was forced off the field with an injury in the 58th minute.

Julien Peyrelongue came in at No.10 and Michalak moving to scrum-half.  Michalak also assumed goal-kicking duties and immediately slotted his first penalty.

France appeared to be gaining on the South American 'up-starts' and got within an inch of the line.  In the end, they were forced to settle for another Michalak penalty.

For a moment, it seemed as if the status quo would be maintained ― but the big Argentine forwards drew in a collective breath and pushed the French out of the danger zone and onto their own line.

The tourists were given the opportunity to kick for goal on two occasions, and refused both times ― opting to go for the corner line-out.

And their bravery was rewarded when prop Omar Hasan sealed victory by flopping over for a try after a series of running mauls on the French line just before the final whistle.

Man of the match:  The Argentina forwards were just immense, deconstructing the same unit that bullied the Wallabies into submission last week ― namely, the cultured French pack.  Our award goes to that man who always managed to coerce the best out of the bid Argentines ― the irrepressible Agustín Pichot, surely still one of the finest exponents of scrum-half play to have ever graced a rugby field.

Moment of the match:  With France creeping back into the game, Argentina opted for two line-outs when attempts at the sticks would have been the more pragmatic approach.  It's could have pure machismo, or pure masochism ― but when you can out-gall the Gallic, you know the day will be yours!

Villain of the match:  Despite the furious clash of forwards, it was all good, clean fun.  No villains.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Marsh
Pens:  Elissade, Michalak 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Durand, Hasan
Con:  Contepomi
Pens:  Contepomi 4

The teams:

France:  15 Nicolas Brusque, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Tony Marsh, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jerome Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 William Servat, 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Sebastien Bruno, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Pascal Pape, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Julien Peyrelongue, 21 Clement Poitrenaud, 22 Jimmy Marlu.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martín Hernández, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Federico Martín Aramburu, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 11 Hernán Senillosa, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Lucas Ostiglia, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Rimas Álvarez, 4 Patricio Albacete, 3 Omar Hasan, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:  16 Federico Méndez, 17 Daniel Rodríguez, 18 Pablo Bouza, 19 Martín Schusterman, 20 Nicolás Fernández Miranda, 21 Juan de la Cruz Fernández Miranda, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)