Tired Welsh let Australia off the hook

A last-gasp try from Stephen Hoiles helped Australia bounce back from an early 17-0 deficit to beat Wales as anticipated on Saturday, but John Connolly's new-look team made life mighty hard for themselves in the 29-23 win.

A less weary team than the Welsh would not have let Australia off though, and despite the win, Connolly will know that his team still has a lot to prove in the second Test next week.

What a finish!  Once again the sound of the hooter produced the biggest drama of the match -- a match that nearly produced an upset of exalting proportions for the Welsh and humiliating proportions for the Wallabies.

It nearly was the greatest Welsh victory in the Southern Hemisphere since Rorke's Drift.  Written off and vilified since their arrival in Australia they stood up manfully and justified their existence and worthiness as international players.

When time was up the Welsh led.  When the final whistle went the Wallabies had won.  It was shattering.

The Welsh were defending like that Welch Regiment of old:  manful, shoulder to shoulder, Men of Harlech in their throats.  That day they won 11 VCs as the Zulus, exultant after victory at Islandhwana, flung themselves at the little garrison behind the biscuit tins.  On this day, too, they found new energy and resolve to keep the Wallabies back in their own territory.  With a little over a minute to play they led 23-22 and had a scrum in the Welsh half.

Jonathan Thomas played to replacement scrumhalf Gareth Cooper who grubbered down into the Wallaby 22.  Julien Huxley fielded the ball and hoofed it low and hard and far.  It rolled down into the Welsh 22 where Griffiths fielded it and kicked for touch, a poor clearing kick.  The line-out was on the Wallaby left.  They won it and went far right, as the hooter went to herald the end of the match.  The Wallabies came back far left with inroads made by Matt Giteau and, tellingly, by Rocky Elsom.  When they went far right Sam Norton-Knight threw a long, left-handed skip pass and there was replacement loose forward Stephen Hoiles to surge over in the corner for the try that won the match for the Wallabies.

At Rorke's Drift, one of the 11 VCs was Alfred Hook.  At Telstra Stadium one of the 22 VCs was going to be James Hook, till that try on 80 minutes 26 seconds.

What, of course, this did was earn great credit for Wales and its rugby and sound a warning alarm to the South Hemisphere countries as they prepare to welcome lambs to the slaughter.  These Welsh were not lambs.

The first half suggested that the Wallabies were going to win easily, except that the Welsh were the ones scoring the points -- against the run of play but a heap of points.  Before 20 minutes were played Wales led 17-0.  The unthinkable looked possible.

At that stage the Wallabies were rejoicing in a cornucopia of possession, but they managed to turn it into Welsh tries as their hands let them down.  It was significant that two left-hand passes by Norton-Knight helped in the scoring of Hoiles's try because it was left-handed passing that led to the two Welsh tries.

A clever kick by Drew Mitchell had settled the Wallabies into comfortable attack down on their left but then they came right and novice Norton-Knight threw a difficult -- difficult not impossible -- pass to Stirling Mortlock.  It fell on the ground and Welsh left wing Chris Czekaj snapped it up and started running down the field.  Wallabies closed in and he kicked ahead.  Giteau could not control the ball.  Hook snapped it up, weighed up his options and gave to captain Gareth Thomas who went over and eventually, helped by Gavin Thomas, scored his 38th Test try, breaking his own record in his record-breaking 93rd Test.  Hook converted.  That was some two minutes into the match.

The crowd of 40,872 settled back to watch the Wallabies attack.  Mortlock hit the upright with a kickable penalty and their handling helped the Welsh to keep them at bay.  But all the signs were that those seven points had been an aberration and the Wallabies were settling into winning.  Norton-Knight through his third awkward left-hander and then Julien Huxley, up in the line, threw another, a long one in search of an overlap.  It did not get to the overlap, for Jamie Robinson plucked it out of the air and set off downfield.  Mitchell got close but Robinson stretched away from him in his 70-metre run to the posts.  Again Hook converted.  14-0 after 15 minutes.

The Wallabies went on attacking but lost the ball in a turn-over.  Lee Byrne took an inside pass from Jonathan Thomas and raced down the middle of the field.  Mark Gerrard caught him but a penalty enabled Hook to make it 17-0 after 19 minutes.

Now it was uncomfortable for Wallaby supporters and now the Wallabies changed tack.  No longer were they playing it wide.  Now it was time for pick-n-drive.  The Welsh contingent tackled.  The Wallabies reached 13 phases and then Wycliff Palu, their main batterer, took a flipped pass from Matt Dunning and forced his way over in the right corner.  17-5 after 24 minutes.

The Wallaby camp left out some relieved breath.

Mitchell grubbered and chased and forced Byrne to run the ball out for a five-metre line-out to Australia.  The line-out was a mess but it produced a try.  Perhaps the mess disjointed the Welsh, but there was Nathan Sharpe bursting inside Robert Sidoli to score.  Mortlock converted.  17-12.

Wales had their best concerted effort just after that when they ran from a line-out and Sonny Parker got a clever pass away in the half-gap but Wales yielded a turn-over and Huxley hoofed many metres downfield.

There was drama but also a lot of untidy play.  The handling was shaky and we were back in the land of the messy scrums with resets, collapses and free kicks.  Even when the ball managed to find a way out there was a mess.

After Huxley had misjudged a rolling kick and conceded a line-out five metres from his line, the Welsh had a promising attack.  In fact their backs looked more likely to produce try-scoring breaks than the Wallabies did.  The Wallabies relied on extra men, the Welsh on straightening and stepping.  The Wallabies also had Giteau at scrum-half, a great footballer but guzzling space.

From a scrum the Welsh went wide and bashed at the Wallaby line.  Gerrard was offside and Hook made the score 20-12 after 51 minutes.

The Wallabies attacked but there was nobody to clear at the tackle/ruck.  Wales picked up but then threw the ball away.  Giteau dived on it and the Wallabies were off attacking on their left where Giteau threw a dummy towards Palu and ran round behind the posts.  20-19, and the Wallabies were back on the attack.  A penalty at a breakdown enabled Mortlock to put the Wallabies into the lead for the first time in the match, 22-20 after 61 minutes.

There were 19 minutes still to play.

From the kick-off after the penalty Wales got possession and attacked through many phases till Gareth Thomas tried a high diagonal towards the right and the Wallabies survived.  Soon afterwards they yielded a penalty in front of their posts but Hook's kick hit the upright and stayed out.

There was a loud cheer in Telstra Stadium when George Gregan came on after 65 minutes.  Giteau went to inside centre in the place of Adam Ashley-Cooper.

With eight minutes to play, from a scrum following the grossest of knock-ons by Gerrard, Hook sat back in a pocket and dropped a goal.  Wales were ahead 23-22, where they stayed till that last dramatic minute or so.

Man of the Match:  Probably the player who played most rugby was Matt Giteau.

Villain of the Match:  There was none.

Moment of the Match:  The final try by Stephen Hoiles.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Palu, Sharpe, Giteau, Hoiles
Cons:  Mortlock 3
Pen:  Mortlock

For Wales:
Tries:  Gavin Thomas, Robinson
Cons:  Hook 2
Pens:  Hook 2
Drop goal:  Hook

The Teams:

Australia:  15 Julian Huxley, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Stirling Mortlock (vice-captain), 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (c), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Dan Vickerman, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 George Smith (vice-captain), 21 George Gregan, 22 Scott Staniforth.

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Gareth Thomas (c), 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Iestyn Thomas
Replacement:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 Michael Owen, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gavin Henson

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

Samoa falls to Junior All Blacks

In a performance that made a mockery of their subordinate name, the Junior All Blacks opened their Pacific Nations Cup campaign with an emphatic 31-10 victory over Samoa in Apia on Sunday.

The visitors fielded ten full All Blacks and Rico Gear, a surprise omission from Graham Henry's mid-year squad, reminded the selector's of his skills by scoring a brace of tries.

Prop John Afoa, number eight Mose Tuiali'i and replacement Ross Filipo also scored for the New Zealanders, while David Lemi scored a consolation try for the Samoans, who beat Fiji 8-3 last weekend.

Afoa gave the New Zealanders off the mark by collecting a charged-down kick from Samoan midfielder Seilala Mapusua to score within two minutes of the start.

Gear then went in for the first of his two tries, even though his grounding looked suspect and his legs appeared in touch in Mapusua's tackle.

Ahead 12-0, the Junior All Blacks took their foot off the pedal in the searing heat, allowing the hard-hitting Samoans to gain some momentum in the pick-and-go.

However, the home side's finishing touches let them down.

Fullback Gavin Williams had only fullback Cory Jane to beat with winger Lome Fa'atau looming up on his right only to fluff that opportunity.

Bad passes let them down twice in the second half when they had the Juniors on the backfoot close to the goal line.

The visitors fought back and a try from replacement Filipo and Gear's second sealed the result.

But there was some consolation for the locals when Lemi got on the end of a poor pass from Jimmy Cowan to score.

Junior All Blacks captain Marty Holah declared himself happy with his opener, but warned his troops against complacency.

The New Zealanders romped through last year's edition of the tournament, but the introduction of Australia "A" and the forthcoming Rugby World Cup have added an extra dimension to proceedings.

"Teams like Samoa and Fiji are preparing for the World Cup now and they're getting their best players back from around the world, so naturally they're tougher," Holah told the NZPA.

"And playing these teams in the islands is as tough as they come.

"They're twice as physical at home, and it's not going to get any easier for us next week."

Australia "A" marked their entry into this six-team competition with a 60-15 win over Tonga last night and Fiji, who had lost narrowly to Samoa last week, beat Japan 30-15 in Lautoka after trailing 3-15 at halftime.

The Junior All Blacks play Fiji in Suva on 2 June, Samoa meet the Australians in Coff's Harbour on the same day.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Try:  Lemi
Con:  Williams
Pen:  Williams

For Junior All Blacks:
Tries:  Gear 2, Afoa, Tuiali'i, Filipo
Cons:  Donald 3

The teams:

Junior All Blacks:  15 Cory Jane, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Stephen Brett, 11 Scott Hamilton, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Marty Holah (c), 6 Kieran Read, 5 Greg Rawlinson, 4 Hoani MacDonald, 3 John Afoa, 2 Derren Witcombe, 1 Clarke Dermody
Replacements:  16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Campbell Johnstone, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Anthony Tuitavake, 22 Daniel Braid.

Samoa:  15 Gavin Williams, 14 Lome Faatau, 13 Anitelea Tuilagi, 12 Seilala Maposua, 11 Brian Lima (captain), 10 Loki Crichton, 9 Stephen Sooialo, 8 Alfie Tooala, 7 Ulia Ulia, 6 Joe Tekori, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Muliufi Salanoa, 17 Donald Kerslake, 18 Leo Lafaiali'i, 19 Semo Sititi, 20 Junior Polu, 21 Joshua Keil, 22 David Lemi.

Referee:  James Leckie (Australia)

Records tumble as England are humbled

South Africa produced a brutal yet clinical display to thump a plucky England side 58-10 at Bloemfontein on Saturday scoring seven tries in the process.

England, backed by many to fall to pieces from the start, held their own for the opening quarter but eventually succumbed to the power and pace of an impressive Springbok side.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with England competing for a long period before the flood gates opened to allow South Africa to score four quick fire tries.

The win, and the size thereof, has broken nearly every record in the book for South Africa v England encounters.

It was not a sweeping game of elan and panache.  In many ways it was a drab match, the dullness of the foil setting off all the more the sparkle of the tries -- seven gems by South Africa, one excellent construction by England.

South Africa were expected to win which made the match almost no-win.  Win big and you are playing against no-hopers.  Win small, and you really are not much cop.  Lose and you are flung down into the abyss of rugby degradation.  But then Wales sounded a warning with their fine display against Australia.  Could England go to Bloemfontein and do likewise?

They were not even close, this damaged team that limped into the Free State capital -- an injudicious team in the judicial capital of South Africa.

Bloemfontein complains that it seldom gets a Test.  It got one but this one did not attract much of a crowd -- just 26 000 people into the ground.  The interest was nothing like that for the Super 14 final last week.

The Springboks, too, did not really come to the party.  They led 30-3 at half-time and then made wholesale changes, turning the match into a sort of controlled match practice.  England were the first to score in the second half against a casual home side.  That seemed to get the Springboks going a bit and they scored four tries in the last dozen minutes to make the score as big as it was.

So often we have seen the big England sides outmuscle their opponents.  This time they were outmuscled.  They were not strong enough or fast enough to deal with the Springboks.  It must have been a sore afternoon for them.  And the injuries to Iain Balshaw, Andy Hazell, Pat Sanderson and Jonny Wilkinson could have done nothing to reassure them as they head to Loftus Versfeld next weekend.

For the ageing debutants Matt Cairns, Roy Winters and Darren Crompton, the pride of at last making it for England must have been tempered.

It's not that England were not brave.  They were.  They just did not have muscle enough.  There was one moment which epitomised their courage.  Big Danie Rossouw went on the charge, straight at Wilkinson.  The little flyhalf stood up the him, brought him down and in the process dispossessed him.

For the Springboks the return of Ashwin Willemse, who scored a try and made a magnificent break which should have led to a try, and action-man Schalk Burger must have been pleasing.

From the first line-out of the match, the Springboks went wide and they passed at every opportunity in the match.  They scored their first points inside two minutes when Chris Jones infringed at a tackle-ruck and Percy Montgomery goaled on a still afternoon in Bloemfontein when he goaled ten out of ten.

Right at the start the Springboks thumped into tackles.  When they had the ball they charged into the English.  When the English had the ball the Springboks thumped into them.  When they wanted to maul they drove it ahead, though not with quite the same cohesion that their Super 14 sides managed but obviously something that will come when they are together for more than just a few days.

When Andy Hazell was off-side Montgomery made it 6-0.

When the Springboks robbed England of their line-out ball, they went right, battering twice and then sending the ball wide with some splendid pressurised passing by Jean de Villiers and Willemse to send Willemse over on the right and round to the posts..  13-0 after 23 minutes.

Mathew Tait broke brilliantly for England as he had done before, but then he lost his way and when Chris Jones tried a lobbed pass to his right the ball bounced near touch on the Springboks 22 where Bryan Habana gobbled it up and went racing down the left wing for a try far out.  20-0 after 27 minutes.

Burger was penalised at a tackle and from 48 metres out Wilkinson, who has missed earlier, goaled.  20-3.

Two of the scrums in the match gave trouble.  At the second one Stuart Turner was penalised and Montgomery goaled.

England attacked and were at the Springbok 22 when the passing broke down.  Rossouw bent down, flipped the ball back through his legs and the Springboks went on a bout of netball before De Villiers suddenly went skating ahead and down the middle of the field, beating two more defenders, to score under the crossbar.  30-3, which was the half-time score.

Substitutions started with the second half and a sloppy Springbok performance alleviated only by a great break by Willemse from within his 22 which should have led to a try.

James Simpson-Daniel came on when Balshaw fell awkwardly and did serious damage to his knee.  The replacement had a good run down the left wing.  Andy Gomarsall carried it on and England were close.  South Africa were penalised in front of their posts not many metres from the goal-line.  England opted for a scrum and went right from the scrum with sweet passing to create an overlap for Simpson-Daniel who scored in the corner.  Wilkinson converted.  30-10 after 62 minutes.

At this stage the Springboks brought on Ruan Pienaar and -plonked him on the right wing with François Steyn moving in to inside centre.

Steyn made a break which Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger drove on to the England line where Burger was back to gather and score.  37-10 after 69 minutes.  It was then that Wilkinson was injured in a clash of heads.

England kicked downfield a lot.  Pienaar caught one inside his own half and went on the counter.  He accelerated through on a dummy, drew one and then sent Steyn over.  44-10 after 73 minutes.

There was something so unexpected in the next try that it had an exquisite beauty all of its own.

Montgomery came into the line and got through a gap.  He grubbered, knowing that speedster Habana was ion his left.  Habana sped through defenders but Jason Robinson was across and diving for the ball.  From behind Robinson Habana dived and with absolute concentration grabbed the ball and surfed over the line with it.  51-10 after 75 minutes.

Still it was not the end.

Butch James kicked a diagonal to the right wing where Pienaar caught it and made great ground.  He was tackled but the Springboks recycled the ball till James dummied inside and gave CJ van der Linde a great pass on the outside for a try for the big prop.  The whistle went after Montgomery's conversion.

Man of the Match: Schalk Burger who tackles more than anybody else, contests at the breakdown more than anybody else and who has improved greatly his linking, passing game.

Moment of the Match:  Every one of the tries was special but none as special as Bryan Habana's second.

Villain of the Match:  Whoever decided that these were the players to take the battering in England's cause.

The Scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Willemse, Habana 2, De Villiers, Burger, Steyn, Van der Linde
Cons:  Montgomery 7
Pens:  Montgomery 3

For England:
Try:  Simpson-Daniel
Con:  Wilkinson
Pen:  Wilkinson

The Teams:

South Africa:  15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements:  16 Gurthro Steenkamp, 17 Gary Botha, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Francois Steyn.

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Jason Robinson (captain), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Stuart Turner, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Kevin Yates
Replacements:  16 Matt Cairns, 17 Darren Crompton, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Pat Sanderson, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Anthony Allen, 22 James Simpson-Daniel.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Derek Bevan (Wales)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Fiji bounce back to conquer Japan

Fiji turned around a 3-15 half-time deficit to trounce Japan 30-15 and go briefly second in the Pacific Nations Cup in Lautoka on Saturday.

New-found talent Taniela Rawaqa led the comeback, scoring a try and landing two conversions and two penalties in the win.

Rawaqa kicked the first points with an early penalty, but Japan took advantage of Fiji's poor communication in defence and finally broke through for a try from lock Luke Thompson.

Full-back Goshi Tachikawa scored the second try for Japan shortly before the break, with Eiji Ando converting, having already added an earlier penalty.

After Rawaqa made it 6-15 at the start of the second half, a number of Fijian substitutions swung the game completely the home team's way.

Rawaqa converted his own try in the 51st minute, and then two long trademark passing movements culminated in tries for flankers Netani Talei and Akapusi Qera.

Japan's heads dipped, and Isoa Neivua was left to seal the game in the 76th minute with a 50-metre runaway try, stepping around his opposite Kosuke Endo, with Rawaqa adding the conversion.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Rawaqa, Talei, Qera, Neivua
Cons:  Rawaqa 2
Pens:  Rawaqa 2

For Japan:
Tries:  Thompson, Tachikawa
Con:  Ando
Pen:  Ando

Last gasp Pumas snatch it from Ireland

A last-gasp Felipe Contepomi drop goal gave Argentina 22-20 victory against Ireland in Santa Fe on Saturday.

Contepomi was the man of the match even though Eddie O'Sullivan's side managed to control the Pumas captain in a first half which belied Ireland's inexperience at full-back.

Simon Best, in his first match as captain, did not disappoint with an outstanding performance.

Full-back Gavin Duffy and wing Brian Carney provided a telling influence in the early part of the game, Carney's movement surprising the hosts as the former rugby league player constantly probed Argentina's defence.

And it was Ireland who broke the deadlock with a Paddy Wallace penalty after six minutes.

A minute later Carney had his reward when he recovered the ball after a misplaced pass by Contepomi and claimed his first try for Ireland on his international debut.

Wallace slotted the conversion to put the visitors into a 10-0 lead.

Contepomi's penalty then reduced the deficit and after he and Wallace missed further kicks at goal, the Argentinian converted just before the break.

Ireland made a nervous start to the second half before Contepomi reduced the deficit to a single point.

Duffy's great kick then gave Ireland great field position and a fantastic 30-yard rolling maul eventually saw the visitors awarded a penalty try.  Wallace's conversion put them 17-9 ahead.

However, Argentina hit back through a Contepomi penalty before Hernan Senillosa went over for a try.  Contepomi's conversion put the hosts ahead for the first time in the match.

Although Duffy's penalty put Ireland ahead again with three minutes to go, Contepomi's last-gasp drop goal saw Argentina take the lead.

Victory was assured for the hosts when wing Geordan Murphy failed with an attempt at a drop goal.

The Scorers:

For Argentina:
Try:  Senillosa
Con:  Contepomi
Pens:  Contepomi 4
Drop Goal:  Contepomi

For Ireland:
Tries:  Carney, Penalty
Cons:  Wallace 2
Pens:  Wallace, Duffy

The Teams:

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Tomás De Vedia, 13 Miguel Avramovic, 12 Hernán Senillosa, 11 Francisco Leonelli, 10 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Pablo Bouza, 3 Santiago González Bonorino, 2 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements:  16 Matías Cortese, 17 Pablo Cardinalli, 18 James Stuart, 19 Genaro Fessia, 20 Lucio López Fleming, 21 Juan Fernández Miranda, 22 Horacio Agulla

Ireland:  15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Brian Carney, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Kieran Lewis, 11 Tommie Bowe, 10 Paddy Wallace, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Keith Gleeson, 6 Neil Best, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Trevor Hogan, 3 Simon Best (captain), 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Bryan Young.
Replacements:  16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Stephen Ferris, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Geordan Murphy, 22 Barry Murphy.

Referee:  Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Television match official:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Samoa kick off with rugged win

Samoa recorded an 8-3 win over Fiji in the opening match of the Pacific Nations Cup in Apia on Saturday with Alapasa Cordtz the try-scoring hero of a dour match.

Rain poured in Apia for much of the day, and thus the running rugby for which the Islanders are so celebrated was kept top a minimum.  The hits for which they are so famed were not kept to a minimum though, and a war of attrition was waged.

Samoa's pack gained the upper hand in the mud, and the try came as a direct result when Cordtz powered over off the back of a maul.

That made the score 5-3, with Fiji full-back Taniela Rawaqa having give the visitors an early lead.

Samoa controlled most of the second half but just couldn't finish the game off, and eventually, they had to rely upon the boot of Gavin Williams to extend the lead seven minutes from time.

It was a good way for Samoa to round off a national week of mourning, after last weekend's death of King Malietoa Tanufamili II, the country's leader since independence from New Zealand in 1962.

Samoa's next match is against the Junior All Blacks next Saturday in Apia, while Fiji host Japan the same day.

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Cordtz
Pen:  Williams

For Fiji:
Pen:  Rawaqa

Spain too good for Czechs

Spain beat the Czech Republic 42-15 in Prague on Saturday.  The result may well mean that the Czechs, beaten in all their matches so far, are in danger of relegation from the European Nations Cup Division 1 when the competition ends next season.

Spain on the other hand, promoted at the start of the season from Division 2A, have now won two matches in the first round which may well secure their place.  Their other victory was over high-riding Georgia.

By half-time Spain led 24-10, thanks to two tries each by fullback César Sempere and scrumhalf Pablo Feijóo to which flyhalf Esteban Roqué added two conversions.

The Czechs fought back in the second half but the Spanish defence withstood the initial onslaught, except for a try by scrumhalf Pavel Syrový, and then set their backs on the attack for two more tries, one by Roqué, the other just before the final whistle by replacement forward David Hernández.

Scorers:

For Spain:
Tries:  Sempere 2, Feijóo 2, Roqué, Hernández
Cons:  Roqué 3
Pen:  Roqué

For Czech Republic:
Tries:  Krejcí, Syrový
Pen:  Vokrouhlik

Teams:

Czech Republic:  15 Tomas Nevický, 14 Václav Jursík, 13 Jan Rohlík, 12 Pavel Vokrouhlík, 11 Michal Schlanger, 10 Tomás Krejcí, 9 Pavel Syrový, 8 Jan Zíla, 7 Ladislav Vondrásek, 6 Karel Kucera, 5 Jan Machácek, 4 Robert Voves, 3 Pavel Indrák, 2 Jan Oswald, 1 Roman Suster.
Replacements:  16 Patrik Leroch, 17 Jirí Skal, 18 Jan Benda, 19 Jirí Buryánek, 20 Vítezslav Dosedla, 21 Jaroslav Tomcík, 22 Antonín Brabec

Spain:  15 César Sempere, 14 Víctor Marlet, 13 David Mota, 12 Javier Canosa, 11 Rafael Álvarez, 10 Esteban Roque, 9 Pablo Feijoo, 8 Iván Criado, 7 Juan González, 6 Alfonso Mata, 5 Sergio Souto, 4 Guillermo Bárcena, 3 Javier Salazar, 2 José Maria Bohórquez, 1 Ion Insausti.
Replacements:  16 Óscar Ferreras, 17 Diego Zarzosa, 18 Martin Aceña, 19 David Hernández, 20 Carlos Arenas, 21 Manuel Olivares, 22 Juan Cano

Referee:  Neil Patersen (Scotland)
Touch judges:  John Steele (Scotland), Peter Carruthers (Scotland)

Lelos smash Czechs in Tblissi

Georgia beat the Czech Republic 98-3 in the Boris Paichadze National Stadium in Tblissi on a sunny Easter Saturday with a temperature of 18° and 10 000 people to watch.

The Lelos had been expected to win but the size of the victory is staggering as professionals crushed amateurs.  By half-time they already led 57-0.

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Mchedlishvili, Dadunashvili 3, Maisuradze, Urjukashvili, Shkinin, Giorgadze, Urjukashvili 2, Jimsheladze, Eloshvili, Kacharava, Khamashuridze, penalty try
Cons:  Kvirikashvili 9

For Czech Republic:
Drop:  Krejci

Teams:

Gorgia:  15 Pavie Jimsheladze, 14 George Shkinin, 13 Malkhaz Urjukasvhvili, 12 Irakli Giogarze, 11 Besik Khamashuridze, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseriidze, 8 Besarion Udesiani, 7 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 6 Ilia Maisuradze, 5 Zurab Mchedlishvili, 4 Viktor Didebulidze, 3 Avtandil Kopaliani, 2 David Dadunashvili, 1 David Gasviani.
Replacements:  16 George Jgenti, 17 Mamuka Magrakvelidze, 18 Shalva Sutiashvili, 19 Vakhtang Akhvlediani, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 David Kachrava, 22 Otar Eloshvili

Czech Republic:  15 Jan Rudolf, 14 Tomas Nevicky, 13 Pavel Vokrouhlik, 12 Jaroslav Tomcik, 11 Michal Schlanger, 10 Tomas Krejci, 9 Viteslav Doselda, 8 Karel Kucera, 7 Vlastimil Madry, 6 Tomas Veniger, 5 Miroslav Nemecek, 4 Martin Dlouhy, 3 Pavel Indrak, 2 Jan Oswald, 1 Roman Suster.
Replacements:  16 Jan Zacharias, 17 Jiri Skall, 18 Jan Benda, 19 Martin Mensik, 20 Pavel Syrovy, 21 Michal Jirman, 22 Lukas Howner

Referee:  Jean Cristophe Gastou (France)
Touch judges:  Jean-Michel Schutz (France), Jean-Luc Gonzales (France)
Match commissionner:  Gilbert Juillet (France)

Georgia win well in Tblissi

The Lelos of Georgia beat the Russian Bears 31-12 in Tblissi on Saturday before a crowd of some 25 000.

With a stronger side the Georgians made up for their surprise defat in Madrid recently.

The Georgians used their powerful pack to crush the Russians.  Three of their four tries were forward-generated.

The Russians used the scraps of possession they got to set their backs running but the Georgian defence coped with them.

Russia actually scored first when flyhalf Yuri Kushnarev kicked a penalty, equalled three minutes later by the Georgian fullback Pavle Jimsheladze, who had a good afternoon with the boot.  Kushnarev missed a penalty but goaled another two to put Russia up 9-3.

Just before half-time the Lelos gained the lead when they mauled from an attacking line-out and flank Georgia Chkhaidze scored.  Jimsheladze converted, and Georgia led 10-9 at the break.

The second half belonged to the Lelos pack.  Their first score was a penalty try as they shoved a maul ahead and again Jimsheladze converted.  17-9.

Kushnarev kicked his fourth penalty soon afterwards and Russia were still in touch at 17-12.

Lock Zurab Mchedlishvili is credited with the try when the pack shoved the Russians over their goal-line.  Jimsheladze converted.  24-12.

The backs produced the fourth try as the Georgians ran the ball and smashed through the centre for a try by flank Grigol Labadze, converted by Jimsheladze.  31-12.

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries:  Chkhaidze, penalty try, Mchedlishvili, Labadze
Cons:  Jimsheladze 4
Pen:  Jimsheladze

For Russia:
Pens:  Kushnarev 4

Teams:

Georgia:  15 Pavle Jimsheladze, 14 Giorgi Shkinini, 13 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Besik Khamashuridze, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Irakli Abuseridze, 8 Beso Udesiani, 7 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 6 Grigol Labadze, 5 Zurab Mchedlishvili, 4 Levan Datunashvili, 3 Avtandil Kopaliani., 2 Davit Dadunashvili, 1 Davit Khinchaguishvili
Replacements:  16 Rezo Belkania, 17 Davit Gasviani, 18 Viktor Didebulize, 19 Ilia Maissuradze, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 Davit Katcharava, 22 Georgi Elizbarashvili

Russia:  15 Igor Kyluchnikov, 14 Andrei Kuzin, 13 Sergei Belousov, 12 Igor Galinovski, 11 Aleksandr Gvozdovski, 10 Yuri Kushnarev, 9 Aleksandr Sakirov, 8 Viacheslav Grachev, 7 Alexey Panasenko, 6 Kirill Kushnarev, 5 Andrei Garbuzov, 4 Artem Fatahov, 3 Ivan Prishchepenko, 2 Vladimir Marchenko, 1 Aleksandr Khrokin
Replacements:  16 Ivan Naumenko, 17 Victor Kobzev, 18 Sergey Popov, 19 Victor Gresev, 20 Alexander Yanyushkin, 21 Sergey Sugrobov, 22 Vladimir Ostroushko

Referee:  Franck Maciello (France)
Touch judges:  Akim Hadj Bachir (France), Eric Briquet Campin (France)

One point takes Portugal to France

Portugal have become the last team to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.  It is their first time ever to do so but it took a thriller and in the end a single point was enough.

Uruguay who have been to the last two World Cups were their own worst enemies, paying the price for indiscipline.

Uruguay won the second leg of the World Cup qualifier in Montevideo 18-12 but Portugal had won the first leg 12-5.  They thus won overall 24-23.  By one point!  That point is enough to take the Lobos to France and means grave disappointment for the Teros who will stay at home.

In Lisbon Portugal had been leading 12-0 when Uruguay scored a last-minute try to make the score 12-5.  That meant that Portugal took a seven-point cushion to Montevideo.

On Saturday the Teros scored two tries, the Lobos none.

After just two minutes Uruguay had lock Juan Bado red-carded, sent off for foul play.  That meant that for almost all the match the Teros played with only 14 men.

Nonetheless Uruguay took the lead through penalties by Juan Menchaca and Diego Aguirre but then Portugal levelled matters with penalties by Duarte Pinto and Joao.  Then just before half time lock Marcelo Dorey was sent to the sin bin.

With Portugal down to 14 men at the start of the second half, Uruguay took an 11-6 lead with a try will Portugal scored two more penalties to lead 12-11 with 25 minutes to play -- 25 tense minutes.

The powerful Uruguayan pack mauled over the line for a try which took them to 18-12.  That gave Portugal there point overall lead but with 13 minutes to play, and that is how the score stayed as injury time dragged on and agonisingly on.

Scorers:

For Portugal:
Pens:  Duarte Pinto 4

For Uruguay:
Tries:  Crosa, Capo
Con:  Menchaca
Pens:  Menchaca, Aguirre

Teams:

Uruguay:  15 Juan Menchaca, 14 Juan Labat, 13 Diego Aguirre, 12 Joaquin Pastore, 11 Martín Crosa, 10 Sebastian Aguirre, 9 Juan Campomar, 8 Nicolas Brignoni, 7 Nicolas Grille, 6 Alfredo Giuria, 5 Rodrigo Capo, 4 Juan Bado, 3 Pablo Lemoine, 2 Juan Andres Perez, 1 Rodrigo Sanchez
Replacements:  16 Guillermo Storace, 17 Federico Capo, 18 Carlos Arboleya, 19 Juan Miguel Alvarez, 20 Rafael Alvarez, 21 Juan Martín Llovet, 22 Nicolas Morales
Coaches:  Nicolas Inciarte, Mario Lame

Portugal:  15 Pedro Leal, 14 Diogo Gama, 13 Miguel Portela, 12 Diogo Mateus, 11 Pedro Carvalho, 10 Duarte Pinto, 9 Luis Pissarra, 8 Vasco Uva, 7 Joao Uva, 6 Juan Serveriño, 5 Marcelo Dorey, 4 Gonzalo Uva, 3 Joaquin Ferreira, 2 Joao Correta, 1 André Lourenzo
Replacements:  16 Rui Cordeiro, 17 Duarte Figueredo, 18 David Penalva, 19 Diogo Coutinho, 20 Paulo Murinello, 21 José Pinto, 22 Goncalo Malheiro
Coach:  Tomaz Morais

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury
Touch judges:  Roy Maybank, Robin Goodliffe

Romania win well in Ricany

Romania went east to Ricany and beat the Czech Republic 46-13.

The Romanians led 29-7 at half-time.

It did not take Romania to get onto the scoreboard for they were simply too strong for the Czechs.  Big Ovidiu Tonita was the first to score and Dumbrava added a penalty.  Inside ten minutes the Romanians led 8-0.  It was 22-0 after tries by scrumhalf Vali Calafeteanu and wing Gabriel Brezoianu before Martin Hudák intercepted and scored the home side's only try.

After half-time Cosmin Ratiu, hooker Marius Tincu and captain Sorin Socol scored tries -- all forwards, which tells the tale of Romanian superiority up front.

Scorers:

For Romania:
Tries:  Tonita, Calafeteanu 2, Brezoianu, Ratiu, Tincu, Socol
Cons:  Dumbrava 3, Calafateanu
Pen:  Dumbrava

For Czech Republic:
Try:  Hudák
Con:  Tomcik
Pens:  Tomcik

Teams:

Czech Republic:  15 Martin Snídal, 14 Petr Okle¿tek, 13 Pavel Vokrouhlík, 12 Jaroslav Tomcík, 11 Roman Kodera, 10 Antonín Brabec, 9 Pavel Syrový, 8 Patrik Leroch, 7 Martin Hudák, 6 Vlastimil Madry, 5 Miroslav Nemecek, 4 Robert Voves, 3 Pavel Indrák, 2 Jan Oswald, 1 Jirí Skall
Replacements:  16 Jan Zacharias, 17 Roman Suster, 18 Jan Benda, 19 Martin Duda, 20 Martin Mensik, 21 Vitezslav Dosedla, 22 Tomas Krejci

Romania:  15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Catalin Fercu, 13 Catalin Dascalu, 12 Dan Vlad, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 10 Danut Dumbrava, 9 Vali Calafateanu, 7 Cosmin Ratiu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 6 Costica Mersoiu, 5 Petre Cristian, 4 Sorin Socol, (captain) 3.  Silviu Florea, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Cezar Popescu.
Replacements:  16 Ion Paulica, 17 Nicolae Nere, 18 Valentin Ursache, 19 Alex Tudori, 20 Ciprian Caplescu, 21 Csaba Gal, 22 Florin Vlaicu

Referee:  James Jones (Wales)
Touch judges:  Lynn Davies (Wales), Gregg Morgan (Wales)

France claim Six Nations crown

France have claimed the Six Nations crown, exceeding the 23-point winning margin target Ireland had set them by four points with a 46-19 win over Scotland at the Stade de France.

That doesn't tell the story.  Not even a little bit.  In a finale that could not have been scripted by Hollywood's finest, it was left to Irish TMO Simon McDowell to award the try that cost his country the title, taking over a minute to decide that Elvis Vermeulen had indeed grounded the ball in the in-goal area in the final play of the game.

Only 20-14 ahead at the break, the French backs unleashed a mesmerising display of running rugby when they re-emerged, running in two scintillating tries to add to what ought to have been the all-important fifth from prop Pieter de Villiers.

But Scotland produced a ferocious assault on the French line in the final ten minutes, culminating in a try for prop Euan Murray and the French team found its resolve tested to the limit in a pulsating finale, needing to score a try within the final four minutes.

From a line-out, the French forwards, with the indomitable Imañol Harinordoquy at its heart, drove and drove and drove again, patiently looking for the inches of space they needed as the clock ticked down, until the fresh-legged Vermeulen delivered the coup de Grâce by plonking the ball down.

But the drama never stopped unfolding.  It was a terrific game of rugby in its own right, never mind that it had so much at stake.  France were tipped to win at a canter, smarting from defeat to England and anxious to prove a point in their World Cup year in front of their fans.

That point they proved today, and in the best way possible.  Not only did they claim the title, they also recovered from the shock of having it in their grasp and losing it again.  The collective calm with which they recovered their lost booty in the final four minutes will serve them well in October, when, most believe, France may host the All Blacks here in the Rugby World Cup final.

Yet Scotland are always awkward customers, and they reminded the French that they too had a role to play on the day.  Scotland's pack drove and drove the French back into their own 22 in the first couple of minutes, and then forced three penalties out of their creaking counterparts.

The third was kicked to the corner, and after a succession of mauls near the French line.  Dan Parks hoisted a kick high over to the left corner, where Nikki Walker used his height advantage over Vincent Clerc to great effect for the opening try.

Paterson, who had missed a sitter of a penalty in the second minute, made far lighter work of a much harder conversion and Scotland led 0-7, and were threatening to ruin the French party.

However, that was seven minutes in which, for a variety of reasons, the French had not one iota of ball.  Once they got the ball, it was when rather than if, and more importantly, how much?

France's control of the ball once they had their hands on it, was for the large part magnificent.  Imañol Harinordoquy and Serge Betsen both commanded every breakdown, while Jérôme Thion strode around the pitch, dominating the landscape as though he were the Eiffel Tower itself.  Then, at one glorious moment for the French, the pack heaved and shoved and drove the Scots off their own scrum ball.  It defined the discipline and effort the French put in to their task.

Outside, the backs bade their time in patience terrifically.  Yannick Jauzion and David Marty both crashed and fed off each other in turn and in harmony, while Cédric Heymans added an extra soupçon of penetration from the wing.

France just had so much ball from minute seven on.  Overall, Scotland had about 20 minutes of ball possession, France had about 30.  Take off that first seven minutes, and 30-13 signifies just how dominant and controlled the French were.

Lionel Beauxis got the first French points; after missing a longer penalty in the tenth minute, he clipped over a much easier one after 18 to make it 3-7.

Another period of French domination was ruined by Beauxis, who tried to pass out of a pirouette, but ended up flinging the ball some 10 yards forward, and when Paterson hacked through, Clément Poitrenaud was on hand ot cover and save the day.

France promptly drove back down the other end, and opened the scoring properly.  Heymans danced around the more cumbersome Nathan Hines, and Poitrenaud was just closed down in time.  However, the Scots infringed at the breakdown, and a quick tap saw Harinordoquy over in the right corner.  Beauxis converted majestically.

Moments later, and France had stretched the lead with a magnificent try.  Pierre Mignoni, whose added zip was just the pick-me-up last week's sluggish French backs needed darted through a gap and around a flat-footed Chris Cusiter, chipped Chris Paterson, re-gathered, and off-loaded to Heymans, who was in under the posts in a jiffy.  Beauxis had an easier job this time, 17-7.

Moments later again, Beauxis made it 20-7 with a penalty, after Raphaël Ibañez picked off a Scots line-out, and forced a penalty from the retreating defence.

At 20-7 ahead, the French had surpassed more than half their required target winnnig margin of 24 points and would have been well pleased at half-time, but a brilliant individual Sean Lamont try put paid to that right on the whistle, with the bleach-blonde winger first making 50m with a break, and then the remaining 20m tapping a quick penalty when Heymans wouldn't get off him at the tackle.

20-14 at half-time.  Neutrals, and probably many nervous watching Irish might have thought that France's quick burst of scoring was their purple patch.  They might have thought that France had shot their bolt.  They were profoundly wrong.

The French controlled possession every bit as confidently and patiently from minutes 41-50, and while Scots discipline ensured Beauxis couldn't stretch the lead, the tense wait for more French points morphed into a twitchy expectancy each time the forwards drove or the backs lined up.

Some of the handling was exquisite, and the rucking was flawless ... even the footwork was fancy:  at one point, a ball that squirted out of the back of a ruck was nonchalantly chipped into Beauxis's hands by Mignoni under pressure from onrushing flankers.

The dominance paid off in wonderful fashion.  Ibañez once again led a charge forward, and Yannick Jauzion once, then twice made the hard yards, before Beauxis took the ball looping of Jauzion and whipped it out to David Marty in the corner via Heymans.  Beauxis made it 27-14 with the extras.

Then, on the hour mark, it was Heymans again the finisher on the left, with Jauzion and Marty quickly turning turnover ball into a prized try.  Beauxis couldn't convert this time, 32-14.

It took just a minute for France to score the crucial try that took them 25 in the lead.  Another wide move had Marty chipping Rory Lamont with the Glasgow winger taking Marty out.  You would think the highlights would set them apart well enough, but referee Craig Joubert, on the advice of his touch-judge, promptly sent Sean to the bin.

The French pack, with the bit between their teeth and no thought now of penalty goals accepted the line-out possession in the corner, lunged twice for the line with Harinordoquy marshalling, and then drove over en masse, with Olivier Milloud touching down.  Beauxis made it 39-14, and the title was now in French hands with nineteen minutes to go.

Perhaps the French should not have decelerated.  Perhaps they ran out of steam.  Either way, the rather non-Gallic determination to close out the game allowed Scotland a lease of life.  A rare Scotland penalty got the Scots down into France's 22, and player after player bashed at the white wall, before the ball was spun wide to prop Euan Murray of all people, who went over unopposed in the corner.  Advantage Ireland, and only four minutes to go.

As soon as France reclaimed the restart, there was a sense of something special building.  It was a mesmerising four minutes.  The French were admirable for their coolness and sturdy grit in going through the same motions that had served them so well up to then, driving into Scottish bodies and inching toward that line.  On came the fresh legs of Vermeulen, to replace Harinordoquy who had wring everything he could muster out of his frame.

Then a penalty!  But three points no use, and so Beauxis angled a kick to the corner.  More fresh legs, this time Pascal Papé, claimed the ball.  Onward drove the relentless French, Scotland's brave standing in their way.  On towards the line, to the line, over the line, and a mass of Gallic and Celtic sweat tumbled to the ground to the acclaim of 80,000 raucous voices.

One final ironic twist to the tale.  Joubert referred the decision for a try upstairs, to where Irish TMO McDowell had the agonising decision.  We waited for over a minute as he ran through his camera angles, straining eyes for the ball.  Then Craig Joubert got the nod, raised his arm, and Paris passed into pandemonium.

Man of the match:  So many performances -- too many to iterate here.  But at the heart of so much of French dominance, in terms of turnover ball, yardage gained, opponents driven away, was Basque back-row Imañol Harinordoquy, who rose just above the rest to collect this award.

Moment of the match:  So many moments too!  But the final minute drama that claimed the title, and Elvis Vermeulen's drive and score wa the moment that defined the match.

Villain of the match:  Not a peep.  Rory Lamont's late tackle that earned his brother a yellow card was too harmless to be villainy.

The scorers

For France:
Tries:  Harinordoquy, Jauzion, Marty, Heymans, Milloud, Vermeulen
Cons:  Beauxis 5
Pens:  Beauxis 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Walker Lamont, Murray
Cons:  Paterson 2

Yellow card:  Sean Lamont (61, late tackle)

The teams:

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jerome Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 2 Raphael Ibanez (captain), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Nicolas Mas, 17 Sebastian Bruno, 18 Pascal Papè, 19 Elvis Vermeulen, 20 Jean-Baptise Elissalde, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Christophe Dominici.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson (captain), 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Rob Dewey, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Jim Hamilton, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Marcus Di Rollo, 22 Rory Lamont.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie

Spain shock Georgia

The Leones of Spain pulled off a great surprise when they beat the Lelos of Georgia 32-17 in Madrid on Saturday afternoon in a European Nations Cup match.

Spain had lost to Portugal, Russia and Romania in earlier matches while the Lelos had beaten the mighty Oaks of Romania, the reigning champions.

This is a pleasing win for Spain over a team qualified to go to the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

The match did not begin well for the home side.  Spain made a mess of the kick-off and conceded a five-metre scrum from which for David Bolgashvili scored a try for the visitors in the very first minute of the game, but, as Spain began to exert pressure on the Georgians, three penalties by Estaban Roqué gave Spain a 9-5 lead at the break.

The Leones got their first try early in the second half when David Mota went over under the posts and Roqué converted.  16-5.  That lead did not last long for Bolgashvili got a second try, this time converted by Merab Kvirikashvili.  16-12.

Spain extended the lead when Victor Marlet got his first try, chasing Roqué's kick ahead.  This was followed by one by wing George Shkinin to make the score 23-17.  Roqué kicked a fourth penalty and then Spain attacked from a five-metre scrum.  Mota chipped ahead and Marlet got his second try, just before the final whistle.

It was a happy day for the Spaniards in Madrid on Saturday.

Scorers:

For Spain:
Tries:  Mota, Martlet 2
Cons:  Roqué 2
Pens:  Roqué 4

For Georgia:
Tries:  Bolgashvili 2, Shkinin
Con:  Kvirikashvili

Teams:

Spain:  15 Pedro Martín, 14 Juan Cano, 13 David Mota, 12 Javier Canosa, 11 Víctor Marlet, 10 Esteban Roqué, 9 Pablo Feijóo, 8 Iván Criado, 7 Alfonso Mata, 6 Cyril Hijar, 5 Sergio Souto, 4 Guillermo Barcena, 3 Javier Salazar, 2 José María Bohórquez, 1 Óscar Ferreras.
Replacements:  16 Manuel Serrano, 17 César Caballero, 18 Juan González, 19 Martín Aceña, 20 Carlos Arenas, 21 Manuel Olivares, 22Manuel Mazo

Georgia:  15 George Elizbarashvili, 14 Otra Eloshvili, 13 David Kacharava, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 George Shkinin, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Bidzina Samkharadze, 8 David Bolgashvili, 7 Sandro Mchedlishvili, 6 Ilia Maisuradze, 5 Viktor Didebulidze, 4 Shalva Papashvili, 3 David Ashvetia, 2 Revaz Belkania, 1 Avtandil Kopaliani.
Replacements:  16 David Dadunashvili, 17 George Jgenti, 18 George Nemsadze, 19 Bevan Gevelidze, 20 George Kacharava, 21 Irakli Chkhikvadze, 22 David Gurgenidze

Referee:  Dean Richards (England)
Touch judges:  Roy Maybank (England), Paul Emerson (England)
Match Commisioner:  Gilbert Gruel (Belgium)

England prevail at Twickenham

England pulled out a fine performance to defeat France 26-18 at Twickenham on Sunday, keeping their Six Nations hopes alive and ending French hopes of a Grand Slam in the process.

Did the chariot ever swing as low and as sweetly as it did on this sunny Sunday in London?  It will go down as a great England victory, because it was so unexpected, such a contrast with the performance against Italy and the humiliation against Ireland -- and it was so comprehensive.

France were completely outplayed.  It started up front and then filtered backwards all the way to the fullback.  They were made to look docile, clumsy, lethargic and planless.

Their backs who were expected to run rings around ageing Mike Catt and slow Mike Tindall, but the visitors fumbled, plodded across field and never once looked like creating a try.

England never let them off the hook and have now thrown the Six Nations wide open with each of Ireland, France and England beaten once -- and their next opponents are all in the bottom half of the championship.

The England pack, beaten in Dublin, won hands down in London.  Early on they started their pick-'n-go to take the battle to the French eight.  They mauled well and stirred the crowd with their mauling.  They scrummaged well and competed in the line-out and at the tackle.  They, in a word, ruled possession, leaving tatty scraps for the French.  And tatty scraps do not make a banquet.

The spark in the backs pretty well all came from England.  True David Marty, Yannick Jauzion, Vincent Clerc and Pierre Mignoni had good moments but not even when Clerc and Marty got the ball to the English line was there confidence of a try and in any case Raphaël Ibañez lost the ball forward.

Those little moments were nothing like what Toby Flood (off a chip and catch), Josh Lewsey, Mike Catt, Shane Geraghty and Jason Robinson managed.  Nothing like.

England had the game in thrall and the French made no manful effort to liberate themselves.  At no stage was there any French suavity or elan.  They just were not there.

London's England looked nothing like Dublin's England -- a fact that must bring huge relief to the whole of the kingdom.  Two tries to nil speaks more loudly than the eight points' difference.  It must be a huge relief to those who chose the team.

Martin Corry was an inspiration at lock.  Toby Flood, and then Shane Geraghty, performed with confidence and competence.  Mike Catt, after a dainty start, got right into the game, steadying things and producing the electric moment when his 35-year-old legs broke, kept him upright and produced England's first try.

The scoring in the first half was fairly genteel -- four kicks to three in France's favour.

Tim Payne held on and David Skrela scored with a long kick.  Skrela hurt an ankle soon afterwards and was replaced by young Lionel Beauxis at half-time.  Not that that was a reason for losing, but Beauxis was noticeably unable to give his backs any direction.  The cross-field running started with him.

Serge Betsen, who was ineffective in a beaten pack, was penalised for diving in at a tackle/ruck and Flood sent the penalty soaring over from just inside the French half.  That must have been great for his confidence.

Skrela kicked a second when the touch judge reported Corry for using his boot on a player away from the ball and a third when Flood was penalised at a tackle/ruck.  That made it 9-3 to France after 21 minutes and it seemed that, despite England's dominance France were going at some stage to burst out into Six Nations Champions with another Grand Chelem.

France then did a funny thing.  They had a penalty just outside their 22 on their right and for some reason Dimitri Yachvili tapped, pivoted and kicked way across the field towards his left.  Strettle got the ball and started running -- fast and deceptively strong for one so slight and pale.  That may have been a spark for England.  "We can run at these fellows if we run straight."

When Olivier Milloud was off-side Flood made it 9-6 but then made it 12-6 when George Chuter went into a tackle at the wrong angle.  A minute later Sébastien Chabal, who had a poor game as England shut him down and proved that he was not as strong as he looks, held on at a tackle and Flood made the half-time score 12-9.  England actually had two other chances from penalty goals.  Flood was just off target with one long one and just short with another from inside his own half.

After mauling from a line-out England bashed and bashed at the French line and got close but the French rushed them back to beyond their own 22 and the chance looked dead.  Suddenly phoenix Catt brought it to life as he sliced past Ibañez and into Clément Poitrenaud who decided to meet the old man chest on.  But Catt stayed firm in the conflict, turned and passed the ball perfectly to Flood on his left and the tall fly-half went sweeping round for a try at the posts.  The game had been broken open.  England led for the first time, 16-12 after 48 minutes.

Sweet Chariot rose up into the Twickenham air.  The faithful, who had barely dared to hope, suddenly gathered belief.  "Coming for to carry me home."

Annoyingly that man Yachvili, who had been an instrument in France's last three wins over England, kicked a penalty when Tom Rees got a rough one at a tackle and another when Tindall played a man without the ball.  18-16 to France with 23 minutes to play.  Were the chariot's wheels wobbling?

Flood went limping off with a sore knee at this stage and on came Shane Geraghty.

Robinson had a good run as Catt played back to him coming off his wing but Lionel Nallet nailed him.

Tindall had a chance as he made the best of a bad pass but when he chipped Clerc had no difficulty in beating him to the ball.

Then Strettle broke the game apart as he attacked from deep racing with speed and strength over acres of French territory from just inside France's half to close to the their line.  England attacked, Imanol Harinordoquy went off-side and Geraghty calmly score his first points in international rugby.

England led 19-18 at this stage but were in fact much further ahead than one point.  They were well on top.

Yachvili kicked downfield, a feeble kick and Geraghty ran onto it and with it, racing from 30 metres out to within 10 metres of the French line.  Falling in a tackle he bowled the ball back to his left over Catt's head but there was Tindall, stretching out, getting a hand to the ball, holding the ball and plunging over for the try.  Geraghty converted.  26-18 with eight minutes left to play.

At no time did the clumsy French look like scoring in those eight minutes.  A knock-on produced a scrum to England and Shaun Perry hoofed the ball into the crowd for the final whistle.

England's team and supporters were joyful, the rest of the rugby world surprised.

Pity about work tomorrow.

Man of the Match:  They were all Englishmen and if one were true it should probably be the Tight Five, but if we are, invidiously in a team game, to select an individual then Tom Rees would be the loose forward choice, loyal Martin Corry the tight forward and amongst the backs the man who above all sparked England's running belief -- David Strettle.

Moment of the Match:  It has to be Mike Catt's break that led to Toby Flood's try -- for the belief it gave.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Flood, Tindall
Cons:  Flood, Geraghty
Pens:  Flood 3, Geraghty

For France:
Pens:  Skrela 3, Yachvili 3

The teams:

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Jason Robinson, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Mike Catt (captain), 11 David Strettle, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Martin Corry, 3 Julian White, 2 George Chuter, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Stuart Turner, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Shane Geraghty, 22 Mathew Tait.

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 David Skréla, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Sébastian Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (captain), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Sébastian Bruno, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Pascal Papé, 19 Imañol Harinordoquy, 20 Pierre Mignoni, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Cédric Heymans.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Wales left fuming at the death

Italy followed up their conquest of Scotland by claiming an historic 23-20 win over Wales in Rome on Saturday, coming from behind to edge a thriller at the Stadio Flaminio.

Ireland can crush the Azzurri next week, but that won't dampen Roman festivities.  Regardless of that result, this win over Wales ensures that 2007 will go down in history as Italy's most successful Six Nations campaign to date.

Things aren't quite so rosy for the Welsh -- the wooden spoon and a whitewash await if they don't manage to repel England next weekend.

And Wales's pain will be compounded by the manner in which they conceded the loss to Italy.  Indeed, one can expect a sense of injustice to linger long in the minds of Welshmen everywhere.

With just seconds left on the clock and three points down, the visitors were awarded a kickable penalty.  James Hook appeared to ask referee Chris White if there was time for a line-out.  White is alleged to have given the nod, but he then blew for no-time as the ball was being collected from the stands.

The shrill three-beat blast of the whistle sparking wild celebrations among the Italians but furious complaints from the visitors.

Whether Wales were unfairly denied a crack at a try from the restart is a debate that will rattle around pubs for years to come, but they were hardly robbed of a win -- Italy deserved the spoils.

The locals led 13-7 at the interval courtesy of six points from fly-half Ramiro Pez and a try from Kaine Robertson after Wales wing Shane Williams had scooted over.

Wales surged ahead after the interval with 13 unanswered points, including a try from Matthew Rees, and appeared to be on course for their first win of the campaign.

But Italy summoned up a second wind and Mauro Bergamasco latched onto Pez's chip to touch down for the match-clinching try to punctuate a dour but effective Italian performance.

Prior to the game, Wales coach Gareth Jenkins had remarked that the Italians were "formidable but limited", and this they were.

No-one can accuse the Italians of being flash, nor are they blessed with many players of outstanding natural ability, but they know how to play to their strengths and they know how to boss a game.

Wales, meanwhile, wouldn't be languishing at the bottom of the Six Nations tables if rugby was scored in the manner of gymnastics.  Magical things happen whenever the men in red had the floor, but Italy's stranglehold on proceedings meant these opportunities were few and far between.

Wales knew they were in for a claustrophobic afternoon from the moment they stepped off the bus: the pitch had mysteriously shrunk overnight, losing a good couple of metres in width.

The new dimensions stymied Wales's wider ambitions, but -- surprise, surprise -- they suited Pez's probing boot.

And so it was that Italy took the game by the scuff of the neck from the off and never relinquished complete control.

Hearts were in Welsh mouths as early as the second minute as Gonzalo Canale cut an immaculate angle through the Welsh lines before lofting the ball out to Matteo Pratichetti who slide over the line, only to be pulled back for the forward pass.

After Pez had booted Italy into the lead with a penalty, Wales responded with a darting break from Kevin Morgan but his grubber kick was just too strong for Shane Williams and Mauro Bergamasco cleared up.

Wales then worked a two-man overlap but Shane Williams could not release either Kevin Morgan or Mark Jones before being swallowed up by Italy full-back Roland de Marigny.

Pez extended the Azzurri's advantage with his second penalty but Italy lost Gonzalo Canale, a powerful force in their midfield, to a leg injury after he had crashed into Tom Shanklin's tackle.

Wales had very little room to work with and seemed to lack both the confidence and organisation required to get outside the Italians.

But a moment of clarity from Hook finally picked the lock.

The precociously talented centre chipped the on-rushing Italians, allowing Shanklin to collect the perfectly weighted kick.  The burly centre then absorbed two tackles before off-loading to Shane Williams who had a clear passage to the sticks for the converted try.

But Welsh insecurities remained.  Stephen Jones soon blew a golden opportunity with a laboured pass to Morgan when a flat, quick ball would have exploited a huge overlap.

Jones then took a swinging arm to the face from Mauro Bergamasco and disappeared to the blood bin, to be replaced for the remainder of the half by Gareth Thomas.

While he was off Wales blew two more opportunities as their basic finishing skills were found wanting.

Shane Williams sparked a counter-attack but a poor inside ball from Morgan went to ground and when Hook carved through the Italian defence he failed to spot Morgan on the outside.

Italy then bit back.  Kane Robertson spied a half-acre of space behind the pressing red line.  He sent up the up-and-end and set off in hot pursuit, his opponent in the footrace was a petrified Ian Gough -- no prizes for guessing who won.  Pez converted and Italy took a 13-7 lead into the break.

Wales must have taken the mother of all rollockings at half-time and they started the second period like a steam train, scoring 13 unanswered points inside 12 minutes.

Stephen Jones returned to the fray but Hook took over the kicking duties, booting his first penalty.

Wales returned to Italian territory where Rees peeled around the tail of the line-out, threw a dummy and raced off to score.

Hook converted and landed a second penalty soon after, extending Wales's advantage to a converted try.

Italy, though, had history to think about and pitched their tents on the Welsh line.

De Marigny bulldozed for the line and Alessandro Troncon took it on again as they hammered forward in search of a try.

Italy won a five-metre scrum but the Welsh defence held firm, halting Mauro Bergamasco and hooker Carlo Festuccia.

Pez reduced the arrears with a simple three points and Italy snatched back possession immediately and earned another penalty.

This time Pez aimed for touch.  Italy drove their line-out to within touching distance of the Welsh line.  Wales withstood wave after wave of attacks before Pez dabbed a neat chip over the top and Mauro Bergamasco won the race to score.

As the clock ticked into injury time, Hook kicked the Welsh penalty opportunity for touch in search of a victory only for White to blow full-time.

The controversy will be lost on the Azzurri and their fans -- these are good days for Italian rugby.  It's not easy to shift soccer from the cover of Gazzetta dello Sport, but Alessandro Troncon's mug managed to do so on Saturday -- Sunday should see the team edge the politicians off the front page of La Republica.  And why not? They deserve it.

Man of the match:  Plenty of big performances from Italy's pack -- with Sergio Parisse to the fore.  Mauro Bergamasco also had a brave match, but he misses out on this award as he's up for a gong in a completely different category.  Meanwhile, Alessandro Troncon was his usual bossy self and Ramiro Pez orchestrated his side beautifully.  Pretty ordinary performance from the Welsh, but a couple of players stood out.  James Hook had a typically thoughtful outing, and Martyn Williams and Alix Popham got through heaps of work in difficult conditions.  But we'd like to reward the imp-like Shane Williams for yet another irrepressible performance of heart, commitment and courage.

Moment of the match:  For better or for worse, it has to be the final kick of the game.  We're sure to be hearing about that moment for months!

Villain of the match:  Easy one.  Mauro Bergamasco for the swing arm that left Stephen Jones with four stitches above his right eye.  And to cap it, the hirsute Italian followed up with an early tackle on Kevin Morgan that might have proved pivotal.  Many Welsh fans will undoubtedly wish to push this award towards Chris White, but we'll reserve judgement until our investigation is complete.  But rest assured that he is bound to receive the first degree from his Welsh wife!

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Robertson, Mauro Bergamasco
Cons:  Pez 2
Pens:  Pez 3

For Wales:
Tries:  S Williams, Rees
Cons:  Jones, Hook
Pens:  Hook 2

Italy:  15 Roland De Marigny, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Maurizio Zaffiri, 21 Paul Griffen, 22 Andrea Scanavacca

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 James Hook, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Alix Popham, 5 Alun Wynn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Brent Cockbain, 20 Jonathan Thomas, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Gareth Thomas

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Douglas Kerr (Scotland)

Ireland struggle, but retain Triple Crown

Ronan O'Gara's boot came to Ireland's rescue on Saturday, as Ireland survived a scare to retain their Triple Crown trophy with a 19-18 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

O'Gara scored all of his team's points, including an opportunist late first-half try, but Chris Paterson's boot had had the Scots 18-13 ahead with just 15 minutes remaining before Ireland's pack responded to squeeze out the crucial penalties.

Well, well, well, the form book was nearly thrown out of the window -- oh, so nearly.  In some ways the one-point defeat was a kind of victory for the brave Scots as they stood up to the Irish who were starting to get a world-beaters tag.

It was not a great match at Murrayfield but a gripping one as the scores kept the teams so close.  In the end it was yet again a gift try that cost Scotland dearly.  There had been three against Italy but only one this time, one but enough to give Ireland victory.

There were only two points' scorers in the match -- Ronan O'Gara for Ireland and Chris Paterson for Scotland, and it was O'Gara who got the try.

The scores were level at 3-all when Scotland won a line-out going left and hear the half-way line.  Dan Parks looked to hoist a high kick to his left but O'Gara was quickly on him for a text-book, hands-forward-to-the-ball charge down.  He collected the bounce in midfield and ran.  Challenged, he gave to Gordon D'Arcy on his left.  He played back to Simon Easterby who gave to O'Gara on his left and the fly-half was over under the posts.  10-3 to Ireland.

Ireland may have been up 10-3 but there was the uncomfortable feeling that the predictable was not going to happen.

Ireland started off brimming with confidence, spreading the ball wide to left and right, and their pressure was rewarded when Scotland conceded their third penalty in quick succession -- Kelly Brown this time, and O'Gara scored.

It was all Ireland at this stage but that confidence soon proved brittle.  On their first raid into Irish territory, Brian O'Driscoll was found off-side and penalised.  Paterson kicked the goal to make it 3-all, and from then on Scotland were energised -- no longer apologising but standing up fiercely to the men who had come to fetch the Triple Crown.

Sean Lamont had much to do with it when he got an Irish kick at his 22 he burst into counter-attack and raced down before giving to Paterson who looked about to score till on the Irish 22 Denis Hickie cut him down from behind.  Paterson was penalised for holding on, and a scrap ensued.

There was another scrap, a more serious one, when Paterson swung an arm at O'Gara's head and O'Driscoll objected.  In the end O'Driscoll was the one called out and penalised.  "Only me?" he asked calmly.

After O'Gara's try, Paul O'Connell knocked on the kick off and Gavin Kerr grabbed and the Scots were attacking down the left.  They had a scrum five metres from the Irish line on the home side's left.  They went right.  Parks sent a long pass to Hugo Southwell who went for the line leaving Paterson unmarked on his outside.  Southwell was injured and a golden opportunity went astray.

In the last four minutes Paterson kicked a penalty, O'Gara kicked a penalty and Paterson kicked a penalty to make the score 13-9 at the break.

Ireland started the second half in a different vein from the first.  Instead of going wide they stayed as close as possible with pick-and-go.  When Nathan Hines was penalised and, not for the first time, sent to the sin bin, Ireland had a five-metre line-pout and a maul.  They got to the line but lost the ball to a "use it or lose it" maul.

O'Driscoll had a great break past Rob Dewey, as D'Arcy had done in the first half, but the move was shipwrecked on a poor pass by Shane Horgan.

Hickie had a strong run and looked certain to score till Sean Lamont came across in cover and tackled him into the corner post for a drop-out.

When O'Connell came in at the side of a tackle/ruck Paterson made it 13-12 and then Hines came back.  During his absence the Scottish forwards, to a man, had been brave and concentrated in their defence.

A kick into the box by Parks gave Scotland an attacking line-out and when Peter Stringer was offside, Paterson made it 15-13 to Scotland with 20 minutes to go.

Things were even better for Scotland when David Wallace was penalised and Scotland led 18-13 with 15 minutes to go, but in the next five minutes O'Gara kicked two penalties.  Ireland led 19-18 with ten minutes to go.

In those ten minutes Scotland tried to run but by and large Ireland had them in a grip and could well have scored when O'Driscoll made a scoring opportunity out of nothing.

The final whistle went with the match in midfield and O'Driscoll went up the stairs to collect the Triple Crown trophy from the Princess Royal.

Man of the match:  There were lots of brave Scots and it was their two wings who gave them most -- Chris Paterson of the unerring boot and Sean Lamont who started the Scots on a more confident path and saved a certain try with a cross tackle.  Then there was the bravery of their whole pack especially when Hines was off.  For Ireland, who would not have enjoyed nearly as much as they did the Croke Park encounter in the rain, Denis Hickie was good -- saved a try but should probably have scored one -- Paul O'Connell, of course, and points' machine Ronan O'Gara, who ran, tackled, kicked and scored the only try -- our Man of the Match.

Moment of the match:  The charge-down by Ronan O'Gara which led to the try.

Villain of the Match:  Possibly the captains -- Chris Paterson and Brian O'Driscoll who lost their rags when, above all they should have kept theirs.

It was Ireland's sixth successive win over Scotland.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 6

For Ireland:
Try:  O'Gara
Con:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 4

Yellow card:  Hines (42, Scotland, deliberate offside)

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson (c), 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Jim Hamilton, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Rory Lamont.

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan,
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Neil Best, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Portugal one step away from France

Portugal beat Uruguay 12-5 in Lisbon to go ahead in the last qualifying round for the 2007 World Cup.  This was the first of two legs.

The two teams will meet again in Montevideo on 24 March.

This defeat certainly does not mean that Uruguay are out of the running.  They have top beat Portugal by eight points or more next time to go the World Cup again.

For Portugal there is the huge incentive of a first trip to the World Cup.

There was not score at half time at this match in Lisbon, though Duarte Pinto missed three penalty attempts for Portugal and Juan Menchaca two for Uruguay.

Portugal's first try came from an intercept and Pedro Carvalho raced 75 metres before feeding centre Diogo Gama to score under the posts.  Pedro Leal converted.

With ten minutes of the match left Portugal went through many phases before Diogo Countinho scored.

There were just three minutes left when captain Rodrigó Capo, scored Uruguay's final try.

Portugal's coach, Tomaz Morais, is reported by the IRB to have said afterwards:  "Seven points is nothing in rugby, we know that.  We need a good game in Uruguay, to play with courage and we will play with our style without fear.  We know with good defence and ball in hand we will have our chances because the two teams are very similar," Morais said.

"In terms of the game my players need good mentality and need to play for a win not a loss.  They need a win, whether by one, two or three points.  That is the mentality, not just to defend seven points.  To do that is stupid in my opinion."

Scorers:

For Portugal:
Tries:  Gama, Countinho
Con:  Leal

For Uruguay:
Try:  Capo

Teams:

The Portugal squad:
Forwards:  Joaquim Ferreira, João Correia, Gustavo Duarte, Duarte Figueiredo, André Silva, Gonçalo Uva, David Penalva, Marcello D'Orey, Juan Severin, João Uva, Paulo Murinello, Vasco Uva, Diogo Coutinho;
Backs:  Luís Pissarra, José Pinto, Gonçalo Malheiro, Cardoso Pinto, Diogo Gama, Miguel Portela, David Mateus, Pedro Carvalho, Pedro Leal

The Uruguay squad:
Forwards:  Sebastián Aguirre, Juan Miguel Álvarez, Carlos Arboleya, Juan Carlos Bado, Rodrigo Capó, Federico Capó, Pablo Lemoine, Juan Pérez, Carlos Protasi, Rodrigo Sánchez, Guillermo Storace
Backs:  Diego Aguirre, Rafael Álvarez, Matías Arocena, Nicolás Brignoni, Francisco Bulanti, Juan Campomar, Joaquín De Freitas, Alfredo Giuria ), Juan Labat, Juan Martín Llovet, Juan Menchaca, Joaquín Pastore, Hernán Ponte (Rouen)

Referee:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Touch judges:  George Clancy (Ireland), David Keane (Ireland)

English bounced out of Croke Park

It was Ireland's Croke Park party and England were the possible gatecrashers, but the Irish sent the English crashing to earth with a 43-13 humiliation at Croke Party on Saturday.

The Irish put on a show of intensity not seen since New Zealand's infamous victory over France in November 2004, and the English were powerless to prevent the green tide that washed over them, leaving few survivors in its wake.

History was made in Dublin on a rainy, rainy day.  The rain was nothing out of the ordinary but playing the foreign game in the temple of the GAA was.  And there was more.  Ireland did not just win the match.  They set a new record, their biggest ever defeat over England, the 30-point margin surpassing the 22-0 of 60 years ago.

The Soldier's Song and Ireland's Call and Athenry never sounded sop glorious as it did when over 70 000 Irishmen sang it at Croke Park.

The most ardent of GAA men must have raised a glass in satisfaction for what Brian O'Driscoll and his men did.

England started off well enough and then the rest of the match belonged to Ireland.  It started up front where they disrupted the English line-out where the only stability was provided by Martin Corry, and they destroyed the England scrum, especially in the period when Danny Grewcock was watching from the sin bin while Ireland scored 14 points.  His side really suffered while he, not for the first time, was off the field.

With the tights on top the Irish loose forwards overshadowed their English counterparts.  Each one of the Irish loose trio had an effective game.

It was a match of intense collision at every tackle.  The players' concentration was absolute.

Then the Irish backs were superior.  Ronan O'Gara had a much bigger effect on the game than ball-starved Jonny Wilkinson, and outside of that there was no contest.  The Irish centres were much better.  The Irish wings were much better than the English wings and the Irish fullback did far more than the English full-backs.  In fact the England back three were largely anonymous, except for three moments from newcomer David Strettle.

The Irish backs seemed able to ignore the wet and their first try was the result of daring passing in the wet.

The score was 9-3 to Ireland at the time.  They had their best chance to score when Simon Easterby had a great run.  They were close to the line when Grewcock was, to say the least, impetuous and went off to think about his life.

Their try came after they had battered from a maul and were right at the line.  Back it came and Peter Stringer fired his impeccable service to the right.  Gordon D'Arcy flicked a pass on.  Bian O'Driscoll picked up the low ball and gave a perfect pass to Girvan Dempsey who scored with Shane Horgan unused on his outside.  O'Gara converted.  16-9.

By this time Ireland were well and truly on top.

They came close soon afterwards when Horgan cut back on a long sharp runt.  Mat Tait saved England with a brave tackle and then as Ireland continued to threaten George Chuter saved with a tackle on Paul O'Connell, who lost the ball forward.  Five-metre scrum to England.  Ireland destroyed the England scrum and got a five-metre scrum of their own on the right.  They went blind and TMO Romain Poite was able to confirm "un essai pour les Verts".  O'Gara converted.

England kicked off and seemed filled with wild determination but it fizzled out.

Grewcock returned 14 points later.

Ireland started the second half well and had England rattled but the visitors rallied and had their best passage of play in the match, crowned by an excellent try by Strettle in the corner as two Irishmen tried to get to him.  Wilkinson goaled from touch.  26-10 to Ireland after 47 minutes.

Wilkinson tried a penalty from the half-way line when O'Connell was penalised for "crossing" but he was short.  Leamy was penalised shortly afterwards at a tackle and Wilkinson made no mistake with the easier kick, cancelled out two minutes later when Phil Vickery was penalised at a scrum.  29-13 after 57 minutes.

O'Driscoll was over in the left corner but Mike Tindall held up O'Driscoll.  That gave Ireland a five-metre scrum on their left.  Leamy charged off on a diagonal going right and then the ball came back to O'Gara who exquisitely, breathtakingly, stabbed a long diagonal which Horgan plucked out of the air, falling to ground for a wonderful try, which, ineluctably, O'Gara converted.  36-13 with 14 minutes to play.

Ireland had good moments when Denis Hickie counter-attacked, when O'Driscoll intercepted, and when only a horrible bounce denied David Wallace a try.

Ireland sent all the troops from the bench to savour the history of the moment and one of them delighted the whole of Ireland.  England got the ball from a scrum in midfield.  Shaun Perry went right, changed his mind and threw a long pass to his left, which Isaac Boss intercepted and off he raced some 40 metres towards Hill 16 for a try at the posts.

When Paddy Wallace kicked the last penalty out and the final whistle went, great jubilation erupted into the Dublin night.

Man of the Match:  There were lots of Irish candidates from Girvan Dempsey to skilful Marcus Horan.  Perhaps the halves deserved it a bit more.  Perhaps the loose trio also deserved special mention but the man who seemed the king of that Dublin night, the great Irish champion, was our Man of the Match, Paul O'Connell who competed for everything at line-outs and at the tackle and in the scrums -- a worthy combatant.

Moment of the Match:  Shane Horgan's try.  It would have delighted the hearts of every Gaelic Football man -- that pinpoint punt across the field, the tall man reaching up to pluck the ball out of the sky, the try.  It was a score fitting of Croke Park.

Villain of the Match:  Danny Grewcock -- but we doubt he will learn.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Dempsey, Wallace, Horgan, Boss
Cons:  O'Gara 4
Pens:  O'Gara 5

For England:
Try:  Strettle
Con:  Wilkinson
Pens:  Wilkinson 2

Yellow card:  Grewcock (28, England, deliberate offside)

Ireland:  Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer/ Isaac Boss, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Neil Best, 19 Mick O'Driscoll, 20 Isaac Boss/ Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Andrew Trimble.

England:  15 Olly Morgan, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Phil Vickery (captain), 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Tom Rees, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Mat Tait

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  Romain Poite (France)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Italy's show on the road at last

It has taken 33 matches and some heart-breaking close failures, but Italy finally have claimed an away win in the Six Nations, beating Scotland 17-37 in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Had they not won though, it would have been a calamity, as Scotland presented their visitors with a 21-point head start within the first seven minutes!

But after nearly forty minutes of rock-like defence as the Azzurri fought off the Scottish comeback, the Italians dominated the final ten minutes to make the game safe.

Rome, the Eternal City, is history.  There is history at every turn.  The whole of Italy is one great miracle of history.  But today Italy made history in Scotland.  Hadrian built a wall to keep the Picts out, for the Romans had no stomach to invade Caledonia stern and wild.  Today Marco Bortolami went where Hadrian did not go.  He went to the heart of Scotland and made history.  For the first time Italy won a Six nations match abroad and won it well.  Afterwards exhausted and exhilarated Alessandro Troncon, heaving for breath, announced that this was "the start of anew era for Italian rugby".

What a day, what a victory -- and what a muzzle for those who have been preaching Italy out of the Six Nations.

If New Zealand had been playing Brazil -- at rugby that is -- and after six minutes the full might of the All Blacks had scored three tries and led 21-0, you would not be surprised and the All Blacks would feel pleased with themselves.  But this was not All Blacks against Sambas.  This was Italy against Scotland at Murrayfield, and after six minutes Italy led 21-0.  It must be a unique situation in the annals of the International Championship however many nations were playing.

Three tries in six minutes!

Murrayfield was stunned.

For the first two the loudest sound in Murrayfield was produced by Italian voices.  For the third the Italian voices were drowned by the ugly sound of Scots booing Scots on a wintry afternoon.

The first try came after 18 seconds.  Italy kicked off, the Scots secured the ball and for some reason Phil Godman of the highlighted hair opted to chip.  Flying Mauro Bergamasco charged the chip down, gathered the ball just short of the goal-line and plunged over for the try.

Mistake 1, try 1.

The Scots spread the ball wide across the field, expansive but going nowhere till Chris Cusiter passed to his left towards Rob Dewey but into the arms of Andrea Scanavacca who raced 40 metres to score under the posts, for Hugo Southwell was on the attack.

Mistake 2, try 2

And just four minutes had passed as Italian voices echoed around Murrayfield.

That was it, one thought, let's settle down to reality.

Again Scotland went through their side-to-side, going-nowhere routine till Cusiter fired a long looping pass towards Southwell on the left wing, but Kaine Robertson leapt up and the Italianate New Zealander raced off over the acres to score at the posts.  21-0 after six minutes.

21-0 after six minutes.  There has never been anything like it in the International Championship, and the Scots booed Scots.

For the rest of the match the Scots had the majority of possession and for most of the rest they had the majority of territory.  Time and again they eschewed penalty kicks at goal in favour of attacking line-outs but the Italians tackled like heroes, every man an Horatio, keeping the Gaelic attackers back from their line.

Oh, Scotland got a try, a funny one.  First they knocked on, yet again, but Sergio Parisse did something silly off the ball and they had a chance to make another line-out.  They attacked and then Dewey squeezed through a gap with lots of referee assistance.  He almost stopped running as he expected to be called back.  He was not called back and fell to the ground as Troncon attacked.  Falling to the ground gave him the weird try that made the score 21-7.

Penalties kept Scotland on the attack.  They had eight penalties before Italy had one, 10-4 in the first half, 20-10 in the match as a whole.

But then Italy got on the attack.  Italy were penalised, Troncon tapped and Italy were at the Scottish line, right under their posts.  Simon Taylor hung on and was yellow-carded.  Italy kicked the goal and led 24-7.

There was no scoring while he was away though Scotland eventually kicked a penalty at goal when Troncon used his hands illegally at a tackle/ruck of sorts.

The half ended 24-10 to Italy.

Italy attacked first in the second half but Scanavacca knocked on.  Twenty minutes went with the Scots keeping things tighter.  One way to avoid the intercept is to keep on with pick-'n-go!

The Scottish try -- a proper one and a great one -- came after twenty minutes in the half when they went midfield from a line-out and then back to their left where Paterson sliced between Bortolami and Salvatore Perugini to speed nearly 50 metres for a try which he converted.  24-17.

The Scots had a sniff of unlikely victory, but, just as Italy had started so brilliantly, so they finished the stronger of the two as they throttled the life out of Scotland keeping them pinned in their own territory till the match was lost and won.  When Allen Jacobsen was penalised at a scrum, Scanavacca lobbed over the kick.  27-17 with 14 minutes to go.

They came back and could have had another simple kick had Perugini not had a rush of madness and stamped gratuitously on a prone Scot.  The penalty was reversed and Scotland cleared but still the Italians were hammering at the door.

Sean Lamont was Scotland's great hope, it seemed, for they kept hurling the ball his way in the hope that the big wing could work a wonder.  But when he was penalised and then vocalised his dissent, Scanavacca made it 390-17 with eight minutes left.  The Scots were well and truly cooked.

But it got worse as the Italians set up a camp in the Scots left corner and mauled and mauled as Generalissimo Troncon directed till eventually he, Troncon, scored the try which the television match official conformed was indeed a try.

Scanavacca converted from far out.

The Scots had their best attacking period in the last two minutes, Gonzalo Canale was sent to the sin bin for a tackle offence and still the Italians hurled them back.  With three seconds left for play they sent on Ramiro Pez and Paul Griffin so that the whole squad could win historic caps.

Imagine the overflowing of joy at this most famous victory.

Man of the Match:  There were all those heroic Italians who deserve medals but none as much as Alessandro Troncon.

Moment of the Match:  Take your pick of those three tries in six minutes.  But there was a telling moment at a break in play after 60 minutes when Chris Cusiter stood there looking downhearted and bewildered and Alessandro Troncon gave him a pat on the head.  Cheering up was not possible but it was a decent moment, also an indication of relative fortunes.

Villain of the Match:  Who wants villains on such an historic day?

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Dewey, Paterson
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pen:  Paterson

For Italy:
Tries:  Mauro Bergamasco, Scanavacca, Robertson, Troncon
Cons:  Scanavacca 4
Pens:  Scanavacca 3

Yellow cards:  Taylor (Scotland, 20, deliberate infringement);  Canale (Italy, 80 deliberate infringement)

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson (c),10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Dave Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Jim Hamilton, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Nikki Walker.

Italy:  15 Roland De Marigny, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Andrea Masi, 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Maurizio Zaffiri, 21 Paul Griffen, 22 Ramiro Pez

Referee:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assessor:  Patrick Robin (France)