Ireland in Wales scare but remain on course for Grand Slam

Ireland survived a huge scare to keep themselves on course for a Six Nations Grand Slam after they defeated Wales 27-18 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

In their first game since Warren Gatland’s exit, the Welsh were exceptional and gave as good as they got after a difficult start.

The visitors had controlled the first quarter, going 10-0 in front through Jack Conan’s try and Sam Prendergast’s penalty, but the hosts responded superbly.

A brace of Gareth Anscombe three-pointers got Wales back into the contest before Jac Morgan and Tom Rogers’ tries, which came following Garry Ringrose’s 20-minute red card, took them 18-10 ahead.

However, after Ireland returned to 15, the title favourites gradually assumed control.  Jamie Osborne’s score levelled the game while Prendergast added four more penalties in the second half to secure the win.

The build-up to the game in Cardiff had obviously been dominated by Gatland’s departure and the decision to bring in Cardiff’s Matt Sherratt on an interim basis.

Sherratt immediately made changes, bringing Anscombe and Max Llewellyn from outside the squad into the XV.

As a result, they looked a more balanced side on paper and it showed on the field, despite what appeared to be an ominous Ireland start.

Simon Easterby’s men have been impressive so far this Six Nations campaign and they looked to take their next step on the road to an unprecedented three-peat.

Like they did against Scotland, Ireland opened the match superbly, showing excellent intensity, physicality and skill set.  Wales struggled to cope and it was not a surprise to see Conan barrel his way across the whitewash.

Prendergast converted before the fly-half added a three-pointer as the visitors continued to control the gain line exchanges.

There were positive signs for Wales, however, with the scrum working well and the half-backs linking nicely to produce some promising moments.  That duly yielded two penalties for Anscombe as Welsh roars increased.

Belief started to seep into the hosts’ game and with Ringrose also in the sin-bin, they began to put the away side under real duress.  They pounded at the Irish line and Morgan eventually found his way over to remarkably take his team into the lead.

Ringrose’s yellow was then upgraded to red during the interval and with the visitors still down a man, they took advantage through Rogers’ stunning finish.

It was a hugely surprising turn of events, with serious questions being asked of the title favourites, but there is a reason why they have won this competition for the past two seasons.

Easterby’s men rode out the rest of the 20-minute red card period and in fact reduced the deficit through the boot of Prendergast before they levelled matters after Bundee Aki came onto the field for Ringrose.

Although there were a couple of customary bursts by Aki, it was fellow New Zealand-born star James Lowe who was the creator for the try as his incredible aerial skills allowed him to tap the ball back in-field for Osborne to touch down.

Ireland were back in the game but Wales were still vibrant and creating opportunities in attack.  However, the physicality of Ireland, combined with the kicking game of half-backs Jamison Gibson-Park and Prendergast, pinned the hosts back.

Under pressure, they conceded a couple of kickable three-pointers which the fly-half converted to take the Irish six points ahead with 10 minutes remaining.

Despite Prendergast’s kicking prowess, it was another mixed display from the playmaker and his errant clearance allowed the Welsh to get on the front foot.

They created a half-chance for Ellis Mee in the left-hand corner but, when it was deemed correctly that he had knocked on, that ended their hopes.

Wales duly succumbed to their 15th successive Test loss when a fifth Prendergast penalty rubberstamped the triumph for Ireland.

The teams

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau , 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Joe Roberts

Ireland:  15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan (c), 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Bundee Aki

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Ireland make Six Nations title statement with dominant win over Scotland

Ireland took another step towards an unprecedented Six Nations three-peat as they secured a thoroughly deserved 32-18 triumph over Scotland at Murrayfield.

Following their victory over England last weekend, they made it two from two in 2025 with another impressive display.

Ireland effectively controlled the match from start to finish, going 17-0 in front via Calvin Nash and Caelan Doris tries after half-an-hour, while Sam Prendergast added seven points off the tee.

There was a brief surge from the Scots as Duhan van der Merwe touched down and Blair Kinghorn kicked two penalties, but further scores via James Lowe and Jack Conan secured another bonus-point victory for the Six Nations title holders.

After a slow start in their Six Nations opener against England, Ireland were quite the opposite in the early stages of this encounter.  They were fast out of the blocks, playing at a tempo and intensity which the hosts simply could not deal with.

Easterby’s charges were hugely impressive and Robbie Henshaw set the tone with a powerful drive through the heart of the Scottish defence.  They then moved the ball through the phases with typical accuracy, forcing their opponents to infringe twice deep inside their own 22.

Instead of going for the posts, the visitors went for the jugular and their bravery was rewarded when Prendergast’s long pass was collected and finished by Nash, who was a late replacement for Mack Hansen.

It was an outstanding opening to the game from Ireland and they continued to dominate as pretty much everything went wrong for Scotland.

Their only success came at the lineout, with the Irishmen not helped by quick fire HIAs for Tadhg Beirne and then his replacement, Ryan Baird.

However, it was not enough to alter the momentum with all the chances being created by the back-to-back defending champions.  The Scots were perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty try when Duhan van der Merwe impeded Nash, but it did result in a yellow card for the gargantuan wing.

Ireland were also held up twice over the line by the desperate hosts, who did well to keep their tryline intact for the next 20 minutes.

That was until captain Doris found his way across the whitewash.  By that point, Prendergast had extended their lead off the tee and Scotland had seen Darcy Graham and Finn Russell both go off with head injuries after a nasty collision, but the Irishmen’s second try was nothing less than they deserved.

Once again, their young fly-half was at the heart of it when he broke down the left-hand side.  He decided not to throw the off-load and it proved to be the correct decision as his captain was on hand a phase later to touch down.

Scotland had been comprehensively outplayed and the loss of Russell certainly did not help matters, but they at least got themselves on the scoreboard on the stroke of half-time thanks to Van der Merwe’s brilliant finish.

Considering how the opening period went, it seemed like just a bump in the road for an Ireland side in complete control, but Scotland appeared revitalised at the start of the second half.

Kinghorn immediately reduced the arrears with a penalty and, following a stunning Huw Jones break, the full-back added another off the tee.

All of a sudden, Scotland found themselves back in the contest and within a converted try of their opponents, but that threat was only brief and Ireland soon re-established their dominance to put the game out of the home side’s reach.

Lowe, Doris and Jamison Gibson-Park set up a fine position and it was capitalised on by the left wing as he showed his strength to cross the whitewash.

Then came the decisive blow as with a quarter of the match remaining Easterby’s men killed off the contest when Gibson-Park’s utterly stunning kick was collected by Hugo Keenan.  Although the full-back was hauled down just short, Conan was on hand to go over and secure their second win.

Prendergast then added a three-pointer to extend Ireland’s lead before Scotland had the final word through Ben White’s late try.

However, it was barely a consolation score given the title ambitions they had before the tournament.  Instead, they succumbed for the 11th successive time to Ireland.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Garry Ringrose

Referee:  James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

Fin Smith leads England to shock Six Nations win over France

England ended their wait for a victory over a Tier 1 nation with a gutsy 26-25 win over France at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Player of the Match Fin Smith’s conversion in the 80th minute after Elliot Daly’s try was enough to get them over the line, but other scores from Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman and Fin Baxter ensured they took away maximum points in their quest for the Six Nations title.

The opening 10 minutes were as cagey as you could imagine, with kick-tennis dominating much of the game, but Les Bleus certainly looked to have the upper hand.

A delicious break from Thomas Ramos created their best chance to capitalise on this dominance, as he sliced open the English defence with ease, however just as France looked to pounce Alexandre Roumat spilled the ball and gave England an easy reprieve.

The full-back had another golden opportunity to put his team into the lead, this time from the tee, but the usually automatic kicker pulled his effort just wide.

England nearly made them pay for this miss too.  A turnover from Tom Curry gave them their first genuine period of possession in France’s half, and strong carries from Tom Willis and Lawrence saw them get to within touching distance of the line, but a pivotal turnover cost them just as they looked to pounce.

With broken field ahead of them, France looked to strike.  Les Bleus almost teleported up the pitch and to within striking distance of the English line, but Ramos’ pass was spilt into touch by the mercurial Antoine Dupont and yet another chance went begging.

This wasn’t the end of it though.  France stole the proceeding lineout and looked to set-up shop in England’s five-metre.  Some solid smash-and-bash from the pack gave them a perfect chance to finally cross the whitewash, however, Damian Penaud lost control of the ball and the chance was gone.

But, France did eventually make their dominance count as Louis Bielle-Biarrey latched onto Penaud’s clever grubber kick to score.

This seemed to bring England back to life, and they hit back with a try of their own through Lawrence as he powered over from short distance.

Momentum was beginning to shift towards the hosts now too, and a cheap penalty from Penaud allowed England to once again march into the 22;  however, a costly knock-on from Curry saw the attack grind to a halt just as quickly as it began.

The opening of the second-half was the complete opposite of the first, but it still had the same theme running through it.  France missed chances.

A sneaky rip from Bielle-Biarrey saw the Bordeaux flier motor towards the England line, but in keeping with the rest of the game, his pass to Peato Mauvaka fell to the floor just as the Toulouse hooker looked like walking home.

Les Bleus eventually did add to their tally, though, as Ramos knocked over two three-pointers to pull his side six points ahead.

This didn’t deter the hosts though, as Freeman soared highest to collect Fin Smith’s pinpoint cross-field kick to dot down and bring them back to within one point.

France hit back with an instant response though as Penaud crossed out wide.  Some delicious play from Ramos, Gregory Alldritt and Bielle-Biarrey marched the visitors down the pitch.  Then, quick hands through the backs found the Bordeaux winger in space out wide, and he made no mistake with the finish.

Again, England rallied after this and came within a whisker of scoring.  A cute delayed pass from Fin Smith saw replacement Jamie George charge through the French line, and he later connected with Tom Curry too, however a heroic tackle from Oscar Jegou denied the Sale man a certain try.

But, a costly French knock-on from the resulting restart gifted England possession back in the 22, however, another missed kick from Marcus Smith meant France got off scot-free.

England weren’t sent packing though, even with Smith’s latest miss of the tee, and they eventually made their pressure count as Baxter burrowed over from short-range.  A change in kicker proved just the ticket too, as Fin Smith’s conversion put England back ahead with less than 10 minutes to go.

This lead vanished in a matter of minutes though, as Bielle-Biarrey finished off a simply sensational counter-attack.  Ramos’ conversion split the uprights, and once again France led by six with just four minutes left on the clock.

With the clock winding down, England had one final throw of the dice, and they made it count as Daly powered over after a clever strike move.  Fin Smith’s conversion sailed through the sticks too, giving England that long-awaited win over a Tier 1 side.

The teams

England:  15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Émilien Gailleton

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees:  Andrea Piardi (Italy), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

Wales woes deepen as Italy inflict 14th straight loss on Six Nations visitors

Wales suffered an eye-watering 14th successive international defeat as they were beaten 22-15 in a wet-weather Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

Italy’s only try in their victory came via Ange Capuozzo in the first period as Tommaso Allan’s 17 points off the tee kept them at arm’s length in what was a deserved triumph.

Wales would cross through Aaron Wainwright and were also rewarded a late penalty try, but it wasn’t enough to save Warren Gatland’s charges from yet another Test defeat.

For the Azzurri this is a history-making victory as it’s their first back-to-back triumph over a tournament rival, having overcome Wales at the Principality Stadium last year.

The inclement weather did not help in terms of a free-flowing contest but it is to Italy’s credit that they played the conditions better than the Welsh and duly ran out winners.

Wales came close to having the perfect start on two minutes when Tomos Williams’ cross-field kick proved just too strong for a chasing Josh Adams who could not gather.

And the Azzurri made them pay with Allan kicking his first penalty of the game four minutes later after Freddie Thomas was caught offside by referee Matthew Carley.

Ben Thomas levelled matters on 16 minutes when the in-form Tommaso Mennoncello took out Williams off the ball, with the Wales fly-half making no mistake from distance.

But then Italy began to turn the screw and their dominance bore fruit thanks to Garbisi’s sublime dummy and kick ahead for Capuozzo who finished expertly on the right wing.

The converted try and a second Allan penalty made it 13-3 before the half-hour mark and then Wales hooker Evan Lloyd was penalised at a ruck which moved it to 16-3.

Wales desperately needed a response but unfortunately for them, the first half would finish as it started, with a Williams kick not gathered by Adams in the wet weather.

Italy remained the superior side after the resumption but Allan was unable to repay his pack for a scrum penalty win as he was wayward for the first time on 52 minutes and again two minutes later, this after Taulupe Faletau was penalised for a blatant neck roll at the breakdown.  Thankfully for Wales, they remained just 13 points adrift of the hosts.

A third straight penalty miss would follow on 58 minutes, this time from Martin Page-Relo from inside his own half after wing Tom Rogers was penalised for a high tackle.

Still, it felt that those misses were unlikely to come back to haunt Italy, especially when the onrushing Adams was yellow-carded for making clumsy head contact on Garbisi.

Allan would stop the rot off the tee on 61 minutes as he made it 19-3 while Adams watched on from the sidelines, slotting his fourth penalty of the afternoon in Rome.

Finally, though the Wales fans would have something to cheer as their first try of this year’s Six Nations came via Wainwright after a solid driving maul which made it 19-8.

Allan did hit back with another three-pointer before Wales finally upped the tempo and impetus, capitalising on their profitable driving maul again which led to Marco Riccioni and Dino Lamb being sin-binned for blatant offences.  The latter would lead to Carley awarding a penalty try to make it a seven-point game but Italy held on for victory.

The teams

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Eddie James, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 James Botham, 5 Freddie Thomas, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Josh Hathaway

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (FFR)

Ireland's superb second half sees England shredded in Six Nations

Simon Easterby’s brief stint in charge of Ireland started in ideal fashion as they came from behind at the break to earn a 27-22 victory over England at the Aviva Stadium.

The Red Rose were impressive in the first half and held a 10-5 advantage at the interval through Cadan Murley’s try and Marcus Smith’s penalty.

Jamison Gibson-Park had responded for an Ireland side who lacked the fluency we’ve come to expect, but they rectified that in the second period.

They dominated the final 40 minutes, with tries from Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan sealing the win.

It was yet another missed opportunity for England, who undid all the good work after the interval, despite Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman’s efforts giving them a losing bonus-point.

While few expected England to win against the defending Six Nations champions, most thought they would provide Ireland with stern opposition and so it proved as Borthwick’s side began on the front foot.

A mixture of accurate kicking and some fine moments in broken field kept the Irish defence guessing and they got their reward early on.

Marcus Smith had already shown the threat they can pose when he linked with Freeman to send the Northampton Saint scampering down the right.

Although that attack broke down, the visitors were deservedly on the board soon after.  Ollie Lawrence made the initial incursion before play was shifted left and Henry Slade’s grubber through was picked up and finished by Murley on his Test debut.

Following that fine attacking start, it was all about defence for the Red Rose as Ireland got into groove with the ball.

It offered a chance for Sam Prendergast to prove his selection and, at times, it worked well, but too often passes went to ground.

Ireland were certainly better than they were in the Autumn Nations Series, however, particularly with their intensity and physicality in the contact area, and it put the opposition under pressure.

It resulted in a string of penalties and eventually referee Ben O’Keeffe ran out of patience, leading to a yellow card for Smith.

The Red Rose held out well for the next 10 minutes but a simple missed tackle was eventually their undoing as James Lowe shook off Alex Mitchell and found Gibson-Park, who finished brilliantly.

Prendergast missed the conversion, though, and that proved costly as England moved five points clear at the interval through a Smith three-pointer.

Unperturbed, the hosts continued to dominate possession and territory, while the visitors’ discipline remained poor.  England were unfortunate with a few decisions but there were also some needless penalties and that gave Ireland front foot ball.

Eventually, the dam broke when they isolated Aki one-on-one with Smith, but the Ireland centre still did superbly to bounce him off and finish under pressure.

Ireland now had the momentum while the Red Rose continued to make errors and another infringement enabled Prendergast to make his first kick of the game.

The hosts were very much beginning to find their rhythm and they concocted a brilliant attack when Lowe took an outstanding line through the heart of the English rearguard.  It was Beirne who supplied the excellent support and the lock duly touched down to end the game as a contest.

All that Ireland required for the perfect evening was the bonus-point and that came through the returning Sheehan, who latched onto some more wonderful work from Lowe.

England did finish with a flourish thanks to scores from Curry and Freeman, but it was very much the hosts’ day.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Robbie Henshaw

England:  15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Fin Smith

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  James Doleman (New Zealand), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Scotland rescued by Huw Jones hat-trick as they edge Italy in Six Nations

Scotland withstood a scare from Italy as Huw Jones’ hat-trick helped them open their 2025 Six Nations campaign with a 31-19 victory at Murrayfield.

The hosts had opened in fine style, finding themselves 14-0 and then 19-6 ahead thanks to tries from Rory Darge, Jones and Ben White, but the Azzurri hit back.

Tommaso Allan responded with two penalties before another brace of three-pointers reduced the arrears to seven.  When Juan Ignacio Brex intercepted Finn Russell’s pass to level the scores, the majority of Murrayfield was concerned, but Darcy Graham and Jones rescued the Scots.

Graham was the spark for both of the centre’s second-half tries as Scotland saw off a spirited showing from the Italians.

Fast start

The Scots went into the 2025 Six Nations with hopes once again high that they could end their long wait for a title and their start showed why.

Gregor Townsend’s men dominated possession and territory against an Italian outfit that were slow out of the blocks.  Co-captain Darge took advantage of their opponents’ slack opening, starting and finishing a try which moved them into an early 7-0 advantage.

The flanker, who was utterly sublime in the first half, turned over the ball on halfway before the play was shifted wide for Duhan van der Merwe to storm down the left-hand side.

Under pressure, Italy infringed and, instead of going for the posts, the hosts went for the jugular and it paid off as Darge barrelled over from close range.

Scotland then built on that early score and once again Van der Merwe was heavily involved as he surged down the wing and passed inside for Jones to finish.

It had been a dreadful start for an Azzurri team who themselves had big ambitions coming into the tournament.  Their lineout was malfunctioning while they simply failed to hold onto the ball for any significant length of time, but they finally began to edge back into the contest.

The scrum had the better of the Scottish front-row and the home side also started to make a few more errors, handing Allan a couple of penalty opportunities which the full-back kicked to reduce the arrears.

All the threat was coming from Scotland, however, and a third try was soon forthcoming as Dave Cherry’s brilliant off-load enabled White to touch down.

Only discipline was really letting Townsend’s outfit down and a third infringement inside their own half enabled Allan to make it a 10-point buffer.

But it was becoming a real issue and, after a fourth three-pointer got Italy to within a converted try on the scoreboard, the pressure increased on the Scots.

It evidently told on Russell, who forced a pass in midfield, and Brex was on hand to intercept and cross the whitewash unopposed to level matters.  The match had turned on its head and a revitalised Italy were hassling the Scots into mistakes.

The hosts needed something special to re-establish control of proceedings and it came via the magnificent Graham.  The flyer received the ball on the right-hand wing, cut inside and sped away before Jones was on hand to collect and score.

Graham was also involved in their fifth score as he took the ball off the shoulder of Russell to take them deep into Italian territory.  Under pressure, the visitors duly ceded when Jones crossed the whitewash for his hat-trick.

Those tries gave Scotland enough of a buffer to see out the rest of the game, despite a late surge from Italy which saw them create a number of chances.  However, their profligacy meant that they came away from Edinburgh with nothing to show for their efforts.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Kyle Rowe

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Simone Gesi

Referee:  Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Staggering Antoine Dupont thrills as France hammer Wales in Six Nations

Antoine Dupont returned to the Six Nations after a two-year absence to tear Wales apart as France claimed a dominant 43-0 victory in the opening match of the 2025 Six Nations Championship.

The 28-year-old missed the 2024 tournament as he began his journey to Olympic gold, but Les Bleus’ superstar was back in the saddle on Friday and was unsurprisingly influential during his 50 minutes on the field.

Dupont finished with three assists as the French ended the game as a contest after 40 minutes thanks to two tries each from Theo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

You could not criticise the effort of the Welsh but they were well and truly outclassed and Julien Marchand, Emilien Gailleton and Gregory Alldritt all crossed the whitewash in the second period to seal the win.

It appeared to be the perfect start for Fabien Galthie’s men but Romain Ntamack slightly took the gloss off the victory when he was correctly sent off for a shoddy hit on Ben Thomas.

A ban duly awaits for Ntamack, likely leaving France without their first choice fly-half for the big Six Nations games against England and Ireland.

Few expected much from the visitors heading into this clash and those fears were eventually confirmed, but for a quarter there were some promising signs.

There was some nice variation from Thomas, Jac Morgan carried hard and early replacement Tommy Reffell was an absolute pest at the breakdown.

France, by contrast, were rather ragged early on, with even the great Dupont not quite finding his range, but that was soon rectified as the game headed towards the 20-minute mark.

The hosts’ half-back duly took centre stage and, after a spell of pressure, the superstar scrum-half’s inch-perfect crossfield kick was collected by Attissogbe and the young wing had the easy task of touching down.

Soon after it became a 14-point buffer as the hosts turned the Welsh defence inside out, allowing Thomas Ramos to throw the ball behind the back of an advancing Josh Adams for Bielle-Biarrey to scamper over.

Wales’ lack of quality was being exposed but so was their lack of belief.  Warren Gatland’s men rather resembled Italy of yesteryear, with their willingness and work ethic admirable but the confidence has ultimately been shot after 13 successive Test defeats.

France could do as they pleased and they had the bonus-point wrapped up before the break.  Evan Lloyd’s sin-binning certainly didn’t help Wales’ cause and with even more space to exploit, Dupont scythed through their rearguard to feed Attissogbe for his second score.

The 20-year-old was then joined on two tries for the game by a player just one year his senior when Bielle-Biarrey crossed the whitewash on the stroke of half-time.

Once again, Dupont played a key role, with his long pass finding the Bordeaux-Begles flyer out wide, but the hard work was done up front thanks to the pack’s dominant driving maul.  That drew in the defence to allow the playmaker to fire the ball out to the left where Bielle-Biarrey was lurking.

After Ramos kicked his fourth conversion, France held a dominant lead at the break and they could enjoy the second period.

The home side maintained their intensity immediately after the interval, albeit this time without the ball, as Wales began to look slightly more threatening in attack.

France withstood their efforts, though, and when Les Bleus put together their first real attack of the second half Marchand touched down from close range.

With the game done and dusted, the match became scrappy, but France still managed to show their vast array of skills as Gailleton finished off a flowing move.

It was all going swimmingly for the hosts but Ntamack was red carded when his shoulder connected with the head of Thomas.

That reckless act did not affect France on Friday, with Alldritt completing the win with a final try, but it could have consequences for Galthie’s side later on in the tournament.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Émilien Gailleton

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 James Botham, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Blair Murray

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Chris Busby (Ireland), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (Australia)

Out of sorts Ireland fight back against improving Wallabies to celebrate Cian Healy feat with a win

Ireland fought back from 10-0 down to overcome an improving Wallabies 22-19 in a tense Autumn Nations Series meeting at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

Tries from Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris and Gus McCarthy along with the extras off the tee from Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley saw the Irish to a workmanlike victory.

Australia will look back on this match as one they perhaps should have won, with their only try coming from Max Jorgensen as Noah Lolesio kicked 14 points in the fixture.

It was a first period somewhat lacking in entertainment as Australia went into the break deservedly leading 13-5 thanks to a try from young Jorgenson and Lolesio’s boot.

Ireland did start strongly though and almost opened the scoring but for full-back Hugo Keenan having the ball stripped from his grasp just five metres from the try-line.

The Wallabies compounded the spillage by slotting a penalty on nine minutes, this after Ireland lock Joe McCarthy had made head contact with Australia’s Rob Valetini.

Australia had their tails up at this point and would cross the whitewash on 19 minutes, with an in-form Lolesio instrumental in Jorgenson diving over on the left wing.

Lolesio’s excellent touchline extras took Australia into a 10-0 lead but Van der Flier’s short-range carry soon brought Ireland back into it at 10-5.  However, the hosts would have expected Prendergast to add the conversion as a bad miss meant the Wallabies still had a nice cushion in their locker with just over a quarter of the match gone.

They extended the lead to eight on 33 minutes when prop Taniela Tupou’s interception and wayward offload resulted in a breakdown penalty which Lolesio coolly nailed.

It was perhaps symptomatic of Ireland’s first-half woes that the action finished with a misfiring lineout deep in Australia’s 22, with the latter trotting in feeling positive.

However, Ireland were much improved on their return and fly-half Prendergast chipped away at that lead on 43 minutes with a penalty from in front of the posts for 13-8.

Six minutes later they would hold the lead for the first time in the fixture when a kick to the corner led to quick ball and number eight Doris diving under the uprights.

That lead was snatched back by Australia though on 55 minutes when replacement Tom O’Toole was pinged for not releasing the ball carrier, meaning it was now 16-15.

Loleshio was on target once again on 63 minutes with a long-range effort as the Wallabies went 19-15 up and were looking in a positive space ahead of the game’s finale.

However, the bench saved Andy Farrell’s men as the injection of speedy service from Craig Casey coupled with a maul try from the promising McCarthy sealed the victory.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Garry Ringrose

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Joseph Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Max Jorgensen, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 James Slipper
Replacements:  16 Billy Pollard, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Harry Potter

Referee:  Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

England seal dominant victory over Eddie Jones’ Japan to round off disastrous Autumn Nations Series as defensive concerns remain

England ended a run of five successive defeats and concluded their Autumn Nations Series campaign with a dominant 59-14 triumph over Japan.

It provided a brief respite for their under pressure head coach Steve Borthwick, who saw his side control the game from start to finish.

The Englishmen were too strong for a poor an underpowered Japan side as they moved into a 35-7 advantage at the interval thanks to tries from Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Jamie George (twice) and Ollie Sleightholme.

Naoto Saito touched down for the Brave Blossoms and Kazuki Himeno went over in the second period, but Eddie Jones’ men were comprehensively outplayed at Twickenham.

England scored four more tries after the break as George Furbank, Luke Cowan-Dickie (twice) and Tom Roebuck went over to complete an easy and much-needed win.

England were looking for a positive end to their Autumn Nations Series and, on the scoreboard at least, they got it.  They overpowered Japan and had the game won by half-time.

Most of the hard work was done by those up front, although there was the odd positive sign from the backline.

That included Ollie Lawrence, who created the first try, as the centre broke through the middle and found Earl to go over unopposed.

England’s forwards then went to work and, following a series of close-range surges, Underhill crossed the whitewash and was awarded a try, despite appearing to lose control of the ball.  It was awarded, however, and the Red Rose moved 14-0 ahead.

Japan were already on the back foot and they struggled to stem the tide, particularly at the set-piece.  The Red Rose scrum was consistently doing damage and setting up the position for the hosts to set up the maul, where George was the beneficiary.

Twice the captain went over after their pack charged towards the line, handing them a dominant 28-0 advantage after just half-an-hour.

Jones’ men had failed to truly fire a shot but, in the 34th minute, they finally got outside of that fallible English rush defence and scored a magnificent try.

Once again, the home side got it wrong, leaving their wide channel exposed, but that shouldn’t detract from the work of Dylan Riley, whose wonderful run was finished by Saito.

That was the visitors’ only positive in the first half, though, as England extended their buffer at the interval through Sleightholme after a wonderful pass from tighthead Will Stuart.

The second period continued in much the same fashion as the first, albeit the Red Rose were not quite as clinical as the first, while their defence continued to struggle when Japan were able to shift the ball wide.

Borthwick’s outfit registered two tries in the third quarter, with the first coming via a particularly special off-load from Tommy Freeman, as the wing’s superb piece of skill was collected and score by Furbank.

Cowan-Dickie then touched down before Japan manufactured another wonderful try, which was finished off by Himeno.

Their joy did not last long, though, as the hosts’ replacement hooker made it brace by scoring for a second time from close range.

It was all a bit too easy for England, who rounded off the victory when Fin Smith’s crossfield kick was well finished by Roebuck.

The teams

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Tom Roebuck

Japan:  15 Takuro Matsunaga, 14 Tomoki Osada, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Siosaia Fifita, 11 Jone Naikabula, 10 Nicholas McCurran, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faulua Makisi, 7 Kazuki Himeno, 6 Kanji Shimokawa, 5 Epineri Uluiviti, 4 Sanaila Waqa, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Takato Okabe
Replacements:  16 Seunghyuk Lee, 17 Yukio Morikawa, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Daichi Akiyama, 20 Tevita Tatafu, 21 Ben Gunter, 22 Shinobu Fujiwara, 23 Yusuke Kajimura

Referee:  Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Andrea Piardi (Italy), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO:  Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Superb Scotland blunt Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies to end tourists’ grand slam dream

The Wallabies are still waiting for their first Home Nations grand slam since 1984 after they were outplayed by an outstanding Scotland side, going down 27-13 at Murrayfield.

It was a tight and fraught opening period, with the hosts going 7-3 in front at the interval through Sione Tuipulotu’s try.

Noah Lolesio provided Australia’s response before the break and then added another three-pointer in the second period, but the Scots then hit their straps to take the game away from the tourists.

They touched down three more times via Duhan van der Merwe, Josh Bayliss and Finn Russell to end their Autumn Nations Series campaign with a fine victory.

The Wallabies, meanwhile, did get a consolation score through Harry Potter but it was a disappointing afternoon for Joe Schmidt’s outfit, who fell in the third match of their grand slam quest.

Plenty was riding on this contest, which was evident in the ferocity of the collisions and the fractious nature of the match.

It led to an intense and enthralling encounter, even if the mistakes meant that the sides struggled to truly find their rhythm with ball in hand.

The Wallabies were full of confidence following their victories in London and Cardiff.  In those matches, they scored 42 and 52 points respectively, but they found the Scottish defence much more difficult to breach on Sunday.

Although the tempo was there and the carries often forced the hosts’ rearguard back, Gregor Townsend’s men adjusted well and defended superbly inside their own 22.

Lolesio did reward the early Australian pressure with a penalty, but they struggled to turn their good work into tries.

In contrast, Scotland were more clinical.  They weren’t averse to the odd error when in good attacking positions, but the home side at least managed to turn some of their chances into points.

They had gone through the first quarter scoreless but rectified that in the 23rd minute when Tuipulotu charged onto Ewan Ashman’s lineout throw to touch down.

Schmidt would not have been happy with the Wallabies defence, but the Scottish captain was too powerful in contact for Andrew Kellaway and Len Ikitau.

After Russell added the conversion, that 7-3 scoreline remained until the start of the second period when the hosts’ fly-half extended their buffer.

Lolesio responded almost immediately but Scotland were beginning to take control thanks to the Australians’ discipline and the kicking accuracy of their opponents’ half-backs.

Townsend’s side duly put pressure on the Aussies’ try-line and it eventually resulted in Van der Merwe powering over to once again move ahead of Darcy Graham in the try-scoring pecking order.

Graham would still be an influential part of the win, however, as his searing break was finished off by Bayliss.

Scotland were now rampant and a fourth try was soon forthcoming as Huw Jones combined with Blair Kinghorn to send Russell across the whitewash.

That sealed the win and ended Australia’s hopes, despite Potter getting a score back for the visitors late on.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Kyle Rowe

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Billy Pollard, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Nick Frost, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Max Jorgensen

Referee:  Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

All Blacks overcome brave Italy as Will Jordan surpasses Jonah Lomu feat

New Zealand produced a disjointed display as they sealed a 29-11 Autumn Nations Series victory over a much-improved Italy at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Scores from Cam Roigard, Will Jordan, Mark Tele’a and Beauden Barrett were added to by nine points off the tee from the latter as the All Blacks claimed a rugged win.

Paolo Garbisi kicked six points while Tommaso Menoncello scored for Italy and they will be buoyed by their performance, especially after a disappointing recent period.

There was plenty of encouragement from Italy’s first-half showing as they caused New Zealand several headaches and fronted up admirably in an improved performance.

The pressure they put on the All Blacks led to errors from the visitors.  However, a facet New Zealand had success was the scrum, which won them a couple of penalties.

It was Italy though who opened the scoring after Ardie Savea dived over a ruck in a cynical manner, allowing Garbisi to successfully nudge his team 3-0 into the lead.

New Zealand responded through Barrett on 15 minutes after Menoncello had over-extended at a ruck and taking the three points was a sign the All Blacks were rattled.

They didn’t help themselves when Patrick Tuipulotu and others were penalised for obstruction as Rieko Ioane collected the resulting restart, with Garbisi duly obliging.

At 6-3 up and with Scott Barrett being shown a yellow card for a croc-roll after 20 minutes, things were looking especially rosy for the fired-up Azzurri and their fans.

However, a much-needed opportunistic crossing from Roigard silenced the Allianz Stadium crowd as he sniped around the fringe of a ruck for a score to make it 10-6.

Things would get even better for the All Blacks on the stroke of half-time when Jordan was sent through a hole after a sustained period of pressure for a key try that moved him ahead of the great Jonah Lomu in New Zealand’s try-scoring chart.

The first score after the break was always going to be crucial and it looked for all money that the Italians would get it after dominating both possession and territory.

Unfortunately for the Azzurri ― even with Anton Lienert-Brown being sent to the sin-bin for repeated team offences ― they simply could not break down the black wall.

The scoreline remained locked at 16-7 as the final 10 minutes approached but it was a period not without key moments including Sam Cane bowing out to warm applause.  There was also the introduction of another outgoing New Zealand legend as scrum-half TJ Perenara emerged off the bench for his final run-out in the black shirt.

Finally, the deadlock was broken, however, on 71 minutes when sloppy passing in the backline eventually found Tele’a, with Beauden Barrett adding the tough extras.

It seemed fitting that Italy would have the final say in the game as Menoncello received an offload from Marco Zanon for a consolation score that was fully deserved.

However, the Azzurri chanced their arm too much in the final play on their own line and Beauden Barrett capitalised, cantering over to add gloss to the away win.

The teams

Italy:  15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex (c), 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dino Lamb, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Leonardo Marin 23 Marco Zanon

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Mark Tele’a, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 David Havili, 23 Damian McKenzie

Referee:  Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant Referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Ludovic Cayre (France)
TMO:  Tual Trainini (France)

Springboks manhandle woeful Wales to complete Autumn Nations Series sweep, piling more pressure on Warren Gatland

South Africa cruised to a predictably emphatic 45-12 victory over struggling Wales to finish their Autumn Nations Series campaign on a high note on Saturday.

Tries from Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Elrigh Louw, Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenekamp and Jordan Hendrikse saw the Springboks to victory.

For Wales this is their 12th Test defeat on the spin as the pressure continues to mount on under-fire head coach Warren Gatland following a difficult year at the helm.

The gulf in quality was evident right from the first whistle as the Springboks raced into a 12-0 inside eight minutes thanks to tries from lock duo Mostert and Etzebeth.

The former’s score was created thanks to South Africa dominating the physical exchanges and after Cheslin Kolbe was tackled, Mostert hit a wonderful angle off Jaden Hendrikse to stroll over the whitewash.  Jordan Hendrikse added the conversion as the Springboks put down an early marker at the Principality Stadium.

Not to be outdone, his second-row partner Etzebeth was next to cross as he combined superbly with Arendse on the left wing before adding his name to the board.

It was relentless and could have been much worse for the struggling Welsh had Siya Kolisi and Fassi not been held up over the try-line on either side of an Ardendse try.

Kolisi was denied again on 33 minutes after the officials spotted a spillage from Jaden Hendrikse at the base of a ruck as Wales looked to be living on borrowed time.

And so it proved as following utter scrum dominance from the Springboks, flanker Louw picked and went from close range to claim his side’s fourth try of the evening.

To their credit Wales did manage to end the half with some points on the board as Rio Dyer’s courageous score on the right wing gave them a glimmer of hope at 26-5.

There was no score in the opening 14 minutes of the second half with replacements being made during that time, with a new Bok front-row amongst those emerging.

But the lean spell was ended on 54 minutes when a lovely dummy and then pass from Arendse handed Fassi a clear run-in to the line for an unconverted try for 31-5.

That once again opened the floodgates for the Springboks as replacement prop Steenekamp was next to cross from close range, with Jordan Hendrikse adding the two.

The Bok fly-half was the next to put his name on the try-scoring sheet when he collected a lovely offload from Cobus Reinach before nailing the difficult conversion.

But Wales and their fans will be buoyed by how they finished the game and for those who had not made an early exit from the stadium, they saw James Botham claim a deserved try that was converted by Ben Thomas, which ended a one-sided game.

The teams

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Josh Hathaway, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Christ Tshiunza, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Eddie James, 23 Owen Watkin

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Handre Pollard

Referee:  Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees:  Christophe Ridley (England), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Andrew Jackson (England)

Ireland run in eight tries to hammer Fiji as Sam Prendergast and debutant impress

Ireland produced a clinical performance led by fly-half Sam Prendergast as they beat Fiji 52-17 in their Autumn Nations Series clash at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Tries from Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Craig Casey, Mack Hansen (2), Bundee Aki, Gus McCarthy and Ronan Kelleher saw them to a comfortable victory.

Prendergast, on his first Test start, hooker McCarthy and centre Aki impressed in a positive run-out for Andy Farrell’s youthful and much-changed starting XV.

Kitione Salawa and Setareki Turagacoke were Fiji’s try-scorers while Caleb Muntz kicked two conversions and a penalty as they suffered a heavy away defeat.

Ireland enjoyed a dominant opening period as they crossed for four tries that were all converted by Prendergast, who had an eventful first start in the jersey.

The fly-half was involved in plenty of his team’s success in the first half but might count himself rather fortunate to see his yellow card for a shoulder to the head of Fiji flanker Salawa on eight minutes remain that colour.  He certainly made the most of his reprieve as he returned in fine fettle as Ireland turned the screw.

Before his indiscretion Ireland had taken a 7-0 lead on five minutes when a kick to the corner led to a lineout move that saw debutant hooker McCarthy put the ball back inside to Doris who set the scoreboard in motion.  Prendergast added the extras before that contentious moment involving Salawa followed soon after.

Fiji came close to responding on 10 minutes through wing Jiuta Wainiqolo but his reach for the try-line out wide was just short and Ireland soon made them pay.

A tap and go seven metres out saw a slick interchange from the Ireland forwards before Doris found flanker Van der Flier, who crashed over for a converted score.

Fiji did manage to reduce the margin thanks to a long-range penalty from Muntz but a yellow card for Eroni Mawi soon after once again put them on the back foot.

Ireland were beginning to purr and despite being denied a try for Cormac Izuchukwu due to a forward pass, the hosts would cross twice more before the interval thanks to a diving finish on the right wing from Casey after a lineout maul before Prendergast’s cross-kick put it on a plate for Hansen in added time to make it 28-3.

It took Ireland seven minutes after the resumption to extend the lead and for the third time of the game hooker McCarthy was the provider, this time for Aki.

With Farrell’s charges sitting 35-3 to the good and plenty of time left there was a danger the match could get away from the Fijians but they refused to roll over.

In fact they were next to cross the whitewash when flanker Salawa scrambled his way over on 55 minutes, with Muntz’s conversion reducing the gap to 25 points.

The contest was becoming increasingly open as a try from the back of a driving maul from young hooker McCarthy was soon cancelled out by Turagacoke’s score.

But one always felt that Ireland were still very much on top and they were helped by Turagacoke’s yellow card before Casey put Hansen over for his second try.

There was still plenty of time for one final crossing and it came from replacement hooker Kelleher as Ireland put the seal on an emphatic win on home soil.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Tom O’Toole, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Stuart McCloskey

Fiji:  15 Vuate Karawalevu, 14 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu (c), 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Ponipate Loganimasi, 10 Caleb Muntz, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Elia Canakaivata, 7 Kitione Salawa, 6 Meli Derenalagai, 5 Temo Mayanavunua, 4 Mesake Vocevoce, 3 Luke Tagi, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements:  16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Haereiti Hetet, 18 Samu Tawake, 19 Setareki Turagacoke, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Peni Matawalu, 22 Vilimoni Botitu, 23 Sireli Maqala

Referee:  Hollie Davidson (SRU)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (RFU), Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO:  Mike Adamson (SRU)

Ruthless France punish mistake-ridden Argentina as Les Bleus complete unbeaten Autumn Nations Series campaign

France completed an unbeaten Autumn Nations Series campaign after they produced a dominant display to earn a 37-23 victory over Argentina in Paris.

Les Bleus started well, going 7-0 ahead via Thibaud Flament’s try, before the respective fly-halves took over.  Los Pumas’ Tomas Albornoz kicked three penalties while Thomas Ramos added two off the tee as the French moved into a 13-9 lead.

That was when the hosts took control as Gabin Villiere’s score and a penalty try, allied by another Ramos three-pointer, opened up a 21-point buffer at the interval.

Argentina improved after the break, as evidenced by tries for Thomas Gallo and Ignacio Ruiz, but they never truly threatened a comeback and Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s effort rounded off a good few weeks for France.

Los Pumas’ big issue has been their consistency ― a good performance against a top-tier nation being followed by an absolute capitulation ― and that theme effectively continued in Paris on Friday.

Felipe Contepomi’s men were confident going into this encounter after running Ireland close last weekend, but they were blown away in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

The opening stages had indicated what Les Bleus were capable of as a series of powerful carries put the visiting defence under pressure, allowing Antoine Dupont to send Flament across the whitewash.

At that point, the South Americans were already down to 14 men after Julian Montoya had been sin-binned for twisting the leg of Jean-Baptiste Gros, which ended the prop’s game, and those discipline issues were a significant factor in their downfall.

To Argentina’s credit, they did battle back, almost scoring through number eight Joaquin Oviedo, but it was the boot of Albornoz that ultimately chipped away at the lead.

The away side’s fly-half kicked three penalties to Ramos’ two as they went into the final eight minutes of the half just four points in arrears, but they then imploded.

Although the Argentines could not do too much about Villiere’s try, set up by Leo Barre’s excellent off-load, they made a catastrophic error for France’s third try.

More specifically, it was Juan Martin Gonzalez who was at fault.  Once again, Les Bleus did superbly to get into position as Dupont’s deft kick sent Ramos clear before the pivot dabbed it over the top for Bielle-Biarrey to chase.

It was a foot race between the French wing and the speedy Argentinian flanker.  Gonzalez appeared to have won that duel but then panicked and knocked the ball deliberately forward, leading to a yellow card and penalty try.

Ramos then made matters worse for the visitors by adding a three-pointer on the stroke of half-time, giving Los Pumas so much to do in the second period.

They set about their task impressively, battering away at Les Bleus’ line, and the pressure eventually resulted in Gallo crossing the whitewash.

With 25 minutes remaining, the visitors potentially had a route back into the game but, once again, they shot themselves in the foot.  Argentina conceded possession on their own 22 after an attempted box-kick was charged down and France ― for the umpteenth time ― ruthlessly took advantage of that mistake.

Fabien Galthie’s men found the space on the left-hand side and gave it to Bielle-Biarrey, who saw a chance in behind and kicked ahead.  Just like he did against the All Blacks the week prior, the youngster won the race decisively to seal the victory.

Argentina did have the final word on the scoreboard through Ruiz, but France deservedly emerged with a comfortable win.

The teams

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Charles Ollivon , 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Alexandre Roumat, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Marko Gazzotti, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton

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

Referee:  Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Andrea Piardi (FIR), Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

Wallabies run riot in EIGHT-TRY victory over Wales as pressure mounts on Warren Gatland

The Wallabies were in excellent form on Sunday as they ran in eight tries in an utterly dominant 52-20 win over Wales that piles the pressure on head coach Warren Gatland.

A hat-trick apiece from Tom Wright and Matt Faessler and further tries from Nick Frost and Len Ikitau saw Australia thump the struggling Welsh at the Principality Stadium.

Noah Lolesio slotted over six conversions to Australia’s tally as their Autumn Nations Series campaign is going from strength to strength under head coach Joe Schmidt.

It was a first half of two quarters in Cardiff as Australia enjoyed an impressive opening but Wales, to their credit, recovered to head into the interval just six points off the pace.

Indeed, the visitors were brilliant as they built themselves a healthy 19-0 cushion by 22 minutes as New Zealander Schmidt appears to have rediscovered the Wallabies’ DNA.

They were almost off the mark on 10 minutes when Wright found an edge before Max Jorgensen offloaded to Samu Kerevi but he was denied by a great Tom Rogers tackle.

It only delayed Australia though as sustained pressure in the Welsh 22 saw them come right and full-back Wright slipped through the net to make it a 5-0 buffer for his team.

A handling error from Wales on halfway then saw impressive Wallabies lock Frost run over from distance, with Lolesio on target this time to extend the gap to 12 points.

Schmidt’s charges were now purring and a lineout drive resulted in their third try of the night as hooker Faessler crashed over and with the conversion it was a 19-0 margin.

The hosts needed a miracle as they were staring down the barrel of a horror result and somehow they found it with Aaron Wainwright scoring from close range on 25 minutes.

Gareth Anscombe would then further chip away at the lead with two penalties before the break, with the margin now very much within reach as the sides took a breather.

Wales were given a further boost soon after the turnaround when Kerevi was shown a yellow card that was later upgraded to red for making head contact with Jac Morgan.

However, their numerical advantage did not have the desired effect as it was in fact the Wallabies who struck first in the second stanza as a dominant driving maul from the visitors saw Faessler crash over to grab his second try of the game on 47 minutes.  Lolesio was off-target with the conversion attempt which meant it was a 26-13 cushion.

Incredibly the Wallabies seemed inspired by Kerevi’s red card and were over again on 52 minutes when Faessler broke off another maul and barged over to make it 33-13.

The Welsh needed a miracle as time ticked down before Australia could replace Kerevi and they were unfortunately denied a James Botham crossing due to a forward pass.

That near miss for Wales would be compounded on the hour mark when a rapid Wright intercepted a Sam Costelow pass before cruising over from distance to make it 40-13.

Centre Ben Thomas did at least give those wearing red in the Principality Stadium something to cheer on 68 minutes when he crashed over after running a smart line.

But it brought smiles that were short-lived as the classy Wallabies grabbed try number seven with five minutes remaining as Ikitau stepped and cantered over with ease.

The agony was still not over for Wales, however, as there was still time for a second Wallaby to claim his hat-trick as Wright put the gloss on a handsome win in Cardiff.

In contrast, the pressure is now mounting on Wales head coach Gatland after an 11th successive loss on the international stage with the Springboks coming next weekend.

The teams

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c) 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Eddie James

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Max Jorgensen, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Seru Uru, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii

Referee:  James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (England), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

Italy survive Georgia scare with record-breaking comeback win

Italy recorded their biggest-ever comeback win to beat Georgia 20-17 in a tense encounter in Genoa on Sunday.

The Azzurri found themselves 17-6 down at half-time, but a run of 14 unanswered points steered them to a gutsy victory.

After a fairly even and entertaining opening 20 minutes, Italy opened the scoring through the boot of fly-half Paolo Garbisi.

This sparked new life into the game, and Georgia took full advantage of it as they crossed mere minutes later.  A sensational attack found the ball in the hands of electric winger Akaki Tabutsadze, and he sliced through the Azzurri defence to cross the whitewash.

Italy responded well to this, however, and made Georgia pay for a string of penalties with another three-pointer from the boot of Garbisi.

A clever take in the air from Alexander Todua at the resulting kick-off got Georgia deep into the Italian 22, which allowed them to strike with a penalty of their own from Luka Matkava.

Los Lelos weren’t done there, and they added their second try of the game shortly after.  A delicious line-break from Davit Niniashvili teleported Georgia deep into Italian territory, and he put the try on a plate for the supporting Vasil Lobzhanidze, who dived under the posts.

With the clock in the red, Italy had another golden opportunity to score, but heroic defence from Georgia dragged Matt Gallagher into touch just as the full-back looked like scoring.

Gonzalo Quesada’s side needed a big start to the second-half if they stood any chance of coming back into the game, and they got exactly that through a penalty try.  A string of Georgian penalties allowed Italy to set up camp in the 22, and ultimately Tabutsadze’s deliberate knock-on was punished with seven points and a sin-bin.

They could easily have scored another too, after yet again heading into the Georgian 22, but a knock-on from Manuel Zuliani gifted them an easy reprieve.

Momentum was still evidently with the Azzurri, however.  Yet more ill-discipline from the visitors allowed Italy to once again get within touching distance, but a well-worked strike move from a lineout allowed Alessandro Fusco to dart through a hole in the defence to score on his return to the side.

Italy nearly made it back-to-back tries too, however, Monty Ioane was taken into touch by a gaggle of Georgian defenders and they escaped once more.

With the clock winding down, Georgia had one final throw of the dice with a lineout inside the Azzurri half, but a knock-on handed Italy back possession, and ultimately the game.

The teams

Italy:  15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dino Lamb-Cona, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Giulio Bertaccini

Georgia:  15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Tornike Kakhoidze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Tornike Jalagonia, 7 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 6 Spanderashvili Ilia, 5 Giorgi Javakhia, 4 Mikheili Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Nika Abuladze
Replacements:  16 Luka Nioradze, 17 Giorgi Akhaladze, 18 Luka Japaridze, 19 Vladimeri Chachanidze, 20 Luka Ivanishvili, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Demur Tapladze

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (NZR)

France edge the All Blacks in Paris thriller as Scott Robertson’s side lose unbeaten tour record

France handed Scott Robertson his first defeat in six as they made it three successive victories over the All Blacks following a 30-29 success in Paris.

In another Autumn Nations Series thriller, Les Bleus went into the break 17-10 in arrears following tries by Peter Lakai and Cam Roigard, but they hit back in the second period.

Fabien Galthie’s men moved ahead as Paul Boudehent and Louis Bielle-Biarrey touched down and it was a lead they would not relinquish.

That was despite the accurate kicking of Damian McKenzie, who added four penalties when he came on, but successive Thomas Ramos three-pointers was just enough for France as they edged to a win.

Having won their past five matches, Robertson’s outfit came into this game with confidence and, despite an early Ramos three-pointer, they showed why spirits have been significantly lifted in New Zealand.

The visitors manufactured a superb try as superb hands set Ardie Savea free down the left and, after he had fended off the attentions of a couple of defenders, his off-load sent rookie Lakai across the whitewash.

Lakai had come on for Samipeni Finau, who suffered a head injury, but it did not impact the All Blacks as they had the better of the opening half-hour.

With half-backs Cam Roigard and Beauden Barrett dictating things nicely, and the scrum getting to work on the France front-row, the tourists were beginning to control matters.

Les Bleus were already without first-choice props Cyril Baille and Uini Atonio and when Tevita Tatafu was forced off, Georges-Henri Colombe was exposed in the set-piece.

Tamaiti Williams put the big tighthead under significant duress and it was from that pressure which led to Roigard’s try.  Number eight Gregory Alldritt had to pick up the ball from a retreating scrum and the All Blacks scrum-half was on hand to nick it, speed away and touch down.

There were signs that the hosts were beginning to creak, but they managed to respond as the forwards, guided by the typically excellent Antoine Dupont, made ground through the heart of the opposition defence.

Eventually, New Zealand cracked as Romain Buros crossed the whitewash on debut, Ramos converting, to reduce the arrears.

Although Barrett made it a seven-point buffer at the interval, Les Bleus had shown that they could attack the All Blacks right through the middle and they managed to do the same at the start of the second period.

Galthie’s side set up a maul five metres out and rumbled towards the line, allowing Boudehent to touch down.  Ramos added the extras and all of a sudden the pressure was back on New Zealand, who perhaps should have gone into the break with a greater lead.

Robertson’s men initially handled it well, moving the ball through the phases and almost going over in the left-hand corner, but they then began to force the play.

That was demonstrated by Tupou Vaa’i as the lock’s off-load went to ground and was picked up by Ramos.  The fly-half then kicked through and the chasing Bielle-Biarrey absolutely burned Sevu Reece to score.

Unperturbed, the All Blacks looked to hit back and increased the pressure on the French, forcing their opponents to infringe in kickable positions.

After coming on as a replacement, McKenzie was successful off the tee on three occasions, but Ramos’ own three-pointer just kept the hosts in front going into the final 10 minutes.

It set up a tense conclusion but, unlike against England, New Zealand were unable to get over the line.  The respective kickers did trade efforts off the tee in the latter stages, but France managed to maintain that one-point gap.

The teams

France:  15 Romain Buros, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Aldritt, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Charles Ollivon, 22 Nolann le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Springboks show champion qualities as Cheslin Kolbe scores twice to beat England and pile more pressure on Steve Borthwick

The Springboks showed their world champion qualities to withstand a competitive England performance and take a 29-20 victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

It increases the pressure on Red Rose head coach Steve Borthwick, who once again saw his side produce some good things but ultimately fall short in a fifth successive loss.

After narrow defeats to the All Blacks and Wallabies, they succumbed to the number one team in the world as tries from Grant Williams, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cheslin Kolbe (twice) secured the win for South Africa.

The Red Rose were 20-19 in front at one stage after converted tries from Ollie Sleightholme and Sam Underhill, allied by 10 points from the boot of Marcus Smith, but once again they faltered in the latter stages of the match.

England ― and their head coach ― remain under pressure after yet another reversal, but one player who doesn’t appear to be feeling that is Marcus Smith.

Their best player against both the All Blacks and the Wallabies, the fly-half was once again the hosts’ main creator at Twickenham and set up their opening score on Saturday.

The Red Rose had started well and their playmaker shaped up for a drop-goal but, when Eben Etzebeth flew out of the line to close him down, Smith dummied, sped towards the left-hand side and found Henry Slade, who fed Sleightholme to score.

It was an excellent opening for Borthwick but the world champions soon responded to level thanks to a brilliant individual try from Williams, who beat Ellis Genge and Freddie Steward to touch down.

England regained their lead through the boot of Smith but South Africa began to force errors.  Etzebeth was key to that and, after the lock charged down Jack van Poortvliet, Du Toit followed up to do the same to Smith before collecting and scoring.

The Springboks then made it a nine-point buffer after Libbok’s cross-field kick was finished by Kolbe.

At that point, the visitors had the momentum and could have taken control but, to the home side’s credit, they hit back and gave themselves hope via Underhill’s close-range effort.

That kept them in the game at the break and they managed to edge in front in the third quarter.  Both sides had tries ruled out ― Springboks for a forward pass and England for a croc roll ― before Smith was successful with a penalty.

The second period certainly did not have the pace and tempo of the first half but it was no less intriguing with the physicality and intensity off the charts.

It was all about the small wins and the Boks began to get an edge in the contact area with Handre Pollard kicking a three-pointer after an English infringement to take the tourists back in front.

Then came the decisive moment as Damian de Allende’s power did for Slade and Ben Earl as he charged through and passed to Kolbe, who once again showed his incredible balance and footwork to finish.

That was ultimately enough to claim the victory, despite some needless penalties from the Boks which led to Gerhard Steenekamp’s yellow card.

There was no lack of effort from England but their execution was severely lacking, while Rassie Erasmus’ men defended superbly in the final quarter to secure the win.

The teams

England:  15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Chris Busby (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Second string Scots put 50 past Os Lobos as Darcy Graham equals all-time try-scoring record

Hot-stepping wing Darcy Graham equalled Duhan van der Merwe’s all-time try-scoring record for Scotland as they triumphed over Portugal 59-21 on Saturday.

The much-changed Scottish side had a strong afternoon, running in eight tries through Will Hurd, Stafford McDowall, Graham, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti, Arron Reed (2), Jamie Dobie and a penalty try while Adam Hastings kicked five conversions and Tom Jordan one.

Portugal may have been on the wrong end of the result but still scored the most points against a home nation in their history through three tries from Luka Begic, Raffaele Storti and Samuel Marques, who also kicked both conversions.

It did not take long for the scoreboard to be active with Hurd opening the scoring with an unconverted try in the third minute.

Momentum stayed firmly with the hosts as McDowall snapped up a loose ball to score a try on his first game captaining his country.  Hastings was on hand to kick the extras on this occasion.

The hosts continued to play with swagger and, although Portugal’s defence grew into the game, Scotland were handed a penalty try for an illegally collapsed maul on Os Lobos’ line in the 27th minute.

The misery continued as sustained Scottish pressure resulted in Graham skipping through for his record-equalling try six minutes later with Hastings adding the extras, as he did for Bayliss’ try just four minutes after that.  However, Portugal had the final say with Begic’s converted score.

Scotland started the second period as they did the first with an early try, this time through Bhatti ― his first in Test rugby.  Hastings would miss the kick and next on the scoreboard was Portuguese talisman Marques who scampered over for a try he converted himself in the 54th minute.

Reed then suddenly decided to announce himself in the game with a three-minute double around the hour mark, both of which were converted by Hastings.

Portugal scored their last points of the game through a converted Storti try, but it was Scotland who had the final word with Dobie scoring his try, with man of the match Jordan kicking the conversion.

Teams

Scotland:  15 Tom Jordan, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Stafford McDowall (c), 11 Arron Reed, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements:  16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Matt Currie, 23 Kyle Rowe

Portugal:  15 Simao Bento, 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Jose Lima, 12 Tomas Appleton, 11 Lucas Martins, 10 Domingos Cabral, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Frederico Couto, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 Andre da Cunha, 5 Duarte Torgal, 4 Jose Madeira, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 David Costa
Replacements:  16 Abel da Cunha, 17 Pedro Vicente, 18 Antonio Prim, 19 Antonio Rebelo de Andrade, 20 Vasco Baptista, 21 Antonio Campos, 22 Hugo Aubry, 23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto

Referee:  Takehito Namekawa (JRFU)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (RFU), Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)
TMO:  Brian MacNeice (IRFU)

Ireland unconvincingly edge Argentina to bounce back from All Blacks defeat claiming a hard-fought three-point victory

Ireland bounced back from their second home loss under Andy Farrell to defeat Argentina 22-19 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday evening.

Jack Crowley led the charge for the hosts in the Autumn Nations Series encounter scoring 12 points including a try, a drop goal and two conversions while Mack Hansen and man of the match Joe McCarthy also crossed the whitewash.

For Argentina, Tomas Albornoz continued his stunning form in 2024 nailing all five of his shots at goal ― four penalties and a conversion ― while Juan Cruz Mallia scored Los Pumas’ only try of the match.

After losing their opening November international to the All Blacks, Farrell’s charges bounced back with a hard-fought and unconvincing victory over the Pumas who produced an inspired performance.

Ireland looked to apply pressure early on after a charge down following the restart but Argentina forced a turnover and cantered upfield with Argentina winger Bautista Delguy beating several defenders before Matias Moroni crossed the whitewash.  However, the try was chalked off after Moroni was judged to have tackled fly-half Crowley high and was sent to the sin bin with his tackle also being reviewed.

Andy Farrell’s charges quickly pounced and made the most of the man advantage as they struck from the resulting lineout with Rónan Kelleher powering off the back of a slick lineout move and moments later it was Crowley who forced his way over for his first-ever Test try which he duly converted.

Ireland scored their second try in just six minutes when Garry Ringrose tore through the defence after a spilt ball and raced into the Argentina 22.  Jamison Gibson-Park whipped a wide pass to Tadhg Beirne who unselfishly passed in side to Hansen to score his first try of the year after making his return from injury against New Zealand a week ago.

Moroni breathed a sigh of relief as his yellow card was not upgraded to a red one by the Foul Play Review Officer as they judged that it was a low level of danger allowing the centre to return to the action with Argentina down 12-3 after Albornoz converted a penalty moments before he returned.

Ireland looked to have gone even further ahead as Robbie Henshaw manufactured a stunning try-scoring opportunity only for the ever-impressive Beirne to spill the ball over the line with Moroni again involved with the Irish forward losing his control of the ball on the centre’s upper body.

In a helter-skelter 16 minutes, it was Ireland’s turn to go down a man as tighthead prop Finlay Bealham was sent to the sidelines for a croc roll on his opposite number Joel Sclavi ― and Albornoz added another penalty ― with his card also remaining yellow after an off-field review.  Ireland’s response came through Crowley again as the pivot nailed a drop goal to cancel out Los Pumas’ penalty on 21 minutes.  Kelleher ran an obstruction line four minutes later, allowing Albornoz another shot at reducing the lead and he duly took it.

McCarthy barged over for Ireland’s third when they were back to 15 men as James Lowe snuck through the smallest of holes after a lineout and the second rower crashed over as Ireland went 22-9 up after 32 minutes.

Argentina applied the pressure in the final moments of the half twice coming close to scoring a late try but were denied once by the bounce of the ball and another time by Beirne holding up the ball carrier, a turnover with the clocking going red denied the visitors as Ireland held a 13 point advantage at the break.

Argentina come out firing

After the break, it was the Pumas who drew first blood as Mallia scathed through the initial defence before racing into the Ireland 22 and skinned Hansen with a superb step to score the South American side’s first try of the game and cut the lead to six points.  Ireland were put under the pump in the early knockings of the second half and McCarthy paid the price after he was caught offside and was sent to the bin.  From the resulting penalty, Albornoz made it a three-point game.

There was no change to the score line for the next 20 minutes, with both sides enjoying long passages of play with the ball in hand, particularly Ireland with Farrell’s men notably turning down a shot at goal in order to run a set move from a tap and go ― they set a rolling maul from the tap but Argentina stalled them and turned the ball over a few phases later.

Momentum looked to have swung in Los Pumas’ favour after that turnover and a later pilfer at a breakdown but that was undone by a horrid Francisco Gomez Kodela clearout that resulted in the replacement prop being yellow-carded.  While the prop was off for the remainder of the match, his actions were deemed not to warrant a red card.

Ireland again went on the offensive but were denied by another breakdown pilfer giving the Pumas another shot at a famous victory, but Contepomi’s charges came up short despite working their way deep into the host’s 22 but they were shut out as the clock went into the red.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Jamie Osborne

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo

Referee:  Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Evans (WRU), Angus Mabey (NZR)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (NZR)

Springboks blow Scotland away to kickstart their November tour with flattering win

The Springboks got the job done but were made to work hard for their 32-15 Autumn Nations Series victory against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Although the world champions outscored Scotland by four tries to none, the home side were competitive for long periods and delivered a spirited performance throughout.

However, the Springboks’ proved too strong in the end with Makazole Mapimpi (2), Thomas du Toit and Jasper Wiese crossing the whitewash while Handre Pollard succeeded with three conversions and a couple of penalties.

Scotland’s points came courtesy of five penalties from Finn Russell.

South Africa made a terrific start as they opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute when Mapimpi crossed for the opening try.  This, after Pollard caught Scotland’s defence napping with a perfectly weighted cross-field kick which Mapimpi gathered before diving over in the left-hand corner.

Pollard was off target with his conversion attempt but the home side suffered another setback in the 10th minute when Scott Cummings was yellow-carded for a dangerous cleanout on Franco Mostert which was later upgraded to a 20-minute red card by the TMO Bunker after a review.

Despite losing Cummings, Scotland did not panic and they held a 6-5 lead midway through the opening half after Russell slotted two penalties in quick succession.

However, the visitors struck back when Thomas du Toit crossed for their second five-pointer on the half-hour-mark.  This after Mostert failed to gather a lineout on Scotland’s five-metre line.  Du Toit was quickest to react and gathered the ball at the back of the set-piece before crossing for his first Test try.

Pollard added the extras but Scotland reduced the deficit in the 33rd minute when he succeeded with his third three-pointer off the kicking tee.

The Boks still held an edge, however, and shortly afterwards Mapimpi was rewarded with his second try, after gathering a delightful chip kick from Willie le Roux inside the home side’s 22.

Scotland responded when their captain Sione Tuipulotu put Tom Jordan in the clear with a deft offload and the full-back offloaded to Ben White, who dotted down.

However, the score was disallowed due to a knock-on from Huw Jones in the build-up which meant the teams changed sides at half-time with the world champions holding a 19-9 lead.

Four tries without reply as the #Springboks kick off the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour with a big win in Edinburgh 👏#ForeverGreenForeverGold #SCOvRSA pic.twitter.com/fVlU4jpVO1

― Springboks (@Springboks) November 10, 2024

Scotland drew first blood after the restart courtesy of a Russell penalty in the 44th minute and shortly afterwards Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus unloaded his much-vaunted Bomb Squad with six of his forward replacements ― Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese ― joining the fray at the same time after the seventh one ― RG Snyman ― had come at the start of the half.

Those changes did not have the desired effect as Scotland held the upper hand during the next 10 minutes and the Springboks suffered a setback when Mapimpi was yellow carded for a professional foul on defence in the 58th minute.

Soon after, Russell added his fifth penalty which meant the Boks were holding a slender four-point lead but that was the only points they would concede during Mapimpi’s stint in the sin bin.

Pollard slotted two more penalties, which gave the Boks some breathing space, and in the game’s dying moments Wiese secured the result for the visitors when he crossed for his five-pointer after a powerful run off the back of a scrum on Scotland’s five-metre line.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Tom Jordan, 14 Blair Kinghorn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 22 Jasper Wiese, 23 Grant Williams

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)