England Saxons 17 Ireland A 13

The international game between England Saxons and Ireland A at The Recreation Ground on Sunday Jan 31 2010.

Shane Geraghty showed England what they could miss in this season's RBS 6 Nations Championship after he guided the Saxons to a tense victory.

The Northampton fly-half, dropped by manager Martin Johnson after starting England's autumn Tests against Australia and Argentina at inside centre, delivered an assured display.

Geraghty scored the Saxons' second try and booted two conversions, including a touchline two-pointer following wing David Strettle's early touchdown, before slotting a late penalty.

Paddy Wallace kicked two penalties and Ireland substitute back-row forward Chris Henry claimed a 69th-minute score - converted by Wallace - that ensured a frenzied finale.

But the visitors lacked composure at critical times, and were ultimately unable to repeat last summer's Churchill Cup final triumph over England.

The Saxons were smashed 49-22 on that occasion in Denver, yet they looked more at home on a cold afternoon at Bath's Recreation Ground.

Geraghty, the most notable omission from Johnson's revised elite squad announced earlier this month, kept his team on the front foot.

Some of the Saxons' play was hardly pretty, yet when Geraghty moved possession wide there were impressive contributions by Wasps centre Dominic Waldock and powerful Saracens wing Noah Cato.

Ireland also had their moments - notably a slashing early break by Munster wing Ian Dowling - before Henry's score gave them hope in the closing minutes.

But Geraghty also showed his defensive prowess when the Saxons needed it, executing a crucial tackle on Ireland wing Fion Carr when the visitors launched a late counter-attack.

It was then a case of all hands to the pump, yet England's aggressive defending denied Ireland an all-important second try.

Ireland made all the initial running, easing ahead through a second-minute Wallace penalty as England struggled to establish any fluency or pattern.

The Irish forwards, assisted by some clever box-kicking from scrum-half Peter Stringer, established a degree of territorial control before England struck from their first attack.

Stringer's opposite number Ben Youngs made a darting break inside Ireland's 22, and Strettle finished impressively after gathering the Leicester player's pass.

Geraghty booted the conversion, but Wallace's second penalty brought Ireland to within a point after 22 minutes.

England though, had found some confidence with ball in hand, a mood they graphically illustrated through their second try 10 minutes before half-time.

Full-back Alex Goode made attacking in-roads, freeing his Saracens colleague Cato, and after a third Saracens player - centre Brad Barritt - appeared on Cato's shoulder, Geraghty had a simple task of sprinting over unopposed.

Geraghty's second successful conversion took the Saxons into a healthy 14-6 lead, and with his destructive Saints colleague Phil Dowson causing Ireland all kinds of problems from number eight, the home side continued growing in confidence.

Wallace then missed a straightforward penalty chance on the stroke of half-time, but England were good value for their advantage.

Ireland coach Michael Bradley made two changes for the second period, replacing hooker Rory Best with John Fogarty and sending on lock Ryan Caldwell for Mick O'Driscoll.

And England also utilised their bench, with Gloucester back-row forward Luke Narraway, Leicester lock Geoff Parling and Wasps hooker Rob Webber all being given chances to impress.

England though, spent much of the second-half defending, and alarm bells started ringing when Henry crashed over just a minute after Saxons prop Paul Doran-Jones was yellow-carded for killing possession.

But the Saxons held out, albeit in grim survival mode during eight minutes of injury-time that saw Ireland lay siege to the home 22. Ultimately, defence won the day, as England engineered just enough territory for Geraghty to kick a penalty with the game's final act.

Match details

England Saxons: Goode, Strettle, Waldouck, Barritt, Cato, Geraghty, Youngs, N. Wood, Paice, Doran-Jones, Attwood, Skivington, T. Wood, Saull, Dowson.
Replacements: Webber, Mercey, Parling, Narraway, Young, Clarke, Benjamin.
Tries: Strettle, Geraghty
Con: Geraghty (2)
Pens: Geraghty
Ireland A: Duffy, Dowling, McFadden, Matthews, Carr, Wallace, Stringer, Horan, Best, Buckley, O'Driscoll, Toner, O'Brien, Jennings, Muldoon.
Replacements: Fogarty, Ross, Caldwell, Henry, Boss, Humphreys, Cave.
Try: Henry
Con: Wallace
Pens: Wallace (2)
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)

Bill McLaren, the BBC's 'voice of rugby', dies, aged 86

Bill McLaren, the distinctive Scottish commentator who became known as the "voice of rugby" in over 50 years with the BBC, has died aged 86.

McLaren, a schoolmaster by profession, commentated on the game he loved from 1948 when he first worked for local BBC radio all the way through to 2002 when he finally laid down his TV microphone after commentating on Wales's Six Nations game against Scotland.

After the final whistle the crowd spontaneously sang "For he's a jolly good fellow" to McLaren up in the stands.

Former Scotland captain Gavin Hastings, who worked with McLaren, said: "First and foremost, Bill was a very proud and passionate Scot but such was his professionalism that you never really have known that.

"He always remained very unbiased in his commentary and I think that that was unquestionably one of his endearing qualities. He was just such a gentleman as well."

McLaren, a true son of Hawick, was a fine player and had already earned a final Scotland trial at lock in 1947 when he contracted TB and spent an agonising 19-month period at an Edinburgh clinic before recovering, thanks largely to the discovery of a new drug.

"I was desperately ill and fading fast when the specialist asked five of us to be guinea pigs for a new drug called Streptomycin," McLaren said in 2001.

"Three of the others died but I made what amounted to a miracle recovery."

His playing days were over and thereafter his love of rugby was confined to teaching a succession of future Scotland internationals at Hawick School and imparting his rugby knowledge and wisdom to readers of the local Hawick Express and listeners on BBC local radio station and, later, television.

During the Second World War he had acted as an infantry spotter, notably at the siege of Monte Casino in Italy, and often attributed his powers of observation on the rugby pitch to those long, dangerous hours, spent in forward postions scouting out enemy placements.

His first match for national radio came in 1953 when he commentated on Scotland's 12-0 defeat to Wales and the call from TV came six years later.

A precise and particular man when it came to detail his 'match crib' became works of art and now sell for a small fortune at charity auctions. McLaren accumulated a vast store of data that often failed to see the light of day but was always there in emergency.

Former Scotland and British and Irish Lions player and coach Sir Ian McGeechan said: "You will never know how many people Bill brought to the game by the way he commentated.

"He was an absolute gentleman, totally unbiased. He had the knack of always looking for the best in players and had a massive positive impact on us.

"I don't think anyone could ever estimate just what his value has been to the game and what he has done.

"But above all Bill didn't just have a massive impact because of rugby. It was also because of his knowledge and understanding of people."

Rugby ran deep in McLaren's veins and it was a matter of enormous pride that his son-in law Alan Lawson became a notable Scotland scrum-half and his grandson Rory, who now plays at Gloucester, has also won full Scotland honours.

Back where it all began, at Hawick, club secretary John Thorburn paid tribute to McLaren. "We're devastated, obviously," he said. "We've got a room named after him at the rugby club.

"It was very close to his heart, Hawick rugby club. He's a huge loss to rugby worldwide."

-- What are your favourite "Bill McLaren-isms"? Read a collection of his best quotes and send us your favourites.

Top 10 Telegraph rugby union stories of 2009

Rugby union in 2009 produced one of the greatest Lions tours in memory, as well as the less fondly remembered 'Bloodgate' story.

1. British and Irish Lions squad to tour South Africa
Despite ultimately losing out in South Africa, this has to be one of the greatest British and Irish Lions’ teams in recent memory. Check them out on this picture gallery and remember how close they came.

2. Top 20 Rugby Union websites
“Unrivalled in its brilliance at dodging copyright law” – so say we about Rugbydump.com. Look no further than this page to find out where you need to look further for rugby info.

3. Martin Johnson blames England duo on Ireland loss
Watching England these days can be a frustrating process, but remember that Six Nations when Johnson’s side couldn’t finish a game without at least one player sent to the sin bin?

4. Lions 2009: Bryce Lawrence not fit to officiate
The Lions’ management may have kept quiet over Lawrence’s performance in their second Test defeat to the Springboks, but Brian Moore was happy to give it both barrels.

5. Lions 2009: Schalk Burger banned for eight weeks for gouging, Bakkies Botha receives two-week ban
Burger’s eye-gouging took the gloss off South Africa’s series win over the spirited Lions – here Gavin Mairs got the reaction of both Ian McGeechan and Shaun Edwards.

6. England spooked by the Twickenham crowd, says Brian Smith
England sides at home have more pressure on them than they can cope with, or so they seem to protest. Get Fabio Capello in to sort the rugby team out, quick.

7. Bloodgate: Harlequins at risk of expulsion from Rugby Football Union
The perilous position Harlequins find themselves in following the ‘Bloodgate’ scandal is revealed by Gavin Mairs and Mick Cleary.

8. South Africa 28 British and Irish Lions 25: match report
What an exhilarating match – everything the game of rugby was invented for, as Paul Ackford explains.

9. Hollywood gets it wrong over Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar
A classic case of Hollywood fudging the facts of what really happened – or so Paul Ackford protests in his criticism of Clint Eastwood’s Invictus.

10. South Africa 9 British and Irish Lions 28: match report
At last, some sort of justice prevailed as the Lions took apart South Africa in convincing style to salvage some pride in Johannesburg, as Paul Ackford reports.

Barbarians 25 New Zealand 18

The rugby union game between Barbarians and New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday Dec 5 2009.

The Barbarians, inspired by a hat-trick of tries by Springboks wing Bryan Habana, ensured New Zealand’s autumn tour finished on a losing note in a hugely-entertaining game at Twickenham on Saturday.

Habana’s third try four minutes from time, after crossing the line twice in the first-half, proved to be the decisive blow against a New Zealand side who began the match with just two survivors from their thrilling victory over France in Marseille last Saturday.

The contest may not have lived up to the unforgettable encounter between these two sides in Cardiff back in 1973, but after an autumn of pretty dire Test rugby, but there were enough thrills on show to send the Twickenham crowd home happy.

After relatively low-key opening, during which Stephen Donald opened the scoring with a penalty that was booed by the Twickenham crowd, the game exploded into life with a length-of-the-pitch try by South Africa wing Bryan Habana in the 11th minute - the first time the All Blacks line had been crossed in over 400 minutes Test match rugby.

All Black hooker Corey Flynn had driven deep into the Barbarians 22 but when he placed the ball back it bounced into the hands of Drew Mitchell who raced clear before floating a perfectly-weighted inside pass to Habana. Matt Giteau landed the touchline conversion.

As the game began to open up, New Zealand however were able to regain the lead when after a sharp midfield incision by former Sale player Luke McAlister, some swift handling and direct running created the overlap for Ben Smith to score his side’s opening try in the 25th minute, with Donald adding the conversion.

The try did little to stem the attacking ambitions of the Barbarians however, with Jamie Roberts and Jacque Fourie, opponents on the Lions tour forging a dangerous midfield combination and Giteau bringing some control to the fractured play.

And despite a wonderful first-half defensive display by All Black captain Richie McCaw, the Baa-Baas were able to steal the lead at the interval with a second try by Habana, who intercepted a pass by Donald and after juggling with the ball he had the pace to race clear, with Giteau again converting.

The action continued unchecked after the break, with Giteau’s cross-field chip to Rocky Elsom almost creating another score but the Wallaby No 8 was bundled into touch at the cornerflag.

The All Blacks could have regained the lead if they had been able to find support for a break by Brendon Leonard while it took a brave tackle by Habana to stop the scrum-half from powering over from a back row move from the base of an attacking scrum.

But after a penalty by Giteau in the 57th minute significantly gave the Barbarians a seven-point advantage and it took a timely intercept by Smith to prevent Fourie delivering a try-scoring pass after a strong drive by Roberts.

The All Blacks set up a tense finale when lock Anthony Boric powered over for a try despite the best efforts of Morne Steyn to prevent him grounding the ball after break by McAlister up the touchline had given New Zealand momentum.

But with Donald having been substituted, Mike Delany missed a relatively simple conversion and Habana landed the killer blow as first Giteau and then Morne Steyn drew the All Blacks cover defence before the Springbok wing was released to glide over for his hat-trick.

Delany responded with a penalty but it was left to Steyn, the man who condemned the Lions to a Test series defeat with his monstrous long-range penalty in Pretoria, to close the game out with a penalty after a huge scrum by the Baa Baas.

Ireland 15 South Africa 10

The autumn international between Ireland and South Africa at Croke Park on Saturday, Nov 28 2009.

Stunning. From the swathes of mist which swirled around Croke Park, a significant message. Ireland have grown up, have accepted the responsibility that goes with being Grand Slam champions of Europe and taken it a stage further.

They have now proved that they can mix it with the best the southern hemisphere has to offer. South Africa may have been tired after what has been an exceptional season for them, but they are never easy meat and they travelled as conquerors of the Lions and their Tri-Nations rivals, Australia and New Zealand. They return home defeated, their crown very definitely askew following losses to France and now Ireland.

The staggering fact in an intriguing, spiky contest was that it was Ireland who better maintained their composure. It was agonisingly close in the dying seconds as the Springboks threw everything at Ireland in a brave attempt to maintain their dignity.

The Beast nearly blasted over near the corner flag, then Brian O’Driscoll almost knocked himself cold stopping Zane Kirchner during the final Bok attack. But before that, for long periods, it was Ireland who forced the errors from South Africa, Ireland who maintained their discipline, Ireland who played the rugby in the areas of the pitch they wanted. The quality of their game-management was very, very impressive.

There were also signs that Ireland are developing a style that can accommodate different types of challenges. The talk before the match was the effect Jonathan Sexton would have on the team as he came in for Ronan O’Gara, the comfy slipper of Ireland teams of old. Sexton seemed to free up Ireland. He didn’t have a fabulous match ball in hand, but he did create confusion in Bok ranks by offering a threat, and he did enable O’Driscoll to take on more of a play-maker role.

For the first quarter when the Boks were in the ascendancy, it was only O’Driscoll’s ability to spot and take advantage of the smallest windows, coupled with muscular raids from Jamie Heaslip, Donncha O’Callaghan and David Wallace, that kept Ireland in the game. Aside from that, Ireland’s start was distinctly ordinary.

This was the period of the match when the Boks were in complete control. It started in the scrummage where they enjoyed absolute supremacy and spread throughout other areas of their play. Fourie du Preez troubled Ireland’s back three with some sweetly struck box kicks and Jaque Fourie was a handful in midfield. When Schalk Burger struck with a cleverly angled run onto a pass from Fourie for the only try of the game after 15 minutes, it appeared that the Boks were going to run away with the contest.

Yet the seeds of South Africa’s downfall were already apparent. Moving John Smit to hooker might have boosted their scrummaging power, but it didn’t help their lineout one bit. Smit failed to hit Victor Matfield on two occasions early on in the match and there were other examples where the Boks were nowhere near as slick as usual.

Crucially, too, Morne Steyn, an impeccable goal-kicker, was having an off day. Either side of half time Steyn missed several long-range but important kicks which would have put some daylight between the two sides had they gone over. It meant that the Boks were never able to stretch away from Ireland and their proximity on the scoreboard was motivation itself.

Finally, the aspect which has served South Africa so well over the past year or so, their discipline, collapsed. Huge credit must go to the Irish forwards, to Heaslip and Paul O’Connell in particular, because it was their physicality at the collisions and at the breakdown which caused the Boks to flap.

While Sexton was preparing to knock over his fourth penalty which put Ireland in front at 12-10, Smit called his troops round in a huddle. Smit normally revels in these moments.

They are his stock-in-trade. He makes sense of disorder, puts structure on the game, calls for changes in tempo, but this time his best efforts fell flat. It was Ireland who tightened up, Ireland who increased their advantage to a match-winning 15-10 with Sexton’s fifth penalty, Ireland who elongated their unbeaten run to a record 11 matches.

Performances like this one can make a side. In the first half when Ireland were under the cosh, Rob Kearney was Mr Reliable under the high ball. Later he and Keith Earls got their running game going, threatening South Africa on the flanks. Even men who were struggling had their moments.

Jerry Flannery and Cian Healy were part of a front row who were taking a terrible beating, but Healy upended Bryan Habana during that spell in a spectacular act of defiance, and Flannery stood out in the way he kept congratulating colleagues every time one of them did something positive.

And South Africa? Just as Ireland grew in stature and will continue to do so long after this game is fully digested, so the Boks will diminish slightly in the eyes of future opponents. Three months ago the Boks were the best in the world by some distance. Blimey, even Ireland beat them these days.

Scotland 6 Argentina 9

The autumn international between Scotland and Argentina at Murrayfield on Saturday, Nov 28 2009.

After their brave newdawn, a wake-up call for Scotland. No autumn clean sweep; no hat-trick of wins for Andy Robinson; no return to the top eight of the world rankings. Instead, a one-paced performance that ended with another grim entry in their dismal catalogue of results against Argentina. The Pumas will fly home in triumph while Scotland have to look hard at their own shortcomings.

Scotland rode their luck against Australia last weekend when the hapless Matt Giteau misssed a sitter of a conversion in the final minute to give the Scots their 9-8 win. This time, though, Lady Luck was wearing an Argentine scarf.

With the scores levelat 6-6, and with the clock showing just two minutes left, Argentine centre accepted a pass from a ruck 30 metres out from the Scottish posts, steadied himself briefly, then sent a towering dropped goal over the bar. Scotland may have dominated the match, but Argentina,the arch pragmatists of world rugby, still know how to steal a result. They also know how to steal a lineout, which is what they did in the immediate build-up to the score

And for all their talk of bringing their wingers into play, this was always going to be agame where Scotland would have to put in some serious spade work before reaping any reward. Throughout a first half in which the Scots managed to post just three points in the opening 35 minutes, there was a growing sense of impatience among the home support, a good number of whom seem to have turned up expecting their side to applysome fancy icing to the the cake of their win over Australia last weekend.

Their concerns were not eased when Phil Godman, the goal-kicker who has effectively been keeping Chris Paterson on the bench over the past month, managed to send two early penalty attempts wide. Neither was particularly straight forward, but the sense of restlessness in the stands must have owed much to the spectators' conviction that Paterson would havenailed them with his eyes shut.

Godman had kicked a penalty in the 14th minute, and he was to add a second inthe 36th, but aside form his two misses there were precious few chances for Scotland to add to their scoreline. Their best moment in a first half in which they dominated both thepossession and territory statistics was a glorious charge through themiddle by Sean Lamont in which the winger swatted away a series of would-be tacklers. The move set up a chance in the left corner forhis brother Rory, but the full-back was hauled down a yard short.

Argentina were cussed,obstinate, streetwise at the breakdown and massively fortunate to getthrough the first half with a full complement of 15 players on the pitch. Time and again, referee Alan Lewis called their players a side to lay down the law, but not once did he have the courage of his convictions to reach into his pocket for the card that might have helped to stem the flow of offences. Lewis had outraged the Scottish management when he was equally lax when the two sides met in argentina last year, so at least they had some forewarning.

As it was, the first player to see yellow was Scotland lock Nathan Hines, rightly - and possibly lightly - punished for a spear tackle on Gonzalo Tiesi, the Argentinean centre, in the 49th minute. Hines became the first Scot ever to be sent off in a Test when he was ordered off against the USA in 2002, and he can probably consider himself fortunate that he did not become the first to have a second offence against his name. As Hines headed for the touchline, moreover, Rory Lamont was also leaving the field, stretchered off with what lookedlike a serious ankle injury.

There was a huge roaras Paterson took Lamont's place, and another when Jason White came onfor Hines when the lock's 10-minute sentence was up. The changes didindeed seem to fortify the Scots, but they still played in fits and starts, frustrated by their opponents and unable to build momentum through the phases. Meanwhile, Martin Rodriguez kicked Argentina backin to the game, levelling the scoreline with penalties in the 50thand 58th minutes.

Scotland fought desperately to get back into the game, both before and after Rodriguez's dropped goal, but nothing tumbled their way. Too many errors, too many balls lost in contact and too much determination ontheir opponents faces. This has been a strangely elated month for Scottish rugby; yesterday it felt that normal service had justresumed.

Ireland 41 Fiji 6

The international Test match between Ireland and Fiji at The RDS on Saturday No 21, 2009.

Jonathan Sexton contributed 16 points as he made a highly-impressive start to his international to guide Ireland to a comfortable victory over Fiji at the RDS in Dublin.

The Leinster fly-half landed five conversions, three from the touchline and two penalties on his Test debut.

Left-wing Keith Earls contributed two of the five tries with the others coming from skipper Brian O'Driscoll, Rob Kearney and Shane Horgan.

Sexton, looking to put pressure on Ronan O'Gara, made the best possible start. Despite the difficult wet and windy conditions, he was able to gather inside his own 22 and make a run out of defence.

Better was to come when Sexton put Ireland 3-0 ahead with a penalty after eight minutes as both teams took their time to get to grips with the conditions.

A perfectly-judged cross kick from Sexton very nearly brought about the first try as Earls gathered but Kearney was stopped just short of the line.

However, almost immediately, Earls went in for the first try beside the posts after Eoin Reddan fed him from a scrum with Sexton's conversion putting Ireland 10-0 ahead.

Eventually, Fiji began to secure some better possession, allowing fly-half Nicky Little to reduce the deficit to 10-3 with a well-struck penalty.

The Fijians did well to hang in given Ireland were providing them with increasing problems in the scrums but the home team failed to take advantage and were then forced to defend close to their own line.

Another big scrum which saw them push the visitors off their own ball relieved the pressure and it was only then Ireland really began to open up.

Once again, Sexton was involved, breaking out from his own half but the move finished with Gordon D'Arcy's pass intercepted by Fiji fullback Norman Ligairi.

But the pressure told just before half-time with Sexton landing his second penalty to leave Ireland 13-3 clear at the interval.

Fiji badly needed some encouragement and they got it with a second penalty from Little in the early stages of the second half, reducing Ireland's lead to 13-6.

To add to Ireland's problems, flanker Denis Leamy had to retire with what seemed to be a bad injury to be replaced by Leinster's Sean O'Brien.

Fiji then conceded a frustrating try as Little saw O'Driscoll intercept his pass and run 40 metres to score with Sexton's conversion giving Ireland a 20-6 advantage and some breathing space.

With Tomas O'Leary on as a substitute at scrum-half for Reddan and Tony Buckley taking over from John Hayes in the front-row, Ireland looked for more scores as the game went into the final quarter and the crowd was soon rewarded with a third try.

A well-worked move, the ball travelled smoothly along the back division for Earls to go over for his second try in the corner.

Sexton kicked the difficult conversion, leaving Ireland 27-6 clear and in complete control.

Kearney and Horgan added further tries with the accurate Sexton landing both conversions from the touchline.

Italy 10 South Africa 32

The international rugby Test match between Italy and South Africa at the Stadio Friuli in Udine, Italy on Saturday Nov 21, 2009.

World champions South Africa ran in four tries to overcome a spirited challenge from Italy and record the first victory of their European tour in the northern city of Udine on Saturday.

The Springboks got off to a bright start after last week's 20-13 loss in France and defeats by English clubs Leicester and Saracens.

Wing Bryan Habana popped up to open the scoring with a try in the fifth minute after Italy flanker Simone Favaro had been sent to the sin-bin for a late charge on a kicker and then turned provider for centre Jaque Fourie to go in under the posts.

Fly-half Morne Steyn added the extra points after missing the previous conversion and hitting a post with an early penalty.

However, Italy fought back. Fly-half Craig Gower set up centre Gonzalo Garcia to go over in the 33rd minute and knocked over the conversion to make amends after missing a penalty and a drop-goal attempt.

The hosts kept the pressure on the visitors after the break, causing huge problems in the scrum as they had against the All Blacks in last week's brave 20-6 defeat in Milan.

Steyn eased the strain with a penalty before scrum-half Fourie du Preez finished off a sweeping move to touch down in the 53rd minute, putting South Africa firmly in charge.

Wynand Olivier wrapped up the win with another try in the closing stages.

"It was a very hard game and we knew it was going to be hard. But in the end we stuck at what we wanted to do and it came through for us," Fourie said. "Next week's game against Ireland is going to be a big one for us."

Match details

Scores: 5-0 Habana try, 10-0 Fourie try, 12-0 Steyn con, 5-12 Garcia try, 7-12 Gower con, 7-15 Steyn pen, 7-20 PF Du Preez try, 7-22 Steyn con, 10-22 Gower pen, 10-25 Steyn pen, 10-30 Olivier try, 10-32 Pienaar con.

Italy: L McLean; M Pratichetti, A Sgarbi, G Garcia, Mirco Bergamasco; C Gower, S Picone (T Tebaldi 56); S Parisse (capt), S Favaro (Mauro Bergamasco 62), A Zanni, Q Geldenhuys, C Antonio Del Fava (Pavanello 72), Martin Castrogiovanni (I Rouyet 41), F Ongaro (L Ghiraldini 49, S Perugini.
Sin-bin: Favaro (8).
South Africa: Z Kirchner; JP Pietersen, J Fourie, A Jacobs, B Habana (W Olivier 64); M Steyn (R Pienaar 72), F du Preez (F Hougaard 77); R Kankowski, D Rossouw, H Brussow, A Bekker, Bakkies Botha (V Matfield 57), J Smit (capt), A Strauss, W du Preez (T Mtawarira 77).
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).

Scotland 9 Australia 8

The international Test match between Scotland and Australia at Murrayfield on Saturday No 21, 2009.

An old fashioned scoreline for an old fashioned game of blood and thunder, and Braveheart Scottish defence the like of which we havent seen for a while, and after the most dramatic finish imaginable Andy Robinson's team were rewarded with a marvellous morale boosting win.

My God they had to work hard, never more so than in the final three minutes when the Aussies mounted a cold-eyed final assault on the line which stretched for 21 agonising phases, mainly under ther Scottish posts.

The Aussies, 9-3 down, were determined to have the final word and eventually worked Ryan Cross over 20 yards out from the posts.

Matt Giteau, who had already missed three kicks, lined up the decisive kick amidst a deafening wall of noise.

The Australian fly-half seemed to take an age but finally he settled and put boot to ball. The noise did abate slighlty, Giteau pulled the ball left and Scotland had claimed their first win over Australia in the last 17 games.

“I’ve just told the boys in the changing room that was the most courageous defensive display I have been associated with,” a delighted Robinson said. “If we can perform with that courage every time we go on a field we can build a team. That’s our platform.

“I would have been proud whether Matt Giteau kicked that final kick or not. Sport is a game of inches and today it went our way. People talk about style and performance but there is no better feeling than winning. International sport is about winning.”

The late drama put the seal on a engrossing evening. You never quite know how to evalutate a win over Fiji so this effectively was Robinson's first test as Scotland coach against a known quantity, a chance to try and evaluate exactly where Scotland are at - which is something some tartan fans have been attempting for decades.

Australia beat England with the utmost ease and should probably have left Dublin with something more than a draw.

The Murrayfield pitch was in surprisingly good nick given the midweek deluges, and both sides made an enterprising start, with Australia striking first with a well struck Giteau penalty.

Rory Lamont was strong in defence, as Australia upped the pace, and Chris Cusiter as well, although the latter paid the price for a courageous tackle on Ashley Cooper, taking a heavy knock on the head and having to reluctantly leave the field. With Mike Blair injured, Rory Lawson came on and Alastair Kellock assumed the captaincy.

It was time to batten down the hatches and only more excellent defence from Lamont prevented lively hooker Stephen Moore charging over. Scotland clung on grimly and were rewarded when they finally broke out and Phil Godman slotted a well hit 43 metre penalty.

That sparked a livelier Scottish spell but Australia replied in kind only for Giteau to miss an absolute sitter of a kick, his state of shock matching the crowds.

He was wide again on the the stroke of half-time with a relatively simple dropped goal attempt, another push to the right that left you shaking your head from such a consumate performer. 3-3 at half-time, and although the standard of play had declined, Scotland hopes were beginning to rise.

Two minutes after the break and Australia's best player completed a hat-trick of sorts, missing the target to the left from 41 metres on this occasion as Scotland's luck continued to hold.

And so did their resolve. More tigerish defence, the sort normally reserved for heroic Calcutta Cup matches against England, kept Rocky Elsom out after the Aussisa captain crossed the line but rolled onto his back, with the TMO deeming that he didn't manage to ground the ball.

Sensing things going their way, the Scots then upped the pace themselves with a breakout from Nic de Luca which was only thwarted by Will Genia holding on illegally. Godman, however, was kicking himself for missing the opportunity to take the lead with an admittedly tricky penalty attempt from the right touchline.

It was a good sighter, though, for an almost identical kick moments later after replacement Dean Mumm was caught on the wrong side of a ruck and this time Godman drew a massive roar from the 44,762 crowd by landing the kick in off the left hand post.

After 56 minutes of largely back to the walls effort Scotland were in the lead. This was getting interesting. Bagpipes skirling and the crowd in full voice, Murrayfield hasn't been this noisy for a while.

Australia were giving it full gas now but were denied again when Drew Mitchell stepped inside for what appeared to be a try, only to be recalled for a forward pass from Quade Cooper. What with a serious looking injury to influential No 8 Wycliff Palu, very little was going Australia's way.

Scotland kept digging in and then in the final stages, full of self belief, surged again with a textbook period of pick and go pressure to create the position for Chris Paterson to land the dropped goal. 9-3, four minutes to go and bedlam at Murrayfield.

Times have been tough North of the border but this was a win to savour.

Match details:

Scores: 0-3 Giteau (pen); 3-3 Godman (pen); HT: 6-3 Godman (pen); 9-3 Paterson (D\G); 9-8 Cross try)

Scotland: R. Lamont; S. Lamont, A Grove, G Morrison, S Danielli (C Paterson, 61);P Godman, C Cusiter (R Lawson, 22); A Jacobsen, R Ford, M Low, N Hines, A Kellock, A Strokosch (J White, 47),J Barclay, J Beattie (R Vernon, 61)

Australia: A Ashley-Cooper; P Hynes, R Cross, Q Cooper (J Connor, 73), D Mitchell; M Giteau, W Genia (L Burgess, 61); B Robinson, S Moore, B Alexander, J Horwill, M Chisholm (D Mumm, 50), R Elsom, G Smith, W Palu (R Brown, 66)

Referee: R Poite (FRFU)

England 6 New Zealand 19

The international Test match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday No 21, 2009.

England produced their best performance of a troubled autumn campaign but it was still not enough to prevent New Zealand from landing their eighth successive victory over their old foe at Twickenham.

The defeat was England’s second of the November Test series and although there was much more commitment and aggression from Martin Johnson’s side, particularly in the first half, it was not enough to bridge the gulf in class between the two sides.

The performance, while not lacking in courage or conviction, will no doubt lead to more questions being asked about England’s attacking prowess.

Just as in the defeat to Australia and unconvincing victory over Argentina, England looked bankrupt of ideas going forward and finished their autumn campaign having scored just one try.

That England were only able to muster two penalties by an out-of-sorts Jonny Wilkinson, and did not score again beyond the 25th minute was an indictment of their inability to cause the All Blacks any problems going forward.

The All Blacks, whose last defeat by England was the15-13 reverse in Wellington in 2003, were simply able to maintain their unbeaten record of their European tour but moving through the gears in the second half, with tries by Jimmy Cowan and two more penalties by Dan Carter, to go with his first-half brace, sealing victory.

Despite losing Joe Worsley as early as the second minute to an ankle injury, England impressive start to the contest was based on the physicality and line-speed of their defence which managed to instill doubt and hesitation into the All Black play.

Wilkinson set the tone by immediately targeting Sitiveni Sivivatu, and Matt Banahan was able to make thumping tackles on Sivivatu and Conrad Smith.

The mood continued when England captain Steve Borthwick forced a turn-over with a heavy tackle on Jimmy Cowan after Carter had surprisingly squandered an early opportunity when he sliced a simple penalty chance.

England’s aggressive defending almost culminated in a try for Ugo Monye but referee Jonathan Kaplan adjudged that the England wing had knocked the ball on in his tackle on Smith just before he gathered and grounded the ball over the line.

Still, Wilkinson was able to slot a penalty in the 17th minute after Richie McCaw had been penalized for playing the ball on the floor.

Despite a mixed half by Carter, slick hands by the New Zealand fly-half almost created the opening try when he created space for New Zealand full-back Mils Muliaina, who ignored Sivivatu on his shoulder and surged for the line only for Ugo Monye to showed great strength in dragging him into touch.

The moment reinforced the view that while the All Blacks looked to carry the more attacking threat, England had some success in attempting to force the play.

England prop Tim Payne was fortunate to escape a yellow card when he was penalized for throwing two punches at a breakdown, but Carter punished the indiscretion by landing a 45-metre penalty in the 23rd minute to level the scores.

From the restart however New Zealand gifted England the opportunity to regain their lead when Borthwick turned over Muliaina and Jimmy Cowan was penalized, with Wilkinson restoring his side’s lead.

England’s defence continued to force unforced errors with Smith knocking on as Monye shot up but Carter was able to land his second penalty on the half hour mark after James Haskell was penalized for hands in a ruck.

The Stade Francais player quickly made amends by leading a number of charges and England received a let-off when Carter again missed from in front of the posts from a penalty after Duncan Bell had collapsed a scrum to leave the scores locked at the break.

New Zealand were able to seize the momentum after a couple of wayward line-out throws by Dylan Hartley however and Carter was able to nudge New Zealand in front for the first time in the match with a 47th minute penalty.

As Steve Thompson replaced Hartley, it took a great cover tackle by Wilkinson on Zac Guildford to snuff out a dangerous counter-attack by the All Blacks and England, for all their endeavour, continued to lack an attacking threat with ball in hand.

If it felt like England were hanging on, that sense was underscored when New Zealand opened up a 10-point lead with a well-carved out try by Jimmy Cowan in the 59th minute with the interchange with Sivivatu and McCaw carving open England on the narrow side. Carter added the conversion to leave England in danger of being cut adrift.

Yet England’s response inspired hope for the Twickenham crowd, as Wilkinson kicked a penalty to the corner and the pack twice rumbled at the line from the line-out. But crucially Wilkinson missed a drop-goal attempt from in front of the posts after another surge by Haskell when more patience could have been rewarded with a try.

After Muliaiana had cruised through a huge gap between Wilkinson and Shane Geraghty, it took another cover tackle by Paul Hodgson to prevent Smith extending the All Blacks’ lead but Carter turned the screw with his fourth penalty in the 67th minute.

If Tom Croft had been able to finish off a late surge to the line, England could have forced a dramatic finale, but the attacking platform was lost when New Zealand were able to disrupt their opponents’ five-metre scrum.

And although Geraghty at last brought some much-needed vim to England’s back play in the final minutes, New Zealand were able to close the game out.

Match details:

England: M Cueto (Sale Sharks); M Banahan (Bath), D Hipkiss (Leicester), A Erinle (Biarritz), U Monye (Harlequins); J Wilkinson (Toulon), P Hodgson (London Irish); T Payne (Wasps), D Hartley (Northampton), D Bell (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), J Worsley (Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), J Haskell (Stade Francais).
Subs: T Croft (Leicester) for Worsley (2), S Thompson (Brive) for Hartley (49), D Wilson (Bath) for Bell (50), S Geraghty (Northampton) for Erinle (63), L Deacon (Leicester) for Shaw (64), Bell for Payne (64), D Care (Harlequins) for Hodgson (70), M Tait (Sale Sharks) for Banahan (72).
Pens: J Wilkinson (2)

New Zealand: M Muliaina (Waikato); Z Guildford (Hawke’s Bay), C Smith (Wellington), M Nonu (Wellington), S Sivivatu (Waikato); D Carter (Canterbury), J Cowan (Southland); T Woodcock (North Harbour), A Hore (Taranaki), O Franks (Canterbury), B Thorn (Canterbury), T Donnelly (Otago), A Thomson (Otago), R McCaw (Canterbury), K Read (Canterbury).
Subs: A Ellis (Canterbury) for Cowan (71)
Try: J Cowan
Con: D Carter
Pens: D Carter (4)

Referee: J Kaplan (South Africa)

Attendance: 82,000

Wales 33 Argentina 16

The international Test match between Wales and Argentina at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday No 21, 2009.

Much more like it from Wales. It was hardly a flawless performance but it was snappy enough to expose Argentina for the plodding, one-dimensional side they are. And three tries m- two from the rejuvenated Shane Williams - should put the home side in good heart as they prepare to face Australia next weekend in the last of their autumn shindigs. They will need to be a good deal more precise in their technical skills and decision-making but with two sides willing to play “footy”, as they say Down Under, it should be a decent spectacle. And we have not seen too many of then recently.

This was no horror show, but it was no classic either in front of a rather disappointing crowd. Samoa on a Friday night attracted more. It took time to sparkle and yet again was marred by excessive kicking, especially in its early stages. At one stage in the first half there were nine on the trot. And it was rather ironic that Williams, last week an outspoken critic of the modern kicking way, should kick the ball the very first time he found any space. He more than made up for it later, though.

There was further irony in the identity of the first man to be penalised on Saturday afternoon: Rodrigo Roncero. The morning's Western Mail had, in an editorial that could only be composed in Wales, implored referee George Clancy to let Wales play, to apply the breakdown laws to the strictest letter. Roncero had merited special mention for his antics there. Reckon there might have been a copy slipped under Clancy's door in the morning? Surely not.

But Wales were gaining the rub of the green and they were trying to play. They were getting ball and some of it quickly, but they were playing far too laterally. Mistakes were abundant, with an unforced drop from young centre Jonathan Davies's symptomatic. Sadly for Davies his attempted left-footed kick in the second half was blocked by Martin Rodriguez for Argentina's only try. Wales were mighty fortunate that Stephen Jones had such a calm hand on the tiller at fly-half in that first half. Skipper Ryan Jones also showed good leadership qualities. He certainly stood his ground - Dal Dy Dir, as Wales have emblazoned around their training centre.

Wales's first try was a curious thing. A penalty had been awarded to them wide on the right. It was eminently kickable for Stephen Jones and all preparations were being made for such an attempt as there were some posturing between Martyn Williams and Roncero. Not for the first time in the match there appeared to be allegations of eye gouging. Argentina's players had gathered beneath their posts but no indication had been given that Jones was to kick for the posts. Jones spotted his chance, tapped and raced to their corner. Sharp-witted stuff from the fly-half, extreme doziness on the part of the school boyish visitors. But two questions. Should the try have been allowed with Wales's kicking coach, Neil Jenkins (in one of those putrid yellow jerseys Wales sometimes wear), already on the field with Jones's kicking tee? Surely play is dead then. In fact Jenkins was in front of Jones when he tapped. And secondly did Clancy ask captain Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (who again put in a mountainous performance at No 8) to speak to Roncero about his behaviour? Another reason maybe for disallowing the score. Interesting.

Wales led 13-3 at the break and put the match beyond Argentina immediately after. Within seconds, scrum-half Augustín Figuerola's clearance kick was charged down by Luke Charteris (he may have been off-side) and Shane Williams pounced, forsaking the easier, straight path to the line and darting inside and then inside again. Jones converted and soon Leigh Halfpenny struck a monster penalty from halfway (he kicked another similar effort later - some second kicker for any side to possess) to make it 23-9.

Davies' error allowed Rodriguez and his side some hope, but that was thoroughly extinguished when Shane Williams snatched his second, snaring Lobbe's half-hearted kick out of trouble and letting those dancing feet do the rest. And it should be noted that at last he had a surface on which to let them do so. The pitch had been re-laid after recent debacles and it was excellent. Well done, the Welsh Rugby Union, it's about time. And well done Wales, but there is still work to be done.

Match details

Scores: 3-0 S Jones Pen, 8-0 S Jones Try, 10-0 S Jones Con, 10 -3 Rodriguez Pen, 13-3 S Jones Pen, 18-3 Williams Try, 20-3 S Jones Con. 20-6 Rodriguez Pen, 20-9 Rodriguez Pen, 23-9 Halfpenny Pen, 23-14 Rodriguez Try, 23-16 Rodriguez Con, 28-16 Williams Try, 30-16 S Jones Con, 33-16 Halfpenny Pen.

Wales: J Hook; L Halfpenny, J Roberts , J Davies (A Bishop 73, S Williams (T James 73); S Jones, G Cooper (D Peel 66); G Jenkins, M Rees (H Bennett 68), P James (D Jones 57), A W Jones, L Charteris (J Thomas 68), A Powell (Dan Lydiate 72), M Williams, R Jones.
Tries: S Jones, S Williams 2.
Cons:S Jones 3.
Pens: S Jones 2, Halfpenny 2.
Argentina: H Agulla, L Borges, G Tiesi (H San Martin 76), M Rodriguez, M Comuzzi (B Urdapilleta 71), S Fernandez, A Figuerola (A Lalanne 79), R Roncero, M Ledesma, M Scelzo (M Ayerza 66), M Sambucetti (M Carizza 63), P Albacete, T Leonardi, A Abadie (A Campos 71), J Fernández Lobbe.
Try: Rodriguez.
Con: Rodriguez.
Pens: Rodrguez 3.
Referee: G Clancy (IRE).

Saracens 24 South Africa 23

The tour match between Saracens and South Africa at Wembley on Tuesday, Nov 17 2009.

Saracens have confirmed that the £250,000 won by one of their fans in a half-time kicking competition during their historic victory over world champions South Africa at Wembley on Tuesday night was covered by insurance.

Stuart Tinner secured the biggest cheer of the night when he won a cheque of £250,000, signed by Saracens chairman Nigel Wray, by hitting the crossbar with a punt from 30 metres in the “Saracens Crossbar Challenge.”

“This is the second-best day of my life,” said Tinney, 24, who plays hooker for Welwyn 5th XV and lives with his parents. “The best was when I lost my virginity. I hope to buy a flat and a new car with the money.”

Tinner’s skills may have proved an inspiration for Guinness Premiership leaders Saracens, who overturned a 12-point deficit at the break with a stunning second-half performance to inflict a third successive defeat on the Tri-Nations champions on their tour of Europe.

Second-half tries by Ernst Joubert and Brad Barritt and a penalty and late dropped-goal by Derick Hougaard, one of eight South Africans in the Saracens starting line-up, snatched the most dramatic of victories.

The Springboks, desperate for a win after defeats to Leicester Tigers and France, looked to be cruising to victory when Juan de Jongh and Jongi Nokwe scored tries, following two penalties by Ruan Pienaar, to give the visitors a 18-3 lead.

Saracens appeared to be dead on their feet. But Hougaard was able to chip away at the deficit with a second penalty just before the internal.

And after the half-time excitement, Brendan Venter’s men turned what had been a rather drab one-sided affair into an absolute firecracker of a contest.

They scored tries through Joubert, who charged down a kick by replacement scrum-half Francois Hougaard, and Barritt, who exploited some sloppy defending by powering over after a short pass from an attacking scrum. Hougaard’s conversion tied the scores.

The Springboks managed to regain the lead when Jongi Nokwe went over for his second try in the 63rd minute after Saracens had lost their line-out, but Hougaard ensured a fairytale finish for

Saracens by landing a penalty and dropped goal to clinch a famous victory.

Saracens chief executive Ed Griffiths said it had been a night to remember.

“What we try to do at Wembley is to provide a great game of rugby and extra. We had some music and with a guy winning £250,000 at half-time, we had something a lot of people will remember,” he said.

Match details

Saracens: M Horak; N Cato, K Ratuvou, B Barritt, M Tagicakibau; D Hougaard, N de Kock; R Gill, E Reynecke, R Skuse, H Vyvyan, M Botha, W van Heerden, J Melck, E Joubert.
Substitutes: K Barrett for de Kock (38), R Penney for Cato (40), S Brits for Reynecke (40), A Saull for Melck (47), C Nieto for Skuse (50), A Goode for Horak (50).
Tries: E Joubert, B Barritt.
Conversion: D Hougaard.
Penalty goals: D Hougaard (3).
Dropped goal: Hougaard.
South Africa: E Rose (Lions), O Ndungane (Sharks), J de Jongh (Stormers), W Olivier (Bulls), J Nokwe (Cheetahs), R Pienaar (Sharks), H Adams (Bulls); H van der Merwe (Lions), A Strauss (Cheetahs), CJ van der Linde (Leinster), A Hargreaves (Sharks), A Bekker (Stormers), J Deysel (Sharks), D Potgieter (Bulls), A Johnson (Cheetahs).
Substitutes: W du Preez for van der Linde (11), F Hougaard (Bulls) for Adams (40), D Raubenheimer (Cheetahs) for Hargreaves (40).
Tries: J de Jongh, J Nokwe (2).
Conversions: R Pienaar.
Penalty goals: R Pienaar (2).
Referee: J Jones (WRU).

Ireland 20 Austalia 20

The autumn international between Ireland and Australia at Croke Park on Sunday, Nov 15 2009.

Brian O'Driscoll celebrated his 100th Test appearance by scoring a dramatic late try to salvage a draw for Ireland at Croke Park.

The Irish pounded away at Australia's line in a nail-biting climax to a thrilling contest and were rewarded by O'Driscoll's try with a minute to go.

Ronan O'Gara added the conversion from beneath the posts to deny the Wallabies victory and conclude Grand Slam tour ambitions.

Former Leinster back row Rocky Elsom appeared to have won it for Australia upon his return to Dublin when he crossed in the 62nd minute.

But Ireland refused to concede defeat with Tommy Bowe, who crossed earlier in the half, almost wriggling over before rugby's newest centurion made the breakthrough.

Ireland's play was light years beyond what England produced at Twickenham yesterday, yet for all their invention they failed to make the impact on the scoreboard they would have wanted.

The outcome also salvaged some pride for Irish sport after the Republic's football team was beaten by France in a World Cup play-off on Saturday night.

Ireland's first-choice XV had not played together since edging Wales in March to complete the Grand Slam with debutant prop Cian Healy and centre Paddy Wallace the only new faces.

Their rustiness showed as early as the third minute when Australia, coming off the back of a Tri-Nations campaign and matches against New Zealand and England on successive weekends, surged ahead.

A poor pass by O'Gara caused the disastrous opening.

O'Driscoll had to reach around his shoulder to gather the pass and was immediately tackled, spilling the ball into the path of winger Drew Mitchell who sprinted home.

The conversion was added by Matt Giteau but O'Gara replied with a penalty and shortly after Ireland were on the front foot when Healy charged down Giteau's drop-goal attempt.

Giteau then missed a penalty, preceding a superb passage of play by the Irish who repeatedly worked the ball across the line until Paddy Wallace ran out of support and conceded a penalty.

Australia scrambled frantically to give Mitchell support after the winger was hurled backwards by a swarm of green shirts chasing Luke Fitzgerald's chip ahead.

The tide had turned in Ireland's favour but with O'Gara and Giteau exchanging penalties, the scoreboard still belonged to the Wallabies who soon set about reasserting themselves on the pitch.

Elsom brought memories of last season's Heineken Cup flooding back when he set off on a 30-yard break, starting a move that ended with Rob Kearney's try-saving tackle on Giteau.

Kearney did brilliantly to stop the Wallaby fly-half but shortly after he was on the receiving end when he was flattened by Wycliff Palu.

Referee Jonathan Kaplan decided Palu had not used his rams to make the challenge and sent the destructive Waratahs number eight to the sin bin.

Thankfully for Ireland, Giteau had not brought his kicking boots as he sent a second penalty wide as Australia made a brisk start to the second half.

Munster scrum-half Tomas O'Leary was penalised for feeding at the scrum and this time Giteau obliged with the three points.

Undaunted by Australia opening up a 13-6 lead, Ireland responded beautifully by scoring almost immediately.

From the restart the impressive Healy came up with possession and marauded into space, taking the Irish within 20 yards of the whitewash.

They battered away at the line with Stephen Ferris and David Wallace making telling runs before Bowe eventually wriggled over with O'Gara converting to level the score.

Ireland staged another lightning strike but came away with nothing and next it was Australia's turn to attack, Giteau and Quade Cooper firing miss passes to Elsom who barged over on the left corner.

Giteau made the tricky touchline conversion, but after that it was all one-way traffic as the Wallabies were subjected to a ferocious late onslaught.

Bowe appeared to have wriggled over with two minutes to go but the TMO decided winger Peter Hynes had got his arms around the ball.

But Ireland could not be denied seconds later, an O'Leary miss pass sending O'Driscoll in under the posts with O'Gara converting to level with the last kick of the match.

England 16 Argentina 9

The autumn international between England and Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday, Nov 14 2009.

A late try by Matt Banahan saved England's blushes after Argentina came agonizingly close to causing a major upset at Twickenham today.

The Pumas, who had held the edge for most of the game, finished the contest hammering at England’s line and the final whistle brought relief to the Twickenham crowd, who had earlier booed their side’s error-ridden efforts.

Despite the victory, the performance will have brought little comfort to under-pressure England manager Martin Johnson, with New Zealand next up at Twickenham next Saturday.

England once again lacked creativity and composure against opposition who hadn’t played a game together for five months, only came together on Monday and were missing key play-makers Juan Martin Hernandez and Felipe Contepomi.

Banhan’s touchdown, the third of his career, was a rare highlight in a second half that that was only marginally more entertaining that a drab opening period.

England, with their own well-documented injury problems, had been lucky to go into the break level at 9-9 after a wretched first-half with Argentina centre Martin Rodriguez only able to land three from five penalty attempts while fly-half Santiago Fernandez was also off target with two dropped goal efforts.

Throughout a drab half in which the only structured and creative rugby came from a surprisingly enterprising and effective Puma side, England’s could only muster an opportunistic drop-goal by Jonny Wilkinson, with the Toulon fly-half also slotting two penalties accrued from scraps of possession.

The men in purple trudged off at the break with boos echoing around Twickenham. While Wilkinson’s place-kicking had proved to be more accurate that Rodriguez, the Pumas were much more effective with their out-of-hand kicking strategy, with Ugo Monye brutally exposed at full-back under the high ball.

Three times the Harlequins player, more accustomed to playing on the left wing, knocked on under pressure, while both Wilkinson and Geraghty were guilty of kicking a number of kicks out on the full.

After a scrappy opening dominated aerial combat from both sides, Wilkinson nudged England with a drop-goal in the sixth minute after Lewis Moody had charged down a clearance by Fernandez.

Yet England moments later squandered a golden opportunity to extend their lead when Mark Cueto was felled by Puma full-back Horacio Agulla just five metres short of the line after Paul Hodgson’s high ball had been spilled badly by Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

After Fernandez saw a drop-goal attempt graze the left-hand upright, a mistake by Wilkinson, who kicked out on the full from a drop-out, then gifted the Pumas an attacking scrum.

And when England loosehead prop Tim Payne was penalized for his binding, Rodriguez levelled the scores in the 14th minute. The Argentine centre however was off-target three minutes later after James Haskell had been penalized for playing the ball off his feet after some promising play by Argentina and Wilkinson restored England’s lead with his second penalty in the 21stminute.

But Rodriguez levelled the scores with his second penalty six minutes later after Monye dropped another high ball by Fernandez while under pressure from Mauro Comuzzi and Croft had played the ball in an offside position.

The frustration in the Twickenham crowd boiled over when Geraghty kicked a ball out on the full, with England’s lack of ambition and precision met with boos.

And Martinez, after his second miss, gave Argentina the lead in the 38th minute after a third knock-on by Monye had given Argentina another attacking scrum and England were lucky to go into the break all-square with Wilkinson landing his third penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Both Wilkinson and Rodriguez missed penalty chances after the restart as England’s at last enjoyed some sustained possession.

Yet too often their attacks were too predictable. A fine counter-attack by Cueto pinned Argentina back but when the ball was spun wide from the line-out, the England wing was forced to concede a penalty as he was cut in half by a great tackle by Lucas Borges on Cueto.

Two long-range penalty misses by Wilkinson summed up England’s inability to forge openings in the Puma defence. Yet just as England looked to be running out of ideas, a line break by Haskell was carried on by Steve Borthwick and with the Argentina defence stretched, Moody put Banahan over in the corner in the 70th minute, with Wilkinson adding the conversion.

But rather than kick on, England were forced into a desperate rearguard action to protect their lead but at the final reckoning the Pumas lacked the patience and accuracy to turn pressure into points, much to Johnson’s relief.

Scotland 23 Fiji 10

The autumn international between Scotland and Fiji at Murrayfield on Saturday Nov 14 2009.

A low-key beginning to the Andy Robinson era, but a precious Scottish victory all the same. The Murrayfield stands were less than one-third full, but they produced such a mighty roar at the finish that the residents of west Edinburgh must have thought that the Grand Slam had just been won. Inside the ground, the sense of relief was almost tangible.

And, in fairness to Robinson, the new coach has spent the past few months preaching the mantra that winning is everything, so it would be churlish to complain that Scotland lacked spark and crackle in their play.

Towards the end, as replacement full-back Chris Paterson lined up to kick a penalty that a more ambitious side would have run, you might have questioned the overall strategy, but the consensus in the crowd was that any sort of victory would do.

Goodness knows, home wins have have been rare enough at Murrayfield in recent years. This one was built on the excellence of the Scottish front five, the clever captaincy of Chris Cusiter, and some fierce tackling in the midfield, where Worcester centre Alex Grove earned a pile of pass marks on his Test debut.

But if the Scots are to finish within a mile of Australia at Murrayfield next weekend, they must know that they will have to raise their games by a considerable degree.

"I'm very, very pleased," said Robinson at the finish. "For the first 35 minutes we had complete control. I've been really pleased with the attitude of the players over the past couple of weeks. We were in very good control of the game.

"There are lessons we've got to learn, but the good thing is that we can now learn them from a winning start."

Certainly there was nothing particularly flamboyant about the way Scotland carved out their 16-7 interval lead. This was hard-yards rugby of the old school, as the Scots subdued their opponents in the scrum and grafted for every inch of territory thereafter.

There might have been a sense of early restlessness about the crowd as Robinson's reign was launched with such a barrage of pragmatism, but it was nothing in comparison with the frustration of watching the pretty defeats of the past.

And at least the Scottish fans did have one moment of glorious opportunism to celebrate. Unsurprisingly, its source was Cusiter, the marvellous little scrum-half, who celebrated his return to the side and his elevation to the captaincy with a characteristically eager-eyed performance.

Its highlight was the 22nd minute break from behind a rather messy Scottish lineout which ended, a few moments later, with number 8 Johnnie Beattie blasting over the line for Scotland's opening try.

Phil Godman, the starting fly-half who had controversially inherited Paterson's kicking duties, clipped over the conversion, adding three first-half penalties for good measure.

Had Scotland been able to craft another score before half-time, they could have posted the 'job done' stickers there and then, but instead they lost their shape a little, conceded a great dollop of territory to the newly rejuvenated

Fijians, and then coughed up a try when they failed to stop Vereniki Goneva's charge into the right corner two minutes before the break.

Nicky Little, the Bath playmaker, had a chance to put a real squeeze on Scotland early in the third quarter, but the fly-half screwed his relatively straightforward penalty effort wide.

Perhaps that was the scare the Scots needed, for they began to up their workrate again, with tighthead prop Moray Low, in his first start for Scotland, making some particularly effective contributions.

Low's performance was such that the mighty Euan Murray may well have a fight on his hands if he is to regain the Scottish number three shirt on his recovery from injury.

Low's power may have been the decisive factor when the Scots, awarded a penalty in the shadow of the Fijian posts in the 50th minute, opted to scrum instead.

As the Fiji pack crumpled, it seemed a toss-up between a penalty try or a second touchdown for Beattie, but instead the ball was shipped left by Cusiter, moved quickly through the hands by Godman and Sean Lamont, and dotted down over the line by the charging Graeme Morrison.

There was a strong suspicion of a forward pass in the move, but it was deserved on the strength of Scottish pressure at that point.

Little did get one more penalty for Fiji, but their resistance was already petering out. Scotland finished the match deep in their own half, but that would not bother them one bit. What mattered was that they finished ahead on the scoreboard.

Italy 6 New Zealand 20

The autumn international game between Italy and New Zealand at the San Siro Stadium, Milan on Saturday Nov 14 2009.

Not one of rugby's great games, but undoubtedly one of rugby's great occasions. This was a sporting event that will linger long in the memory, even if the match was a bit of a stinker on a dank day. The iconic San Siro stadium - home to both the footballing giants AC and Inter Milan - was packed to its imposing red rafters with more than 80,000 awe-inspired spectators. Rugby was breaking new ground.

The San Siro had seen nothing like this before. Well, it had seen international rugby before, but Romania beating Italy in front of just 9,000 in 1988 doesn't really count.

This was no ticketing gimmick either. The usual full prices were asked, the usual full prices were paid. This was solely down to the attraction of New Zealand. Those, including this correspondent, who averred that they had left their aura at home when embarking upon this particular European tour, need to think again.

It was ironic too that the All Blacks should be playing in such a famous football stadium on the very day that their own footballers qualified for the World Cup finals for only the second time. In beating Bahrain in Wellington they attracted a crowd of 35,500, larger than that for any of the All Blacks' six home internationals this year. The All Blacks are clearly now more popular abroad than at home.

The pre-match atmosphere was goose-bump stuff. Really. Just ask Kiwi hooker Corey Flynn. As the New Zealanders waited for Italy to arrive to some intimidatory `fight-time' music, he peeled away from his team-mates to gaze around the stadium ablaze with flash bulbs. Wonderment doesn't tell the half of it.

The Italian anthem was rousingly sung by Denis Dallan, Italy's former wing (rugby that is!), who now fancies himself as a tenor. And the haka was observed in reverential silence by the crowd. Italy's players faced it head-on, their line, led by Leicester's Martin Castrogiovanni, advancing ever closer to the All Blacks. There was no Richard Cockerill/Norm Hewitt confrontation (at another rather famous football stadium, Old Trafford, in 1997), although afterwards the flame-haired centre Gonzalo Garcia did hang around in aggressive pose for rather longer than necessary. Little surprise he was sin-binned later.

At least haka-lessons had been learnt. The last time I watched Italy versus New Zealand was in the World Cup of 2007 in Marseilles. The Italians thought it a good idea to turn their back on the war-dance. It enraged the Kiwis no end. They smashed the Italians 76-14.

There was never going to happen yesterday, even if there was never any real doubt about the outcome. Italy have still not beaten the Kiwis in 12 attempts. Not even their traditional opening 20 minutes of blood and thunder inconvenienced the All Blacks overly here (one seismic hit by Gonzalo Canale on Cory Jane aside). So New Zealand led at half-time 14-3 with a try from Flynn, with Italy's only threat coming from their formidable scrummage (Castrogiovanni was man of the match) and, as you would expect, the odd moment of splendour from the subliminal No 8 Sergio Parisse. They offer so little in attack that they could ill afford fly half Craig Gower once spilling prime turnover ball.

It appeared the match was over at the interval, and so it proved. New Zealand stuttered, and Italy bulldozed. Stalemate. True to type, the final minutes were spent on a series of scrummages on New Zealand's line. A penalty try seemed certain. It did not come. Neemia Tialata was shown a yellow card, and, with Luke McAlister at blindside flanker, New Zealand survived.

As the All Blacks head for London today what was there for woeful England to make of this ahead of next Saturday's encounter? To be honest, the hardly startling news that New Zealand's seconds could beat them. This was enough evidence of that sort of strength in depth, with twelve changes from the side that overcame Wales last weekend. It was not a stunning performance but not many reserve sides would have prevailed here. Even with three debutants in the back line, nobody looked anything less than Test class.

One debutant, wing Ben Smith, dropped his first high ball but still recovered to give a classy performance. As did another newcomer, fly half Mike Delany. Dan Carter was banned, but he would have been rested anyway. He will back, and doubtless New Zealand will kick more than they did without him yesterday. But when you can kick that well…

For real envy take a look at McAlister, still second choice inside centre. What a player of composure, clout and silkiness. And that's without the hefty right boot that contributed 15 points.

In broader terms, though, this experience here just has to be repeated. Milan may not itself be a rugby-mad city, but its surrounding areas beat strongly to the oval-ball tune. The north is Italy's rugby heartland. Rome, with its small 32,000-capacity Stadio Flaminio, might as well be a million miles away.

France 20 South Africa 13

The Autumn international game between France and South Africa at Le Stade de Toulouse on Friday Nov 13, 2009.

France , mixing the glorious with the frantic but always absolutely committed, prolonged their 12-year unbeaten home record against world champions South Africa with this win.

Symbolically, they completed victory in the final minute by shoving South Africa off their own ball for Morgan Parra to kick a simple penalty in front of the posts. Game, set and match.

After all the pre-match speculation about Tendai Mtawarira, the 'Beast’ duly took his place in the Springboks front row, the row over his eligibility postponed for a day.

Although both sides paused for a belated Remembrance Sunday silence, the lead-up to this game was bellicose in the extreme with Imanol Harinordoquy setting the tone by denouncing the Springboks as the “nastiest” team in world rugby who go out to “hurt” opponents. Bakkies Botha, much affronted, rushed into print to assure all that he did not bite his wife or kick his children.

Botha and opposite lock Lionel Nallet had serious words at the very first maul and the opening exchanges were scarily physical before France drew first blood, Julien Dupuy landing a 45-metre penalty after John Smit had entered a ruck from the side.

A questionable challenge from Bismarck du Plessis on Cedric Heymans — late and mainly shoulder — raised the temperature even more but it was South Africa who kept their composure best and struck next with a medium-range penalty from Morne Steyn after a moment’s petulance from Harinordoquy was spotted by a touch judge.

A blustery wind, blowing mainly in favour of the Boks, was making it difficult to string the phases together but South Africa remained calm and soon nicked the lead with a dropped goal by Steyn.

Gradually they were turning the screw and it all went horribly wrong for France on the half-hour when a line-out missed Harinordoquy by a mile and Smit collected to run through Dupuy from five yards out, the mismatch of the year.

Steyn added the extras but France’s response was excellent, hitting back with a fine try for Vincent Clerc wide out on the right after good approach work by Fabien Barcella, William Servat and Nallet, a strong burst from Yann David and a quick tap-on pass by Francois Trinh-Duc. Trademark French skills all the way.

Dupuy missed the conversion and then a penalty but France were pressing now and a chip from Vincent Clerc spelt danger so much that Steyn tripped the wing and was sin-binned for his trouble. Dupuy found the target, making it 13-11 to South Africa at half-time and everything to play for.

Match details

France: D Traille (Biarritz); V Clerc (Toulouse), Y David (Toulouse), M Mermoz (Perpignan), C Heymans (Toulouse), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), J Dupuy (Stade Francais); F Barcella (Biarritz), W Servat (Toulouse), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Racing Metro 92), R Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), T Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz), L Picamoles (Toulouse). Subs: D Marty (Perpignan) for David (48), S Chabal (Racing Metro) for Nallet (54), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais) for Servat (55), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne) for Harinordoquy (55), M Parra (Clermont Auvergne) for Dupuy (66).
Try: Clerc. Penalty goals: Dupuy 4, Parra.
South Africa: Z Kirchner (Bulls); JP Pietersen (Sharks), J Fourie (Lions), A Jacobs (Sharks), B Habana (Bulls), M Steyn (Bulls), F du Preez (Bulls); T Mtawarira (Sharks), B du Plessis (Sharks) J Smit (Sharks, capt), B Botha (Bulls), V Matfield (Bulls), H Brussow (Cheetahs), S Burger (Stormers), R Kankowski (Sharks). Subs: A Strauss (Cheetahs), W du Preez (Cheetahs), CJ van der Linde (Leinster), A Bekker (Stormers), D Rossouw (Bulls), R Pienaar (Sharks), W Olivier (Bulls). Subs: D Rossouw for Burger (47), CJ Van Der Linde (Leinster) for Mtawarira (50), A Bekker (Stormers) for Botha (68).
Try: Smit. Conversion: Steyn. Penalty goals: Steyn 2.
Referee: W Barnes (England).

Wales 17 Samoa 13

The Autumn international game between Wales and Samoa at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Friday Nov 13, 2009.

Having spent the best part of this week lamenting a missed opportunity against New Zealand, Wales on Friday night survived the most testing of Samoan examinations at the Millennium Stadium to register a first victory of their autumn series.

However, it was far from the polished performance that coach Warren Gatland might have hoped for in the wake of his side’s 19-12 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks.

In fact, had the Samoans shown a little more composure in the final moments, they might have inflicted yet another disheartening defeat on a Wales side for whom this autumn has been anything but encouraging.

It had been a difficult few days for the coach, whose disappointment at last weekend’s defeat had been heightened in midweek when a television camera crew highlighted the Welsh squad’s failure to observe a minute’s silence on Armistice Day.

And it might have been even worse. Thankfully, their somewhat fortuitous victory over a Samoan side who had wrought havoc on two previous occasions in Cardiff, will at least provide some relief as their attentions turn to the remaining games in their Invesco Perpetual series against Argentina and Australia.

Seldom shy in coming forward and leaving their mark, the Samoans found themselves in hot water inside two minutes when the full-back, Lolo Lui, was sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous, late tackle on scrum-half Dwayne Peel.

Biggar nudged over the ensuing penalty before his opposite number, Fa’atonu Fili, levelled matters with his first points of the night 90 seconds later.

However, Wales made the most of their numerical advantage after five minutes when Biggar’s perfectly measured cross-field punt was snatched out of mid-air by Halfpenny, who despite the attention of David Lemi, made it to the line for his fifth try in Wales colours.

Biggar’s missed conversion was the only blemish on a wonderful start for the young Ospreys outside-half, in whom Gatland has shown great faith. Eager to prove that he should be the successor to Stephen Jones, the 20-year-old pivot continued to play with terrific poise and purpose as Wales remained on the front foot.

His second penalty after 16 minutes put Wales eight points to the good and took the wind out of the Samoan sails. Admittedly, the tourists were keen to flex their muscles at the tackle area and at the scrum, where they had a weight advantage of a stone per man.

However, until Fili added a second penalty six minutes from the interval, they were somewhat laboured in attack and rarely a threat to a Wales side who were comfortable without pressing home their advantage.

Too much kicking from Wales and a subsequent lack of tempo had given the Samoans a sniff at half-time. But when Halfpenny added a third penalty two minutes into the second half, Wales were back in front by eight and seeking to consolidate.

The loss of Tom Shanklin to a suspected broken nose brought Jonathan Davies on for a third cap and by now the referee was running out of patience with the indiscipline of the Samoans.

Although they played with an acceptable vim and vigour in open play, their constant slowing down of Welsh ball at the tackle area ended up with a deserved yellow card for Henry Tuilagi.

Biggar provided the points from the penalty, 35 metres out, but James Hook, Sam Warburton and Tom James were all guilty of handling errors before the young fly-half’s ambitious pass on the hour was wonderfully intercepted by Seilala Mapusua, who scored under the posts.

Fili’s conversion brought Samoa back to within four points and had they not have knocked on with the line at their mercy three minutes from time, it would have been another desperate night for Wales.

Match details

Wales: J Hook (Ospreys); L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), T Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), T James (Cardiff Blues); D Biggar (Ospreys), D Peel (Sale); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), H Bennett (Ospreys), P James (Ospreys), A-W Jones (Ospreys), L Charteris (Newport-Gwent Dragons), A Powell (Cardiff Blues), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys, capt).
Substitutes: J Davies (Scarlets) for Shanklin 49, C Mitchell (Ospreys) for P James 63, M Rees (Scarlets) for Bennett 63, B Davies (Cardiff Blues) for Charteris 72, J Thomas (Ospreys) for Warburton 72.
Try: Halfpenny. Penalty goals: Biggar 3, Halfpenny.
Samoa L Lui; D Lemi, G Williams, S Mapusua, A Tuilagi; F Fili, J Poluleuligaga; J Va’a, M Schwalger, C Johnston, F Levi, I Tekori, G Stowers (capt), O Treviranus, H Tuilagi.
Substitutes: H Fa’afili for A Tuilagi 56, K Thomson for Tekori 57, J Fa’amatuainu for Treviranis 64.
Try: Mapusua. Conversion: Fili. Penalty goals: Fili 2.
Referee: P Fitzgibbon (IRU).

England 9 Australia 18

England's autumn international against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday, November 7, 2009.

Jonny Wilkinson’s vaunted return for England after 20 months in the international wilderness could not prevent Martin Johnson’s side crashing to a comprehensive defeat as Australia clinched the Cook Cup at Twickenham.

Wilkinson looked to have given England the platform to gain avenge for a heavy defeat by the Wallabies a year ago after kicking two penalties and a drop-goal to give his side the led for the first hour.

But even a huge defensive display by the England fly-half could not prevent Australia, who had lost six of their last seven Tests, pulling away in the final quarter having dominated the second half, with two penalties by Matt Giteau and a try by Adam Ashley-Cooper clinching victory.

England, who had enjoyed a solid start despite having 27 players unavailable because of injury, simply couldn’t match Australia’s high tempo and wide-running game, despite big performances by Wilkinson and Lewis Moody.

There was barely two minutes on the clock when Wilkinson landed his first blow, a sweetly-struck drop-goal after Tom Croft and midfield drive by Jordan Crane.

With England dominating possession, a dangerous tackle by Hynes on Ugo Monye then gave Wilkinson a penalty opportunity and he doubled England’s lead.

The England fly-half was unlucky not to extend his side’s lead moments later after a penalty attempt from the half-way line after Will Genia had been isolated rebounded off the lefthand upright.

Wilkinson’s out-of-hand kicking was not as assured however, which gave Australia opportunities to counter-attack and the Wallabies began to grow into the game, with Quade Cooper’s distribution and powerful running by Wycliff Palu forcing England onto the back foot.

The Wallabies’ pressure was rewarded when Genia sniped over from close range, darting inside Louis Deacon, for a try in the 21st minute. The penalty count continued to hamper Australia however, and after Wilkinson had found Matt Banahan with a cross-kick ball, the Wallaby backline were caught offside and the England fly-half opened up a four-point lead.

An unlikely break by Wallaby loosehead prop Benn Robinson after hooker Stephen Moore had broken clear from the base of a ruck gave England a fright just before half-time but two magnificent tackles by Wilkinson, one on Mark Chisholm and the second on Matt Giteau, allowed England to clear their lines.

Australia had shown enough in the first period to illustrate their running threat and it took a big tackle by Banahan on Elsom to prevent a try not long after the restart after Moore had again found a hole in the English defence. Giteau however was able to slot a penalty after the English backline had strayed offside to make it a one-point game again.

A poor chip-kick by Shane Geraghty out of defence landed England in more trouble but Adam Ashley-Cooper couldn’t reach the ball in the goal area from Drew Mitchell’s kick. Australia butchered another great chance when Digby Ioane hesitated with Elsom on his shoulder having hit a great line from a short pass by Genia and Palu knocked on over the line.

With the pressure building, Duncan Bell gave away a penalty at a scrum having just replaced David Wilson and Giteau knocked Australia into the lead for the first time in the match on the hour mark.

A break by James Haskell, on for Crane, and a perfectly-placed chip and take by Wilkinson gave England some rare momentum after weathering 20 minutes of sustained pressure. But Australia turned the screw. A huge hit by Elsom on Banahan forced a turn-over in the England half and the Wallabies did not leave without adding their second try, with Ashley-Cooper holding off tackles by Mark Cueto and Monye to score in the 71st minute.

Giteau added the conversion and there would be no way back for England.

England: U Monye; M Cueto, D Hipkiss (A Erinle 68), S Geraghty, M Banahan; J Wilkinson, D Care (P Hodgson 62); T Payne, S Thompson (D Hartley 56), D Wilson (D Bell 59), L Deacon (C Lawes 69), S Borthwick, T Croft, L Moody, J Crane (J Haskell 53) T: C: P: J Wilkinson (2) D: J Wilkinson

Australia: A Ashley-Cooper; P Hynes, D Ioane (R Cross 67), Q Cooper, D Mitchell; M Giteau, W Genia; B Robinson, S Moore (T Polota-Nau 60), B Alexander (M Dunning 77), J Horwill, M Chisholm (D Mumm 72), R Elsom, G Smith, W Palu (D Pocock 69).T: W Genia, A Ashley-Cooper C: M Giteau P: M Giteau (2)

Referee: B Lawrence (New Zealand)