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ENGLAND 54 - 12 FIJI 
Twickenham - Saturday 10 November 2012
KO: 14:30 HT: 25-0 Att: 81,110
ALL week the England coaches preached the same message collectively - game management is critical for the team. Fiji’s form had been studied to a degree, but all the focus was in fact put on England’s game; strategy and technique had been embedded into the psyche of this young side building for 2015 and beyond. Now it was in the hands of the boys to actually put all the theory into practice on the field at HQ in front of a full house. And so they did, putting away an inexperienced Fiji side with a good measure of effectiveness.
England were not tested to the degree they will be over the next three weekends against the world’s top three sides, but what did they did show was the team has moved on and grown, even since the Summer Tour to South Africa where they learned some huge lessons in the step up to international rugby. The homeside showed creativity, a hint of flair, some interesting partnerships developing, especially between Toby Flood and Alex Goode, and a great deal of progress as a unit.
However, England did not impress for the first quarter by any stretch of the imagination. After a minute's silence for Remembrance Weekend, and captain Chris Robshaw’s girlfriend, Camilla Kerslake leading the anthems, the Fijians performed the Cibi before referee Glen Jackson took charge of his first international.
Quickly Fiji had the opportunity to get the scoreboard ticking, but Metuisela Talebula’s kick fell well short of the uprights, the first of many that did not find their mark. Soon after, Danny Care was promptly binned for a churlish tackle taking a Fijian into the horizontal, and Fiji bore down on the English tryline. Goode stepped in at scrum half and the opposition were cleared away. And finally England began to find their stride, heading into the Fijian 22 with debutant hooker Tom Youngs proving his worth.
Talebula missed another penalty before Flood was on target to start the scoring. This was swiftly followed up by Brad Barritt setting up Charlie Sharples -on his first start for England at home- for his first try. Moments later, Flood added another 3 points, and Tom Youngs continued to hit his target in the line outs in proficient fashion.
Fiji repeatedly infringed in contact and eventually Jackson sent captain, Deacon Manu off to the bin. England almost scored again but for an appalling pass from Joe Marler which missed Barritt by a country mile. And then the powerhouse of the front row allowed England to take advantage of the weakened scrum and picked up a penalty try under the posts with just 5 minutes remaining.
But England were not done yet; Fiji could not get a look in as Sharples smartly chipped ahead and touched down in the corner, though the try was disallowed by TMO, Gareth Simmonds. Flood set up another lineout in Fiji’s 22; the well practiced setpiece eventually allowed Ugo Monye to jink through a space to score right on halftime. Flood missed the conversion but the homeside went into the break 25-0 up.
It took Flood just 2 minutes to add to his tally with a penalty, and soon it was Dan Cole over the whitewash, though the ball was held up. Mako Vunipola made his debut as he was subbed on for Marler, and the England forwards came together smoothly, led by their captain who offloaded to Tom Johnson to score his first international try. A perfect conversion from Flood put England 35 points clear of the Pacific Islanders, and Joe Launchbury was brought on for his England debut with half an hour remaining on the clock.
Finally Fiji found their moment from a smart intercept that allowed Nikola Matawalu to chip ahead and score with Barritt hot on his heels, but not quite quick enough.
Heading into the final quarter, Monye almost scored a second time but was held just short. But the recycled ball returned to Sharples on the wing who did secure another try, converted by Flood taking England to a 42-5 lead.
Fiji had already brought on a host of subs, and now the England management freshened up their team with Johnson, Care, Flood, Monye and Cole replaced by Tom Wood, the younger Youngs - Ben, Owen Farrell, Mike Brown & David Wilson.
England continued to play a wide game and Manu Tuilagi charged over for his first score of the day. Farrell put the conversion wide, but Tuilagi then repeated his move from 5 minutes earlier in copycat fashion and scored again with just 5 minutes left on the clock, and this time Farrell found his mark.
The homeside took their eye off the ball for the dying moments, enough for Kalou Qaraniqio to cross the line and score another soft try, converted by Josh Matavesi.
England beat Fiji emphatically, 54-12, and the debutants for the team gave the coaches much to ponder for next week’s encounter against Australia with the return of Chris Ashton, Alex Corbisiero and Jonathan Joseph. However, the worry that the big three will cause havoc with this relatively novice side is not so great after Ireland ran the Springboks close in Dublin, and the Wallabies were convincingly whipped by Les Bleus in Paris. The All Blacks, however, may well be a much bigger problem.
15 Alex Goode 14 Charlie Sharples 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi 12 Brad Barritt 11 Ugo Monye 10 Toby Flood 9 Danny Care 1 Joe Marler 2 Tom Youngs* 3 Dan Cole 4 Tom Palmer 5 Geoff Parling 6 Tom Johnson 7 Chris Robshaw (C) 8 Thomas Waldrom BENCH: 16 David Paice 17 David Wilson 18 Mako Vunipola* 19 Joe Launchbury* 20 Tom Wood 21 Ben Youngs 22 Owen Farrell 23 Mike Brown
SCORERS T: Sharples (2), PT, Monye, Johnson, Tuilagi (2) C: Flood (4), Farrell P: Flood (3) 
Danny Care
15 Simeli Koniferedi 14 Samu Wara 13 Vereniki Goneva 12 Sireli Naqelevuki 11 Watisoni Votu 10 Metuisela Talebula 9 Nikola Matawalu 1 Penijamini Makutu 2 Viliame Veikoso 3 Deacon Manu (C) 4 Leone Nakarawa 5 Api Ratuniyara 6 Api Naikatini 7 Malakai Ravulo 8 Akapusi Qera BENCH: 16 Setefano Somoca 17 Seremaia Naurere 18 Manasa Saulo 19 Seko Kalou 20 Iliesa Ratuva 21 Kelemedi Bola 22 Ravai Fatiaki 23 Josh Matavesi
SCORERS T: Matawalu, Qaraniqio C: Matavesi Deacon Manu
Referee: Glen Jackson (NZRU) Asst. Referees: Craig Joubert (SARU), Marius Mitrea (FIR) TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)
WALES 12 - 26 ARGENTINA 
Millennium Stadium - Saturday 10 November 2012
KO: 14:30 HT: 9-6 Att: 72,896
WALES looked decidedly out of control against Argentina as the Pumas produced an excellent second half to seal a victory. The win was their first for 11 years in Cardiff and really proved how far the Argentinians have come over the last few years.
The teams laid wreaths of poppies to commemorate Remembrance Day before the National Anthems, and then got down to business. The first half was not particularly gripping with both sides struggling on the greasy pitch and making nervy mistakes. Wales swiftly gave away a penalty for tackling high after a shaky 3 minutes of play; Felipe Contepomi slotted it and handed the Pumas an early lead.
Leigh Halfpenny soon equalised though as the visitors allowed him the chance to tee up right in front of the posts. However, Rhys Priestland made a poor clearance kick moments later and the Pumas took the opportunity to apply pressure. They opted for the grubber kick though and it skittered away into awaiting Welsh hands. But the next attack saw the visitors drive up into Welsh territory before Nicolás Sanchez fell back into the pocket and added his first drop goal.
The homeside responded with another easy penalty shot from Halfpenny, meanwhile the Pumas took a blow as Contepomi was stretchered off after damaging his right knee ligaments. This was a sad moment for the 38 year old, who may now be looking at the end of his long career with Argentina. Joaquín Tuculet took his place whilst Wales also lost a player to injury as Jamie Roberts was removed after a clash of heads, James Hook coming on as the replacement.
With the scores still tied as the half-hour mark approached, Wales were handed another simple penalty, the visitors infringing at the breakdown. Halfpenny teed up and added the 3 points to haul Wales in front. The Argentinians then broke free but Gonzalo Tiesi lost control of the ball as he tumbled over the tryline, leaving the visitors wanting.
Alun Wyn Jones got into trouble with referee Romain Poite after making a definite late tackle, but received only a verbal reprimand rather than a card. So far the Pumas had been setting the pace of the game but towards the end of the half the Welsh side decided to step up the tempo with a few good runs. However, the Argentine defence was solid and dragged them into touch to halt proceedings.
The homeside moved up into the 22 and looked hopefully at the tryline, but Jones infringed at the ruck to ruin a great chance for Wales. He soon left the pitch with injury after a terrible 10 minutes for his side. The Pumas had one final burst but sloppy handling put an end to it and the half-time whistle blew, Wales narrowly leading by 9-6.
After the break the Pumas returned with force, although Halfpenny added a final early penalty, from this point on it was an Argentinian match. The Pumas did have a chance to equalise just 2 minutes into the half but Sanchez slipped over whilst kicking the penalty.
His next shot was far better, as he claimed his second perfect drop goal of the game and closed the margin to just 3 points.
After this, it did not take long for the visitors to make their mark with Juan Imhoff weaving his way skilfully through a scrambling Welsh defence to touchdown under the posts. Sanchez slotted the conversion and suddenly Wales were worried.
Just 4 minutes later the TMO confirmed another Puma try as Camacho made a stunning one-handed plant in the corner to boost their lead. The tricky angle was no match for Sanchez’s boot and the visitors had found their stride now.
Wales tried to retort but flat lines, poor decisions and clumsy play meant that any decent scoring opportunities were lost fairly quickly. Sanchez tried to grab more points for Argentina but this time his drop was not on target.
Sanchez teed up again in the 70th minute and smacked over a 3-pointer from a tough angle to end scoring and put the final nail in the Welsh coffin. His final attempt at the posts was from a very long distance but it, unsurprisingly, fell short.
However, this final kick summed up the confidence Argentina had acquired over the course of the match and, when time was eventually called, it could not have been more welcome to the Welsh ears. Their Autumn Internationals had started in the worst possible fashion and fans are rightfully disappointed with their side’s performance.
15 Leigh Halfpenny 14 Alex Cuthbert 13 Scott Williams 12 Jamie Roberts 11 George North 10 Rhys Priestland 9 Tavis Knoyle 1 Gethin Jenkins 2 Matthew Rees 3 Aaron Jarvis 4 Alun-Wyn Jones 5 Ian Evans 6 Josh Turnbull 7 Sam Warburton (C) 8 Toby Faletau BENCH: 16 Richard Hibbard 17 Ryan Bevington 18 Paul James 19 Rob McCusker 20 Justin Tipuric 21 Mike Phillips 22 James Hook 23 Liam Williams
SCORERS P: Halfpenny (4)
15 Juan Martín Hernández 14 Gonzalo Camacho 13 Gonzalo Tiesi 12 Felipe Contepomi 11 Juan Imhoff 10 Nicolás Sánchez 9 Martín Landajo 1 Marcos Ayerza 2 Eusebio Guiñazú 3 Juan Figallo 4 Manuel Carizza 5 Julio Farías Cabello 6 Leonardo Senatore 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón 8 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (C) BENCH: 16 Agustín Creevy 17 Bruno Postiglioni 18 Juan Gómez 19 Tomás Vallejos Cinalli 20 Tomás Leonardi 21 Nicolás Vergallo 22 Horacio Agulla 23 Joaquín Tuculet
SCORERS T: Imhoff, Camacho C: Sanchez (2) P: Contepomi, Sanchez DG: Sanchez (2)
Referee: Romain Poite (FFR) Asst. Referees: George Clancy (IRFU), Dudley Phillips (IRFU) TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)
ITALY 28 - 23 TONGA 
Stadio Mario Rigamonti, Brescia - Saturday 10 November 2012
KO: 15:00 HT: 18-16 Att: 18,000
AFTER the national anthems, the visiting Tongans performed the Sipi Tau with huge intensity to mesmerise the 18,000 spectators who filled the Stadio Rigamonti at Brescia before the action could begin, and the Azzurri finally ended an exciting but tough match where the lead swung both ways throughout.
It was Tonga who opened the scoring from a penalty from Fangatapu ’Apikotoa. Prop and man of the match, Lorenzo Cittadini hit back quickly with a try just 6 minutes in to take the lead, though Kris Burton did not find his conversion target.
The Azzurri allowed the visitors to take advantage of repeated infringements early on to clock up another two penalties in the first half from ’Apikotoa, including captain Sergio Parisse earning himself a sin bin visit. But Burton made up for his earlier miss by adding two of his own.
It was the props leading the way for try scoring so far, and Alisona Taumalolo hurled himself over the whitewash, swiftly converted by the fly half to take back the lead from the Italians. But the homeside were not going to let it lie, Leonardo Ghiraldini edging out the visitors in the final minute of the opening half to equalise, allowing Burton to add the conversion and for Italy to head into the break 18-16 up.
Burton increased the margin with his fourth penalty in the third quarter before the replacements began to enter the fray at the start of the final 20 minutes of the match. Second rower Tukulua Lokotui earned himself a spell in the bin, and a man up, the Italians applied enough pressure on the Tongans to force referee Nigel Owens to award a penalty try. The conversion from Burton took the Azzurri to their final score of 28 with 15 minutes still remaining.
The Tongans fought back with verve, and it was not long before winger Fetu’u Vainikolo dotted down. ’Apikotoa converted and brought the visitors firmly back into the game, 28-23. But even though 10 minutes remained, despite their best efforts, all Tonga earned was a return to 14 men for the rest of the match after Lilo Vungakoto was sent to the bin.
The Italians now have an uphill battle to survive their next two matches as they face the world champion All Blacks in Rome followed up by the Wallabies in Florence. The Tongans may well have a far easier ride up against RFU Championship side, Newcastle Falcons, before heading much further north to Aberdeen to take on Scotland at the Pittodrie Stadium.
15 Andrea Masi 14 Tommaso Iannone* 13 Tommaso Benvenuti 12 Alberto Sgarbi 11 Luke Mclean 10 Kristopher Burton 9 Tobias Botes 1 Andrea Lo Cicero 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 3 Lorenzo Cittadini 4 Quintin Geldenhuys 5 Joshua Furno 6 Alessandro Zanni 7 Robert Barbieri 8 Sergio Parisse (C) BENCH: 16 Davide Giazzon 17 Alberto De Marchi 18 Martin Castrogiovanni 19 Antonio Pavanello 20 Simone Favaro 21 Edoardo Gori 22 Luciano Orquera 23 Giovanbattista Venditti
SCORERS T: Cittadini, Ghiraldini, PT C: Burton (2) P: Burton (3) Parisse
15 Lilo Vungakoto 14 Fetu’u Vainikolo 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga 12 Sione Piukala 11 Viliami Helu 10 Fangatapu’ Apikotoa 9 Taniela Moa (C) 1 Alisona Taumalolo 2 Elvis Taione 3 Halani ‘Aulika 4 Joe Tu’ineau 5 Tukulua Lokotui 6 Sitiveni Mafi 7 Sione Vaiomo’unga 8 Viliami Ma’afu BENCH: 16 Ilaisa Ma’asi 17 Tevita Mailau 18 Hale T-Pole 19 Paula Kaho 20 Samisoni Fisilau 21 Alipate Fatafehi 22 Viliame ‘Iongi 23 Soane Tonga’uiha
SCORERS T: Taumalolo, Vainikolo C: 'Apikotoa (2) P: 'Apikotoa (3) Lolotui, Vungakoto
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU) Asst. Referees: John Lacey (IRFU), Neil Paterson (SRU) TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (WRU)
IRELAND 12 - 26 SOUTH AFRICA
Aviva Stadium - Saturday 10 November 2012
KO: 17:30 HT: 12-3 Att: 50,000
A dull first half left everything to play for in the second, and South Africa turned up the heat to beat Ireland with ease. Neither side looked particularly confident (or particularly distinguishable with the new Irish change kit), especially in the opening minutes, however, Jonathan Sexton drew first blood as he slotted an early penalty for Ireland.
Sexton soon doubled his tally with a long-range effort as the Springboks failed the find their rhythm and produced poor mistakes at the breakdown. The Bokke did not look comfortable, being clumsy with handling and showing little though in their play.
JP Pietersen burst through the defence but was eventually shut down before Ireland went offside and Pat Lambie was able to reduce the deficit. However, this was soon nullified by Sexton with another perfect penalty. The Irish were certainly the controlling side at this point and it was disappointing they could not quite find their way to the tryline. Keith Earls made a good break but held on to the ball when tackled, allowing the Springboks to clear their lines.
Soon enough Sexton was teeing up again, after a rallying push by Ireland had forced yet more errors from the visitors. The Irish fly-half slotted the shot but the situation became heated as the next play ended with a horrid, no-armed tackle from Pietersen. The two sides began to grab each other and square up but, once calm was restored, Pietersen was sent marching to the bin.
This was the only moment in the half where the crowd really became animated; from a spectators point of view the match had been slow and rather innocuous until now.
A bad clearing kick by Lambie gave Ireland one more chance before the break but it ended with another Sexton penalty shot, which saw a rare miss by the usually precise kicker. Pienaar also tried to claim some last minute points but, choosing to tee up at his own 10 metre line, it was hardly surprising when it fell short.
And so at the interval, after a plodding 40 minutes, Ireland were in a good position 12-3 up and showing promise of greater things come the restart.
But it was not to be; play resumed and Cian Healy immediately took a bang to the head, causing him to be taken off for assessment. The homeside did not settle down quick enough, with captain Jamie Heaslip sent to the sin bin for repeat offences.
A tap-and-go penalty caught the Irish off balance, Ruan Pienaar darting over and the TMO confirming the score. Lambie converted and the tallies were now just 2 points adrift. Although the homeside were certainly causing trouble from time to time, it was obvious that the Bokke meant business this half.
Lambie heaved the Springboks in front as he struck another on-target 3-pointer, and Heaslip’s trip to the bin became an extremely costly one. His side tried to push up again, making good progress, but Irish discipline lacked again and the moment was lost to another South African penalty.
Sexton had a chance to regain the lead but the distance proved too much for him, the ball dipping under the cross-bar. However, there was still a glint of determination in the eyes of the Irish and they continued to test the defence. Donnacha Ryan was taken off for concussion assessment and was briefly replaced by Donncha O’Callaghan in the 64th minute.
Lambie then stepped up to try and increase the slim margin but was unable to find his mark. He made no such error with his next shot though taking the score to 12-16, after Ireland were deemed to have collapsed the scrum. And that was it for scoring, both sides had small spurts of hope towards the end but neither could add to their tallies. All-in-all it was a disappointing start for both sides to the Autumn Internationals but Ireland were unfortunate not to make more of the chances they had.
15 Simon Zebo 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Keith Earls 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Andrew Trimble 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Conor Murray 1 Cian Healy 2 Richardt Strauss* 3 Mike Ross 4 Donnacha Ryan 5 Mike McCarthy 6 Peter O'Mahony 7 Chris Henry 8 Jamie Heaslip (C) BENCH: 16 Sean Cronin 17 David Kilcoyne* 18 Michael Bent * 19 Donncha O'Callaghan 20 Iain Henderson* 21 Eoin Reddan 22 Ronan O'Gara 23 Fergus McFadden
SCORERS P: Sexton (4) Heaslip
15 Zane Kirchner 14 JP Pietersen 13 Jaco Taute 12 Jean de Villiers (C) 11 Francois Hougaard 10 Pat Lambie 9 Ruan Pienaar 8 Duane Vermeulen 7 Willem Alberts 6 Francois Louw 5 Juandré Kruger 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Jannie du Plessis 2 Adriaan Strauss 1 Tendai Mtawarira BENCH: 16 Schalk Brits 17 CJ van der Linde 18 Pat Cilliers 19 Flip van der Merwe 20 Marcell Coetzee 21 Morné Steyn 22 Juan de Jongh 23 Lwazi Mvovo
SCORERS T: Pienaar C: Lambie P: Lambie (3) Pietersen
Referee: Greg Garner (RFU) Asst. Referees: Alain Rolland (IRFU), Mathieu Raynal (FFR) TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
FRANCE 33 - 6 AUSTRALIA
Stade de France - Saturday 10 November 2012
KO: 20:45 HT: 16-6 Att: 80,000
AUSTRALIA were left embarrassed as France paid them back for their last encounter, dominating the visitors throughout. The last time the sides met in 2010, the Australian subjected Les Bleus to a 59-16 thrashing and the French were ready to settle some old scores.
The French were first to draw blood, with Frederic Michalak slotting an early penalty soon after a truly awful attempt at a drop goal. The Wallabies reacted swiftly and tied the tallies with Mike Harris adding one of his own.
However, France soon found Australia’s Achilles’ heel, the scrum, and it was from this that the homeside produced their first try. They drove hard before the ball was picked up by Louis Picamoles, who dived over the tryline for the touchdown. Picamoles had a truly excellent game and shone from the off with his tenacity and skilful play. Michalak converted and already the visitors were looking overshadow by their opponents.
France’s play became sloppy at times and this gave the Wallabies a chance to put together some nice phases, but poor handling and indiscipline constantly let them down at the last. They did manage to hand Harris another 3-pointer, which he duly smacked through the posts in the 21st minute, but this was to be the last of their points.
France tired a little in the second quarter and gave Australia a couple of chances as their defence buckled for a moment. However, they returned to the Australian 22 eventually and Picamoles found space again, though his offload was fumbled, leaving the French wanting.
The final few minutes of the half saw France return to full control and they were rewarded with a Michalak penalty and a last-minute drop goal too, leaving the scores 16-6 at the break.
The restart saw much of the same, with France wasting no time in getting to the 22 and pitching up camp. Unfortunately an early break was squandered again by a handling error, although conditions on the pitch were not ideal.
Florian Fritz fancied his chances at a long-range 3-pointer but his attempt drifted wide of the uprights. Meanwhile, Australia took a full 8 minutes to make it out of their own half and were still being hammered in the scrum, which collapsed twice without referee Nigel Owens reaching for his whistle.
There was not long to wait before the French were clocking up further points as Michalak made a superb run, weaving through the shambolic Australian defence, to offload to Wesley Fofana who dotted down. Michalak added the extras and Berrick Barnes was brought on in the hope that he alone would pull back his side from this woeful performance. Needless to say this was a lot to ask of one man and, although his appearance certainly made an impact, it was nowhere near enough.
The Australians made a meal of another attack before the French retorted with some piercing runs and solid scrums. Their first attempt at the whitewash was held up, but at the 5 metre scrum they heaved forward and Owens awarded the penalty try. A frustrated Wallabies pack flared up but as Michalak slotted the conversion, they calmed down and realised they had no one to blame but themselves.
The heated tempers spilled out into open play as Yannick Nyanga was tip-tackled viciously and driven into the ground, but no card was awarded as none of the referees saw the number of the offending Australian. The Wallabies then came close to a try as they bundle over the whitewash, but the TMO deemed that Morgan Parra had done enough to keep the ball held up.
Again Australia tried to seek out that elusive score, but Michael Hooper’s break was again sullied by a knock on, the story of Australia’s night in Paris. Michalak received a standing ovation as he was replaced by Francois Trinh-Duc and, although the Australians found one last surge of energy, all that was left to cap the match off was a Parra penalty. The whistle blew and the homecrowd sang out in full-voice, rejoicing at the sight of flowing French rugby which had lacked in previous years.
15 Brice Dulin 14 Wesley Fofana 13 Florian Fritz 12 Maxime Mermoz 11 Vincent Clerc 10 Frederic Michalak 9 Maxime Machenaud 1 Yannick Forestier* 2 Dimitri Szarzewski 3 Nicolas Mas 4 Pascal Papé (C) 5 Yoann Maestri 6 Yannick Nyanga 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo 8 Louis Picamoles BENCH: 16 Benjamin Kayser 17 Thomas Domingo 18 Vincent Debaty 19 Jocelino Suta 20 Damien Chouly 21 Morgan Parra 22 Francois Trinh-Duc 23 Yoann Huget
SCORERS T: Picamoles, Fofana, Penalty Try C: Michalak (3) P: Michalak (2), Parra DG: Michalak
15 Mike Harris 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper 13 Ben Tapuai 12 Pat McCabe 11 Nick Cummins 10 Kurtley Beale 9 Nick Phipps 1 Benn Robinson 2 Tatafu Polota Nau 3 Sekope Kepu 4 Kane Douglas 5 Nathan Sharpe (C) 6 Dave Dennis 7 Michael Hooper 8 Wycliff Palu BENCH: 16 Stephen Moore 17 James Slipper 18 Paddy Ryan 19 Rob Simmons 20 Radike Samo 21 Liam Gill 22 Brett Sheehan 23 Berrick Barnes
SCORERS P: Harris (2)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU) Asst. Referees: Steve Walsh (ARU), Luke Pierce TMO: Giulio De Santis (FIR)
SCOTLAND 22 - 51 NEW ZEALAND
Murrayfield - Sunday 11 November 2012
KO: 14:30 HT: 17-34 Att: 67,000
THE fans were in fine form at Murrayfield as the anthems were belted out in front of a capacity crowd for the first time ever for an Autumn Test, though the Kiwi contingent appeared to be a tad thin on the ground.
The All Blacks performed the ka mate haka as the Scottish side linked arms and slow marched towards them, giving the audience an interesting spectacle in their new change kit of white with dark turquoise splashes. The Scots looked more like the Pumas than the Celtic side they are, and possibly some of that Latino passion seeped in as they did not just look like Argentina, but played with the same abandon, becoming the only nation to put three tries on the world champions this year.
Super Olympian multi-gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy carried on the match ball, much to the delight of the fans who gave him a rousing welcome, and Jérôme Garcès prepared to take the helm at kick off. There was a buzz in the air that had been missing for a long time in Edinburgh, no doubt due to the Scottish national team returning home triumphant following their Summer Tour down under.
The All Blacks were directly in the face of Scotland early on, and the immediate pressure forced a penalty which Dan Carter knocked over in the second minute of play, despite the horrendous and unsportsmanlike booing of the crowd; sadly this was a trait that continued throughout the proceedings of the afternoon.
The Scots played with skill, matched the opposition for territory throughout, and camped out in the All Black 22 for a while, but could not break the defensive wall. The visitors regained possession and rightly opted to keep it following a penalty rather than kick it away - a tactic most other teams could well do with learning from. Carter had a chance to double the score, but this would be his only missed kick.
The All Blacks recovered quickly and made a sharp break, but excellent work from Matt Scott allowed him to intercept the pass, clear to Tim Visser who charged half the length of the field to score. A conversion from Greig Laidlaw had the crowd in raptures as they homeside took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter.
Sadly, it was not long before Scotland proceeded to infringe at the breakdown, resulting in a favourable lineout for the All Blacks, and eventually an attack from Carter put Israel Dagg through to score in clinical fashion. While Carter added the conversion, Ross Rennie, who went down before the attack began, was forced off and replaced by David Denton.
There was no shortage of timeouts in this game for injuries, but thankfully nothing serious occurred throughout. This time it was Dagg down for a moment, as Laidlaw teed up for his first penalty. He kicked the ball right through the uprights to equalise the scoreboard at 10-all as play moved into the second quarter.
The All Blacks displayed their magnificent ball handling skills, and Scott went from hero to villain for not rolling away at the breakdown, allowing Carter to take the lead once more with a penalty. The Scottish defence so far had held quite well, but eventually, the superiority of the Kiwis shone through as they played out wide and Scotland ran out of defenders for Julian Savea to make a lightning strike over the whitewash. Two minutes passed, the All Blacks created an overlap and Cory Jane flew over in the corner to score, as confirmed by TMO Graham Hughes. The conversion took the visitors from on par with Scotland to a 17 point lead in just under 10 minutes.
Scotland’s downfall was their lineout, permitting the All Blacks to steal possession from overly long throws on five occasions, the next one allowing Jane to cross into the 22, Andrew Hore to exploit the weaknesses to score and Carter to convert in the 39th minute.
But a good restart took the homeside just a metre short of the tryline. They opted for a tap and go after winning a penalty as the clock ticked over the 40 minute mark, and kept possession until the forwards heaved over the line; the TMO confirmed the ball was held up, and Garcès went back for the penalty. This time play was far quicker and a huge push put Geoff Cross over for a score in the 44th minute of the first half. Laidlaw converted and the Scots ran off down the tunnel with huge pride at 17-34.
The second half began with the All Blacks down to 14 men for Adam Thomson stamping on the head of Alasdair Strokosch after punching him first and earning a yellow card, for which he was cited. The stamp was not malicious, hard or with intent it is argued, but the point is it’s just not cricket and should rightly be punished, and in fact should immediately have been a red card offence.
Ten minutes into the second half and the flying Dutch Scotsman (pronounced via the appalling IRB 3 year residency rule), Visser pounced on a loose ball, eyed space and hurled himself over for a second try. But no sooner had they narrowed the gap by 5, they gave away another 3 points to Carter as Thomson prepared to return to the paddock.
The Scottish lineout improved, and approaching the final quarter, the changes began to ring in on both sides with Dane Coles and Tawera Kerr-Barlow winning their first caps in the sponsor-sullied All Black jerseys.
Again Scotland ran out of bodies out wide, Savea again found ample space to outrun any tackles and scored. With the conversion, the All Blacks were ahead 44-22. The pace slowed somewhat, and the Scots made some territory, but lack of support prevented any further score for the homeside.
With 5 minutes remaining, Henry Pyrgos won his first cap replacing Mike Blair at scrum half, and a blatant knock on was entirely overlooked as Carter set up yet another score by clearing to Ben Smith for a final flourish for the visiting side, Scotland missing a host of tackles en route.
Carter’s last conversion gave the All Blacks a worthy 51-22 win over the Scots, and his almost flawless play earned him Man of the Match yet again.
15 Stuart Hogg 14 Sean Lamont 13 Nick De Luca 12 Matt Scott 11 Tim Visser 10 Greig Laidlaw 9 Mike Blair 1 Ryan Grant 2 Ross Ford 3 Geoff Cross 4 Richie Gray 5 Jim Hamilton 6 Alasdair Strokosch 7 Ross Rennie 8 Kelly Brown (C) BENCH: 16 Scott Lawson 17 Allan Jacobsen 18 Kyle Traynor 19 Alastair Kellock 20 David Denton 21 Henry Pyrgos* 22 Ruaridh Jackson 23 Max Evans
SCORERS T: Visser (2), Cross C: Laidlaw (2) P: Laidlaw
15 Israel Dagg 14 Cory Jane 13 Ben Smith 12 Tamati Ellison 11 Julian Savea 10 Daniel Carter 9 Piri Weepu 1 Wyatt Crockett 2 Andrew Hore 3 Owen Franks 4 Luke Romano 5 Samuel Whitelock 6 Adam Thomson 7 Richie McCaw (C) 8 Victor Vito BENCH: 16 Dane Coles* 17 Tony Woodcock 18 Ben Franks 19 Ali Williams 20 Sam Cane 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow* 22 Beauden Barrett 23 Ma'a Nonu
SCORERS T: Dagg, Savea (2), Jane, Hore, Smith C: Carter (6) P: Carter (3) YC Thomson
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (FFR) Asst. Referees: Pascal Gauzere (FFR), Simon McDowell TMO: Graham Hughes (RFU)
