Springboks rampant!

South Africa warmed up for their clash with England on Friday in fine style, putting Samoa to the sword 59-7 and eight tries to one in Paris.

On this evidence, England's reign as world champions is over. In fact, they appear to be heading for their earliest exit in their RWC history - both sides on display at Parc des Princes looked eminently capable of seeing off Brian Ashton's troops.

Yes, the scoreline suggests that Samoa were taken to the cleaners, but it doesn't tell the full story. The islanders stood toe-to-toe with the South Africans for much of the first half, only buckling after the Boks engaged their brains and put together a dazzling 10-minute blitz early in the second half.

In terms of pure strength and ability, there was very little between these two sides. But South Africa have two weapons that the Samoans can only dream of deploying: olympian fitness and the whitewash-seeking missile that is Bryan Habana who scored four of his side's eight tries.

With all respect to Samoa, this game was all about South Africa laying down their RWC credentials for all the world to see.

So what will the likes of the All Blacks, Australia and Argentina make of the performance?

Like this great city itself, there's plenty of beauty and elegance to be seen in South Africa's game - but also odd pockets of chaos and decay. At times during this game they allowed the lowly Samoans to dictate terms and seemed unable to decide on fitting tactics.

That a XV boasting 609 Test caps needed a neophyte like Francois Steyn to steady the ship - for that is what the youngster did - will give Bok boss Jake White pause for thought. Perhaps it's time he bid some of his older chums au revoir.

Still, job done. And plenty for the Republic to smile about - and the confidence of South Africa's second-half showing allows for dreams to be dreamed.

Samoa made the worst possible start by knocking on in the shadow of the sticks. South Africa attacked the narrow side and a high tackle from Semo Sititi gifted Percy Montgomery his first kick at goal, and the veteran made no mistake.

South Africa came straight back from the re-start and Samoa impinged once again, coughing up a penalty for straying off-side. Montgomery duly doubled his account.

Samoa had a chance to answer back moments later when Schalk Burger was pinged for tackling an airbourne catcher, but Gavin Williams's kick at the sticks sailed wide.

Moments later, another languid swing of Montgomery's boot punished Samoa for failing to roll away from the tackle, and it looked like we were in for an all too predictable afternoon.

But the Samoans suddenly decided that they'd had enough of watching Monty's action and started hitting the green line at pace and with immense power, with big Danie Rossouw seen going backwards for the first time in recorded history after Henry Tuilagi lined him up on the fringe.

With the Boks busy adjusting to the new threat, Samoa turned from brawn to brains and worked Williams through the tiniest of gaps in the midfield. The centre, son of New Zealand great Bryan, couldn't believe his luck as he found himself in the clear and scampered home for the try and conversion.

The score invigorated the Samoans and brought the neutral fans squarely behind their cause. The Boks looked stunned. Wasn't this supposed to be their party? Their nerves began to morph into handling errors, penalties and needless niggle.

Instead of going back to the safety and obvious supremacy of their pack, the South Africans decided to put width on the ball, but their efforts lacked the rapier wit of their increasingly confident opponents.

Not for the first time, it was left to Habana to save South African bacon with a moment of sheer individual brilliance.

The Boks worked a nondescript ball down the narrow side before Jaque Fourie popped up to set Habana free. The little speedster set off on a mazy run peppered with feints and dummies, deciding to go it alone, almost in disdain of his hitherto butter-fingered brethren. It was a good decision: he shook off a number of tackles before crashing over the whitewash for an unconverted try.

The score seemed to knock the brains back into the South Africans after over twenty minutes of mindless rugby, and they were soon camped on the blue line with their big forwards sucking - vampire-like - at Samoa's reserves of strength.

With the defence drawn in and fading fast, Fourie du Preez decided to take it wide, and Montgomery was on hand to cut a diagonal to the line with the last move of the first half.

And so the Boks went to the break with a sudden 21-7 lead and breathing a collective sigh of relief. It was as if they had just learned an important lesson: water is the best thing to use when fighting fire, not, as the old maxim would have us believe, more fire.

But Samoa would not go gently into that good night. There they were, celebrating a try in the first minute of the second half after Joe Tekori dived over the green line from the base of a ruck. But referee Paul Honiss adjudged the islanders had been off-side at the breakdown and did not award the try.

The injustice of it all sparked another menacing raid from them men in blue. The South Africans found themselves pinned to their line once again, and things went from bad to worse as Jean de Villiers was forced to depart with an arm injury.

It was Francois Steyn, De Villiers's replacement, who broke the siege with a beautiful step-and-go that left the Samoans scattered in his wake as he made his escape from his 22 and into the green yonder.

Former France star Thomas Castaignède, a man who knows something about talent, recently surmised that "the gods of rugby had been present at the birth of Francois Steyn". He's not far wrong: the youngster's second touch of the ball - a deft delayed pass - opened a hole in Samoa's lines and allowed Fourie through for a try.

Suddenly South Africa were in complete control and passes began to go to hand. A nice phase of interpassing between the forwards paved the way for Montgomery's second and the Boks had clear water.

Another moment of individual class saw Habana collect his second moments later, and the game was won - all in the space of a 10-minute spell of intelligent rugby.

With the result in the bag, the game - like the Samoans - lost its energy and petered out to its inevitable conclusion. But not before Habana claimed his third and fourth tries, both courtesy of that dazzling speed.

With the Samoans dead on their feet, JP Pietersen - anonymous for much of the match - popped up to punctuate proceedings with an easy try of his own.

Across town, a certain group of Englishmen will now need to be coaxed out from behind the sofa.

Man of the match: To a man, Samoa were brave and passionate, with Henry Tuilagi and Gavin Williams the pick of the crop. That South Africa's recovery coincided with the arrival of Francois Steyn is no coincidence, but how can we ignore the brilliant Bryan Habana? More than a game-break, this guy can speed away with this whole tournament.

Moment of the match: Bryan Habana's first two tries will live long in the mind, but we'll opt for Brian Lima's entry to the game - and to the annals of rugby history. 'The Chiropractor' becomes the first player to participate in five World Cup tournaments. He sullied the fairy tale moments later with what appeared to be a shoulder-charge on Habana, but he still deserves his moment in the limelight.

Villian of the match: Plenty of niggle and a few handbags were swung, but let's call it passion - it was intense but not underhand.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries: Habana 4, Montgomery 2, Fourie, Pietersen
Cons: Montgomery 5
Pens: Montgomery 3

For Samoa:
Try: Williams
Con: Williams

The teams:

South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Wikus van Heerden, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Francois Steyn.

Samoa: 15 David Lemi, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Gavin Williams, 12 Jerry Meafou, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 9 Junior Polu, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Semo Sititi (c), 6 Daniel Leo, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Joe Tekori, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements: 16 Tanielu Fuga, 17 Kas Lealamanua, 18 Alfie Vaeluaga, 19 Justin Purdie, 20 Elvis Seveali'i, 21 Loki Crichton, 22 Brian Lima.

Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Chris White (England), Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Television match official: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

www.planetrugby.com

Wales down brave Canucks

Wales got their World Cup trail off to a fine start on Sunday, beating Canada 42-17 in Nantes on Sunday, although they had to fight to do it.

Canada led 17-9 after five minutes of the second half, and it was the introduction of Gareth Thomas and Stephen Jones that steadied the Welsh ship, with the Welsh running in five tries thereafter.

However it was the first half that really got the Welsh fans needing manicures at half-time after chewing their nails to the bone. Not even Nostradamus himself could have predicted Canada going into the break with a three-point lead after a well-structured game of rugby from the Canucks.

The game started off with a minute's silence for the passing of former Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) president and honorary life vice-patron Sir Tasker Watkins who died at the age of 88.

Wales did nothing to prove their critics wrong after their poor results leading up to the World Cup left them in the bad books. It was as if Wales felt all they needed to do was turn up.

But how wrong they were, as Canada took it upon themselves to make a go of it and try pull off what would have been the tournament's second major upset in the space of three days.

Canada showed no signs of nerves and played a more controlled game of rugby with their big pack of forwards keeping the subdued Wales pack guessing with thundering rolling mauls from all over the park.

Wales never seemed to have a game-plan and relied on Canada to make the errors before launching any decent attack of their own.

The problem was Canada weren't making any mistakes and took play to the Welshmen - be it from clever kicks from fly-half Andre Monro, or little bursting runs from wing DTH van der Merwe and full-back Mike Pyke.

It was the constant hustle and bustle of the Canucks that kept Wales so unsettled. It also counted against Canada though, whose over eagerness resulted in four penalties against them, of which three were turned into points by fly-half James Hook.

With Wales boasting a generous 9-0 lead after 20 minutes played on the stadium clock, the game looked to be slowly drifting away from Canada. The capacity crowd also had nothing spectacular to cheer about.

However that was all about to change as the remainder of the half was painted red - with Wales sporting a dark grey kit, it's obvious they were not the ones in possession of the paintbrush.

Canada mounted an attack just outside the Wales' 22m line with twelve impressive phases of play that ended with lock Jamie Cudmore eventually finding a small gap in the wall of grey defenders. The ref was right on the spot to award the first try of the match.

The touchline conversion was just pushed wide by wing James Pritchard, but Canada were at least on the board.

Van der Merwe nearly made it try number two for Canada, but failed to hang on to a sneaky interception. Instead it was centre Craig Culpan who showed everyone how it's done when snatching a Hook pass near his own line and racing 90 metres to score.

It was unfortunate for Wales, who had launched their first real attack and had a try just begging to be scored with a five-man overlap to the left. But Culpan showed good initiative and had the legs to outrun Hook to the corner flag.

Pritchard's conversion was successful this time round and Canada were applauded off the field as they went into the changing rooms 12-9 ahead.

Canada started the second half with the same confidence and verve as they did the first, with captain Morgan Williams marshalling his forwards to the Wales line yet again.

The nippy scrum-half then made an American Football-style dive over the ruck to score the third try for Canada. The conversion missed yet again, but the Canucks held an impressive 17-9 lead.

It didn't come as a surprise when Wales coach Gareth Jenkins made two big substitutions, replacing James Hook and Kevin Morgan with Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas respectively.

It was at that moment that the tables had turned for Wales as Sonny Parker immediately was sent into a gap by Jones for the side's first touchdown - much to the relief of the players and their fans.

Jones made the simple enough conversion and Wales were already just one point adrift from Canada.

Winger Shane Williams had an interesting next few minutes as a comedy of errors plagued the Ospreys winger. First he had a clean break with players on either side facing a clear run to the line. Instead, he fumbled the ball and tripped with not even a feather touching him.

The second try-scoring opportunity was blown just moments later after a casual dive for the corner ended in Van der Merwe taking his opposite number out into touch.

However it was the Canucks seeing red after a simple pass for a clearance kick was dropped by Pyke on his line. Towering Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones seized the loose ball and fell over the line for only his second try for Wales.

Jones converted to give Wales the lead once again with 57 minutes of the match already played.

Shane Williams was then on hand to make up for his earlier two blunders to score two tries of his own. The first coming off a Tom Shanklin break - he never put a foot wrong all afternoon - and the second from some genius play from Gareth Thomas.

All of a sudden the lead had stretched out to eighteen pints with Wales looking a lot happier with a 35-17 scoreline.

Another replacement that had an influence in the turning of this match was veteran flank Colin Charvis who was rewarded for his efforts with a superbly worked try of his own. Again it was Stephen Jones who was responsible for setting everything up after slipping an inside pass to Charvis, who still had a lot of hard yards to make up.

Wales looked a completely different outfit and more tries could have been scored if it weren't for some wandering hands from the Canadians spoiling play.

However it was Canada who again took control in the last ten minutes as they continued to bash away at the Wales line. Hats off to the Welsh defence though, who never gave the Canucks an inch.

Though the final scoreline will suggest an impressive victory for Wales - the coaching staff will be very concerned leading up to their clash with Australia. In fact, make that Fiji as well.

Man of the match: For Canada, hats must be tipped to captain Morgan Williams and the entire Canada forward pack for their impressive march towards the Wales' tryline, which led to two tries. For Wales, replacements Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas were instrumental in playing Wales back into a better sounding tune. Prop Gethin Jenkins was the pick of the Welsh pack, who really gave it his all in all facets of play. But it was Tom Shanklin who never put a foot wrong from start to finish in the midfield. The well-built centre wreaked havoc every time he touched the ball and kept the Canada defenders on their toes. it was no surprise then that nearly all the breaks came from this man - and all of them led to tries.

Moment of the match: With the odds packed up against them, it has to be the intercept try by Craig Culpan at the stroke of half-time. Not only did it put the Canucks in an unexpected lead - put also was a way of showing everyone watching that Canada were not just here to make up the numbers.

Villian of the match: Not a single punch thrown or any foul play that could have led to a yellow or red card. In all - a super game of rugby.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries: Parker, Wyn Jones, S.Williams 2, Charvis
Cons: S. Jones 4
Pens: Hook 3

For Canada:
Tries: Cudmore, Culpan, Williams
Con: Pritchard

Wales: 15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin,12 Sonny Parker, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Dwayne Peel (c), 8 Alix Popham, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins


Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Michael Owen, 19 Colin Charvis, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Gareth Thomas

Canada: 15 Mike Pyke, 14 Dth van der Merwe, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 Dave Spicer, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Morgan Williams (c), 8 Sean-Michael Stephen, 7 Dave Biddle, 6 Jamie Cudmore, 5 Mike James, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Rod Snow
Replacements: 16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Mike Burak, 20 Colin Yukes, 21 Ed Fairhurst, 22 Ryan Smith

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Alan Lewis (Ireland), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)

www.planetrugby.com

England fail to convince

England won their opening World Cup match against the USA 28-10 in Lens on Saturday, but there were few positives to take from the performance, and disturbingly, not even a try bonus point.

Job done! That is about the only good thing one can say about England's opening match.

England captain Phil Vickery was the first to admit that, judging by this performance, his team will have a tough time defending the World Cup crown they won in Australia four years ago.

And Vickery's suggestion that the England changing room wouldn't be the happiest place in the world was closer to the truth he realised.

Others would use far stronger language to describe England's performance.

Leading 21-3 at half-time, despite a jittery first half, they looked home and dry. But England failed to push home the advantage they enjoyed in the set pieces and the second half ended with the teams each scoring just seven points.

Despite going up 28-3 in the 49th minute, the English ended up producing a second-half performance that can only be described as unadulterated horse manure.

Yes, it was that poor.

The English pack was clearly superior - stealing a number of American throws at line-outs and they also had the American scrum under constant pressure.

However, the Eagles managed to compete with the English at the breakdown and also matched them in the physical exchanges.

What must be most concerning to England coach Brian Ashton is that his team failed to turn their superior forward power into scores on the board - not withstanding stand-in fly-half Olly Barkley's at times sublime moments and slick play.

The Eagles, who looked the more structured of the two teams, showed they can compete at this level.

However, a lack of experience - which saw them often taking the wrong option - resulted in a number of golden opportunities being squandered.

The first scoring opportunity came in the sixth minute, with Olly Barkley slotting a penalty from 25 metres out after the Eagles backline drifted offside.

The Eagles were level two minutes later after England were penalised when an attempted maul went pear-shaped. Mike Hercus' penalty kick wasn't as well struck as that of Barkley, but it counted for the same number of points.

England should have been reduced to 14 men, possibly even permanently, after captain Phil Vickery kicked out at Eagles centre Paul Emerick. However, referee Jonathan Kaplan and his fellow match officials conspired to miss the blatant trip and Vickery was allowed to play on. He may well face a visit from the citing officer.

The English certainly did not have it all their own way, but they managed to open up a gap on the scoreboard, largely through the rub of the green rather than the performance on it.

Barkley slotted penalties in the 21st and 31st minutes - the second coming after Eagles centre Vahafolau Esikia was yellow carded for repeated infringements.

This also highlighted the inconsistencies by the match officials, as Esikia was certainly guilty of a lot less than Vickery and another dangerous tackle by England wing Jason Robinson.

England soon made their numerical advantage count, with Barkley using his boot to pass the ball right across the field to Jason Robinson on the left wing - who went over with no defender near him. Barkley's conversion attempt drifted wide, but at 14-3 England started to look like a team in command.

They scored once more, on the stroke of half-time, this time some great handling putting Barkley over for the second try - as the Eagles struggled to plug all the gaps, being a man down. Barkley slotted the conversion to give his team a 21-3 lead at the break.

But the scoreline belied the fact that England looked more like wilting roses than the marauding machine that won the Webb Ellis trophy four years ago.

Nine minutes into the second half the English stretched their lead even further - with flank Tom Rees driving over from a quick tap-'n-go. The call first went to the TMO, as the English loose forward went over in a heap of bodies, but the call came back that the try was good. The conversion by Barkley made it 28-3 and the match was effectively over as a contest. All that remained was a half hour for England to get that crucial fourth try.

The Americans kept plugging away and England's efforts continued to disappoint.

And when England were reduced to 14 men in the 74th minute, the Eagles scored their first try of the tournament - replacement prop Matekitonga Moeakiola barging his way over from a close-in penalty. Hercus' conversion made it 28-10 to England.

The US Eagles certainly finished the stronger of the two teams, although with time running out they were again reduced to 14 men - after centre Paul Emerick was yellow carded for a spear tackle on Barkley. Emerick, too, may join Vickery in the citing officer's dock.

The game ended with the Eagles taking away a moral victory and England four points on the standings, when five had been mandatory.

England's pack beefed around enough to suggest that South Africa should still face England as their crunch match. On the strength of this performance, England might now be more worried about Samoa.

Man of the match: The pre-match spotlight was firmly on him and our award goes to England fly-half Olly Barkley, who showed there is life after Jonny Wilkinson. Barkley had some really great patches in the game, including a number of sharp breaks.

Moment of the match: This has to go the flank Tom Rees' try in the 49th minute, the score which finally put the game beyond the brave Americans.

Villains of the match: The first half alone produced two England candidates - captain Phil Vickery for his trip on Emerick and Jason Robinson's awful tackle on an opponent. The match officials also deserve an dishonourable mention in this department, since they conspired to miss these blatant acts of foul play. Eagles centre Paul Emerick made a late entry into the ranks with a dangerous tackle on Barkley.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries: Robinson, Barkley, Rees
Cons: Barkley 2
Pens: Barkley 3

For USA:
Try: Moeakiola
Con: Hercus
Pen: Hercus

Yellow cards: Esikia (USA, 29, repeated infringements), Dallaglio (England, 73, professional foul), Emerick (USA, 79, dangerous tackle)

England: 15 Mark Cueto, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Jason Robinson, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Shaun Perry, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Martin Corry, 19 Lewis Moody, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Andy Farrell , 22 Mathew Tait.

United States: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Salesi Sika, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Vahafolau Esikia, 11 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 10 Mike Hercus (c), 9 Chad Erskine, 8 Henry Bloomfield, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Owen Lentz, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements: 16 Blake Burdette, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 AN Other, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Valenese Malifa, 22 Albert Tuipulotu.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Television match official: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)

www.planetrugby.com

Wallabies trample Cherry Blossoms

Australia hit the 2007 World Cup running on Saturday, with a comprehensive 91-3 win over Japan in their Pool B clash in Lyon.

After weathering an initial Japanese storm, the Wallabies' backs began to tick over, building on the abrasive work of their pack, and in the second half they clicked into top gear, running in a welter of tries.

Australia hit the 2007 World Cup running on Saturday, with a comprehensive 91-3 win over Japan in their Pool B clash in Lyon.

After weathering an initial Japanese storm, the Wallabies' backs began to tick over, building on the abrasive work of their pack, and in the second half they clicked into top gear, running in a welter of tries.

The conditions at the Stade Gerland spelt trouble for the Cherry Blossoms, with sunny skies and not a hint of wind meaning the Wallabies would run at them at every opportunity they were given.

And boy did they run. The opportunities were eventually handed to Australia on a silver platter as they gobbelled up a whopping thirteen tries in a record victory over Japan.

It was always going to be one way traffic for the men in green and gold, but they certainly didn't get the start they wanted as Japan pulled out all the stops in an exhilarating opening quarter.

So much so, that it took the two-time rugby world champions ten whole minutes to register their first points in the 2007 tournament - and was thanks to a Stirling Mortlock penalty kick at that.

Japan played like true Kamikaze warriors, putting their bodies on the line in defence and taking huge hits on attack. John Kirwin's side stayed in touch for most of the first half but were never a real threat.

Far too much possession was aimlessly kicked away, and because of this led the Wallabies to counter-attack and put themselves in handy try-scoring positions.

Having not played a Test match in seven weeks, Australia were always going to be a bit rusty going into this game. Some passes failed to go to hand and on a couple of occasions - passes slipped out of hands too. But once the Wallabies found their rhythm, they oozed class in every facet of play.

The turning point came after a powerful 22 metre drive led to lock Nathan Sharpe powering over in the 18th minute - it took that long for Australia to notch up their first try. Mortlock slotted his first of seven successful conversions for Australia.

The first half belonged to Mortlock's boot, Rocky Elsom's brace of tries and Japan's never-say-die attitude that eventually led to rookie Kosei Ono nailing a 40m penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Even though a monstrous 61 tackles were missed by the Japanese, Australia could still only muster up a 23-3 lead going into the break.

The half-time oranges in France must be filled with something spectacular as the group of Australians that came marching out in the second spell put in a performance the fans were expecting from them.

Nothing could stop the Wallabies in the next 40 minutes which must have felt like 40 hours to Japan.

The floodgates opened from the re-start as Elsom burst his way through two would-be defenders for his hat-trick, showing some good pace on the way to the line too.

Even though Japan played a more running game in the second, it was a high up-and-under kick launched on Chris Latham that ended in Adam Ashley Cooper dotting down for the backline's first try of the match.

Latham picked up a brace himself - the second coming off some classy soccer skills that ended in the veteran full-back winning a foot race to the line.

The Wallabies never once took their foot off the gas or even bothered to re-fuel their charging engine as more tries were run in one after another.

Even promising youngster Berrick Barnes got in on the action for Australia, scoring a brace of tries on debut.

Australia coach John Connolly will happy with the impact his replacements also had on the match, with Drew Mitchell putting in a tremendous performance that led to a brace of tries to the Western Force winger.

The only issue Connolly will have a sleepless night over was an injury picked up by winger Mark Gerrard who was helped off the field not long after going on as a replacement.

Other than that, the Wallabies have got their 2007 World Cup campaign off with a bang and - based on their second half performance - look to be a serious contenders for the trophy.

For Japan, it's back to the drawing board. But at least the worst is over.

Man of the match: Always a tough one to call from scorelines of this big margin. Though before we point out the nominations in the Australia camp, a mention must go to number eight Hajime Kiso and scrum-half Yuki Yatomi of Japan. Kiso was very impressive in the line-outs and the scrums for the Cherry Blossoms - a task that was always going to so tough, yet made so easy by his courageous play. Yatomi linked with Kiso well and was a little thorn in the Wallabies side whenever he spotted a gap. For Australia, flank George Smith and number eight Wycliff Palu were everywhere. Stirling Mortlock and Drew Mitchell were the pick of the backs, but our vote goes to Rocky Elsom. The hard-working flank not only picked up a hat-trick of tries, but carried the ball with distinction and was full of enterprising play from start to finish.

Moment of the match: One could pick any one of the thirteen tries from the rampant Australians. But we going to go for the loudest cheer - and that came from the young Japan rookie Kosei Ono when he stepped up and nailed a tricky penalty to give his country their only points in the match.

Villain of the match: Nobody. A couple of pushing and shoving here and there, but a match played in good spirit.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries: Sharpe, Elsom 3, Ashley-Cooper, Latham 2, Barnes 2, Mitchell 2, Smith, Freier
Cons: Mortlock 7, Giteau 2
Pens: Mortlock 2

For Japan:
Pen: Ono

Australia: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Matt Giteau 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (vc), 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith (vc), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Berrick Barnes, 21 Drew Mitchell, 22 Mark Gerrard.

Japan: 15 Tatsuya Kusumi, 14 Tomoki Kitagawa, 13 Koji Taira, 12 Nataniela Oto, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Yuki Yatomi, 8 Hajime Kiso, 7 Takamichi Sasaki (c), 6 Yasunori Watanabe, 5 Luatangi Samurai Vatuvei, 4 Takanori Kumagae, 3 Ryo Yamamura, 2 Taku Inokuchi, 1 Masahito Yamamoto
Replacements: 16 Yuji Matsubara, 17 Tomokazu Soma, 18 Hitoshi Ono, 19 Hare Makiri, 20 Tomoki Yoshida, 21 Yuta Imamura, 22 Kosuke Endo

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)

www.planetrugby.com

Haka snub fired ABs

Luke McAlister has said the manner in which New Zealand took Italy to pieces was a repost to the manner in which they accepted the Haka.

The All Blacks centre said he and his team mates were angered by the fact Italy decided to go into a huddle rather than stand and watch the Ka Mate.

"It probably made us a little more angry," he told Stuff.nz.

"That's their choice. The traditional thing is to stand up and respect it and by them not doing that it was pretty disrespectful."

Chris Jack echoed the sentiments of McAlister.

"It's a challenge so you have to take it personally," he said.

"If you turn your back I would imagine the Maori people would see it as disrespectful.

"It doesn't worry us because we do it more for us, the guy next to us, rather than the opposition. But it was a little different."

Both ex-pat New Zealanders in the Italy side, Kaine Robertson and Paul Griffen admitted it was a mistake to not show the Haka respect. Although Italian captain Marco Bortolami was not so sure.

"I think we showed the All Blacks too much respect," he said.

"We talked about it before the match but I still think we showed them a little too much respect, especially at the beginning of the match."

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ABs canter past Azzurri

New Zealand beat Italy surprisingly easily in their opening Pool C clash in Marseille on Saturday, recording a 76-14 victory in blistering heat.

There was so much hope that Italy would equal, and maybe even surpass, the passion shown by Argentina on Friday. That was until New Zealand totally destroyed them with a near perfect opening twenty-minute salvo.

The only mistake, if it can even be called that, came when the penultimate pass in the sweeping move that led to Doug Howlett going over for his first of three tries, reached Leon MacDonald on the bounce. That aside New Zealand were imperious and, in stunning fashion, shrugged off any suggestions that they make take a little time to get going in France.

It was, in fact, the Azzurri who were slow out of the blocks. It will be of small consolation that they did eventually get going, and when they did they frustrated the All Blacks for concerted periods.

However by that time the game was gone, and so too was their pre-tournament confidence. They will do well to put this annihilation behind them and re-group in time to begin their assault on a quarter-final spot, and on preparation for that match against Scotland.

When they were unable to put the shackles on a rampant All Black side they were exposed with a striking regularity. New Zealand showed hunger in every aspect of their game, from Richie McCaw feverishly working away at the breakdown, to the outside backs chasing Dan Carter's fine array of clever kicks.

It took barely ninety seconds for the opening try, McCaw taking the honours and adding a second just four minutes later. The tries continued to flow as Italy failed to make any impression on the game, aside from giving away needless penalties, which in fairness probably reflected their frustration.

The main concern for Graham Henry, as half-time approached, will be the nature in which his side looked to play too much rugby. As if they needed reminding of the dangers of such a style it came with an intercept try. Marko Stanojevic was the benefactor of a hopeful pass and galloped away to the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

Whatever was said to the Italians at half-time sparked them into life, as for the opening ten minutes of the half they not only contained New Zealand but caused them several problems when on the attack. It did help they had a numerical advantage, Carl Hayman earning the indignity of the tournament's first yellow card. In fairness he was lucky to escape with that having connected cleanly with a punch.

Normal service was soon resumed however with a flurry of tries, two of which brought about a new All Black record. Doug Howlett's second and third tries sent him to the top of the all-time top try-scorers in All Black history, equalling the record held by Christian Cullen.

Having opted against meaningless warm-up games, Graham Henry will be delighted at the manner in which his side went about business. He was even afforded the luxury of utilising his full bench with more than a quarter of the game remaining.

Despite the defeat Pierre Berbizier will be able to take some positives from the game. For one, the Italian set piece was solid, and on occasion their scrum overpowered their counterparts'. But it will be the open play aberrations that will have concerned Berbizier the most.

On countless occasions they allowed New Zealand to offload in the tackle, and more often than not such moves ended in tries. A stark contrast to the Italy we saw in the Six Nations and their warm-up games. Scotland will have had more than an eye on proceedings here.

The fact Mirco Bergamasco managed to score a messy try late on will be of scant consolation for Italy, and you could sense the sighs of relief as Wayne Barnes brought this non-contest to an end.

Man of the match: With such a scoreline it will come as little surprise that this award goes to an All Black, but which one. Dan Carter looked to be nearing his best again, both Ali Williams and Chris Jack were prominent throughout, as too was the entire back row. Yet it was Leon MacDonald, a late addition to the side who set the pulses racing. Solid at the back and electric in attack, his performance was near faultless.

Moment of the match: This came after just ninety seconds when Richie McCaw was offered a clear run to the line. This was to set the tone for the rest of the game as far as Italy and their defence, or lack of, was concerned.

Villain of the match: In a game where attacking rugby was the order of the day this award is shared. Firstly Carl Hayman for his punch on Salvatore Perugini. And then Perugini himself for taking out Ali Williams in the air. No need for either incident.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries: McCaw 2, Howlett 3, Muliaina, Sivivatu 2, Jack, Collins 2
Cons: Carter 7, McAlister 2
Pen: Carter

For Italy:
Try: Stanojevic, Mirco Bergamasco
Con: Bortolussi, De Marigny

Yellow cards: Hayman (New Zealand, 42, punching), Perugini (Italy, 62, taking out the player in the air)

New Zealand (revised): 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Mils Muliaina, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Chris Jack ,3 Carl Hayman 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Anton Oliver, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Chris Masoe, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Aaron Mauger, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Italy: 15 David Bortolussi. 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Marko Stanojevic, 10 Roland de Marigny, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Valerio Bernabò, 19 Manoa Vosawai, 20 Paul Griffen, 21 Gonzalo Canale, 22 Ezio Galon.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: Christophe Berdos (France), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Television match official: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assessor: Ian Scotney (Australia)

By Marcus Leach www.planetrugby.com

Zinzan Brooke hit outs

Zinzan Brooke hit out at those who have suggested the All Blacks will choke once more in France.

Writing in his column on bbcsport.co.uk the former All Black loose forward said: “I honestly think this New Zealand team can win the World Cup. I do not want to put the curse on them again, because everyone says the All Blacks peak between World Cups and then bottle it when they get to them, but that is just nonsense, a media perception. The current side have set the benchmark for everyone else in world rugby over the last three years. Graham Henry just needs to keep their feet on the ground now and make sure they forget about all the rubbish, go about their business, take it one game at a time, and do their talking on the field.”

- New Zealand prop Tony Woodcock has injured a calf muscle and will play no role against Portugal, as will Keith Robinson who requires another week’s rest. Conrad Smith’s condition is less clear but assistant coach Wayne Smith said both he and Reuben Thorne were “on track”, with the latter set to play against Portugal on Saturday. Smith confirmed they had made contact with NZ Cup players to ready themselves for a call-up should either of the quartet be ruled out of the World Cup.

- All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen has returned home for an unspecified period to be with his ailing mother. Hansen left the Blacks camp yesterday with Wayne Smith saying his departure would have an emotional impact on the squad and coaching staff. “There will be thoughts with him and an emotional cost maybe within the staff,” he told NZPA. “We’ve just got to get on with it and do the jobs this week for him, and honour him that way.” Smith said head coach Graham Henry would “poke his nose” into aspects of forward play.

- Jerry Collins says France’s loss to Argentina will have “woken a beast”. The All Blacks could meet the hosts in the quarter-final and Collins has cautioned against dismissing them as serious contenders. “They have a whole set of problems of their own with the pressure they’re under to perform at home,” Collins told Fairfax Media. “But I kind of get the feeling Argentina may have woken the beast. I wouldn’t go writing them off yet. All you have to do is qualify [for the play-offs], that’s the main aim, and after that it’s pretty much who turns up on the day.”

- Wayne Smith says their preparation for Portugal won’t be any less intense than that of any other Test match. “That’s what we have to do – take our eye off the other dugout and respect the fact that’s going to be a big game for them and try to get our standards up,” Smith said. “That means that all week there has to be an accuracy in our training that’s really high and a step up from last week. We like to try to honour the game and think if we do that and keep working on our own standards then it will honour us.”

- Scotland coach Frank Hadden declared himself satisfied with the 56-10 win over Portugal but stressed that they would have to improve going forward. “It wasn’t a tremendous performance but it was our first game and we wanted to start with a win,” he told bbcsport.co.uk. “Tremendous credit to the Portuguese, it was obviously a cup final for them. They never gave up and were incredibly tenacious throughout. We certainly expect to get better for the next game.”

- Hadden praised Dan flyhalf Dan Parks saying: “He got the game started for us in fine style. He’s a quality stand-off and Chris Paterson, when he came on, showed he’s no slouch in that position either.”

- Meanwhile Hadden is concerned that playing two pool matches at Murrayfield will have an adverse effect on their campaign. The Scots face Romania and New Zealand at home before returning to France for their crucial pool clash against Italy. “You are all aware of how massive an event it is here, the reception we have had in St Etienne has been tremendous and we are getting
significant numbers at training,” said Hadden. “When we arrived at the ground today there were unquestionably more people clapping us in than we get at a Six Nations game an hour and a half before the kick-off. It’s a massive competition and it would be a shame if the Scots missed out on the opportunity to be involved in what is the biggest sporting event on the planet this year.”

- Italy flanker Mauro Bergamasco is grateful they have a quick turnaround between fixtures (they face Romania on Wednesday). The Italians lost heavily (76-10) to the All Blacks in their opening match, and were particularly woeful in the first quarter. “Things like what happened in the first 20 minutes have no precise explanations,” said Bergamasco. “It’s a fortune and a privilege to have the chance of redemption so soon.”

- Italy centre Andrea Masi has sent an ominous warning to their European counterparts. “We want to react. We want to show that we are not the team that played against New Zealand,” said Masi. “We won two matches in the last Six Nations and that doesn’t happen by chance. We have to play to our true level.”

This thread will be updated throughout the day

Posted by Ryan | www.keo.co.za