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Ireland endures drubbing by All Blacks

New Zealand was halfway toward a grand slam with an emphatic 45-7 win over Ireland, and England dominated up front to beat Australia 26-16 in rugby union internationals on Saturday.

Also, France rubbed out Canada 50-6 in Nantes, Argentina defeated Scotland 23-19 to extend a 15-year unbeaten run over the Scots, and Italy thumped Tonga 48-0 in Prato.

All Blacks wingers Sitiveni Sivivatu and Doug Howlett scored two tries each at Dublin's Lansdowne Road, where about 7,000 fans were denied seats after a small fire in the North Stand on Friday night forced the section to be closed.

New Zealand, which completely overhauled the side which dispatched Wales 41-3 last week, poured in five tries against a game Ireland outfit which didn't score until five minutes were left.

Sivivatu scored the first and last tries of the opening half, at which New Zealand finished 25-0 up. Scrumhalf Piri Weepu also crossed, and Howlett scored twice in eight minutes in the second spell, and had a third disallowed. Nick Evans added 20 off his boot.

Ireland prop Marcus Horan claimed a converted try after sustained pressure.

"It wasn't easy out there," said Richie McCaw, New Zealand's captain in place of Tana Umaga, who was rested. "It was a tough battle and there was a lot of passion from both teams."

The All Blacks face England and Scotland next, with a chance to become the first New Zealand side since 1978 to complete a grand slam.

At Twickenham, Ben Cohen and Mark Cueto scored tries, while prop Andrew Sheridan was man-of-the-match in his first England start for an impressive show in the scrums.

The defeat was Australia's record-equaling seventh in a row and meant England won the Cook Cup in a confidence-boosting win ahead of the All Blacks next week.

"This is a start, it's not about one performance for Andrew Sheridan, it's about how he now moves forward," England head coach Andy Robinson said. "He's got a different challenge next week, he's got a very tough challenge next week.

"What is pleasing is that today, with what was put in front of him, he destroyed them and that's all you can ask of a player."

Playing in the unfamiliar position of flyhalf, Mat Rogers had a flawless kicking game for Australia with three penalties, and his conversion of Drew Mitchell's try leveled the score at 16-16.

However, Olly Barkley kicked England back in front with a penalty from halfway, and his conversion to Cueto's try put the home side out of reach of Australia.

Australia's under-fire captain George Gregan was sinbinned in the 26th minute and replaced by Chris Whitaker in the 66th, which will increase the pressure on coach Eddie Jones to ax the world's most capped player.

Shortly after Gregan was sinbinned, England strung a neat series of passes to free winger Cohen for a try. Hodgson's conversion lifted England to 10-6 at halftime.

Matt Dunning was stretchered off in a neck brace, and while X-rays cleared the Australia prop of serious injury, he will undergo further scans.

Jones acknowledged his team was hurt by the superiority of England's scrum, and Sheridan led the way.

"That was a new level of scrummaging to compete against tonight," Jones said. "It's a fair reflection of where our scrum is in relation to England's."

In Nantes, flanker Julien Bonnaire scored two of France's seven tries against Canada.

Flyhalf Frederic Michalak, center David Marty, fullback Thomas Castaignede, hooker Sebastien Bruno and Pierre Mignoni also scored.

In Edinburgh, Scotland was 16-6 ahead after 50 minutes at Murrayfield before Argentina rallied with 17 points to win.

In Prato, Marco Bortolami, Mirco Bergamasco and Josh Sole each scored two tries in Italy's romp over Tonga.

On Friday, Six Nations champion Wales avoided embarrassment when it came back from 10-0 down to beat Fiji 11-10 at Cardiff.
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