Six Nations champion France muscled out Australia 27-14 and Ireland upset Tri-Nations holder South Africa 17-12 for the first time in 39 years in international rugby on Saturday.
Meanwhile, New Zealand cruised past Italy 59-10 in Rome, England squashed Canada 70-0 at Twickenham, and Scotland whipped Japan 100-8 in Perth with 15 tries.
PHOTO: AP
France's first win over the Wallabies in Paris since 1983 equaled Les Bleus' record string of eight victories during 2001-2002, and upheld France's unbeaten run this year.
"I am proud of my players. They battled to win this match by applying a lot of defensive pressure and taking risks," said France coach Bernard Laporte.
He felt his team could have won by an even greater margin.
"Don't forget we were kept out three times on the try line," Laporte said.
Nicolas Brusque and Frederic Michalak scored tries and scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde took over the goalkicking from Michalak to slot five penalties. It was only the second win over World Cup runner-up Australia in the last 10 meetings.
Captain George Gregan got the Wallabies' lone try and the defeat could have been heavier if not for some ferocious tackling. Matt Giteau added two penalties for Australia before he left the field injured soon after halftime.
Meanwhile, Ronan O'Gara inspired Ireland's defeat of South Africa, scoring all of his team's points at Lansdowne Road, the site of the last Ireland victory over the Springboks in 1965.
It was Ireland's second win over South Africa in 17 attempts, including two matches in June. The two drew 8-8 in 1970.
"We prepared mentally very hard in the run-up to the game and it was more a mental battle out there than anything else," Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan said.
"We showed great resilience and we rallied very, very well when we were under pressure in the second half."
O'Gara squeezed over the line to give Ireland a 5-0 lead early on in the game's only try. His kicking kept Ireland ahead throughout the match, with Percy Montgomery booting all the points for South Africa.
Ireland had an 8-3 halftime lead, and O'Gara extended it to 17-6 -- taking advantage of Schalk Burger getting sinbinned -- before the Springboks hit back with two Montgomery penalties. In the closing minutes, South Africa desperately pushed forward for a try but the Irish defense held firm.
"It strikes me that we had so many chances to finish them off but didn't take them," Springboks coach Jake White said. "I will look at the video but I can't understand why we weren't more ruthless when we had opportunities to score."
In Rome, an experimental All Blacks side dominated Italy, running in three converted tries in the first nine minutes and cruising home.
New Zealand captain Tana Umaga, Mils Muliaina and Richie McCaw each picked up two tries, with Daniel Carter, Conrad Smith, and Saimone Taumoepeau also touching down, the last pair on debut.
Italy, coached by All Black great John Kirwan, scored a penalty through Rima Wakarua -- one of the four New Zealand-born players in the Azzurri lineup -- and flanker Mauro Bergamasco picked up a late consolation try for the home side.
"The first 20 minutes were pretty devastating for us," Kirwan said.
"Maybe we had too much respect" for New Zealand.
At Twickenham, coach Andy Robinson's new-look England manhandled a raw Canada squad, with Jason Robinson marking his first game as England captain with a hat trick of tries.
"I'd probably give that an eight out of 10," the coach said. "It was a really good start with some improvements to make."
Jason Robinson became the first former rugby league player to captain England, filling in for the injured Jonny Wilkinson.
Josh Lewsey and rookie winger Mark Cueto both scored twice and there were tries for Mike Tindall, Charlie Hodgson, Will Greenwood, Lewis Moody and Hugh Vyvyan in his first cap.
Hodgson and New Zealand-born Henry Paul, making his first start, could make only five of 15 conversions between them.
"To score 70 points and to concede none was certainly our target and we are happy with the win and we now need to move on," Jason Robinson said.
It was Canada's worst loss in eight years, while Japan endured its worst defeat since the 1995 World Cup, when the All Blacks won 145-17.
In Perth, Scotland overwhelmed Japan with a hat trick of tries from Chris Paterson and two apiece from Hugo Southwell and Robbie Russell among their 15.
Next weekend, England host South Africa, France meet Argentina, Wales take on New Zealand, Scotland play Australia in their second test, and Ireland plays the US.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
RSS