By David Hendy

Disappointment for the three of the Home Nations as they all bowed down to the superiority of their hosts. Ireland suffered a heavy 42-10 defeat to current Web Ellis champions New Zealand.

Wales were defeated by a resurgent Australian side 27-19 and England were edged out of a tight contest against South Africa, losing 22-17.


New Zealand 42-10 Ireland

Ireland started the match without experienced Lions trio Paul O’Connell, Stephen Ferris and Tommy Bowe, then losing first-choice prop Mike Ross to injury.

Penalties from both New Zealand’s Dan Carter and Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton were converted to set the tone of a tight contest, until Carter scored 3 more penalties and converted one of the two tries scored by debutant Hurricanes winger Julian Savea to secure a 23-3 lead at half time.

Savea scored his hat-trick try four minutes into the second half. Winger Fergus McFadden scored Ireland’s only try, with Sexton converting. The All Blacks capped off a successful first test against the Irish by scoring two more tries from flanker Adam Thomson and centre Conrad Smith, with Carter converting one and scoring a further three penalties to seal their 42-10 victory.

Australia 27-19 Wales

Wales started the match with a formidable starting line-up, with Matthew Rees, Alun Wyn Jones and James Hook on the bench. Australia had suffered many setbacks prior to the match and they were without fly-half Quade Cooper and winger James O’Connor, two of their most influential players.

The first half saw Australia lead 10-0 after just 16 minutes with Berrick Barnes, Australia’s fourth-choice fly-half, scoring a penalty and converting flanker Scott Higginbotham’s try. Wales’ fullback Leigh Halfpenny scored a penalty on the 23rd minute. Wales went in at half-time trailing 10-3 and lost Scarlets’ winger George North to a knee injury, being replaced by Perpignan’s James Hook.

Wallaby scrum-half Will Genia scored a superb solo try, beating Adam Jones, Ken Owens and James Hook to score his seventh international. Halfpenny scored a penalty before Barnes converted a drop-goal. Wales, who trailed by 14 points, lost centre Scott Williams to a head injury, suffered after a nasty clash with Australia’s Tatafu Polota-Nau.

Halfpenny scored another penalty to reduce the deficit to 11 points, with Wales losing 20-9. Welsh winger Alex Cuthbert scored a try for Wales, assisted by replacement centre Ashley Beck. Halfpenny added the extras and reduced the gap to just four points. Halfpenny added a penalty moments later, with Wales losing 20-19 with 18 minutes remaining.

Wales missed an opportunity to score a try when Sam Warburton dropped the ball with a clear path to the try line. The miss will be regretted by the Welsh as Australia’s centre Pat McCabe scored a try, which Barnes duly converted to extend the Wallaby’s lead to eight and for the home side to see out the remainder of the match and win the first test 27-19.

South Africa 22-17 England

Both South Africa and England had very strong line-ups going into the match, yet the home side had only had five days to prepare for the gruelling contest.

The first half was a thrilling spectacle, but the scoreboard did not reflect this. Both sides went into the break at 6 each, with South Africa’s fly-half Morne Steyn and his English counterpart Owen Farrell scoring two penalties apiece.

The second half saw the scoring commence, with South Africa dominant in the contact area. South Africa’s Morne Steyn eventually crossed over the whitewash and waves of attacks from the home side. England centre Brad Barritt also left the field of play with a lacerated eyeball injury and was replaced by Toby Flood. With 20 minutes remaining, the Boks’ scored their second unconverted try of the game through captain Jean de Villiers.

Farrell added another penalty for England to reduce the gap to four points, only for Morne Steyn to score another two penalties to extend their lead to 10. England’s fullback Ben Foden scored an unconverted try in the last phase of play in the game. South Africa’s dominance in strength and power was enough to see them run out 22-17 winners in Durban.

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