LAST WEEK we called it the Baptism of Fire. Now England crash & burn...and fall in the world rankings as Argentina prove they are a force to be reckoned with...
	• THE EMERALD Isle shone against a depleted Bokke... • OUT WEST Wales’ 2nd team hold their own against inexperienced Pacific Islanders squad... • UP NORTH a 2nd generation Beattie proved his worth with a try on his debut... • RAMPANT ALL Blacks leave shell-shocked French in their wake... • ITALY GIFT below par Australia a welcome win...

England 18 Argentina 25

Spirits were horribly dampened at Twickenham this week as Argentina proved yet again that they can compete with the world-class rugby teams, thus blowing the door wide open for full and regular entry onto the world stage. Only 74,000 supporters turned up to see substitute fly half, Federico Todeschini score 22 of the 25 winning points, and 12 year Argentina veteran, Agustin Pichot win Guinness Man of the Match. CLICK HERE to read the full story…

Federico Todeschini	Agustin Pichot

Ireland 32 South Africa 15

The Bokke stepped out for the last time at Lansdowne Road on the momentous occasion of 100 years of South African international rugby. The centurions wore unadulterated replica shirts of those from 1906, but unfortunately for them, the luck of those years was not with them as they fell to a confident and quite devastating Ireland side. What South Africa lacked in strength, structure and unity, the Irish had in spades…and thanks to Eddie O’Sullivan’s direction, it looks as if Ireland won’t be peaking too soon in readiness for the world cup next year.

If you did split the game into one of two halves, South Africa actually won the second half by two points, but alas this was not enough for the proud Bokke. With 12 key players back home in the southern hemisphere, the inexperienced SA squad showed a hint of promise in their attacking, but with a backline that had never performed on the international stage, dignity was preserved with two tries by the world’s best winger, Bryan Habana who unfortunately was put played out of position, and Francois Steyn on his international debut. Ireland, on the hand, could not help themselves with Andrew Trimble, David Wallace, Marcus Horan and Shane Horgan all crossing the line, and the gorgeous Gordon D’Arcy was Man of the Match.

Ireland face a slightly more daunting task this weekend against Australia, whilst South Africa face their old rivals England at Twickenham, though we can’t see the score even coming close to the record 53-3 match only 4 years ago.

Wales 38 Pacific Islands 20

The Pacific Islanders, like Argentina had only trained together for less than a week. Wales had no option but to win, even if it was their second team on show. Half the PI squad do in fact play in Europe, so chances are they had a vague idea of what to expect, though none reside in Wales.

Wales took advantage of the Islanders’ inadequate match practice, and in the first forty minutes scored four converted tries from Mark Jones, James Hook, Kevin Morgan, Lee Byrne and a penalty from Ceri Sweeney. Three minutes from the end of the first half, Glasgow Warriors’ Justin Va’a finally crossed the tryline to take the score to 31-5.

The second half, however, was a whole different ball game. The Islanders quickly fought back, with London Irish’s Seilala Mapasua touching down but Wales retaliated in minutes with Sweeney converting his own try under the posts. Saracens’ Kameli Ratuvou scored the final try of the day, and Tusi Pisi cleared a penalty to take the final score to 38-20.

Next Wales face Canada on Friday night, while the Pacific Islanders take on a jubilant Scotland.

Scotland 48 Romania 6

Scotland and British Lion, John Beattie must have been a very proud man in the BBC commentary box as his son, Johnnie not only made his international senior debut, but scored the first try against Romania, who themselves never really got of the starting blocks. Seven tries later, including one from yet another debutant, Rob Dewey, alongside Phil Godman, Dougie Hall, Chris Cusiter, and two from the fine looking Hugo Southwell, Scotland won their 4th successive game in 11 years.

Frank Hadden has definitely turned the fortunes of Scottish Rugby since he took over the reigns 14 months ago, and this weekend his boys are facing the newly formed Pacific Islanders.

France 3 New Zealand 47

The build up to this match was immense, but the one idea that kept on cropping up was that this was the pre-match match to what could be the Rugby World Cup 2007 final. It was on French turf, though in Stade Gerland in Lyon as opposed to St Denis. It was dark, cold and very wet, and Aussie referee, Stuart Dickinson made an absolute hash of the job he was paid to do. He was so whistle happy, it’s surprising the teams didn’t just give up altogether, though maybe they did since won scrum took over two minutes to set. However, there was that much kicking going on we got the feeling that maybe all involved forgot that it was in fact rugby they were playing and not football - but let’s blame that on the football stadium they were in.

The score at half time was already 3 - 23. It almost seems pointless to just give you a list of try scorers as it is so long: Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Joe Rokocoko, Luke McAlister all had a go, and Sitiveni Sivivatu got greedy and went twice. And lest we forget, Florian Fritz dropped a goal for France.

By this weekend, French Coach Bernard Laporte will have had plenty of time to have words with his boys about the art of playing a game of rugby, and will hopefully have imparted some memories of how to win; maybe he could replay the Halloween semi final of the Rugby World Cup 1999, when a shell-shocked Twickenham crowd were siding with the French as they gruffly hurled New Zealand out of the tournament. So roll on Stade de France, France vs New Zealand - The Sequel. And who knows, this still could be practice for 11 months time.

Italy 18 Australia 25

Italy possess the passion, strength and drive of Argentina, and last week had Australia in the palm of their hand for most of the match. What they lack is the funding and infrastructure of the Australia’s and New Zealand’s of this world. Viewed objectively, Australia were simply lucky that they caught a lucky break in the last 10 minutes of the game. At half time, Italy were leading 15-13, with all 15 of those coming from the boot of Ramiro Pez.

How Australia has managed to retain its world ranking of 4th seems to be a bit of a mystery since they have won only 38% of their matches since summer 2005. No matter who’s opinion matters to you, from every quarter the consensus was that the score did not reflect the match, and Australia were totally unconvincing, even according to the Aussie press.

Having already been beaten by the Neath-Swansea Ospreys, and only managing a draw against the Welsh national side, on their current form, Australia have a monumental task ahead of them on Sunday against an impassioned and forceful Ireland. 26 hours earlier, however, a very interesting battle will be kicking off in Rome, when the Azzurri face the Pumas.