Sunday, November 14, 2010

INTERNATIONAL RUGBY RESULTS: Saturday 13 November

13.11.2010 Updated
New Zealand 49, Scotland 3 at Murrayfield
England 35, Australia 18 at Twickenham
South Africa 29, Wales 25 in Cardiff
Ireland 20, Samoa 10 in Dublin
France 34, Fiji 12 in Nantes
Argentina 22, Italy 16 in Verona
Romania 21, Uruguay 21 in Montevideo (WCQ Repechage Final, 1st leg)
Canada 60, Spain 22 in Madrid
United States 22, Portugal 17 in Lisbon
Belgium 24, Czech Republic 12 in Prague (ENC 1B)
Moldova 36, Poland 25 in Gdansk (ENC 1B)
Armenia 15, Andorra 12 in Abovian (ENC 2B) Result just in
Bulgaria 18, Luxembourg 8 in Luxembourg

Briefly
A huge weekend of test rugby produced a few surprise test rugby results.

New Zealand produced a huge win over hapless Scotland who were confident before the game. It's been a while since the New Zealanders posted more than forty points against Scotland. This was a great performance by the All Blacks after they leaked points against England in the second half last weekend. As for Scotland, where does Andy Robinson go from here? Heads will roll but Scotland just does not have the depth of talent.

England and Martin Johnson finally got the result they were after. They dominated the Aussies to win this game and win it well, and without Jonny Wilkinson! Can England maintain this standard? How damaging to the Australians will this result be?

South Africa just got past Wales in a close game. Ireland stuttered past Samoa whilst the French outplayed Fiji in pouring rain in Nantes. No surprises there. Argentina and Italy were both less than impressive in their match in Verona. These two sides are so nervous of each other they seem to always produce defensive-negative rugby.

Perhaps the biggest surprise result was the 21-21 draw in Montevideo. Few picked Uruguay to win although most said it would be tough. Poor defence let Romania down in the second half. The teams go to Bucharest where they meet in the decider on 27 November.

Canada and the USA featured in a North American clean sweep over Spain and Portugal respectively. Spain's rebuilding programme has stumbled at the first hurdle. The Portuguese got close to the Americans.

In the European Nations Cup Belgium upset the Czechs at home, Moldova won well against Poland away as did the Bulgarians over Luxembourg. The Andorra-Armenia result is not yet known.

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