World Cup Warm-Ups Sat 5th September

ENG 21-13 FRA 

England put in a strong performance to defeat a below-par Ireland 21-13 in a World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham this afternoon.

A strong, composed start from England saw Jonny May cross the try line after just five minutes, collecting a pass from Ben Youngs and bumping off Tommy Bowe and Simon Zebo to go over in the corner.

George Ford easily converted before Jonny Sexton kicked a penalty for Ireland after May was deemed to have taken the man out in the air.

England continued to kick the corners and a rolling maul allowed Ford to execute a cross-field kick that Anthony Watson gathered above Zebo to dot down.

Ford was unable to add the extra two as Conor Murray had to be taken off the pitch after suffering a suspected concussion.

May had a second try ruled out after a Tom Youngs forward pass as Ireland looked to put pressure on England, but their defending and handling let them down.

Ford made it 15-3 after the break with a penalty, before Sexton replied with one of his own as Ireland bucked up their ideas to make hard yards, finally scoring after Paul O'Connell bundled his way over from close range.


Richard Wigglesworth had a try disallowed before Owen Farrell kicked over two penalties in quick succession to put the game beyond Ireland's reach.


WAL 23-19 ITA 

Wales have ground out a 23-19 victory over Italy in their Rugby World Cup warm-up match in Cardiff.

The Welsh were punished for a sluggish start when Leonardo Sarto went over for the opening try in the third minute, leaving the stadium in stunned silence.

Italy failed to take full advantage as Tommaso Allan's conversion hit the wrong side of the post on its way behind, but the 22-year-old made amends moments later by putting away a penalty to give his side an 8-0 advantage.

Wales were right back in it at 8-5 in the 13th minute when George North powered along the left wing and went over for their first try of the evening.

Leigh Halfpenny sliced his conversion wide from a tight angle, but made no mistake when the Welsh were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute, levelling up the match from the edge of the 22.

Another Allen penalty sent Italy into the break with an 11-8 advantage, only for Halfpenny to level things up again 10 minutes after the restart when the visitors were penalised.

Wales took the lead for the first time in the match in the 63rd minute after the referee lost patience with Italy for failing to get their scrum set.

Halfpenny did the damage from the resulting penalty, but a drop goal from Carlo Canna immediately pegged them back. Two further penalty kicks from the Toulon winger fired Wales into a 20-14 lead with 10 minutes left.

Dan Biggar took over penalty duties after Halfpenny was stretchered off injured and he put Wales further in front in the 75th before a last-minute try from Guglielmo Palazzani made the closing stages nervy for the hosts.


Allan missed his last-ditch conversion, leaving the final score at 23-19 to Wales - but the match was overshadowed by injuries to Rhys Webb and Halfpenny, big blows for Warren Gatland's side ahead of the finals.


FRA 19-16 SCO 

Winger Noa Nakaitaci's late try secured France a dramatic 19-16 victory over Scotland as both teams showed they have plenty to work on with the World Cup only a week away.

Scotland could have walked away with a draw, but spurned the chance to kick a stoppage time penalty, only for Alasdair Strokosch to drop the ball in the following attack.

In an absorbing contest, France thought they had scored a first-half try, only for Wesley Fofana's effort to be disallowed for a forward pass in the build-up.

This allowed the Scots to go in at the break 9-6 up, as Greig Laidlaw kicked four penalties to Frédéric Michalak's three.

Michalak levelled the scores three minutes into the second half, and full-back Scott Spedding nudged the French ahead with a penalty from inside his own half.


However the visitors looked to be heading for an upset in Paris when Tommy Seymour hacked on Laidlaw's chip to touch down, before number 8 David Denton was sent to the sin bin, creating the space for Nakaitaci to crash over and snatch the win for France.