New Zealand 43-10 Georgia
New Zealand have continued their World Cup campaign by overcoming an often sluggish display to power to a 43-10 triumph over Georgia at the Millennium Stadium. The Cardiff crowd were treated to a thrilling start which saw 22 points scored in the opening 12 minutes of the match, and it was the All Blacks who delivered the opening try in the second minute when Waisake Naholo, who was making his World Cup debut after cracking a bone in his leg last month, powered clear to suggest that it would be a long night for Georgia.
Dan Carter followed up with the conversion, but there was an immediate response from the underdogs as a loose ball allowed Georgia to get the ball to full-back Beka Tsiklauri, whose delight was clear as he sprinted away for the try before the conversion made it 7-7. The scores would not be level for long as Georgia's eagerness to handle the power in the New Zealand midfield left them exposed out wide when Julian Savea fought off one challenge before touching down. Carter was unable to add the conversion from close to the touchline, and it was Georgia's turn to trouble the scorers once again when Lasha Malaghuradze split the posts with a penalty just inside the New Zealand half of the pitch.
Savea then registered his second try of the match as the All Blacks used the men out wide to send the winger over, before the bonus point was clinched when Dane Coles benefited from Richie McCaw's fine work to cruise over on the wing, but Carter's struggles continued as he missed for the third of his four first-half kicks. Georgia displayed impressive resilience either side of the half-time interval to frustrate All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen, who watched on as his side made frequent handling errors while attempting to pull further clear. New Zealand needed 12 second-half minutes to score again as Brodie Retallick played a vital role in pushing Kieran Read over the line after a patient spell of dominance in Georgia's territory.
Despite the comfortable scoreline, it was a promising display from Georgia, who held firm while the All Blacks controlled the ball for much of the second half. There was time for the defending champions to give the supporters more entertainment late on as Savea completed his hat-trick with another burst to the line after some impressive work from Malakai Fekitoa, who completed the win by racing away from the scrum to punish the tiring Georgians as Carter recovered from a rare poor night with the boot to add both conversions.
France 41-18 Canada
France have defeated Canada 41-18 in the Rugby World Cup, after two late tries stretched the lead. Les Bleus took the lead after just four minutes when Frederic Michalak offloaded to Wesley Fofana, who dodged a Canadian tackle before crossing the line.
Canada ventured into the France half following the opening try, but Les Bleus were able to turn the ball over when the Canadians were on the line. Michalak took France's lead to 10 in the 14th minute when Canada were penalised at the scrum and the ball was kicked through the posts.
The Maple Leafs had another attempt to get on the scoresheet when Doug Wooldridge broke down the left before passing to Nathan Hirayama, but the fly-half's drop goal went wide of the post. Guilhem Guirado went over for a second try in the 28th minute after a maul was driven over from five yards.
Canada scored their first try of the match two minutes later, when Ciaran Hearn won the ball from the restart and worked it to the flanks. DTH van der Merwe took the pass and crossed the line. It took just four minutes for Canada to score a second when Aaron Carpenter crossed the line after Kyle Gilmour was held up. France created a 12-point lead just before half time when Rabah Slimani touched down after a driving maul. Les Bleus conceded a penalty at the scrum straight from the restart and Hirayama added three more to Canada's total.
It was another penalty for Canada as France came in offside and Hirayama brought the Maple Leafs to within six points of their opponents. That was cancelled out by Michalak four minutes late though, as he dissected the posts with a penalty of his own. France finally asserted their dominance in the closing stages when Pascal Pape touched down after another French maul. Remy Grosso completed the scoring in the 75th minute when he shook off a tackle to stretch the lead.
Wales 23-13 Fiji
Wales have taken another big step towards reaching the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup by beating a determined Fiji 23-13 at the Millennium Stadium.
The Red Dragons missed out on the additional bonus point after crossing over just twice, but the win is enough to take them back to the top of Pool A.
Buoyed by their gutsy win against England last time out, the hosts were quick out of the blocks and were almost rewarded by a try inside the opening 60 seconds. George North burst his way to within five metres of the chalk, but Fiji were able to stand firm to keep out their opponents. The resolve did not last long, however, as just minutes later Gareth Davies did manage to cross over thanks to a fine dummy, with Dan Biggar picking up from where he left off at Twickenham by kicking over the extras. Ben Volavola did reduce the arrears somewhat when finding the target with his penalty 15 minutes in, killing off the Red Dragons' early momentum, which was not helped by Bradley Davies having to temporarily leave the field due to a head injury.
There was a big chance for the Flying Fijians to close the gap further when awarded a second penalty within kicking distance of the sticks, but Volavola was unable to match the magic of the injured Nemani Nadolo and fired wide of the target. Wales really should have put some distance between themselves and their 10th-in-the-world opponents with a quarter of the match played, only for Taulupe Faletau to be denied right on the line by Fiji skipper Akapusi Qera to keep the sides within touching distance.
Warren Gatland's men remained camped deep in the Fiji half for large parts, but it took until eight minutes before the interval until Scott Baldwin capitalised on some good handling from the forwards to scramble over for the game's second score. Biggar maintained his impressive kicking record at this World Cup from the conversion, building on the 23 points registered against the Red Rose - an all-time high from a Wales player in a single match. Volavola did pull back three more points for the Southern Hemisphere outfit shortly before the break to give his side a springboard to push on, yet it was the hosts who went into the break the happier of the two. Much of Fiji's best work in the opening 40 minutes came through Volavola and Asaeli Tikoirotuma, which proved to be the case in the opening few minutes of a cagey start to the second half for the hosts.
Volavola was again guilty of missing a decent opening in front of the posts, but John McKee's charges soon mounted their strongest attacking move of the afternoon which culminated in Vereniki Goneva touching down for the Fijians' opening score. As the mistakes started to creep into Wales's game, Fiji began to grow in confidence with just four points now the difference. The Red Dragons, perhaps wary of the fact that they were dumped out of this competition by Fiji eight years ago, soon found their rhythm once more and were back in control when Biggar relieved some of the pressure by adding a third pen of the contest. In front of a packed and expectant Welsh crowd, it was the tier-two nation who looked the more likely to add a potentially decisive fourth try, yet they could not quite find a way over the line following a period of domination on the ball.
A close down from Davies to cut out Volavola's punt proved the catalyst for momentum to finally swing back the Red Dragons' way 12 minutes from time, as a Fiji error at the scrum allowed fly-half Biggar to slot home his 13th successful pen of the tournament. Davies looked to be over for a third score late on, only for referee John Lacey and his fellow officials to adjudge that the ball did not touch the ground, thus killing off the home side's hopes of rescuing a late bonus point. It mattered little in the grand scheme of things, however, as the game petered out to see Wales take a step closer to the final eight at the expense of their brave opponents, who crash out with one game still to play.
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