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Autumn Nations Series: Highlights of the Third Weekend
Ireland 22-19 Argentina
Date: Friday 15th November 2024
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Attendance: 51,700
Man of the Match: Joe McCarthy (Ireland)
Match Report
Ireland held on for a hard-fought and nervy 22-19 victory over Argentina in Dublin. A high-tempo opening saw Jack Crowley and Mack Hansen both touch down for Ireland inside the first six minutes. Tomás Albornoz kept the visitors in touch with three penalty kicks, before Joe McCarthy added a third try for Ireland around the half-hour mark. The Pumas attacked in waves but couldn’t find a way through as the first half ended 22-9 in the home side’s favour. After the break, Argentina were first to score when Juan Cruz Mallía broke free in midfield and stepped his way across the line. Shortly afterwards, Albornoz kicked a fourth penalty to cut the deficit to just 3-points. The momentum swung back and forth as both teams searched for the crucial next score. Argentina came close to scoring in the final play of the match, but Ireland held on for a narrow victory.
Scotland 59-21 Portugal
Date: Saturday 16th November 2024
Venue: Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Referee: Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
Attendance: 61,027
Man of the Match: Tom Jordan (Scotland)
Match Report
Scotland scored nine tries as they beat Portugal 59-21 at Murrayfield. A fast and loose first half saw Will Hurd, Stafford McDowall, Darcy Graham and Josh Bayliss all cross for Scotland. The hosts were also awarded a penalty try when Duarte Torgal was sin-binned for collapsing a rolling maul. Luka Begic got a try back for Portugal at the very end of the half as the visitors trailed 33-7. After the break, Jamie Bhatti, Arron Reed (twice) and Jamie Dobie added four more tries for Scotland. Portugal didn’t go down without a fight, though, as Samuel Marques and Raffaele Storti added second-half tries to keep the scoreboard respectable.
England 20-29 South Africa
Date: Saturday 16th November 2024
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Attendance: 81,910
Man of the Match: Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa)
Match Report
England lost a third autumn Test as they were beaten 29-20 by the Springboks at Twickenham. The hosts started brightly with Ollie Sleightholme scoring a try in the fourth minute. The Springboks then replied with quickfire tries from Grant Williams, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cheslin Kolbe in the space of just eleven minutes. Sam Underhill got one back for England and they trailed 19-17 at the end of a pulsating first half. After the break, Marcus Smith and Handre Pollard traded penalty kicks as the lead swung back and forth. Kolbe then scored a crucial second try just after the hour mark to extend the visitors lead. South Africa lost Gerhard Steenekamp to the sin-bin in the 69th minute for repeated infringements. But England failed to take advantage of their extra man in the closing period and fell to a fifth straight Test defeat.
France 30-29 New Zealand
Date: Saturday 16th November 2024
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
Attendance: 82,000
Man of the Match: Ardie Savea (New Zealand)
Match Report
France made it three wins in a row against New Zealand for just the second time in history with a nail-biting 30-29 victory at the Stade de France. That was despite the hosts struggling at the set-piece following the early loss of Tevita Tatafu to injury, with New Zealand ahead at half time following tries from Peter Lakai and Cam Roigard despite a fine debut score from Romain Buros.Les Bleus turned things around superbly within the opening 10 minutes of the second half with tries from Paul Boudehent and Louis Bielle-Biarrey stunning the All Blacks who themselves were gunning for a third successive win in November.France’s seven-point lead was cut to just one after two Damian McKenzie penalties but France held out for victory amid a tense and frenetic finale.
Wales 20-52 Australia
Date: Sunday 17th November 2024
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Attendance: 56,188
Man of the Match: Tom Wright (Australia)
Match Report
Wales suffered a record 11th successive defeat as they were beaten 52-20 by the Wallabies in Cardiff. Australia dominated the opening exchanges and scored three tries in the space of nine minutes with Tom Wright, Nick Frost and Matt Faessler all crossing. From 19-points down, Wales hit back with an Aaron Wainwright try and two penalty kicks from Gareth Anscombe to end the half trailing by 19-13. The Wallabies lost Samu Kerevi to the sin-bin early in the second half, and his yellow card was later upgraded to a red. Despite being a man down, the visitors regained momentum when Faessler scored two more tries to claim a hat-trick. Things got worse for the hosts when Wright intercepted a Wales pass and ran 60 metres to touch down for his second try. Ben Thomas got one back for Wales in the 68th minute, but they trailed by 20-points heading into the final 10 minutes. The Wallabies had the final say when first Len Ikitau scored, and then Wright claimed his hat-trick to wrap up a big win.
To watch all Autumn Nations Series matches, visit: TNT Sports and for all fixtures, visit: 7 Bamboos Rugby.
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