6 Sep 2015

Wallabies soldier past Eagles

1:53 pm on 6 September 2015

Australia have defeated the United States in a Rugby World Cup warm up match at Chicago while England, Wales, France, Argentina, Tonga, Samoa and Japan also enjoyed victories.

On Chicago's Soldier Field, the Wallabies ran in seven tries to the Eagles' one for a 47-10 win.

The USA meet Samoa in their first game of the World Cup in pool B, while Australia face Fiji in pool A.

England vs Ireland

England completed their Rugby World Cup preparations with a 21-13 victory over Ireland putting them in great heart for their tournament opener against Fiji back at Twickenham in 13 days.

England completed their Rugby World Cup preparations with a 21-13 victory over Ireland putting them in great heart for their tournament opener against Fiji back at Twickenham in 13 days.

England rugby first five George Ford.

England rugby first five George Ford. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

England scored two early tries through wingers Jonny May and Anthony Watson to lead 12-3 at the break and though Ireland briefly got close with a Paul O'Connell try early in the second half, the hosts deservedly closed the game out with two Owen Farrell penalties.

"When we play at home, we can be pretty good when we stick to our systems," said England captain Chris Robshaw, who again topped the tackle count with 18.

"We put Ireland under pressure today and it was a great dress rehearsal before the big one in two weeks' time."

England were unrecognisable from the disorganised side well beaten by France two weeks ago, on the front foot from the start and ahead within three minutes when May, normally noted for his searing pace, this time used power to blast through Tommy Bowe.

England's lineout, so ragged in Paris, was back to its productive best and a successfully completed one led to George Ford delivering a pin-point kick into the corner where Watson soared above Simon Zebo to catch and score.

May thought he had scored his second when he finished off a fizzing move only for the TMO to rule it out for a forward pass.

Ireland struggled to get any sort of foothold in the game, with only an early Jonathan Sexton penalty to their name as they turned round somewhat fortunate to be only 12-3 down.

They showed more intensity after the restart as O'Connell led by example, burrowing over for their first try, which, after a penalty apiece earlier, made it 15-13.

England became a bit ragged, losing a scrum against the head, knocking on, missing overlaps and generally getting bogged down as both sides emptied their benches.

England's great white hope Sam Burgess got 20 minutes and a second cap but the big centre was unable to make much of an impact other than one bone-shuddering tackle in the final exchanges.

After the TMO ruled out another England try they finally got the scoreboard moving again with a penalty by Farrell, who landed another three minutes from the end to settle it.

England are now on a run of seven wins at Twickenham since going down to South Africa in November 2014 but Ireland have work to do after home and away defeats.

"We started poorly, we kept dropping the ball, and you cannot accumulate those sorts of losses and expect to do well," said O'Connell.

"Alarm bells are not ringing but we are very disappointed. We have fallen short of a lot of things we want to do."

Wales vs Italy

Wales beat Italy 23-19 in Cardiff but paid a high price as their final World Cup warm-up left halfback Rhys Webb virtually out of the tournament and fullback Leigh Halfpenny facing a race against time.

Rhys Webb of Wales shows the pain as he receives treatment for a leg injury

Rhys Webb of Wales shows the pain as he receives treatment for a leg injury Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Webb, the Pro12 player of the season, suffered an horrific-looking ankle injury midway through the first half and screamed in pain after being trapped in a ruck.

Halfpenny, probably the most consistent goalkicker in the game, suffered a knee injury in the latter stages and needed oxygen before being carried from the pitch on a stretcher.

Argentina vs Leicester

Argentina picked up nine tries in a 55-34 victory over Leicester Tigers on Saturday, their last game before taking on defending champions New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup.

The Argentina fullback Joaquín Tuculet escapes a Leicester defender.

The Argentina fullback Joaquín Tuculet escapes a Leicester defender. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The match at Welford Road was a testimonial for Argentina prop Marcos Ayerza who is a Leicester player.

Almost all of coach Daniel Hourcade's 31-man Pumas squad got a runout, with the starting lineup going 28-13 in front at halftime.

The Tigers had a strong eight-minute spell midway through the second half when they ran in three of their four tries to get within four points at 38-34 before the Pumas surged clear again.

Argentina meet the All Blacks in a Pool C match at Wembley before playing Georgia in Gloucester and Tonga and Namibia in Leicester.

Tonga vs Romania

Tonga ended their World Cup preparations with a morale-boosting 21-16 victory over Romania at the Arch of Triumph National Rugby Stadium on Saturday.

Coach Mana 'Otai named a strong Tonga team and they went 7-0 up midway through the first half when flyhalf Kurt Morath, who missed a penalty earlier, scored a try and booted the conversion.

Romania hit back with two penalties from flyhalf Florin Vlaicu, the country's all-time leading points scorer, and went to the break trailing 10-6.

The visitors grew even more confident in the second half and scrumhalf Sonatane Takulua touched down before hooker Andrei Radoi replied with a try for the home team.

Tonga have been drawn in World Cup Pool C alongside New Zealand, Argentina, Georgia and Namibia while Romania are in Pool D with France, Ireland, Italy and Canada.

The Romanian Rugby Federation is to make a donation from Saturday's ticket sales to former Tonga flanker Sione Vaiomounga who is suffering from kidney failure.

Vaiomounga played for Romanian champions CSM Baia Mare.

France vs Scotland

There was little to celebrate for France coach Philippe Saint-Andre after his side laboured to a 19-16 home victory against Scotland.

Les Bleus were ill-disciplined and lacked creativity at the Stade de France and only escaped a first home defeat against Scotland since 1999 when Noa Nakaitaci scored their only try with seven minutes remaining.

Noa Nakaitaci scores for France.

Noa Nakaitaci scores for France. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

"Let's be content with victory. The second half was good but in the first half we did not put in enough intensity, we did not put in enough speed," said Saint-Andre.

"The most important thing is the state of mind, to have that confidence and to win."

Scotland made the most of France's errors as Greig Laidlaw kicked them to a 9-6 halftime lead.

A Tommy Seymour try after a counter attack put the visitors 16-12 up.

"We were in the red early on and at the end," said wing Yoann Huget.

"We had a demanding week of preparation and we felt it at the start and at the end. Let's be patient, we have to stay confident."

There were no excuses from captain Thierry Dusautoir.

"It was a complicated game, we made too many errors," said the flanker, who was back from a knee injury.

"We allowed them to stay in contention until the end. It is good that we managed to come back but overall it is not satisfying."

France, who reached the World Cup final in 2011 despite a mediocre group phase, take on Italy on Sept. 19 and will also face Romania, Canada and finally Ireland in Pool D.

Also on Saturday, Japan beat Georgia 13-10 in Gloucester and Samoa defeated Wasps 25-19 in Coventry.