Italy 26 Australia 19
Italy upset Australia with a come-from-behind 26-19 victory on Saturday with the son of a Wallaby great scoring one try and an Australian-born winger the other to snatch a famous win for the hosts.
Louis Lynagh, born in Italy when his father Michael played for Treviso, and Melbourne-born Monty Ioane proved Italy’s heroes as they won for only the second time in 20 tests against the Wallabies.
Australia scored three tries without reply in the opening 51 minutes at the Stadio Fruili before a late surge from the Italians turned the test on its head, with the 100 per cent kicking return from outhalf Paolo Garbisi proving the difference.
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The result continued a miserable year for Australia who were beaten by England at Twickenham last week and have won five of 13 tests this year.
Italy had a 6-0 lead after Garbisi slotted over two penalties before Australia hooker Matt Faessler finished off a polished maul to score a 21st-minute try that was the first flex of Wallaby muscle.
Angus Bell stretched out to dot down a second try and put Australia in the lead, although the scores were level four minutes into the second half as Garbisi slotted over his fourth penalty.
A controversial try for outhalf Carter Gordon, returning for his first test in over two years, put Australia back ahead in the 51st minute after referee Andrew Brace ruled that the ball had been stripped out of the hands of captain Harry Wilson as he was tackled on a charge towards the try line.
It was not a knock on as Italy claimed, allowing Gordon to pick up the loose ball and jink his way over.
A furious Italy responded with a double score in the space of five minutes, first through Lynagh in the corner after a line-out maul and Ioane attacking the line with Garbisi kicking both conversions.
Italy might have had another in the closing stages after Federico Ruzza intercepted the ball, but his offload was spilt with several teammates to choose from and the try line beckoning.
The home side held firm, however, with tenacious tackling in to stop a desperate Australia from scoring.
The Wallabies won the first 18 tests between the countries, but Italy triumphed 28-27 in their last clash in Florence three years ago.
Scotland 17 New Zealand 25
New Zealand kept up their 120-year unbeaten record against Scotland, scoring a late try to hold off a ferocious second-half home surge and win Saturday’s test 25-17 at Murrayfield.
The All Blacks raced into a 17-0 halftime lead but Scotland fought back to level with 20 minutes to play and give the home crowd hope, only for Damian McKenzie to snatch victory for the visitors with an extraordinary try before adding a penalty two minutes from time.
Cam Roigard and Will Jordan scored the other All Blacks tries while Beauden Barrett booted over seven points with a penalty and two conversions.
Scotland’s tries came from Ewen Ashman and Kyle Steyn while Finn Russell kicked seven points.
Scotland had hopes of a historic triumph as Murrayfield celebrated a century since hosting its first test, but the crowd were stunned into silence in the third minute as lock Josh Lord broke from a midfield maul and burst towards the try line before offloading for Roigard to score.
Scotland needed desperate defending to keep from conceding again with wave after wave of attack in the middle of the first half but the sustained pressure did allow Beauden Barrett put over a penalty to increase the score to 10-0.
In a quick break down the short side, Wallace Sititi easily shrugged aside Darcy Graham as Scotland’s defence looked to go to sleep, and Jordan scored on the stroke of halftime to put New Zealand well in command.
Scotland’s first try came six minutes into the second half as Ashman went over from a line-out maul after which visiting skipper Ardie Savea was sent to the sin bin.
Five minutes later, the home crowd were roaring in the stands as Scotland scored again when captain Sione Tuipulotu powered to within five metres of the line, sucking in the defenders and allowing Blair Kinghorn to swing out a long pass out for Steyn to go over in the corner.
Scotland were on for a third try almost straight away, but as they barged for the line, prop Pierre Schoeman had the ball knocked out of his hands, and Graham missed a try as Roigard’s desperate tackle dislodged the ball from his hands as the winger was diving over.
Russell’s penalty on the hour mark brought Scotland level, however, after McKenzie was caught offside.
The Kiwi substitute redeemed himself, however, with eight minutes left as a penalty was kicked to touch and from the resultant maul the ball went out to the other wing where McKenzie held off two tacklers to dot down, keeping his feet infield and twisting his body to score.
McKenzie slotted over an insurance penalty two minutes from the end to ensure an escape for New Zealand, who kept up their bid for a Grand Slam with England and Wales next on their after beating Ireland in Chicago last week.
England 38 Fiji 18
England withstood a testing physical assault from a fired-up Fiji before their Bomb Squad again helped them take control to secure a 38-18 victory at Twickenham , their ninth successive win, and set up next week’s New Zealand clash nicely.
England led 14-13 at half-time and 21-18 after an hour before their high-quality bench turned the game, just as it had in last week’s win over Australia.
England were electric from the kick off and relentlessly quick rucks and sharp handling through a series of phases sent hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie over for the opening try after five minutes.
Fiji hit back almost immediately, however, as England failed to deal with a rolling maul and Tevita Ikanivere was almost untouched as he barrelled over.
Bulldozing centres Kalaveti Ravouvou and Josua Tuisova were proving a midfield menace and Fiji cut loose down the left before Caleb Muntz seized on Simione Kuruvoli’s kick to score their second try for a 10-7 lead.
England worked their way back into the game and gained an advantage when Selestino Ravutaumada was yellow-carded for a reckless mid-air challenge on Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
A minute later the winger strolled into the space where Ravutaumada should have been to catch a Fin Smith kick for England’s second try, which Smith converted for a 14-13 half-time lead.
Centre Ollie Lawrence, making his first England appearance since March, made a fantastic break and though he was brought down just short, captain Ellis Genge was on hand to scoop up the ball and stretch over.
Spirited Fiji struck straight back as Ikanivere scored his second after a clever lineout move and they had another scored ruled out when TV replays showed Kuruvoli had lost possession as he slid over the line.
After 53 minutes Borthwick sent on his Bomb Squad with five replacement forwards entering the fray and it soon paid dividends as new hooker Jamie George got the fourth try.
It was a back replacement, however, who got the next score as, minutes after coming on for his first appearance since the 2023 World Cup, winger Henry Arundell showed his electric pace to chase down a Marcus Smith kick.
Maro Itoje, appearing off the bench for the first time in eight years, then dived over a pile of bodies NFL-style for a rare try.
