rugby
Seymour hat trick seals comfortable Scotland win over Fiji
LONDON, Nov 10, (RTRS): New Zealand recovered from 15-0 down after 25 minutes to beat England 16-15 in a thunderous Test at Twickenham on Saturday, making it 15 wins in 16 matches between the two as their first clash for four years fully lived up to its billing.
In difficult, rainy conditions England raced into a big lead after a fantastic opening, kicking at every opportunity and forcing the All Blacks into errors and scoring tries through Chris Ashton after two minutes and Dylan Hartley after an unstoppable rolling maul.
The world champions hit back just before halftime with a try by impressive fullback Damian McKenzie and a Beauden Barrett penalty while his first Test drop goal and another penalty hauled them into a 16-15 lead after an hour.
After a long arm wrestle England thought they had won it with a Sam Underhill try five minutes from time only for the TMO to rule that Courtney Lawes had been offside before charging down the clearance kick that sent him through.
Scotland 54, Fiji 17
In Edinburgh, wing Tommy Seymour scored a hat trick of tries but it was Scotland’s forward dominance that laid the platform for a comfortable 54-17 victory over ill-disciplined Fiji in their November international at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The Pacific islanders, at one stage reduced to 13 players, looked dangerous with ball in hand but Scotland starved them of possession and used their superior pack to wear down their opponents before unleashing their back line in the second period.
Prop Allan Dell, hooker Fraser Brown, wing Sean Maitland, flanker Jamie Ritchie and replacement flyhalf Adam Hastings also scored tries for the Scots, while captain Greig Laidlaw kicked five conversions as they avenged a 27-22 loss in Suva last year.
Fiji led until the final few minutes of the first half as they capitalized on some poor Scotland tackling to score tries through Edinburgh number eight Viliame Mata and impressive center Semi Radradra, but they could not sustain their intensity.
Dell and Brown bulldozed their way over the Fijian try line from close range inside the opening 20 minutes, before the visitors stunned their hosts when Mata powered in under the posts and Radradra finished off a sweeping move that showcased their skill and daring with the ball in hand.
But Scotland started to use their pack to keep the ball away from their opponents and that pressure told as locks Tevita Cavubati and Leone Nakarawa were both sin-binned for infringements close to their try line in the closing stages of the first half.
The home side used that advantage and when Fiji ran out of defenders out wide, Seymour crossed unopposed to give his side a 21-17 halftime lead.
Maitland added his name to the scorers list just after the break, before Scotland began to stretch a tiring Fijian side as Seymour clinched two more scores for his first international hat trick and first points in nine tests.
Italy 28, Georgia 17 In Florence, Italy, Italy boosted their case for continued inclusion in the Six Nations on Saturday with a 28-17 win over Georgia, the team often cited as having better credentials.
Italy scored four tries, including one by Tommaso Allan who also kicked two penalties and a conversion, in the first meeting of the sides since 2003.
The game was seen as an unofficial test of Italy’s right to stay in the Six Nations, where they have not won a match since 2015 and have finished bottom for the last three seasons.
Georgia have won the Europe International Championships – effectively a second-tier event – for eight of the last 10 seasons but there is no promotion and relegation between the two competitions.
After Allan converted an early penalty, a stunning solo try from Georgia’s Tamaz Mchedlidze and a Soso Matiashvili conversion gave the visitors an early 7-3 lead.