Mathieu Bastareaud ensured his redemption in French rugby with a sterling first half performance to set up an 18-9 win for Les Bleus over Scotland at Murrayfield. Bastareaud, who scored two tries in the first 40 minutes, had not played for France since a three-month ban for his controversial part in the tour of New Zealand in summer 2009.

James Haskell scored two tries as England held off a spirited Wales fight-back to win their opening Six Nations clash 30-17 at Twickenham. The result will relieve the pressure on England manager Martin Johnson, whose side were in danger of letting a 20-3 lead slip until Haskell finished off a long-range attack in the 74th minute to put the game beyond Wales.

Six Nations champions Ireland opened their campaign with a comfortable 29-11 victory over Italy in a poor game at Croke Park in Dublin. The Grand Slam champions were never in danger of losing but will need to produce a much-improved performance next week in France if they are to repeat their success of last season.

Esordio amaro al Croke Park di Dublino, gli azzurri partono meglio ma vanno sotto puniti dalle mete di Heaslip e O’Leary. Gower e una meta di Robertson illudono ma i campioni uscenti fanno buona guardia e allungano la striscia d’imbattibilità

Italy beat Samoa for the first time in their history 24-6 to end a 13-match losing streak here on Saturday. Not only did Italy come into this game on a poor run but on Thursday they also lost influential captain Sergio Parisse to a cruciate knee ligament injury. And yet from the get-go they quickly established their superiority over the touring Pacific Islanders and the result never looked in doubt.

Una meta di McLean, una tecnica e un drop di Tebaldi, migliore in campo, per il successo degli azzurri senza Parisse contro Samoa. Mirco Bergamasco e Gower si alternano sui piazzati. Per Mallett 3ª vittoria da c.t in 21 gare.

Watch more videos of this match on videosharing portals:

• Youtube: click here

Scotland completed one of the greatest rearguard victories in recent Test history to beat Australia 9-8 for the first time in 27 years. Despite being penned in their own half for almost the whole 80 minutes, Andy Robinson’s men somehow held on after Matt Giteau missed a stoppage-time conversion for the Wallabies. It completed a miserable evening for the fly-half, who kicked Australia ahead early on but missed more than once in front of goal.

Ireland scored a last gasp try to draw 20-20 with Australia at Croke Park. On a day he earned his 100th international cap the game was bookended by plays involving Brian O’Driscoll as he gave Australia their first try then saved the game for Ireland with a try of his own in the final minute. The Australians got out of the blocks with a bang scoring after two minutes when an uncharacteristic handling error by O’Driscoll gifted Drew Mitchell the ball and he sped in under the posts. Matt Giteau added the conversion to give his side an early 0-7 lead. Ireland recovered well from their early setback and pulled back to within a point after two Ronan O’Gara penalties.

Corey Flynn scored the only try as a second-string New Zealand side ground out a 20-6 win over Italy in front of a capacity 80,000 crowd at the San Siro. The hooker powered over in the corner in the 27th minute of the match at the home of soccer giants Internazionale and Milan, while centre Luke McAlister scored the other points with his boot. Flyhalf Craig Gower kicked two penalties for Italy, who put on a proud showing for the biggest crowd ever to see a rugby match in Italy.

Finisce 20 a 6 per i mitici tuttineri (14-3 nel primo tempo), ma nel finale gli azzurri inseguono a lungo una meta che non arriva. Sabato prossimo a Udine ci sono i campioni del mondo del Sudafrica.

World champions South Africa suffered a second successive loss on their northern hemisphere tour as France triumphed 20-13 in Toulouse. Les Bleus overturned a 13-3 deficit with Julien Dupuy kicking four penalties, his replacement Morgan Parra adding a fifth and Vincent Clerc completing a flowing move with a try. Morne Steyn - one of two players sin-binned for South Africa - kicked a penalty, a drop goal and converted John Smit’s first-half try for the Tri-Nations champions, who lost to Leicester last week.

New Zealand finished their Tri-Nations campaign on a high note with a 33-6 win over Australia at the Westpac Stadium, consigning the Wallabies to the tournament wooden spoon in the process. The scoreline is a flattering one for the All Blacks who did not have things all their own way and had to battle hard right down to the latter stages of the match before touching down twice in the final five minutes.

Long-range strikes from Frans Steyn and an intercept try by Jean de Villiers helped South Africa to get a 32-29 victory over New Zealand and win their first Tri-Nations title since 2004 at Waikato Stadium. South Africa, who had needed only one point to win the title, have 21 points. The All Blacks (nine) meet Australia (seven) in the final match in Wellington next week when the loser will get the wooden spoon.