Nations Championship (round 5) – Wales topple the All Blacks, five tries for Joseph

Scotland’s 15-12 win over Australia at Murrayfield on Sunday completed the round, with one more weekend before the finals.

France hold off the Springboks

At the Stade de France on Friday, France led 21-7 after 32 minutes through tries from Aaron Grandidier, Théo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, all converted by Maxime Lucu. They did not score again, but held off the South African fightback despite three yellow cards (Lucu, Grandidier, Régis Montagne). Down to 14 after Jasper Wiese’s red card (43rd), the Springboks came back to 21-19 through Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx (71st). France made 174 tackles with 44% of possession, and South Africa gained 570 metres to 303.

Wales, 73 years on

In Cardiff on Saturday, Wales beat the All Blacks 35-28 with five tries, a record against them, then went 28 minutes without conceding a point. Wales made 323 tackles, a record for them. New Zealand took both a try bonus and a losing bonus point and go top of the southern conference.

Five tries for Will Joseph

On his return to international rugby after four years away, the Gloucester wing scored five tries against Japan, four of them before the 25th minute. He equals the England record held by Douglas Lambert (1907), Rory Underwood (1989), Josh Lewsey (2003) and Henry Arundell (2023). His 224 metres from ten carries, with six clean breaks, are the most by an England player in the 157 England matches with detailed statistics in our database.

Japan lock Harry Hockings was shown a red card in the opening minutes for a shoulder to Ellis Genge’s head. England led 32-3 after 19 minutes and finished with 13 tries, their most against Japan (ten in 1987). Their 78 points are also a record between the two sides.

Ireland wake up after the break

In Dublin, Fiji troubled Ireland in the first half with tries from Josua Tuisova and captain Peceli Yato, who went off with a knee injury just after scoring. Robert Baloucoune’s double and a Ben Volavola penalty left it at 17-15 at half-time. Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Tommy O’Brien, with his second try, and Nick Timoney then scored 26 unanswered points: 43-15. Fiji have still never beaten Ireland in ten meetings.

Argentina finish with 13 in Genoa

Italy opened the scoring through Monty Ioane (4th) before giving way to tries from Bautista Bernasconi (38th), Rodrigo Isgró (54th) and Mateo Carreras (59th). With Joel Sclavi and Efraín Elías in the sin bin, the Pumas finished with 13 men and conceded a penalty try (64th), but Italy did not score again: 19-14. Italy made 175 tackles to Argentina’s 89, and the Pumas had 59% of possession.

Scotland hold off Australia

At Murrayfield on Sunday, Scotland beat Australia 15-12. Matt Fagerson (8th) and Jack Dempsey (27th), converted by Finn Russell, scored for Scotland, Harry Potter (11th) for the Wallabies: 12-5 at half-time. Billy Pollard was sin-binned just after the restart, and the only second-half score before the end was a Russell penalty (74th), until Max Jorgensen’s last-minute try, converted by Ben Donaldson, earned Australia a losing bonus point. Australia made five clean breaks to two, and Scotland made 175 tackles to Australia’s 194. Scotland move above Wales on points difference, while Australia stay fourth in the South.

Jordan, Joseph, Keenan and Pollock lead the way

Will Jordan is still the competition’s top try scorer with six, ahead of Will Joseph, Hugo Keenan and Henry Pollock (five). Maxime Lucu remains the leading points scorer with 53, ahead of Fin Smith (40), Tomás Albornoz (36) and Sam Prendergast (35). With 39 tries, England have the best attack, ahead of South Africa (32) and New Zealand (29).

Round 5 results

Standings after round 5

Northern conference

Southern conference

The final round next Saturday features France v Argentina at the Stade de France, Ireland v South Africa in Dublin and England v New Zealand at Twickenham. The finals, between teams finishing in the same position in each conference, will be played from 27 to 29 November.