The rugby weekend was not only about the hiding France took from world champions the Springboks. Nor even about Toulon’s demolition of La Rochelle in Top 14… A great many matches were played on Saturday and Sunday. Here is the round-up.

Among the heavyweights, Ireland saw off Japan (41-10) in a match that was ultimately scruffy. Ireland have still not reassured anybody despite the size of the score. The same goes for the All Blacks, who beat those same Irishmen last week in Chicago and could have been caught out in Scotland (17-25).

The New Zealanders eventually won the arm wrestle, helped a great deal by the explosive introduction of Swiss army knife Damian McKenzie and by an effective bench. The performance itself was far from perfect. Another interesting result was England’s against Fiji. England comfortably beat the Flying Fijians (38-18), even if the visitors dropped points off the tee (three misses from fly-half Muntz) and had a try disallowed.

Damian McKenzie was enormous for the All Blacks after coming off the bench. Photo – Icon Sport

Belgium strike a big blow

Fiji, led by an XXL back line (Ravutaumada, Tuisova, Wainiqolo…), will take on Fabien Galthié’s France this Saturday in Bordeaux (21:10). No surprise either as Argentina confirmed their upward curve by crushing a weak Wales side (28-52), undone by their own indiscipline and struggling against the footwork and pace of Bayonne’s Mateo Carreras.

A surprise this time: Italy produced a fine performance to get the better of a disappointing Australia (26-19). Back at a good level during the last Rugby Championship, the Wallabies have now lost two in a row, a week after being beaten in England (25-17).

In the first qualifying tournament for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, Belgium caused a sensation by claiming a historic win over Namibia (22-15). The Black Devils have taken an option on the last qualifying ticket. But they still have two matches to play: against Brazil and Samoa. Not straightforward.

Samoa, precisely. Disappointing, weakened and caught up in trouble between the federation and their players, Samoa nevertheless got moving again by walking all over Brazil (48-10). In a spectacular match, Georgia escaped the trap set by the United States (43-30), while Portugal were no match for Uruguay (8-26).

The last result: an important win for Romania against Canada (31-21).