Some great attacking rugby was played this weekend, though no doubt some defensive coaches will be losing some sleep. Read on for brief reviews of the five remaining test matches.

ITALY 20 vs 50 AUSTRALIA
Saturday, November 9, 14:00 GMT, Turin

Italy threw everything they had at the Wallabies and were rewarded with three tries, scoring both first and last, but their defense was poor, allowing Australia far too much time on the ball and failing to scramble effectively on line breaks. The Italian forwards probably had the measure of their opponents by the end, but as usual the backs were totally outclassed. One shining light to emerge for the Azzurri was Tommaso Allan, who scored a try on debut and looked far more likely than Alberto Di Bernardo, though his goal kicking could use some extra work.

The Wallabies looked flat in the opening stages, conceding 10 unanswered points until captain Ben Mowen drove through a Sergio Parisse tackle to score. Matt To’omua had an excellent match and seems to be playing better at centre than at flyhalf, and Nick Cummins was in rampant form on the wing. Ewen McKenzie will be pleased to get some confidence back heading into next week’s Irish challenge at the Aviva.

SCORING
05 mins – A. Di Bernardo pen 3-0
12 mins – L. McLean try 8-0
13 mins – A. Di Bernardo con 10-0
16 mins – B. Mowen try 10-5
17 mins – Q. Cooper con 10-7
21 mins – T. Kuridrani try 10-12
22 mins – Q. Cooper con 10-14
31 mins – N. Cummins try 10-19
50 mins – N. Cummins try 10-24
51 mins – Q. Cooper con 10-26
58 mins – A. Ashley-Cooper try 10-31
59 mins – Q. Cooper con 10-33
62 mins – L. Cittadini try 15-33
66 mins – C. Leali’ifano pen 15-36
66 mins – J. Tomane try 15-41
67 mins – C. Leali’ifano con 15-43
69 mins – I. Folau try 15-48
70 mins – C. Leali’ifano con 15-50
78 mins – T. Allan try 20-50

ITALY
L. McLean; T. Benvenuti (T. Iannone 59), L. Morisi, A. Sgarbi, L. Sarto; A. Di Bernardo (T. Allan 59), E. Gori (T. Botes 70); M. Rizzo (M. Aguero 50), D. Giazzon (L. Ghiraldini 50), M. Castrogiovanni (L. Cittadini 59); A. Pavanello (Q. Geldenhuys 50), M. Bortolami (J. Furno 64); A. Zanni, R. Barbieri, S. Parisse (capt.).

AUSTRALIA
I. Folau; A. Ashley-Cooper (J. Tomane 66), T. Kuridrani, M. To’omua, N. Cummins; Q. Cooper (C. Leali’ifano 59), W. Genia (N. White 70); J. Slipper (B. Robinson 59), S. Moore (S. Fainga’a 68), B. Alexander (S. Kepu 53); S. Timani (D. Dennis 57), J. Horwill; R. Simmons, M. Hooper (L. Gill 64), B. Mowen (capt.).

Referee: G. Jackson (NZRU)
Assistants: R. Poite (FFR) & J. Lacey (IRFU)
TMO: G. Hughes (RFU)

ENGLAND 31 vs 12 ARGENTINA
Saturday, November 9, 14:30 GMT, London

There was little magic and no drama as England strolled to victory over a disinterested Puma side in a frankly boring encounter at Twickenham. The Argentine defense was ragged at best, and on attack they in truth never looked like scoring a try. The Pumas have a real problem with consistency at the moment, and Daniel Hourcade has a task ahead of him to salvage the rest of this tour after such a listless performance.

Despite winning comfortably England were well short of their best, defending well but stuttering through large parts of the game with only minimal effort required. More than 76,000 fans in attendance might well have brought a pillow for the snooze fest of a second half, with even the television commentators forced into hyperbolic insistence that Argentina were making a contest of it. All parties concerned might be best to pretend this game never happened.

SCORING
06 mins – O. Farrell pen 3-0
08 mins – N. Sanchez pen 3-3
13 mins – J. Launchbury try 8-3
14 mins – O. Farrell con 10-3
18 mins – M. Bosch pen 10-6
21 mins – B. Twelvetrees try 15-6
22 mins – O. Farrell con 17-6
33 mins – C. Ashton try 22-6
34 mins – O. Farrell 24-6
46 mins – N. Sanchez pen 24-9
55 mins – N. Sanchez pen 24-12
77 mins – B. Morgan try 29-12
78 mins – O. Farrell con 31-12

ENGLAND
M. Brown (A. Goode 75); C. Ashton, J. Tomkins, B. Twelvetrees (T. Flood 61), B. Foden; O. Farrell, L. Dickson (D. Care 51); J. Marler (A. Corbisiero HT), D. Hartley (T. Youngs 63), D. Wilson (D. Cole 63); J. Launchbury, C. Lawes (G. Parling 56); T. Wood, C. Robshaw (capt.), B. Vunipola (B. Vunipola 56).

ARGENTINA
L. Gonzalez Amorosino; H. Agulla, M. Bosch, S. Fernandez, J. Imhoff (S. Cordero 31); N. Sanchez (G. Tiesi 64 {B. Macome 67}), T. Cubelli (M. Landajo 61); M. Ayerza (N. Lobo 77), E. Guinazu (S. Iglesias 77), M. Bustos (J.P. Orlandi 67); M. Galarza (M. Carizza 54), P. Albacete; J. Farias Cabello, P. Matera, J.M. Leguizamon (capt.).

Referee: P. Gauzere (FFR)
Assistants: C. Pollock (NZRU) & C. Joubert (SARU)
TMO: G. Simmonds (WRU)

SCOTLAND 42 vs 17 JAPAN
Saturday, November 9, 14:30 GMT, Edinburgh

As expected, Japan pushed Scotland for the first hour of the match before fatigue set in and the home side skipped away in the dying minutes. The Scots were more ambitious in attack than they have been, moving the ball quickly, supporting well, and scoring six tries, their most since thumping Canada in Aberdeen five years ago. Japan had their moments as well, with lightning left winger Kenki Fukuoka scoring two cracking tries and made his opposite Tommy Seymour look very pedestrian on more than one occasion.

Seymour made up for his defensive problems with two tries of his own, and fellow fringe player Tim Swinson had a man-of-the-match performance in the second row, including a couple thumping tackles. Ruaridh Jackson had one of his best performances in test rugby, and Dave Denton was busy hitting the ball up time and again. The scrum was creaky, however, and with Euan Murray unavailable to face the bloody-minded Springboks that is a real cause for concern in the Scottish camp.

SCORING
06 mins – G. Laidlaw pen 3-0
21 mins – G. Laidlaw pen 6-0
31 mins – T. Seymour try 11-0
36 mins – A. Goromaru pen 11-3
42 mins – K. Fukuoka try 11-8
43 mins – A. Goromaru con 11-10
47 mins – G. Laidlaw try 16-10
48 mins – G. Laidlaw con18-10
52 mins – K. Fukuoka try 18-15
53 mins – A. Goromaru con 18-17
55 mins – T. Seymour try 23-17
64 mins – A. Dickinson try 28-17
65 mins – G. Laidlaw con 30-17
69 mins – D. Weir try 35-17
78 mins – S. Lamont try 40-17
78 mins – D. Weir con 42-17

CARDS
60 mins – K. Holani yellow (professional foul)
77 mins – A. Goromaru yellow (professional foul)

SCOTLAND
S. Maitland; T. Seymour, N. De Luca (D. Taylor 77), M. Scott, S. Lamont; R. Jackson (D. Weir 65), G. Laidlaw (H. Pyrgos 74); R. Grant (A. Dickinson 29), R. Ford (P. MacArthur 70), E. Murray (G. Cross 74); T. Swinson, A. Kellock (R. Gray 57); A. Strokosch (J. Barclay 70), K. Brown (capt.), D. Denton.

JAPAN
A. Goromaru; T. Hirose (capt.), M. Sa’u, C. Wing, K. Fukuoka (Y. Fujita 77); K. Ono (Y. Tamura 72), F. Tanaka (A. Hiwasa 61); M. Mikami (Y. Nagae 77), S. Horie (Y. Aoki 72), K. Hatakeyama (H. Yamashita 33-74); L. Thompson (H. Ono 65), S. Makabe; H. Tui, M. Broadhurst, K. Holani (T. Kikutani 70).

Referee: J.P. Doyle (RFU)
Assistants: L. Hodges (WRU) & G. Garner (RFU)
TMO: M. Kilgore (IRFU)

IRELAND 40 vs 9 SAMOA
Saturday, November 9, 17:45 GMT, Dublin

Perhaps the emotion of the occasion got to them – and not in a good way – as Samoa were completely overwhelmed by an average looking Irish side at the Aviva. The Manu were flat from the get-go as they were annihilated in the scrum with Jack McGrath made to look like a world beater on debut. The decision to play Logovi’i Mulipola – primarily a loosehead – at tighthead looked an obvious mistake and proved even worse as it was apparent he was carrying an injury into the match and had to come off after only eight minutes.

The Irish were far from spectacular but took their chances and Joe Schmidt came away with a good result in his first match in charge. Pleasing performances came from Paddy Jackson and new caps McGrath and Dave Kearney, who also enjoyed a memorable debut as he bagged two tries in 20 minutes of work. Ireland face a tougher test next week in the form of Australia, while Samoa will hope to restore some credit against the French Barbarians at Marcel Michelin.

SCORING
03 mins – P. Jackson pen 3-0
07 mins – T. Pisi pen 3-3
20 mins – P. Jackson pen 6-3
25 mins – P. O’Mahony try 11-3
30 mins – T. Pisi pen 11-6
40 mins – P. Jackson pen 14-6
46 mins – S. O’Brien try 19-6
47 mins – P. Jackson con 21-6
64 mins – K. Fotuali’i pen 21-9
65 mins – D. Kearney try 26-9
66 mins – P. Jackson con 28-9
71 mins – F. McFadden try 33-9
72 mins – P. Jackson con 35-9
78 mins – D. Kearney try 40-9

CARDS
40 mins – G. Pisi yellow (dangerous tackle)

IRELAND
R. Kearney; T. Bowe (D. Kearney 60), B. O’Driscoll (I. Madigan 70), G. D’Arcy, F. McFadden; P. Jackson, C. Murray (E. Reddan 60); J. McGrath (C. Healy 60), R. Best (S. Cronin 70), M. Ross (D. Fitzpatrick 60); M. McCarthy (P. O’Connell 60), D. Toner; P. O’Mahony (P. O’Connell 53-60), C. Henry (S. O’Brien 35), J. Heaslip (capt.).

SAMOA
F. Autagavaia; A. Leiua, G. Pisi (I. Tu’ifua 67), J. Leota, B. Va’aulu (F. Otto 56); T. Pisi (J. Su’a 56), K. Fotuali’i (capt.); S. Taulafo (V. Afatia 74), O. Avei (T. Paulo 50), L. Mulipola (J. Johnston 8); F. Lemalu (J. Tekori 50), F. Paulo; O. Treviranus, J. Lam, T. Tuifu’a (F. Levave 67).

Referee: S. Walsh (ARU)
Assistants: W. Barnes (RFU) & L. Pearce (RFU)
TMO: C. Damasco (FIR)

FRANCE 19 vs 26 NEW ZEALAND
Saturday, November 9, 20:00 GMT, Paris

Two French fingers were stuck firmly up in the air at the critics as Les Bleus pushed the All Blacks right to the final whistle, coming within a whisker of earning a draw against the heavy favourites. Once again France defied the form charts with Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard, and the indefatigable Thierry Dusautoir leading the way. Were it not for two magnificent pieces of skill from Charles Piutau the upset may well have been on the cards.

After a first half kicking stalemate, Ben Smith broke the French defense with a lovely kick in behind for Piutau to run onto. The winger showed his footballing skills as he prodded the ball further infield and then won the foot race for the score. Even more impressive was Piutau’s offload twenty minutes later, attracting two defenders and flipping out a one-handed no-look pass to a Kieran Read for a magical score.

The French responded with a try via Brice Dulin, but their last gasp assault on the All Black line was ultimately thwarted by a soft penalty to Damien Chouly for using his hand to win the ball at the scrum. Les Bleus will have to keep their interest up as they face potential spoilers Tonga on Le Havre on Friday before a clash against South Africa in Paris two weeks from now. The All Blacks head to London to avenge their loss at Twickenham a year ago.

SCORING
09 mins – M. Parra pen 3-0
13 mins – D. Carter pen 3-3
19 mins – D. Carter pen 3-6
25 mins – M. Parra pen 6-6
27 mins – D. Carter pen 6-9
31 mins – M. Parra pen 9-9
42 mins – M. Parra pen 12-9
45 mins – D. Carter pen 12-12
46 mins – C. Piutau try 12-17
47 mins – D. Carter con 12-19
65 mins – K. Read try 12-24
66 mins – A. Cruden con 12-26
69 mins – B. Dulin try 17-26
70 mins – M. Parra con 19-26

FRANCE
B. Dulin; Y. Huget, F. Fritz (G. Fickou 67), W. Fofana, M. Medard; R. Tales, M. Parra (J.M. Doussain 77); Y. Forestier (V. Debaty 61), B. Kayser (D. Szarzewski 52), N. Mas (R. Slimani 57); P. Pape, Y. Maestri (S. Vaha’amahina 57); T. Dusautoir (capt.), W. Lauret (A. Claassen 74), D. Chouly.

NEW ZEALAND
I. Dagg; C. Jane (R. Crotty 71), B. Smith, M. Nonu, C. Piutau; D. Carter (A. Cruden 52), A. Smith (T. Kerr-Barlow 73); T. Woodcock (W. Crockett 71), K. Mealamu (D. Coles 61), O. Franks (C. Faumuina 54); B. Retallick, S. Whitelock; L. Messam, R. McCaw (capt.), K. Read.

Referee: J. Peyper (SARU)
Assistants: N. Owens (WRU) & S. Berry (SARU)
TMO: J. Yuille (SRU)