Archive November 8, 2025

“The win was there. We know the win was there.”

Head coach Gregor Townsend was full of pride in Scotland’s showing against New Zealand but left deflated by a 25-17 defeat at Murrayfield.

The hosts trailed 17-0 at the interval, only to storm back and draw level on the hour.

However, the All Blacks, who had three players sent to the sin bin, struck late through Damian McKenzie to deny Scotland the chance of a first victory in this fixture.

“I’m really disappointed first of all, because the effort that went in that second half performance was all character,” Townsend told BBC Scotland.

“We needed to kick on when it got to 17-17 and there were a couple of big moments that swung New Zealand’s way.

“Outstanding second half, we showed who are today and we probably showed who we are not getting the win as well.

“There’s growth in this team and we have to win those big moments when the game is there for us.

Tries from Ewan Ashman and Kyle Steyn hauled Scotland back into an absorbing contest.

Darcy Graham and Rory Hutchinson had been held up over the line in the first half when Cameron Roigard and Will Jordan scored for the visitors.

“Teams get tired when you knock on the door,” said Townsend, who has now lost three home Tests against the All Blacks as head coach – all by single digit margins.

“I’d love to be playing New Zealand again next week. We play Argentina and we need to put in what we have learned.

“This is the first time this team has played together since the Six Nations. To get that cohesion straight away is difficult and to see it grow during the game is encouraging.

“But it’s so frustrating with that effort that we didn’t get a win.

“It’s the closest we’ve come to winning, I believe. We dominated the second half, territory, pressure, skill. We’ve not done that against New Zealand in our history and we are better for the experience.

“Our journey doesn’t stop today. We have a very big game next week and bigger games to come in the Six Nations.”

Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu described the loss as “bittersweet” and stressed the importance of a win against Argentina, having opened the autumn series with a record score against the United States.

“I told the boys we needed a reaction at half time,” he said. “Either we lie down or choose to go for it.

“We had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

On Friday, Caelan Doris explained that Ireland consider a comprehensive win over Japan in 2021 as the game that set them on an “upward trajectory”.

Looking back, it’s not hard to see why. That 60-5 win four years ago was immediately followed by a 29-20 victory over the All Blacks, a performance that remains one of Ireland’s best under Andy Farrell.

That autumn campaign teed Ireland up for their best period under Farrell: a Test series win in New Zealand and a Six Nations Grand Slam before the bubble burst at the World Cup.

Four years ago, there was irrefutable evidence that Ireland were trending in the right direction.

At the midpoint of this World Cup cycle, however, the picture wasn’t quite as clear as Japan returned to Dublin.

After last week’s deflating loss to New Zealand, phrases such as “reset” and “brutally honest” began to make their way out of the Irish camp.

With that, they needed a free-flowing performance against Eddie Jones’ side in their first home game since a miserable Six Nations defeat by France to launch the latest stage of their journey under Farrell.

But this was not it.

While Ireland’s superiority ultimately told in a 41-10 win, a laboured and patchy display in the first half was clearly not what Farrell was after.

Five minutes in, Ireland had already knocked on the ball in an aerial contest, lost possession from their opening line-out and opted to go for the posts instead of kicking to the corner after a scrum penalty.

It did not get much better in a first half during which the Aviva Stadium crowd seemed more entranced by Japan, who attacked with speed and invention but struggled to execute final passes.

For Ireland, Jack Crowley’s opening try came while Japan were down to 14 men, while Nick Timoney’s opportunistic drive to the line failed to open the floodgates.

Watching on from his “soundproof box”, Farrell could tell how “flattish” the mood was among his players early on.

“We were feeling sorry for ourselves a little bit and the mood wasn’t how it should be,” he said later, “but how we got over ourselves and got some tempo back into the game in the second half is credit to the lads.

Farrell reacted to a disappointing performance last week by making eight changes for Saturday’s game, handing a debut to Tom Farrell while recalling Jacob Stockdale and Timoney.

The Ulster pair experienced contrasting fortunes. While Timoney scored a fine try, Stockdale had one disallowed not long after returning from the sin-bin having been yellow-carded for a head-high tackle.

There were also bright performances from Tommy O’Brien and Ryan Baird, while Sam Prendergast and Gus McCarthy were among those to make a strong impact off the bench.

But not for the first time, Ireland lacked cohesion after changes in personnel, which was put to Farrell post-match.

“I know, and what do you do? You 100% have to roll the dice a little bit to give people opportunities and find their feet and compete,” he said.

“It’s very easy to pick your best 23 or whatever, but that wouldn’t serve us any good down the line.

There were positives for Farrell, of course. Made to work more than expected without the ball, he said the Irish defence – which was picked apart by the All Blacks last week – was the most pleasing aspect for him in the first half.

Thanks to a strong showing from the replacements, the second half produced more fluency, while another plus came from the Ireland boss’ namesake as Tom Farrell produced a solid display on his long-awaited debut.

Farrell, 32, made his bow at outside centre on the back of strong form with Munster, six and a half years after he was first selected in the Ireland squad for the 2019 Six Nations.

“We’ve just done the presentation behind closed doors there with the players and he spoke about his journey and it’s a fantastic journey, isn’t it?,” said Andy Farrell.

“Six years ago, when he came in, he was a shadow of himself that he is today.

“The progression that we’ve seen, and this time around coming in and hitting the ground running and backing himself and showing everyone that he belongs, has been evident for everyone to see. And he’s certainly used his time differently because of the experience that he’s gained as a player over those six years.”

In contrast to the All Blacks game, Ireland finished strongly and ensured full-time smiles.

While Farrell was clearly less than enamoured with much of what he saw, he at least has a strong second half to build on as attention turns to Australia and South Africa.

The Football Association of Ireland has overwhelmingly approved a motion to call on Uefa to ban Israel from European club and international competitions.

The proposal – tabled by Dublin-based League of Ireland club Bohemians – called for Israel’s suspension for “violating two independent provisions of the Uefa statutes”.

The proposal was backed by 74 delegates at an emergency general meeting on Saturday, with seven votes against and two abstentions.

The motion tabled by Bohemians was co-signed by Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, Cork City, the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland and a number of supporters’ groups and student leagues.

In a statement, Bohemians said they were “proud” to have advanced the motion and expressed gratitude to those delegates who had voted in favour.

The “violations” cited were the “organisation of clubs in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank without the consent of the Palestinian Football Association” and a “failure to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy”.

In September, there were reports Uefa may hold a vote on whether to suspend Israel.

However such a move never materialised and any prospect of that happening receded after the announcement of the Israel-Hamas peace plan for Gaza in October.

Israel’s national team are playing in European qualifiers for next summer’s men’s Fifa World Cup, while Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv are competing in the Europa League.

In September, the Turkish Football Federation demanded Israel be banned from football, and a group of 48 athletes signed a joined letter calling for the country’s suspension.

Quilter Nations Series

England (14) 38

Tries Cowan-Dickie, Feyi-Waboso, Genge, George, Arundell, Itoje Cons: F Smith 4

Fiji (13) 18

England scored four second-half tries to see off a tough Fiji side in their second autumn international at Allianz Stadium.

The victory extends Steve Borthwick’s side’s winning run to nine games and backs up their win over Australia last Saturday.

England opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Fly-half Muntz missed both conversions but nailed a penalty to take the visitors further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Ellis Genge and Ikanivere then traded scores to spark an entertaining second half.

Once again England’s bench delivered in the second half after five forwards were rolled on with the score at 21-18.

Replacements Jamie George and Henry Arundell, who showed his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the hosts clear.

Those scores came either side of Fiji scrum-half Simi Kuruvoli spilling the ball when attempting to score.

England captain Maro Itoje, who also came off the bench, grabbed the final try.

Prior to this meeting, England had won eight of their nine games with Fiji – most recently winning 30-24 in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came at Twickenham two months prior to the tournament in France and was a major turning point under Borthwick.

With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their equal best streak since 1999 – the fixture was always likely to be competitive.

Following slick phase play, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie forced his way over for the opening score from close range, with Ikanivere’s try off the back of a maul adding a quick response.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was evident in defence through monstrous first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the standout moment in the opening half as offloads cut England’s defence open for Muntz to score.

England pulled away from Australia last Saturday in the final quarter through the power of their bench that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the win over the Wallabies did grab the next score as Genge crossed following a powerful run by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles tendon against Italy in March.

However, after a smart line-out move was finished by Ikanivere, Borthwick unloaded five of his bench on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli lost control of the ball when stretching for the tryline to cancel out replacement George’s try.

Flanker Ben Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain breathing room between the sides.

It capped another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who picked up back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell’s pace to race on to a Marcus Smith kick down the left flank showcased exactly why England’s bench is so impactful. The Bath speedster celebrated in style after racing past Bristol centre Kalaveti Ravouvou to touch down.

It is full of stars and quality, which has helped secure victories in the final quarter that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, Borthwick’s side will fancy their chances of making a big statement next week.

England head coach Steve Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The players deserve enormous credit for the resilience they show in these games. Having the composure, fitness and the strength off the bench in the final quarter is really important.

“I think the team has developed and grown today. They understand each other a bit more and that is part of the evolution of the team. What we need to do is keep learning.

“Fiji are a talented team that play some incredible rugby. The players were excited about today and you can see the impact Fiji had on us with the talent and physical challenge they bring.

Fiji head coach Mick Byrne, speaking to BBC Sport about the try his side had disallowed when they trailed 26-18 during the second half:

“I think we did good work in the lead-up and it didn’t look like he lost control. It would have been a nice try to score.

“I am not sure if we would have won the game, but it would have kept the momentum going our way. But that is just the way it has gone.

“Full credit to England and Steve [Borthwick] for what they have done in the last 20 minutes.

“We are making the progress that we need to be making, moving forward to the 2027 World Cup.

England: M Smith; Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Coles, Chessum, Pepper, Earl, Cunningham-South

Replacements: George, Baxter, Opoku-Fordjour, Itoje, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, Arundell

Fiji: Rayasi; Ravutaumada, Ravouvou, Tuisova, Wainiqolo; Muntz, Kuruvoli; Mawi, Ikanivere, Doge, Nasilasila, Mayanavanua, Sowakula, Canakaivata, Mata

Replacements: Togiatama, Hetet, Tawake, Vocevoce, Murray, Wye, Armstrong-Ravula, Maqala

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)