LONDON, 21 November 2004 — Charlie Hodgson produced a virtuoso display as world champions England beat Tri-Nations kings South Africa 32-16 at Twickenham here yesterday to record their sixth successive victory over their opponents.

The Sale fly-half more than made up for the absence through injury of World Cup-winning No. 10 Jonny Wilkinson by notching 27 points, including a full set of scores. It was an impressive display in England’s first major match under new coach Andy Robinson following last week’s 70-0 rout of minnows Canada.

But for South Africa it was a second straight defeat after their 17-12 Grand Slam-ending reverse against Ireland last week and their sixth in a row against England. Their points came through three Percy Montgomery penalties and a late converted try by replacement wing Bryan Habana.

At half-time England had a healthy 13 point lead, up 20-6, after their first two visits to the Springbok 22 both resulted in converted tries.

But it was through Hodgson’s boot that they took the lead in the opening minute when the Sale stand-off landed a 27 meter penalty from in front of the posts after South Africa were caught offside.

It was the Springboks who made the early running but centre De Wet Barry and fly-half Jaco van der Westhuyzen both spoilt promising moves by knocking on a ball made wet by persistent rain.

However, the Boks leveled in the 11th minute when Montgomery was successful with a long-rang penalty from the left touchline. England had struggled to make inroads into South African territory but their first attempt yielded seven points in the 16th minute.

Pumas End France’s

Winning Streak

In Marseille, Argentina upset European champions France 24-14 yesterday to end the home side’s eight-match winning streak since last year’s World Cup.

Playing with the strong wind at their backs, the Pumas led 19-5 at halftime with fly-half Felipe Contepomi contributing four penalties and converting a try by flanker Martin Durand.

The French also scored a try by center Tony Marsh but their goalkickers Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Frederic Michalak could not match Contepomi and prop Omar Hasan sealed the Pumas’ win in the dying minutes of the game.

Argentina are now the only team in the world to have beaten France four times in a row. Their win also ended the love affair between the French XV and the Stade Velodrome where France have beaten New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England in the past four years.

Australia Clinch Series

Against Scotland

In Glasgow, Australia clinched their two-Test series against Scotland yesterday with a 31-17 win at Hampden Park, the home of Scottish soccer.

As they had done two weeks ago in their 31-14 win at Murrayfield, the Wallabies showed themselves adept at taking chances, confident in the handling game and strong in defense.

Crucially they used their massive wingers to great effect and were not thrown out of their rhythm by the loss through injury of playmaker Stephen Larkham and powerful center Stirling Mortlock, who broke a cheekbone.

Left wing Lote Tuqiri scored the first of Australia’s four tries with Chris Latham laying on the scoring pass to take a 20-6 lead.

Irish Second String Too

Powerful for Americans

In Dublin, a sloppy performance by Ireland’s second string yesterday was still too much for a US side which failed to threaten an upset in their one-off Test at Lansdowne Road as the hosts ran out 55-6 winners.

One gallant player who appeared on the winning side was Ireland all-time leading points-scorer David Humphreys, who managed 20 points from seven conversions and two penalties in a kick-perfect game — in the process becoming the first Irishman to exceed 500 Test points.