Nations Championship Round 4 Review: Results & Standings

The Nations Championship’s Northern Hemisphere Series exploded into life over the weekend, delivering a mixture of statement wins and seismic rugby across Europe between the 6th and 8th of November.

Nations Championship Tickets for all six matches were selling right up until kick-off around the continent and stadiums were packed solid for every tie. That made for some rambunctious atmospheres inside and that energy in the stands was harnessed by the combatants on the pitch.

Here’s our recap of what was a gripping opening salvo in the Northern Hemisphere Series.

Ireland start with a bang in Dublin

Friday 6 November – Ireland 42–12 Argentina (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)

Ireland enjoyed a commanding victory over Argentina in the round’s curtain raiser in Dublin. Hugo Keenan was the star performer, scoring a hattrick on his return to the Aviva after a lengthy injury absence.

Dan Sheehan, Sam Prendergast and Ronan Kelleher also got over the line during a dominant Irish display on the banks of the River Dodder. Argentina replied with a brace from Mateo Carreras, though a lack of discipline from the South Americans hindered their progress throughout.

In the aftermath, Ireland’s head coach Andy Farrell said: "First and foremost, delighted to get the win and a good win at that. Six tries to two says a lot.

"How we can be a bit more ruthless [is a lesson to take], because that's the team we want to be."

The win keeps Ireland firmly in the top three, level on points with England (2nd) and two points off leaders France. They host Fiji next at the Aviva and Ireland v Fiji tickets remain available to buy right now with LiveRugbyTickets.

Springboks run riot in Turin

Saturday 7 November – Italy 7–66 South Africa (Allianz Stadium, Turin)

World champions South Africa produced a nine-try annihilation of an injury-stricken Italy in Turin to tighten their stranglehold on top in the Southern Hemisphere Pool.

The hosts were missing a whole clutch of key players and the makeshift Gli Azzurri were second best from the first whistle. South Africa led 45-0 by the interval and kept the pressure up in the second half, with eight different players registering tries for the visitors.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu excelled, notching one of those tries and kicking a perfect 21 points from the tee. There will be stiffer challenges ahead for the Boks, starting with the mouth-watering Friday night clash with France in Paris.

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Scots wilt against the All Blacks

Saturday 7 November – Scotland 21–43 New Zealand (Murrayfield, Edinburgh)

Scotland had high hopes for their Test against New Zealand at an expectant Murrayfield on Saturday, and though the Scots produced a spirited first-half showing, they were ultimately outclassed by the marauding All Blacks.

Ewan Ashman scored a stirring first-half hattrick to keep Scotland in touch at the break (21-24), however, the visitors pulled clear from the restart and scored seven tries in total, including a brace from Beauden Barrett.

That result meant that Scotland failed to end their 121-year hoodoo against All Blacks and also lost ground on rivals France, England and Ireland in the Northern Hemisphere Pool standings.

Next up, Scotland face Australia next at Murrayfield on November 15. We have a wide range of Scotland v Australia tickets in our live inventory, starting at £69 and you can secure yours on our secure platform with just a few clicks.

Nervy Wales edge past plucky Brave Blossoms

Saturday 7 November – Wales 28–21 Japan (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)

An unconvincing Wales edge a tense contest to claim a bonus-point win over Japan in Cardiff on Saturday, though their performance at the Principality raised more questions than answers.

Josh Adams scored twice for Steve Tandy’s Wales, with further tries from Archie Griffin and player of the match Louis Rees-Zammit enough to outgun Japan, who scored three tries of their own under the instruction of head coach Eddie Jones.

Wales had to resist a barrage of late Japan attacks, and though they were dogged enough to prevail, they will have to crank their performance levels up considerably if they are to compete against the All Blacks next weekend.

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France’s big win over Fiji comes at a cost

Saturday 7 November – France 54–17 Fiji (Groupama Stadium, Lyon)

France returned to the summit of the Northern table with an eight-try walloping of Fiji in Lyon. Jean-Baptiste Gros, Sipili Falatea, Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Kalvin Gourgues, Theo Attissogbe, Charles Ollivon and captain Antoine Dupont crossed the whitewash, with a penalty try making it eight scores on a comfortable outing for Les Bleus.

However, the shine was taken off their victory by a bad injury to Romain Ntamack. He seemed to dislocate his shoulder in the melee and is set to miss the rest of the tournament. With Mathieu Jalibert, France will be without their two best fly-half options for next week’s crunch clash with South Africa.

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Record victory for Red Rose

Sunday 8 November – England 45–22 Australia (Allianz Stadium, Twickenham)

With a buoyant Twickenham crowd of 80,000 watching on, England produced a record win over Australia on Sunday, scoring seven tries to claim a valuable bonus-point triumph that pushed them into second spot in the standings.

Henry Pollock starred with a quickfire brace after moving out to the wing following an injury to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, while Jamie George, Ollie Chessum, Joe Heyes, Jack van Poortvliet and Ben Spencer also crossed the line. Australia replied with three tries but were outmuscled and outmanoeuvred throughout.

The win was a much-needed one for coach Steve Borthwick in particular, after news of a possible rift between him and his players emerged earlier in the week.

Borthwick’s side next face Japan at Twickenham. Our live inventory has England v Japan tickets available to purchase right now.

Current Standings After Round 4

Northern Hemisphere

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	France	4	3	0	1	170	92	+78	24	13	4	1	17
2	England	4	3	0	1	170	99	+71	26	14	3	0	15
3	Ireland	4	3	0	1	132	103	+29	19	15	3	0	15
4	Scotland	4	2	0	2	129	140	−11	19	20	3	0	11
5	Wales	4	2	0	2	88	123	−35	13	18	2	0	10
6	Italy	4	0	0	4	44	197	−153	6	28	0	0	0

Southern Hemisphere

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	South Africa	4	4	0	0	196	56	+140	29	8	4	0	20
2	New Zealand	4	4	0	0	164	91	+73	24	12	4	0	20
3	Australia	4	1	0	3	136	130	+6	21	20	3	1	8
4	Argentina	4	1	0	3	109	141	−32	15	21	2	1	7
5	Japan	4	1	0	3	83	116	−33	10	16	0	1	5
6	Fiji	4	0	0	4	66	199	−133	9	30	0	0	0

Nations Championship: Northern Hemisphere Series Round 5 Fixtures

Round 5 kicks off on Friday 13 November with the heavyweight skirmish between France vs South Africa at the Stade de France, followed by a packed Saturday slate which features Italy vs Argentina, Wales vs New Zealand, England vs Japan and Ireland v Fiji, before Scotland host Australia on Sunday.

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