Here are some of the stories making the headlines on Sunday, November 13, after autumn internationals drama.
Pivac waits on injuries as he sets sights on Georgia
Wales boss Wayne Pivac has hinted he will put out the bulk of his first-choice team against Georgia next weekend as Wales look to make it back-to-back autumn wins.
Wales historically name a second string XV for their November clashes with lower ranked nations, but Pivac appears to be in no mood to do that on this occasion.
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He has set his sights on a hat-trick of wins this autumn, with Georgia next weekend, then Australia, to follow on from Saturday's victory over Argentina.
Pivac will first need to assess his walking wounded, with lock Will Rowlands (shoulder) and Dan Lydiate (arm) injured against the Pumas.
He said Rowlands will have a scan tomorrow to assess the extent of his problem and Wales are also waiting to see how bad Lydiate's arm problem is.
But asked about the make-up of his side for Georgia, Pivac stated: "The spine of the team will still be there. We’re not going to make wholesale changes.
"We’ve got a game against Australia the following week and some players have to go back to clubs, while there are a few injuries.
"So we want to put out a side that might go again against Australia. We will see how we scrub up on Monday."
If Rowlands is ruled out, Alun Wyn Jones could come back into the line-up. In Lydiate's possible absence, his Ospreys team-mate Jac Morgan is set to be chosen to start at six after shining when coming on as a replacement versus the Pumas.
Faletau: 'We bounced back'
Taulupe Faletau helped Wales see off Argentina in Cardiff - then reckoned the players had responded to having their physicality called into question after the emphatic beating at the hands of New Zealand.
Wayne Pivac’s team won the arm wrestle against the Pumas with Faletau himself outstanding and taking the man-of-the-match honours on his 32nd birthday.
But it had been a different story a week earlier when the All Blacks bossed the collisions and physically dominated Wales en route to a 55-23 win.
Wayne Pivac said in the post-match press conference on Saturday that rugby players the world over didn’t like having their physicality questioned, and that had happened to Wales following their eight-try loss to the Kiwis.
Faletau agreed, saying: “Rugby is a physical game and if you’re not physical you’ll get found out. That was the case against New Zealand.”
He was asked if it had been a conversation among the players in the week leading up to the Argentina match. “Yes, it was,” he said. “We said it wasn’t good enough last week and needed to be better.”
According to the No. 8, the challenge will be another muscular one when Georgia hit town this coming weekend: “It’ll be similar to Argentina. They’ll be big, physical men and we’ll need to front up again.”
Dupont and Du Toit red carded in France v 'Boks epic
World class stars Antoine Dupont and Pieter-Steph du Toit were each red carded as France edged past South Africa 30-26 in a Marseille stunner last night.
It was the game of the autumn campaign to date and saw France take their winning streak to an incredible 12 matches.
The mammoth showdown between the Six Nations champions and the world champions had drama throughout and gripped TV viewers who had tuned in on Amazon Prime after Wales v Argentina.
The epic battle went right down to the wire before the French just managed to seal victory at the end. It means the Springboks, who were narrowly defeated by Ireland last weekend, have lost their opening two November games.
The first moment of significance came after just 11 minutes when referee Wayne Barnes sent off Springboks flanker du Toit for making head contact with French centre Jonathan Danty.
As a result France started to take control and surged into a 13-0 lead, yet despite their disadvantage South Africa managed to stay in the contest with a Siya Kolisi try.
The match then took another twist in the second half when Dupont, the world's best player, also saw red from Barnes. The French scrum-half and captain upended Cheslin Kolbe as he challenged for the ball in the air and Barnes had no hesitation in sending him off too.
Suddenly it really was game on, the Springboks roared into the lead for the first time, but a try by replacement prop Sipili Falatea near the end followed by a 79th minute Thomas Ramos penalty saw France snatch the spoils.
It had been an incredible 80 minutes of rugby, played at a frantic pace, with the see-saw contest likened to a showdown between two great heavyweight boxers.
The two teams are on course to meet again in the knockout stages of next year's World Cup, possibly in the quarter-finals. If so, and it proves to be anywhere near as this, it will be the game of the tournament.
France coach Fabien Galthie said: "We went for it. This is what we’ve been working for. This is the kind of game the players wanted to play. We’re on the right path. We have found our way.“
Jacques Nienaber, South Africa head coach, said: "We're four points behind France, the second best team in the world, and three behind Ireland who are the best. France are northern-hemisphere champions - and that's where we are. We'll work extremely hard as we have Ireland in our pool and there's a possibility of France in the quarter-finals.
"Twelve wins on the trot. There's not a team in world rugby that is on that streak. They should, with Ireland, be close to favourites. There's a lot of competition and no big gaps between the top 10 teams and if you get stuff wrong you can lose to any of them."
Eddie vows 'we're gunning for NZ'
Eddie Jones declared England are ready to take on New Zealand after Japan were swept aside 52-13 to revive an autumn that had opened with a shock defeat by Argentina.
England plundered seven tries to warm-up for their main event of the month against the All Blacks with a heavily improved display, albeit against a disappointing Japanese side.
A thumping semi-final victory over New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup is the highlight of Jones' seven years in charge and he insists defeating them again is not "mission impossible".
"It's an opportunity to play against one of the giants of world rugby. For an England player it's a massive opportunity," the head coach said.
"If you look at the history of the sport, the game's been going for 150 years and England have won 19 per cent of their Tests against New Zealand.
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"There's a narrative that says England can't beat New Zealand but in 2019 we showed that if you've got the right attitude and the right game plan then history can be broken. We're looking forward to the opportunity to break history again.
"They're playing a slightly different style of game to what they used to but guys who played in that game - Owen Farrell, Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje, Jamie George - are going to be important in reinforcing to the players that it's not mission impossible.
"If we go after them then they're there for the taking - and we're going to go after them."
Scots inspired by Doddie
Captain Jamie Ritchie has told his Scotland team-mates to draw inspiration from the presence of Doddie Weir as they bid to conquer New Zealand for the first time in their history today.
The 52-year-old former Scotland international is expected to be at Murrayfield for the showdown with the All Blacks, five years on from his appearance at the same fixture just months after he revealed his motor neurone disease diagnosis.
The Scots will wear their purple away kit with the numbers on the back in the colour of Weir's famous blue and yellow tartan to mark the five-year anniversary of his My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, which has committed almost £8 million to research projects across the UK.
"Doddie's so special to us and the strength and the courage that he's shown over the last five or six years since his diagnosis, just to keep fighting, is an inspiration to anyone, not just us as a playing group," said Ritchie.
"I said to the players out there during the team run, 'if you need any other motivation than to do it for him, then I don't know what to say'. It'll be hugely inspirational for us."
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