Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, November 5.
Anscombe braced for 'angrier' All Blacks meeting
Gareth Anscombe is braced for the visit of an angrier New Zealand side, who Wales face with confidence in the bank from their historic achievement in South Africa this summer.
Fly-half Anscombe was Wales' second Test match-winner, kicking a touchline conversion to beat the Springboks 13-12 in Bloemfontein. It was Wales' first victory over the Springboks in South Africa, and they now face a country undefeated against them for 69 years. The All Blacks have reeled off 32 successive victories since Wales claimed a 13-8 success in December 1953.
New Zealand-born Anscombe, whose mother is from Cardiff, will have a key role to play when Wales target a statement victory less than 12 months out from the World Cup.
"There is no bigger occasion really than the All Blacks in Cardiff," he said. "It is one I am really looking forward to, am feeling really good and just hoping I can do my role for the team. Biggs’ injury is a little opportunity for me to step up for the meantime. Just hoping I give it a good go and lead the team around.
"If anything, that tune-up against Japan [New Zealand won 38-31] has probably fired them up, probably got them a little angrier coming to Cardiff. We've got to go there with some real belief that if we play to our potential we can go and get the job done."
Asked if he is 100% fit, the fly-half said: "Yeah, feeling really good. I took a bang [to the ribs] about a month ago for the Ospreys which was niggling away but the last two weeks it has been really good. We’ve tested it out, had Benny [Huw Bennett] giving me a fair few shots over the last two weeks so feeling really good. My knee is in a good place, my body is in a good place. Just ready to rip into it."
As for heading into the autumn series with belief from their accomplishment in South Africa in July, Anscombe said: "We addressed at the start when we got into camp about how we need to take a bit of confidence out of that [South Africa] series. We were still disappointed not to win the series, but we weren't far off from winning that first Test.
"We know if we play to our potential we can cause these top teams a lot of trouble. These autumn series, in my experience, we tend to get better as we go along, so we have got a real challenge to start with a bang."
By their own high standards, New Zealand have experienced a testing year. They won the Rugby Championship in September for an eighth time, but have lost to Ireland (twice), Argentina and South Africa in dropping from first to fourth in World Rugby's official rankings.
Anscombe added: "They have obviously had an indifferent year, but they are such a talented group. They have always got the next cab off the rank, and you look back to the Rugby Championship, they still won it again. They seem to win it most years and they score the most amount of tries. The All Blacks are so dangerous, if you switch off for two minutes they score two tries.
"We can't afford to switch off, and they can come alive whenever. We have just got to be relentless in our pursuit of being accurate. I know there is a lot of chat and outside noise about them being vulnerable, but they still look pretty hungry to me, they still look pretty accurate and so dangerous."
Wales wait on Leigh Halfpenny fitness
Leigh Halfpenny's hopes of making a Wales return against New Zealand on Saturday could be dashed by injury. The Scarlets full-back has been suffering from a hamstring strain but was named in the starting line-up by head coach Wayne Pivac.
He took an extremely limited part, though, in the 10 minutes of Friday's Wales captain's run at the Principality Stadium that were open to the media. He spent time in the corner of the pitch with a member of Wales' support staff before leaving and walking up the players' tunnel alone.
Halfpenny has not played Test rugby since suffering serious knee ligament damage in Wales' victory over Canada 16 months ago. If he is ruled out of the Autumn Nations Series opener, then Wales look likely to hand Cardiff's Rhys Priestland or current starting fly-half Gareth Anscombe a role in the No. 15 jersey.
Priestland, usually a fly-half, has played at full-back for Cardiff this season due to injuries in the squad. Should the 35-year-old be promoted from the replacements for a first Test start since Wales faced Georgia in 2017, then uncapped Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow could provide bench cover. Costelow, 21, participated in the captain's run as Wales went through their final pre-match session.
Wales will make their latest attempt to defeat the All Blacks, having not achieved it since 1953 and lost 32 successive Tests against them. But Wales can take heart from New Zealand's patchy form this year, with Ireland (twice), Argentina and South Africa having defeated the All Blacks.
England tested by Canada before World Cup final sealed
England withstood a late surge to hang on for a 26-19 win over Canada at Eden Park in Auckland and become the first team through to the final of the World Cup. Simon Middleton's side had to dig deeper than many had expected to extend their winning run to 30 matches and set up a final showdown with hosts and holders New Zealand.
The Red Roses began the contest in fine form, striking first blood through Marlie Packer in the ninth minute. When Abby Dow found her way across the line just four minutes later, it looked like the world number one side were on track for a landslide victory.
However, amateurs Canada refused to roll over, breathing life into their game through a try from Karen Paquin in the 22nd minute. Both teams traded points throughout the rest of the first half, with England keeping a narrow 15-12 advantage at half-time.
England pushed their lead out to six through an Emily Scarratt penalty in the early stages of the second half, and maintained the ascendancy with Dow's second five-pointer in the 50th minute. The match then settled into an arm wrestle until Tyson Beukeboom scored in the 68th minute to keep Canada's hopes alive. Penalty conversions for each side kept the scoreboard rolling over until England were ultimately able to repel a late offensive from Canada and secure the thrilling victory.
Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton knows his side's hardest test still awaits them, when they face New Zealand in the final next Saturday after the Black Ferns saw off France 25-24 in a thrilling semi-final.
"We came here to get into the final, and we had to do it by hook or by crook," Middleton said. "Canada were absolutely brilliant, they just don't make mistakes with the ball and put you under a lot of pressure. We have a bit of work to do this week in terms of putting our game back together because we didn't play well today. "
France miss late penalty as New Zealand win thriller
Holders New Zealand survived a last-minute missed penalty from France to book their place in the World Cup final against England with a 25-24 win at Eden Park in Auckland.
The Black Ferns were pushed all the way by a determined French side, with Caroline Drouin missing a penalty in the 80th minute which would have sealed a memorable victory.
France raced into a 10-0 lead following an early penalty by fly-half Drouin and then a try from Marine Menager. New Zealand, though, were soon back on level terms after Stacey Fluhler went over only for France to score another try from Gabrielle Vernier just before the break to go into half-time 17-10 ahead.
Ruby Tui scored for the hosts again soon after the restart, with Renee Holmes missing the chance of the extra points before Theresa Fitzpatrick charged through to make it 22-17 just before the hour.
A penalty from captain Ruahei Demant looked to have put the match beyond France heading into the closing stages. However, a driving maul from a line-out ended with Menager touching down between the posts to reduce the deficit to just one point.
A high tackle from Santo Taumata on Agathe Sochat was revived by the Television Match Official (TMO), resulting in a yellow card for the replacement prop and a penalty for France - which Drouin sent agonisingly wide as the hosts held out.
Kolisi says Ireland even stronger
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi is braced for an even greater threat from Ireland after admitting his last Dublin Test match was among the toughest days of his international career.
The Springboks have not faced the Irish since suffering a humiliating 38-3 thrashing at the Aviva Stadium five years ago. Flanker Kolisi is among 10 South Africans who played that day and have a chance for retribution during Saturday evening's sold-out Autumn Nations Series opener.
The World Cup winner says painful memories of 2017 still linger and believes the hosts are now a "much better" team after making huge strides under Andy Farrell to become rugby's top-ranked side.
"Of course we have touched on the last time we played against Ireland but this is a whole new team," said Kolisi. "For us it's something that we can't forget. I remember we were here and it was very tough. It was one of the toughest days for most of us in the Springbok jersey.
"But it's a different team, a lot of guys weren't there that game and they (Ireland) have evolved as a team, they're much better than they were that time. We want to build on what we've done this year. The biggest thing for us - we're third in the world right now - is we want to give our best against the number one."
Owen Farrell determined as he reclaims England captaincy
Owen Farrell will continue to lead England his own way after being restored as captain for the autumn opener against Argentina at Twickenham on Sunday.
Farrell will take charge at inside centre having recovered from the concussion that threatened his involvement in the dress rehearsal for a pivotal group clash at next year's World Cup.
With doubts growing over Courtney Lawes' involvement in the Autumn Nations Series as he battles with his own head injury, Eddie Jones has ignored the leadership claims of Ellis Genge, Jack Nowell and Tom Curry and instead reverted to the talisman of his reign. It comes in spite of England's head coach revealing when naming his squad for the campaign last month that he had replaced Farrell with Lawes partly because of the Northampton forward's greater composure when communicating with referees.
Handling officials is a crucial part of the job and Farrell has thought deeply about an approach that has appeared confrontational at times, but any changes will not be made at the cost of his own personality.
"I'd say the challenge for me is obviously the way that I play the game, the way I present myself at times when I'm playing," said Farrell, who last skippered England against Australia a year ago. "It's not always necessarily what I say, it is sometimes making sure that you're giving off the right message as well.
"There are different captains all over the world. There have been really, really calm ones that are good. And there's been some explosive ones that have been really good as well. There are still a few of those knocking about now. I want to be me and I want to work on how I be a better me."
