Morne Steyn kicked all of South Africa's points in a pressure-releasing 18-5 win over New Zealand in Tri-Nations rugby Saturday. Steyn landed five penalties and a drop goal on his return to flyhalf for the world champion Springboks, giving them a much-needed victory in their last game before next month's World Cup. Center Richard Kahui crossed for the All Blacks' only score five minutes before halftime, but New Zealand never came close to threatening South Africa's lead after Steyn kicked the Boks 15-0 ahead after 32 minutes. The hard-fought victory over No. 1-ranked New Zealand, which was resting eight frontline players, was South Africa's first of the season and avoided the team's first-ever winless Tri-Nations campaign. Under pressure to show form ahead of rugby's showpiece tournament, South Africa's victory was built on Steyn's accurate kicking – he landed five from five penalties – a big forward effort and solid defense. France beats Ireland In Dublin, France beat Ireland 26-22 for the second straight weekend in a warmup match at Lansdowne Road Saturday. Coach Marc Lievremont's faith in 13 changes to the side which topped Ireland 19-12 in Bordeaux a week before was rewarded with an ever better performance against an Irish side which started and finished strong, but crucially sat back and made errors in the middle quarters. France had the game in hand after scoring 26 unanswered points from the 25th to 49th minutes to lead 26-8, and conceded two late converted tries after Ireland cleared its bench. Scotland edges Italy In Edinburgh, Scotland edged Italy 23-12 at Murrayfield Saturday in both teams' last test before the Rugby World Cup. The Scots brought Murrayfield to life from the start with a high-tempo gameplan, but Italy's defense and grip on the scrum kept them in the game. But giving away 14 penalties didn't help the Italians. Easy for Wales In Cardiff, Wales completed its preparation for the Rugby World Cup Saturday by beating Argentina 28-13 to reward a dominant scrummaging performance against one of the world's best forward packs.
