Barbarians 17 Canada 0

Canada bared their teeth at the Barbarians, but it was the British bulldogs who showed they had the bigger bite at the National Sports Centre last night.

In a bruising first round encounter at the World Rugby Classic, the Canadians did their best to punch and claw their way into the semi-finals, but the Europeans gave us as good as they got and did what their rivals could not - put points on the board.

"There was a lot punching and stuff going on out there," said Canadian captain Tom Woods afterwards. "As much as we have made a tremendous amount of friends down here, you leave it all on the field.

"That's what we like. We like to be able to punch guys out, have fun out there, take a few shots in the yap and then have beers with them afterwards."

Woods said not only did his side not mind the rough stuff, they positively encouraged it.

"The physical stuff is what we are best at," he said. "When we are dropping the gloves and backing each other up in situations that are tight and there are boots and fists flying that's when we are at our best.

"We like that intensity, but these guys just happen to be good. We made mistakes and when you make mistakes against good teams they ram it down your throat."

Allan Bateman got the Barbarians off to the best possible start, the Welsh centre going over after just six minutes after being released by Scottish counterpart Graeme Shiel.

Derek McAleese missed the conversion and the score was 5-0 at the break.

Lock Simon Foale, later sin-binned, added to the scoreline three minutes after the resumption and McAleese was spot on with the conversion to establish a 12-0 lead.

And when Mike Harrison went over in the corner after 22 minutes of the final period it was effectively game over, McAleese's missed conversion not allowed to spoil the party.

Canada tried hard to force a score but their spirits must have sunk when after a good few minutes camped on their opponents' line their pressure came to nought when they gave the ball away.

Their frustration boiled over with a minute left, Scott Stewart feeling the referee's wrath after a dangerously high tackle on the, up until that point, flying Barbarian Chris O'Toole.

"It was very physical and a lot of the boys will be feeling bumps for the next couple of days," said Bateman. "We have another tough one against France in two days time. It's hard work."

Bateman said you could not fault the commitment of either side, but he felt the Barbarians possessed the superior ball skills.

"The effort from both sides was there," he said. "But I think we had a bit more about us, a bit more class, a bit more speed. I think that was what told in the end."

Towards the end Bateman said the match became more about preventing the Canadians from getting any kind of consolation.

"We drew that line and they could not cross it," he said. "They made a couple of breaks and got within ten yards but our defence held out and we are quite pleased with that."

While honest in his appraisal of the Barbarians, Woods felt his side had contributed to their own downfall.

"I thought we should have scored in the first half and I thought we should have scored in the second half," he said. "They defended well but on both occasions we knocked the ball on. So if we are camped on their goalline and knock the ball on we have no-one to blame but ourselves.

"That's what happened today. We made two glaring errors and they resulted in tries. They earned one try but the errors we made inside their five metre line in both halves were the difference in the ball game."

Argentina 7 France 26

The French were too polished for their Argentine rivals on their return to the Classic.

Having not taken part in the event since 1999, the French were clearly keen to re-establish themselves and put on a performance that blended flair with brute strength, an intoxicating combination that the South Americans could not counter.

It was in fact Argentina that drew first blood, centre Santiago Ezcurra on the end of a fine piece of play that began when the French lost possession close to the opposition goalline. Fabian Turnes fled the scene but he could not keep his pursuers at bay. However, seeing support coming up on his right he intelligently kicked ahead and the ball bounced kindly for Ezcurra who collected and crossed the tryline despite having an opponent wrapped around his waist.

With a successful conversion by Pablo Soto, Argentina were up 7-0.

But their lead lasted just four minutes, Frank Corilhons sprinting clear from a congested midfield and then converting his own try to level the scores.

Argentina did not help their cause by having a player sin-binned and France took advantage going over for another try right on the whistle. Corilhons conversion made the score 14-7 at half-time.

Another kick ahead, this time from the French, saw the lead stretched to 19-7 after the restart, Laurent Lefla Mand the beneficiary.

And a try and conversion by wing Sebastian Paillat sealed the victory with three minutes to go and set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against the Barbarians.

"We saw the game on Sunday, the USA against New Zealand, and saw there was lots of engagement and everyone played 100 percent so we decided to play with the forwards to prepare the feed for our backs," said French captain Roumat. "It was very important for the first 15 minutes to play with the forwards.

"I think our forwards played good rugby especially in the first half. After that it was difficult for them to play against us because we had a good defence."

Bermuda's national rugby coach believes the Island will fare far better against the Cayman Islands if elementary mistakes can be eradicated.

A national second team went down 41-17 on Sunday to the touring Atlanta Renegades at the World Rugby Classic at National Sports Centre. The defeat was compounded by the sending off for violent conduct of Devrae Noel-Simmons.

Alvin Harvey, who played in that game and has the responsibility of moulding the full side, said he anticipated next Saturday's match would be a tighter affair.

"We should expect something different next week against the Caymans," he said. "We have played them before. We know what they play like, they have an idea what we play like.

"We have got a few new faces in the side, some boys that I think will make a difference."

But the difference will only come if the side concentrates on the basics, Harvey said.

"We are going to work on a few of the fundamentals of the game, like the passing, the rucking and the mauling," he said. "That's what killed us today (Sunday), hopefully next weekend the boys will do a lot better."