Great art galleries, great architecture, great churches and some decent-looking domes, Michelangelo, restaurants, youll love it. That was my promise to the SuperSport broadcast team who are following the Springboks around this month. A week in Florence, hell, was I envious!But South Africans, being the passionate rugby people they are, will not be leaving one of the worlds great renaissance cities with many happy memories and Bach cantatas echoing in their ears. Instead, there was yet another day of Springbok humiliation. Sky Sports Black Friday sale Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price! One week earlier the largely second string All Blacks had carved Italy open in one of those games where tries are scored from every angle. But on Saturday, Italy reversed their fortunes with an astonishing victory against South Africa. Great credit to Italy, Conor O Shea and Mike Catt (how he must have enjoyed the win) but is it really so astonishing?The Springboks have now lost five of their six games away from home this season and drawn the other with the Barbarians. They have twice been blown away by their former deadly rivals New Zealand. It is time for the word crisis. The dejected Boks leave the field after their loss to the Azzurri They have dropped into fifth place in the world rankings and have only the one game left against Wales - away - before the World Cup draw is made next May. The European teams have the Six Nations in which to rise and fall. The odds are on the South Africans being a tier-two pool draw for Japan with the potential of another England scenario looming large. Allister Coetzee is in a dark place.2 At the other end of the international game there was absolutely no surprise that New Zealand bounced back and beat Ireland in Dublin. What surprised even me was the ferocity of the All Black display. They walked the line of legality and occasionally stepped over it. Who is the better European team, Ireland or England? England is ranked two but has not yet shown quite the level of performance we have witnessed from Ireland this autumn. Stuart Barnes There has been some outrage regarding their aggression but the greater concern is with the officiating that doesnt think the Sam Cane shoulder hit that took Robbie Henshaw out of the game deserved anything but a penalty.While not condoling dangerous and violent play there was something thrilling about a team caring that much about losing. Its up to the referees and their assistants to control their passions. Paul OConnell, Gordon DArcy and Sean Fitzpatrick analyse Irelands loss 3 If high tackles and Sam Cane was the dark side of the All Black performance, Beauden Barrett was their white magic - all good, all positive, and dazzling in nearly everything he did. The first half hour was startling.Eddie Jones wonders whether George Ford can become a better fly-half than Barrett. Superb as Ford was with ball in hand against Fiji, its fair to say that, on Saturdays evidence, he has a way to go... and I loved Fords performance at Twickenham. Highlights of Irelands clash against the All Blacks in Dublin 4 Ireland - losing three key players as they did against France in the World Cup - couldnt quite pull off another epic victory. But then again that was France, this was New Zealand. Disrupted by the loss of key players, still Ireland gave the All Blacks a great game.They lack the match-winning stardust even with those three on the field, but this was a powerful performance, even in defeat. Joe Schmidts team has more strength in depth than ever. He has done a fine rebuilding job post-World Cup. 5 Who is the better European team, Ireland or England? England are ranked two but have not yet shown quite the level of performance we have witnessed from Ireland this autumn. England do have that winning knack, however, and are on a steadily improving curve.We may have to wait for the final match of the Six Nations for some sort of answer, although Ireland will have home advantage. Ireland, meanwhile, have to forget the aches and pains and end the Australian winning run this weekend.Isnt that a fascinating game? If Ireland want to be going toe to toe with England for the status of world number two, this is the sort of game they have to grit out. 6 Lets hope Argentina can give England a work-out. South Africa was comfortable, Fiji a walk in the park. The Pumas are looking ragged. It has been a long year of Super Rugby and the depth of their squad is looking dubious.Individually they are equipped with talent, especially in the back row and midfield, but they are collectively mistake-ridden. If they play their rugby in the wrong parts of the field, England will make short work of them. Paradoxical as it seems, an inspired Argentina is exactly what Joness men need before Australia arrive with revenge in mind. Highlights of Englands Autumn International clash against Fiji at Twickenham 7 Scotland nicked the game against the Pumas with the last kick of the game. Its about time the last-minute break went their way. Vern Cotters team have been playing some good rugby for quite a while but ending up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.It was time for the performance to give way to the importance of the result. Psychologically Scotland will be a lot stronger for the last swing of Greig Laidlaws boot.8 Wales too won with the last kick of the game, this time a drop goal from Sam Davies, but there are few hymns and arias across the Severn Bridge at the moment. Jones: Wales complacent again England coach Eddie Jones blasts complacent Wales Eddie Jones weighed in, accusing Wales of complacency against a team containing seven or eight company players.You and I could play company rugby, said the stirring Jones.9 Tension will be unbearable in Cardiff this weekend. Wales cannot afford to lose against a South African team that are a faded shadow of their old legendary self, while the Springboks cannot afford to lose to a Welsh team that is struggling to find any kind of form.I fear the pressure, the fear of not losing, as opposed to going out and playing positive winning rugby, could limit the quality of the rugby. You can chuck all my normal performance talk out the window, winning is even more important for both teams Saturday than it was for Scotland last weekend. Wales need a last-minute drop goal from Sam Davies to secure a win over Japan 10 New Zealand are talking up the unpredictable French. Go look at Frances record in the last five or six years, study the DVDs of their inept performances. France have not been unpredictable for ages, they have been useless.It would be an infinitely greater shock for France to beat a New Zealand team in Paris than it was when Ireland won in Chicago.Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price. Hurry, offer ends December 4! Also See: Hansen: Strongest ever Lions Jones: Ford must be selfish Follow @SkySportsRugby Rugby on Sky Cheap Nike Free . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. Nike Free Outlet Store . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. http://www.nikefreediscount.com/ . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Nike Free Discount . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Nike Free Clearance . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield.St Helens head coach Keiron Cunningham insists Leeds Rhinos poor start to the season does not mean they will be easy to beat in Fridays Super League clash at Headingley, live on Sky Sports. The defending champions have lost four of their five league matches so far this year and also suffered a heavy defeat to the North Queensland Cowboys in the World Club Challenge.They looked to have turned a corner when narrowly beating Huddersfield Giants 20-16 a fortnight ago, but they were then swept aside 28-6 by Wigan Warriors last weekend. St Helens, on the other hand, are fourth in the table with four wins from five, including a 44-4 demolition of Wakefield Wildcats in their last outing.But Cunningham said: I dont think theres ever a good time to go to Headingley. Huddersfield went there a couple of weeks ago and nearly got the game, but Leeds are Leeds and they fight to the end and they end up picking up the two points.Leeds have gone to Wigan and they have been outstanding for 60 minutes or whatever it was, and then Wigan have got some tries towards the end of the game.We know what Leeds have got to offer and we know the challenges ahead of us as a team. Wigans John Bateman scores in the 28-6 win over Leeds last weekend We know what Leeds are going to do. They have not changed the way they play for a couple of years now, so Leeds are going to play that expansive type of game, and at the end of that you have got a Ryan Hall or a Kallum WWatkins or somebody running around the ball who is going to put someone through space - [Adam] Cuthbertson and all those middles offloading.ddddddddddddWe know what Leeds do; its about us and how we deal with that.Leeds will be boosted on Friday by the return of skipper Danny McGuire, Joel Moon, Carl Ablett and Brett Delaney.McGuire has been sidelined since the opening game of the season, while Moon and Delaney missed last weeks loss at Wigan with hamstring injuries. Ablett suffered an ankle injury in the defeat at Widnes in February. St Helens swept aside Wakefield Wildcats in their last outing However, second row Jimmy Keinhorst misses the game with a calf strain picked up against Wigan and Leeds are still without Tom Briscoe, Ashton Golding and Stevie Ward.For St Helens, Jack Owens returns for injured winger Adam Swift, while Travis Burns and Andre Savelio are also included.Leeds: Carl Ablett, Rob Burrow, Adam Cuthbertson, Brett Delaney, Beau Falloon, Brett Ferres, Keith Galloway, Mitch Garbutt, Ryan Hall, Ash Handley, Zak Hardaker, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Danny McGuire, Joel Moon, Anthony Mullally, Brad Singleton, Liam Sutcliffe, Josh Walters, Kallum Watkins.St Helens: Kyle Amor, Travis Burns, Matty Dawson, Joe Greenwood, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Shannon McDonnell, Tommy Makinson, Jack Owens, Dominique Peyroux, Greg Richards, James Roby, Andre Savelio, Lama Tasi, Luke Thompson, Jordan Turner, Atelea Vea, Alex Walmsley, Luke Walsh, Jon Wilkin. ' ' '