Steve Tandy warns Wales to be more ruthless after edgy win against Japan

France stormed back to the top of the Northern Hemisphere Nations Championship table with a dominant but flawed 54-17 victory over Fiji on Saturday.

Victory came at a cost, with the fly-half Romain Ntamack, alongside captain Antoine Dupont at half-back for the first time since March 2025, seemingly dislocating his shoulder in the buildup to France's third try.

With Mathieu Jalibert already out injured, Les Bleus will face world champions South Africa next week without either of their best No 10s.

They will also need to put in a vastly improved showing to stand any chance of avoiding a 10th defeat in their last 11 clashes with the Springboks.

Props Jean-Baptiste Gros and Sipili Falatea, wing Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, centre Kalvin Gourgues, full-back Theo Attissogbe, replacement forward Charles Ollivon and Dupont crossed the whitewash, with a penalty try making it eight scores for the hosts.

They are two points ahead of Ireland in the standings ahead of England's clash with Australia on Sunday.

Fiji, who started the match with 10 France-based players, including their entire backline, were typically physical but slumped to a fourth straight defeat in the inaugural Nations Championship.

Their much-vaunted backs struggled to fire, although centre Vinaya Habosi beat four defenders to score and Selestino Ravutaumada added a second consolation try. The Top 14's most prolific finisher, Jiuta Wainiqolo, who was playing in his adopted home, was unable to make an impact, though.

Earlier South Africa strolled past an injury-hit Italy with a 66-7 win in Saturday's Nations Championship meeting in Turin, where the fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored the first of nine Springbok tries and added another 21 points from a perfect kicking display.

South Africa ran in six tries in an utterly dominant opening half. Hooker Malcolm Marx went over twice, adding to scores by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg and the captain Siya Kolisi and Damian Willemse, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicking all six conversions having opened the scoring with a penalty.