New Zealand and South Africa were made to weather bruising onslaughts by France and Wales before launching their end-of-year European tours with victories as the autumn internationals began in earnest on Saturday. The All Blacks ended a 26-19 win in Paris camped on their own line and thankful for second-half tries by Charles Piutau and No. 8 Kieran Read to maintain their unbeaten record in 2013. The Springboks emerged 24-15 winners in Cardiff after making the most of limited possession to score tries through Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis and Fourie du Preez in a 14th straight victory over the Welsh since 1999. Australia completed a southern hemisphere sweep by crossing seven times to thrash Italy 50-20, while England blew hot and cold in beating Argentina 31-12 in preparation for the visit of New Zealand next weekend. Ireland outclassed injury-hit Samoa 40-9 in Dublin, and Scotland beat Japan 42-17 in Edinburgh. Also, Fiji defeated Portugal 36-13 in Lisbon, Georgia pipped Canada 19-15 in Tbilisi to remain undefeated against teams from the Americas, and Romania beat visiting Tonga 19-18 in their first meeting to round off an action-packed weekend. France-New Zealand contests rarely disappoint and this one was no exception, with the All Blacks dropping their level sufficiently to give the Tricolors a chance of an upset at Stade de France. The hosts went 12-9 up two minutes into the second half but Piutau raced onto a kick through, hacked on and grounded for a score that knocked the French cold in the 46th. And when Read ran onto Piutaus wonderful offload for a 64th-minute try, it looked all over at 26-12 but Brice Dulins score kept France within a converted try for the final 10 minutes. "Two proud nations, and there was no quarter given today," said New Zealand captain Richie McCaw, whose team need to beat England and Ireland to go through the year with a 100 per cent record. At the end of a full-blooded test in the Welsh capital, it was the same old story for the Six Nations champions. So often they come up short against the southern hemisphere juggernauts -- in Warren Gatlands five-year reign, they have won only once against a SANZAR team. The Springboks were ruthless when they got a sniff of the tryline, with De Villiers finishing off a length-of-the-field move started by Bryan Habana in the 11th minute and Du Plessis crossing from close range six minutes later. Leigh Halfpenny kept Wales in the game with five penalties in a flawless kicking display but the hosts were hurt by game-ending, first-half injuries to prop Adam Jones and backs Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams. Du Preez scored the killer try in the 65th following good work by Jaque Fourie and South Africa now heads to Scotland. "They had possession but its important what you do with it," De Villiers said. "Were not happy with the performance, it was a bit iffy, but were happy with the win." Nick Cummins (two), captain Ben Mowen, Tevita Kuridrani, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Joe Tomane and Israel Folau were the tryscorers in Turin for Australia, which scored 33 points without reply after a strong start by Italy. "I think a lot of things are back on track," said Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, whose sides Grand Slam bid was ended by England at the first hurdle. "It was a really good scoreboard for us particularly when we were 10-0 down. The guys worked through that and even in the end there we showed some character." Luke McLean, Lorenzo Cittadini and debutant Tommaso Allan crossed for Italys tries. The All Blacks visit Twickenham next and assessing Englands form going into that match is proving tricky. Following an inconsistent 20-13 win over Australia, Stuart Lancasters side was excellent in the first half against Argentina. Joe Launchbury, Billy Twelvetrees and Chris Ashton scored tries to set up a potential thrashing of a team that came to London with a new coach and off the back of six straight losses in the Rugby Championship. But there were errors aplenty after the interval by England, and the Pumas threatened to get back into the match through Nicolas Sanchezs penalties, only for replacement No. 8 Ben Morgan to crash through for a clinching fourth English try in the 78th. "Second half, we were a bit loose and it wasnt good enough overall. But I would have taken that scoreline this morning," Lancaster said. "Weve got to get that consistency for 80 minutes." Samoa had the opportunity to climb to an all-time high of fifth in the IRB rankings by beating Ireland, but the islanders injury-plagued side was dispatched in a record win in the fixture. The Irish only led 14-6 at halftime thanks to Peter OMahonys try but ran away with it in the final 40 with Sean OBrien, Dave Kearney (two) and Fergus McFadden grabbing tries. Fake Bulls Jerseys . Mars announced Saturday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will join him as part of his halftime show. Super Bowl halftime performers often have collaborators. Custom Chicago Bulls Jerseys . Third-place Madrid fell behind and settled for a 2-2 draw earlier at Osasuna in a match both sides finished with 10 men, and Barcelona didnt let the chance escape. Barcelona, still without the injured Lionel Messi, again turned to Neymar after his hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday to convert a penalty on the half-hour mark and restore the lead in the 68th after Villarreal levelled. https://www.cheapbulls.com/.com) - The surging Montreal Canadiens will try to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the Florida Panthers for Saturdays clash at BB&T Center. Chicago Bulls Store . The team announced the moves before Sundays game against Houston. Shaw was 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA in 43 games for the Diamondbacks. Bergesen was claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Friday. Wholesale Bulls Jerseys . Kevin Durant certainly played like there was on Sunday night, scoring 36 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Thunder made quick work of the visiting Pacers with a 118-94 win. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Al Jefferson is happy he didnt make the All-Star game. Kemba Walker said it might be a huge blessing for the Charlotte Bobcats that the big man got a few days off to rest his 29-year-old legs for the stretch run, particularly with four games in five nights coming out of the break. "Im glad he didnt make it either," Walker said with a laugh. "Hes fresh now. And you dont have to make the All-Star game to be an All-Star. I know hes a great player and unguardable in the post." Jefferson dominated the Pistons for the third time this season Wednesday night, and Walker played his best game since returning from an ankle injury to lead the Bobcats to back-to-back wins over Detroit, 116-98. Jefferson scored 29 points, while Walker had 24 points and a career-high 16 assists. The win gives the Bobcats (25-30) a sweep of the season three-game series and a 2 1/2-game lead over the Pistons in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "We had a bad reputation around this league for a long time, at least since Ive been here," Walker said. "Coach (Steve Clifford) has done a great job of changing the culture. We just want to win. We dont want to be those Bobcats where guys come in here and beat us up every night." The 6-foot-10, 289-pound Jefferson, who had 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in Tuesdays 108-96 win at Detroit, went 12 of 20 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. He has scored at least 20 points in 16 of the last 18 games and barely missed his seventh 30-point game in the last 10 games. Jefferson said the Bobcats (25-30) are playing their best basketball of the season as they gear up for the stretch run and a shot at the franchises second career playoff appearance. "We have been a top 10 on defence all year," Jefferson said. "But now our offence is picking up and were learning how to play with each other." Frustration seems to be setting in for the Pistons, who have lost nine of 14. Brandon Jennings had 20 points for Detroit before being ejected from the game with 1:13 left after picking up his second teechnical foul for arguing a call.dddddddddddd Jennings did not speak to the media after the game. "We definitely have to do a better job as a team of keeping our composure, especially in tough games like this," teammate Greg Monroe said. "Down the stretch these games mean a lot. You know, keeping a level head and playing hard, as a team is something were going to have to do." Coach John Loyer said its not too late to regroup. "Its two games," Loyer said. "Granted its two that we wanted to get, two we needed to get, but we didnt get them. You move on. You figure out your next plan and you just try to go win the next game." Josh McRoberts chipped in with 15 points for the Bobcats and Ramon Sessions had 10 points and 10 assists off the bench. But its Jefferson who is setting the tone. "We are just getting acclimated to Al," Walker said. "It took a little while but we know how to play with him and play off him. He makes all the right plays. All we have to do is get him the basketball in the right spots all we have to do is make shots." The Bobcats led by six at halftime, but opened the second half with a 17-3 tear to take a 70-50 lead behind 3-pointers from Walker, McRoberts and Gerald Henderson. The Pistons got within nine in the fourth quarter, but McRoberts buried a pair of 3-pointers and Walker hit a jumper to put the Bobcats safely ahead. Loyer stressed before the game the importance of starting fast, but Monroe and Josh Smith combined to miss their first 14 shots. Meanwhile the Bobcats got off to a fast start for the second straight night, hitting 7 of 9 shots to start the game and build a double-digit first quarter lead. Cody Zeller brought immediate energy and production off the bench for the Bobcats with a career-high three blocked shots. NOTES: Former South Carolina Gamecocks defensive end and top NFL draft prospect Jadeveon Clowney attended the game. ... Charlotte had lost five straight games at home to Detroit prior to Wednesday night. ... The more aggressive Bobcats dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Pistons 49-31. ' ' '