Five winners and five losers from Saturday's World Cup warm-ups
The warm-up games are well and truly in the swing of things now, with each match affording fans and coaches glimpses of the big picture – both good and bad.
We take a look at the winners and losers from Scotland v France and England v Ireland.
Winner: England’s attack
This is the eighth time in ten games that England have scored 32 or more points (the two exceptions being away to Wales in Cardiff). Eddie Jones has always been keen for them to score off first phase ball and they did, three times. He has wanted them to use their power runners to create space, and they did, with Manu Tuilagi in particular causing havoc in Ireland’s defensive line. And he has emphasised the need for pace in the back three in Japanese conditions, which England have shown in abundance. There’s still plenty to work on for England but the attack is looking in very good shape.
Loser: the mounting injury lists
The warm-up games are an obvious Catch 22 for coaches, fans, and players – you can’t truly replicate match conditions in training so you can’t fully test fitness, systems, or partnerships. But an injury picked up in these games can rule you out of the world cup. We’ve already seen a number of high-profile players go down and this round of games added Cian Healy, Conor Murray, Tommy Seymour, Sam Skinner, Blade Thomson, and Mako Vunipola to the list of doubts. It’s a hard circle to square but that doesn’t make it any easier for the players who miss out.
Winner: hopes for a Scottish Plan B
It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t enough to ease the fears that have developed over the past 12 months or so. Scotland again conceded in the first two minutes, for the third game in a row. But they showed some dog, improved at the scrum and the breakdown, and got their defence going eventually. Hamish Watson was superb, deservedly winning Man of the Match, and he was ably assisted by the pugnacious Ryan Wilson. It might not be a Plan B yet but there were signs of the bark Scotland will need to go far in Japan.
Loser: Ireland
In the last round, there were no real positives for Scotland to take away. This round, Ireland were the team to finish their match without much optimism. They are a week behind in their warm-up schedule and they looked rusty, as you’d expect, but this was more than just rust. The lineout was woeful, there was no aggression in defence (they missed 34 tackles), and, yet again, they had no answer when they came up against a team who kept the ball away from them. A side further from the team who swept all before them in 2018 is hard to imagine. There’s plenty of time for Joe Schmidt to right the ship but it looks to be listing.
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Winner: Maro Itoje
He came storming out of the blocks and maintained his intensity throughout. As usual, he was a pest on the floor and a threat at the lineout, used his athleticism around the field, and ran a lovely line for his try. His stats showed three defenders beaten, three offloads, two turnovers, five lineouts taken, three disrupted or stolen, 39 metres made, and 14 tackles completed – That’s some showing.
Loser: Ben Youngs
His England teammate, however, did not have a day to look back on fondly. In fact, he was the only England starter who didn’t impress. Youngs is not everyone’s idea of the perfect scrum-half but, when he’s in form, he does exactly want Jones wants, especially with his contestable kicks. This was not one of those days. Every facet of Youngs’ game was poor and an attempted miss-pass that went both forward and out on the full summed up a frustrating afternoon for him. England’s dominance was such that it didn’t matter and Jones’ has trusted him throughout his regime but Youngs will want to make significant improvements.
Winner: Damian Penaud
France might not have won the return fixture but Penaud impressed on the wing again. He bagged a brace, including a 50-m run-in following an intercept. He couldn’t keep it up in the second-half, as Scotland tightened up, but it was his second impressive showing in a week. He had a blistering season for Clermont and was of the highlights of France’s underwhelming Six Nations campaign and looks like he will head into the world cup as a winger to be reckoned with.
Loser: Peter Horne
In the week that Horne expressed some frustration that he continues to be considered second-choice for Scotland, and as competition among the centres in the Scottish squad heats up, throwing yet another intercepted pass was not what he needed. There is no doubt that Horne brings intelligence, versatility, and a huge work-ethic, but that may no longer be enough. Outside him, Chris Harris had a strong game and has been impressive in camp. Rory Hutchinson covers 10, 12, and 13, Duncan Taylor is finally back from injury, Huw Jones may well be deemed to offer enough in attack to make up for his defensive weaknesses, and Sam Johnson offers a physicality that Scotland could do with. There are still two games left for Horne to show his worth but time is running out.
Winner: Ireland’s underdog status
It’s a slim silver lining but it’s worth remembering that Ireland have never seemed truly comfortable with the favourite’s tag. Their record loss to England at Twickenham has prompted another shuffle of the rankings and Ireland are now in fourth. Two potentially difficult games against Wales, home and away, remain and they could slip further still. By the time they kick off in Japan, Schmidt’s men could have a very serious point to prove. For all they’ve disappointed this year, a snarling Irish pack should still be a very alarming prospect. Schmidt says their confidence isn’t dented but it may be that they find they still relish the underdog tag.
Loser: concussion protocols
After failing an HIA, Murray came back on the field for a few minutes before half-time, with Schmidt later blaming a breakdown in communication. With the (necessary) increased focus on concussion protocol and player safety, that is a worrying event. At Murrayfield, Seymour continued to play for six or seven minutes before the medical officers removed him from the field. He too failed his HIA. The world cup is an opportunity to set the standard in this area to a huge audience and officials need to be sharper.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments