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Five winners and five losers from Saturday's World Cup warm-ups

(Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

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. 

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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.

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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