Forget England, Ireland vs All Blacks is the test of 2018
The billing of England vs All Blacks looked to be the ultimate showdown of the two superpowers of North & South. The two nations went on mammoth win streaks throughout 2016 and it became everyone’s wish to see them play in 2017.
That didn’t happen and unfortunately, it will be a rued opportunity.
A lot can happen in 12 months. The cracks are starting to appear in Eddie Jones’ side and we are still nine months away from the blockbuster test. Who knows what England will look like by the end of the year.
Scotland proved that skill will triumph over England’s brawn. Their frantic, enterprising play wore over the big Englishmen and fired enough shots to put England in a position where they cannot win from – behind on the scoreboard early.
With a team full of beef and Farrell’s right boot, England is not built to chase points. Their lifeless form of predictable rugby is all about bashing opponents with brute force, kicking for territory and playing penalties. Eddie Jones brings the flair – distracting everyone from the reality of the dour play.
Jump on them early and they are done, they only know how to play one way.
If Ireland beat England at Twickenham on March 18 for the second consecutive year the England vs New Zealand talk has to stop – it’s Ireland vs New Zealand that needs to be hyped.
After all, Ireland has proved recently they can actually beat New Zealand – shocking the world champions in Chicago before the Kiwis squared the ledger in Dublin in late 2016. If Ireland beat England again and claim the Six Nations crown, forget about the Twickenham test and at the same time put a lid on the talk of England’s greatness.
Eddie Jones’ success with each new team seems to last for the first two years. That expiry date is approaching, and in hindsight, this period for English rugby could well be remembered for not challenging the world’s best side when they could have. If the wheels fall off before the November test they will have achieved nothing other than one Six Nations championship.
With a June test series in South Africa to get through, England could well and truly be out of the picture by November as the number one test side. A South African resurgence under new coach Rasi Erasmus is entirely possible, as we have seen remarkable turnarounds in a short period when a new coach comes in (i.e. Jones with England in ’16).
If South Africa wins that series 2-1 or even 3-0, November’s test won’t be a showing between the world’s two best teams. Only one will be showing up, and it won’t be England.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
139 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
139 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
139 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
139 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
139 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
139 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
139 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
139 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
139 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
139 Go to commentsHo hum.
139 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
139 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
139 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
139 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
139 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
139 Go to comments