What we learned from the June Internationals
Ireland came away with a historic 2-1 away series victory over the Wallabies, the All Blacks swept France 3-0 and the Springboks came alive to beat England 2-1 under new coach Rassie Erasmus. The rest of the Celtic nations took turns beating on the hapless Argentina and Fiji won the Pacific Nations Cup.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the month of international rugby.
Ireland are the All Blacks’ biggest threat
Ireland fought a close series with Australia that swung on the slimmest of margins. It wasn’t a dominant display of power like the All Blacks’ dismissal of France, but it showed that Ireland is prepared to play smart rugby and grind out wins.
Ireland’s second test blueprint is exactly what they need to bring when they play the All Blacks in Dublin later this year. They starved Australia of possession for near on sixty minutes while accumulating enough points to put the game out of reach.
France looked good when they were able to hold the ball for extended periods against the All Blacks, but their lack of composure and execution meant they couldn’t keep it quite long enough. Ireland, however, are a far better side when it comes to controlling the ball and the clock, with a zero offload policy and clinical recycling.
The best way to stay in the game against the All Blacks is to retain the ball and play ‘keep away’. England’s defensive kicking will play into the hands of the All Blacks, while Ireland’s possession-based game will match up far better.
Referees are making too many headlines
The officiating has grabbed way too many headlines in this international period, taking away the gloss from some of the fascinating contests. From the Grosso tackle, the Fall and Folau cards and a new take on obstruction, the referees have left too many fans scratching their heads.
In the lead up to the under-20 World Championship, RugbyPass highlighted the dangers of aerial contests and the murky rules regarding their policing. That proved to be timely as the June internationals were dogged by controversial calls around the jump ball area on both sides of the ditch.
Then there was the downright bizarre, with McKenzie’s first try in the third test standing after being reviewed by both the referee and the TMO for obstruction. The referee clearly influenced the play by obstructing Baptiste Serin from making a tackle attempt. The worrying outcome here is this try was reviewed and still awarded.
When players lose trust in referees then we have a serious problem and who could blame the French for losing faith in the officials? Unfortunately, the run of bad calls against them takes away from the fact that they were well and truly beaten by the better side.
Springbok resurgence a nice start
Rassie Erasmus has made a statement in his first test series in charge of the Springboks, downing England 2-1 at home. While this is a great start and gives hope to the Springboks for next year, it is too small a sample size to derive any meaning from.
South Africa have always been tough at home, regardless of who is coaching. Under the guidance of Allister Coetzee they lost by a point to the All Blacks in Newlands last year. What matters more is how they follow up in the Rugby Championship, on the road, against New Zealand and Australia.
The return of overseas stars Willie le Roux, Faf De Klerk and Duane Vermeulen certainly made a big difference and if they can grow around this core the Springboks will be a serious World Cup contender.
The Wallabies will be quarter-finalists at the RWC
This is a bold prediction but after another series loss, the Wallabies are no more than pretenders.
Chieka’s win percentage against Tier One nations outside of Italy and Argentina since the last World Cup is now around 35%. They can compete in games and stay close but aren’t smart enough to close them out consistently. This has been proven conclusively over the last three years as his sides have failed time and time again.
Having a passenger as an international 10 just doesn’t work – having Will Genia and Kurtley Beale compensate for Foley is not a proven formula for success. The problem is there is no other option for the Wallabies unless Beale plays flyhalf.
Argentina is heading back to Tier 2 status, fast
The worrying slide of Argentina continued with embarrassing defeats against Wales and Scotland. On the face of it, losing to those two countries is not so bad, only for the fact that Scotland lost to the USA a week ago.
Since the 2015 World Cup, Argentina have been a doormat in the Rugby Championship, winning one game in 2016 and none last year. The vast majority of their side make up the Jaguares Super Rugby team, who conversely are enjoying their most successful season yet.
They are stuck between club success and international failure at the moment and have seemingly been left behind as the game evolves. Their head coach will step down but they have limited time to turn things around before next year’s World Cup.
Now what, Eddie?
Eddie Jones may have saved his job by avoiding a three-nil sweep in South Africa, but now there are glaringly obvious flaws to fix before the end of year All Blacks test. His players will get a summer break and refresh before Premiership rugby restarts, which should help rejuvenate his squad.
He needs to find an attack coach and figure out how to play more than one game plan, as he recently found out that if you don’t adjust it can lead to big problems.
With the All Blacks starting Damian McKenzie for the first time, everything from exit plays to pattern plays were changed to suit his game. When Beauden Barrett is at 10 the All Blacks adjust everything once again to suit.
Having Cipriani in the mix long-term will require suitable changes to enable him to flourish, rather than squashing his strengths by forcing him into Jones’ current game plan. If they can figure that out, England will be a contender next year. If not, history will repeat.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
49 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
49 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
49 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
49 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
1 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
49 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
49 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
49 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
49 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
49 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
49 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
49 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
2 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to comments