It's Time to Call It: The Northern Hemisphere Is Better Than The Southern Hemisphere At Rugby Now
This weekend, Northern Hemisphere sides again dominated Southern Hemisphere sides. Hayden Donnell says it’s time to call it – the North is better overall right now.
Time travel back one rugby year.
The All Blacks had just won the World Cup. The Wallabies were runners up. England had done the rugby equivalent of setting themselves on fire and falling headfirst into a toilet. France had just had their entrails removed and sweetmeats harvested by New Zealand. Ireland were still Ireland. No Northern Hemisphere team made it past the quarter-finals.
Pity the North-dwelling rugby fans who died in the past year. Partly because they’re dead, but also because rugby’s power balance has shifted completely.
This weekend, England beat Argentina despite playing with 14 men for 75 minutes. It was the team’s 12th win in a row. Ireland beat the Wallabies after enduring an exhausting week of national mourning over one of its players being tackled in a normal fashion. Least surprisingly, Wales handily bested the Springboks – a side from South Africa once believed to be good at rugby union.
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Only the All Blacks carried the banner for the South, holding onto their title as the best side in the world. Even they struggled to overcome France though, who would’ve won if they’d executed 0.4% better near the New Zealand goal line.
It wasn’t even an out-of-the-ordinary weekend for the suddenly proficient powerhouses of the North. In November, Six Nations sides recorded eight wins and six losses against Rugby Championship teams. Many of the Southern Hemisphere victories were tightly contested. The Wallabies won their matches against Scotland and France by a total of three points all up.
Most Northern Hemisphere sides are unlikely to get worse anytime soon. England still has a young squad. Ireland has a supply of promising stars. The French seem to be playing with a level of confidence and skill they usually only reserve for Rugby World Cup knockout matches against the All Blacks. Even more terrifying for Southern fans, coaches like Joe Schmidt and Eddie Jones are likely to ensure their teams don’t lapse into traditional pants-wetting uselessness at big moments in test matches.
It may be time to admit the unthinkable: Northern Hemisphere rugby is better than Southern Hemisphere Rugby right now. May God have mercy on us all.
Other notes from the weekend’s internationals
This is what a real red card looks like
Forget Malakai Fekitoa’s head-high tackle against Ireland; this is how you get sent off in a test match.
Elliot Daly sent off for England after just 4 minutes 34 – a deserved red card? #ENGvARG https://t.co/2et7t1bnpJ
— Sporting Index (@sportingindex) November 26, 2016
Congrats Elliot Daly on a truly terrible decision.
Waisake Naholo will hurt you with his mid-air butt attack
Watch out.
Beauden Barrett’s cross-field kicks are incredible
For the second week in a row, Barrett was the only reason the All Blacks won. Most of the credit will go to his intercept try, which was probably worth 14 points given how close the French were to scoring. But spare a thought for the beautiful, lovely, perfect cross-field kick that set up the All Blacks’ first try. It was the second week in a row that the All Blacks had opened the scoring off a cross-field Barrett bomb. Last week, Fekitoa took the reception. This week, Savea reeled it in on the sidelines and delivered an assist to Dagg.
Every South African fan wants to fire Allister Coetzee
These are pulled from a selection of roughly 18,327 similar tweets.
Apparently possession means nothing
The All Blacks had about 4% of the total possession against France. Most the time, they treated the ball like a live grenade, lobbing it as far behind the French line as possible. They still won.
New Zealand also lost the possession battle against Ireland last week. It didn’t matter. The All Blacks win by seizing their opportunities better than any other side in rugby.
Will Genia is the saddest man in rugby right now
Someone needs to ask Will if he’s okay. And while you’re at it, check on Michael Cheika. He’s probably still ransacking the coaching box right now.
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments