RuggaMatrix Episode 246 - Waratahs Woes and Super Rugby Finals 

Classic.🤣

But if rugby is to widen its appeal as a sport then changes are needed all round.

The big danger is all countries thinking inside their own small box and refusing to connect to anything outside.

The transference between 7 and and 12 is growing, as you can see witht the likes of Botia, Esterhuizen, Earl and Jegou palying both spots internationally.

Moefan does not have the size but he does have ‘compact power’. Plays very low to ground, hard to tackle, excellent work rate. Gael is a lot taller.

So it’s win-win if France can find a balance. The league does not need to obliterate the international game in order to succeed. Quite the opposite.

England won and Ed doubled down saying it was a one-off and France would thrash them in the last round. They didn’t ofc.

I don’t know if it was that loss of face but believe it or not Ed has mellowed since then - though a good verbal scrap has always been utterly irresistible for him!

But as you say the real danger is mismatches against boys [and girls] of ordinary size - happened also in NZ with some of the big Polynesian/Pasifika lads, who tend to grow into their bodies much earlier than the Pakeha.

It was also a pity that RA didn’t want Topo as a scrum adviser, they went with Andrew Blades, and we went downhill. We never got back to the level of dominance we had in those games Topo played in.

I had Narawa & Carter over Reece & Clarke in my ABs squad selections. And I had Reiko on the wing, & still back him 100% to come right.