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Wallabies' nemesis declares 'world rugby needs Australia'

Australia's Harry Wilson is stopped in his tracks by England's Tommy Freeman at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

England’s most-capped men’s player Ben Youngs has had some epic battles with Australia over a Test career spanning 127 caps, and recently copped plenty of banter for his pre-Autumn Nations Series prediction that the Wallabies would lose last weekend’s Ella-Mobbs Trophy match at Allianz Stadium.

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But the former scrum-half recognises that last Saturday’s epic, smash-and-grab 42-37 victory over England, whilst galling to see as a proud Englishman, was good for rugby as a whole.

Chatting with Rugby World Cup 2007-winning captain John Smit and former Springbok Hanyani Shimange as his podcast For The Love Of Rugby linked up with RPTV’s Boks Office for a special episode in London, Youngs said: “We need Australia to be good, world rugby needs Australia to be good. It’s all tongue-in-cheek but let’s not beat around the bush, we need Australia to have a really strong rugby union team.

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Boks Office – Can England bounce back to beat the Boks

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Boks Office – Can England bounce back to beat the Boks

“The benefit of that is huge for the global game. Of course they have got the Lions hosting but also the World Cup is around the corner so everyone benefits from a really strong Australian team. So, actually, I am happy to eat some humble pie, I can cop it. It’s good for the game, I truly mean that.”

Debutant Joseph Suaalii’ played a huge hand in Australia’s first win in south-west London over England since the Rugby World Cup 2015 pool match, one of the rare occasions when Youngs was on the losing side against the Wallabies.

And Youngs thinks his cross-code move will have a  massive role to play in re-engaging Australian sports fans with the team that won two Rugby World Cups in the 1990s but has since fallen on hard times.

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“I think it is important for Australia, that like Cheslin (Kolbe), they have box-office players, people that draw a crowd like Antoine Dupont with France,” said Youngs, for whom Australia was his most common opponent, except Wales, with 12 wins in 15 appearances.

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“Them having him opens up the door. Australian rugby has to play fourth, fifth fiddle behind so many other sports, and someone like that will draw some attention. My gosh, he lived up to expectations, he was sensational.”

From being in the depths of despair after a terrible Rugby Championship campaign, the mood in Australian rugby is so much more upbeat, with even talk that the current squad can emulate the 1984 Grand Slammers and return home with a clean sweep of victories against the Home Nations.

Asked whether he thinks Australia will follow up their win over England with victories against Wales, Scotland and Ireland, Youngs said: “No. I don’t. They’ll beat Wales, they seem to be really struggling. But I think Scotland will beat them, so I think they will go home with two wins and two losses.

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Comments

3 Comments
D
DC000 25 days ago

Needs Australia - to prove why SH rugby isn't worth investing time or money in. As the supporters don't even care at this stage.

B
Bull Shark 26 days ago

Australia has the athletes. Thats for damn sure.

G
GG 26 days ago

The comment by Young’s is at best condescending. I cannot believe how patronizing and belittling the NH media and players often are to the SH sides and players. Crikey, they act as if they rule the skies in rugger. The only time all sides are equal, have all players available, and have decent time to prep is the WC. Would be interesting to take last 20 odd years and see which hemisphere sides make say the semi finals. Don’t be patronizing- Aussie are going through a tough period, but they will be back.

T
Tom 26 days ago

What on earth are you on about man? How did you manage to turn this into some NH Vs SH argument? All Youngs is saying is Australia are going through a tough patch and he hopes they get back to the top because it's good for world rugby. I can't see any way in which that is patronising or condescending.

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JW 59 minutes ago
'It doesn’t make sense for New Zealand to deny itself access to world-class players'

There are a couple of inadequacies in this articles points as well.


First

Robertson, in what he has said publicly, is building his argument for change as a means to close the gap that is increasing between the All Blacks and South Africa.

Based on recent performances, the All Blacks are better than the Springboks.


Second

Both games saw the All Blacks lead coming into the last 30 minutes, only for the momentum to shift dramatically once the two sides emptied their respective benches.

The failings of the second half were game plan related, they happened regardless of whether the bench had yet (play got worse very early in the half, even in the first half) been used or not.


And third

Robertson’s view is that because the Boks don’t lose access to their experienced players when they head offshore, it gives them an advantage

Didn't Razor have the most experienced team all year?


Also

“Sam Cane and Ardie Savea with Wallace Siti, what a balance that is.

This is part of Razor's problem. That's a terrible balance. You instead want something like Sam Cane, Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Sititi. Or Ardie Savea, Sititi, Scott Barrett. Dalton Papaili'i, Savea, Finau. That is balance, not two old struggling to keep up players and an absolute rookie.

It has changed. Not many go north, more go to Japan, so how do we get the balance right to ensure that players who have given loyalty, longevity and who are still playing well

Experience is a priceless commodity in international rugby and New Zealand has a system where it throws away players precisely when they are at their most valuable.

You mean how do we take advantage of this new environment, because nothing has effectively changed has it. It's simply Japan now instead of Europe. What's it going to be like in the future, how is the new American league going to change things?


Mo'unga is the only real valid reason for debating change, but what's far more important is the wide discussion happening that's taking the whole game into account. The current modem throws players away because they decided to go with a 5 team model rather than a 12 or 14 team model. Players have to be asked to leave at the point were we know they aren't going to be All Blacks, when they are playing their best rugby, reached their peak. In order to reset, and see if the next guy coming through can improve on the 'peak' of the last guy. Of course it's going to take years before they even reach the departing players standards, let alone see if they can pass them.


What if there can be a change that enables New Zealand to have a model were players like Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ethan Roots, Warner Dearns are All Blacks that make their experienced and youth developemnt the envy of the World. That is the discussion that really needs to be had, not how easy it is to allow Mo'unga to play again. That's how the All Blacks end up winning 3 World Cups in a row.

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