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| Of all the weekend results in the hectic if not chaotic off season series, it is England who take the justified plaudits with a stunning win over Argentina. The Pumas will be hurting badly after a complacent display (they had four tries held up over the line during a rearguard defensive English effort bordering on heroic) and next week will be no place for the faint-hearted as they try to level the two game series. Perhaps they thought that a well crafted win over a scratch Lions side gave them a superiority but a fully committed, in form and experienced (enough) England side had other ideas. Firstly however, let us not be hypocritical about ‘weakened’ touring sides. In today’s world of sporting intensity, all players need to take significant rest and this gives opportunity to others. Whether it was Italy, France, Ireland or England, all for a variety of reasons, many unsung names and in some cases unsung heroes were on display. Squads are being honed for World Cup 2027, surely everyone realises that, and it is right to build depth and experience and look at different players. The All Blacks and the Springboks blooded new scrum halves, props, back-row forwards. Household names will emerge in coming months if the marketing teams match the onfield performances and get the new world right in a vision first envisioned by RocNation where the cult of the Individual must be allowed to blossom off field to grow the attractions of the game. Never at the expense of the team of course. As for the B&I Lions, if we move on from the distraction of ‘deliberately watered pitches’ and Owen Farrell’s questionable elevation to the squad, it is hardly surprising to see some clunky play as the combinations seek to gel. The main issue is one of melding the Scottish attack play featuring the fab four I predicted will start the Test – Kinghorn, Tuipolutu, Russell and Jones – with the momentum and phase play favoured by Farrell and which is quintessentially Irish. English players are in their own right of great quality – Freeman, Smith (x2) and Mitchell eg and add Pollock to that – but they have no real identity other than via a Northampton Saints approach, similar to Scotland in their simple, space-seeking attack philosophy. That clarity may be difficult for Farrell to embrace and his coaches lack the experience to challenge. It is the key to the series because up front whatever combination is selected will be good enough to compete if not dominate especially in the back five. Rumour has it that Rassie Erasmus was unhappy with the Springbok performance against Italy and I agree. The midfield was one paced, and negated the supreme levels of skill out wide where Arendse, Kolbe and Willemse were starved of quality possession. So was the back-row rather pedestrian at times and this allowed a sparky Italian effort to become more than troublesome. Their shadow team played with real skill at times and this bodes well for their position in Six Nations. However, the bad news for the rest of the world is that the Boks have at least two more teams of similar quality – Rassie’s biggest issue will be selection over the next couple of years. He can ramp up the pace of his side quite easily. Was anyone really surprised that France ran the All Blacks close? Again they have at least two other sides of similar quality but worryingly for the All Blacks they are the same names which come to the rescue such as the Barrett boys. But then they have 10% of the resource of England, France and South Africa. For them and Ireland who are similarly resourced, could it be that the two underperformers on a world stage England and France (even if 6N Champions) are about to get their act together alongside the Springboks? Back to England, whatever happens this weekend in the rematch their performance was stellar. Calm and mature and understated – Roebuck was seriously impressive and Steward had his best game for ages. Ford adds to the lockerful of top 10’s in England, and the reserve pack were anything but as they dominated for long phases. As for the midfield, if somehow Lee Blackett can continue to be tapped for his expertise then all the better for National hopes because this is still a work in progress. Let’s wait to see what Wales can do in the next Test match against Japan before saying more – structurally, if the regions have to adopt a Scottish model (2 only) and the club game be revitalised where possible, then so be it. A great bunch of players papered over the cracks for many years which is now clear. Even if we understand that the Wales U20 win over England recently – incredible really – shows some light it is a long time to wait and as England has shown for years, U20’s success only translates into something meaningful if that talent is harnessed and allowed to grow. The return matches in all cases this weekend will be fascinating, meantime the B&I Lions are in no danger of peaking too early against the Wallabies who themselves had a wobbly run out against Fiji – until you appreciate that pound for pound the Islanders have some of the best players in the world bar none so perhaps it wasn’t too bad after all! Hallers |
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