Ireland and South Africa, the two best sides in the world, have been pre-eminent in integrating new players seamlessly into their squads. That much has been obvious in the last few weeks if not years. All nations have their eye on 2027 and it is no secret that, at least squad wise, you need to know what you are doing a couple of seasons out from a World Cup. Great coaching and lopsided draws can skew results but most likely will not replace completely the knowledge that a squad acquires on how to squeeze out key results – look no further than the Springboks. Losers take comfort that it was close and the winners shrug – ‘never in doubt’ and who is to argue.
Everyone is in rebuild mode – England’s encouragement from close defeats against the All Blacks was tempered by Argentina’s stunning win in Windy Wellington. Backing it up is another thing and the House of Pain, aka Auckland, put them in their place with some good old fashioned wet weather skills from the Kiwis. They are still a work in progress as we shall probably find out in SA when they visit for a rematch of the RWC Final. For example where are their next generation midfield compared to the plethora of talent they will face – Canan Moodie probably the best of them is not even fit, leaving 5 others to scrap for the two slots. If there is a next Dan Carter somewhere hiding in the long white clouds of NZ then let us have a look.
Now is the time to experiment and everyone has a version of this – England tried Earl as a midfield creator instead of accepting that he is a No 8 who can pass the ball (at last). They should now try Tommy Freeman at centre because our club game is incapable of developing any – that’s a challenge by the way to get Max Ojomoh and Will Joseph a lot more game time- and the sooner some young England props are given a go the better. Jason Leonard was selected for his country aged 21. France continues to explore it’s U20 talent and has enviable depth across the park. I keep returning to the Boks, who are picking players some South Africans have never heard of and come away with significant results. You can only applaud the willingness to experiment.
No-one will really remember the results at this point in the World Cup cycle, but valuable game time for young upstarts pays dividends. Ellis Park and Cape Town will focus the rugby world on the two most successful sides on the planet in the coming weeks. Scott Robertson will be learning fast from the master Rassie Erasmus. There is method in the latter’s apparent madness of selection and I suspect whatever combination he works with – perhaps yet another front row from somewhere – it will be too much for a new look All Blacks who should look to bank some experience at the very least.
