A week ago to the day, the watching world was in shock as America voted rank outsider Donald Trump to be their 45th President. Drama continues to unfold in the aftermath, as many seemingly struggle to come to terms with that result. On the Saturday before many headed to the polling booths, spectators at a jammed packed Soldier Field in Chicago, were also witness to some history being created. The high riding, seemingly untouchable All Blacks were simply brought to their knees by a rampant Irish team. Yes, they were not just clipped, or beaten at the posts. They were comprehensively beaten in all facets of the game.
After New Zealand won the Rugby Championship at a canter, many a pundit believed there was daylight between themselves and the chasing pack, with England heading the group of followers. One defeat or victory does not necessarily make a team any greater or poorer. And the result certainly does not takeaway anything from the fact that the All Blacks are best team in the world. However, it just goes to show that rugby is a game of small margins, and if you’re off the boil, teams will exploit you. Generally, the rarity of an All Black loss over the last decade results from the formula of the men in Black having an uncharacteristic off-day, whilst the opposition has an absolute blinder. I must say that the order of play in this game was pretty much in line with this script.
The All Blacks team put together for this game, had an experimental feel to it. Whether some of this was injury-forced, I’m not too sure, but they certainly did raise a few eyebrows. For example, they pick Jerome Kaino, and Patrick Tuipulotu in the second row, with Liam Squire at ‘6’. Tuipulotu is not an expert line-out forward. You would pick him if you have two good line-out forwards to play with. As a result, they really struggled in the line-outs to get good ‘go forward’ ball. Furthermore, this was the first game back for Aaron Smith after his ill-fated misadventures in a public toilet. The rustiness really showed, and costs the All Blacks dearly. His afternoon was summed up when Connor Murray left him for dead with a dummy that resulted in a score. The All Blacks clawed back, and just as it was rekindling some nostalgia from 2013, the Irish put the game to bed with a ‘crash through’ score by Robbie Henshaw. The rest, as they say, is history.
It was just the kick-start to the Autumn Tests the rugby loving public wanted to see, after Australia put away a woeful Wales with consummate ease. These series of games are of particular importance, as you would imagine that Warren Gatland has already got his notebook out to pencil in some potential candidates to make the Lions tour next year. He was in Chicago on that historic day, and I’m certain the likes of Murray, Jonathan Sexton, Henshaw, and Heaslip would have impressed him.
Last weekend saw England hosts South Africa at Twickenham. The English were looking to break a hoodoo of a winless streak against the Springboks spanning 12 Tests, played out over a decade. South Africa unleashed a monster forwards pack, and after the opening exchanges, they looked to be dominating the set pieces. However, the returning Wille le Roux persisted with aimlessly kicking away possession, and their performance quickly disintegrated into the unimaginative, insipid, straight ‘up and down’ stuff that we saw during their poor rugby championship. England gave away far too many penalties at the start of the game, and their overall play was by no means fantastic. But to be honest, the Springboks asked no real questions of them, and they barely had to switch to second gear see off their visitors. When George Ford crossed the chalk early in the second half, England were home and hosed.
England have now gone ten games unbeaten under Eddie Jones. Considering that the slaying of the Boks last weekend was managed with a depleted side, missing a host of main-stays just shows how far this team has come, exactly a year after the World Cup debacle. It’s a shame that they will not be playing the All Blacks this year. However, given their rich vein of form, you would think that there would quite an English contingent on the plane to New Zealand next year with the Lions.
There was also an interesting encounter in Edinburgh, where Scotland were hoping to erase the bitter memories of last year’s controversial loss to Australia in the World Cup quarterfinal. At half time all seemed to be going to plan, as Scotland led the Wallabies 17-10. Going into the last ten minutes, Scotland were resolutely holding on 22-16. However, Scotland once again failed to play the percentages. They probably would have been better served to kick long, rather than find touch and give Australia good field position. They then gave away a crucial penalty that brought Australia into their ‘22’ and off an ensuing set piece, Tavita Kuridrani crashed in close to the posts. The valiant Scots threw everything at Australia in the dying minutes, bit it was just not to be. Australia snatched victory by a single point (23-22), and keep their grand slam hopes alive.
Overall, what is great to see is that Northern Hemisphere rugby is in quite a healthy state. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that the four home nations are coached by three New Zealanders, and an Aussie. Some feel that the end of year tours are tough on the touring side as they are fatigued after a long season. But then, the European teams have had little game time together. So, I feel it evens things out.
Photo courtesy – AFP
The World Rugby awards ceremony was also held last Sunday in London. Beauden Barrett was awarded world rugby player of the year, and few could argue with that selection. However, some aspects of Barrett’s game – goal-kicking particularly, have much improvement to be done. 22-year old Maro Itoje was picked as ‘breakthrough player of the year’. Itoje has had a meteoric rise since his debut in the Six Nations earlier this year. He is now one of the first names on the team list for club, and country. New Zealand were picked as team of the year, which was hardly surprising. Olympic sevens champions, Fiji also had a fair shout. However, the biggest point of contention for me was the selection of Steve Hansen as ‘Coach of the year’. This was the fourth time in five years that Hansen has walked away with the prize. He missed out last year to Michael Chieka. He is undoubtedly one of the best around. However, to be blessed with the riches of talent at his disposable, makes the job that much easier. Eddie Jones on the other hand, inherited a broken side, stained by their diabolical failure at their home World Cup. In such a short period of time, he has converted England from a team of ‘ten-man’ maulers into world beaters. He already boasts of credentials that include a ‘Grand Slam’ (unbeaten Six Nations), as well as a 3-0 whitewash of Australia on their own soil. What more was he to do? If Chieka was awarded the title last year for his turn-around of Aussie fortunes, would it not at the last be consistent to award it to Jones this year?
Anyway I don’t think Mr. Jones is losing any sleep over it. So why should I? I’d rather turn my attention to this Saturdays blockbuster game, where the All Blacks have another crack at Ireland in Dublin. Four years ago, Ireland toured New Zealand for a 3-Test tour. They lost the first test, but came back strongly to almost beat the All Blacks in Christchurch. It got everyone excited about the final Test. The All Blacks won 60-00.
