Time To Deliver

Tomorrow is a day of reckoning for Northern Hemisphere rugby. There can be no more complaints of settling in, match fitness or rustiness; it’s time to deliver. If our teams don’t then it will further add to the already vociferous argument that the Southern Hemisphere teams are miles ahead of their Northern Hemisphere counterparts.


First up are the Irish who have the unenviable task of taking on the All Blacks in Christchurch. It will be a momentous occasion for the city as it will be the first test to be played there since 2010 and the catastrophe of the earthquakes that has severed the city centre. When the Crusaders opened the stadium with its first game, the visiting Cheetahs were beaten 28-21; the Irish have a lot to do to even match that scoreline let alone win. In the first test in Auckland they were completely outplayed in every facet of the game. Jonny Sexton, who’s usually calmness personified in the blue shirt of Leinster looked flustered behind a pack getting brutalised.
The Irish conceded 59% possession and 62% territory to the World Champions, and they made them pay. The usually-solid scrum got completely dismantled by the Kiwi front row as the Irish scrum success rate was a measly 43% winning just 3 of their 7 scrums. The All Blacks managed 20 line breaks amassing 746m in a performance that head coach Steve Hansen admitted there was still room for improvement,

“There is still a lot we can work on. There were a couple of tries that we blew.”

But this was the first time the team had come together in months having only been in camp as a squad for five days prior to the test match. It was a night of firsts as debutant Julian Savea exploded onto the scene with a blistering hat-trick in a total of five tries for the world’s number one team. The most talked-about man in the team was Sonny Bill Williams, who by his own standards had put in a poor performance despite finding Dan Carter with a trademark offload in the build up to Savea’s first international try. He’s been given a rare starting berth at 12 due to the absence of Ma’a Nonu and he’ll be desperate to give Steve Hansen a selection headache to try and fit Nonu, Conrad Smith and himself into the same team.

The ominous thing for the Irish is the fact that they dominated territory and possession for the first twenty minutes but only had a Jonny Sexton penalty to show for it. Their only other points game from a freak breakaway try by Fergus McFadden. Even if they manage to stop the Kiwis scoring, they have to find a way through the black brick wall and at the moment; that doesn’t look likely. Unfortunately, New Zealand are such a formidable force that not even God himself (Brian O’Driscoll) can seem to do anything to stem the flow of their superiority. The game will probably be closer than last week but it’s very difficult to see anything but a home win in this one.

The second televised game will be in Melbourne as Wales look to win the second test against the Wallabies. For the first time in recent years, Wales looked sluggish. This might have been partly down to the fact that a number of players in the Welsh team hadn’t played in over 2 months. However, it was also because of the ferocious pace that the Australians were playing in the opening twenty minutes. Will Genia was a man possessed all game and his threat around the ruck created space elsewhere for his team-mates. He attracted defenders constantly and rightly so; when Wales ignored his threat around the ruck he sniped his way through Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins and left James Hook looking like a newly born foal. David Pocock outplayed his opposite number at the breakdown and this controlled the pace of the game. When the Wallabies attacked, they did so with quick, clean ball. When Wales attacked, Pocock et al made sure it was scrappy, slow ball for Mike Phillips who was often left with no option but to kick; and unfortunately he kicked regularly to a potent Wallaby back 3 who ran the ball back with gusto.

It was a reverse performance in many ways for Wales, which made it all the more infuriating. The often-criticized lineout won all 14 of their own and stole 2 of their opposition’s 8; this added to the frustration of onlookers as they employed an in-field kicking game as opposed to kicking to touch and challenging the Wallaby line. The scrum would have been seen as an area of weakness that Wales could target but due to Australia’s superior territory, when scrums did occur they did so in the middle third of the pitch. They also didn’t occur very often, which added to quality of the game. There were only 8 scrums in the 80 minutes, compared with the 14 we had do endure during the England game. The thing that made it such a strange performance by Wales was their defence. Shaun Edwards’ work with that side of the game has ensured a steel-enforced red line of technically sound tacklers. Saturday, though, it was anything but. The usually ever-reliable Gethin Jenkins missed three tackles and Toby Faletau suffered his first bad performance in a Wales jersey missing three of his own (although it was later revealed that he’d broken his hand after five minutes).

It’s the worst Welsh performance in some time, but this is the reason the fans shouldn’t be disheartened. Despite butchering a number of opportunities, kicking badly, coughing up possession and losing the breakdown battle; they still only lost 27-19. If they play like we all know they’re capable of, they can win on Saturday. Much has been made of stopping Will Genia and David Pocock, yet if Wales can release the likes of North, Halfpenny, Jon Davies and Cuthbert suddenly the game changes. With Ashley Beck getting the nod ahead of Scott Williams, there’s every chance that his guile can do just that. It should prove to be a humdinger once again but Wales simply must win this one. If they don’t they will come home still longing for that ‘big scalp’ that everybody harks on about so often. This team shouldn’t be looking for a scalp, they should be looking for a test series win against the second best team in the world because they’re good enough to do so. If they lose on Saturday, they’ll have underachieved; it’s as simple as that.

When Stuart Lancaster took over following Martin Johnson’s departure it looked as if England would be adopting a running and fluid game-plan, however, last Saturday’s game against South Africa was anything but fluid and there was little running. Owen Farrell has copped much of the flak as he’s struggled in recent games to release his backline. It hasn’t helped him having Brad Barritt outside him, who is one of the best defending centres in the world, but he’s about as instinctive as Joe Worsley with ball in hand. With the running ability of Manu Tuilagi, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden; there’s no excuse not to get them into the game and for that Farrell has paid the ultimate price as he drops to the bench in a straight swap with Toby Flood.

The injured Brad Barritt has also seen his 12 jersey given to the more creative Jonathan Joseph in an attempt to spark some ingenuity into England’s performance. The game in Durban was a poor international test match and the tactics of both teams made for dull viewing. The stats speak for themselves with this one. In the game, South Africa and England managed a combined 245 passes compared with 315 in the Ireland game and 302 in the Wales game. In the running stakes they managed just 195 carries again compared with 218 in the Ireland game and 244 in the Wales game. Between them, they also kicked the ball 50 times in open play, 14 scrums and 15 lineouts. The most exasperating thing was the tactics employed by Lancaster. If there’s a team in world rugby that you don’t want to get into a kicking battle and an arm-wrestle with, it’s the Springboks. It’s what these men grow up doing; they’re the best in the world at it and have been for quite some time. Bizarrely, England kicked more in open play than the Boks did. If they play the open game that they’re capable of, the South African’s are there for the taking; but they’ve got to be brave enough to do it.

It’s probably the most important weekend of rugby for Northern Hemisphere rugby in the professional era. If there’s another whitewash, it proves that we’ve been deluded by the six nations and that we’re still a long way behind the best.

If we compare Wales and Australia there is an enormous difference of viewpoint. When the Australians come to town, Cardiff explodes and in every newspaper there is a pullout of how this is going to be Wales’ year. Radio and TV shows dissect every selection dilemma, tactics, statistics and possible scenario for weeks leading up to the fame. On match day, the city is a sea of red and there’s not a spare seat in the Millennium Stadium. Conversely, when a Wallaby fan was asked about the Wales tour he said,

“It probably won’t sell out because it’s just Wales and people aren’t interested. It takes a big team like New Zealand or South Africa to really capture the public imagination. We always beat you guys (Wales) so I guess it’s just not a big deal.”

Although this might anger Welsh fans, it’s the equivalent of Wales hosting Italy. Although the Azzurri have caused upsets in the past, it’s a should-win game for Wales and therefore people tend to disengage from it because of the perceived inevitability of the outcome.

History doesn’t lie, of the seven rugby world cups there has been a Southern Hemisphere winner six times. It’s time the six nations, as a collective, did some damage on foreign soil. With the Lions tour coming up next year, what better way is there to stake a claim than by being part of a series-winning team against the opponents in Australia?

It’s about time the Southern Hemisphere’s attitude towards the Northern Hemisphere teams changed. The only way to achieve that is by winning; because they may be a lot of things but they’re certainly winners.