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It’s natural in a world cup year to have one eye focused on the big prize. This potentially devalues what happens in the Test matches immediately preceding the cup itself.
Rugby championship losers can rationalise a loss in the context of learning more about players and combinations ahead of the cup.
Winners can bank the confidence and self-belief, which they can then draw when the hard questions will inevitably be asked of them in England.
>>MATCH REPORT: Wallabies snatch victory with late Kuridrani try
>>DAVID LORD: Wallabies come form behind to beat the Boks
>>INJURIES: Genia, Horne out of Wallabies squad
>>NEWS: Cooper turns down Toulon for Rio
Winners also get to enjoy the moment, in New Zealand’s case, a victory which may have been more or less as expected, but still carried plenty of immediate significance. And in Australia’s case, for a side starved of notable success in recent seasons, a brave and nerveless victory.
In short, September 18th at Twickenham can wait – sparkling Test rugby is alive and kicking right now.
In front of a very disappointing crowd in Brisbane, both sides contributed greatly to what was an excellent Test match, full of positive and skillful rugby. It was aided, it must be said by the unflappable Nigel Owens.
It is no accident that many of the most memorable, open Tests in recent years have been at his hand.
For much of the game South Africa looked the stronger side, courtesy of a powerful loose forward trio who effortlessly covered for the early loss of their talisman Victor Matfield. Bismarck du Plessis was another on song, in superb pilfering form at the breakdown.
The Bok scrum was dominant early and, despite Handre Pollard fumbling with a certain try on offer, there was plenty of fluency and balance to like about their game as they worked themselves into a seemingly winning position at 20-7 ahead with under 30 minutes to play.
Earlier, Jesse Kriel opened the second half and his own Test try-scoring account with a superb stepping effort which, but for Tevita Kuridrani’s overtime squeeze onto a couple of blades of grass, looked like being the decisive score.
The last quarter of the match belonged almost entirely to the Wallabies, courtesy of three factors. Firstly, timely substitutions where the presence of David Pocock, James Horwill and Matt Toomua provided a lift in intensity and presence far in excess of the Springbok substitutes.
In short, the Boks won the 15 versus 15 battle, but the Wallabies conclusively took out the 23 versus 23 war.
Secondly, the Wallabies had the two best players on the field, firstly Israel Folau, who not only devoured every high ball in his vicinity but was as slippery as a dodgy car salesman when allowed the opportunity to run.
Whether Michael Hooper plays like a No. 7 is supposed to play or not is a matter of some debate, but what isn’t in question is his massive engine. His influence on this match, his strength and drive in attack and defence, was profound.
A word also for the Wallabies halfbacks. Super Rugby this season was lit up by All Blacks Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara’s speed to the breakdown, and crisp, accurate service off the deck to their backlines. By contrast, Will Genia and Nick Phipps have often looked second grade.
Playing a neat 40 minutes each, courtesy of a leg injury to Genia, both revealed a refreshing ability to put the ball out in front of Quade Cooper, without the indecision marking their recent rugby. As a result, both looked far better players, and the Wallabies backline far more potent that at any time in recent memory.
The third, and most telling factor however, was that the Wallabies risked a loss to play for the win, whereas, from too far out, the Springboks shut up shop.
Their final possession illustrated this perfectly, a couple of limp hit-ups from forwards who were either too tired or too timid to play positively enough to ensure the win. This was a situation which cried out for stronger leadership, and the final penalty given away for lazy flopping in and sealing off the ball was fully deserved.
By contrast, Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore took the initiative, pointed to the corner, and the rest – as they say – is history.
If Springboks coach Heneke Meyer fell into the trap of replacing of players who didn’t need to be replaced (notably Bismarck du Plessis), his Argentine counterpart Danial Hourcade matched him the night before in Christchurch.
To pull off his inspirational skipper Augustin Creevy straight after he scored his second try and bought his side back into the match against the All Blacks, was either a masterstroke which unlucky misfired, or misguided, slavish adherence to a pre-programmed replacement strategy.
I fancy the latter.
Argentina employed a clear strategy of kicking far less than usual, determined not to provide counter attack fodder for the All Black’s back three. The downside however, was that the ball in hand game they imposed on themselves isn’t their natural suit, and coupled with some steely All Black defence, meant that they couldn’t really mount sufficient pressure to make the contest genuinely close.
For the All Blacks, lock Luke Romano enjoyed his best Test performance, in the loose and as part of a scrum which gave as good as it got, and then some extra, against their much vaunted opponents.
Keiran Read was somewhere close to his best, timing his run into form as he always seems to do, to coincide with the onset of Test rugby. Another to enjoy a strong game was Sonny-Bill Williams who, along with Dan Carter now earns a week off at home while the rest of the squad heads to South Africa.
Coach Steve Hansen will be delighted that much of his side’s play, in the wake of the Apia speed hump, resembled something like the style and form he knows and expects. And he even got the obligatory “something to work on during the week”, courtesy of the Puma’s two lineout maul tries.
This Test held extra significance, being the final appearances at home for Richie McCaw and Dan Carter. All good things inevitably come to an end and so it is for Canterbury fans who will surely feel the loss of not only one, but two champions of world rugby. They shouldn’t complain for they have truly been spoiled.
Assuming the lineout maul defence gets touched up, perhaps the only real lowlight for New Zealand fans was the performance of Stan Walker, who proved that winning Australian Idol provides no guarantee of an appropriately respectful and tuneful national anthem.
Although not plumbing the depths of the True Bliss versus Bardot ‘anthem off’ in 2000, Walker’s engagement only served to prove how out of touch some match organisers are, allowing this platform to be used to try to advance the careers of attention-seeking, masquerading ‘pop stars’.
With home ground advantage now switching to the Boks and Pumas, all four sides will approach next weekend with a degree of confidence. If week one is anything to go by fans can also look forward with a high degree of anticipation.