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That slate of quarter-finals made my weekend and ruined my work week. But it was so much fun. It was worth two nights of very little sleep and a weary and bleary-eyed Monday.
Too much happened to pick just one topic this week, so here are seven bites to get you through this hump day – one of the longest-feeling in some time, no doubt.
1. The Great Scottish Robbery
Okay, I’ll just put this here right at the start.
That clip was the scene of the Great Scottish Robbery, the vanishing victory, a devastating blow, an undeserved hit job, the disappearing semi-final.
Craig Joubert handed Bernard Foley the key to the Scotland jewellery case, who proceeded to take it all by slotting the goal that gave the Wallabies a 35-34 win.
It’s been the topic of hot discussion since about 4am on Monday morning and I know I can’t hide it from you all down lower, or make you talk about anything else in the comments. So I’ve got it out of the way early and I trust that 80 per cent of you have jumped to the text box to have your say without reading the rest of my column.
It’s a little ironic that Bernard Foley has earned a reputation for being an ‘iceman’ kicker. His nerveless kicking at the end of games is often required because his kicking earlier was so shaky, as it was in this case.
2. Rugby has changed, for the better
Casting my mind back to 2007 makes me feel old and it makes me smile anyway. The quality of rugby at the top echelon of world rugby – and the levels just below it too, as discussed last week – has improved dramatically in the eight years since the Springboks belted and kicked us to sleep before running off with Bill.
The 2015 quarter-finals, and many of the pool games between evenly matched teams, have been characterised by audacity, energy, belief, support play and speed.
There were 150 points scored across four quarter-final games in 2007, this year saw 249 points scored.
Belief is worth repeating a second time, because that is the ingredient needed most for a team to stick to an attacking mindset in rugby. It takes extraordinary belief to accept that the opposition may set a lower standard than yourself and still win because of that cynical outlook.
It takes further belief to still play in an attractive manner anyway and hope that you are good enough to overcome a cynicism that threatens to appear in any professional sport when the stakes are high enough.
Rugby is the game they play in heaven when both sides play in a positive and skilful manner, as it was on the weekend.
3. Argentina have benefited from Rugby Championship inclusion
Argentina have always been a tough team in rugby because of their extremely effective eight-man tight scrum, physical forward play and a bloody-minded belief. They made the semi-final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup after qualifying at the top of their group with fewer bonus points than second-placed France.
They were very much a kicking team that relied on tenacity and physicality to close down a contest.
After their inclusion in the Rugby Championship they have evolved and now match the better nations in terms of attacking intent, attacking talent and self-belief.
Daniel Hourcade and his staff should be applauded.
During the early segments of their brilliant game against Ireland I paid Argentina one of the highest compliments I can award a rugby team – I said they were playing in the same manner as the All Blacks.
Their defensive speed and the way they buzzed around the ruck and rushed at ball runners was fantastic (although yes, their defence isn’t yet quite as sound). With the ball they were ruthless in exploiting space, ran back kicks and kept pushing even when they were clearly weary as Ireland battled back into the game. It reminded me of a version of All Blacks rugby and it has been developed after brushing shoulders with quality southern hemisphere nations more often.
I said during Argentina’s 43-20 win that game was the most intense rugby game since the Super Rugby final. Both sides were throwing bodies all over the place with such commitment, it got to that level because of Argentina’s speed. They dragged a depleted Ireland squad to a higher level.
Many of the same players will be turning out for the Argentina Super Rugby side next year and already they look like a tough outfit – just not for the same reasons you might have suggested back in 2007.
4. Two teams were short a gallop because they were missing key players
Both Australia and Ireland keenly felt the absence of two key players in their matches. One was able to win, the other was not.
Australia were missing David Pocock and Israel Folau from the starting XV. Probably the first two players to go on the team sheet in a normal week.
As a consequence the Wallabies were without the same presence at the ruck and the same attention-grabbing attacking threat from the back. Pocock’s absence was worse because the players in his stead were less able to replicate his performance. Kurtley Beale was a strong performer in Folau’s place.
Ireland were without talisman Paul O’Connell and breakaway Sean O’Brien. Watching O’Connell in the stands as he reacted to his team’s fortunes during the game was actually quite heartbreaking. What he would have done to be out there fighting with his mates – and fight he would, he is a key part of their abrasive forward pack and would have further boosted their ability to use that to get back into the game after a poor start.
O’Brien is one of the best openside flankers in the world and Ireland sorely missed his presence at approximately every second ruck, every second covering tackle and every second tight-line break made. He is that busy, that multi-skilled. O’Brien is one of the most underrated players in world rugby and it was his absence that highlighted that on the weekend.
5. That All Blacks performance reminded me of the Wallabies Eden Park dismembering
This was the first time the All Blacks had performed their Kapo O Pango haka since they dismembered a surging Wallabies team at Eden Park in August.
It seems that if the All Blacks want to slit your throat, they will do so and the world will watch the blood gush for 80 minutes.
France weren’t bad for stretches during that game despite being thrashed 62-13. Their 410 metres gained was more than Australia, Scotland, Ireland or Wales achieved during their matches. But they came up against the All Blacks in a mood.
The best way to describe the mood of the All Blacks against France and other occasions similar to this is a ‘mania’. It’s not a particular style as such – although there are notable features. It is a mindset and a personality that envelops all 15 players on the field.
They swarm, they hoard, they swat, sprint, swing, kick, and… well, stir themselves into a manic state. Keeping up is impossible.
As I said, France had some good patches of play during this match and didn’t give up for a long time, despite it being clear to everyone watching that the All Blacks were not losing. France kept looking for points, metres and gaps but the All Blacks were everywhere and nowhere all at once.
Make a mistake, they’re there to punish you. Make a tackle and suddenly they aren’t there to grab.
This year the All Blacks haven’t performed at this same level for consecutive weeks, but they may have been saving it for this particular stretch.
6. Wales are world rugby’s almost-team
In a way the Welsh side embody a southern hemisphere-lite version of rugby. They have a strong but not dominant forward pack, they play quickly and skilfully without being the most skilful. They kick just a bit more often than you’d want given the talent at their disposal. They’re a bit like the Wallabies actually, which explains why they’ve had so many close encounters.
Wales looked like they were going to enter a period of world domination when they burst onto the scene at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. But they’ve not had the sustained success many would have imagined.
After overcoming so much at this World Cup to get to where they did, but not reach the semi-finals, they are definitely an almost-team of world rugby. One that hasn’t ever quite lived up to the potential. There is time for them to change that but I think the tag is deserved now, after four years.
7. South Africa still haven’t hit their straps
There is something not quite right about the Springboks. It’s hard to describe.
I think it might be that they don’t have an identity yet. There’s no team identity, no clear intention, no obvious patterns and no go-to style for this group.
They aren’t quite an attacking team built around the direct and skilful style of Handre Pollard, or Damian de Allende ability to evade a tackle. But they also aren’t a team built on the physicality of Bismarck du Plessis, the charges of Duane Vermeulen, the multi-skilled Schalk Burger or the halfback kicking of Fourie Du Preez.
They are somewhere in the middle and it trips them up.
But here they are in a rugby World Cup semi-final after defeating Wales in a scrappy 23-19 affair, with time to improve and a chance to make another final.
My suggestion would be to play to the strengths of Vermeulen, Pollard and de Allende and break teams apart through the middle third of the field – punch them open with forward runners and sturdy inside backs with enough skill to be hard to target.
On that platform the excellent decision-making of du Preez will shine, Willie Le Roux will find space and the Springboks will score points.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.