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There has long been a view in the Southern Hemisphere that the best rugby is played exclusively below the equator. Visit any group of kids discussing the Six Nations, and get a diatribe about how that lot aren’t able score a try to save themselves.
Dropping goals and drawing penalties, you’ll be told, are the way things are done up there. Not because it necessarily guarantees wins, but because their players are just not of the same standard as the James O’Connors, Kurtley Beales, Dan Carters and Israel Daggs.
Well, groan and sigh no longer. In fact, begin to worry.
There is hope for the Northern Hemisphere. Not just that brilliant, flowing rugby might take over for good up there, but that some of their sides may well challenge the long-held and firm grip New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have had on the top three rankings in world rugby.
Leading the northern charge in the run to the next Rugby World Cup will almost certainly be a plucky, young and very capable side that comes from a nation smaller than New Zealand, but perhaps as mad about the sport as the Kiwis.
The Red Dragon of Wales is continuing to breathe fire after a spirited win over the Irish (quickly becoming one of my favourite rivalries in world rugby) during the first weekend of the Six Nations.
The playing squad has been regenerated over the last 12 months. Mainstays of the Welsh side like Stephen Jones and James Hook have lost their places in the XV, while Shane Williams has finally retired after a remarkable career on the wing. In their places are young, dynamic and talented players who are forming a very dangerous back line behind a fiery forward pack.
Mike Phillips continues to perform at halfback, a spot at which he is quickly building a case to be considered the best in the world. His performances at the World Cup added weight to such an argument.
Unusually big for a number 9, Phillips is able to run the ball with vigour and power, mixing it up with the forwards on the fringes of the ruck as well as providing his back line with quality ball through quick and direct passing.
The man who benefits most directly from this is Rhys Priestland, the 25-year-old fly half who guided Wales through the Rugby World Cup with only a handful of Test appearances under his belt. He did so with aplomb as he showed his ability with hand and foot.
What sets Priestland apart from his predecessors at fly half is that he is able to set alight the Welsh back line. Where players like Stephen Jones were all too content to kick the ball away, or purely incapable of running the ball with any creativity, this young man is able to find holes in the defence and exploit them with his skillful outside backs.
Priestland shows consistent ingenuity as well as patience to keep the defence in the dark about what might occur next. He is just as happy to employ a forward runner and underplay his hand as he is to throw it wide to his array of back line talent (he threw a sublime offload to assist Wales in scoring their first try on Sunday) and as such, opposition defensive lines are often unsure of themselves when coming up against him.
When Priestland does choose to play with his outside backs, his options are plentiful as they were on Sunday. Jamie Roberts, after a series of dominant displays at the Rugby World Cup, consistently puts forward a case for him being the best centre in Test rugby while his partner in the midfield, Jonathan Davies, continues to quietly rack up quality performances.
Still young at 25 and 23 respectively, these men form a deadly duo that should only become more harrowing as time presses on. Roberts’s brute force in defence and with ball in hand is not a secret anymore. Standing at 6’4″ and weighing 110 kilograms, he wilfully and gleefully inflicts pain and punishment on any opposition players that approach him (with perhaps a hint of irony in mind given he is training to become a doctor in his spare time).
Davies, while not quite as hulking or visible on the field as Roberts, is becoming a very capable battering ram at outside centre and also has an uncanny knack for supporting the ball runner and accepting the final pass to score a try.
He did it numerous times in the World Cup, and showed this ability again against Ireland, as he scored twice having accepted wonderful offloads from Priestland and George North. Not all back line players have that innate sense of where to put themselves in order to trail or support their teammates best, but Davies certainly possesses it.
Now that I mention him, I can’t help but discuss the burgeoning talent that is George North.
The 19 year old stands as tall as Roberts (though weighing around 10 kgs less) and has drawn comparisons to the immortal Jonah Lomu in his short 16-Test career. Accordingly,, you would be best advised to get out of North’s way when he has the ball and is running at you.
He is a sight to marvel at in possession of the ball, and shows great skill in his footwork and handling (as witnessed by the lovely back-handed offload that put Davies in for his second try). Paired with Leigh Halfpenny (perhaps a slightly less explosive version of James O’Connor in ability and disposition), the Welsh back three features a vast amount of ability.
When employed behind a pack that includes hearty workers like Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wynn-Jones, Luke Charteris (none of whom played on Sunday), Adam Jones, Huw Bennett, Bradley Davies and Ryan Jones, a ‘follow-my-lead’ captain like openside flanker Sam Warburton, and a potential powerhouse No. 8 in Toby Faletau, it is not hard to envisage this Welsh back line piercing defences very easily into the future.
Indeed, it is quite easy to see Wales dominating the Six Nations tournament for many years to come, and perhaps even showing the South how running rugby is best played on their way to contending for a World Cup win that they came so close to in 2011.
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.