What we learnt after a sublime month of rugby

So the next stop’s a triple shot of Bledisloe action alongside a Rugby Championship, eh? Cool. Then a mouth-watering November in northern climes? Alright, if we must.

And a World Cup just around the corner? Based on the last month, rugby, you’re well and truly spoiling us.

The action either side of the ditch was mighty fine over the last three weekends (besides that miserable evening in Melbourne), but what exactly did we learn?

1) The alphabety Smiths – Aaron, Ben and Conrad – are in classes of their own
Unfortunately they couldn’t do it in tidy A,B,C fashion but these three grabbed a Test each by the scruff of their scruff of its little English neck and with it ripped Red Rose hopes apart, petal by petal.

Smith is the most common surname in England but the sight of folk from the Old Dart filing out of Kiwi stadiums – and there were a fair few in each, especially Dunedin – bemoaning the brilliance of a man with that name became a weekly occurrence this month.

First it was Conrad’s go in Auckland. There was a sense of inevitability about the All Blacks winning that cagey, scrappy game and it was appropriate that Conrad Smith, the Kiwis’ man for all seasons, situations, climes and conditions, popped up to score it. The legs may be slowing but the mid sure ain’t. Malakai Fekitoa was brilliant in Hamilton but based on the way he spoke in the build-up to the game, he knows he was just keeping Smith’s seat warm.

After all, Conrad’s lost just seven of 77 Tests. That’s no coincidence.

In Dunedin it was Ben who was wowing us, in his first shot at fullback for the All Blacks. After he served up a repeat dose in Hamilton, it’ll be a long way back for ol’ Izzy Dagg, but the Smith who really caught the eye in the Third Test was little Aaron. As English fans searched for positives amid the dire first half display that cost them the game, many pointed to Ben Youngs’ performance.

But I just didn’t get it. Sure, there was the neat snag on Kieran Read and the break for Marland Yarde’s try, but I simply couldn’t understand how a man who’d been so utterly out-played by his opposite number could be singled out for praise.

Watching the game back, Smith was infinitely better than Youngs – but that was purely down to the brilliance of the latter not the inadequacy of the former. Smith’s service from the base was perfect, his snipes well-timed and his defence excellent. Ultimately, he had enough of the zip and fizz of champagne to make Youngs look like a stodgy tankard of mead.

2) The French are dross
The Wallabies have achieved plenty and come a long way in the last three weeks. Combinations are clearer, the leadership pool and tight five stocks look deeper than we realised and the back line has a bit about it.

But ahead of Bledisloe season, there can be no assumption that they’ve received anything like ample preparation. Put simply, the French weren’t up to it this year. While Messrs Guirado, Parra and Chouly impressed intermittently, no Frenchmen showed anything like the consistency required to succeed.

Phillipe Saint-Andre – surely not far from the guillotine – can blame whatever the Top 14s imports all he likes (lest we forget he perpetuated the problem while Toulon’s coach with the signings of Matt Giteau and the like) but 40 months into the job he has no idea what his best team is.

Far sterner Tests – where we will learn even more – lie ahead for the Wallabies.

3) Mid-week matches are a wonderful thing
England went a little off-piste in the final week of their tour with a trip to Christchurch to play the Crusaders. For many – players, locals, media and opposition – this was one of the tour’s real highlights. England were supposed to play many of their 2011 World Cup games in the city but for obvious reasons decamped to Dunedin and Queenstown, where their infamous dwarf-tossing revelry took place. Their management had been keen to return to Christchurch since.

It was a productive few days. A mixture of newbies and experienced internationals played impressively against a fired-up Crusaders side containing six All Blacks and with all the fun of the fare that comes with the Canterbury experience in front of a packed out AMI Stadium.

The pre-match entertainment – blonde maidens, noble steeds and actual Crusaders – was brilliant and the crowd had a ball. In the post-match presser, Todd Blackadder called for more mid-week matches. I know we live in an ultra-professional age, but there should be, and in this case was, much, much more to these tours than just the Test matches on Saturday.

4) England versus All Blacks at Twickenham is the most mouth-watering of the upcoming clashes
Sorry to pee on the parade of the ‘Bledisloe Festival’ (give me strength) that was launched yesterday, but I believe, even after a blackwash, the most exciting clash on the rugby horizon is England versus New Zealand at Twickenham on November 8.

Twice in New Zealand England showed they had the minerals and resources to take on the All Blacks but twice they fell short. Once the wounds have healed and the heads have been cleared on a Caribbean beach, they’ll be mighty hungry for revenge.

Twickenham, of course, was the last place the All Blacks lost, 18 games ago. Less than a year from a World Cup final on that very ground and England, with their pride tainted after some big talk in New Zealand, must dispel that nagging feeling that they’ve still won nothing of worth and lay a marker down ahead of a World Cup that they’ll believe to be theirs.

They’ve claimed the All Black “aura” is fading, but accept they remain the team to beat. What’s more, from Brodie-gate through a tough series, New Zealand – public, players, maybe even press – has developed a level of respect and admiration for this England side and their modus operandi. There’s a fair bit of appetising action to get through first, but this is set to be a hum-dinger.

5) Big Bill Skelton is ready, but give ‘Cliff Palu some credit
He’s the man of the moment so I best give him his due. Will Skelton only played 58 minutes this June but by god he looked good. It wasn’t the sheer scale of his frame, it wasn’t that try with Frenchmen falling off, it wasn’t even that outrageous cleanout.

It was that stunning short-ball to Izzy Folau just after the break that. How the hell can a thing looking so cumbersome produce a moment of such subtlety? Skelton looks like his hands should crush a ball like Lenny crushed those bunnies in Of Mice and Men. Instead he’s got the manual dexterity of a surgeon.

But amid Big Bill’s excellence, let’s not forget the performance of Wycliff Palu. I’ve never been his biggest fan and have used these pages to advocate the selection of his rivals at no.8.

But on Saturday he was brilliant and showed exactly why he’s racked up a half-ton of caps. His combination with Scott Fardy and Michael Hooper is balanced and he was dominant at the breakdown and bustling with ball in hand. Chapeau, sir.

Rugby, just keep doing what you’re doing.