What we've learned from the June international window

In June we were treated to a mouth-watering display of International Rugby, with England and France making their way Down Under and the World XV, Wales and Scotland visiting South Africa.

As we all know the SANZAR juggernauts proved to be a mountain too high for their Northern Hemisphere counterparts yet again, but all 10 of the games played must be put into perspective.

These games shed some light on what we could expect not only in the Rugby Championship but the autumn Tests as well.

New Zealand versus England
After the All Blacks’ shock record loss to Lancaster’s men in 2012 and the nail-biter we experienced in 2013, we all knew that the 2014 England series was going to be a feast for rugby-hungry eyes.

And to be frank, that’s exactly how it turned out.

The All Blacks won the series but not without difficulty. England pulled out all the stops to secure their first win in New Zealand since 2003 and played unbelievably good rugby throughout the series. They will feel very unlucky not to walk away with a dramatic win at Eden Park in the first game.

But therein lies the class and belief of this ever improving All Blacks side. Year by year they grow in stature, they exceed themselves and they gain vital experience along the way.

Apart from the last Test, England pushed them hard and what would have had Steve Hansen worried is the All Blacks’ inability to dominate in the set phases. England had a field day in the linouts and scrums. To be honest, the All Blacks were dominated.

Against the Springboks and the Wallabies they will have to have a good platform to attack from if they hold any hopes of breaking the record for most successive wins.

Individually we’ve also had a few revelations. Israel Dagg isn’t currently at his best and it was a smart move to switch the diverse Ben Smith to fullback, and one that paid off big time.

Smith destroyed the gain line, the structured defence of the English and what little hope England had of claiming victory. His try-saving tackle on Manu Tuilagi proved just how instrumental he was.

Regular captain Richie McCaw was busy around the park but didn’t dominate as we’re used to. Julian Savea cemented his place as one of the best finishers in the game and Aaron Cruden made a massive statement to the selectors over the exciting prospect of Beauden Barrett.

The All Blacks are on the verge of breaking yet another record but I feel they’ll need to address their set phase problems before facing a pumped up Wallabies side.

Australia versus France
While the anticipation of this series wasn’t quite on the same level as that of New Zealand versus England, it was the most exciting rugby played.

Under Philippe Saint-André the French haven’t been a consistent performer. Come to think of it the French never really are consistent. But one thing they could always count on was the legendary French flair factor that played a hand in so many upsets in the years gone by.

Unfortunately for Les Blues it didn’t come to save them from a rampant Wallabies side eager to redeem themselves after a sub-standard 2013 season.

The Wallabies played some beautiful running rugby in this series, and the tries just came pouring in. Bernard Foley and Matt Tomooa both sparked the most exciting back line in world rugby against the French.

Superstar Israel Folau was a solid contributor, although not to the extent he was in Super Rugby, which is understandable. Michael Hooper handled the captaincy reasonably well after the injury to original captain Stephen Moore in the opening minutes of the first game.

The only flaw I see with the Wallabies was what went wrong in the second Test against France and in the three Tests against the Springboks in the previous two years.

When they get their attacking game going, the Wallabies are neigh on impossible to stop. But they should understand that balance is key. You need structure with that attack. All out attack is exactly why they lost twice by 20 points against the Springboks in 2013.

You need to kick in the right areas of the field, you need to mash it up with the forwards to gain momentum and have a platform from which to attack from. Knowing when to kick, to maul, to carry and to run is key to a champion side. Until the Wallabies perfect this art they’ll continue to struggle against top tier opposition.

South Africa versus World XV, Wales and Scotland
As per usual the Springboks get a mixed bag for their June internationals, with three teams coming in to test their strengths against the second best team in the world. The best way to sum up South Africa’s performance is inconsistency.

The Boks either looked like a team who could beat the All Blacks or they looked like a team who could lose against Japan. Against the World XV the Springboks started extremely poor but worked their way up to win comfortably. Against Wales it was smooth sailing in the first Test to heart-stopping close in the second. And against Scotland they played a wonderful game.

What had me worried though were the occasional lapses in defence they really should’ve covered. The other was the usually dominant Springboks scrum not dominating any scrum in all four games. Surely a 933-kilogram pack of forwards should be able to hold their own against an 880-kilogram Scotland pack?

Lastly, the number of unforced errors were shocking to say the least. These were the reasons the Boks struggled to put Wales away in the second Test.

However, not everything’s so doom and gloom. Willie le Roux has become an unpredictable attacking force, having had a hand in almost every try the Springboks have scored this year, and Stormers stalwart Duane Vermeulen has been playing his guts out for almost 20 straight matches of 80 minutes this year.

The 193-centimetre, 116-kilogram colossus performed consistently all year and will need to take a breather sooner or later. Jan Serfontein has stood admirably well in Jean de Villiers’ absence and debutant Cornall Hendricks hasn’t let his country down one bit.

What needs to be commended from this Springboks side is the miracle win over Wales in Mbombela. In years gone by South African sides usually aren’t capable of winning games at the death or coming back from three-try deficits, but this Springboks side believed in themselves very much like the current All Blacks do.

Nevertheless, the Springboks must sharpen up their defence, cut out the handling errors and get their scrum back in order if they’ll have any chance of taming the relentless Australasian attack that’s sure to come out firing in August.

Ten out of ten is a good result for the SANZAR nations, stretching the Southern Hemisphere supremacy even further. All three teams played a game they could have lost but showed character to grab a win.

Should the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies, who are deserved leaders in world rugby, sort out their lapses suffered in June, the 2014 Rugby Championship looks set to be the most exciting yet.