What we have learned so far in the Rugby Championship

It is probably a good time to produce a first term report card on the start of the RC and have a look at how the teams are travelling.

After the washout in week one, the second round was played in near perfect conditions, so here we go.

Australia
The roller coaster ride continues. Firstly, I hear injury used as an excuse too often. Fact of life is that in this brutal sport no team is ever at full strength, ever. In the last game the All Blacks were missing several top players.

There is a need to develop the structures and depth to deal with it. The NRC is assuming massive importance.

Secondly there always seems to be an Australian saviour just round the corner. But until the Wallabies offer threats across the park, the effect of these players will be minimal, as they can be targeted and isolated too easily. Israel Folau and occasionally Hooper, two world-class Wallabies, are beginning to cop an increasing amount of criticism from a small but increasing section of fans, unfairly in my opinion.

They are too easily targeted by a top team like the All Blacks.

Finally it is becoming abundantly clear that Link is beginning to hit the same brick wall that the much maligned Robbie Deans was facing. Not enough quality depth, having to play people out of position and most critically the lack of a core of hardened and abrasive forwards to take it to the other team.

The hue and cry to bring this or that person in is only re-cycling the same stock (Scott Higginbotham, James Horwill and so on).

Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. Until real depth is developed in the forwards (not a short term solution) the WBs will be competitive in patches but not consistently.

New Zealand
It appears that all the talk about their imminent decline has been put to bed. Their last performance was sublime and in that mood they are unbeatable. But, and there is always a but, these performances have been interspaced with some average and at times mediocre performances.

They have been good enough to scrape wins when they played badly in achieving 17 consecutive triumphs, but at some point somebody will punish them.

England did in 2012. In a knock-out competition like the World Cup, it could prove disastrous again for the All Blacks.

So although they are probably happy with the way they are tracking, their inconsistency must be giving them some cause for concern. It at least keeps the rest of the pack interested and hopeful that they can catch them on an off day. The Wallabies almost did in Sydney as well as England earlier this year.

South Africa
I must admit the Boks are really confusing me. I feel they have regressed since last year, when they looked the real deal and really challenged the All Blacks. They were robbed of the chance to compete in the first encounter and run the All Blacks close in the Ellis Park classic, where but for the fact that they caught the All Blacks in one of their sublime moods, they would have won.

On that day the Boks would have comfortably beaten any other side in the world.

But that fluent mixture of power and pace seems to have disappeared from their game this year and they seem to be reverting to type again, trying to steamroll everything in front of them and looking lost when it is not happening.

This is a shame really because the playing stock is and has always been there. It is possible that it is simply a loss of form and confidence that tends to be cyclical, but they just don’t look right at the moment.

Having said all this it is possible that I am not giving enough credit to Argentina for the way they played the Boks in their two encounters, something that you don’t see very often. My gut feeling is that the Boks are off-colour and they will gel at some point soon. I always felt they might take a game off the All Blacks this year, and I haven’t discounted that notion yet.

Argentina
Well they have certainly put to bed the notion that they don’t belong in this competition, I love having them. Considering the logistical difficulties they face in putting a team on the park, the travelling and their internal politics they have astounded me this year.

How often do you see a Bok pack being dominated? But they weren’t just dominated, they were dismantled.

My glee at watching it was only tempered by the fact that the All Blacks and especially the Wallabies have to face them still, and it could turn very, very ugly. Also in the last Test their willingness to attack and run the ball made for compelling viewing.

I feel the only thing that saved the Boks is the fact that the Pumas conditioning is not quite there yet for an 80-minute performance.

I feel it in my bones that they are building up for their maiden win this year and any of the Australasian partners that doesn’t take them seriously will pay the price.

There you have it let’s see how it goes from here onwards.

Next two rounds? I expect the All Blacks to beat Argentina and the Boks at home and the Wallabies to sneak wins against them as well.

Last two rounds? I expect the Boks to win both and the Pumas to take at least one. Which one? You tell me.